You can go your own way...

"Skunk!" 

This is the enthusaistic response I got from Annie when I asked her what animal she has choosen to be in the class play.  The theme is nature, and each child is supposed to play an animal that they might find on the school's playground (or at the fancy-pancy school we attend, the "playscape".)  I suppose there are some good things about her choice, such as the fact that a skunk is a real animal, unlike her first choice - the elusive chipmonkey.  I can also probably come up with a reasonably inexpensive and easy skunk costume.

But of course sweet Abbigail will be a robin, darling Sammy will be a little ladybug, and precious Emma will be a butterfly.  Even the boys are going to be dressing up like chipmunks and other cute little woodland animals.  But not Annie.  I just pray that she doesn't run around trying to spray people.  

Please let this be a sign that we are raising an independent, fiesty little stinker girl.

Crawling!

Okay, this is nearly too dark to be seen at all, but it is evidence nonetheless that Finn can crawl!  Hooray!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PZc_gCzvns

Photo Shoot in England

While we were in England for Christmas we decided to have a photographer come to try to capture all the little ones together while they are still little. To say that the one-hour session was completely exhausting is a fairly dramatic understatement.  There were tears and frowns from every single child at some point during the hour, and many of the grown ups considered joining in.  Okay, maybe that was just me.  But we DID come away with some really cute shots of kids and families. Here are some of my favs.

Finn totally hamming it up, Annie unsure what to do.



All the cousins and NOBODY IS CRYING OR FROWNING!  Total victory!



I love this one - all the Coopers.

This is my favorite of the Toshs, because Millie is giving that little coy grin.

At this point, my kids had long since resorted to frowning, but I still think it is cute.

Selected photos from Christmastime

Our pre-Christmas time in the states was very busy and full of lots of seasonal fun!  Below are just a few shots from the cookie decorating party we hosted for five 2 year olds (went of without a hitch, thank you very much!) and our Christmas celebration with Grandma and Grandpa.  We also took the kids to the Santa Wonderland at Bass Pro Shops, which did NOT go off without a hitch, but we did get one photo of the kiddos with Santa. It is not what one would call a good photo.

Merry Christmas!

Finally - a nice photo of Finn and Mommy!

Cute as a bug - thanks for the fabulous leg warmers, Grandma!

A little special Daddy-Daughter sing-a-long time.

Cute antlers - again thanks to Grandma!

All smiles!



Its hard to get these two looking the same direction in any photo, much less looking cute. This is how most of our photos seem to turn out - blurry Finn, cheesy-smiling Annie.

Pre-cookie decorating snack.  Let's front load with protein!

Thank goodness everybody had their own helper!  Annie's best friends all came - Sofia, Max, Nolan and Sammy Grace.

Note to other parents - little individual cups of decorations are a must.

 

Trying to get some photos of Finn on his 6 month birthday - with a a little extra "help" from Annie.

He loves Sadie!

Not too sure about the idea of Santa, though...

Our not-good photo from Bass Pro.  We'll take what we can get! 

More photos to follow from our adventure to England!  We had a very merry English Christmas, full of mince pies, cousins playing beautifully together and visits with old friends.

Finn - 6 month stats

I started to write a fairly whiny post about how I'm home from work again since my fever came back, we've all been sick, whine, whine, whine.  But I figure that in 10 years I will want to look back on happier memories, so here we go with Finn's six month stats.  Or course, he is now only a week shy of 7 months, but we'll take what we can get.  And the video below is from when he was 5 months, but I can't seem to get blogger to let me post a picture right now, so this will have to do.  If you can see past (and hear over) a certain rambuncious 2 1/2 year old, you can catch his winning smile and adorable giggles.

Height - 27 1/4 inches - 75th percentile
Weight - 19 lb, 4 ounces - 75th percentile
Head - 17 inches - 50th percentile

Skills and accomplishments: Finn has been a master sitter since he was 4 months old.  He cruised two steps last week.  He already has 5 teeth!

Still working on:  crawling, agreeing to lay on tummy for more than 15 seconds without crying and rolling over to back, sleeping through the night.

Finn will not: sleep on his tummy, eat any baby food with bananas in it.

Finn loves: Annie, more than anything in the world; walks around the neighborhood in the front pack; watching other kids and babies play; baths with Daddy (no so much with Mommy); diaper changes.

Comparisons - yes, I know we aren't supposed to do this, but every parent does:  (1) Finn sleeps about the same, or maybe a little worse than Annie; (2) Finn isn't crawling, though Annie did at 6 months (I think he's too heavy to hoist himself around);  (3) Finn is much more contemplative than Annie, he prefers to sit back and take things in; (4) Finn eats all food we will give him except bananas, where Annie was picky; (5) Finn is much bigger than Annie was at this age, and she wasn't particularly small.

Santa - what a difference a year makes!

Check out this precious picture of Annie with Santa this year!  Yes, that is my happy, confident, non-screaming child!

Contrast with last year - my unhappy, stranger-fearing, loudly screaming child.

And because I'm feeling nostalgist, here she is at 9 months old.  Yes, that is the very same Santa three years running. Yes, I am sure that is Annie and not Finn...but only because Finn doesn't have that much hair yet. Otherwise, it would be a tough call.

Quote of the Day

“Let us decide on the route that we wish to take to pass our life, and attempt to sow that route with flowers.”


-Madame du Chatelet