Banana Phone

Everyone has different milestones that they look forward to. Monica couldn't wait to let Addie taste yummy foods. Samantha couldn't wait for Caroline to be old enough for ballet lessons. Amy was so excited to share her love of outdoor recreation with Hayden that he was out cross country skiing as a teeny babe (and now downhill skiing at age 2!)

By no means the thing that I thought I would look forward to as a parent, but still very exciting to me: Shannon now gets the banana phone joke.

She used to give me blank stares when I would snap one banana off the bunch and say "hello?" but now, if I am not in a comedian mood and forget to make the joke, she reaches out for it and says "telephone? hello? 'nana?" And then laughs up a storm.

PS.  Coming out of my blogging hole, so stayed tuned!

Pictureless Post

I know, I know... lame!

But since I'm getting dangerously close to going a full month without a post, I thought I'd at least add something for now. Been snapping lots of pics, but need to figure out the new drivers/software that came with our new camera and get in the habit of putting pics on the Mac instead of my laptop. (Not hard, I'm just tired and lazy.)

So, without further ado...

Shannon is little Miss Manners these days. We started teaching her to sign "please" and "thank you" in early December and she picked them up really quickly. Soon she started saying "peez" and "tay too" as well. Now she is obsesed with them. Perfect example: Dive-bombing an unsuspecting Mommy on the couch with a toy, shoving it in my face while shouting, "Tay too!!!"

She's a great helper too. Loading and unloading the dishwasher are big-time fun things to do. In particular, she thinks the little basket for all of her sippy cup parts and these great little name bands is tons of fun. And hand-washing dishes in the sink... don't get me started on how wet, messy and glorious that is. (PS. She likes to eat the suds, so any ideas on how to make her not want to eat soap are welcome)


She is a champion mess-maker. Loves taking any container and dumping it all out. Toy bins, dog dishes, Mommy's purse, school bag, laundry basket... you name it, she dumps it. Coincidentally, "mess" is one of her favorite words.

She's switched from calling us Mama and Dada to Mommy and Daddy. There was also a funny transition phase where she called me "M' ma" (think of saying it with a French accent).

The girl has got her opinions. Like if she wants to show you a toy or book, she'll pat the floor next to her and repeatedly say "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy," pretty much demanding that you come sit next to her. Or when she saw me set the grapes on the counter, she went over to the open dishwasher Daddy was unloading and brought me the cutting board. Gentle suggestion about what I might do? :)

She's learning identify things. She knows some of her book titles and will go get "Goodnight Gorilla" or "Pigeon" if you ask for them.

She loves to get a big reaction. In one of her books, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, there is a picture of a Boa Constrictor. Since I'm terrified of snakes, I always pretend to be really afraid of this page, shrieking with fear and making really big eyes. So now Shannon likes to bring the book to me with this page open, already making big eyes herself.

She's a funny girl!

Cutting our Christmas Tree

Sometime after Thanksgiving in the blur that has been December, we went to get our Christmas Tree. Since the weather was nice, we opted for the cut-your-own route this year.

So glad that we did! Linvilla Orchards runs a lean, mean holiday machine. You take a hayride out to the trees...

...and then they hand you a saw and point you in the right direction.

We searched high and, umm, low until we found our favorite.

Daddy did all of the work while the ladies sat on their butts and drank hot chocolate. (I see the makings of a tradition here...)

Then, a tree wagon comes and carts your tree back in and we got to go on another hayride.

While they are drilling, shaking off loose needles, and bundling your tree, there was a big bonfire with marshmallows waiting to be roasted and hot apple cider. Pull up to the loading station and they tie your tree on your car for you.

No wonder their tagline is "I love that place!" Everytime we've been to Linvilla we've had a great time!

(Pictures of the tree at home coming soon... unfortunately we have a technology curse on our house right now and don't have a working camera or cell phone camera to snap a pic.)

Where's Shannon?

Shannon has gotten really into hiding, sneaking, and surprising us lately. She likes to say "boo!"

Our curtains in the family room have become the venue for a nightly game, "Where's Shannon?"

(Be sure to turn your volume up so you can hear her giggling/answering while she's hiding!)

Busy, busy

It's time to catch up on a month's worth of posts that I just haven't seem able to find time for. Make sure you work your way all the way down to the post about Mike and Hanna's wedding, and we'll all be caught up!

Our DC Friends

On this episode of Shannon's Travels...

We finally made our way down to DC to visit Monica, Steve and Addie at their new house. Ever since our fun weekend at the beach, we've talked about how it was our turn to come visit them in DC. And this weekend, it happened!

We left bright and early on Saturday morning but pointed our car to Baltimore. Notre Dame was playing Navy at the Ravens stadium and Chris' friends found him a ticket. Since it was right on the way, Shannon and I dropped him off before driving the rest of the way to DC.

While Daddy was in Baltimore watching the game, we spent the afternoon with fellow one-year old Addie (who celebrated her big birthday on Monday) doing all sorts of fun one-year old things, like...


Going to the playground

Running away from Mommies and Daddies

Picking up mulch, trying to eat mulch, finding new mulch...

Chris took the train down after cheering the Irish on to victory. Hanging out at the house, we...

Giggled about Addie's new Barbie Jeep as the girls climbed all over it...

Added to Addie's birthday loot

Necklaces!

Ate yummy food all weekend and then had a post-dinner dance party (oops, didn't get pics of either!)

Took a bath

Had a naked baby-fest in Addie's room (rats, no pics on my camera of this either!)

And then shared some jammie kisses.

The plus side to waiting so long to visit DC is that we also got to visit Marty in his new apartment down there. Shannon and Percy reunite!

Another fun weekend, but we're certainly looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home next week!

Grammy and Gramps Visit

This weekend we weren't travelling, but we were busy hosting. My parents came for a long weekend in early November.

While Mommy, Daddy and Grampers were stuck working, Shannon and Grammy got to spend long days play, play, playing the day away. And having photo shoots...

On Saturday morning, we all got to go to the zoo. It was a rainy, overcast day but we decided to give it a whirl anyway. And we were so glad we did! The animals were incredibly active because of the weather. We almost got sprayed by the elephants who were splish-splash-taking-a-bath less than 10 feet away!

After church on Sunday, Shannon showed off her driving skills in the driveway.

Thanks, Gramps!

Thanks for coming, we had fun!