Lunch Date

Anne was lucky enough to have her friend Bennet over for play and lunch yesterday. We had a good time at the park, a nice lunch, and more play time at home before their respective Daddies came home from football camp. I was glad to have a chance to give our double stroller a trial run, and I managed to get them both seated and eating simultaneously! Anne must've fed off of Bennet's calm demeanor, because she was much more quiet while she ate and didn't throw any of her food on the floor. Bennet, you can come for lunch every day!

Don't bug us, we're chewing.

How does she do it?

How does she sleep for EXACTLY 2 hours? I'm talking to-the-minute, from the time I lay her down to the time she starts kicking and fussing in there. You could set a watch by that kid.

Funny story: I went out with my mom last night, so Sam was on solo parenting duty. He put Anne and Mikey in the car, ran a few errands, and then decided to take Anne down to the large playground near the river. He unpacked Annie, left Mikey in the car, and started to walk to the playground. Well, Mikey is a panicky dog, and he didn't like being left behind, so he started his yelping/crying/squealing routine. Sam tried to ignore it, but it is REALLY annoying, so about halfway across the grass he turned around, picked Annie up, and walked back to the car. His plan was to take Mikey home, then come back to the park. Anne, not understanding this, started up some big crocodile tears and said "I sorry, Daddy! I want to play park!" She thought she was in trouble and that he was taking her home! So he hauled the dog all the way home and went all the way back to the park. What a guy.

In large-sentence-speaking news, Anne outdid herself yesterday with "I want to get down now, Daddy." It sounds like "I wan get down now, Daddy" but still. That's 6 words together, 7 if you count the implied word "to." Pretty good for a not-quite-2-year-old.

And if you are worried about her motor skills, they're coming along. She does finally climb up the stairs and can climb on to our low-sitting couch. And she walks up the stairs with the railing at the park, so she's making progress! She also swings on her tummy at the park and has started yelling "Watch this!" before she does it. She loves attention, my mini-Sam.

We're goin' to the zoo, zoo, zoo; You can come too, too, too

Ah, Como Zoo. Cheap-o zoo, how I love you. Sam thinks it is "sad" how the animals don't have fancy habitats, but I say "Hey, this way I can actually SEE the animals, not just their fancy habitats." But I have no compassion for the animal kingdom...animals are for eating and entertainment and occasionally companionship.

Here's the rundown of what we saw at the zoo:
flamingos
giant tortoise (at feeding time--he had lettuce and carrots)
seal and sea lion (got to watch a training demonstration)
NO polar bears (they are living in Detroit while their pen gets revamped)
lions
tiger
zebra
giraffes (lots of giraffes)
ostrich (its feathers look like dead pine trees)
monkeys of all shapes and sizes

I failed at getting a decent picture all day. Here are some attempts:

Sam and Anne watching the seal training. The seal got a lot of stinky fish to eat!
Near the giraffe pen--which Sam thinks is the saddest of them all. Hello, they come from the African plains! They like the sun!

Anne gaping at a monkey doing something interesting.

Anne getting tired near the end of the day. I'm sure she was saying "I'm-a eat" or "I'm-a hungee" around this time. My hubby's pretty cute, though.

With Grandpa Steve and Melissa. Thanks for a fun day!

Catch-Up: Day at the Pool

We spent the afternoon at the pool MANY weeks ago with Auntie Sarah and her friend Emily, and Emily's son Evan. Here are some pictures Sarah was able to snap during the madness.


Anne's super-modest swimsuit. No triangle tops at our house! Sam is a big fan of this little yellow-and-pink number.

What's more fun than pouring water back and forth? A cup and a teapot were a good investment.

Floppy hat! Anne played very well in the water. She was brave enough to wade out until the water was about chest-high. She fell over a couple of times and went under, but never cried about it. She was tuckered out when we were done--fell asleep on the ride home and then scarfed all of her dinner (which she NEVER does). Swimming is hard work!

Erin's Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Erin! You are 23 today! Now, as promised a long time ago, here are some pictures from her wedding :)

The wedding party: Greg, Stefanie, Chris, Corrie, Erin, Todd, Adam, Erin, Thomas, and Sarah


The ever-expanding Droogsma family. Mom and Dad, their 4 kids, 2 sons-in-law, and 1.75 grandkids.


Awww... :)


See, they like each other.


Erin's face is cute in this one. Lighting the unity candle is perhaps the most awkward part of any wedding ceremony. It takes 10 seconds, but then you have 2 minutes of music to fill up as you "lovingly gaze" at each other. Or shift your eyes around for something else to look at.

We are very excited because Erin and Todd finally got the official word about a week ago that they have been hired by a church in Mankato as interns for the upcoming year. This will serve as Todd's internship for his seminary degree. When they got married they didn't know where they were going to end up, so they are glad for stability and a plan, at least for 1 year. I am glad they will be closer than Chicago or Colorado! At least we can visit occasionally.

"Where'd the monkey go?"

Here's Annie talking at the zoo on Sunday. She was yelling at the orangutan "Monkey, come back!" as it swung away from us...of course I couldn't quite get it on camera, but this is a good substitute.

Baby Boy Update

34 week check-up today, and all is well. Good, strong heartbeat and a baby who has positioned himself head-down. Way to go, little guy!

Sam has not felt the baby move much this time around. This is mostly because the baby moves A LOT after I have been in bed for 15 minutes or so, and by then Sam is asleep. However, last night he (baby) was moving quite a bit, so Sam put his hand on my belly and baby kept going. After 10 seconds or so of rhythmic moving, we realized our son had the hiccups! That resulted in a lot of "movement" and some laughs from us.

It is weird how time can seem to pass quickly and slowly at the same time. Some days I think "Six more weeks?!? I can't do it!" and other days I look at the ticker to the right of this page and see "43 days to go?!? Crap! I have too much to do before then!" This whole pregnancy has flown by very fast--here's hoping the next 6 weeks are swift AND productive.

TB, I don't think I ever told you, but the morning I found out I was pregnant you left a comment on our blog asking when #2 was going to arrive. I remember reading it at my desk and thinking "Whoa, how did she know?" You are a baby psychic!

And since it is no fun to have a post with no pictures, here's a picture of baby boy's first shoes. Oma bought them for him and now they're just waiting for him to arrive (as am I, so you can see pictures of him, not his shoes.)

www.robeez.com

21 months, looking back at 9 months

Lots to share from last July. As I look back on her pictures, I remember that month fairly well. She was really getting into solid food--loved her teething biscuits and ate her first mac and cheese. She also was sitting well and really getting interested in her toys. She also had started saying "Daddy", which is what I was trying to get on this video.



Playing with her toys--toys she still plays with, too.

First time in the baby pool at home. Loved it then, loves it now.

Last year's 4th of July outfit. For some reason that hat always reminded me of a big cabbage leaf formed to her head...the rest was a little sailor top and skirt with cute star buttons on the front. Anne has great-grandpas from 3 branches of the service (Army, Navy, Air Force), but apparently that day we favored the Navy.
Mom, last July was also when we painted the house! Thanks again for your help. What I'll remember most is our panic as we started painting--"This isn't working! What are we going to do?!?!" It all worked out, thanks to your tireless rolling and my ever-sloppy brush work. To all of you out there, I caution you: Be careful when buying a stucco house!

Quickie

Lots to share in the next few days regarding Anne being 21 months old. Lots of pics and videos from last July to share (that was an especially cute month). But for now, since she's hanging on my leg, whining for raisins, I will share one picture from this weekend. I can NOT believe how old she looks in this picture. Not a baby, but a little girl. Sunrise, sunset...sunrise, sunset...

Pictures are here

The official wedding pictures have arrived, and there will be much-o sharing in the next few days. Here's one of my faves to get you through the holiday weekend.And in more "Showing Off" news, Anne astounded both of her parents today. We were having lunch and keeping Anne occupied with her little Magna-Doodle (an erasable writing board (best $2 I ever spent)). I drew various animals and asked Anne to identify them. She did well with my attempts at a puppy, kitty, and fish. Then I drew a circle and asked her what it was. "Circuh!" she replied. We were fairly impressed by that, but then she blew us away when Sam drew a triangle and asked her what it was. "Ty-anguh!" she shouted. We just gaped at each other for a minute, because neither of us has EVER told her what a triangle is--at least not with the intent of her remembering what it is. She's learning on the sly somewhere...

One more thing, then I'll stop, I promise. We live in a small town, so we take many of the same roads to get various places in town. With road construction this summer, our route to the "business" end of town has changed. Anne has observed on one particular street that there is a pro-life billboard with a picture of a baby. She likes that baby and comments every time we drive by it "Oooh, a baby!" However, it freaks me out a little that she asks "Where baby go?" when we are driving at the billboard from the OPPOSITE DIRECTION. Somehow she knows that it should be close by, but that we can't see it. I'd say that's pretty observant for a 1.75 year-old.

Show Off

After reading "What to Expect the Toddler Years" on Sunday, I learned that Anne should be able to stack 4 blocks and may be able to stack 6 blocks by the end of her 22nd month (that would be August 5th, using their confusing way of measuring age)

Anyway, that is what spurred me to take a picture when she stacked all 10 of her blocks the other day. They are very nice nesting blocks, and she just pulls them one at a time off the stack, puts them on the floor, then goes back for the next one. She got a little mixed up at the top, as you see, but other than that it was a pretty good trick for first thing in the morning (she's still in her jammie shirt and soggy diaper...)
Godzilla!