Firefly Hunting, Felix and Gelix

We've spent the last 10 days visiting Kristin's family in Iowa. Before going, Kristin had mentioned to Annabel that we would see fireflies when we went. We even got this book which talks about making firefly lanterns by catching fireflies and putting them in a jar.

In fact, it turns out that the fireflies here aren't as plentiful as they were when Kristin was growing up and it was hard to find them. About half way through the trip we still hadn't seen any. Then, on the way to the car one evening after dinner, Annabel pointed across the street and yelled out "Fireflies! I see them!" and sure enough there were a bunch of fireflies there glowing away. It's amazing that she was the first to see them, particularly given that she had only heard about them through stories. I'll bet she had been on the lookout every second we were outside at night since the trip began. Needless to say she was delighted.

Then today, she picked up an empty water bottle and asked if we could go to the backyard to collect bugs. She's wanted to look for bugs in the past, but this was the first collection request. I obliged and although the selection was meager, we did manage to coax a few ants into the bottle with the help of a green magic marker.

Annabel of course named them right away (Felix and Gelix) and made sure that I poked holes for air and that we had some food for them "in case they get hungry". She suggested chocolate chip cookies, which she was sure they would like. Here's a picture of her with her first pets.

Four!

Annabel had her fourth birthday party today at the Bay Area Discovery Museum in Marin. The morning started out a bit foggy but cleared up quickly and turned into a beautiful day. There were about fifteen kids and 20 adults or so and it was a great time all around.

The princess obsession continues, with a princess cake, many princess themed gifts and a several guests arriving in royal attire. Annabel spent the first part of the morning out in the playground area digging for buried treasure. They have some cool caves and shipwreck scenes at the museum, and Annabel was fully embraced the treasure hunter role. ("Daddy, we need to find the X! That's where the treasure is!"). She then moved inside where she socialized with her friends and ate popcorn at an alarming rate, sometimes literally pushing it into her mouth with both hands. Picture below :)

Kristin and the girls made cupcakes last night to serve in addition to the princess cake, but we inadvertently left them at home in the craziness that led up to the party. At first Annabel was disappointed until she realized just how many cupcakes are now sitting in the kitchen just waiting to be eaten.

The first present that she opened was a Wonder Woman costume which she put on immediately. I asked her to give me a "super hero" look for the photo which is so hysterical that I had to include it below.

Ice cream at age 4

I was just looking through videos from our recent trip to the Monterey aquarium, and found this one of Annabel ordering ice cream.

This shows the incredible kinetic energy that she gives off when she is excited.

She also has a shimmy move that goes along with this hopping technique. No shimmy in this video unfortunately.

helping little gaby

This was a first for me. Annabel was telling her little sister tht the wedding they were to attend was going to be fun. She was really acting like a big big sister. very cute.

I floated there!

 

Annabel has recently created the character of "her lion".

It started with a phrase that she heard in school where they check hunger levels by asking "Who has a roaring lion in their tummy?"

Annabel started to use that expression at home when she was hungry. It would go something like:

"Mommy, I think my lion is roaring!"

More recently though, the lion has started to take on some invisible friend traits. She didn't think that she should have to clean the living room, for example, since it was her lion that scattered the stuffed animals.

The twist that I really like is that the lion actually lives inside of her. In fact yesterday, she opened her mouth up and asked if I could see her lion's eyes in there. Scary!

She has a very vivid imagination. Tonight for example, she was carrying around a little purple suede pouch full of fake "precious jewels". I hadn't seen it before and I asked her where she got it. This is basically how the exchange went as close to word for word as I can remember.

"Where did you get those jewels" I asked, making the jewels sound precious.

"I got this at the end of the rainbow, daddy". She said happily

"The end of the rainbow?" I asked, thinking maybe that was the name of a store or something.

"Yeah!" She said with a tone that suggested a great adventure.

"Where did you really get it?" I asked.

"At the end of the rainbow. I floated there!" She said, emphasizing the magic of floating.

"Wow, you floated there on the air?" I ask, going along with it.

"No, silly! On a leaf." She said, acting as though it should have been obvious.

"Wow, a leaf!" I said.

"And do you know what I saw?" She asked, coaxing me into the story.

"No, what?" I ask, taking the bait.

"A little birdie," she said.

"Wow, and what did he say?" I ask now fascinated to hear where this is going.

"He whispered to me: THE RAINBOW IS OVER THERE," She whispered.

"Wow, thats a good story!" I said.

"Yeah!" She said.

Okay, Ten. But Just This Once

Although Annabel does know her numbers, I've noticed her make some math mistakes in her daily life. My favorite example is her recent reply to Kristin's "It's time for bed" routine.

"Just fifteen more minutes, and then it's night-night time" says Kristin
"No Mommy!" Says Annabel "Ten more minutes!"

Kristin looks over to me, smiles and says:

"Okay, ten. But just this once!"

eeny meeny mino moe has set her free.

 

Annabel has recently discovered the joy of Eeny Meeny Miney Moe

I introduced the concept last week when I used it to break a tie between she and her sister when neither wanted to get out of the tub. It seemed like an objective way to decide.

Annabel made me do it again and a again to see if it would come up with the same answer. I didn't realize that she was testing for consistency until I noticed her surprise when it had her getting out of the tub even though it had chosen Gaby the last time.

Since then she has used it many times to help her make choices about what to eat, what to wear, even what to watch on TV. For Annabel, these choices have historically proven very difficult and can often lead to tears and once in a wile even a good old fashioned melt-down. But now, eeny meeny mino moe has set her free.

It's really funny to watch her actually apply the technique. She will saw the words and move her finger back and forth between the things, but the finger has nothing to do with the words. At the end she will just point at whatever she has chosen and say "Moe!"

We also went to her ballet class this week (it was parent's day, which only happens once a month). And I've posted a video below which I think is hysterical. Notice especially the voice of the teacher in the background. At one point, Annabel puts her toes together and you can actually hear the teacher saying "KissyToes!".

As Fun As The Ten Plagues Are...

Last week we had two passover seders and three (yes, three) separate Easter egg hunts. Annabel threw herself into it with a passion. I think it's safe to say that Annabel just naturally appreciates the fun of dressing up and going to parties. She enjoyed both celebrations, but I must say that Easter has the edge with Annabel. As fun as the ten plagues are, they really pale in comparison to the idea of finding eggs full of candy hidden by a mysterious giant bunny. (although I am proud to report that Annabel was singing Dayenu in the backseat of the car on the way home from one of the passover seders).

Of course this is the same person who told me last year that she wanted to be an Egg Hunter when she grows up. This year she was very focused during the egg hunts. I watched her reaching for an egg that was just outside of her grasp in the low branches of a tree. Other kids were there going for it as well. She ran around to the other side of the tree and on her very tiptoes managed to just reach it with her fingertips which rolled it off the tree and into her basket. She was so proud, she mentioned it several times later in the day.

"Daddy, remember the yellow egg in the tree? I tried hard and I got it!"

Inside, We Have Bones

We have a sick goldfish. It's lost most of its energy and color and it spends the day at the bottom of the tank not doing much. Apparently it has a disease called dropsy, which is usually fatal.

Annabel noticed that it wasn't acting itself lately and asked about it last Sunday afternoon. Kristin and I were both there.

"The fish is sick" said Kristin
"Is he going to be okay, Daddy?" Asked Annabel
"I hope so sweety, but he's very sick and he'll probably die" I said, not knowing how else to put it.

Annabel though about it for a second.

"We aren't going to die are we?"
Kristin came to the rescue here.
"Not yet" She said, "Now its time for your bath, lets go."

Annabel stood for another second thinking.

"Inside, we have bones." She said.

A Masterpiece of Surrealist Kids-Menu Art

We had brunch today with several friends at a restaurant on Golden Gate Park. There were 10 adults and 5 children. Annabel sat between me and Brad, the graphic designer for Shopping.com. She had been given a kid's menu and some crayons and was coloring away when Brad offered to collaborate with her on a drawing.

The idea was to draw a face together: First he would draw an eye, then she would draw an eye. He would draw an ear and she would draw an ear and so on. They decided after some discussion that they would each draw half of the nose and mouth.

This is what they came up with. I think it's destined to become a masterpiece of surrealist kids-menu art. I particularly like the way the face seems to be getting caught up in the windmill's air stream.

Here's another of Annabel's recent works. It is entitled "Tinkerbell", in keeping with her fairy obsession.

According to this article on the artistic stages in children's drawing, Annabel is a little ahead of the curve drawing figures well before kindergarten.

Evil Toad Fairy vs. Sparkle Rainbow Fairy

 

Ever since I returned from Europe a week ago, Annabel has been talking about the new Fairytopia movie. Apparently Kristin picked it up for the kids while I was gone and it's really made an impression.

It is the 3 year old girl version of the timeless battle of good vs evil, light vs dark, right vs wrong, evil toad fairy vs. sparkle rainbow fairy. It features the evil Laverna who tries to destroy the "First Blush Of Spring" but is overcome by Elena the good and her sparkle rainbow fairy friends.

I'm not sure what it is about Fairies that so appeals to Annabel, but she knew the story cold and even tried to get me into it several times by coaxing me with comments like "I wonder if Starburst fairy is hiding under the water, daddy. I think she is!"

Meanwhile Gabby ran around the family room bouncing off of the couch and tackling her sister while singing loudly. Spazzing out, basically.

I think this picture tells the story pretty accurately.

That Sweet Jamba Juice

We were driving in the car today and Annabel made a comment about the local Jamba Juice store. Apparently, she remembered the location because she made the comment before the place was in view.

I think Jamba Juice is mainly a West Coast thing. It's basically the Starbucks of fruit smoothies if you can imagine such a thing. It has a very healthfoody, "Nature is beutiful" type vibe going.

We've gone there a few times when we've happened to walk past it, but I wouldn't say we've gone there regularly. Apparently, Annabel likes Jamba Juice more than either Kristin or I knew because her comment on approaching it was:

"Boy, I wish I had some of that sweet Jamba Juice in my Tummy!"

She even said it in some sort of fanciful southern accent. It sounded like a commercial. Needless to say, we stopped and got both she and Gaby some of that sweet juice.

They were both very pleased.

First Time On The Ice

 

Kristin spent last weekend away, which left me solo with the girls. I knew they would miss mommy so my plan was distract them from the fact that she was gone by scheduling so many back to back activities that they wouldn't have any time to think about her. Then by the end of the day they would be so tired that they would fall fast asleep. The plan worked relatively well, the only major flaw being that it left me at least as tired as they were.

On Sunday Rick met us and we took the girls Ice skating. Skating was actually Annabel's idea. She asked about it several times before I finally found an ice rink in the city with an open skate time.

It's a stretch to call what they were doing skating. Rick and I would mostly hold the girls off the ground by both hands and then gently touch the blades of their skates to the ice so they could feel how the ice moved under the skate. Annabel only stood on her own weight for a few minutes and fell several times during that period. Still they enjoyed it.

Surprisingly, we ran into Aviv, one of Annabel's favorite classmates at the rink. Aviv skated on his own the entire time. His dad is a hockey player and this was clearly not their first trip to the skating rink. Aviv was managing to get around on his own, although falling occasionally.

The amazing thing is that as we were walking back to the car, Annabel turned to me and said

"Aviv fell several times, daddy".

I was surprised by that for a few reasons: First, I was impressed with excellent use of the word "several", which I later asked her to define and she came up with "More than a couple". Even more than that though, I was shocked to detect a hint of disdain in her voice, as though she was disappointed that he wasn't as good a skater as she was. In fact, Aviv is a WAY BETTER skater she is, and apparently Annabel managed to forget her own falls only moments after they happened.

"Everyone falls when they learn how to skate" I said
"Not me daddy."
"Yes you did. You fell too, don't you remember?"
"No."

I need to develop some techniques to keep her honest! Luckily I happen to have one of her falls on video tape. :)

Inspecting The Sidewalk for Clues

 

We went to Mendocino this weekend with Roger and Sheila and the kids. It's whale watching season up there and the telescope store in town has a whole row of telescopes set up to look out the store window to the harbor across the street. We spent a few minutes in the store and Annabel asked if she could get a magnifying glass. It's a slightly modernized version of the class Sherlock Holmes type deal. It even came with a small black case that covers the lens for safe-keeping.

Annabel rushed out of the store, took off the case and began inspecting the sidewalk for "clues". Suspicious looking flowers, sidewalk cracks and cigarette butts drew special attention. Luckily there were no ants around, so we didn't need to have that particular conversation.

Gaby, not wanting to be left out of the fun grabbed the black case and started to inspect the same areas that Annabel was examining, but with the opaque case, which should would hold up to here eye and "look through" just like here sister was doing with the actual magnifying glass. Here are a few shots of the detectives in action.

Dance Around Up There

One day on our recent vacation, I took the girls to the Des Moines Science Center. For some reason we were almost the only people in the place. We really had the whole facility to ourselves. It was great. The kids could play with any of the exhibits for as long as they wanted and they didn't have to wait for other kids to finish or rush through the fun.

They have a TV news studio there. I assume they use for broadcast television classes and the like. The best part is that it came fully equipped with a green screen. I saw the potential to get some footage and then maybe key something in behind the kids later. So I said to Annabel, "Why don't you go up on that stage and dance around up there. I'll take a video". And up she went, followed by her sister who clearly thought we were taking a still photo (note her smiling and saying "Cheese"). I especially like the fact that Annabel has her purse on her arm through the whole thing.

I'm trying to figure out what to put behind Annabel on the green screen.

More gifts than anyone can reasonably justify

Annabel is back home and back in preschool after a long and busy holiday break.

As I was collecting pictures for this entry, I ran across some videos that I took last year of the kids on Christmas morning. Its amazing just how far Annabel has come in one year. Last year, she wasn't completely clear on how the holiday worked. She didn't understand, for example, that she would get to open any of the presents with her name on them. She didn't really know who Santa Claus was or why she was leaving cookies for him.

This year, she gets everything from cookies on Christmas eve to champaign on New Years Eve (for the record, She had Sprite but she asked what Kristin and I were drinking and why). She not only understood Christmas better, she is understanding everything better and making some surprising connections. For example, we have been reminding Annabel not to talk to strangers recently and she asked if she was a stranger to anyone, who might not be allowed to talk to her.

At the end of the trip, she started calling me "Dad" instead of "Daddy", a trait I think she picked up from her cousins.

Both girls really enjoyed spending time with their cousins, with whom they are surprisingly close particularly given the distance. I've got a few pictures of the whole crew below which I think conveys the overall vibe pretty accurately.

In terms of toys and gifts, both girls got far more than anyone can reasonably justify. The list includes such indispensable must-haves as:

• Talking bears
• Fire breathing dragons
• Magic Castles
• Life sized stuffed white tigers
• bath toys, new clothes, jewelry, DVDs, the list goes on...
  

I asked Annabel about her favorite gift and predictably, it was her new Princess Dress and Tiara set. She wore the tiara more or less constantly for the three day period between the 25th and the 28th when we flew back to San Francisco.

Here are some pics.

Annabel Took This Photo

This is probably the best photo I have of Gaby and me. Beginner's luck or gifted photographer? 

Max and Ruby

  I've just spent the last week with Annabel and Gaby everyday. It's nice to spend such a long uninterrupted stretch with them. They are both developing so quickly, you can actually see them progress over the course of a single week, particularly Gaby.

We just finished watching Max and Ruby and put the kids to bed. Max and Ruby is far and away Annabel's favorite show. She requests it literally morning noon and night, and occasionally whines and pouts when its not possible to put it on.

We Tivo it, so we always have some on hand. Something happened with the priority system on the Tivo here, so that some other show is being recorded during the Max and Ruby time slot everyday, so the ones we have on the system are not being replaced by new ones. This doesn't bother Annabel at all. She is happy to watch any one of three episodes that we have over and over and over again. She's seen them all at least 10 times. So, tragically have Kristin and I.

The show features Max, a bunny rabbit who behaves roughly like a one or two year-old child and Ruby, who behaves MUCH more like a mother to Max than the "sister" role that she officially plays would suggest. Maybe she is a much older 16 year old sister, perhaps.

The average episode features Ruby displaying zen-like patience in the face of Max's impossibly frustrating behavior. One of the episodes we have, for example, features Ruby being awoken in her bed by a tired and irritable Max at least five different times for various reasons including flies buzzing in the room, windows that must be shut, pajamas that are too hot or too cold, etc. I am often annoyed at Max just watching it. Ruby though, is a champ.

Annabel is clearly confused about the relationship between them too. Tonight, during the aforementioned episode, I said

"Ruby is a good big sister, isn't she?"
and Annabel said "She not his sister, she his MOMMY".
and I said "I think she's his sister."
"No, She not." said Annabel

She has the sniffles at the moment, a small thing she caught from traveling to and from Detroit for Thanksgiving.

"Are you feeling sick?" I asked her tonight,
"No, I okay. It's getting away." she said

In general she is wonderful to her sister. She shares her toys well, and displays good humor and great patience when Gaby pokes her or snatches things that she is playing with. At her worst, she can whine for an entire morning, and at her best she twirls with joy when she is happy.

She loves princesses and dragons and magic. Several times this weekend, she would approach me with a small item, like a nut or a small toy and ask me to "disappear it". Where I use some clumsy mis-direction to drop the item and then show both hands empty. She loves the magic of it. Gaby, on the other hand rarely takes her eyes on off of the item.

Halloween

We had a fun Halloween this year. It really started last Friday, when Kristin and I went to a costume party on Friday night as little red riding hood and the big bad wolf.

Then on the actual night of Halloween, we had some friends over with their kids so that we could all go trick-or-treaing together. At the start of the evening, I was the only adult wearing a costume. After an hour of drinking wine while we waiting for the sun to go down though, I managed to get everyone into a some sort of costume from the trusty old costume bin.

The kids were going to go as "The Pumpkin Sisters", which was Annabel's idea, but at the last minute Annabel couldn't resist the appeal of dressing up as a princess.

Gaby went ahead with the pumpkin plan, but only had her costume on for about 2 minutes, but that was enough time to snap a few pictures.

We went trick-or-treating at all the shops in North Beach. Most of them had candy out and the kids had a great time.

Gaby was tired by about 6:30, but Annabel was engaged and loving it to the very end.

This was our exchange when it was time to head home.

"Can I get more Candy?" She asked
"Maybe a little more" I said "It's time to head back home"
"I want to get a LOT more, Daddy"

Interestingly, she saved almost everything for later with the single exception of some Gummy Teeth, which she ate on the spot.

Little Pumpkin, originally uploaded by Rgold.

Annabel's First Ballet Class

Annabel's First Ballet Class, originally uploaded by Rgold.

I've been meaning to post this for a few weeks now. This was teken two weeks ago Monday on Annabel's first ballet class. She LOVES it. Click on this shot to link to my photo account at Flickr where there are a few more shots.