Tuesday morning, it seemed that Emma Rose was all better from her cold. At about 7:30, I heard thump. I waited a few minutes thinking it was Jasper, and then I heard another thump. I looked over and saw Jasper on the bed. Then, I heard Emma Rose's door open and slam shut. She came parading in my room with a stack of clothes. She announced, "Mommy, it's day time. You can get me dressed if you like." Very fancy words for a three year old, I thought. Then she put the clothes on the bed. The thumps were her opening and closing her dresser drawers and getting the three pairs of shorts she plopped on my bed. She was ready to start the day. Too bad I was on my way to a slow start that morning! Thank goodness for Disney channel that entertained Emma Rose while I got ready to start my day.

That afternoon, we were playing upstairs. Anabelle was crawling around, and Emma Rose said to me, "Sometimes Anabelle gets lost in your room." I asked her how we would find her. She pointed to both her eyes and said "With your eyes." Then, hoping she would say something like we would look for her, I asked, "Yes, but how do we find her?" She again pointed to her eyes and said as if I had asked a very silly question, "With our speaks." She was trying to say specs as in spectacles. I wonder how long it will be before her slang outgrows my knowledge of current slang.

Anabelle continues to give me the sign (tongue out with blowing) at dinner. The crying has subsided a bit, but she's still not as interested in food as she was even 3 weeks ago. I've figured out that I can get her to eat if I sing to her. She hears my own special version of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes that I'm sure not many others would be interested in hearing. Maybe it works because she opens her mouth in awe of singing ability, and I'm not American Idol material. Whatever the case, I'm just glad she's eating dinner.

Anabelle: The Sign

Yesterday was our play date day with Nicki and Laurin. We were also joined by Missy, one of our friends from high school, and her newly adopted daughter, Gemma. It was good to see Missy again as we haven't seen her in a little over a year and good to meet Gemma, too!

Pre-play date, I used all of our ripe tomatoes to make dinner for us. It was nice because I was starting to be concerned about using them before they went bad. I chopped tomatoes to use instead of the recipe-recommended canned diced tomatoes and made my own salsa to use instead of the store bought salsa. I even got the salsa seal of approval from Nicki whose pregnancy craving includes salsa!

Strangest Tomato I've Ever Grown

We had quite a full house. It was fun to see one more baby in the mix. Gemma is about 2 months older than Anabelle, and she wanted to love on Anabelle and Hobie A LOT. Gemma rubbed Anabelle's fuzzy head and kissed her. She "tackled" Anabelle football style a few times to give her hugs. Anabelle returned the love with her baby, open mouth kisses - those that only a mommy or daddy can fully appreciate. Gemma also was pretty interested in Hobie who ended up getting pulled by the ear across the ottoman. Laurin and Emma Rose, who sometimes focus all of their attention on him, gave Hobie some attention, but he mostly tried to stay on his bed that I moved to the chair. I was very impressed that Hobie did not bare his teeth even once. He was relieved last night when he was safely tucked in bed beside me. There was a lot of excitment for such a little puppy.

Laurin on Higher Ground to Protect her Toy Stash

Anabelle with Gemma Pre-love Fest # 3

Anabelle performed by showing all of us the sign at dinner. Nicki gave her some avocado, which in the past she has really loved, and I gave her blueberries and butternut squash. Gemma likes avocados, too and helped Anabelle eat it! Anabelle did not really want to eat, so I (unfortunately for all who heard) had to do my own special rendition of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Anabelle really enjoyed it when Nicki and Missy joined in! When that song stopped working, we sang The Wheels on the Bus. Anabelle ended up eating a pretty good dinner.

Also during dinner, Emma Rose and Anabelle insisted that I hold them while I was eating. It was at this point I suspected Emma Rose was not all better from her cold. I checked her temperature, and she had a fever. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. Emma Rose recovered for a bit, I put Anabelle on the floor where she could crawl freely, and I finished dinner. It's nice to have other non-crying adults in the room when I feel the urge to go crazy.

Emma Rose and Laurin on the Ottoman (Hobie in his Bed in the background)

After dinner, Laurin and Emma Rose pretended to bunnies. They shared Emma Rose's bunny ears and jumped around the house. When they pretend like that, it's one of my favorite times to watch them. With each play date, they are playing together rather than side by side more and more. It's so great for them to grow up together and for Nicki and me to be able to see it!