All Things Supercinski

Blogging has been a little sparse these days. I have been spending almost every spare moment finishing up my lactation educator requirements and they are done! I hope to get them in the mail this week. You can imagine how free I feel! Now I have a few little projects to start (and finish)–taxes, landscaping in the front yard (with the help of Big Event), and repainting the laundry room.

We gave Josiah a bicycle with training wheels for Christmas, but it was a little too big. We put it away since it was too cold to ride anyway and pulled it out two weeks ago. He grew enough for his feet to reach his pedals and is enjoying riding it. He has improved so much in such a short time and is getting better about stopping on his own.

Thomas and the kids enjoyed the snow last week in their non-waterproof winter-wear. They built a little snowman, which Josiah crashed down shortly after it was finished.

And lastly, a cute picture of the kids.

Only three more of these updates to go until she is two. Our sweet girl is very independent these days. The phrase I hear most from her is, “Do it!” Which translated means, “I want to do it myself, don’t help me.” Some things she is doing herself these days include putting on her shirts and working hard on her pants (the backs just don’t come up right!), buckling herself in strollers and part of her carseat, zipping up coats, putting on coats, and wiping herself after going potty.

Yes, you read that correctly. Going potty. I had resigned myself to not even attempting teaching Annalise to use the potty until closer to three after some of our experiences with Josiah. However, this girl has a different plan. She is learning to use it and has been since this weekend. She stayed dry today from the time she got up until her nap. Granted, we went to the bathroom at least seven times, but she is learning. Her new big girl underwear are one of her favorite things.

Annalise loves to dress up, cook in her little kitchen, stand on a chair and “help”/watch me cook, and play with Josiah. Those two can entertain themselves chasing each other around the house for a long time. She loves to play in his room with his Lego duplo blocks and will sit and stack and take them apart for a long time. She still plays with her babies a lot and dotes on Baby Love (whom she no longer calls Baby La, but Baby Luff). She loves to help in the garden and has stomped on almost every little sprout we have out there.

Annalise will sit still for books and loves to read longer books these days. Her favorite this month is “Bumblebugs and Elephants” by Margaret Wise Brown. When we read it, she always points to herself and says “Am-weese. Little.” It is so cute.

Our sweet girl is growing so fast. She is very social and talking up a storm these days. I attempted to catalog all of her words the other day, but I gave up, there were too many. Some of her funniest words involve emotions. Every so often, she will scream out “Appy!!!! Appy!!!!” and squeal. She knows happy. She also learned “scared” well this month. When Daddy gets home, they play a variation of hide-and-go-seek that is more like Daddy-go-hide-and-jump-out-and-scare-the-kids-to-death. Now, Annalise lets me know when she is “scared” (with a ‘w’ instead of an ‘r’) often. Things that scare Annalise are dogs, cats, garbage trucks, loud trucks going down our street, the heater turning on, and dogs again. It is precious that when she hears these things, she yells, “Scawed!” and comes and runs into my arms. She also learned “shy” and will say it while pretending to hide her head when strangers talk to her… sometimes. She loves attention, so it seems she is just practicing her emotions.

Some of her favorite things continue to be digging in dirt or sand, swinging, playing outside, coloring, reading books, dressing up, Baby Love, babies, other kids, tea parties, Josiah, Mommy and Daddy. She carries Baby Love (“Baby La”) everywhere she goes. It is the first thing she asks for when she wakes up and the last thing she puts down before bed.

She and Josiah have been playing together more and more. I love this picture, though the quality is horrible–I took it from the kitchen across the living room. Josiah was reading books to her one night while I got dinner ready. They read several books together and laughed and talked. When Josiah is upset, Annalise is the first one to give him a hug, pat his back say, “Sowwy… okay…. awww…”

She has also mastered taking off her shirts (no matter if they are snapped on the bottom) and socks. Thankfully, the pants and diaper tend to stay in place! She is very interested in all things potty and tells me if she is dirty and sometimes if she is peeing. I’m not ready to start potty training, nor do I think that she is, but it’s nice that she is showing interest.

She loved getting a flower from Daddy one day. Now, if she sees a flower, she says her word for flower and “tank too Daddy.”

Since Annalise was a few months old and wanting to be upright at all times, I have always held her that way. However, she still lets Thomas hold her like a baby. He says, “Can you be my baby, Annalise?” and then cradles her and walks around talking to her about her day. It is so precious. She babbles to him and answers his questions with rapt attention and sweet little grunts and words. They do this almost every night. I finally got a few pictures of it. And this was just some snuggling and reading time the other night.

Can you tell? Did the cookie residue around her mouth give it away? Or was it the balloons?

I can’t believe how big our little lady has gotten lately. She is talking up a storm these days–I can’t keep up with all of her new words.

She loves to play with her brother. They spend their time at home chasing each other around the house, reading books together, “cooking” in the little kitchen, playing cars and trucks, having tea parties, and chasing each other some more. No one can make Annalise laugh like Josiah can, and she has proven herself strong to handle his rough play.

Annalise loves to play with her baby dolls, whom she refers to as “Baby La” (Baby Love). She carries them with her everywhere she goes, pats them, rocks them, dances with them and showers them with kisses. During our Advent season, she carried around baby Jesus and Mary from our Little People nativity set everywhere. Poor baby Jesus was left at the library, but we found him.

Our little girl is very determined. Once she sets her mind to something, she wants to do it or have it now and is difficult to distract from it. She is able to climb onto the kitchen chairs, couches, and the living room chair. I have even found her jumping on Josiah’s bed.

She is a lot of fun, loves anyone who shows her attention and brings our family a lot of happiness. We love you, Annalise!

Annalise is turning into quite the toddler these days. She is a daredevil, full of energy and enthusiasm, with a happy, out-going personality. She is quick to make friends with anyone who pays her attention, loves to sit in little chairs of all types and sizes, dances and sings often, and answers “no” to any question that is asked. She also loves dressing up, accessorizing, and bows. She picked out this lovely ensemble, and the one above:

She and Josiah have had some breakthroughs in their relationship and now seem eager to share with each other much of the time and entertain each other with rousing games of chase around the house. I love watching them play so well together.

Annalise is starting to talk a lot more these days, though I’m not sure how understandable she is to those outside our family. She is not nearly as talkative as her brother was at this age, but she is very observant and amazes us with the things she remembers and tries to tell us about. She is cutting her canine teeth right now, I’m finally seeing a light at the end of the teething tunnel. And she can finally sport pigtails!

It happened–I missed a month updating on Annalise. I know, so many of you were looking for the post… (bear with me, this makes scrapbooking so much easier on me, and it keeps the grandparents informed.)

Annalise is full of energy and always busy these days–running everywhere she goes. Her favorite things are pushing push toys all around the house, riding the riding toys around the house, baby dolls, trucks/trains that go by themselves and pushing trucks and cars around. She has finally taken an interest in the multitudes of trucks, cars, and trains in Josiah’s room. She also loves books and will sit and look at pictures on her own or in your lap for a long time.

She is officially only taking one nap and has not had two naps in almost a month. She takes a two hour nap in the midday/early afternoon and sleeps about 12-13 hours at night (not straight, we still have about one night waking each night). Almost all of her first molars have come through and she is now working on her canine teeth.

Annalise loves being outside and digging in the dirt, rocks or sand. She tries to climb up the ladder on the playground by herself and can make it about halfway up. She really enjoys swinging and likes to slide some days more than others.

Very much a girl, she loves shoes, hats, bags, and accessories. She can make so many things into necklaces and wears play doughnuts and ring stacks on her wrists a lot.

She has started talking more this month, but is not as verbal as her brother. Any question that you ask Annalise is answered with a shake of her head and “no,” even if she means yes. For instance, I asked her if she wanted a banana, and she shook her head and said no, while running to the kitchen and signing “banana” and pointing at them. Hmmm. She calls Josiah “Ya-Ya” or “Bwaaa Bwaa” (brother).

I think they like it!

The pumpkin patch near our house arrived Monday (via a big rig truck), and Josiah just had to go as soon as he knew it was there. So the kids and I walked to pick out a few pumpkins to paint yesterday afternoon–it was 90 degrees out and extremely humid, note their red, sweaty faces. We’ll have to go back sometime when it is cooler and more fall-like.

This was my favorite pumpkin:

Josiah came home and immediately painted one of the pumpkins. He also painted the paper I put underneath the pumpkin. On the right you will see the three little pumpkins we bought. The green is some grass, and on the left are three little people. They are orange and yellow–Josiah, me, and Annalise.

The artist, posing with his picture.