That's My Lap

Annabel is getting to be quite a strong-willed little girl. And possessive. She will be across the room playing, but if Alexander crawls onto my lap, she'll come charging over to demand (in a high-pitched shriek) that he get off HER mama's lap.

It was funny the first time.

She does it with Michiel too. Apparently, our laps are not to be shared. They are her territory.

And if the two of us (Michiel and I) try to do a little smooching on the couch? Well, you can only imagine the fracas that causes.

No!

Annabel is in a phase right now where she likes to mess with things she knows she's not supposed to get into. She likes to climb onto the couch, grab hold of the floor lamp, and start shaking for all she's worth, all the while looking at me with an impish grin.

If she could talk, I'm sure she would say, "What are you going to do about it?"

Of course, she usually chooses a time for her antics when my hands are full of dirty dishes, poopy diaper, a stack of books, or whatever things a mother's hands are often full of.

Last week, she added something new to her rigmarole.

She was messing with the night light in her room for the umpteenth time that day. I scolded her and put the night light away. Then I stood in front of her in my best parental stance--hands on hips, lips pressed together, stern voice--and said, "No. You are not to touch that. No."

Annabel looked up at me with that mischievous grin and said, "No," in her cute little voice.

She toddled out of the room and went running down the hall chanting, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no."

So, I taught her a new word.

Alexander's Calendar

Alexander and I were reading a book together that mentioned something about the months of the year, and he just took off reciting all the months. I had no idea he knew them so well.

He started off strong with

January, February, March, and April,

got stuck on May,

raced through June, July, and August,

needed help with September,

then finished off with October, November, Friday!

Annabel's First Painting

Here it is:

I mixed a few colors, gave her a brush, and voila! (Actually, she was much more interested in feeling the brush with her finger than putting color on the paper.)

Learning to Write Letters

A couple of weeks ago, Alexander came home with something from school that made my mother's heart flutter. See for yourself:

As far as I know, this is his first attempt at tracing letters. Often he'll write letters on a piece of paper...his name mostly or "I love you." He usually needs help remembering what some of the letters look like. But this is the first time I've seen him try to go for the right size and both upper and lower-case letters.

I love how he got impatient towards the end!

Ag Fest

A weekend or two ago we met up with our friends, the Traeger family, and went to Ag Fest. It was loads of fun! We got to hold rabbits, see sheep sheering, and witness duck herding. We got to pet all sorts of animals--sheep, dwarf goats, shaggy cows, llamas.

Plus, there was all sorts of farm equipment, although the big ones were all locked up and we weren't supposed to climb on them. Alexander and Sage had to settle for being silly in a wheel:

We dug for potatoes, rode little pedal tractors, watched a juggler-comedian, and rounded out the day with dairy wives ice cream. Here are Willow, Alexander, and Sage enjoying theirs:

Annabel was off to the side sampling miner's lettuce.

Questions, Questions

Alexander is full of questions these days. His biggest question of the moment is, "How do you know?" He asks this ALL THE TIME.

If I tell him it's chilly outside, he asks, "How do you know?" Pretty much everything we say (yellow and blue make green, 2+2=4, baby iguanas don't eat candy canes) is met with, "How do you know?"

I suppose this is only the beginning, but already it grates on the nerves. Michiel and I have decided that silly/nonsense answers go a long way for our patience levels, although they frustrate Alexander. He's fond of telling us, "Because doesn't mean anything."

On the flip side, he also asks wonderful questions. The other day while driving home from school he asked me, "When do the numbers end?"

I told him they don't and briefly explained the concept of infinity. Then we played a little game where he thought of a number and I said one that was higher.

A couple of days later, he said to me, "I just don't understand how those silly numbers can keep going on forever."

Silly numbers.