Sweet treats

snack time
Originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Today in the grocery store Annabel demanded a $4-per-pound yellow pepper in the produce bins, which we figure was a worthwhile investment in her education of good eating. As soon as she got home, she fished it out of the bag and demanded to get up into her highchair. ... We were barely able to convice her to wash it before she commensed chomping away as if it were an apple. What a sweet treat!

She's legal now ... 21 months old!

The big kids' swing
Originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Annabel turned the big 2-1 today, and to commemorate the auspicious occasion we took a ride on the big kids' swing. All I did was set her on and she did the rest. In short order she was swinging gently to and fro. It was a good turn, although it was shortlived. As soon as she started playing the "look ma, no hands" game we had to move along to the slide.

Yesterday she spent a few hours at her friend Maya's birthday party. Maya turned two Saturday and had a wonderful birthday party at the Berkshire South Community Center. Annabel took a while warming up to the children and the games ... she directed ME to fingerpaint for her, which was cute. ... "No mommy. BLUE."

Shhh! Dad's working

shhh dad's working
Originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Let's face it ... She doesn't want us to eat, work or try and get comfortable. It's all about her right now. Trying to sit down with a bowl of ice cream at the end of a rough day is like playing with fire. She immediately hones in on the offending dish and demands it be put "down." Unless, of course, it's a flavor that tickles her fancy. The current flavor fav is vanilla. But she recently found the sour delights of lemon sorbet. After the first scrunch-faced expression of the initial teaspoonful it was 'More, more, more."

Fighting clean

fighting clean
Originally uploaded by toyfoto.

I couldn't help but share this picture. Annabel is wearing a vintage dress from her Auntie Sarah's collection as she battles the vacuum cleaner. She actually likes to chase it around the room, following the light and the noise. She's a really getting involved in helping. She loves to help wipe up spills and sweep things into the dustbin. I can't believe how fast she's growing. She asked me tonight to tell her the difference between a bee and a ladybug. She was so cute, bringing my finger to the pictures in her book. Back and forth. Giggling with delight when I showed her each bug.

The last straw ...

Sharing strawberries
Originally uploaded by toyfoto.

BERRY. Mmmmm, even good enough for sharing with the farmers at the Farmers' Market. Has it ever been a whirlwind morning! Annabel helped pick out produce at the market, and then came home and helped clean the house for when Tierney comes to babysit when dad and I attend a family wedding this evening. It's going to be so exciting and she doesn't even know it. ... "TeeTee" is her all-time FAVORITE person. I suppose we should start the betting now for when Annabel will be going to sleep tonight. My guess is sometime around seconds after Tierney goes home.


Ammended: I was right ... she went to bed about 10 minutes after Tierney left the building.
By the way, the wedding was beautiful ... here's a glimpse.

Swing kids

swing kids
Originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Last weekend we took a trip up to Vermont for a Labor Day "cook-in" at Great Aunt Denise's house. We stayed overnight and had a great adventure. Annabel also had lots of fun visiting with her cousins, playing with their toys and exploring their "Space ship." They introduced her to a new favorite cartoon -- Power Puff Girls. She especially got a kick out of Emmett, who was just a bundle of giggles and a font of kung fu action. Finn, her other cousin, was a little too fast to be captured in this lens, however. It was like trying to photograph Superhero Flash Gordon. Perhaps the toy camera was better able to capture the action. We'll have to wait for the film to develop.




and here he his; the one, the only, SuperBoy Finn!! as caught in motion by the super-de-dooper toy camera:

Pop goes the weasle

Warhol-esq
Originally uploaded by toyfoto.

Our daughter is hooked on pop culture -- literally and figuratively. There's her obsession with popscicles: She yells 'POP' at top volume when we confuse the demand with Papa, her other preoccupation. Everytime he leaves a room, whether she had been paying him any attention at all, she scampers after him yelling 'POP' with a ferrocity we seldom ever see otherwise.
Of course we are also marveling at her facination with Barney; Nemo ("MEmo"); Ernie; "baby Ernie" (a smaller verson of her favorite Sesame Street pal); "Elmo," her on-again-off-again old flame; and "Woody," everyone's favorite cowboy from Toy Story.
She's even demanding we sing TMBG's "Bed, Bed, Bed," song every morning and evening in the car.