Snow Day!!

Today was an exciting day for all of us, but especially Ambree. Besides actually getting to see Pastor Juan (who she literally asks to see everyday), she got to experience snow for the first real time. We've had snow since she's been here, but not any that she could actually see, much less touch.

As soon as we could, we bundled up and went out to build snowmen. We couldn't go out without her new toy turtle, who is in no way snow friendly, but made it through the adventure. Ambree's first reaction was typical- the snow was too messy (see above pic) and she was not excited about walking in it.

The first snowman was about her size. With enthusiasm she was able to identify what she had only previously seen in photos or on television. But we had to take a break when I began making the base of the 'daddy' snowman. She was standing near me as I was rolling the snowball, and I think she could hear the snow crunch in the grass. Either its growing size or the sound was too much. "Scary, Daddy Snowman!" We had to go inside.

Once Daddy came home, though, it was back to building. Sean convinced her that the snowman was nice and built him a wife. Ambree was consoled and we were able to get some great pics.

What a gorgeous, fun day after a beautiful 70°+ weekend. Gotta love Texas!

It's a....

We had our 20 weeks MD appointment this last Wednesday with the full anatomy ultrasound. All is developing well. Our little one is in about the 80th% on growth, measuring 3 days big. And much to our joy, we found out our baby is a BOY!!
As I was laying down on the table to do the ultrasound, I said, "Oh, good, he's awake." The technician asked if that's what I thought the baby was, and then as soon as she put the ultrasound wand to my belly she said, "Well, you were right!" At first I thought she just meant that the baby was in fact moving around a lot, but after much explanation of what I was looking at, I was able to see that yes, it was a boy!
After our appointment, we went to my Grandma's house to pick up Ambree and have dinner. At dinner, Ambree tried fish for the first time. With her first bite, as clear as a bell, she announced, "I don't like fish." I looked at Sean with wide-eyes, telepathically trying to ask him if it had been as obvious as I thought (she's never said she didn't like anything before), before he could silently respond back, my parents, who were there too, and my Grandma all began laughing. On other attempts that night, she ate bites of fish without complaint- and without any signs of allergic reaction :)

photo taken 10/27/2009

The Longest Sentence Ever!!

December meant two words in a row, and the start of the year meant 3 words in a row. But three weeks into 2010 means full sentences spaced out for thinking time.
Tonite Ambree woke up from sleep and told Daddy, "Poopie... Sleep clothes... off.... change diaper, please."
And if that weren't enough to blog about, earlier in her bath she took a green bath crayon and said, "tree." Then she drew long, tall lines with a bunch of extra, crazy lines on the top. And then five minutes later when it was time to clean up all drawings, she said, "bye-bye, tree." Ridiculous! She also said "ridiculous" today on command when Aunt Lorita was commenting, "She says everything I say right back to me. It's ridiculous! Watch this: Ambree, say 'Ridiculous.'"
During her nap, she woke up within about 10 minutes of having been put down and told Mommy, "Mommy, Daddy's bed?" I thought, oh dear, what did I start, because I've been letting her finish her nap in our bed after she sleeps for about an hour since I want her naps to be longer. I was so afraid I would give in and start a habit or she would just refuse to take a nap in her crib. So I tried telling her "No, You go to sleep in your crib." To my surprise and relief, she said, "ok. sleep, shut the door."

Friends

Friends have become a big deal to Ambree over the last few months, but even more so in the last few days. We consistently talk about being nice to friends and not pulling hair, etc. Yesterday, I told her that her MiMi was coming over "to play." That was the wrong verbiage, because it immediately made her think of one of her play date friends, Ramona (who we haven't seen in almost a month because of the holidays). She began say, "Mona play, come play" over and over. When MiMi arrived Ambree burst into tears crying for Mona because she was sure that the doorbell meant a play date. Poor Mimi!
Ambree is also consumed with her cousin Jaxon and repeats his name in the car before and after we see him. At church today, two little girls that are a bit older than her but come to play dates walked by. Ambree pointed and said, "Friends!" Hopefully this new interest in all of her friends means that we are moving past some of the tantrums evoked by jealously that use to plague play dates :)

Sugar plumbs and fairies

Christmas came and went in a blur this year, and it's obvious that Christmas will never be the same again. As with most family-gathering-inducing-holidays, Christmas was repeated in quadruplet to make sure time was enjoyed with each limb of the family tree. Ambree took it all in stride, (better than I expected) and by Christmas #2 it was apparent she had figured out that there was good reason to dig into the boxes! It's fun to see Ambree's interest in all of her new toys and clothes - the hardest part was getting them out of the box fast enough. Patience is an ongoing lesson. Most of her excitement was focused on her new potty (that she insisted be thrown in to the trunk as we made our Christmas rounds, just in case), her tea set, and the first part of what will surely be an ever-growing collection of little people (of the Fisher Price variety, not the TLC version). On top of that, tonight involved reading two babies good night stories, as she insists that her new baby doll go through her same night time routine. Fortunately, Ambree could handle putting the doll to bed in its own crib on her own, and it came sleep trained.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

New Words

Ambree is learning new words literally every day. You tell her something and she just thinks about it for a second and then gives it her best effort. On Sunday she said 'piggy tail' after I did her hair, and even though she was so impressed by it, the 'piggy tail' was pulled out before we made it to church.
Then today I asked her if she loves Mommy. She hugged my leg and said 'Me love!' It was adorable, but I think I was more moved to tears later when she said 'Nap' as soon as she was finished eating her lunch!