Little Lover

Annabel is the kissiest girl I've ever met, and it's so sweet. Often she'll be nursing and start to squirm and pop off, and I'm wishing she would just be still and go about her business. Then she raises her face up to mine and comes in for a kiss. And I think, "Well, that's the kind of interruption I can handle."

Although, sometimes she has five or six kisses for me in one minute. Super-sweet, but it may get to be a bit much. Michiel's trying to teach her the wonders of the closed-mouth kiss. Right now she's pretty much a french kisser.

First Words

It's so difficult to know what a baby's first words are. Annabel has been saying "ma-ma-ma" and "ba-ba-ba" and "da-da-da" for months, but is she connecting those sounds to things and ideas, or is she simply practicing?

Of course, the first time she came toward me saying, "ma-ma-ma," I knew she meant "mama." Then she turned and toddled over to Grandpa saying, "ma-ma-ma." Then Grandma, then Jo-Jo, then Michiel. (I bet she was trying to say his name--"ma-ma-chiel!")

It's tempting for us parents to hear words in everything our little ones utter. But recently, Annabel's mouth has been bubbling over with almost-words. When she signs "done" she always accompanies it with, "da-da-da."

She says, "bubbuh," when she wants us to sing the bubble song. Other times, she'll walk up to my legs, tip her head back to look into my eyes, and say, "up, up, up," in this clipped little staccato. She says, "baby," when she looks at her book of baby faces and, "eye," when she jabs her finger at their eyes.

But the cutest thing she says right now is "ba-woo," for "balloon." We've had a couple of birthday celebrations recently, and there are still renegade balloons floating around the house. Annabel likes to point at them (or dive for them) and say, "ba-woo!"

Still, her most arresting way of communicating is to crawl up to me, grab my pantlegs, and start whine-crying. Words are refreshing.

One Year Old

Earlier this week we celebrated Annabel's first birthday with a simple family meal, gifts,

and of course, CAKE. I made the same kind as for Alexander's first birthday--applesauce cake with whipped cream on top.

Annabel didn't really know what to do with the whipped cream.

She ate a bit, but seemed more interested in feeding it to those seated next to her.

The next day was her actual birthday, and we started off the day with a skype date with oma and opa...and a second helping of cake. It was a nice little party.

After that we headed to the carousel in Salem where she had her first carousel ride.

Next we played at the park, where Annabel discovered what that whole slide thing is about. She loved it so much, she didn't want to stop.

First Tooth

Finally! She's almost a year old and she got her first tooth on Feb. 16th 2011.

Here we were, monitoring the bottom because kids usually get their first teeth in the bottom front. Meanwhile, one sneaks in on top...the front top left, to be exact. And there's another about to push through right below it.

Whenever she's been fussy in the last 6 months, we chalk it up to teething. Now, she actually is teething and doesn't seem particularly fussy or drooly. Go figure.

Belzilla

We've got another nickname for Annabel that not everyone has heard yet: Belzilla.

We use this name when Alexander's working on building something with Duplo or piecing together a puzzle or anything that can be disrupted by the flailing arms and legs of a curious baby.

We warn Alexander: "Uh-oh, Belzilla's coming!" and then help him protect his creation, if need be. Much of the time though, he gets into the spirit of it and laughs with glee as she decimates the tower he's working on.

It doesn't always work, though. He often gets really mad when she even approaches him while he's playing with something. This sibling stuff is tricky. I think I've been on Annabel's side too much of the time when she wants to "see" what her brother's doing.

"Oh, let your sister come over there. She just wants to see what you're doing."

Two minutes later, she's derailed his train and is making off with the bridge piece.

I remember how important my every creation was to me when I was little, and I think I need to remember that when Alexander's yelling at Annabel for coming close to him. She's definitely old enough to understand that ruining his stuff isn't okay.

I guess she can only be Belzilla for so long.

Alexander's 4th Birthday

Alexander had one shabang of a birthday. I can't believe he's 4 already! He's such a little man. He started off his birthday with a song and presents in bed then padded down the hallway to find the entire house decorated with balloons and slingers.


At school they had a special celebration called a Birthday Walk. The children stand in a circle around a candle (symbolizing the sun.) Alexander holds a globe and walks around the candle four times, one time for each year of his life. Each time around the teacher reads from a sheet of info that we provided. "When Alexander was one he went to live in the Netherlands...." I hear it was a joyful celebration.

In the afternoon, a few of his friends came over for a party. Michiel constructed an obstacle course and led a game of cooperative musical chairs.

The weather was clear but cold--good enough to play outside. The kids decorated individual slices of cake.

Later in the evening, the family came over for dinner and cake. And when I say "the family," I mean everyone related and living in Silverton. Let's just say there were 13 adults, 5 kids, and 2 babies. And we don't have a huge house!

Alexander got so many amazing gifts--a dragon tent, play doh, art supplies, Cars duplo, binoculars, a logging truck, games, books, movies. To prevent the gift-opening from becoming a mad free-for-all, we implemented a bell. Every time it rang, he got to open a new gift. It worked wonderfully, and the evening progressed at a good pace.

Alexander had requested a Lightning McQueen cake this year, so I spent a couple of hours creating this beauty:

I'm perfecting my technique. By the time Annabel starts requesting cakes I'll be able to do a 3-D fairy land or a butterfly that flaps its wings!

The whole day was a huge success, and Alexander loved it! Best of all, Michiel and I never got stressed out and not one of the kids had a meltdown.

Birthday Boyness

Alexander's birthday is coming up this Wednesday, and he got his first gift early from his Uncle Eric and Auntie Jo Jo because they won't be around for his birthday. It's a remote control car, his first.

Of course it was a huge hit. He has this new laugh, a deep giggle of pure delight, and for the first 10 minutes he played with it he couldn't stop laughing every time he made it move. So fun to watch!

I feel like this ushers in a new era of boyness. His first remote control car! What's next? Video games? Real tools to replace the plastic ones? We'll see what his birthday brings...

I hope that doesn't sound too ominous. :)

Little Walker

She's walking more and more each day, and it's amazing to see. I find myself missing the crawling already. Pretty soon she'll only crawl when she's pretending to be a horse or a dog. That little butt-twitching crawl is on its way out. She has this funny little gallop to her walk where she leads with one foot while the other sort of brings up the rear. I'm sure that, too, will only last until she masters the whole balance thing.