Parties Galore

February was a month for celebration with our family.  Grandma Kubacki turned 101 and Analise had her first birthday.  Valentine's Day celebrations were also squeezed into the mix.  Analise's favorite gift was her balloon from Emma and her new bath toy from Aunt Joan and Uncle Don. 

 Emma getting reading for her Valentine's passing out activity... As you can see, Emma really likes gluing

 Emma and her new friend Paula who just came from Puerto Rico

 Emma trying to get her classmates to understand the art of dancing

"When all else fails, bock like a chicken and flap your arms"

 Grandma and all of her great-grand daughters

 Babysitter Riley to the rescue

 Analise and her blocks

 Grandma, Grandpa and Analise

Mommy and Grandma Kubacki

 Emma and Ava Balloons Gone Wild

Uh-oh, we lost it....Grandpa, grandpa, where is the broom?

Perhaps one of the best Grandma Kubacki and her children photos

 Special cards from Emma

Potty Divas

 Surprise visit from Grandma Walczynski at daycare

 Bring on the summer sunshine

 Silly Daddy

 

Analise tries on her bracelet the Emma made for her

 Pyro girl..."Must grab candle.  How did they do that?"  Perhaps we will have a firework expert on our hands in the future

 "Wait, why did you blow them out?  I was just getting started."

ATP

1 Month Ago
Analise was content playing with toys that sat around her.  She refused to be on her belly crawling.

What's new?
Now she has finally decided it is time to move.  She is still determined to make walking her main form of transportation by her first birthday, but army crawling has proved effective when getting objects that are not too far away.

Emma has moved into the "Why?" phase of her development.  Mommy and Daddy answer about hundred why questions a day.  Pretty soon you get to a why question that you can't answer and you just end up giving her the answer you started with...Thanks Socrates! 

Emma has also taken on many extra responsibilities without being asked.  After dinner last night, she swept the floor, wiped the floor, chairs and table, put away the recycling and helped Mommy make chili.   Mommy felt very lucky last night.  Perhaps those troubling threes that everyone talks about will pass by our household (Mommy is such a dreamer). 

 Emma's Paradox: Analise, I would like to teach you the art of jumping on the bed.  But you can't come on the bed.  It is not safe.

Emma has joined the Socratic Meet Up Group.  Why do we use a dishwasher Mommy?  Because it is faster.  Why?  because I don't have to hand wash things.  Why? because I just put them in the machine.  Why?  because it does the work for me.  Why?  because I need time to do everything else on my list.  Why?  because I need time to play with you.  Okay. 

 Everything on Ani seems to be standing up these days.

 Green beans, mushroom and foot trying to make a break for it.

Total exhaustion

Great Grandma Alice

Analise and Emma met their Great-grandma Alice when we visited Madison for Christmas.  The girls sang "Jingle Bells" and some other songs with grandma, got a tour of her living area and were the center of attention for all of the people staying in the building.  Alice seemed very proud and amazed to be a great grandma.  We were all thankful that we could brighten the holiday for her.

Holidays 2014

There has been much celebration in the last month of 2014.  It was great to be able to see lots of family members and friends during this time.  At this point, Mommy and Daddy are wiped out and ready for a new year that gets us back on a regular schedule.  Here are some pictures from a variety of events we attended.

Let's begin with the photo shoot for our Christmas cards

You might have seen something like the first two pictures on your holiday card this year.  However, what you didn't see was Emma and Ani's advertisements for flossing your teeth.  Who doesn't want clean teeth, right?

 Ah, a mouth filled with minty freshness.  Everyone is flossing.  You should too.

(Nice use of the bandwagon strategy girls!)

Uh-oh looks like Emma got her floss stuck

Mommy learned that it is best not to put a rope for pulling on the sled.  This just encourages people to whine for rides up the hill.  Better to be able to say..."Sorry, I would love to but there is no rope."

 See Daddy, you did have a birthday cake/pie.  

Analise, did you help Daddy eat his birthday pie?

 The ever confident Emma leads her toddler community into a massive group of photographers

 Let the Jingle Bells Ring...Such a popular song that Emma and Daddy to be heard singing it at the pool two weeks later.  Hopefully we won't be the family singing holiday songs in the summer.

Aunt Sharon and Uncle Jeff''s Holiday Dinner

 The meeting of the minds

 A moment where Emma was still and actually listening to what someone else was saying

You think that Analise is the sweet one these days, but she definitely has the twinkle in her eye that let's you know she will be having many adventures in the future.

 Gather round for one big picture...Quick!

 

Emma meets Jesus in the manager...and later gets really confused when she sees a statue of Mary holding an adult version of Jesus.  "Mommy, who is that?"  Mommy: "That is Mary holding Jesus."  Emma: Long stare..."No, Mommy Jesus is in the manager"  Mommy: "Yes, but he grows up."  Emma: Ohhhhhhhhhh

Emma is at the stage where she loves to bless herself with the holy water at the back of the church.  After three times, Mommy tries to convince her that she is very blessed.  Emma then usually insists that she needs one more blessing before moving on.  Analise has been fascinated with the angels displayed in church and all of the holiday lights.  When we went to mass at the cathedral, she spent most of her time looking up at the designs on the ceiling.

 Emma: "Analise, how come you are laughing at this bear?  I think he is scary." (Even though Emma found the bear scary, she could be heard singing along to his song)

 "Mommy, this is Rudolph and he will chase you around the house with his loud, high pitch song that never stops."

 Analise is not sure what to think of this reindeer and his light up red nose.

Analise has been inducted into the princess fan club thanks to Aunt Deb and Uncle Jim and  the Arielle wand.

More pictures to come from Christmas with the Maas family....

Giving Thanks for November

Mommy is always very thankful when November rolls around.  As a teacher, the months of September and October fly by.  Finally in November she gets a chance to catch up with a few hobbies.  So how did we spend our time this fall?...

The entire family spent countless hours raking and bagging leaves.  Emma and Analise were consumed by their leaf raking process of jumping in the leaves and running through the piles.  Every once in awhile, after Mommy begged, Emma would take her mini rake and pick up a few leaves.  

 

Emma took a tumbling class where she mastered the art of the balance beam

Emma and Analise loved spending time over at Grandma Kubacki's house.  She tells them stories and gives them undivided attention.

Emma and Analise have been giving each other more hugs, pushes and pinches these days.  If you catch them at the right moment, you might even see them whispering secrets to one another (probably related to how they are going to convince Mommy and Daddy to do what they want them to do)

Analise has been talking up a storm.  She can say ma-ma when she wants to be picked up or cuddled.  She also waves bye-bye to her daycare friends before leaving each day.  Mommy's favorite thing to do is watch Ani's face light up when Daddy comes home.  Ani will often follow him around the house and look up to see if he is smiling back at her.  She wants his attention in the worst way.

Both girls have been in the pool almost weekly this fall.  Emma loves wearing her goggles and swimming underwater.  She can jump into the deep end and swim a few feet out to Mommy and Daddy.  She can also float on her back and kick like crazy.  Analise is still in the adjustment period with the water.  She loves to walk around the shallow end and chase balls of different colors.  The photo below was from the end of the summer when the girls enjoyed their own kiddie pool in the backyard.

Besides swimming, both girls have been fascinated with the art of dancing.  Since the community center offers family hip-hop classes on Sunday afternoons, we have attended for the past few weeks.  At some point Mommy will have to take some videos of the girls (and Daddy) in action.  After class, we were given permission to let the girls run around in a small gym room.  Add in a few basketballs, soccer balls and big bouncy balls and the girls are set for another hour of entertainment.  The room is also lined with mirrors so the girls can often be found admiring themselves as they play.

 Emma learned how to take her first selfie with Grandma.

The way to the girls' hearts...take them to the park.  Both girls love the swings. Of course you need to find a park where they have two kiddie swings so that no one is left out. 

Who could live without a reenactment of the the three little pigs at the library?  Well maybe two pigs and a green pepper...It looks as though the third little pig has been swiped from the scene by a big sister.  Analise and Emma have recently started to enjoy the art of the puppetry.  Emma and Daddy have been seen rehearsing puppet shows in the basement.

And last but not least, who could live without knowledge of the light switching and door slamming incidents of November 2014.  Emma has recently acquired skills in the area of turning lights on and off.  She has also found entertainment in allowing someone to have- as she calls it -privacy by shutting them in a room. According to Emma, everyone needs a little privacy.

One thing she still needs to work on is forward thinking.  Last week, she shut the door and turned off the light only to find herself locked in a dark bathroom.  Daddy was taking a shower at the time and he was also locked in.  Mommy and Ani heard shouts from upstairs followed by thumps on the ceiling signaling a need for help.  Unfortunately, Mommy was laughing so hard that she couldn't get off the floor to help as quickly as needed.

Mommy had her own encounter with Emma's new talent when she was in the bathroom later that week.  While she was in the bathroom, Emma turned off the light from outside the door and did not turn it back on.  Note to self...never buy a house with bathroom lights on the outside of the bathroom door.  Why did the builders put it there?

Now all we have left to do is combine our newly acquired talents.  Presenting live this Thanksgiving the Emma and Analise Puppet Extravaganza!  Be amazed as monkeys and princesses show off their hip-hop moves, lights flash on and off and ma-ma is shouted from behind the curtain.  Tickets now available for purchase.