Emery's 2nd Birthday!

Today was such a fun day.

Anna Claire went to her friend Emery's birthday party. It was a super chilled-out and fun atmosphere for the kiddos which I, for one, appreciated.

The party was at Emery's house, with yummy and healthy snacks, and adorable winter wonderland themed cake, decorations, and favors. Emery, Lyla, Jackson, and Anna Claire were so sweet and fun to watch. They played so well together, and I am so glad they are friends.

I always get lots of ideas when I visit with other parents and when watching kids open their gifts. I watch AC closely when she is playing with other kid's toys too, and notice what she really enjoys. I loved the Red Rover and Elefun games that Emery received. I had never heard of either. I also think a small piano or keyboard purchase is in our future. Emery got one for $10 from Walmart. I had no idea they were that inexpensive. I also loved Emmy's little folding tray that could be used for eating on the floor or for doing artwork/playdoh/whatever.

I think the kids had the most fun playing in the tent, tunnel, and tower that Emery received as a gift, and playing with the drum kit. Anna Claire might disagree though if you ask her, and tell you her favorite part was meeting Emery's cat. ;)

Ringling Brothers Circus

I think I can sum up our circus experience in two sentences:


This is what we wanted Anna Claire to do at the circus. (Watch the circus!)

This is what Anna Claire actually wanted to do at the circus...

Notable Things Anna Claire Said and Did This Week

What She's Saying...

"That miso soup, Mommy? Those marshmellows in there?" (in reference to the tofu floating in my miso)

"Do you have any questions?"

"You need my help, Daddy? I can't help you right now. I'm busy. I need to talk to Mommy."

"How do we get there, Daddy?" (Dora reference - always followed up by a list of 3 place she'd like to go at that moment)

"I still workin' on my masterpiece."

"Can I have hot chocolate and marshmellows in a bowl? Please" (Insert tummy rub here, which is sign language for "please")

"I used potty all day. You happy, Mommy?"

What She's Doing...

Anna Claire is able to supply more and more words I leave out when I read to her, which either means she has an excellent memory since we are on a rotation of more than 100 books, OR she can read these words. I suspect it's a combination of the 2. Either way she's so gosh darn smart.

Anna Claire can still count to 20, and knows all the words to most popular nursery rhymes/songs, but now will follow them up by saying, "Now count with me!" "Now sing with me!" And will actually want us to sing or count with her a second time. Love it.

She loves her Team Umizoomi math kit. She now knows many more shapes, including the 3 dimensional ones. She is understanding patterning and classifying very well. She enjoys classifying things by colors on her own. This is easy to see when she plays mega blocks. She wants each level of a structure to be the same color.

Anna Claire is left-handed. She holds her crayon or pencil just like we would. We have known about her handedness for about a year now, but I don't know that I've ever included that tidbit in a blog post. So there you go.

She can take her pants off by herself...completely off. She probably has been able to for some time, but has never quite followed through on it to the point she is now. She enjoys streaking through the house and running naked.

She still prefers to eat with her fingers. We really don't fight this battle much, other than encouraging her to please use her fork and explaining why.

Anna Claire is almost completely weaned off receiving a treat for going potty. She quit asking for one and we definitely don't remind.

She is still refusing to poop on the potty.

Making the Most of a Sick Day

Anna Claire is getting over the nasty virus that all 3 of us have had all weekend.

I am one of those, when my baby is sick I want to be with her! It was not possible yesterday, since I had a training to attend, but I had mother's guilt the entire time. I was determined to make up for it today, and Larry had much time to make up for since he kept her for me yesterday.

I loved my time with Anna Claire. She was so fun, and funny today, while at the same time, feeling cruddy because she could not breathe and had a nagging cough. She really did want to be held, wanted her Mommy and Daddy, and we tend to oblige.

We did go to the doctor, then once we were assured she was not contagious, we headed off to Target. Then later, after nap, the public library.

I really love taking AC to the library. I'd say it's among her top 5 favorite places to go. She loves to "get on the computer," write on the little slips of paper with "her special pencil," sit under the "big girl tent" on the ladybug and bee beanbag pillows, play on the curvy couches, get in the bathtub, and go see Clifford and Pooh Bear. It used to be important to see "the gorilla," but now she says, "Gorilla scare me. No thank you."

I found some amazing books for her. Some for Valentine's day, some favorite character books, and some just plain cute ones. We have already read them all together and she loves them!

We also listened to some of the CDs I made her from 9 mths to about 18 months in the car today. She really enjoyed listening to them again. It's like they were new again, and she is now able to verbalize what she thinks of them and talk to me about them in a way she couldn't when I originally played them for her.

 Like I said before, she was so funny today. She had the best time playing with 3 balloons I blew up for her on whim. We both had so much static electricity in our hair from being outside that we got to have a little science lesson on why the balloons wanted to stick to us. So fun! She loved sticking them to me and to herself, and I loved watching her chase herself in a circle trying to get them off her back.

Notable Things Anna Claire said today:

"That say 'January,' Mommy?"  - She read the word "January" in 2 different contexts (on a program from church  and on a library flyer)
"You can sit on steps with me, if you like."
"Is it our turn yet?" (every time a nurse opened the door at Premier)
"I don't feel good. My nose stuffy....I don't like aspirator, Mommy. I don't like sound."
"I go talk to Mommy (or Daddy) about it!...Do you have any questions?"

Random, but all must be addressed...

I'm sitting here listening to Anna Claire via the baby monitor. I know a lot of people get rid of them once their kiddos are toddlers, but I find the night time jabbers to be priceless.

Right now she's talking to one of her "friends" stuffed animals, "There you are! I found you! I was worried about you. I couldn't find you anywhere!"

Just wanted to whip up a random post to sneak in some things that I've been wanting to blog about, but have just been little tidbits.

1. Anna Claire is consistently saying "bless you" when someone sneezes. It goes to show that your modeling for them matters because we have never asked her to do this. I love it.

2. She is also a caretaker. Larry and I have both been sick all weekend, matched against her healthy, happy, high-energy. She brings me my water (or anything I ask her to fetch, with a smile). She has been a doll about helping clean up. She turns on my heating pad for me (she knows I want it on "green" and that red and orange are too hot). She gets Larry her blanket and covers him up with it. She heals both of us with her doctor's kit, and has asked us repeatedly to read her "What's in a Doctor's Bag?" book. (Thank you, Grandma!)

3. In my medicated haze, I have been able to observe that her Christmas gifts were hits. She obviously treasures her treasure chest. That was the big one, hands down. She loves all of her art supplies, but particularly her glitter pens and "carrot paper" (large sketch pad). She is loving Candyland, but playing in her own way, which is precious. She can play Curious George Memory! I was thinking we'd just hold onto it until she gets older, but she can find matches, at times, faster than I can. Hot chocolate. Rainbow socks. Real aluminum pots and pans and utensils for her kitchen - they have made her kitchen like new again to her. And her "big girl" Crayola 24 pack from her cousins - loves those so much. Note that these were not BIG gifts. It truly is the little things in life, eh?

Notice the macaroni feather.

4. My last random addition, was just a cute little something she said today that reminded me of when I was a little girl.

I had just finished making a snowman out of play-doh, when Anna Claire reached over placed a little piece on his hat, and sang, "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni!"

I asked her, "What did you put on Frosty's hat?"
"Macaroni!!" she proclaimed.
Of course! I remember taking that song literally too as a kid and thinking, "What kind of weirdo puts macaroni in his hat?"

First Snow as a Big Girl

When I went to pick up Anna Claire at the Red Barn yesterday, the excitement of the snow was already evident. She and all of her little friends were as happy as can be and dancing around. Anna Claire's teacher said she kept calling the snow, "White powder." Anna Claire and her friends who weren't twirling around were telling me all about it.

As we walked out and she saw the snow, she immediately wanted some. "I touch it! I can have some!" I told her she could. Delight.

She opened her mouth and tried catching snowflakes on her tongue, just like all of the characters in her snowy wintery books we've been reading. "I taste it! I catch them on my tongue!" And thank the Lord that we finally are getting some snow. After reading so many snow-themed books for weeks and weeks, I was starting to feel guilty for getting her hopes up for something she might not get to experience herself this year.

Once we got in the car and headed on our way, there were lots of "Oohs!" and Ahhs!" Although I'd call this snow just a light dusting, the way the wind was carrying the large flakes of snow through the air and had created a light blanket on the rooftops, it did look pretty magical on our car-ride home. "I make snowman when I get home Mommy," Anna Claire fantasized. We talked about how we would need a lot more snow to pull that off.

As soon as we pulled in the driveway, I heard the request, "I put on my mitten and hat and pway in the snow." And so we did. Although short-lived, Anna Claire had a ball grabbing up handfuls of snow, tasting it, listening to the sound of her shoes crunch as she walked and ran through the snow. I was not off the hook to simply be a spectator. Anna Claire chased me and had me chase her. After about 10 minutes, she was (thankfully) asking to go inside. "I cold. I have some hot chocolate." Sounded perfect to me.

A wonderful first experience in the snow as a big girl.

Funny things Anna Claire is saying these days...

AC to Larry Averitt: "Sorry Daddy, I can't help you right now. I'm too busy."

Mommy, you goin' yoga class today?

Pirates talkin' to me. (pointing to imaginary pirates)

Anna Claire loves ending sentences with "either" and "instead," pronounced "eeder" and "in-ted," respectively. For example: 

Either
Me: I can't find my drink.
AC: I can't find my drink either, Mommy.

Instead
Larry: Do you want to read The Little Red Hen?
AC: No, Daddy. I want to read this book instead.

AC on taking or messing with her stuff:
Don't take my blanket.
Don't cover up my band-aid.
Don't take my hot chocolate.
That's MY teddy bear.


Convincing Anna Claire she needs to poop in the potty (go team):
Me: Anna Claire, which panties do you want to wear tomorrow (I offer Dora or Olivia)?
AC: Dora! (She grabs them out of my hand and admires them.)
Me: You want to keep them nice and clean tomorrow and not poop in them or you might not have Dora panties anymore. They may have to go in the trash.
AC: No! I don't want Dora panties in twash!
Me: You don't want to poop on Dora do you? Pooping on Dora would make her sad. She doesn't want to go in the trash either.
AC: (strokes Dora, and looks concerned for her) I can get more panties at Walmart!

She can read any favorite character's name...It figures...

Anna Claire asked me to write a character's name the other day, and I got to thinking...she already has banked 200+ sight words through YBCR, and even more than that through reading many, many books to her and letting her supply missing words. I bet you as many times as she's been exposed to her favorite book character's names, she can read them. Larry and I busted out the magna doodles, and we were right. Anna Claire read the following today:
Babar
Caillou
Cat in the Hat
Max (Max and Ruby)
Umizoomi (just bought the math kit last month, and the books have been a huge hit)
Dora

Then Larry started showing her our names and she got all of these right:
Averitt
Daddy
Mommy
Anna Claire
Kitty
Stanley
Pop Pop

Carrot Paper

I spent over an hour trying to figure out what AC meant by, "I want my carrot paper!" Now I get it. Mommy is a little slow.

"carrot paper"

Raisins

I just stuck my hand between the couch cushions to find a mound of lovely sticky, half-chewed-up raisins. Wonder where those came from?

Gameroom upstaged movie. Sorry, Alvin.

Larry and I took Anna Claire to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks." 

Care Bear gummies and popcorn were a hit as usual. I had a sippy cup full of ice water for her, just like last time, but she wasn't having it this go round. She wanted a movie theater cup with a straw, just like Mommy and Daddy. I thought about waiting in line again, but the line was ridiculously long, and we were already 10 minutes late. Next time, I will be sure to order a movie theater cup of water for her. ;) 

Halfway through the movie she said, "I want go see my friends." We knew this was code for, "I want to go to the game room." (We refer to stuffed animals as "friends" to her and there were stuffed animals all over the game room.) Request granted.

She loved playing a game that simulated driving a car. Larry liked playing it too. Fortunately, AC's playing did not require we spend actual money. 


I do think she enjoyed watching part of the movie, but it was just simply targeting an older demographic and didn't keep her attention. 

Starting the New Year with Laughter

One of my resolutions this year is to laugh more. Anna Claire is making this one easy to keep, since she is such a funny little girl!

For example, during her nap yesterday, I threw out 3 small tomatoes that had been sitting in the window to ripen, but unfortunately sat a little too long. Shortly after, Larry coincidently placed 3 new large tomatoes in the same spot after returning from Walmart. Anna Claire came downstairs after her nap, looked at the window and shouted, "Look! My tomatoes got bigger! My tomatoes! They ready now?"

Another example, was her reaction to the new mittens and hat I got her. She had bright blue already, but they did not match her dark green coat at all, and it had been bugging me. So I got her new cream colored mittens and a hat, since I am a fan of neutrals, but not considering her own personal taste. I showed her the new gear, and she scowled at me, "No Mommy! I have some blue mittens! I wear some blue mittens. I don't wike those mittens!" She repeated this over and over until I put them away out of sight. ;)

This reminds me of another story. Last week, one of Anna Claire's friend's mommies shared with me that her little girl had the same Old Navy coat as Anna Claire, only hers was pink, and that she asked Anna Claire about this. She said, "Anna Claire, you have a coat just like Emmy." Anna Claire said, "I don't have anything." So I asked her again that afternoon, "Anna Claire, do you have the same coat as Emmy?" She said, "No Mommy. I don't be having pink coat like Emmy! I have green coat." Funny!

Finally, today, Anna Claire asked, "Where my toys Santa gave me?" I took her around and showed her the new homes I had found for everything. She said, "NO! It were right there," and pointed to where we had all of them displayed Christmas morning. I said, "Oh, you want everything out on the floor again where Santa put it so you can see it all. "Yeah!!! " Her eyes lit up. I explained that many of the things Santa gave her were clothes that were now washed and in her closet, or goodies and treats that were now downstairs in the kitchen, but we did get out many of the toys and art supplies and put them back in THE SPOT so she could see them again. She was content with this.