Katharine Lange: April 2015

It's looking like our little Leia is going to be quite the actress. The routines that she can perform are absolutely amazing, and we don't know where she gets this stuff! Her current best performance involves an entire act, complete with facial expressions and body actions, about something being really heavy. She has this little plastic baby high chair that is actually quite light and she moves it all over the house constantly, but the other day with Josh, she picks it up, and looks at him and says in the most dramatic enunciation "Oh, heavvvy!" and proceeds to grimace and strain under the supposed weight as she pretends to struggle to carry it across the room. Josh couldn't stop laughing!

She also still loves to say "That scared me!" followed by an exaggerated expression of surprise: raised eyebrow, wide eyes, grimaced teeth. She says it in the most appropriate situations, but she is so clearly not scared, so it's absolutely hilarious.

She's still really into the telephone right now. Josh gave her a little walkie talkie that was missing its mate, so Leia thinks it's a phone, and she is so excited about it. She hasn't put it down since getting it, "calls" people all the time, keeps it with her in her little bag if she happens to not be using it, and even insists on taking it to bed with her. So now the minute she wakes up from sleeping, she pulls the phone phone out of her bag and starts calling people and telling them about her day and her plans. Her favorite people to call are Daddy, Grandma, Papa, and Uncle John, but everyone she knows gets a call occasionally. It is so fun to listen to her conversations.

With all the festivities surrounding Easter, we've had a fair amount of parties and "get togethers" that have been very fun for Leia. Now she's decided that she likes parties, and she's been telling me that we're going to have "a party...Leia's party." It's pretty cute!

One last funny thing for the week is Leia's sock fettish. She mostly wears footie PJ's to bed, but when we put her in something without feet, she likes to wear these certain pairs of wool socks (luckily we have several pairs). If she's wearing other cotton socks, she insists on taking those off to put the wool ones on instead. And the best new development is that she's even started making her Daddy put the special wool sleep socks on top of her footy pj's so that she's doubled up. It's absolutely hilarious!

And look who's starting to want to dress herself and actually be somewhat successful about it! Thanks to her teacher Jenny at school, she's had the jacket thing down pat for awhile (a little jacket in front, arms first, over the head trick that's really quite nifty). Next up, pants...getting the feet in ok, but the butt is still an issue!

My little Easter Bunny!

Fun day at the park!

Swinging is the best!

We actually played with a little girl named Nora today, and Leia was really upset with me when we looked back through our pictures and there weren't any of Nora!!

Looks cool when you dye a cracked egg!

Daddy gave Leia a new phone, complete with hip snap and everything!

"Hi Grandma! Leia here, Mommy here, Daddy working."

These glasses are so ridiculous, Leia and I can't get enough of them!

Hesitant selfie.

Oh look, it's me, and I can see me touching my pretty face!

Oh boy, we are in trouble, not even a teenager yet and she's lying in bed talking on the phone instead of going to sleep!

She likes biking to Nana's but does not like to bike home...doesn't even like to come home for that matter!

Insisted on wearing her wool socks OVER her footie PJ's tonight! And how did that baby end up on the back of her head like that!?

Leia's Pants: "I Do It! from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

We had a really fun Easter celebration this year. Leia had her first experience with decorating eggs, and man did she love it. She's been asking to paint eggs every day since then. All the eggs went into all the colors multiple times, but somehow they turned out pretty anyway. And she participated in her first egg hunt out in my mom and Linda's yards. I wasn't sure if she would get the concept, but she was a total pro. I put her name on the eggs that were hers (I only put a penny and a nickel in each, so it was more about the other kids not being pissed then it was about Leia getting certain eggs), but all the other kids left her eggs alone, and she ignored all the other chocolate and crap that was for them, and it all worked out perfectly. She found every egg I hid between the two yards and was so excited each time she found one..."I need more!" It was hilarious! I was a little worried that she'd be pissed after all the eggs had been found, but after a little extra hunting for more eggs and determining that she had in fact found them all, she was fine with the distraction of watching the other kids, eating the popcorn she found, and telling her baby all about it. We did another indoor hunt on the actual Easter Sunday up at John and Stacia's, and it went just as well. She has very good eyes, and good concentration for the activity at hand.

I was also really touched this week by how sweet and sensitive Leia seems to be. Despite her giving us hell all the time, and testing her boundaries, I believe she really does have an understanding of generosity and compassion when certain situations arise. We were in the car together (me driving, her in the back facing backwards), and I was really upset and crying about something (I'm pregnant, it happens). She doesn't see Mommy really get sad very much, so she does take it seriously. She stayed pretty quiet most of the drive, and all of a sudden starts telling me "Mommy, hold baby." Next thing I know she's shoving the baby up over her head to the top of the carseat where I can reach back and get it, and encouraging me to do so. I didn't get it at first, but I finally realized she was trying to give me her baby to make me feel better, since babies always make her feel better. I took it and gave her a big thanks (and a big hug when we arrived at our destination). Every time I thought about it the rest of the day, I was just so touched.

Fun in the sun on Daddy Day!

Wearing her new "helmet"!

No, not Yarmulke's, helmets!

Family fun day on the slopes!

Unfortunately the Funi Ride has become more of the attraction than the actual skiing!

She skied on Big Blue today...big girl on a long run!

No grooming, lots of crazy terrain!

And the little pro is psyched to carry her own skis!

Heading back for more Funi fun with "My Daddy".

New favorite thing is wearing her robe when she gets out of a bath...too bad it's way too small!

Head plants are a very good hair brushing avoidance tactic!

Put my little Cinderella to work to help dust the floors...she loves it!

First time dying Easter Eggs!

Wasn't quite sure what this was all about at first, but very quickly it was the best thing ever!

Started out using the dipping spoon, but right away decided hands were way more functional!

Ooooooo, such pretty colors!

All the eggs went into all the colors multiple times. And even when they managed to hit the drying rack, it wasn't for long...back into the color with you!

Not having more eggs to dye was not an option..."I need more!"

Not totally clear on the being gentle concept...most eggs got dropped into the dye several times, and many suffered some cracks...but I guess it's all about the process!

The final result...she made some very pretty eggs!

Easter Party at the Hagars'!

Cute new Easter dress from Grandma!

Let the hunt begin!

She was a very good hunter...so fired up every time..."Another one!"

It was seriously amazing how fast she picked up on the concept...walk around with a basket and find all the colored eggs that say "Leia"...she didn't miss a single one!

Also cool that I didn't even have to tell her to only get the Leia ones...she just seemed to hone in on those automatically and ignored everything else (like all the chocolate...good girl!)

Between the Hagars' and the Lange's huge yards, it was a great place for a hunt.

It was the same story after every find: "I need more!" She didn't even care about what was inside (pennies and nickels), just finding the egg was treasure enough!