Della and her daddy
Steve took Della to the office and then to the zoo on Friday. I asked Della what she saw at the zoo and she said Bob. Which is the name of Steve’s boss. Today she was saying, where’s Daddy’s Bob?
Look at the clever hashtags in the background. You can use those for free.
Della riding a zoo bear.
Also, look at this father!
A lot happening in the lives of the little people!
New this week, Gorgeous George is eating food, he grew a tooth, and he is sleep trained. Is he sleeping through the night? I don’t know if he is, but I am. At parent-teacher conference on Thursday, it was said that he is showing signs of progress in his social, emotional, and physical development. “And you know what, Johanna, actually: he is a good boy.”
We also got a report on Della. They say she is transitioning well to the 2-year-old class. She is meeting lots of milestones, but got nicked on the following: drawing faces and horizontal lines, hopping on one foot, knowing her last name and gender, and a few other equally useless skills.
Also in the news: Della got a bike seat! On her first ride, she was heard taunting the pedestrian children, “Hi, kids!” and, down the hill, yelling, “Go, Daddy, go!”
Too is the new one. Used to be, “I want this one!” Now it’s, “I want it, too!” Which means, “I want this one AND that one,” or “I know you want it; I want it, too.” Too can also be used to add emphasis. Can mean, “I want it a lot,” “I want it now,” and/or “I want it more than you.”
Or, more traditionally–
Bappa, after getting a hug from Della: “I needed that!”
Della: “I needed that, too!”
Speaking of also, Nanny and Bappa came to visit.
Clothes off; playground, finito!
Dinosaur birthday party. Bappa didn’t think he wanted to go, but afterwards he wouldn’t stop talking about it.
Look, it’s my friends Steve and Amanda. Even though Nanny and Bappa missed their plane and got in too late to babysit, we got to go out anyways, that’s how much fun we have. Thanks, Linda.
Here’s Della threatening us with a knife while George sucks on a lid loosener
Announcement: George is getting cute and friendly.
So attractive, Della tries to sit in his lap.
Thanks for the visit. We needed that.
Here she’s mad because I said I wanted to take her picture but she thought I was talking about pretzels.
This is Della, ready for sledding.
In spite of all the gear, the wind and cold made Della sad. She didn’t last long, and when she came in she needed a cuddle in the big bed. From that vantage point, she caught site of two reserve duckies at the top of the laundry closet. I pulled one down, which she quickly inspected. “Yummy spots!” she said, referring to duck’s dirty wing tips. She recognized immediately that this duck, not the clean imposter duck she had been sleeping with since her birthday, was the real duckie. Later, she brought us the clean duckie and held him up in the direction of the the laundry closet. Her gesture seemed to say, Put him away, and I’ll forget about this whole screw-up.
Our somewhat accurate scale says that George, four months old today, weighs 23 pounds. Della weighs 25 pounds, sometimes 24. This morning, Steve put George on Della’s lap, and Della began to whine. Steve said, “Don’t you want to hold your brother?” “Baby…big!” she gasped.
Here is George last night, looking approximately the same size as Annie…
He is naked because his body fat keeps him warm. This is his signature what-the-hell-is-going-on look.
We had all gotten together to toast Lizzie’s Fulbright, so Della made an attempt to look studious.
But seriously, folks.
Here is the run that made her fear the blue sled:
Della did NOT want to put on snow pants, she did NOT want to go outside, she did NOT want to learn about sledding. In fact we were calling this snow day a No Day. But when we finally got her out, there were high fives all around. Della even high fived herself.
We went to the Natural History Museum on Christmas Eve, and yesterday we sort of went to the Botanic Gardens and even briefly entered the Building Museum, the Air and Space Museum, and the furniture section of the National Gallery of Art. Outside Della chased birds and sang stroller songs. George (see blue puff ball hat below) napped, gathering strength for the sleepless night ahead.
Steve took Della to see Frozen in a movie theater today. I know! She is very advanced in movie going. Della sat through a half hour of previews and almost the whole movie. When she got home she was crying, “Outside! Outside!” We had to take her outside about four times after that.
Here are the pictures they got from the photo booth:
della and george 