Catching Up

I have some catching up to do on this blog. We've done lots of little things in the past few weeks and I'm putting them all together today.

First, I completely forgot to give an update on Anja following her one year check-up (I was reminded when I read my sister-in-law's blog and saw the update on our nephew following his appt...Thanks Brttany!). Anja had her one year appointment right before Halloween. She was fine until I laid her down to be measured then she started crying and would not stop. And she would not be still because she just wanted me to hold her and squirmed and writhed around until I picked her up. We managed to get a length measurement (29 1/2"), but she was moving around so much that we could not get a solid weight. She is some over 18 pounds. Which puts her at 50% for height and around 8% for weight. She was born fairly large (8.2 pounds and 21"), but since then has proved to be a peanut. I've got her in 12 month clothes, but the pants kind of fall off of her. Anyway, I asked the doctor if we should be concerned about her low weight, but he said no. He said she looks healthy so it is just the way she is meant to be. My dad's family is small, so maybe she is taking after that branch of the family tree.

Ok, a week or so ago we attended a Teddy Bear Band concert. There must have been a couple hundred parents and children there. Each kid brought a teddy bear and the band played "audience participation" songs. Everyone was entertained.

I think this is cute so I'm including it...Elise loves to paint, we paint several times a week. Well, Anja HAS to do everything her sister does. Since painting would be way too messy, I've always just tried to keep Anja distracted during painting time, or we do it when she is napping. But I finally figured out a way to include her. I gave her a brush, a dish of water and construction paper. When she dipped the brush in the water then on the paper, the water made the paper turn a darker color, and she was "painting"! And everyone was happy...hooray!

Winter has hit Minnesota. It is cold and we have snow, so break out the snowsuits! I found a cute one for Anja and she looks really adorable in it. A garage sale find...I found this blow-up toy for $5 dollars at a garage sale. It had never been used and the girls LOVE it. Bonus points for mom!

My cousin's son, Gavin, had his third birthday today. He LOVES John Deere and that was the theme. We all had a great time. It was a total pleasure to watch Elise interact with the other kids, share toys, and have good manners. It's been tough at this age for her to watch other kids open presents and get the attention. Today I was especially proud of her.