Say Cheese!

I got a new camera. A nice one that I'm still trying to figure out. It's a Canon Rebel XS and it should take some really nice pictures if I ever learn what I'm doing. For now it's auto mode until I learn some photography skills.
Meanwhile, Sasha saw me studying my new camera and tried to show me what it's all about by grabbing my old point-and-shoot camera. These are some of my first photos taken with the new camera.
Say Cheese!

About a month late

I uploaded pics from my old camera onto my computer and realized I forgot to tell the tale of our gingerbread house.
My older daughter Cassie got a gingerbread house kit as a gift from her Grandma Pat. Grandma Pat was her babysitter from way back when Cassie was a little baby, and is as close as family. A few weeks back, Cassie went visit her Grandma Pat and family for a weekend.
Anyways, Cassie made her gingerbread house. As I took her picture, she gave me her best "Starbucks Apathetic" facial expression:

It's our joke that someday Cassie will go work for Starbucks, and she has to practice her apathetic facial expressions, annoyed sighs, and condescending glares.
Here is the finished gingerbread house:

And here is what Sasha thought of it (click to enlarge):

Note the sign in front of the house which says, "Trespassers will be shot". Hehe, I love Cassie's dark sense of humor.

Still sick, off and on

At the mall, enjoying an ice cream cone.

Yesterday, Sasha was in great spirits. We thought Sasha had recovered from whatever was ailing her. She was playful and didn't seem feverish. She got to go to the mall and play at the indoor children's playland, which she loves (and her mama got some A&W rootbeer, which she's been craving lately).
But then by the late evening it became apparent she wasn't well again. She was whiny and her fever spiked up to 101.3.
I think she'll have a doctor visit today.
She has no other symptoms other than the fever and her whiny clinginess. She obviously doesn't feel well, but she says she isn't in any pain when we ask her if she hurts.

Snuggly sick

While sleeping, my husband and I both noticed that Sasha felt unusually warm. Actually, her head was VERY hot; I could feel the heat radiating off her before I even touched her. She snuggled up to us more insistently than usual as she tried to sleep.
For some reason, when Sasha gets sick, she becomes very snuggly.
When we woke up, I took Sasha's temperature with a tympanic (ear) thermometer. She doesn't mind getting her temp taken this way. She had a low grade fever, about 100F degrees (38 C). We asked her if she was in any pain, and she said she wasn't hurting anywhere. She had no other symptoms other than the fever and clinginess.
So yesterday, Sasha spent the whole entire day cuddled up to my husband or I, or both. We took turns laying down with her on the couch while she watched tv and hugged us fiercely.
Sometimes she would give me a huge forceful hug, then look me in the eyes and ask,"Much better?", as if she was comforting me instead.
But for the most part, so long as she had someone to hug and cling to, she was okay.
And that wasn't a bad way to spend a day at all. If it wasn't for the fact that I knew that she wasn't feeling well, I would have been very happy to spend a whole day cuddling with my two year old.

Our "cookbook"

Just a quick link to a family project. My husband and I have collected recipes over the years that have become family staple meals. We have been meaning to compile all the recipes together in a central spot, but the recipes are in so many different forms that it's been difficult. It's always been on our to-do list but just never got done.
So we are finally tackling that project. We have started dragging out the family favorite recipes. Some are written on sheets of paper. Some are in cookbooks. Some only exist in our minds and tummies.
Mike, if you're out there! Jon says that he could use some input from you. There were a bunch of recipes that you could probably share with us that he remembers growing up with. Let us know if there are any that you care to share with us. We'd love to have them.

Mom & Daughter moments

Here are a few Mom & Daughter moments:
Watching traffic from a restauraunt with an indoor bridge over a freeway. She and I sat there and watched the cars and trucks pass under us for quite a while.
She and I went for a walk outside a strip mall. We browsed all the stores. But best of all, she loved pushing the shopping cart. "I'm shopping!"
Sasha is my little buddy. I love playing with her and spending time with her.

My buddy

This is the best age! Sasha has been my little buddy and it is so rewarding to be her parent.
I haven't blogged much lately, and I think part of it is there are just so many cool new things with her that there's no way I can keep up. And now I'm way behind, but I guess that's okay.
She still pretends to be different people or animals, which is now the norm with her. She is NEVER Sasha anymore. She's a dog, a cat, a frog, Wow-Wow Wubbzy, Cassie, Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, "Max and Ruby", Spongebob, or whoever she decides she is at that moment.
For example, if she's a dog, she'll run around the house panting with her tongue hanging out, barking, and she'll try to lick me on my face!
When she's in trouble, she'll pretend she is Dad in the hopes that she won't be punished. "NO! I'm Dad!", as if that changes everything.
When she wears a hat, she is Grandpa. Because a Grandpa always wears a hat, of course.
Sometimes she runs up to Cassie and says "I'm Cassie!", then she'll run around and copy everything Cassie does.
There was a show on tv about animals, and it was talking about snakes. Sasha was enthralled with this new information and clearly found it cool. "I'm SNAKE!", she yelled and then pretended to be a snake for a few minutes until it was time to be something else.

She takes great care of everyone and is so amazingly affectionate. If she thinks we're hurt, she'll kiss our owie, look us deep in our eyes and ask, "Much better?". If we look sleepy, she'll get us a pillow and blanket and carefully tuck us in. Then she'll hug us and try to snuggle us to sleep, the way we do for her.
Sometimes she'll just sit down next to me and snuggle for a little while. Sometimes she hugs me then lays down in my lap and falls asleep. It reminds me of when she was much younger, when she always fell asleep in my arms. It eventually became rare for her to sleep in my arms, so it's cute that she's doing that again. I enjoy it as I'm sure it won't last. I try to enjoy every moment.
I could go on and on. She is very expressive about everything she sees. She cracks little jokes. It's really fun, now that she's talking, to hear what she thinks about things, especially when she observes something new.
Her copycat ways can be very enlightening. Sometimes she'll mimic me and I won't notice. Then I'll see her looking back and forth between herself and me, while she's trying very hard to sit cross legged or to position herself in the same way I am.

I wish I could remember everything I meant to write about, but there is just so much that I can't remember any of it. She has dozens of new skills and tricks every day and she just has so much personality!