So in just a few short hours Ansley officially turns 2! The past week it has been quite obvious... 'I do it on my own!' This statement has been made off and on the past few months, but it became her slogan this past week. In most ways it has been a blessing so far. Since Shirley was born it has been a little hard to help her all the time, not really hard actually, just a little frustrating when she asks for help on the easy things she's had no problem doing for a while. Now though she likes doing most things on her own which is wonderful for me and Shirley, fun to watch, and at the same time a little scary as she tries the navigate the stairs without the railing. Last Sunday was when it became obvious she was turning two, this is the day she began getting into things without asking. Lotion is her all time favorite as she enjoys caking it in her hair:) Right now I'm enjoying her new found independence, I'm sure in the near future I will start to be aggitated. Hopefully though I'll be able to remind myself that it is just a stage and something she needs to go thru to gain her independence, build character, and learn.
Yesterday we had a Hannah Montana all Glitter Birthday Party! Some would say why do you go thru all the trouble for something they won't remember... EASY ANSWER! For myself!!! I had so much fun!!! I know Ansley did too, it was so enjoyable to see her play with all the glitter, dance to Hannah's music, dress up like hannah montana, blow out her candles, and thank her friends for all the wonderful gifts. All the mom's seamed to enjoy themselves too, and the girls will live their memory thru the awesome pictures Brady took. Check them out at his flickr site, link to the right:) When it was all over Ansley and I sat down on the couch and giggled. I asked her if she had fun, and there was an immediate 'YES!' and 'I love you Mom!' and even 'Thank You So Much!' 'I loved my Hannah Party Montana!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Movie Theatre
I love being a mom. I know, I know, I say that everyday, but it couldn't be more true after a day like today. The beginning of this week I came up with the idea of taking Ansley to the movies. She has become such a couch potato these past few weeks. I don't blame her either, being all couped up because of keeping Shirley healthy, and of course that gross icky inversion air! Then with me working, what else is she to do. So her current favorites are Hannah Montana, Beauty & the Beast, the Grinch, Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Stick It, Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell & the Lost Treasure, Finding Nemo, with the occasional Mulan, Little Mermaid, & Lion King thrown in:) We've tried a couple of others so that we have variety, but those are the ones she seems to stick to. Anyways she does really good at sitting thru movies, it's quite funny actually to see her playing, and then pause because one of her favorite parts is on. She'll sing and dance and talk back to the movies, I love it!
So today I had to go out for my follow up doctor appointment and thought it would be a good day to try Ansley's first time at the movie theatre. We woke up excited for our day. We went to the doctor's office and I could not believe how good both girls were. Shirley slept pleasantly and Ansley listened to everything I asked of her. She even took a minute to sit on the floor with one of the nurses outside of the office while I chatted with the doc. I couldn't believe she didn't scream for me when the door closed. We had quite a bit of time between the doctor and the movie, and we didn't have time for breakfast before we left, so I thought it would be fun to go to McDonald's. When she saw where we are going she got so excited and squealed that she got to play with the piano. How do little ones have such great memories? So we had breakfast and played for an hour. The movie was supposed to start at 11:50 so I allowed myself plenty of time to take care of both girls and get settled in. Ansley took her time walking to the movie theatre once we got out of the car... she was just happy to finally be outside after all this time, and since she'd never been, she didn't really know what I was saying when we were going to the movie theatre. When we got inside though she was mesmerized.
When was the last time you took in the whole movie theatre experience? I don't think you realize the tall ceilings, the flashing lights, the food stands, and the ticket counter, it's all just common place to us, but totally new to Ansley. Sadly though we realize we'd read the movie time wrong and so we would have to come back for the 1pm show. I was devastated, how could my well planned day go so awry! What was I going to do with an almost 2 year old and a 6 week old, postpartum told me just to cry, but lucky enough I get more sleep with Shirley and was able to keep my emotions in check.
I decided to just do a little bit of grocery shopping to kill the time, and you would of thought Ansley had won the lottery when I mentioned the idea to her. She loves grocery shopping, and what a treat since she hadn't been in so long. She got to ride in the car cart, carry her own basket of groceries, and buy a package of Tic Tacs. She was in heaven. Finally the hour was spent and we were back onto our movie adventure. She took even more time outside of the theatre this time as she found the water fountain and wanted to play. But I finally got her inside, and with the same in awe reaction we slowly made our way to the bathroom, the concession stand for popcorn and root beer, and eventually to our theatre.
As we made our way up the stairs to our seats she asked, "At the Jazz Game?" It made me realize that of course she should do good during the movie, she's been to a couple of Jazz Games and has been great! I got her the booster seat, handed her the popcorn and soda, and she was content. Of course this was just the beginning. She watched as all other movie goers arrived and found their seats. Didn't pay too much attention to the advertisements on the big screen. And just chatted away till all of a sudden the lights dim, and the screen turns bright, and a huge boom sounds out in the theatre. Ansley doesn't scare easily, but she certainly was scared, she had no idea what was going on, so she grabbed my hand and looked at me for reassurance. Once she realized everything was OK she was amazed. I cannot count the number of times I looked over and saw her happy with her jaw dropped so far her chin touched her chest:) Needless to say she loved it. She participated just like she does at home, laughing, screaming, talking back, and staring. How did I luck out to have such a good little girl? What other girl that is a week and a half away from turning two would sit through a movie like she did?
Now for Shirley... I can't say that I was worried, or nervous, cuz she is such a good baby, hardly ever crying, sleepy, and just content. But I didn't really know what to think because there was no way we would have ever attempted it with Ansley. We've had quite a few friends that said they had gone with their babies and it was a piece of cake. Sure enough with Shirley it was. I fed her, patted her, and held her, she was in heaven, mommy got to hold her the whole time:) What I loved though... since our movie time got changed it happened to be one of her awake times, and as I held her I could tell she was wondering what was going on. It was dark, but noisy, so I finally decided to turn her around so that she could see the movie, and she seemed to love it! Every time I looked down at her I could see her eyes moving around with the action on the screen.
As I said before, I LOVE BEING A MOM! I just hope that when we have more children that I take the time with them that I do my two girls, and relish in all of their firsts (and mine!)
BTW- we saw Disney's The Princess & The Frog.
So today I had to go out for my follow up doctor appointment and thought it would be a good day to try Ansley's first time at the movie theatre. We woke up excited for our day. We went to the doctor's office and I could not believe how good both girls were. Shirley slept pleasantly and Ansley listened to everything I asked of her. She even took a minute to sit on the floor with one of the nurses outside of the office while I chatted with the doc. I couldn't believe she didn't scream for me when the door closed. We had quite a bit of time between the doctor and the movie, and we didn't have time for breakfast before we left, so I thought it would be fun to go to McDonald's. When she saw where we are going she got so excited and squealed that she got to play with the piano. How do little ones have such great memories? So we had breakfast and played for an hour. The movie was supposed to start at 11:50 so I allowed myself plenty of time to take care of both girls and get settled in. Ansley took her time walking to the movie theatre once we got out of the car... she was just happy to finally be outside after all this time, and since she'd never been, she didn't really know what I was saying when we were going to the movie theatre. When we got inside though she was mesmerized.
When was the last time you took in the whole movie theatre experience? I don't think you realize the tall ceilings, the flashing lights, the food stands, and the ticket counter, it's all just common place to us, but totally new to Ansley. Sadly though we realize we'd read the movie time wrong and so we would have to come back for the 1pm show. I was devastated, how could my well planned day go so awry! What was I going to do with an almost 2 year old and a 6 week old, postpartum told me just to cry, but lucky enough I get more sleep with Shirley and was able to keep my emotions in check.
I decided to just do a little bit of grocery shopping to kill the time, and you would of thought Ansley had won the lottery when I mentioned the idea to her. She loves grocery shopping, and what a treat since she hadn't been in so long. She got to ride in the car cart, carry her own basket of groceries, and buy a package of Tic Tacs. She was in heaven. Finally the hour was spent and we were back onto our movie adventure. She took even more time outside of the theatre this time as she found the water fountain and wanted to play. But I finally got her inside, and with the same in awe reaction we slowly made our way to the bathroom, the concession stand for popcorn and root beer, and eventually to our theatre.
As we made our way up the stairs to our seats she asked, "At the Jazz Game?" It made me realize that of course she should do good during the movie, she's been to a couple of Jazz Games and has been great! I got her the booster seat, handed her the popcorn and soda, and she was content. Of course this was just the beginning. She watched as all other movie goers arrived and found their seats. Didn't pay too much attention to the advertisements on the big screen. And just chatted away till all of a sudden the lights dim, and the screen turns bright, and a huge boom sounds out in the theatre. Ansley doesn't scare easily, but she certainly was scared, she had no idea what was going on, so she grabbed my hand and looked at me for reassurance. Once she realized everything was OK she was amazed. I cannot count the number of times I looked over and saw her happy with her jaw dropped so far her chin touched her chest:) Needless to say she loved it. She participated just like she does at home, laughing, screaming, talking back, and staring. How did I luck out to have such a good little girl? What other girl that is a week and a half away from turning two would sit through a movie like she did?
Now for Shirley... I can't say that I was worried, or nervous, cuz she is such a good baby, hardly ever crying, sleepy, and just content. But I didn't really know what to think because there was no way we would have ever attempted it with Ansley. We've had quite a few friends that said they had gone with their babies and it was a piece of cake. Sure enough with Shirley it was. I fed her, patted her, and held her, she was in heaven, mommy got to hold her the whole time:) What I loved though... since our movie time got changed it happened to be one of her awake times, and as I held her I could tell she was wondering what was going on. It was dark, but noisy, so I finally decided to turn her around so that she could see the movie, and she seemed to love it! Every time I looked down at her I could see her eyes moving around with the action on the screen.
As I said before, I LOVE BEING A MOM! I just hope that when we have more children that I take the time with them that I do my two girls, and relish in all of their firsts (and mine!)
BTW- we saw Disney's The Princess & The Frog.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Proof
I figure when they are older I might need proof that they liked to play together and that they shared their toys with each other. Ansley loves having her sister around. If I lay Shirley on the floor, or place her in her bouncer Ansley is immediately by her side. She wants to lay down with her, hug her, kiss her, put a mawkie (blankie) on her, giggle with her, and more when she's laying down. When she's in her bouncer she likes to share all of her toys, currently all the food from her kitchen gets piled up around her. Sometimes she tries to feed her the strawberries, other times she tries to entertain her by standing on her step stool and singing and dancing for her. Whatever it is that Ansley wants to do though Shirley accepts, most of the time happier than when Ansley is not around. Shirley could be fussy, or crying, but as soon as Ansley comes up to play she stops and just watches as Ansley plays. You'll see a smile creep up on her face as she arrives and contentment as she stays. These two love each other now, however everyone tells me to just wait. When they get older they'll fight all the time, not want to share a thing, and want to be away from each other as much as possible. I don't doubt the fighting and having a hard time sharing, but I hope that they always love each other and can be each others best friends. Here's to hoping, and here's to the proof in case I need to remind them:)
Monday, January 11, 2010
Similar Yet So Different!
Shirley is only a month old, yet at a month you can already tell so much...
Ansley - had to be held all the time and was (still is) not a good sleeper
Shirley - has to be held all the time when awake and is a great sleeper! (last night 7:30-2:30, then again today 10:30-3:30)
Ansley - acid reflux & milk aversion ---totally squirmy and unhappy
Shirley - acid reflux & milk aversion ---sucks but still happy and smiling
Ansley & Shirley - born looking exactly the same, a day later, looking nothing like sisters except the eye color and friar tuck hair (bald on top, long around the back & sides)
Ansley - fair sensitive skin
Shirley - olive soft skin
Ansley - chunker after 1 week
Shirley - maybe this week will be the last week of newborn size jammers
All this and more after only one month... It's fun seeing the similarities and differences, as they grow older I'm sure I'll see more. One similarity I hope for is that Shirley will pick up on Ansley's personality. I love her thousand expressions and boisterous, yet stranger shy personality. One difference I hope for is that Shirley is not the screamer Ansley was! Lucky for me the best similarity so far is that they both seem to love me beyond measure and that's more than any mom could really hope for!
Smiley Shirley
Some of you have heard me rave about Shirley and how she's been smiling for a little while already. I keep trying to get my favorite smile, but all you mom's know how hard that is. It's her really big, open mouth smile, with down turned cresent moon eyes. Truly adorable, and will be captured on digital film soon!!! In the mean time this smile that Brady was able to capture yesterday will have to do.
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