2.23.2011

Comparison Pics

A friend was asking me today if Mollie's hair looked like it was going to be like Natalie's (you know, long, thick, wavy, GORGEOUS), and if Mollie's looks like Natalie's did at this age. I decided to look back HERE at the 'ol Blog and see for myself! The answer is, YES! Aside from the color, their hair is SO SIMILAR at 19 months. Well, we'd cut bangs for Nat, and I'm determined NOT to do that with Mollie, but the back looks almost just the same. Mollie's might be a tad thinner, but it's so much lighter that that might be the difference. And, since I LOVE to do these comparision pics, LOOKEE here! OH MY GOSH MY #1 BABY is SO NOT a BABY anymore, people!!

TODAY:
Photobucket

19 MONTHS:


And here's a good one of Miss Mollie's hair, although this is almost 2 months ago. It's the best one of the back(ish):
Photobucket

Oh, and for anyone following the story, Natalie and her Ungraffe are once again happily inseparable. :) :)

2.17.2011

The Ungraffe

For Valentine's Day, we got the girls a super cute little stuffed animal. Natalie got a giraffe, Mollie got a monkey.





See? Super cute, right? Well, Natalie LOVED the giraffe. She calls it an "un-gr-aff" I don't know. I don't get it. I know she can say giraffe. Anyway, that's how she's decided to say giraffe. So she's been more attached to this little thing than maybe any other toy that she's had. She's never been one to be super attached to one toy. She has to sleep with a blanket and a baby, but she's usually not picky about WHICH blanket or WHICH baby. So she decides that she'd like to take Ungraffe to school to sleep with during her nap. OK, fine. We've never had an issue with her leaving her sleeping buddy at school, so I didn't think twice about it. That was my first mistake.

Yesterday when Brad picked the girls up, Natalie wanted to get Ungraffe out of her backpack to carry it separately to the car. Brad let her. They stopped at the front desk to buy some bake sale goodies. Natalie wanted to carry them to the car. Brad said no. A FIT WAS THROWN. (By the way, she hasn't been napping at school this week - YAY! NOTE SARCASM.)

Fast forward to last night, and Natalie MUST sleep with Ungraffe. MUST have it. We can't find it, Brad looks in the car, then he remembers THE FIT and determines that she must have left it there at the front desk. We manage to make her happy with the usual baby. Good. Well, this morning, she's asking about Ungraffe again. I tell her I bet we'll find it at school.

I usually carry Mollie into the building and into her classroom, and she has to be handed over to one of her teachers in order for us to all leave without tears. Today I had my hands full, it was SUPER windy, and Mollie was in a good mood, so I thought I'd attempt to let her walk into the building after carrying her to the door. She thought she was big stuff. We usually have to drop Mollie off first (Natalie's orders), but today, Mollie headed toward Natalie's class, and Natalie was (surprisingly) ok with that. So Nat's walking into her room, and Miss Mollie is eye level with the kids' cubbies. All of a sudden, she squeals with glee and grabs a giraffe - YES QUITE POSSIBLY THE UNGRAFFE - from ANOTHER little girl's cubby. Chaos ensues. Natalie remembers that she lost her Ungraffe, there it is, YAY! Um, no, actually THAT is L's giraffe, but yes, it does look exactly like Nat's. So her teacher goes up to the front to see if Natalie's is at the front desk. It's not. Natalie does not want to hand it over. She can't fathom that anyone else could possibly have another giraffe that looks exactly like hers. Little does she know that the Ty corporation has sold probably hundreds of thousands of them. So I finally manage to convince a tearful Natalie that it's not hers and we'll find hers. "Later?" she asks me with a tear rolling down her cheek. I assure her that we'll definitely find hers later, envisioning myself spending my lunch hour scouring Oklahoma City for another one. Luckily my mom had the idea to check Amazon, where, lo and behold, they had the same giraffe for $6.28+$3.99 OVERNIGHT shipping.

If we can make it through tonight and tomorrow morning, a new Ungraffe will be waiting for Natalie Friday afternoon. *INSERT HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF*

OH! AND! Lesson learned: EVERYTHING GETS A LABEL. This might not have solved the initial problem, but it would have helped in the end. Maybe.

2.16.2011

Natalie

Natalie is 3 years, 5 months, and 4 days old today. How can it be that she's almost halfway to FOUR already?! It doesn't seem possible, but as I watch her lately, I am starting to think she looks like she could be a 4 year old AND - as usual, I hesitate to say this - I'm starting to see some glimpses of what I hope might be more of a 4-year-old mentality. I thought it was probably a good time to share them so I don't forget!

- Natalie has been EXCITED about helping me fold clothes. Truly excited and OFFERS to help! She's a washcloth folding MACHINE, that girl! I wish she was tall enough to do towels! :)

- The other day, she asked Mollie if she was done eating, got a wet cloth from the counter, wiped Mollies face and hands, unbuckled her from her booster seat, and gently helped her get down from her chair! It was adorable!

- Mollie is a pest. Really, she is. She just wants attention from Natalie because she loooooooves her so much, but if Nat's not giving her enough, she pulls her hair. All.the.time. with the hair pulling. Natalie definitely whines and often cries about it, but I just realized that she really doesn't reciprocate. You'd think she might hit her (they're both hitters, ugh) or reach out and grab a handful of Mollie's locks, but she doesn't. She's gentle with her.

- We go through phases with the hair issues. I somehow got out of the braiding routine (honestly, it's just so gorgeous to see the natural waves she has when it dries on it's own!), so some days are rough with the brushing, but honestly, for the most part - it's better! She doesn't react as strongly if it pulls and we talk about what a big girl she is! :)

- She's doing better with her ballet class. She's always had fun with it, but I can tell that she is trying to pay better attention now. Monday night, after class, she had to show us "First A-sishen" (position). Too cute! I asked her if she could show us Second Position, and she said no and asked me what it was. I told her I was sure Ms. Jesi would teach her. Then she went over to Mollie, kneeled down on the floor, and she got herself and Mollie into some goofy position (which most definitely was NOT Second Position) and proclaimed it to be "Sekin A-sishen!" We just clapped anyway. :)

- Background: Mollie is just as strong-willed as Nat, and we've been attempting to do some Time Outs with her when she misbehaves. Story: The other night, we were in Natalie's room getting her PJ's on, and Mollie walked right over and pulled Nat's hair (SEE?!). I told her that wasn't ok, and tried to redirect her. Once Natalie was changed, she stood up and said, "Mommy, there are corners in my room there and THERE. And you can probaly use that one too." and pointed at all of the corners in her room, for Mollie's next Time Out. hahha

I'm sure there are many more that I've missed, but there are a few. :) It's so funny how things change so quickly! I was JUST telling a friend how Natalie's the one who's in a difficult stage right now, but it's always changing, blah, blah. Pretty much the next day Mollie became Difficult Child #1 and Natalie instantly appeared more mature. They have to keep us on our toes!

I wish I could say I had forty gazillion adorable pics to post, but I don't. I do have some from the snow that I need to get to. SOON! :)