Photo Friday

We won't see this day again for 4 years, so we'll record it for posterity with some pictures from the zoo that I took today. (Hopefully, it will be sooner than 4 years that we go to the zoo again.)

I know it's not many pictures, but since Grandma is one of the biggest Photo Friday fans, and she's here at our house, I didn't feel compelled to put up a bunch. Sorry if that disappoints you.

We went to the zoo today with Grandma, our pals CJ and Abbie, and another friend of theirs (and, of course, the mommies). Padyn was quite a character. Even before we got in the car to leave this morning, she was telling me she wanted to "walk on the rocks on the water." You see, in the Children's Zoo part, they have this little pond with these cement lily pads across them. She's never walked on them before, probably because I've never let her. But for whatever reason, they were stuck in her head and, darn it, she was going to CONQUER them today. She did. Twice. Three little monkeys climbing up the fence...it just so happens that they are watching the monkeys.

Effants! Effants!
Kate loved the zoo today. It was the first time where she's been there and I've let her walk around. She was happy to go off with any group, as long as they fed her, I'm sure. She was running around, shouting about all the animals...it was a fabulous day for her. The Map Reader. Padyn was ALL ABOUT the map today. She had it out the whole time and told us all the places she wanted to go. And the best part? She knew what all the animals were from the pictures. Even the meerkats. When I asked her how she possibly knew what a meerkat was, she rolled her eyes at me, sighed and said, "From George, Mommy." Like, duh.

"Padyn, smile for me. No, not so squinty. Just have a normal face. Ok, now you look depressed. Just look happy." This is the result...

Happy Friday. Oh, and happy last day of February.

New Things She Does

Kate is Little Miss All That these days. It's a good thing she's so cute or I'd probably end up leaving her in her crib all day. She's got some newish (only because I have failed to write them down before) traits that either crack us up or drive us insane. You decide which is which.

Twee
Everything has to be "three." Twee vi-uh-minz (vitamins), One, toooo, TWEE!, I ah-nt twee (I want three). It's all about the three.

Counting and ABCs
Apparently, someone taught her to count to ten and sing her ABCs recently. It wasn't me, so I won't even attempt to take any credit. But it is darn cute.

Dare Ya Go
I had no idea we said this with such frequency until Kate started saying it. Every time she gives you something, puts something in it's correct spot, or finishes a task, she says, "Dare ya go." (There you go.)

Shouts and Repeats
Her normal talking voice has increased in volume to a level of near shouting. I guess she isn't heard enough, so she has to speak more loudly. Either that or she thinks we are all deaf.

And the repeating. The majority of her speech, I would say 70-85%, is simply repeating what we have said. Repeatedly. The rest of her speech is repeating what she has said. Again, repeatedly. She must be learning this from me.

Tantrums
Kate is really developing at little entitlement attitude. When she doesn't get her way, you know it. She screams, she throws herself on the floor, she walks right up to you and growls in your face. And when I put her in her crib for a time out for unpleasant behavior? She screams louder and tries to climb out. Great.

Nigh Nigh, Good Morning
She loves climbing into Padyn's bed in the morning as soon as we take her out of her crib. She snuggles in under the covers, tightly squeezes her eyes shut and says, "Nigh nigh!" About 2 and a half seconds later, she sits up and shouts, "Mooring!" This is repeated until I forcefully pull her out of bed to get her dressed. Usually she kicks me as she vigorously shakes her head back and forth yelling, "NO! NO! NO!"

It doesn't just happen in Padyn's bed, though. She does it on the couch with the throw blanket, under the towel after the bath, and in the donut at gymnastics. She loves pretending to go to sleep.

Shower Bath
Both the girls are into this right now. I started it last week when Kate was coughing. The doctor suggested we put her in the shower for the steam. Instead, we combined the bath and shower. Now, it's a treat. "Mommy, can we have a shower bath tonight?" "Only if you behave..."

Mommy!Mommy!
Kate LOVES pretending. Her favorite seems to be making everything either a Mommy or Baby. In the bath we have Mommy Ducky and Baby Ducky. At breakfast, a mommy mango and a baby mango. Same goes for the little people, the vitamins, and the Mr. Potato Heads. I have to say, though, it usually confuses me. You see, she'll start shouting, " Mommy! Mommy!" and I will think she's calling for me. When I go running in, I find she's just yelling at her apricots.

All her lovies
I was o.k. when she demanded to sleep with BooBoo and Paci. But now, it's BooBoo, paci, effant (elephant), babydah (baby doll), sicbabydah (sick baby doll), and wa (water). Too many things for Mommy to keep track of. I'm trying to convince her they all need to stay in the crib. Sometimes it works, but usually I'm running around frantically trying to find them all before naptime.

Oh, and she's also testing at her stalling tactics. When I tell her it's time for her nap she says, "No! EAT!" as if she hadn't just finished lunch.

Hmmm...Where's...
Daddy taught her to say, "Hmmm...where's the ______." When she says the "hmmmm" she puts her finger to her lips and furrows her brow. Then she replies, " I doe no!" (I don't know!) and she puts her hands out, palms up, like she's shrugging her shoulders.

I onna wok
Lately, she wants to walk every where, instead of being carried. But she doesn't want to hold my hand. She thinks that when she says, "I onna wok (I wanna walk)" it means, "I don't want to have to hang onto you, Mommy. What if I feel the need to run into the street? You would really hold me back." We are still working on that one.

Coloring-everything
Lastly, Kate has discovered her love of coloring. Pencils, crayons, or markers...she doesn't care what it is, she just wants to color with it. The only problem? She colors on more than just paper...the table, the chairs, my white cabinet. I've even caught her coloring on the floor a few times. Great. Fortunately, I just replenished my supply of Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. Now I'm ready for her.

Affection

And just because I can, here's another Photo Friday entry. I took this on Valentine's Day, judging from the hearts on the shirts.

Aren't they adorable?

Photo (New Flash!) Friday

I finally got the SB-600 Speedlight external flash for my camera. I've been talking about getting it for months, talked to a few people about all the pros and cons of different models, and gathered bits of information on the internet. I finally bit the bullet and bought the thing. It came yesterday. It's beautiful. I think I'm in love.

So, today's Photo Friday is an example of how I've been testing it out. I love how I can rotate and swivel the flash to all angles-straight up, sideways, sideways on a 45 degree angle, backwards...the possibilities seem endless. It seems to get me the best light downstairs if I swivel it and bounce it off a side wall verses the ceiling or the wall behind my subjects. So so so much fun! When I stops raining, I'll go play with it outside. And maybe, just maybe, I'll read the directions sometime this weekend.

So, here you go. This first one is NOT attractive of me, so you must ignore the subject, but it is with just the new flash pointing at the ceiling. Joel shot it, obviously, as you can see his reflection in the window behind me.And here's the one with the external flash pointing to the right. It's so much cleaner and sharper. Yet, again, not so attractive of me.This is in the family room at about 10am this morning. There's a sliding glass door to the right of Kate. That's where all the light in the room comes from. Here's one without the flash.And here's one with the flash.

And finally, my two favorite photos that I took this morning. These were taken in the kitchen. The window is behind me and I bounced the flash off the cupboard to my left.Happy Friday!

Up Close with Kate

I don't know what it is lately, but Kate just seems the perfect candidate for up close and personal shots. Maybe it's because she hasn't developed the fake smile yet. Or maybe it's because she's too young to know to be self-conscious when someone points a camera at her. Whatever the reason, I love snapping photos of her. Here are a few more from our romp at the park on Friday.

Photo Saturday-Playtime

Coley and Jalyn have been visiting us for a couple days on their way to their new home in Oklahoma, so Photo Friday didn't really happen. Four loud girls under the age of 5 don't for blogging time make. But here are some photos, only one day late, to show how much fun we've been having over the last couple days.

Waiting for C and J to arrive, we were playing outside at dusk. Padyn had me trace her body and the ground. You know, like a crime scene. We're good like that.Kate kept saying, "Cassle, cassle (castle)." I thought she was talking about drawing a castle, but she said no. Then she stood the chalks up and said it again. Apparently, building castles isn't just for the sand.New favorite game outside-pushing babydoll and stroller around the driveway.It was a beautiful day here yesterday, so we headed to the park. The three older girls walked the 1/2 mile there and back with minimal complaints. You better believe they were ready for naptime when it rolled around that afternoon.

Two blondies playing in the sand.Coley and Padyn.Snack time-Jalyn and Padyn enjoying their dried fruit snacks.Kate and Jalyn swinging at the same speed. They thought it was pretty cool.

Monkey girl...and yes. She has no shoes on.

Happy Weekend. And have a good trip, W's. We love you.

And This One, Too

I Love This Girl

This is my favorite picture that I took of Padyn last week.

You Don't Have to Be Rich To Be My Girl...

Prince's classic song, Kiss, came on the radio while we were driving home this evening. I told Padyn what it was called and that a man named Prince sang it. Then I instructed her to listen closely for the kissing part.

She listened intently for about 8 seconds, then asked what I thought was a very profound question:

Mommy, why does he sing like a girl?

She's not the only one who's ever wondered that...

Photo Friday-Papa's Birthday

Sorry it's been quiet around here this week. Lots of stuff going on. But enough excuses...

Today was Papa's birthday. (I won't embarrass him by telling you how old he is.) Bella, her baby brother Trevor, and their Mommy flew up from So. Cal. today just for the occassion. They are staying with us this weekend. How excited do you think Padyn is? Yes, very.

Here's a few I took tonight. Bella and Padyn decorated the cake that I made. Do you like the green frosting? It was a compromise. They wanted pink and purple. The Mommies didn't think Papa would like that so much, so we got the girls to agree on green with yellow accents. And the sprinkles, of course. What good is homemade cream cheese frosting without sprinkles?Hanging out with Auntie.Papa and his girls.

Kate figuring out the puzzles...notice her pink sparkley shoes?Hey look...it's Baby Trevor eating at the table! Oh wait, that's Trevor eating the table. Bella and Kate dancing to "Jump"Apparently, this is Kate's new smile. Oh yes, and that is an infant car seat she's sitting in.

Happy Birthday, Papa. And Happy Friday to all the rest of you.

All Bagged Up

Yesterday, Kate asked me for a bag. It was this funny mix of sign language and incoherent speech that took me about a minute and a half to figure out what she was asking for. (I don't know how I figured it out...I'm brilliant, I guess.) She's never done that before and I had no idea what she wanted it for, but I gave it to her anyway. I figured, what could it hurt to give my toddler a plastic bag to play with? Any responsible parent would have done the same.

Well, here's what she did with the bag.

All the little fridge magnets went into it. It was very impressive how quickly she stuck them all in.

And then they all got dumped out. Big surprise.

After that, the bag was abandoned in the corner of the kitchen and she moved on to destroying her sister's coloring book. Well, coloring in it. But Padyn was sure that she was destroying it.

Photo Friday-Sisterly Love

The girls have been very lovey-dovey with one another as of late. Kate is always giving Padyn hugs and most of the time Miss P reciprocates. These are a couple shots I got this week of them loving each other. Ok, it's only two photos, but I promise...they have been much more loving lately.

Here's a few other cute ones to ease you into the weekend.

Happy Friday.

Long Morning

I waited 3 hours this morning to register Padyn for Kindergarden for next year.

Three hours.

And we might be moving this summer. So I may have to do it all again.

How insane is that?

Sometimes this over-achieving parenting thing drives me insane. Not my own parenting mind you...it's the over-achievement of others that forces me to over-achieve just so we can be average. It's kindergarden, people! Not an ivy league university.

Does that make any sense?

Anyway, three hours-1 1/2 in line outside, in the bitter cold, and 1 1/2 in a room, sitting on the floor, waiting for my number to be called. Oh, did I mention both girls were with me?

I have the most wonderful children on the face of the planet.

I also had M&M's, which helped my children be wonderful.

Now they are napping. I think I will, too.