Current Anna Claire-isms

Larry co-wrote this blog entry with me...these are our favorite of Anna Claire's current expressions:

"You can't."  - i.e., "Mommy, you can't have my snack."

"Mommy not takin' it." or "Daddy not takin' it." - used anytime Anna Claire feels her belongings are threatened, which is most of the time.

"He not comin' over."  - when any "bad guy" is on TV or in a movie. She wants to be reassured that he is staying on that side of the TV screen, and not coming into our living room. "Bad guys" include: Swiper the Fox, the Abominable Snowman on Rudolph, and Mr. Nezzer on Veggie Tales. :)

"I havin' hard time."  - used when unable to accomplish a task by herself.

"Special, special treat"  - whatever her currency for going potty happens to be. Currently it's chocolate coins and chocolate Santas.

"Daddy, you play wit me?"  - continues to repeat this even after Daddy is sitting down and playing with her.

Christmas Lights on Riverside and Dinner at "Fancy Restauwant"

What a fun night we had Friday with Grandma and Freddie.

We started off at Grandma's house where they had an adorable little tree for Anna Claire to decorate and take home with her. They also found the most precious teddy bear who reads the entire story, The Night Before Christmas, to her. His mouth moves very realistically, and he has the sweetest voice! She had fun, and would continue to enjoy the bear and decorate the tree all weekend.

Then we went to O'Charley's, aka "fancy restauwant". Any restaurant above McDonald's caliber is a "fancy restauwant" in Anna Claire's book (yes, we have read Froggy Eats Out many, many times). She had so much fun. She chose her own menu items...broccoli, fries, and mac-n-cheese. I love that broccoli was the first pick. She also had a delicious strawberry smoothie that absolutely made her day. She was so happy, fun, and well-behaved. I was very proud of her!

Afterward, we walked to the Riverwalk to see the Christmas lights. They had speakers everywhere, so we could enjoy holiday music throughout the entire walk. We pushed her in her stroller for the majority of it, but the highlight for Anna Claire, was the playground area. She is getting braver about climbing and wanting to be where the big kids are. :)

Second Haircut

I was overdue getting Anna Claire's haircut this go 'round. I guess I was reluctant because I didn't want her to lose her blonde curls. 

 

Jenny, her hair magician, shared with me that it was a real possibility, and that they were most likely "baby curls," so I could be aware of it.

Well, we opted to just make it less of a mullet by taking up the back. We also decided to work on growing out her bangs and train her hair to keep a side part, which means fighting a ridiculously wild cowlick. Jenny says she will thank me later when she is a teen.

The end result was really cute. I am so happy with it! And she still has her baby curls!! :)

 

 

Our Family Thanksgiving

First off, I would like to thank my big sister, Kathy, for making this day truly meaningful for our family. Larry, Anna Claire, and I would not have had such a wonderful Thanksgiving day if it was not for her.

One of the things that did my heart the most good, was observing the day through a child's eyes. I think that's part of the reason I enjoy being behind the lens. I can look at the world through someone else's point of view...at least that's how I see it. Enjoy the pics of my baby, and these sweet cousins having fun.

So happy to see her eating! Not much appetite lately.

"I eat turkey up!" Anna Claire said when I showed her this pic. :)

Anna Claire loved this ginormous stuffed dog!

Sweet face!

Carolyn was such a good helper! She is taking off AC's bib for her in this pic. 

Sweet cousins enjoying coloring fun.

"What that sound, Mommy?"

Words cannot express how much I LOVE this picture.

Again, LOVE.

Petting Megan. The girls were cracking up at Anna Claire calling for her, "Come 'ere, Megan! Megan, come 'ere!"

Found Megan! Carolyn is guiding her to the steps.

Happy girl, having a ball with her cousins!

Anna Claire loves Taylor so much. She is so good with her!

Cute!

Megan loves playing with this basketball!

"Get the ball. Get the ball. Gotta get the ball!"

"Got the ball. Got the ball. They love when I do this."

Sweet cousins. I love Taylor's hand posture on AC's arm.

Beautiful Megan!

"I'm gonna get you!"

I was experimenting settings on my camera where you can make the foreground blurry, and the background sharp. I regret it now, because wouldn't this have been the best pic??

Having SO much fun!

Thanksgiving Feast!

Larry and I were blessed to both be able to attend Anna Claire's Thanksgiving Feast the The Red Barn. We so appreciated the time, energy, love and care that went into it. It was so much fun to watch and photograph these sweet babies enjoying their food. They ate it up! I think you can agree, these are the cutest babies ever!

They had so much fun crawling and hiding under the tablecloth covered table.

Pretty girls!

Such a sweet smile!

"Touch your ears!"

I just love Ryder's posture in this pic. He's like, "What's up?"

Jackson has the best personality. Love this kiddo.

I had the most fun watching this little guy. He wins the award for Most Enthusiastic Eater.

Love Olli!

Loved meeting Knox's mom and dad today!

The bib is awesome.

Look at those chipmunk cheeks.

My favorite girl. Content to stay in Daddy's lap.

WAY into it.

Lucas...AC's breakfast buddy. :)

Avery is a new sweet friend.

Mmmmmmm! I offered AC a bite with a fork right before I snapped this one. "No, thank you, Mommy. I use my hands."

 

So sweet. I love Em's little tongue sticking out. Love mohawks too. :)

Look at Baby J's face! She's like, "Mmmm, can I have some of that?"

Look at those big brown eyes!

Abby! She was so sweet, begging AC to come sit with her through the entire dinner, but my girl was not feeling 100% today. :(

Dora Humor

Anna Claire is such a little ham.

This morning, we were watching Dora, and I had just put on her panties. Dora said, "Swiper, no swiping!" as usual, but Anna Claire got up, took off across the room and said laughing, "Swiper not take my underpants." Then gave me her best, "Just kidding" grin.

She had an accident (poop) later on in the day. I picked her up and put her on the changing table. She exclaimed, "Gooey geyser!" then paused and laughed. "No...poopy geyser!"

Literary Medleys

Anna Claire loves retelling stories from the books we read to her, and her versions crack me up. She typically will take 2 or more stories and mix them up to create her own.

For example, tonight she gave us some Llama Llama, while holding Sweet Dreams, Maisy, and said, "Maisy, Maisy wants to play, Mama Llama go downstairs."

She was bringing some Brown Bear, Brown Bear into the mix the other night while reading Pooh's Try Try Again..."Pooh Bear, Pooh Bear, what do you see? I see Piglet looking at me."

Kitty not have hands

Yesterday, Anna Claire said to Larry, "I wave to Kitty, but she can't wave back. She not have hands like this (holding up her hands)."

Halloween

Halloween is more than a day, and definitely a season in our household.

And it all began with the big pumpkin plopped in front of the mall back in September. "Halloweeeeeeeeeen!" Anna Claire says every time we drive past it.

From there, we checked out and bought numerous Halloween books and read them all October long. They have definitely been her favorites ever since and it will be with a heavy heart that I hand many of them over to the librarian at the end of this week.

Halloween day was very exciting at the Red Barn. Anna Claire and her friends were able to wear their costumes, participate in a costume parade, go trick-or-treating, and enjoy a Halloween party. Last week they even held a pumpkin walk for the kids where every child received their own pumpkin.

Our actual Halloween night consisted of a visit to Grandma's, and trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Anna Claire talked all morning and afternoon about getting to go to Grandma's, playing with the toys there and getting CANDY! She loved playing with the keyboard, dollhouse, and other toys, and is always especially interested in this little cat book that sits on the coffee table.

Trick-or-treating. Honestly, Larry felt really ill, and was just diagnosed with high blood pressure last week which he is now on medication for. He put on a good face, but he did not feel well at all. He went in to take some medicine while I took Anna Claire to our first house. She was so scared, but excited at the same time. I kept in mind that she has never been for a walk in the dark before, and that it could be scary for her. She wanted me to hold her, so I did. She cried as I knocked on the door, but once our neighbor answered, she calmed down. She gave us so much candy too! She said, "Here, take all of this," and gave us several handfuls.

Larry was back with us for the second house. And we had her wagon. These neighbors actually invited us inside and asked if Anna Claire would like to see their dog. Of course she said, "yes!" We stayed for quite some time. It was neat to sit and talk to neighbors that we have seen for several years yet never have had a conversation.

I got home and felt frustrated that I had so few pictures, so we had "more Halloween fun" the following night so I could snap a few more. :)

No, Anna Claire. Let's leave the lid on him please.

Check out the look on her face! I'm fussing at her for taking the lid off of a lit jack-o-lantern.

Wagon ride!

Examining the stash

Anna Claire had never tried Tootsie Rolls or Kit Kats before tonight. She loved both!