Identity crisis

I'm having a very small identity crisis. :o) Anya Rashi's new fascination has been using the word "mama" for many purposes. Gone are the starry-eyed days of mommy bliss when she used that word for only me! She still very deliberately points to me, gives a kiss and says "Mama." Then, just as deliberately, she points to her father and says, "mama." Same goes for both of her brothers, the hallway, the clock in our living room . . . you get the picture.

And, apparently, she has quite a sense of humor. Today, I was clicking her into her car seat, and she pointed to me with a sweet smile and said, "Dada." Ha! What a little imp. Also, she has developed what Peter and I refer to as "the 'no' that means 'yes'." She says it with a coy little look that we've come to know well . . . then she will laugh and nod her head yes.

A new hobby at the moment is taking the clothes off all her dolls. She insists that they be al fresco, for reasons known only to her. Her other favorite activity, now that we're letting her bangs grow out, is ripping barrettes out of her hair. She really enjoys the putting-in part of the process, and gives a big cheesy smile while I say "pretty!" -- and then, within seconds, out it comes. Maybe she's going to be short hair kind of gal.

In other family news, Nathan just turned six! He will share a birthday party with his friend Jack on Saturday at a local nature center. Frog cupcakes will be the treat of the day -- I had a practice run making them for Nathan's class last week. (I'm sure his teacher loves it when parents send in all that sugar!) You'll have to ignore his age ticker at the top of our blog -- for some reason, it has him living in the past as a five-year-old.

Both Aaron and Nathan are playing in a flag football league this spring. Their team is the Buccaneers, and it's a short 6-week season complete with football jerseys -- very cute! Umm, did I say cute? I meant fierce. They wanted me to write about a new noise Anya Rashi is making. Here's how they spell it: "rrrraahhhhhhh ggglle." She says it in a really low, throaty voice and will keep on doing it if they laugh. (Which they always do.)

So far, it's been too cold, rainy, and windy to have Anya Rashi outside at their football games. In fact, it snowed for a few hours this morning. Sigh. I'm reasonably sure that by the time baseball starts it will be warmer.