Three

It's absolutely insane that I haven't posted anything here since January! I actually began this post right after Freyja's birthday, but became too busy to finish it. Here it is, a little late...

Freyja's big day...celebrating 3 years of being the most fantastic little girl ever...was pretty relaxed, since we took a big trip to Disney World a couple of weeks beforehand, and essentially celebrated her birthday then as well. The weather was absolutely beautiful...sunny and breezy...so we were outside most of the day. We had a cook-out, played in the yard, opened gifts and had cake, swam in the little pool, and went to the playground.

Here are some photos:

With her new radio flyer tricycle and wagon. The swingset isn't new...but it was given to us for free by a family who lives close by whose kids are now too big to use it. Wasn't that nice?

Excited about the bell on the handlebars!

Freyja's cake. We went with a Minnie Mouse theme for the party, because Freyja asked for it. I guess she didn't get enough Minnie Mouse at the Magic Kingdom?!

Why wear a party hat when you can wear your Minnie Mouse ears again?!

Freyja and I have been doing a lot of baking together lately. She loves it! So, we gave her a set of cookie cutters, a child-sized bowl and spatula set, and apron to use when she's in the kitchen with me.

Freyja loves Toy Story...especially Jessie, the cowgirl. She's thinks it's great that girls can be cowboys too!

In the pool. Really, it was a bit chilly for this, but she had fun!

Merry Yule and Good-bye 2009

I think this year was the most exciting Yule since Freyja was born!

Although last year she seemed interested in what was going on and had fun doing it, this year she was completely aware of so many more things, and that made it so much more fun!

Beginning in early December, Freyja was already chatting away about Santa bringing toys and talked about Santa's sleigh and reindeer, she asked if we could make a snowman every single day, and tried to grab presents from under the tree and open them when no one was looking! She was in complete awe over the decorations, and would stand in front of the tree looking at all the ornaments. She loved listening to Christmas carols and would twirl around the room when they were on. She wanted to help everyone wrap presents, and was a complete maniac when unwrapping them, throwing paper and ribbon all over the place! When we went to a grocery or department store, Freyja would ask if we could "look at Christmas stuff?" She was really into it, and it was not only cute, but hilarious! It made things even more festive!

Because I was still involved in classwork until the week before, there was no Yule baking this year, but I'm hoping that with some better planning on my part, we can do some next year!

Our family tradition involves opening gifts on Christmas Eve, after a big dinner. Then, we get small gifts and candy in our stockings the next morning, after breakfast.

A neat magnetic board with "a large boat and lots of animals"

Our Yule Log

Alphabet board books that double as blocks

A wooden train with removable blocks

Our Yule Tree

A book, passed down from mommy to Freyja. The inside reads "To Adrienne's Birthday 1981 from Nana and Klaus"

Freyja checking out the tree. Those little shoes were actually mine too!

This doctor kit was by far the most-loved gift that night. She was playing doctor with other random things from around the house before, so she's well acquainted with the words otoscope, stethoscope, tongue depressor, and thermometer, and phrases like "open your mouth and say aaah!" So, all of her animals and baby dolls have had multiple check-ups by now!

This is the wooden kitchen Freyja was given the next morning (made by PaPa), complete with wood and fabric food, pots and pans, and other kitchen things. She loves it, and I'm already getting requests for other fabric food. "Mommy! Make pastas? How 'bout pancakes and eggs?!" I have a stash of felt waiting, and some plans...

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How things change: All the plastic cups and plates, that little plastic toaster and blender...were mine...all the metal, fabric, and wood items...Freyja's.

So, this Yule was great, because Freyja was so happy, so excited, and looked forward to every moment! That makes me enthusiastic about everything we do together.

Happy New Year!

Hey Diddle Diddle

Absolute cuteness.

The range of songs and rhymes this child has memorized is completely amazing.

Just off the top of my head, she knows the Alphabet Song, She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain, Hey Diddle Diddle, Baa Baa Black Sheep, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I've Been Working on the Railroad, Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells, Rock-A-Bye Baby, Hickory Dickory Dock, To Market -To Market, Pat-a-Cake, Polly Put the Kettle On, Humpty Dumpty, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Little Boy Blue, Jack and Jill, Mary Had a Little Lamb, Old McDonald, I'm a Little Teapot, Three Little Kittens, The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, If You're Happy and You Know It, Here We Go Round the Muberry Bush, Pop Goes the Weasel...

And the she can actually carry a tune. It's cute.

I know this is the result of singing to Freyja since she was born...and reading to her daily. Now that she knows so many of the songs that she just listened to for so long, we sing together. Sometimes Freyja busts out her little play piano, shakers, or horn.

Singing, in turn, helps her to learn language, and along with experimenting with instruments, it develops her sense of rhythm.

The newest song we sing together is My Favorite Things...the Rodgers and Hammerstein song from The Sound of Music. I picked up a beautifully illustrated paperback with the lyrics scattered throughout the pages and the sheet music in the back at a thrift store for 25 cents, and its been worth every penny. She doesn't know all the words yet, but I hear her singing little parts here and there while she's playing or dancing around...

Halloween and Such

On the 15th, Freyja and I drove to spend two weeks with Cyrus!

Up until this point, Freyja and I have travelled on four domestic flights and an international flight, and taken a couple of successful car trips which were less than 3 hours each direction...but I have to admit that I was completely freaking out over a solo 10 1/2 hour drive with a 2 year old. I thought this could be too long...that I'd have a disaster on my hands, and I'd be all alone...but she was great! She hung out in her carseat, snuggled in a blanket, reading books, singing, and playing with toys until her bedtime, and then she slept through the night while I drove...and drove. My daughter is such a great little traveller. I'm so lucky...

We did a lot of fun things during our stay, including a trip to the Harvest Farm and Pumpkin Patch! They had all sorts of great stuff! Freyja had a good time on the hayrack ride and picking our own pumpkins, being pulled around in a wagon, visiting the petting zoo, going down the giant slide suspended from the barn with her mama, playing with the old-fashioned water pumps, crawling around in the sandbox, and watching someone launch pumpkins from a cannon!

Here are some highlights:

The Freyja-sized pumpkin Cyrus picked out, just for her.

"It's a big pumpkin, Mommy!"

This photo is hilarious!

Petting the bunnies...

Playing in the sandbox..

Eating some warm fall goodies: A bratwurst (and they didn't have sauerkraut, can you believe that?), a cabbage roll, a pumpkin muffin, and hot apple cider...

This was the first year since Freyja's birth that I decided we should carve pumpkins. I thought she might be old enough, at least in some small way, to have fun and watch while we did it. She was so excited by the whole thing that she was running all over the room, trying to crawl up on the table, jamming raw pumpkin into her mouth, spilling pumpkin shavings all over the place, and grabbing at all the knives and spoons we had out to scoop and carve the pumpkins. After we cleared all the sharp objects out of reach, it was pretty hilarious to see her so hyper over it all!

I didn't think she would put her hand into the pumpkin, but Cyrus has this way of convincing Freyja that things are "cool" so she'll try them, and after she'd decided that this whole thing was fun and exciting stuff, she jammed her hand right in and started pulling out the pumpkin guts...

...although I think he meant for those pumpkin guts to go in the trash can, rather than in his hand! She looks so proud of herself...like "Aaaaah! It's so gross!"

And here are our finished pumpkins:

Lights on!

Lights off!

We drove back home to Illinois just in time for trick-or-treating on the 30th. There are many different places here for children to celebrate Halloween, but we like the event sponsored by the city of Normal in it's uptown outside business area the best. All the merchants wear costumes and give out candy, the pizza place and the mexican restaurant provide free food, and the kids all parade around in their costumes in the cool fall weather and have fun.

This year Freyja went as Minnie Mouse. She just happened to have this red and black polka dot skirt in her closet, and I made her ears and her candy bag. The pearls actually belonged to my grandmother! I bet she would laugh if she knew they were used as part of a Halloween costume...

Normally I take Freyja out into the neighborhood on the 31st for door-to-door trick-or-treating, but this year I decided to take her to a Halloween event at the mall instead. Never again! Too many overstimulated children in one small, hot, loud, enclosed space. I prefer the fresh air and more room for running around...plus, I think it's fun to see the decorations on everyone's house!

These photos are from both nights of festivities...

Of course she's not looking at the camera! How many photos do we have together where she is?

Investigating her loot:

...and digging in (before Mommy hides the rest)!

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Just some random Halloween jammies photos! Happy Halloween! More Fall photos to come...