Farm Girls

There is an awesome little farmstead in the KC metro area. (It is free most days which makes it double awesome!)  It can be a little crazy trying to keep track of two energetic little ones on an outing like this, but we made it. The only downfall to the morning was that, due to drizzle, we chose to have our picnic in the car. Even though I forgot their spoons, they were so excited to eat peas out of my hands (my sort-of-cleaned hands) like the goats they fed earlier. Although exhausting as it can be, I have so much fun, and laugh so much with these two squirrels. I would hate my job if I didn't have such great girls to be around.

I wish the wind were coming from the other direction. This makes it look like she is driving backwards. 

This was right before Ella's freak-out. The goats were really excited (i.e. aggressive) about the bottle. I was too busy with the camera to realize how overwhelmed she was. Mama-fail.

Kate was also attacked by the goats when she had the bottle. She kept her cool, but did end up cornered , surrounded by six goats. She just abandoned the bottle. Smart girl. 

Kate was interested in all things goat. She wanted to grab tails, pet them, feed them, poke them; she even attempted to ride one. . . I'm kind of surprised she wasn't bitten.

 

Pictures

because something is better than nothing. 

Champion nappers. 

Our first snowgirl (because Ella insisted it was a girl. I got corrected many a time for calling it a snowman.) Kate wearing what we call her "fft fft pants" because of the noise they make when she walks. Ella helping hold on the obnoxiously long arm. (I made fun of the tiny arms Jon picked out, so he found one I couldn't complain about.) And me. . . because I don't make it into many photos.

Round two of our snowman. (I mean, snowgirl.) Her head fell off due to melt. We repositioned  the decorations, and found a more resonably sized arm. 

Jon and Ella's tower. Piglet's ears touched the ceiling. 

The girls (Kate especially) like to play in the water. Kate has gone so far as to open the closet, pull her step stool out, push it up to the sink, retrieve the pan, and hand it to me. She doesn't have a lot of words, but she gets her point across. She usually needs a dry shirt by the time I'm done making dinner, but it's a small price to pay to avoid her beggin to be held. 

Some Observations of Kate

Our Kate has a great sense of humor. I first noticed it this summer when she would kneel on a bed and lean forward until she flopped on her face. She gets such a kick out of "joking" Ella (as Ella refers to it). Occasionally they sit beside each other at lunch, and Kate will hand her a cup, and Kate will pull it back without letting go. This can go on and on (usually while I clean up their dishes) with giggles from both sides. Also fun - sticking her finger in Ella's mouth. 

She loves to climb. She's graduated from climbing a little rocker, to the step stool to the sink, to Ella's tall chair with a foot rest, to our kitchen chairs, to our rocker. . . I used to be able to keep her from climbing certain things by pushing them under the table or turning them around. Now she has figured out to pull and push them around so she can get in them. I know the next thing is pulling and pushing them so she can get up on the counter. I'm not looking forward to the additional baby-proofing that needs to be done to these mid-level areas.

Kate can sense an open kitchen cupboard or bathroom door being open from a room away Boy, can she move fast (this is what I like to call "toy store fast" since I witnessed her similar speed in a toy store the other day.) She's got a sixth sense for these "forbidden" areas. If I don't hear her, chances are she's sucking on the soap dispenser. At least drumming on the toilet seat or playing with the glass storage containers make noise. What a sneaky little gal.

Her communication is pretty effective. She signs "please", "all done" and "more" regularly. She used to use the sign for "milk" (which she doesn't so much have a need for, but on the same note, she used to use the same sign for "mama".)  She clears her tray (you know, ALL over the floor) if we don't clear quick enough. She has a few words - "mama", "dada", "dog", "duck", "meow", "tickle". I'm surprised she doesn't say "Ella" yet. I thought that might be her first word.

If this mop isn't pulled back, she looks like a sheep dog. Ella's hair frames her face nicely if left to untouched. Kate's just falls straight down. It isn't an option to let it go. 

Kate is full of joy, and tenderness (except when she is attempting to bite one of us - fortunately it is rare and she does this in slow motion, so it is really easy to avert.) She gives sweet snuggles complete with back pat; it especially warms my heart when she does it to Ella while Ella is being comforted after a fall. I love this girl so, so much, and I am so, so lucky to be her mom.

I am so bad at blogging . . .

. . . within a reasonable time frame. These days, I'm feeling like it is a 'win' if I get to posting on here even if it is almost 3 months late.)

We celebrated Kate with both sets of grandparents, and Wiebe-side aunts, uncles, and cousins. Ella thought Kate would like star cake, so star cake it was!

Mesmerized by the smoke. 

The fate of much food encountered by Kate - smashed, smeared, pinched, thrown on the floor. 

Hair surprisingly clean at the end of a meal.

"Enjoying" bath time. 

Oklahomala. . .

. . . as Ella refers to it.

My grandma and Kate, aren't they beautiful?

Want to win Ella over? Read her a book. She can rarely resist.

Ella was putting "gaso-lation" in the tank.

 (She knew 'gas' had a long name, but forgot what it was.)

Isn't she too young to give me looks like this?
Someday she'll be looking out a real car window with this face.

I feel like I have to say 'no' to so many things Kate wants to do; I didn't want to tell her she couldn't play in the dirt. She made such a mess of herself, but had the time of her life. (I did eventually have to find something else for her to do when she started to eat it. . .)

Evolution of a (Pretend) Phone Converstaion

As long as Ella has been able to talk, she would pretend to talk on one of Jon or my old cell phones. The first conversation is from roughly fifteen months ago. The last one is parts from two different phone calls this last week. She likes to talk while I jog with the girls in the stroller, but I haven't remembered at the right time to throw in a camera or paper and pencil to record what she says. (Since these conversations, I've tried twice - unsuccessfully - to get Ella to have a conversation. Me: Ella, your phone is ringing! Ella: No, it's not.)

Me: Who are you talking to?

Ella: Oma.

Me: How is she?

Ella: Good.

Me: What is she doing?

Ella: Dough.

(The above conversation happened daily and over time, it turned into "make dough" and then "making dough".)

***

While punching on keys,
Ella: I'm texting Grandma.

***
Ella: Are you on your way home? (I must frequently ask Jon this when I talk to him after school/practice.)
***

Ella: Ring, ring. Hello, Oma! ....How is your week?... Do you feel good or bad? ...Bad (spoken to me). ...Are you going to the doctor?... She's going to the doctor (again, spoken to me).... Where is Opa?... Good...Is Myla there?... We are coming to see you... no, we are not coming to see you... we are going home right now... have a good trip... sweet dreams. (Her inflection is really appropriate and sweet through all of this. I love it.)

(Mostly because a post about Ella should include a picture of her) I can't believe how grown up she looks in this picture. . . if only it weren't for the bit of lunch still hanging on to her face. 

A New Toy

 A few days ago I finally made the plunge and bought myself (or us, I'm sure Jon would like to think it is his too) a digital SLR camera. It is not something I really thought I would feel comfortable spending money on since we already have a camera and I bring in $0 a year. But. . . my dad encouraged me to think about it. And think about it I did! I would classify my dad as someone who is sensible about spending, and if he thought it was worth it, who am I to argue? It only took me about thirty days to decide between yes and no, and then what camera, and then what lens to buy. While I don't enjoy spending money, I am very excited to have one my my hobbies back. I didn't realize how much I missed it, and I can just cry thinking about being able to take quality photos of my girls.  I took some photography classes in high school and college back when we used film in cameras. What I remember most about playing around with different settings, is that I had to write down each f-stop and shutter speed and wait till I developed the film to compare. (Provided I kept track correctly, and didn't mess up the shot in some other way.) I feel like most of my photography education (or at least what I remember) was how to frame a good shot, and not how to technically use your settings to take a good shot. In the few days I've had it, I've played around only a little and can already see how awesome this is going to be compared to my film camera. There is so much to learn! (And boy, are Ella and Kate going to get sick of being photographed. . . )