Special Visitors

Jenny and Andy came to visit Sadie two weekends ago. We had a great time seeing them! We did lots of fun Upper Valley stuff, including Ramunto's, Dartmouth basketball, breakfast at the Farmer's Diner, the Montshire Museum, and breakfast at Lou's.





Thanks for coming to see us! We'll see you in NYC next month.

25% Irish...

25% Irish
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

100% cute! I think I post that same phrase every St. Patrick's Day. Happy day to everyone, especially Nana, who is the source of Sadie's Irish ancestry.

(Sadie's selection of green clothes was minimal...this Dartmouth t-shirt had to suffice. Luckily, Nana had provided the shamrock tiara and we had the green beads already.)

Obsessed with Pizza Making

When I told Sadie that her friend Katie was coming over for lunch and a playdate, I asked her what would be fun to do. Her first suggestion was to make english muffin pizzas! So we did...



We also made macaroni necklaces, wore costumes, stuck stickers on rocks (Sadie loves to do this...I am not sure why) and read stories. It was a fun playdate.

Sadie makes her own dinner

It's so fun to make english muffin pizza!


1. Spread sauce on the english muffin:


2. Sprinkle with cheese:


3. Cram some shredded cheese in your mouth while you think Mommy isn't looking:


4. Wipe up the counters while it's cooking:


5. Here's how it looks:


6. Serve it up with applesauce and veggies:


7. Yummy!

Last Disney Picture

Sadie and Mommy
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie and I are waiting for the train back from Rafiki's Conservation Station. Sadie loved visiting the petting zoo here and brushing the goats. Dan and I got a kick out of seeing the Presidential Turkeys. Each year, the turkeys that the President pardons on Thanksgiving get sent to Disneyworld, where they can live out their lives at the Animal Kingdom.

I haven't taken many pics lately, but I will get some new ones up very soon!

Disney, the aftermath

Disney, the aftermath
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

This is what a 3 year old who woke up at 6:00, ate breakfast, took a bus to the Magic Kingdom, rode rides, met characters, saw shows, and didn't nap all day long looks like at 7:30 in evening on her way out of the park. Happy but tired.

On Safari at Animal Kingdom

On Safari at Animal Kingdom
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

This safari was amazing. Sadie loved seeing all the animals, especially the elephants. They had a lot of mommy and baby elephants. The males do not live with the herd, so there weren't any daddies. Sadie said, "Maybe the daddies are in the lab?"

Sadie and Pocahontas

Sadie and Pocahontas
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We got to meet Pocahontas at Animal Kingdom which was really fun. She was very nice and Sadie really liked her, even though she had never seen the movie or heard the story of Pocahontas (Disney or otherwise). This picture doesn't show off the full effect, but the Pocahontas costume is really, really skimpy. Pocahontas must go to the gym a lot. We also saw Pocahontas again later in the day at her animal show. That Pocahontas was not only super-toned, but also sang, danced, interacted with a mechanical tree and handled live animals.

Small Cinderella

Grandpa bought Sadie this costume. From the moment she tried it on, she didn't want to take it off. The cashier didn't seem surprised and had scissors on hand to remove the tags. The best part was having the costume on when she met Cinderella and Prince Charming later that day.

The last time Sadie visited Disney, she was pretty disinterested in the characters. This time, she really wanted to meet them and was willing to wait on line to do so. We got to meet a lot but I think Cinderella was the highlight.

Sadie and Minnie

Sadie and Minnie
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie loved meeting Minnie Mouse at DisneyWorld this week. We had a great time there with Grandpa, Grandma and Aunt Jenny. More pictures to follow once I manage to unpack and do all the laundry!

Happy Valentine's Day

And Happy Birthday Auntie Kara!







Sadie is all dressed up for "Fancy Day" at school today.

At least Sadie likes it!

snow pose
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie and I are snowed in today. Her daycare is closed for the whole day, which is unusual, but with the forecast of snow and ice, I understand. I cancelled all my students to stay home with her.

I have to say I am getting very sick of all this winter weather, but Sadie seems to be enjoying it still. I know it's only mid-February so we have lot more to come.

(This cute picture was from this past Sunday, not today!)

Mr. Snowman

Sadie has been eager to make a snowman all winter and on Sunday, she and Dan finally made one.



The snow was just right for packing into balls and the snowman looks great, thanks to the snowman kit from Nana. Sadie especially likes his heart.



She insisted that Dan find some twigs to add for his arms. And here he is, complete with arms!

Sadie goes skating

Today we went to the Hanover Pond Party, which is sort of a family Winter Carnival without all the drinking that the undergraduates do. We skated, ate lunch, went sledding, played Penguin bowling and all sorts of other fun stuff. Sadie is getting better at skating. Check it out:

Performer

"I will sing you a Dan Zanes song. Sit there. You be the audience, Mommy. Don't sing. I'm the singer!"


"Did you like it? Clap!"


(Sadie says this is a Snow White costume...looks more like Cyndi Lauper to me...)

Baby Sister

That's right...we're having another baby! Baby Sister is due July 7th or thereabouts. She's 18 weeks now and looking very healthy, weighing 7 ounces and measuring about 5 or 6 inches long.

Year of the Rat

Chinese New Year is next week and it will become the Year of the Rat. On Saturday, we went to a Hop Stop children's performance featuring the Dartmouth Chinese Dance Troupe. Sadie watched the dancing with interest, but she much preferred when the children got to try out the props and dance themselves.

Red ribbon used for the Phoenix Dance:

(You may notice that Sadie is wearing some beads from her school's Mardi Gras party on Thursday!)

Pink fan from the Fan Dance:

Friday Fun

We've discovered a new activity for Fridays, Lunch at the Library at the Norwich Library. This is a lunchtime story and song hour for kids 3-6 years old. I've known about it for a while, but I had heard that they were strict about kids being three years old, so we were waiting until Sadie was three. Turns out, they are not so strict... there were definitely some kids there under the age of three.

This is the second week we have gone and Sadie immediately knew where we were as soon as we turned into the parking lot. She was so excited.


Hurry up, Mommy!


Sadie calls this sculpture "Three Pig's Tails"


Down the stairs to the children's room...


We got there early so Sadie could play with the library toys for a little while. She liked playing with this baby doll and the doctor's kit. Here, she is distracting the baby with a toy so I can give him a "flu shot".


I didn't take any pictures during the storytime or the craft project. Sadie's crafts from last week and this week will be displayed in the Norwich Library Community Room during the month of February. We will have to go back and see them displayed.

Fancy

Sadie LOVES to dress up these days. She tries to put on her costumes as soon as she comes downstairs in the morning and gets back into her things after she comes home from school.


I really like this outfit she created...it's comprised of the Sleeping Beauty bodice, Snow White skirt and Cinderella heels, accessorized with lots of necklaces and bracelets and a headband. The yellow Snow White skirt is a perennial favorite and is often combined with other tops and shoes.

Sadie said, "It's my wedding stuff. For my wedding with Memphis."

She likes to put on her costumes and and then grab Memphis for a dance around the living room.

Apres Skate

Sadie had a great time skating over the weekend. She managed to keep herself up on double runner skates fairly well and was laughing and having fun for about 15 minutes, when she noticed that there were people roasting marshmallows at the edge of the pond. She couldn't get over to the marshmallows fast enough...Dan had to scoop her up and carry her over.

After the marshmallows, we headed over to the golf course for a few runs of sledding.

Fun morning!

Happy Girl

what's so funny?
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie had a fun visit from Nana and Auntie Kara yesterday. They were planning to visit in the afternoon, but were kind enough to come up to Lebanon early after a water main break forced Sadie's daycare to close. Of course, we had no water at home either!

They took Sadie to the Montshire Museum and to the bookstore in Hanover. In the evening, we all went out to dinner at Lui Lui's, where Sadie had a great time playing with her lump of bread dough while waiting for her pasta to be served.

The water finally came back on late yesterday afternoon but was a little brown, so Sadie skipped her bath. It looked nice and clear this morning, thank goodness. I still used bottled water to make the coffee.

Too cute

This picture is from New Year's Eve, but it's so cute I had to share it, even though it's a couple weeks old.

Isaac didn't sleep over in Sadie's bed. He napped downstairs while the grown-ups relaxed and then went home with his parents. I think both Sadie and Isaac will laugh at this picture when they're teenagers.

City Time

We had a super weekend in Cambridge, meeting up with Grandma and Grandpa. Sadie had a great time at the aquarium.

She was not a big fan of the jellyfish exhibit. It was pretty dark in there and she had just watched Finding Nemo the day before, in which Dory is stung by a jellyfish. But she loved, loved, loved the penguins, both real and scuplted.

The other big highlight of the weekend was a "train ride". We rode the red line from Harvard Square to Porter Square and then back to Harvard. Sadie had so much fun on the "fast and bumpy train".

Friends

Sadie loved seeing Samuel and Riley on Sunday.

What good pals they are already. We loved meeting Baby Riley for the first time. She is even cuter in person! It's very funny how in this group of kids, the girls both look like their daddies and the boy looks a lot like his mommy.

We'll get some weekend in Boston pics posted soon too!

Political Commentary

"Mommy and Daddy and me voted for Barakobama. My teacher voted for Hintery Clinton and my other teacher doesn't vote because she lives in Bermont."

(Sorry for the lack of pictures lately...we have been having trouble getting new ones to upload to Flickr.)

Three Year Old Check-Up

Yesterday, Sadie had her three year old check-up. She now weighs 33.5 pounds and is 3 feet, 1 inch tall (37 inches). She is still average for her age for both weight and height. If she stays on her growth trajectory, she will probably remain in her carseat until she is close to 5 years old. As part of her check-up, she had a vision screening and a hearing screening and passed both very easily.

Before the doctor came into examine her, we were asked to change her into a little tiny hospital gown. For all previous check-ups, we've just been told to get her naked. I guess she is growing up and they wanted to offer her some privacy. Little Miss Loves to Dress Up was thrilled to try on the purple "dress".

The doctor asked if we thought Sadie was saying at least 50 words. Then she laughed and said she thought she had hear Sadie saying at least 50 words within the past few minutes. Sadie's verbal skills continue to be a strength.

Physical milestones looked fine too. Sadie is now jumping well, running, etc. She was dancing all over the office, standing on one foot, climbing up and down off the examining table by herself and generally being a total show-off for her new doctor.

Clap if You Believe in Fairies

Sadie loves playing dress-up. She wears a variety of different costumes, but her favorite is this Tinkerbell set from Auntie Kara. She likes to pair it with plastic slip-on Little Mermaid wedges and then go clomping around the house.

A discovery in her stocking

IMG_1093
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

"Mommy! It's Cinderella barrettes! Santa knows what I like!!"

Sadie loved opening all her gifts from Santa, both at our house and again at Nana and Bob-Bob's. The favorite present of the holidays was definitely her guitar. We'll try to post a video of her playing and singing!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all our friends and family. We wish you a wonderful 2008, filled with all good things.



We're woefully behind in posting pictures, so I promise to get a few new ones up over the next couple of days. We had a really nice Christmas in Concord and had fun seeing lots of family members and relaxing at Nana and Bob-Bob's.