2 year old in the House

My baby turned TWO almost a week ago!!
Can you believe it!?
When I took her 2 year photos with her lion, she insisted on wearing her head light. She upgraded from the bows! ha.

 

Thursday Morning, I made her French toast shaped as 2's and had blown up lots of balloons for her to wake to.

She went to Miss W's house and they had a little party there. She made cupcakes with me the night before to bring to Miss W's house, and she loved doing that.

My friend Natalie sent her the Hape Salad to go with her Hape Kitchen. It is adorable! She loves making her babies' salads. N also sent her this adorable outfit above! It came with socks I forgot to put on.

 

My friend Erin sent her a xylophone. Girl loves mail and packages! I got lots of video.

Thursday night, Andrew made it home after work and we went to dinner with 3 of my girlfriends and my parents.
ANika got the Minnie mouse from her friends at Miss W's house and she wouldn't let it out of her hands!

My mom and dad gave her the Hape Coffee maker and some Haba wooden tea bags so she  made us coffee and tea at dinner :)

This is a picture of ME and My dad. I can See Anika in the face, can you?

Andrew and my mom threw Anika and I a party this past weekend!!
MY 30th and Anika's 2nd. THe photo above was part of a timeline of my life that they put together. IT was AWESOME! It started with my birth. There were also photos of Anika and me side by side in the same exact outfits :) I loved it.

 

This was Anika at a birthday party Last week.

 

Andrew took Anika to his haircut last week and Anika kept asking the hair stylist for a hair cut like daddy's.  She also has been asking for a pony tail haircut, so they made her dreams come true! how cute! ha. Finally growing to do something with it.

 

We got Anika a learning tower for the kitchen. She also eats her breakfast at the breakfast bar on it. She loves helping in the kitchen and I wish we had this for the past year. LOVE IT.

 

My friend gave Anika some Montessori work toys to get started with.  We are 98% positive she will be starting Montessori school in the fall.  We follow a lot of the concepts at home already, so we think she will love it. She loves her independence. Dressing herself, feeding Piri, doing dishes, laundry, etc. Everything is "Ill do it myself"

 I miss my baby at times, but she just keeps on getting better.  This age is just so funny and adorable. Last night she was talking to Piri and telling her "I love my mommy"  and she got a new baby doll for her bday she calls Baby Ashee (Ashley).  She tells me the funniest stories and when I laugh she says "Mummy, Am I funny?"

When I sing to her a lot of times she snaps at me, "I don't like that song"  ha. So i have to change it up.   She is in swim again and enjoys that but doesnt really follow the directions the teacher gives! haha. I try to get her to follow along, but oh boy.
Andrew calls a hug a cuddle and I call it a hug.  Anika now asks for a huggle! She combined our terms and I melt when she says it.  We correct her on other "baby words" but this one is sticking. Its just too cute.

 

I hope to post about our PARTY soon!!

 

Snow Day-Crib jumping

 

Early this morning, I woke up to Anika in my room.
Anika: Mummy?
Me: What are you doing in here?
Anika: I jumped out of my crib
Me: Oh. Come up.

 

Anika comes into our bed almost every single morning because she gets up around 5/5:30 AM every morning no matter what time she goes to bed.  I'm not complaining about that. I'm used to it by now. We have tried black out curtains for a few weeks and those didn't work. Many mornings, I can get her back to sleep in my bed until my alarm goes off at 6, but many mornings I cant. I was always an early riser too, and Andrew and I don't require a whole lot of sleep, and she doesn't act tired or cranky. And, she goes to bed so incredibly easy and sleeps until then.  We never sleep trained or worked hard at getting her to sleep, so I am grateful for what we have...and we don't mind our morning cuddles. Well, she calls them huggles!  I call a hug a hug. Andrew calls hugs cuddles, so Anika last week asked me for a huggle- and it has stuck. I love it.

USUALLY, she calls for me and I go in and get her and bring her back to our room. Sometimes she doesn't want to huggle or go back to sleep with us and so she plays in her room. Her room is right next to ours.
We have tried taking the rail off her bed a few times in the past 6 months. I think she has been ready for a while, but every time we take it off, she asks for it back on! ha.

But, now that she jumped out, I am not giving her the chance to do that all the time and risk landing the wrong way. The only reason it took her so long to get out is because she is short/petite.

 

After Anika huggled in bed with me this morning, I checked outside: snow. I called a few people to see how the roads were and what the day was supposed to be like. Snow and sleet all day, so I decided to have my first snow day all winter. 
I took the crib side down and Anika napped in her converted crib today. We also have a toddler bed in the basement that I will move up soon.

 

Checking out the snow.  Anika is wearing a sweater that my mom made for me when I was a little girl.

 

 

So, above I talked about sleep.  And it brings me to my next question...how many of you use noise machines or fans? For yourself or for your children?
Growing up we didn't use anything at my parent's house.  When I was in college living in the city, I dated a guy who NEEDED his fan to sleep. He would need to bring it over to sleep over. I thought it was freakin ridiculous.  I couldn't believe he relied on something that much to sleep.  Also, I knew someone way before I had Anika who had to bring their noise machine camping with batteries! Omg, Use nature's sounds- you are CAMPING!

I used to love falling asleep to a tv. It drove Andrew NUTS! I still did it for a couple years into our marriage, but then he hated it so much, I wouldn't when he was home. Then...eventually, I stopped. Now, we don't even have a TV in our bedroom. I used to like watching the news in the morning when I got ready for work, but after Anika, I didnt even have time to turn it on before work. Also, we don't have cable anymore, so I cant even get the news. That is one thing we both miss not having cable- we cant get live news or sports, but there is plenty to watch on the Roku- hulu and Netflix for the amount of free time we have to watch tv. Ideally, we would like to get a digital antenna for local channels. I need to look into that and keep forgetting.

Ok, so back to noise machines.  As I have mentioned before, I am in an online natural mom group and I am in the complete minority and the only one who isn't into noise machines. I'm really surprised by this considering (in my opinion) noise machines aren't really natural...more like a gadget.  Anika was given a sleep sheep before she was born and we definitely used that in the early days- the heartbeat sound calmed her right down since she had been used to hearing my heart beat in my belly. Then, since the sheep is a stuffed animal, we sporadically used it until she was talking and told us she didn't like it and to turn it off.  Sometimes she would ask for us to turn her mobile on which played a short song while moving. I guess we just never wanted her to get used to NEEDING something to sleep, but it wasn't necessary for us either.  Andrew and I both fall asleep pretty much the minute our heads hit the pillow. I used to let Anika sleep in our living room as a new baby.  I would vacuum and do everything I usually do.  No one is ever quiet when she sleeps. We go about our business as usual. I will clean her room while she is sleeping in it. Piri barks if someone comes to our door or if she hears an animal outside and that generally doesn't wake her, but even if it does, she puts herself right back to sleep.

 

Another thing is I want to hear what is going on.  We have Piri to hear if anything is going on around our house and she will bark and wake me, but there was a brutal murder in our state a few years ago when the A/C muffled the sounds of intruders, and they didn't have a dog. I know my A/C in the summer  is loud and muffles out ALL noise, but I have Piri to hear over that :)

I guess every person is different and requires different things to sleep, but I am going to start asking my friends if they use noise machines or fans to sleep. I cant be the only one who doesn't use them for us or our kid!

Dirty 30

 

I am 30 today.
Its a number I have dreaded. Dont know why. I expected things to be so much different by 30 (career wise).

I got a delivery at work today. The big Lilly bouquet is from Andrew. The small bouquet said "To Mommy, Love Anika"
I WAS TOTALLY surprised. I already got a big present, so I wasn't expecting a thing.

I am leaving one here at work, and taking one home.

 

I am going out to dinner tonight. I already know what I am having: gourmet lobster and filet mac and cheese.  I have had it ONCE at this local restaurant when I was pregnant. I usually cant justify that huge fatty meal, but I can today, because I'M 30!

 

Almost 2

 

Can you believe Anika is almost 2?!!? It is really crazy to think about how fast it goes by.

I AM STILL keeping a calendar for her like I did for her first year. I keep it hung in her room near the rocker. I don't always write EVERY night, but I really try to. It is so easy to forget all the small things, and I have been HORRIBLE at keeping this blog updated with her happenings. Just horrible.

 

Last Month...

ANika kept telling me her teeth were falling out. I thought maybe she had that weird dream people have. Then I found out the 6 year old at the sitter lost her tooth! ha.

 

The first weekend of February we went to Boston to meet some of my friends.  We slept in a fancy hotel and then went to the Children's museum the next day.  But, first Anika was up way earlier than everyone else, so her and I got breakfast in the fancy hotel restaurant and walked and walked and walked around the hotel.  She was in her nighty still. It was cute. She asked for coffee and we made a special coffee for her.   She asks for coffee a lot.

In February, Anika offered me my own breast to nurse myself.  That was nice of her. HA.

Anika has had a lot of snow to play in. She says she wants to play in it, but then she doesn't really want to. She would rather sit and watch the others. She wanted to build a snow man- kept asking, but then she wanted to watch daddy do it.
Anika has been using the potty a lot. She loves to wear undies. She also still goes in her pants a lot.

Valentine's Day was a special day for many reasons.  One reason being that Anika's Daddy gave me an eternity band to go with my wedding band and engagement ring.  I've been wanting the band for a long time. I LOVE it.  Also, On Valentine's day Anika was in the car seat and said "Mummy, I need you"  It melted my heart and I responded to it of course, so now she says it all the time hoping for the same response.  I love when she asks for something she knows I will say no to- her little voice goes soft and she gives me a look "Mummy, Cookie for me?" but she already knows the answer will not be yes. 99% of the time.
The day after Vday, Anika was in bed with me and asked to hold my hand. It was still early. Then, my alarm went off (I use my phone) and she said "MUMMY, Your alarm is calling"

HAHA. I thought that was funny.

She loves for me to call Daddy, Nona or Grampa in my car- we have sync so she often tells me to call people because she can hear them in the car.

She still loves to ask me WHY?  about many things.  She loves to make me things in her Hape Kitchen, like wine. ha. She calls the ketchup and now salad dressings wine. I don't even drink wine around her, so this is funny to me.  I do say wine when we get it at the grocery store though, because I tell her what everything is that I put in the cart, or I have her tell me.  Some weeks, I don't get wine and she reminds me.
She still likes to tell people what I do and what I said, so I have to watch myself.

She loves to blame others for her toots.  She likes to ride Piri,  She likes to help me with EVERYTHING: Make dinner, do laundry, do dishes, dust, vacuum, you name it. She is my helper.  When we get home each night from work, she puts her coat in the closet and helps me take my shoes off. ha. I promise, I compensate her well for all her work.

I am glad I got this update down.
I hope to keep up better.

Happy weekend Folks!

 

 

 

 

Random Health /Baby

** I just found this post In my drafts from last year.  It was a post I just added things to as I saw them.  Might not be your cup of tea, and that's just fine. I have had babies on my brain lately after the midwife convention this past weekend. Plus, I don't have time to write a new post right now. I still owe you posts from NZ! ack.
Ps. I am suffering from my FIRST sinus infection, ever!! I am treating it naturally, but you know how I found out?? I had severe tooth pain and went to the dentist yesterday. He took one look and asked me a couple questions and said: Sinus infection! Since, I am TTC, I cant have xrays to confirm or antibiotics, so I am using a neti pot and a tincture my midwife gave me! My teeth feel better today, but last night was rough!!


 Documentaries I have watched:

The Business of Being Born- I watched this when I was pregnant with Anika.  It solidified my desires and need to have a natural birth.  I encourage every pregnant friend to watch the movie.

 

I just watched MORE Business of Being Born recently. There are four segments.
One of the "episodes" interviews celebrities,  like Giselle and Alyson Hannigan. I think Allyson Hannigan was my favorite. She was great! She is the girl "that time at band camp" and on the show How I met your Mother.  The famous NH midwife I got to meet TWICE now was actually in the First Business of Being Born.
I also want to recommend the movie, Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin & The Farm Midwives.


Fat Sick and Nearly Dead

This solidified me wanting to do juicing. I am not sick and nearly dead, but I am a overweight.
I have not done a full juice fast, but I have included juicing in my routine and I love how I feel.
When I was good about it and had juice for my breakfast and snacks, I was losing weight. I also hate to waste the pulp from juicing, so I use the veggie pulp in other meals and compost anything I don't eat.

Food, Inc.  About our food and meat in this country.

And, here are a few other things Ive seen and liked:  

 

I have been reading about how healthy bone broth soup is. I took the bones leftover from Thanksgiving turkey. I put them in my crock pot with water for 48 hours on low. It made a thick broth.
I then added butternut squash and some other veggies and herbs and made a soup. The soup is so filling because the broth is full of nutrients and marrow.

 

 

 

A busy weekend

Andrew took Anika skiing on Friday. My mom was at the mountain too so that is why she is in the pictures. Andrew actually skied with Anika a lot this weekend but he is not in ANY photos.

The big pink helmet kills me. its funny.

She LOVES the magic carpet- how she gets up the little bunny hill.

 Saturday, I had a race at Wild Cat up North. My dad actually went with me. We left at 6  AM.

We got some of the FIRST tracks of the day! It was awesome!

Mt Washington (Tuckermans) behind me in the pics.

Beautiful view.

HAHA. This makes me laugh.

The race started at 10 and I was one of the early racers.  At 9:50 I decided we could take one more run.

And, the lift BROKE!!

We were stuck on the lift for 20 minutes. I could hear the race starting. 

They finally got it moving, but VERY Slow. I got to the top of the course pretty much with a minute to spare... but still had my dad take a picture :) 

Most racers take their snow pants off, but my snow pants are so tight right now, I figure they are find to keep on :) My baggy jacket would slow me down, but I'm sure my pants are fine. haha

 It was a longer course than the other races this season, and it was the championship. I won.

#1.

THEN, we left RIGHT after my run. We made the 1 hour 45 minute ride back to our area, dropped my dad off, and then I headed a little over an hour south  to a town on the border of Massachusetts to attend a midwife convention I was invited to. I REALLY wanted to do both, so I'm happy I was able to. Anika was with Andrew. With him gone all week, he loved all the alone time with her.

I really enjoyed the little bit of the convention I attended. As you know, natural birth is a passion of mine.  I know I don't work in the birth field, but I still find all of it fascinating.  I also learned that the hospital I had Anika at was  the forerunner for bringing the natural birthing practices back into hospitals in the 80's. One doctor in particular was responsible for the changes, and I met his wife (a midwife)...again and I really enjoyed listening to her speak and seeing her photos.

 

On the way home, I stopped to look for a dress, but I just took photos and was NOT in the mood. We live far from real malls, so I figured while I was down south, it would be good to stop in, but I had been up since 5 AM and I felt gross.

 

Sunday, Anika and I made a delicious breakfast. I used nutritional yeast instead of cheese. Does anyone else use nutritional yeast? I have used it on kale chips too. It is still new to me, but I am trying to eat eggs without cheese, which is hard for me.  I made the salsa too. Anika ate a raw clove of garlic while helping me! ha She said it was spicy. Ya, I bet!

We had a slow morning and then headed over to our local ski mountain. 

I get really tired if I hang around my house all day, but if we are out and about I have tons of energy. Plus, I wanted to ski with Anika since everyone else had been.

My iphone was taking blurry pics

And, two videos I think are funny. The one on the bottom you have to have the volume up to hear, but I laugh, but then again, its my family :)

Anika skied about 20 feet all on her own. She thought I was right there and when she realized I wasn't, she didn't like that. She is actually very good with her balance and has the concept down, but she needs a little more confidence I think. She has plenty of confidence in other areas of her life :)

 

We only stayed at the mountain for a few hours, so we had some time at home in the early evening.

 

We have so much fun with our little love.  She continues to be a chatter box and loves to tell us stories. Some are true. haha