Pump it up!!

This morning as I was doing dishes,
out of the corner of my eye,
a blur of movement
caught my attention.

I re-focused my gaze and glimpsed this. The Girl, after months of instruction,
coaching,
enthusiastic encouragement,
and finally
exhausted pleading on my part,
was swinging of her own accord. Absolutely no assistance necessary!

Then there was this. The ecstatic grin upon realizing that I was watching her through the kitchen window and had recognized her accomplishment. I swiftly opened the window and was met by her excited proclomation, "Momma, I can swing higher than you can push me when I pump my legs! I can do it all by myself!!" I swallowed the, "I told you so," rising up in my throat and instead cheered her on.

T-Ball

In preparation for the upcoming t-ball season at our local YMCA, the Girl and J have been diligently practicing and refining the Girl's skills. She has gotten pretty good and I have to say, what with her pink mitt, pink ball, pink bat and matching pink tee stand, that she is a force to be reckoned with. She has a pretty good arm and her accuracy isn't too bad either. Watch out, she's ready to take the t-ball world by storm.

Especially with her Dad by her side as the team coach. As for Baby Sister, she is pretty good at providing interference during these practice sessions. She is most usually prone to run right into the path of play. It is so hard for her to not be a part of whatever the Girl is doing. She doesn't want to be excluded from anything.

These little piggies....

I'm referring to Baby Sister's pigtails of course!! Today I managed to get Baby Sister to sit still long enough and with barely any protesting to put the absolute cutest pigtails in her hair. It's all in the art of distraction. Notice the sucker in her hand? Bribery some of you may say, I however, prefer 'distraction'.

Once the sucker was gone she remembered that her hair was not where it usually is - down in her face. And oh those big beautiful eyes!!

I had to include this photo. How could I not?! Between the pigtails, smiling eyes and thumb-sucking it was just too cute to resist. Just looking at it brings a smile to my lips. We were on our way to pick Big Sis up from pre-school.

Once home, these little Sisters just wanted to play.

The Girl thinks that it is crazy funny to lug her Baby Sister (feet barely off the ground) around. More often than not, Baby Sister thinks it is funny too.

And some good ol' fashioned wrestling. I absolutely adore watching the two of them play together like this. As Baby Sister grows with each passing day, I'm sure there are plenty of wrestling matches, of the play and real varieties, in our future.

Tulips

Today we headed north. We were on a mission to find a spectrum of color in the form of delicate blossoms. The immense beauty of

the tulips was very nearly rivaled by the gorgeous weather. In past years we've viewed the amazing colors of the tulip fields under gray skies and stuffed into layers of jackets, hats and mittens. Not so this year. Today the sun was high in the sky and the way it glinted off of row after row of lush tulips only magnified their amazing hues. Bright shades of yellow, orange, red, fuschia and purple. Delicate pastels in light

pink, lavendar, peach and cream. The pure simple beauty of unblemished white. The Girls seemed to favor the more vibrant colors as

the yellows and oranges beckoned them to walk further down the rows. The Girl was surprisingly cooperative with my incessant requests for her to glance my way and smile for a picture. Maybe her obliging good nature was due in part to the new dress she was wearing. Or the fact that we allowed her to shed both the sweater she'd been wearing and the long-sleeved shirt that she'd had on underneath her dress. Unfortunately,

Baby Sister was not in such a generous mood. So there are very few pictures of both Girls together, none of which have both of them looking at the camera while smiling and nevermind a family picture. That just did not happen. Regardless, there were plenty of memories and rich color captured. So much so, that it was difficult to whittle down the number of images for this post.

Baby Sister going in for a sniff and a closer look.

Amidst a sea of color.

I love how the tulips were taller than her.

My little flower girls. Can you see Baby Sister peeking out from behind the Girl?

Spring Bouquet

Yes, I know. They are dandelions. Considered by most to be intrusive, pesky weeds. But clutched tightly in the outstretched hands of an eager four-year old Girl exclaiming, "Momma I picked some flowers for you!" They are magically transformed into the most beautiful spring bouquet I've ever received. They are a lovely, sunny shade of bright yellow and truth be told, I think they are even prettier when they turn into that delicate puff of fluff.

I to the K to the E to the A

Reasons why we love IKEA:
1) the kids' supervised play area where the Girls can play games, craft a princess crown and jump in the ball pit while the Moms can shop in relative peace 2) the cafe where you can get two kids meals and an entree for yourself, all reasonably healthy, on the cheap...$9 3) the fact that Thelma & Louise can jump right into a display and toast their lemonade glasses without employees frowning upon it
4) the sinks in the bathroom that are at kid height (this was clearly Baby Sister's favorite part of the day) 5) the way that they set up entire rooms using their products which lend themselves to stimulating creative thoughts about the spaces in your own home 6) the $1.25 frozen yogurt ice cream cones and gargantuan cinnamon roles at the bistro near the exit

7) the prices, at $20, this mosquito net for the Girl's bed (which she has been wanting ever since she saw one hanging over her friend G's bed at Christmastime) was the most expensive item in my cart and my entire purchase (consisting of 14 bowls, 6 ceramic plant pots, the mosquito net, and an adorable sand toy set) totaled just $67

Cool Chick

This particular pair of sunglasses has seen much love in our house. The Girl has witnessed the crashing surf in Hawaii, seen the flat expanses of Oklahoma and blocked the summer sunshine rays in The Magical Kingdom through these dark lenses. Now they've been passed down to adorn Baby Sister's little munchkin face. Can't wait to be a part of the adventures that she'll view through them.

Holy Molars!!

In addition to these sweet little pearly whites, Baby Sister now has her top two molars, which I spotted on Thursday during a diaper change that Baby Sister was none too happy about. In mid-holler with her mouth wide open I noticed a nub of white in the upper left corner of her mouth. I stuck my finger in there for further confirmation and as soon as she bit down I got my answer. I then wriggled my finger over to the other side of her mouth and found it's matching partner. Yea teeth!!

18 months

At 18 months this once-upon-a-time "itty-bitty" is closing the gap with her peers. Today she had her well child check-up and here are her stats:

weight: 23 lbs. 8 ozs. (35th %))

head circumference: 19" (92nd %)

length: 32 5/8" (75th %)

Here is the kicker folks, since her 15-month check-up she has grown 3 1/8 inches!! She used to be in the 20th percentile for height. When the nurse went to chart Baby Sister's measurements on the growth chart she was impressed that she'd grown so tall and measured her again just to be sure that she'd gotten the right height the first time around.

Aside from all of that progress, she is growing in so many other ways and has a personality the size of Texas with a grin to match! She loves to give 'knuckles' (also known as the 'fist bump') and perplexed our pediatrician when she held her fist out to her. Dr. A looked at me questioningly and I told her that Baby Sister wanted to giver her knuckles. Dr. A thought that was pretty awesome. Baby Sister also has an affinity for wearing the Girl's dresses. Never mind the fact that Baby Sister has a gazillion of her own dresses to wear. She'd still rather wear the Girl's and to her credit, the Girl is more than willing to indulge her sister's whims. Another new fascination is the discovery of her own belly button, or "belly buh" as she says it. She loves to lift up her shirt and run her little fingers over her tummy until she finds the indentation that is her belly button upon which she squeals, "Belly buh!". Beware though, she also likes to lift the shirts of others in her belly-button searching quests. In addition to her belly button, Baby Sister can identify and locate several other body parts - eyes, ears, nose, mouth, head, hair, fingers, toes. Her vocabulary is rapidly expanding and now includes: kitty (which says "Maow!"), dog (which says "Ooof!"), whee! (when she is riding the rocking horse or is on the swings), uh-oh, more, whoa!, oh, dank-du (thank-you), eyes, hi, bye-bye (accompanied by a wave), kay (ok), yeah (in response to almost any question that you ask her). It is clear that she also understands quite a lot of what we say to her. For example, when I say, "Let's go brush your teeth." She responds with an enthusiastic, "Yeah!" and runs toward the kitchen sink. As for her motor skills, she is now adept at climbing up on the furniture and getting down by herself, has mastered the art of backing down the stairs (She lays on her belly and pushes herself down in one continuous motion which looks to me like it would hurt but that's the beauty of the ever-forgiving nature of little kids' bodies.) and is now tall enough to reach the pantry door handle. The other day I scolded the Girl for leaving the pantry door open upon finding Baby Sister scavenging around the bottom shelf. The Girl was adamant that she hadn't opened it and that it was Baby Sister. I didn't believe until a few minutes later when I caught the little culprit in the act. Now we can't keep her out of there!!

Happy Easter

Ah yes, the prerequisite Easter morning photo of the littles all gussied up in matching dresses before heading out the door to church. As you can see, our sweet lil Baby Sister was none too thrilled about an early morning photo shoot. This was the best shot I got. And about those matching dresses, I do intend to dress them the same on Easter morning for as long as I possibly can before the protesting begins. I figure I have

one more year before the Girl will refuse to wear the same thing as her Baby Sister.

After church we returned home and hid eggs immediately per the Girl's request. She was so excited to find the eggs that we had dyed along with a few plastic ones.

Despite the appearance of great weather, the sunshine was deceptive as there was a wind blowing that had an Antarctic chill to it. I heart Baby Sister's hair!! It is so fine and fluffy that a gust of wind is all it takes to make it fly away.

Egg Huntin'

Today was Baby Sister's first official participation in an Easter egg hunt. This morning we went to one of our favorite local parks for their annual egg hunt and Easter festivities. At first she was not quite sure what to do and just stood there watching the swirl of activity around her in the form of other littles her age (some racing, some teetering and others being carried by their parents) going after the pastel-hued

eggs littering the ground. No real searching required. Soon enough she caught on although the basket proved to be a hindrance being that it was more than half her height. So for that she got a little help from her Daddy. Which in turn allowed her to utilize both hands in the collection process. A very efficient strategy! After she'd reached the eight egg limit we had to cut her off, much to her dismay and escort her

out of the egg-hunting grounds.

Her discontentment vanished in a flash upon seeing the swings in the playground area and soon she was happily swinging away, holding on to the swing with one hand and clutching an egg in the other.

In the meantime, the Girl was racing around with Miss A (under the supervision of Miss A's parents of course) collecting her own eggs. She came dressed for the occasion with her bunny ears.

We had just enough time to go home and grab some lunch before we were headed off to G'ma T's house for an early Easter dinner with aunts uncles and cousins and another egg hunt - a real egg hunt this time. G'ma T's yard is expansive and surrounded by a densely wooded area. There were over a hundred eggs to be found (between 6 kids). This time around, Baby Sister needed no instruction and she was more adept at carrying

her basket. But she was met with another dilemma - how to pick up an egg when you have a cracker in one hand and your basket in the other?

That's easy. You set your basket on the ground, pick up the egg with one hand while stuffing the remains of your cracker into your mouth with the other!!

As for the Girl, she held her own against the big kids (teenagers) in the race to find eggs. There was no branch, stump, leaf or stone in the woods that she left untouched.

She zoomed from one side of the yard to the other and back again countless times in her search.

I heart this picture of the Girls with their G'ma!

Going to show Daddy their loot.

Dye-ing eggs

As is tradition, tonight we dyed eggs for Easter. This is the first year since the Girl was born that we haven't had Gramma and Papa or

aunts and uncles around to help out. But, as you can see, we didn't let that stop us. Last year we waited until the last minute, literally. We started dye-ing eggs around 9:00 the night before Easter and Baby Sister was already in bed. This year she was eager to get in on the action.

I love how she's gazing into the cup, funny thing is, I don't think there was an egg in there.

As for the Girl, she's an old pro and didn't require much assistance. She was, however, quite protective of her eggs and stingy on the number that she was willing to allow Baby Sister to dye. Lucky for the Girl, Baby Sister was quite content to let her two alotted eggs sit in their cups of colored water for a long, long time.

I love the vibrant colors of dyed Easter eggs and always have. They almost match the brilliance of the Girl's smile!!