Annabel’s First Ballet Class

I have been waiting for Annabel to take her first ballet class since the day she was born.

That might be a BIT of an exaggeration (I’m a girly girl.  I admit it.) But, nonetheless, I was so excited to go out and buy her the “required” pink ballet tights, pink leotard, and fancy pink ballet shoes.  Annabel could not wait to take those shoes out of the box today.   We were off to her very first ballet class.

I found a dance instructor who teachers toddlers and preschoolers in a church facility about 10 minutes away from our house. Her philosophy is great.  She wants the kids to have fun and dance with joy.  She does not want to make it too technical or too competitive.  There is small recital at the end of the semester.  I thought it sounded perfect for Annabel.

And it was.  I was a little worried because this was the first time I was leaving her alone in a closed room with a teacher.  When I tried this with Daniel for the first time at age 3, it did not go so well.  There was some separation anxiety.  This is the one negative (in my opinion) of being a stay-at-home-Mama.   They become attached and want to be with me, or their sibling, all the time.  Annabel’s personality is little more relaxed than Daniel’s PLUS she has the advantage of seeing her guinea pig brother do everything first.  She went in that room with no hesitation.

I peeked in a few times to watch her.  She was intently following all of the instructions.  The teacher showed her how to stand on a star on the floor.  She rocked a prentend baby from side to side in her arms. There were hobby horses to practice galloping in circles.  She even had a wand with a ribbon to swirl in the air and pretend she was a princess.  Her favorite part was watching herself in the big mirror on the wall.

At the end of class, the teacher said Annabel did a great job and she would see us next week. I never know what to expect with my little princess diva these days, but I think deep down I always knew she would love dance class.  She’s my ballerina girl.  (And I still can’t get that Lionel Richie song out of my head either.)

 

 

 

 

Three

My baby turned THREE on February 15th.  I think it’s the hardest transition for me because “2″ still feels like a baby, but “3″ means I have a little girl now.

And my little girl is already in her new “big girl” bed.  Annabel wanted a princess bed so I had a blast picking out the shabby chic comforter and a flower canopy, a special splurge from PBKids.

Nothing is too good for my princess.

Annabel is the definition of a princess and that pretty much defines the year for me.  She knows what she loves and she loves everything girly: Ponies, princesses, Hello Kitty (still), dolls, and lots of pink.  We call her our little “princess diva” because along with the sweet demeanor and smile comes her stubbornness and drama.  She will hide her face when someone wants to say hello but five minutes later she will offer a hug.  She will push her brother away when he wants to join in the fun but then they will sit side by side and color a picture together. She knows her letters and she loves to say her ABCs.  She also loves to sing along with songs on the radio and she has developed her Mama’s love for 80s music.  (Thanks Kidz Bop!)  She loves to dance and will spin around in circles until she is dizzy.  She will also grab my hands unexpectedly so we can dance together in the kitchen after breakfast or lunch.

She is growing like a weed and I finally found a gym program that she likes. We get to have our “Mommy and Me” time once a week so she can work on her strength and flexibility.  She still loves to be lazy and she asks to be carried up the stairs or into bed. But she can cuddle, hug, and kiss with the best of them.  She loves to be loved.

Her head of curls will now reach to her bottom when wet, but I don’t want to dare cut an inch.  I fear the curls may disappear and they are such a part of her personality.

She is a little social butterfly now although she still loves to play alone like her big brother.  She is working on sharing with others and I am so proud of her independence.  She is my neighborhood Mommy Playgroup buddy and I am still surprised when I don’t have to worry about her for an entire hour with the other little girls. She also is the only girl when she plays with her big brother’s friends but she will hold her own.  She is a princess but she will not let the boys push her around.

She had two amazing birthday celebrations this year.  On her actual birthday, Grandma and Grandpa drove down from Maryland to spend the special day with their granddaughter.  Annabel was thrilled.  She loved the special attention and all the extra reading and playtime.  Grandma and Grandpa also took Annabel to the mall for a special Hello Kitty surprise and a train ride.

Daddy made a special birthday dinner and I made Annabel a pink heart cake because that is the cake my Mom made me for my February birthday every year.  I’ve decided this is our new birthday tradition.  She had a wonderful day with her Grandparents, her GG, her brother and her Mama and Daddy.

Then Annabel had another birthday celebration on Saturday with 12 friends at the My Gym.  The princess diva theme continued and she left her tiara on the entire time.  There were pink balloons, lots of bubbles, zip line rides, swings, puppets, a ball pit and I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.  It really was such a blast.

Happy Birthday, my sweet baby girl.  Now stop growing up so fast, okay?

Fair

We went to the Jacksonville Fair last week and it was the perfect adventure to display my kiddies’ unique personalities.  Daniel is the daredevil who wanted to go on every single ride, including the super big Ferris wheel.   He was in awe the entire time.  He loves to figure out how things work.   My husband loved the view of the football stadium. (Go Jags!)

Annabel screamed with glee when she saw all the crazy fair food.   She hung onto that popcorn bag the entire time.  And her favorite part of the fair was dancing to all the hip hop music that was blasting from the speakers of that Himalaya ride. (Okay, I liked it too.)

On a side note, and somewhat related to all the fair food consumption, I am now on a diet.  I HATE to say diet, so I will change that to: I am now choosing better foods to eat and I will also exercise more.   My last hurrah was that yummy funnel cake at the fair.  Hopefully now that I’ve put this down in writing, I will actually stick to it.  My goal is to be down a pants size by my February birthday.  And, yes, I know the holidays are coming.  This is gonna be hard. (Oh how I heart you, pumpkin pie.)

Giraffes and Ice Cream Cones

For our Friday night date night, the hubbie and I went to the zoo for their annual “Brew at the Zoo” charity event.  The highlight was (surprisingly) not all the free beer and food samples.  The highlight for me was some alone time with these tall guys and gals.

I love giraffes.  I love them because they are tall like me.  I think their skin color is breathtaking.  I was able to feed a giraffe but darn my camera phone.  The photo came out really blurry.  I need a new phone, but that’s a story for another day and a wish for Christmas.  But I did get this cool shot.  Check out her huge tongue!

On Saturday night we all went out for a family dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.  I was craving some avocado egg rolls.  And a glass of pinot.   The kids love the bread basket and they split the pasta dish from the kids menu.  (That was a tip from our waiter and he was right. It was an enormous portion.)  We walked over to the ice cream parlor for dessert. We ate our drippy cones outside on a bench while the sun was setting. 

Annabel was done first and opted to do a little light reading while she waited.

You gotta love Florida.   We’ll still be hanging outside in our T-shirts and shorts (and Hello Kitty skirt sets) for at least another month.  Happy October.

Fancy Annabel

One of Annabel’s favorite books is Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor.

(Her most favorite things in the whole wide world are Hello Kitty, Tinkerbell, and Fancy Nancy.  In that order.)

Annabel likes to be fancy.  

She even asks for parfaits for dessert now. 

“That’s French for ice-cream sundaes.”

So you can understand what an awesome SCORE it was to find these socks in the Target $1 bin this week.

Fancy Nancy knee socks!  SO cute.

I mean, SO fancy.

PS – Annabel’s fancy shoes are from Stride Rite.

31 months

I feel like I have not written about Annabel lately and it’s probably because the last month has been filled with some major Daniel milestones: Turning 4. First big boy birthday party.  First day of preschool.

Annabel has been the trusty companion through it all.  She adores her brother and loves to celebrate everything with him.  During all of his different birthday celebrations, she was thrilled to join in on the fun and help open the gifts and eat the cake.

“Annabel’s birthday next!”  she always says.

(I don’t have the heart to tell her it’s still 5 months away.)

She is such a talker now.  She has a serious sense of humor and I laugh out loud all the time at the funny things she says.  She has a great energy and self confidence.  When I put on her dress or a sparkly shirt (almost always pink, of course) she will exclaim, “Oh, Annabel looks SOOO beautiful!” 

She loves to compliment others too and always talks about the pretty buttons on my shirt or how handsome Daniel looks when he gets dressed for school.  She is so loving and she will run and tackle her Daddy when he comes home from work and she always gives me tons of hugs and kisses throughout the day.  She loves to snuggle with her brother.

She loves to play with Daniel, but when he’s at school during the day, everything takes on a different dynamic.  I find her playing with the trains and cars which she usually ignores and that’s probably because her brother would always be in charge.  She loves to cook me things in the play kitchen and bring me pretend cups of coffee.  She still loves to draw but she is super passionate about her stickers.

We play with all her ”girly” things: everything Hello Kitty and My Little Pony.  She has a jewelry box filled with costume jewelry and a basket of tutus so she loves to play dress up and dance around the playroom.  (Number one request: “Single Ladies.”)

She is still defined by her curly hair.  It’s the physical trait that everyone notices first and I constantly hear, “Look at that curly hair!  Isn’t she just the cutest thing in the entire world??”  I always say “Thank you” and, “Yes, it suits her personality.”

She is bouncy and cute and she remains headstrong but she is NOTHING  like that crazy little girl I described about 10 months ago.  Her communication is better and she knows that I “get” her.  I understand her and I think she finds a comfort in that.  She still has her “time out” moments because she wants what she wants when she wants it.  She also wants everything in its place and will not go to bed if one of the items on her shelf is missing or if she sees something in her room that should not be there.  (She gets this from me.)

Everyday is an adventure and it’s such a joy to have some alone time with her every weekday morning now.  We have our shopping trips and library days and play dates and cuddle time.

I’m a lucky Mama to have such an awesome little BFF.

At the Car Wash

I’m thinking about getting this responsibility chart for my two kiddies.   I want to start them on chores and allowances sooner rather than later.

Hey, they already like to wash cars. 

Annabel’s Curls

My daughter’s curls are her trademark.  She looks beautiful with curly hair.  It suits her so well.

And her curls looked the best during our beach vacation.  It was something about the pool and the ocean and the salty air that made them look perfect. 

Perfectly Annabel.

Annabel’s First Dentist Visit

Annabel had her very first dentist visit yesterday! (I documented Bean’s very first dentist visit HERE.)

Annabel was a little nervous and clung to me while I filled out the paperwork.  But her fear soon turned to curiosity and excitement.  We have the best pediatric dentist because his office is an amusement park of giant sized crayons, fish tanks, and video games.  There are even TVs on the ceiling so the kids can watch a Disney movie while they get their teeth cleaned.

The ceiling movie was Toy Story 2.  Annabel opted to sit on my lap during her time in the chair, but she did OPEN HER MOUTH (Yahoo!) and let the hygienist brush and floss her teeth.  She was practically lounging when the dentist came to examine and count her teeth.  It was a huge success! (Oh, except for the part when the dentist told me she will need a mouth guard and braces.  Again, how do they know this already?  She’s TWO!)

The grand finale was the wall toy box.  And my kiddies can not resist those funny face glasses.

Family Beach Vacay ’10

I FINALLY downloaded all my beach vacation photos and it was so nice to relive it all again.

We stayed at the super family friendly Dunes Village Resort in Myrtle Beach, SC.  The key feature for us was the nice covered pool area. (This is very important for my pale family.) 

The pool area also has a lazy river…

and TWO water slides.

Bean was in heaven and could not get enough of it.  Annabel was a little hesitant of all the pool stuff the first day. But by the second day, she was a little princess mermaid.   She would sit with me for an hour in the kiddie pool area and just swim around in circles.

She also liked to lounge with me at the beach.  I could not ask for a better companion.  Something about the salty ocean air must really mellow a crazy 2 year old because she was my beach chair buddy.

Daddy and Bean did a lot of sand castle building and wave jumping.

And each day ended with ice cream on the balcony. 

Annabel always had “pink” (strawberry) ice cream from the ice cream parlor.  Bean always wanted a fudge bar from the freezer because that’s what he picked out from the grocery store the first night we arrived.

Family. Pool.  Beach.  Ice Cream. 

Perfect.

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