Songs in the Key of Cute

Nothing like a little daddy-daughter bonding via a good jam session.

You know the atonal music from 2001: A Space Odyssey? Yeah, it was kinda like that.

Color Me Fabulous

We went to The Crayola Factory today with Sophia. Enjoy the artsy action!

Here they are checking out the modeling clay...
...and the sidewalk chalk...
...and the giant sandwich. (Don't ask.)

They had a dance area where you could move around and they'd project your computerized distorted image on the screen...
Here's Boo's image, Warhol-style complete with virtual pigtails.

Solar Flair

A bit of background: Sam LOVES the bottom stair on the staircase leading from the main level upstairs, because the sun hits it full-on and it's just long enough for him to stretch out on.

We came home from work this afternoon, and Alison went straight to the stair and laid down on it, basking in the sun while Sam looked on with this "HEY!" expression.

In hair news, we achieved dual piggies today.

Free Rein

Boo's finally got a leg up...that is to say, the playpen and baby gates have finally been rendered (mostly) obsolete. She's figured out how to climb over them. So this week, we're venturing into uncharted waters by allowing Boo basically free run of the house. (I say 'basically' in that she's still supervised while going up and down stairs and while on certain floors, but we're not restraining her freedom of movement any longer.) Needless to say, those little cabinet latches for the kitchen are looking VERY tempting-- Alison likes to get into the Tupperware and Ziploc baggies, and she's taken to swiping the dustpan and brush...for styling her hair. Yeech.

Due to the snow, I couldn't get over to Penney's until today to get her portraits. They're cute, even if she looks frankly terrified in a couple of them, and in one, my arm didn't get all the way out of the shot in time. Oh well. They're still cute. I'll try and get them in the mail tomorrow (along with your long-overdue Santa portraits).

And now, Boo would like to say hello:

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vvvvvvvvvbvvvvbbbb bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

I Can't Resist a Gratuitous Star Wars Reference

Snow Bunny II

(And before everybody emails me, yes, she has gloves-- we went outside for 5 minutes so she could experience what snow feels like.)

Snow Bunny

Aunt Betsy came up this weekend and we all rolled up to the Poconos for a bit of snowtubing yesterday-- it was everybody's first time trying it. Boo seemed to enjoy it the first time, but then the second time she was whining and trying to climb out of the tube.

While it was zooming downhill.

Can't say I blame her-- it was fun, but even us grown-ups thought it was a bit intense. We rode down together in the family-sized tubes, but then took turns watching Boo while the others rode the single tubes. We'll probably do it again, but we'll wait for next year to let Boo grow up a bit first. Like Betsy observed, just because she met the height requirement doesn't mean she meets the maturity requirement!

The best part of the trip was spending time together yelling our heads off. Runner-up was the opportunity to get a shot of Boo in ski gear. Check out the little pink snow boots.

Toastmaster

Alison's new thing is to do "toasts" with her sippy cup if you're also drinking something. She looks at you expectantly, and if you hold up your glass/cup, she'll grin and clink her cup against yours, then drink with her eyes locked on your face. No "cheers!" yet, but give it time. She loves this.

Big Helper

We're training Alison to clean up after herself (something her father and I struggle with ourselves, especially me). We've found that, if we make it into a game, she gets into it. A lot of times if you just pick up one thing and put it away, she'll immediately ape you and want to do it herself. I'll hand her toys and she'll have a blast pegging them into the toy container.

Yesterday she helped unload the dishwasher. I had her hand me the cups and dishes (yes, even the breakable stuff-- nothing we have is too precious, so if she breaks one in the process of learning, no biggie), and I put them away. She helped me sort spoons and forks and to put her sippy cups up on the shelf (I boosted her up). She did a great job!

(I of course put away the steak knives.)

A Girl's Best Friend

So Boo was being six degrees of dreadful yesterday. Just whiny and crying and refusing to settle down unless she was being held. She wasn't tired, she wasn't hungry, she wasn't sick (for once)-- but she was teething. Two molars at once, to be exact. She usually is pretty blase about cutting teeth, which was why it wasn't my first conclusion.

Anyway, I hooked her up with some Tylenol and Orajel, but she was still quite crabby. So I was sitting with her, trying to distract her somehow, and suddenly she spotted the very thing that dried her tears and made her smile.

Mom's engagement ring.

She pulled it off of my finger and stuck it on her own, holding out her hand to admire her new ice and even doing a little of her I'm-a-LADY-hullo-hullo hand-fluttering.

I told her, "don't get used to it, kid-- your parents are in the education sector."

New words!

She's now got "juice," "shoes," "cheese" and "blue." Yeah, they're all very similar, but she says them distinctly and in the right context. She also knows to nod "yes" now.

Keep your eyes peeled the week of 2/19 for her 18-month portraits. She's getting harder and harder to photograph-- she's still adorable, but she doesn't really want to sit still or smile at a stranger, and I think the little photography umbrellas creep her out a bit. We did manage to get some okay ones-- look for a package in the mail in a couple of weeks!