C is for cookie

Drawing faces (and mushrooms)

Maggie's favorite things to draw are faces (faces with legs to be exact), usually her own, though sometimes she draws the whole family or assorted friends. She also likes to draw the sun, moon and houses (with some help because she gets frustrated that she can't draw the lines as straight as she wants them).

I love this face with the big smile. I think the colored lines on the sides are ears.


In this drawing, the big face on the left is Maggie (with lots of teeth), the smaller one on the right is me, and the little one in the middle is Audrey. The rest of the shapes? "Those are just mushrooms."

Audrey is 20 months old

Happy monthday to Audrey! I just put a bunch of new photos and a video up on Audrey's site.

California Adventure

My mom and I took the girls to Disney's California Adventure today for their first visit. We only stayed a few hours but we did a lot, including the Playhouse Disney stage show, which Maggie loved. She was on her feet and dancing during most of it.

Maggie is 3.5 years old

Happy 3 1/2 birthday to Maggie!


Three is a fun age--challenging to be sure, but easier than what came before. Having a child who is potty trained, can dress herself (not that she always does so willingly), goes to preschool three days a week, spends chunks of time playing alone, is trustworthy enough to go in the backyard by herself, and knows (mostly) not to do dangerous things like run into the street or stand on the kitchen counter (unlike a certain 19-month-old I know) is nice.

Maggie loves going to preschool every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. She takes her lunch (turkey sandwich, fruit, juice box and crackers, pretzels or cookies) and twice a week she takes something for "sharing." Usually this is a random toy or book, but she has also shared special items like the ultrasound picture of the new baby. When I pick her up from school she gives me a huge hug and is excited to tell me what she did and show me her artwork. She keeps me apprised of her ever-shifting friendships: "Shayna is my best friend. I love my Shayna girl." "Shayna isn't my best friend today." "I have two new best friends...and they're BOYS!" When we leave, all the kids call out "Bye Maggie!" and wave and sometimes run over for a hug.

Maggie likes to help me cook on occasion, and for every meal she chooses forks and spoons for Audrey and herself. She isn't a terribly picky eater and is predictable in what she will and won't eat. Her favorite foods are fruit, Frosted Mini Wheats, bubble juice (mineral water with a splash of juice), rootbeer (a special treat she and Robert share sometimes), edamame, salami, black olives, popcorn, hard boiled eggs and noodles with parmesan.

She loves to do art projects of any kind, though painting is her favorite. She also loves to dance. We often put on a CD, clear the toys out of the way and dance. She attends ballet class every Saturday and loves it. She gets to class early and goes right into the studio, stands on a mark and starts to warm up in first position. Just last week her teacher commented on how well she's doing.

She really likes watching TV and watches more than she should, probably. But it doesn't seem to have cramped her intelligence or imagination. Her imaginative play has grown a lot lately. She likes to dress up in princess outfits and assign roles (lovely princess, handsome prince, mean witch, good witch, monster, ghost, etc.) . She directs the action, which often involves going from room to room looking for bad guys, who are then vanquished by a flashlight, silly faces, loud singing and other tactics.

I guess I could go on and on trying to capture Maggie at this stage, but I fear that merely cataloging what she does and says won't do her justice. She is bright and funny, cautious and imaginative, moody and affectionate, talkative and empathetic, creative and smart, lovely to look at and listen to and hold and love. She makes me feel proud, protective, tired, aggravated and important. I love her more than I can say or even hint at. She's my sweet, silly, wonderful girl and sometimes I want to hold her to me and memorize with my whole body who she is right now, even though I know my mind won't really and truly remember. But I'll hold on tight anyway.

I love the library

I've blogged before about my recently discovered love of the public library. After years of buying books I now cannot stand to fork over cash unless the book is by a beloved author and will live on my bookshelf forever. Instead I troll Amazon for ideas (and solicit suggestions from friends--the last time I asked all of you I got some great recommendations) and request the books from my library. I have a success rate of about 50-75%, meaning the books I like well enough to finish. And if I check out a book and only read the first five pages before throwing it aside in disgust, well, at least I didn't pay $10 or $20 for the privilege!

What I really wanted to report, though, was that I took Audrey to a new (new to us) toddler storytime at a branch I hadn't visited before. It was fantastic! There were about 20 moms (or nannies) with toddlers age 9-24 months and a wonderful librarian who led songs and rhymes, read two books, doled out crackers and directed a craft project. Audrey had a great time--much better than at the preschool storytime I used to drag the girls to (she was too young for that one). I think we'll make it a weekly habit.

My sweethearts

Two things I adore about my girls:

They have better manners than many (most?) adults I encounter. Please, thank you, excuse me come naturally to their lips. My father-in-law commented that he asked Audrey to bring him something, and when he said thank you she answered clear as anything: "You're welcome."

They show affection without abandon. Maggie will hug and kiss me as much as I'll let her, and sometimes talks baby talk to me: "My sweetie baby tootsie Mommy." Audrey has learned how to give proper kisses and does so frequently. She will grab someone's face and plant a big smackeroo right on the lips! The other day she came up to me and said, unprompted, "I yuv you, Mommy."

My heart melts...

The Grove

We went on a short outing yesterday to the Grove shopping center and L.A. Farmer's Market. The girls loved seeing the fountains and water features, and eating strawberry crepes for "lunch." (I don't think it counts as a real lunch when all you consume is strawberries and whipped cream.)

Art project

Yesterday afternoon I let the girls finger paint and make a mess in the backyard. They loved it, and I only regretted it mildly when Audrey smeared her painted hands on the patio tiles.

Arboretum

Double trouble. People ask me all the time if they're twins, which I think is nuts, but I guess in the stroller they almost look the same size:

Feeding the ducks and geese and turtles and things:

Maggie honked at the geese. She liked them well enough as long as they kept their distance:

Audrey thought the bread was pretty tasty. One for the ducks, one for me. One for the geese, two for me:
Glam, as always:

And Audrey too

Here's Audrey showing off her pretty dress and the valentine she made for her best sweetheart, Daddy!

Happy Valentine's Day

Maggie set off for preschool this morning with her 32 valentines. She decorated the fronts of the cards with markers and paint, and wrote her "M" inside each one (I didn't have her try to write her whole name, which would have taken an eternity). I wrote "Maggie" underneath and attached a heart, bow and heart-shaped crayons. Maggie and I made these by breaking crayons into pieces and melting them in the oven in a heart muffin pan.

More for the fans

I just posted a clip from the ultrasound video on the baby's site (with appropriate music added, of course, thanks to my brother David who knows how to find anything on the internet).

I'm also thinking about whether we should get another 3D ultrasound in a few weeks. The doctor we went to, who is pretty much the best at this, now offers a service where for $250 you get a medical evaluation and pretty pretty pictures of your baby's face. The best time to see the baby is supposed to be between 24-32 weeks, because of the size and fat the baby has put on. It is tempting.

IT'S A GIRL!

Three girls! We couldn't be happier!

All I have right now is this one image of her (sweet, beautiful, perfect) face, but I'm hoping to post some of the footage from the ultrasound DVD tonight. Check Baby Girl's website for updates.

Home again

We're home. After 7 days, 6 nights away, it's nice to be back. We went for one last small outing this morning in Lake Arrowhead to feed the ducks and finally eat at a Belgian waffle restaurant we'd been eying all week. After that we were anxious to get on the road and come home.

I'm posting the last few photos, including some shots of Maggie playing "arrowhockey." She had a blast playing this all week and got to be pretty good at it. She was thrilled every time she scored a goal and made up a special victory dance to celebrate.

Snow

Since the snow refuses to come to us, we went to the snow: a manufactured snow hill with tubing, a little chair lift and an alpine slide (sort of a cross between a flume and a go kart--Robert and Maggie loved it).

Ducks and things

Yesterday my parents arrived to fulfill their grandparent shift on our vacation. After Audrey immediately claimed her Gaga's orange hat as her own, we headed to the lake to feed ducks ("quack-quacks" according to Audrey) and play on the little lakeside playground.

A study in the difference between Maggie and Audrey: Maggie enjoyed throwing handfuls of duck food down to the water several feet below, but didn't want a duck anywhere near her. Audrey on the other hand kept gleefully chasing after the ducks saying "quack-quack! Here!" and pointing at bits of duck food that she had dropped on the ground. I think she was trying to lure one close enough to touch, or maybe pick up and hug and love forever, or maybe inspect scientifically, but the ducks were wise enough to keep their distance.

That was the only exciting outing of the day. Other than that we went grocery shopping, sat around the house while Audrey napped and Maggie grumped her way through another viewing of Disney's Robin Hood, went out for Mexican food for dinner, and got the girls to bed and watched American Idol.

Forest adventure

And I do mean adventure. We set off today intending to take a short, easy hike with the girls. We found a trail that was open and looked easy, and didn't bother to take anything except the camera with us. It was great for a while and the girls had fun filling their buckets with pine cones, sticks and leaves.



We encountered some patches of snow and had to walk across a few icy spots on the trail, but we were warm and the footing wasn't too difficult. Somebody kept assuring me that the trail was only a quarter-mile loop and we were almost at the end.


We had to forge across larger and larger icy and muddy spots on the trail, until we finally encountered a stretch of snow and ice on a steep hillside. I wanted to turn back but somebody picked up Maggie, trudged ahead and convinced me to follow. There I was, pregnant, wearing sneakers, holding a 25-pound toddler in my arms, walking along the path you see below. Yep, I even had to make it around that rocky outcrop. That was the part where I started crying and insisting that I was going to slip and tumble down the mountain with Audrey.

I made it across safely and we continued on the trail. When I looked back to take this photo, I couldn't believe I had walked that path in my ridiculous shoes holding Audrey on top of my belly. We finished the rest of the trail (which turned out to be seven-tenths of a mile, not a quarter mile as somebody had assured me) and were even able to pose for a nice family photo.


Except for the part where I cried, this hike was the most fun I've had so far on this trip (and not just because somebody is making me say so).

Meeting the animals

Big Bear has a little zoo, where the girls were very excited to see rescued bears, wolves, eagles and other interesting animals.

There's the lake

Lake Arrowhead

We're in Lake Arrowhead, a mere 80 miles from L.A. but a completely different look and feel (and sound--we are loving the quiet here). The house we're renting is very nice and is truly in the middle of the forest (albeit with other houses nearby, but you can't have everything). The view from the back of the house is beautiful; the backyard is basically the downslope of a rocky, tree-covered mountain. We ventured back there to explore but Maggie was nervous and Audrey wasn't nervous enough, so we didn't last long.


We did better on a little walk up the street in front of the house. Maggie was delighted to discover some patches of icy snow. She gladly scooped up a handful but quickly dropped it because "it brrrs my hands."
Later today Robert's parents are coming up to cook and babysit share our mountain retreat. We're looking forward to exploring more of the area and enjoying the beautiful weather. It's supposed to be in the 80s at home today--yuck! Here it's sunny with a high of 67. Ahh!

Today's craft project

Dapper hats, courtesy of Lego