Travellin' band

We're off again to brave the wilds of the various airports of our fine nation and attempt to fly to New York without causing our fellow passengers to commit Hari Kari. By this, I am referring to my daughter's intense dislike for sitting still. In a small space. Without new admirers. My guess of her perfect flight would include the following: Annika would start at the cockpit, where she would be smiled at and given a key to the airplane. She would then sing a little ditty into the speaker. She would dance to her own music. After the show, she would begin her promenade. She would grace the first row, first the left side, then the right, with a few smiles, a wave, maybe some claps, hip shakes and mock looks of bashfulness. The grateful passengers would clap, smile and laugh. They would tell her that she is the smartest, the most beautiful and musical little girl they had ever seen. She would smile, clap, dance and wave a little more in parting. She would then move to the second row. And start again. In her ideal situation, she would do this the whole flight. She could be dead tired, rubbing her eyes and losing her balance, but she would still expect everyone on the plane to shower her with attention.
However, she's not allowed to do this. She has to stay with us, on our laps, with tall seatbacks blocking her view, and more importantly, everyone else's view, of her!
I'm nervous, and a little resigned to torture.
Other than all of this, we are going to have a great time. We'll go into the city, probably go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and possibly a show. (Broadway.)
We'll go to the lake and hike in the state park at the end of my parent's street. We'll play on the trampoline, play games, eat chinese food, play more games, go to West Point, etc., etc., etc. Its never dull, unless it rains the whole time. Which is has before.
Hopefully, we'll take lots of pictures and have a better report than last time.

More hijinks

John and Annika were playing with the big, red, bouncy ball and Annika picked it up, (almost as big as she is), turned, and ran... straight into the couch, ball first. With a big bounce right off the couch, she landed flat on her back. She lay there, looking a bit stunned and confused while I won "Best Mother of the Year Award" by laughing my head off. John continued to actually BE the best father of the year by helping her up and making sure she was ok. He did, then, chuckle heartily.

Our week

Tuesday:
While volunteering at Family Bridge, a transitional homeless shelter for families only, Annika fell down three cement stairs onto a cement patio. Head over heels. And landed on her face. I wanted to cry the whole way home, even though she was happy and smiling by then. She cut her lip, but was otherwise fine. I wouldn't let her nap for a while, so that I could make sure she didn't have a concussion.
Moral: Never volunteer anywhere that has steps.



Thursday:
Concert in Shute Park. Annika danced and clapped and played on the playground. We worked hard to find a good place on the grass to sit, and sat a total of maybe 5 minutes each. We gave up and played on the playground, still within hearing of the concert. Had super yummy ice cream sold by some local dance group.

Friday:
Went to two different friends' houses. Annika got beat up by 2 year-olds at both places. She was very blase about it.


Saturday:
Went to Cannon Beach with the youth. We brought a trunkful of stuff. Set up a beach cabana against, no, not the sun, the drizzle. Set up her pack n' play, just in case. Watched her eat sand and joyfully run all over the beach. We had the start of a wonderful time, and all of a sudden, they announced that it was time to go! We were just getting started! We'd only been there 2 hours and we'd spent a good 1/2 hour of it setting up for the day! Teenagers! (Actually, there was something else at church that started at 3.) Mormons!






Sunday:
Annika plays the funnel. Like a trumpet. From both ends. The big end covers her face and she trumpets. She puts the small end in her mouth and she trumpets. Its great because she can combine music and peek-a-boo. And dressing up as the blue plastic man, cousin to the tin man.

I don't remember what day this is, but it is to show that I do her hair sometimes. The reason I don't do it more frequently should be obvious.

Roy Orbison?

DragonTales, a sappy but kind of cute PBS show for little ones, has all sorts of fairy tale type creatures. I don't pay a whole lot of attention if and when it is on, but today, something really odd caught my attention. I have no idea what the plot included, but there was a unicorn, a female unicorn, who looked like Roy Orbison. Big, clunky glasses and odd hair. Like Roy Orbison.
Huh.

Expecting!

For the few of you who don't know by now, we're having another one! Mostly family knows, so don't feel left out.

We're hoping for a timely arrival on January 24th exactly, but as my mother-in-law encouragingly pointed out, due dates can be way off. Annika was very cooperative, so we'll just assume #2 will be too.

We'll have an ultrasound at the fancy shmancy hospital that has the perinatal unit and thus the higher resolution machinery, so that they can rule out a cleft palate. The seizure medicine that i have to take has a very slight risk of cleft palate. Of the possible concerns, this really is fairly mild and easily corrected, but its still worrisome. Unfortunately, the risk of seizure is potentially much more dangerous, so...

Anyone wanting to visit in January and February and eager to do laundry and cook and entertain an almost 2-year-old is VERY welcome! We can't recommend the Oregon weather in that particular season, but we can offer the company of a very cute and very grateful family.

On other topics, namely Annika, we went to the Tuesday night farmer's market last week. They have live music, booths with fresh flowers (incredibly affordable!), produce, fresh salsa, cookies, arts and crafts, etc. There are people on blankets on the courthouse grounds listening to the music and as we walked through on the path, Annika stopped at EVERY group. She waved, said hi, flirted and moved on. Every group! Some, she would grace with a second visit. She is really confused when someone doesn't look and smile and gush a tiny bit. She'll keep trying for their attention until we pull her away. She was confused by the 2 14-yr-old girls who showed no interest and I tried to explain that they were currently of a different species, and that if she cared to disguise herself as a teenage boy, she would surely get their notice.
Then we went across the street to the civic center which has a open square with fountains. They aren't a pool for coin throwing, they are for running through. There were LOTS of kids in bathing suits or just their regular clothes and they were running and jumping and manipulating the flow of water to spray all in their path. Annika shook with excitement and I gracefully offered to be the one to follow her. (Ha-ha. As though I really would have stayed out of the water!) Annika would walk up until she had her first spray, shake with surprise and dismay, turn and run with delight, come back and start over. We were both soaked after 20 minutes of this and had a great time. Wish we had our camera! Some friends and we are going back this week and I'll be prepared with flip-flops and a towel.

Here are some cute pictures from our visit to the Rose Garden this weekend.

Did I say extravaganza?

So... we only took 3 pictures. 10 days of travel and friends and family and we took 3 pictures. We are so pathetic. We did, however, take a number of videos, but I haven't learned how to put them up yet, so that will be later.
Here is Annika in the kiddie pool that Gran bought. SHE LOVED IT! (Annika, not Gran.)




So:
Annika loved Oscar dog, who also loved her. She wasn't sure about Zephyr, who most definitely did NOT like her. (JEALOUS!)
Annika loved the cats, they would have nothing to do with her.
But, most of all, she loved the chickens!! She would take off running right into the middle of a crowd and watch them scatter and try to chase one of them. Good thing chickens are faster than a toddler. There was a spot under the porch where some of the chickens would go and she desperately wanted to join them. I didn't think anyone would fare very well if she followed them.
Amongst the humans, Uncle Peter was, as usual, her very favorite, but she was gracious enough to bestow her smile and flirting with all.

We spent several days visiting some of my family and friends. We were able to stay with Aunt Jane and Uncle Dana.We met Ben's fiancee, Emily. We were privileged to see Aria's one day old baby girl, Sydney. (BEAUTIFUL mom and baby!) We spent time with my Grandma, Aunt Becky, my cousin Malinda and her cute boy Mason, my friends Ginny, Beth and Brooke, and even saw my Aunt Moyne. We drove up into Provo canyon and walked around Sundance. Heaven! We made it to a few hours of the family reunion on John's side of the family. All in all, we had a great time. And, no, we got NO pictures of any of it. Pathetic.

We are home and happy and gearing up for our trip to New York in August. I'll try to remember to take out the camera there! We are dreading the plane ride as Annika was not enthusiastic about our return trip from Utah.

Here are a few more pictures of Annika from before our trip. I put a cute pair of shorts on her, but didn't notice immediately. Here is the really funny result!



Here she is with a princess cape?





So, it may not have all been trip related, maybe it was pretty extravagant after all!

Mini Post

We've been traveling for the last while and we are still settling back in. I'll post a magnificent travel blog and pictures and videos in a big, impressive blogging extravaganza. But, right now, I'm going to pay bills, finish laundry and start the dishwasher.
Here is a cute picture to tide you over.