Our Mouse and Strawberry

Hello Little Mouse. What are you doing?

Oh, I see. Are you going to pick that red, ripe strawberry?

But Little mouse, haven't you heard about the big, hungry bear?

Grandma Nancy first got Lesley interested in the book "The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR" by Don and Audry Wood and now our girls love it. Lesley can even "read" most of the book herself. So we thought these costumes were perfect! Granted most people don't get the connection between the mouse and strawberry, but we still got lots of "they are so cute" remarks.

We had a lot of fun going to the zoo this morning and searching for that big hungry bear. If you read the book, the storyteller is the "bear" who is trying to get the mouse to share his strawberry. There isn't actually a bear! But Lesley always wants to know where the bear is, there's no pictures of it in the book because he doesn't exist. We were glad that we could find a BIG HUNGRY BEAR for her this morning.

And she was glad that she got to go trick or treating! Leah also quickly picked up on the grunt and reaching out for candy when Big Sister was getting some in her bag. Luckily for us, they didn't realize we'd be eating the candy until our visit to the zoo was almost over and we only had to tell Lesley "no" 10 times. It could have been much worse!

Leah: 12+ Months

October 28, 2011

Dear Leah,

I've learned a lot from having you girls in my life. First and foremost, there is the uncontrollable love I have for you amazing creatures that somehow were a creation I helped with. I certainly don't feel powerful enough to have been part of that miracle of God. The other thing I've had to accept as a mommy is that plans change, often. With that being said, I'll admit that I missed your one year/12 month letter. It's not because I didn't have things to say or tell you, just time got away from me (again). Unfortunately your birthday is always going to fall during a busy time for me as an accountant so unless I change careers, we will be celebrating early or late (or both!)…and I'll be working lots surrounding your big day. Sorry sweetheart, but that's the brakes. One day I hope you appreciate the value of working hard and being part of team, and recognize that it's not one single moment that might be missed but all the moments in between that count.

My memories of your actual birth day are quite different than my memories with your older sister's birth. Looking back, I like think that there was a sense of calm the day you (finally) joined our family. We had been waiting and waiting and finally 1 week after your due date, you were ready. Things started early in the morning, and Heather came over to stay with Lesley and take her to daycare. I remember standing at the kitchen counter feeling contractions and knowing that was the day. Heather stood next to me for a few minutes and just squeezed my hand as another contraction was upon me. It hurt, but it was a good hurt. Things were changing but we were ready.

If you ask me, Daddy took the long way to the hospital. J I guess I didn't mind too much, but was still anxious to get there and see where "things" were at and maybe try to gauge how quickly you were on your way. We signed our names at the front desk and the nurse said, "We'll check you soon to see if you can stay or if you should go home." I am laughing thinking about that comment. I was 41 weeks pregnant! I'm pretty certain there was no way I would let them send me home. After checking my progress, she quickly looked up and said "We're going to have a birthday today!" Tears were flowing by that point. We were ready to meet you.

Our labor and delivery nurse was not exactly an all-star so we tried to have minimal contact with her. Funny, right? We certainly weren't experts on birthing babies but we felt confident that after surviving Lesley's birth, we could handle this. Plus, we were in the hospital and even if we didn't like the nurse, she was still around and checking on things. A HUGE bonus this time around was the birthing tub. Loved it! Daddy sat next to me and snuck me some bites of pudding. We had the curtain pulled shut around us to try and keep the nurse away as much as we could.

After an hour or more (I don't remember for sure, time is a weird thing when you are in labor), I got out of the tub so she could check me and put more hot water in for me. Getting closer! The doctor came to see how things were going, she broke my water, and within minutes I was ready…no more tub for me! Just 10 minutes or so later, you were in my arms and it was the best thing. We snuggled with you and held you tight. We waited several hours to call friends and family (except Heather since she knew we were at the hospital) and just enjoyed the time we had with our newest addition. It was a peaceful, pretty calm day. It was perfect. And, you are perfect.

I still think you are peaceful and calm most of the time, and a great 2^nd child. You not only look up to your big sister but also always try to keep up with her. If I ask you "where is Lesley", you look around for her and point her out. We have a lot of "me too" moments these days where you don’t want to be left out. Case in point, we have really, really been struggling with bedtime for you. I think it's because you know big sister is still awake. I've even tried a couple times to do bedtime together, i.e. read books and snuggle with both my girls, but that has yet to be successful. You don't realize it, but you need more sleep than Lesley so getting you to bed 30-45 minutes earlier is key. Mommy has plans for you two to share a room when you are a little older, so soon enough you can stay up just as late as she does.

A new trick you have is giving Daddy kisses. But only Daddy. You willingly lean over to offer a smooch to him but Mommy gets a blank stare if she asks for a kiss. What's up with that? And, you are still only saying "Dad". We are hoping with your new tubes, more words start coming out of that mouth. You like to talk on your phone and you know exactly which drawer it is typically stored in. The dropsie game is also a fav! You drop, we pick up. Repeat. Did I mention this usually involves food from your high chair? Fun times for Mommy the Maid.

You also like to wave and shake your head. I love how you are really starting to understand what we ask, and try to express your reaction. If I tell you we are going outside, you run to the door or start searching for your shoes. Being outside is one of your favorite things! Just stepping out the door will increase your mood immediately and a lot of days you truly enjoy a good wagon ride down the street. Too bad winter is approaching and the days are getting so much shorter.

We taught you where your nose is and are trying the belly button out too. Some days you will point to it, but sometimes you just scrunch up your face and grin when we ask where your belly button is. You love to brush your teeth and you also love to steal Mommy's hairbrush. Some mornings I have to go searching for it, or just get a spare.

You seem to have a love for animals. Perhaps a future vet like Aunt Aimee?! You like to torment pet the cats. When you hear a dog, you perk up and start looking around. You may even be trying to say "dog" but not clear just yet, and not so different from your other grunting sounds. The goats do anything but scare you and even the crazy, LOUD dogs next door who tend to go nuts when we are outside intrigue you. I seriously have to hold you back from going near their fends. Greta says they might bite, so you better be careful little brave one.

Tantrums are getting really fun these days! Ha! A typical "fit" for you would be stomping your feet, offering pathetic cries, and throwing your head back on the floor (but carefully so you don't bonk it too hard, all about the effect). We've called your bluff on these fits and try to reiterate that we are experienced (right?) and won't fall for such behavior (right?). Nonetheless, I think you will be good at things like sharing and picking up. Big sister is working hard on those things right now and hopefully you pick up on that behavior too.

One of my most favorite things you do that your sister did not is chew on your blanket. You never liked a pacifier or any sort of soothing item as an infant, but in the past several months I have noticed that you will put the edge of your pink soft blanket into your mouth and suck on it. I love that you love your blanket. You can keep that for as long as you want!

One of my least favorite things right now is diaper changes. Ugh. You squirm and twist and make it nearly impossible!

Stats at 12 months, 5 days
Height, 30.5 inches, 89%
Weight, 22 pounds, 4 ounces, 69%
Head circumference, 47.0 cm, 93%
Still only 4 teeth.

Your stats don't necessarily indicate you will be bigger than your sister, but your shoe size and appetite do! Lesley was just starting to wear size 4 shoes at this age and they were even big on her. You need size 5 already! You perhaps eat more than Lesley because you are strapped into a chair whereas she tends to wander off during dinner time. I actually purchased a few summer shirts on sale the other day thinking you girls could wear them next summer. I bought 2 in the same size! Mommy was the second girl in the family, and she doesn’t remember a time when her big sister was actually bigger than her. This might be the case here too. (Don't worry, this means you can beat her up a little easier…and people mistakenly think you are older and therefore wiser. Ha!)

Next up: getting rid of those bottles! You are doing super great sleeping and I hope that continues even through the winter with your new ear tubes. In the past, sleep goes downhill once an ear infection sets in, then it takes some time to get your shut eye back to a good schedule. I would LOVE to replace the 6-6:30am warm bottle of milk with a 7-7:30am sippy cup of cold milk. I do appreciate the snuggle time and that you go back to sleep after that early morning bottle, but we are tired of washing bottles so it's time to start that transition. Lesley was pretty easy, but you seem to enjoy your bottles a bit more than she did. Maybe next month we'll go hard core on that task!

We have cherished the last 12+ months with you and am constantly amazed that you part of each of us (although many would rightfully argue you look and act more like your daddy). We have loved seeing you grow and turn into a little girl.

Love,
Mommy

I found a scary spider in my house.

Lesley has been very, very busy creating fun fall projects at the babysitter's house. She came home proclaiming, "I'm a scary spider!" the other day.

Scary, but so very cute.

This isn't even all of them! She brought home a paper bag jack o lantern today, and a construction paper candy corn with yarn thread through it yesterday.

Most of the projects involve counting, cutting, colors, shapes, etc. She can spell her name out loud, but hasn't yet figured out how to write it. She tries the "L" but it's not so great yet. Hopefully that will be a project Chris works on soon so she can do it at the sitter's house as well as our house.

Her ability to cut straight lines has gotten very good! Probably not challenging enough so Chris now draws curvy lines for her cut with a scissors, on a daily basis.

This witch is probably my favorite project of the week. They had to pick a color to paint the broom and then cut it out before gluing it together. They worked on their shapes for this project. She gets so excited to show us her creations and won't let us throw any of them away. I even try to convince her that Grandma Nancy would like some so we should mail them to her. No luck! I guess we keep accumulating until the next holiday/season.

Rear Ended

Jason's Yukon got rear ended by these crazy drivers!

What are you going to do? Contact their insurance company I guess....

Lesley had a blast driving around Lilly's truck! And, it worked out perfect because Lilly wasn't interested in driving that day. She just wanted to be along for the ride I guess.

Lesley actually did pretty good driving the truck around. It was a little tricky at first, but with some coaching from Daddy and Uncle Mike she figured things out pretty quickly.

One obstacle was Leah. She figured out how to shift the truck from forward to reverse and thought it was pretty funny when they would be going forward and then quickly be reversing.

At one point, Aunt Aimee asked the big girls to go dump some kitchen compost in the chicken pen. They put the bucket in the back of the truck and jumped in....but quickly changed plans since the truck was stuck in a hole at that point. When we called them to come have lunch, they ran back to the deck and grabbed their plastic chairs. We couldn't figure out what they were doing at first, but they soon had the chairs loaded up in the back of the truck and were heading down the driveway. The chairs didn't stay put for too long but the girls were not deterred and just kept getting in and out of the truck stacking the chairs in the back. There was a lot of giggling and laughing going on...from the girls and the parents watching the "situation" from the deck.

Love these crazy drivers!

On the Farm

Our trip to Iowa was wrapped with a fun morning at the Anderson farm. Lesley was so excited to ride Tally. I think she asked us close to a million times if she could ride her all by herself. You sure can brave little girl!

Ha! Brave might not be the right word. She wanted to ride Tally, but she wanted absolutely nothing to do with riding Pedro. I don't get that. Pedro is half the size of Tally and yet she was scared of him. "No Pedro!"

The daddies taking the big girls for a spin on Tally.

Man, these two have so much fun together!

I mean, it doesn't get much better than this for these cousins.

Lilly is so proud of her Tally and her Pedro. Aimee said that Lilly had been asking to bring Tally and Pedro home so she could share with Lesley. The mule and donkey sometimes stay at Mike's cousin's house who has excess pasture space for the pair.

Leah had no fear of Pedro and was quite content riding him around. Pedro was not necessarily thrilled to be giving rides, but he survived. Not sure if he shed any of those excess pounds, but at least we can say we gave him a little extra exercise that day.

Moments like this make me want to steal Lilly and bring her home with me. My girls LOVE her so much. When it was time to go that day, Lesley got very upset and didn't want to leave. She asked Lilly if she wanted to get in the car with her and sit next to her. Lilly told her mom she wanted to come with us to Kansas City. That certainly doesn't make the good-bye's any easier.

These two girls are so sweet together lately!

Lesley makes me so proud because she has turned into an awesome big sister. She always wants to share her snacks and even some of her toys with Leah and is checking on her. This behavior is exactly what we dreamed of when we decided to have kids close together in age. They like to play together and both girls seem to be in better moods when they are with each other. The day Leah was home after getting tubes was interesting. It just seemed like there were times when she didn't know what to do without Big Sister around. Then, when I brought Lesley home, Leah seemed very excited to see her.

I wrote in a previous post about Lesley offering to share her blanket the morning of Leah's surgery. I am not kidding when I say I got tears in my eyes when hearing that offer. Lesley doesn't share her blankets with many people so I know just how much she was must have been worried about Leah.

The morning actually started out with tasty yogurt strawberry smoothies with delicious pumpkin pancakes! If Aimee ever changes careers, I think chef or baker would be a good choice. The girls were so happy to drink their smoothies out of the Tinkerbell cups. Luckily Leah isn't old enough to care what's on her cup or we may have had a problem.

Henry Doorly Zoo Visit

We finally made it to the zoo in Omaha. And, we are so thankful that Aunt Aimee and Grandma Nancy could go with us while Uncle Mike and Papa Keith were hunting.

These photos aren't exactly in order since the barn and petting zoo were our last stop. We arrived shortly after the zoo opened, and hit what we could in the next 3 hours. Everyone was getting hungry shortly after noon so we headed off to lunch after checking out the goats.

Amazing what peer pressure will do for a girl! Had Lilly not hugged this trusting goat, I'm pretty sure Lesley would have been far, far away.

He didn't look too happy, but I think he might have cracked a smile at these two little girls.

Leah wanted to be part of the action as much as she could. She did so, so good Saturday! It was great that she was content in her stroller for quite a while, then took a short nap, and was happy, happy, happy while we walked through the primates, bears, and petting zoo areas. She doesn't normally take morning naps, but I think it was key for her on this day so we could peacefully make it through lunch before all the girls napped in the car.

Her daddy acted as a personal guide for most of the trip. I think she enjoyed the ride!

Two outies! Ha! Or, maybe I should say "Boo"!

Released from the stroller, and enjoying a walk with Grandma to the bears.

We kind of love how these girls love each other. I managed to catch a sneaky hug Lesley gave Lilly. I'm secretly hoping that Baby Anderson is a girl so our group is complete. (Not so secret now, right?!)

Lilly thought she should touch this lizard....good thing there was a thick glass wall here.

I didn't quite get the right shot here from across the jungle path. But, I thought it was a good shot nonetheless. It was cool to watch Aimee mothering Lilly and knowing that their family is about to change. Lots!

Let's get going Grandma!

We ran across this bird in the jungle and he seemed to take a special liking to Aimee. Perhaps he was looking for his mommy and Aimee seemed like the most obvious choice?

We had a lot of fun at the zoo and are excited to go back next year. Hopefully we hit a few more exhibits. We had talked about seeing the "kitties" but decided at the last minute to skip that in favor of lunch. As soon as we were pulling away, Lesley yelled from the far back in the Yukon, "Mommy, we forgot the kitties!" Next time sweet girl....

Ear Tubes: Complete

We had an early morning appointment at the surgery center to get tubes for Leah's ears. At her 12 month appointment, Dr. Deb was concerned about the number of ear infections Leah has had combined with her lack of words. She really only says "da" which is not quite up to par for a 12 month old. Dr. Deb sent us to an ENT who squeezed us in pretty quickly and gave a quick suggestion to sign her up. So we did! She had just finished 10 days of antibiotics and her ears were healthy. The doctor highly suggested getting the tubes in before another round of ear infections starts up...this girl is on a schedule that we wanted to stop.

Leah could not eat or drink anything after midnight and I was DREADING the morning because she loves her 5:30-6am bottle. She did cry and she was quite upset when we got her dressed and didn't give her any milk. But, she eventually fell back asleep in the car. Not before Lesley informed us that Leah wants milk, or "maybe she wants her snacks", and "do you think she wants my blanket?" So, so sweet....it was probably a bit aggressive to think they would sleep peacefully in the car.

Lesley was pretty excited to go to daycare in her pajamas! The first thing she asked this afternoon when I picked her was was "can I wear my pajamas again tomorrow?" Not sure what time Chris changed her into clothes, but sounds like the pj's were a good choice for Lesley this morning. And, I guess we know how to get her excited to go to the sitters if we are having a problematic morning.

She was also excited about the mini pink donut I bought her at Starbucks on our way. No, not the healthiest breakfast but I thought it would be a good treat for Lesley since she had to get up so early and she didn't understand why she couldn't stay with us while Leah was at the doctor.

We got checked in and were busy keeping Leah distracted. These photos were after they called us back to the prep area. Amazing how long chapstick can keep a toddler occupied. And, her identification and allergy bands around her feet were a hit too. She did really, really well until we hit 8am and were still waiting. It had only been an hour, but she was hungry. Poor kiddo was trying to get anything and everything that looked like something to eat or drink. She was even trying to rummage through the diaper bag and snatch Daddy's coffee. Then, it was major meltdown....especially after she figured out the "strange" people were going to be in charge.

Heartbreaking to have to hand her over and listen to her cry. The nurse said, "it's better when they cry, they drift off to sleep faster." Not sure that made this mama feel any better, but she was in good hands.

The doctor was out in about 15 minutes to say that everything went perfectly. Her ears were still healthy so the procedure was easy peasy. It took another 10 minutes before they called us back to the recovery area. Once we walked into the hallway, we could hear her screaming. So sad! The nurse was trying to give her a bottle but Leah was having none of that! She was upset!

I took over calming duties and the nurse and I quickly realized we knew each other. Small world! She was in both my prenatal yoga groups. Like she told a different nurse, "we are on the same pregnancy schedule." :) Her daughter was born about 3 weeks before Lesley, and her son was born about 3 weeks before Leah. It was nice to have a familiar face and someone who I knew had kiddos just like ours. Actually, I'll probably always remember her daughter's name because it was one of my top picks for Lesley's name 3 years ago.

Leah was still fussy, but we were ready to head home by 9am. She drifted in and out of sleep all the way home, it was pretty funny to watch her try and eat some kix but not be able to keep her eyes open. Once we got home, she was okay but still not too happy. At about 10am, she drank another bottle and then curled up on my lap and slept for 2 hours!

I just held her the entire time because I didn't want to disturb her and she seemed so peaceful. Plus, it gave me a chance to catch up on my DVR and old TV shows. I haven't watched that much uninterrupted TV in a long time!

Around lunch time, she popped up and wandered off to play. I guess she was as good as new and ready to go. Lots of smiles and gigles this afternoon. We are thankful for the ability to quickly get an appointment, and their "first available" option they gave us. Let's hope that the ear tubes help Leah have a healthy winter!

Me Too!

Leah thinks she needs to do "projects" with Big Sister now. Well, Mommy doesn't think she's quite ready for scissors and glue yet but we gave some crayons a chance this weekend.

She didn't do a lot of drawing, but she also didn't really try to eat them.
And, she loved sitting at the table with Big Sister.

So I'd say that was a success!

A Late Delivery

I ordered Leah's chair in August, but it was back ordered several times. We even had to postpone her 1st birthday photos since we didn't have the chair.

But, it has now arrived and there's at least one little girl who loves it!

Let's read books together!

Hi Mom! I kind of like my new chair. :)

Leave me alone. Can't you see that I am busy.

Now we just need to figure out where to keep these gigantic chairs in our already toy packed living room. Once the girls get a little older, I think they will be perfect for their rooms.

Princesses, Strawberry Shortcake, and Care Bears...all in one!

Lesley and I headed to get her a hair cut yesterday early afternoon. I found a great salon that only charges $7.25 for kids cuts! (I think they charged us $10 the first time there, and apparently they charged some friends $15 for their little girl. Interesting business plan....) Mallorie is Lesley's "stylist" and I love how Mallorie treats her like a grown up and I think Lesley likes to feel all grown up at the salon.

Anyway, after a 10 minute stop to get a trim, we wandered up the street to check out a thrift store. As expected, it was packed FULL of unnecessary, useless items. We are always on the look out for beer mugs for my dad (no luck that day) and fun stuff the kids can play with. There were a lot of random toys, but nothing that jumped out as "we MUST get this"...except for a little girls bike helmet and some knee/elbow protectors. Only $0.50 for the pair! Sweet deal!

We made the purchase, stopped to get some ice cream, and headed home. After a good nap, we pulled out the princess scooter and put our gear on. Ready to go!

Lesley's going to need some practice, but she got the hang of putting just one foot on the scooter and pushing with the other pretty quickly.

Who says we have to match...I mean, I'm sure that the princesses, Strawberry Shortcake, and the Care Bears would have been friends if they were in the same cartoon. Right?

And, of course, Daddy was there to assist.

Leah just decided to push the cozy coupe back and forth across the drive way. Good way to burn energy in our books!