Finger Painting Ninjas

Apologies to all of the adoring Amelia fans out there who have noted the lack of blog posts over the last two weeks. Between a house-hunting trip in New Jersey (unsuccessful :-( ), both Patrick and Amelia coming down sick for a week with colds (we are done with snot in our house!), and decluttering/staging/cleaning our house for going on the market (tonight!), we haven't taken too many photos or had time to document them until now.

We tried finger painting one morning after a particular fit about food messiness. She definitely wasn't excited about it at first.

What is this stuff on my hands? Can I lick it like you tell me to do with food?

Oops. Well, might as well do some more.

Paint in her left ear. Promptly followed by a bath when she declared that she was all done.

For some reason she thinks mom's underwear goes over her head.

She has begun to love prancing around without clothes on. Will declare "elbow", "hand", "toe", "eye", "arm", "head".

One morning while I was getting ready, she brought in all the diaper changing items from her room - one item at a time - and then brought in her baby and proceeded to change her diaper.

Either one of her two babies or her bunny are her side kick each day; it's pretty random which one gets the coveted position. They end up eating with her (sometimes we can convince her to let them sit by her kitchen sink. Otherwise, she requests a chair or they're on the table.

She's very much into setting a baby up in her high chair and setting the table around her. She actually did this at a friend's house with his play kitchen dishes and he followed her around, setting pretend food in each plate. It's so amazing to watch them mimic us.

Feeding her baby. She requests food and we've decided that carrots are good baby food. Especially since when she's done, Amelia normally finishes them off for baby.

When asked to clean up one day, she shoved all the dishes in the sink. I guarantee you that she learned this from her father.

We've started dressing up in mommy & daddy's shoes. She can even walk around in them (excluding heels).

This has also become a daily occurrence. She packs up her purse, puts on her necklaces and walks around waving and saying "buh bye".

If she puts her crown on herself, it's always upside down.

Sharing churros with Daddy; she demanded whipped cream with each bite!

She and daddy love to blow dry their hair and put their curlers in.

They also have this "ninja" game with my leftover quilt binding scraps that also gets played daily. Baby gets included too.

We hope to have good news soon of selling our house and finding another one in New Jersey!

Valentine's Crafts

We've spent the last few days doing some valentine's crafts. Amelia now says and signs "heart" profusely, demanding them every time we color/draw/craft.

She's beginning to get the concept of foam stickers, although we still have to work on leaving them on the craft, rather than pulling them off and on.

Doesn't this crown go on my head?

Coloring a little sign

and hanging it on her fridge

Decorating a wreath

She definitely doesn't get what a wreath is for yet :)

Making a card for Daddy when he gets home

Do you notice the sticker on her elbow? She's pretty obsessed with stickers going on her arms and on my shirt. She's worn/played with this sticker until all the adhesive is gone, and still carries it around the house with her.

We decorated frames at our playgroup. We might have to put a photo of these three together in it; she's going to miss them when we move!

Stirring their buckets

Happy Valentine's Day!



Announcements

We have two announcements.

 

First - we're packing our boxes and moving! Yes, after just 2 years and 2 months in Virginia, we are moving back to New Jersey. The migration will happen sometime in April, assuming we find a place to live and don't decide to stay in Costa Rica (where we're vacationing in April also).

 

 

 

Second - Amelia is going to be a big sister! This baby is due August 21st. We've had an ultrasound and everything looks good.

  

While the first trimester was definitely worse than with Amelia, we're grateful that the baby appears healthy and is already measuring big. (Been there, done that). If you ask Amelia where the baby is, she'll first point to mommy's tummy, then to her tummy, and finally to the tummy of whoever asked.

Looks like 2013 is going to be another fun year!

Wanderers

Amelia and I had planned on spending a week back in November with our beach-house friends in NJ, but had to cancel due to Amelia running a random high fever. So we rescheduled for this past Tuesday-Saturday. But then our hosts' kids came down with the flu just before our visit so we called up other friends in NJ and asked if we could come stay with them.  We are so thankful for friends who make their homes always open to us, no matter how last minute and whatever they already  had planned.

Peyton, Colin & Amelia

They have quite a selection of puzzles and Amelia loved them.

They even had puzzles that made noises!

Enjoying a morning snack (I promise we put them in regular clothes eventually).

Coloring

These two spent two days sharing snacks, balls, pretend cell phones and giggling at each other

While we stayed with these friends, Jen hosted a big lunch playdate. While some were sick and unable to come, we still ended up with 5 mamas and 11 munchkins. It was all so busy that I failed to take any photos. We also were blessed to have bags of clothes given to us by friends with older girls; let's just say I can go a few weeks without doing Amelia's laundry now. Wahoo!

We then headed over to another set of friends who are moving to LA in two weeks. We were so glad to get to visit with them and weather the winter storm before their move.

Sharing an oreo snack with Christian

Apparantly oreos are a hit

Playing on the pullout sofa bed

Being silly in the big chair

Giving each other 'fist-bumps'

Christian, Michael and Amelia spent the morning playing with the cushion forts that Holly built over and over and over. She's got the mom-of-boys thing down.

 

We then headed out to play in the snow. Amelia's reaction when I set her in it. She's saying "off, off, off" about the snow on her mittens. She really didn't like it at all.

Being pulled around on a sled with Christian.

At least he had fun

My workout for the day.

Once she saw the swing and slide, the rest of us were history

Watching Michael & Christian sled from the comfort of the play house.

Once we were convinced that the roads were clear and our friends were healthy, we headed to the shore. Our friends' furnace on their first floor had died a few weeks ago, but their upstairs heat worked just fine. With Hurricane Sandy reconstruction, all the fix-it companies put them on their schedule for early March. So they recreated a living room in their 4th bedroom and we hung out upstairs.

Eating supper with friends

Sawyer, Delaney & Amelia getting in some evening coloring

Unfortunately that night Amelia woke up with a stomach bug (kid throwing up at a friend's house = top 10 list of worst nights ever) and then passed it on to me. So we decided to cut our trip short and head home after only being there for about 18 hours. Being sick is always easier on your own turf. We got home safely and have been recuperating since. We're bummed about having to leave early, but grateful for friends who understand.

While we were at Christian & Michael's house, Amelia played with their toy helicopter. Holly mentioned that they had received 3 of them as a gift, so she gave Amelia one (still brand new in the box!). I let her play with it when we got home and she is obsessed! And it has allowed me to lie on the couch sick, while she was happily entertained. Thanks friends!

Patrick doesn't mind this helicopter says "Hess Gasoline" on it. He figures they can make great toys even if they make poor gasoline. :)