Another busy week

Some updates to tide you over. Not all of these happened this week, but they are recent and I haven't posted them yet.

• Moolah knows her full name and likes to say it. Moolah also knows the name that Nanna and Papa have begun to put on her correspondence -- Moolah Magoo (or is it Moolah Moo Magoo??)
• Ace is teething again. His favorite "teethers" are his leather shoes (Robeez). Since those are usually unavailable except when he is getting dressed or undressed, his next favorite is a fake tomato or a hamburger bun from Moolah's kitchen.
• Moolah can dress herself completely now. She can't do her buttons or zippers yet, but she can put on her panties, pants, shirt and socks. There is usually at least one screaming "I can't do it" crisis, usually caused by the shirt, followed by an offer for help from a parent which is refused at about the time she finds the armhole.
• Ace responds to his name (when he feels like it).
• Moolah's new favorite song in Mama's car is the "Dip song", which is "We go together" from Grease. It is the "dip song" because of the "dip da dip da dip doo wop a doobie doo" line.

Reading fun

Moolah has been very interested in letters, their names, and their sounds. In addition to Moolah, she can spell Mama, Zoey and Dima. She can also identify most of the sounds with the letters, and sometimes think of a word that starts with a particular letter (beyond a few that she has memorized from repetition, like "A" is for Ace and Amanda, or "D" is for Daddy and Dima.)

This morning she got out the swimming party book, in which a girl named Moolah gets a new pool only to have her swimming party rained out, but her very patient parents save the day by throwing an indoor swimming party. She could find "Moolah" on the pages, which makes the first word she can read.

An evening with Strider's Kids

Sunday night was the first time that Ace's hair did not dry as soon as I toweled him off after his bath, so I used the hair dryer for the first time with him, which made his hair spiky. He was also chatty, so I turned a camera on...

Updates from a busy week

Presents, presents, presents
Daddy, Nanna & Papa teamed up for Mama's Valentines day present, a tot-free weekend at the coast. Daddy even found the hotel where he took Mama the first time we ever traveled together. All that will happen in April. I can't wait!

Mama and Daddy also completed their Christmas shopping: the new dishwasher, sink fauced and garbage disposal are all installed. Now the kitched doesn't sound like a train wreck anymore!

Oosje sent Ace's baby painting, which is amazing! We can't wait for her to get back from the islands to tell us about a few parts of it.

Kids
Ace turned 9 months. Diaper changes and dressing has become a rodeo. He will not lay on his back at all. He flips over, sits up, and crawls away. I sit on the bed and put him in a leg lock to get his clothes on.

Moolah stood at my bed at 6 am a couple of days ago and woke me up by saying "Mama, I don't need my stool anymore because I'm growing and growing and growing and growing." She then insisted I get up immediately and see how she can get on the potty without the stool because it is "almost Moolah size."

A blast from the past
I had to drive to a town about 30 miles away today for a meeting. After the meeting I stopped for lunch at a little bakery. They had a magazine rack. I went and grabbed a magazine, and behind it was a copy of the Sunset that Mama and Daddy's first house was featured in. On Daddy's suggestion, I autographed it and left it there.

Tooth #6 has arrived

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Birthday to Lil 11!!

This Week at Strider's House

Ace is working hard on his next tooth. He is also "cruising" along the furniture and doing a hands-and-feed bear crawl (although he refuses to do it for a camera.)

Last week I experimented with making food for Ace. It was a lot of fun and way easier than I thought it would be. He's been enjoying the results, and a lot of them. A couple days ago, he ate at least 2 cups of food. In addition to the old standby carrots, sweet potatoes, and peas, he also has enjoyed green beans, parsnips and beets. Fruit is still not nice.

Here he is in his outfit that is all the same colors as he is...

Moolah learned how to put on her own shirts, which means she can now dress all by herself. She has been choosing her own clothes recently, and has shown a preference for striped shirts and her red sparkly shoes. Today she got to wear pajamas to Boot Camp because last week her friend MacKenzie wore her PJs.

She got her hair cut today. She likes her hair "Short like Daddy's."

Some conversations from this week:

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"I'm just hic-ing up."

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"I'm Pink Baby and White Baby's Mama."

"Yes. You're a very good Mama to your babies. Where did you learn how to be such a good Mama?"

"Boot Camp."

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Gleefully and with a giggle after an accident...

I like to stand in pee pee!!

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Mama walks into her own room and turns on the light at about 10 pm...

"That light is shiny in my eyes."

"Why are you on Daddy's pillow, Moolah? I thought you were in your bed."

"I was so tired."

"So, why did you get out of your bed?"

"My book was in the way."

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"You made a mistake. That's OK. Everyone makes mistakes."

"Yes, I made a little mistake."

"No, you're a big girl so you made a big mistake."

Hey Look, Mama finally posted a picture

I know I haven't posted any pictures in awhile.

And, this isnt' the picture you were hoping for...

I got new super cute shoes. They go with jeans. They go with skirts. They are flat with round toes. Technically, they should be really comfortable. Alas, they are not. They cut across the top of my toe-knuckles. I didn't notice this when I tried them on. I am sticking with them for now, hoping that my toes will win the breaking-in battle. I wouldn't put money on it, though.

Super Sunday Statistics

Moolah and Ace hosted the Royal Family and the Seedlings for a Superbowl playdate.

Game stats:

• 7 kids (6, 4, 4, 3, 22 mos, 13 mos, 8 mos)
• 4 parents,
• 1 crush developed (Abby + QJ)
• 0 injuries (actual blood drawn, permanant stains, serious damage to property or pets)
• 4 bandaids distributed
• 5 minutes of the game viewed by parents (approximate, but it was the last 5 minutes, which really was all that counted)
• New hot wing recipe (from Fred's Cookbook) approved

MVT (Most Valuable Toy) award to: flashlights
Honorable mention to: Dress up clothes and fairy house

More Moolah Math

"What is in the car," Moolah asked this morning on the way to Boot Camp. I was pretty sure she was angling for another marshmallow out of the glove box.

"There are lots of things in the car. There is one daughter and one son."

"No, Mama, there are two daughters."

"Girls are daughters and boys are sons, so there is one daughter and one son."

"No, Mama, I'm a daughter and you are a daughter. There are two daughters."

Words that should be words

I've reported before that Moolah says "Lasterday" instead of "Yesterday." I was wrong, kind of. Moolah does say "Lasterday", but it means "sometime before now." It might mean yesterday, or last week, or last year. Lasterday (last summer), my McCousins came to visit. Lasterday (last month), I bit Dima, but I didn't bite him today.

It's a pretty useful concept. I'd like to be able to use it. When my boss wants to know when I got the message saying there was a problem I needed to fix that I haven't fixed yet. It was just lasterday, really. I don't really need to do the laundry today. I just did it lasterday. I like it!

Every word counts

Daddy finally gave me a Decemberists sampler CD for my car so that Moolah could hear her songs when she drives with me. She had already heard the Whale Song, the Head Song and Sons and Daughters.

"What can I hear next, Mama?"

"I don't know. Let's wait and see what song is next."

"Mama, you can't see songs, you sing them."