it is mud season. carter is very pleased about this. mom, not so much. however, both kids are so ready to be outside, i grit my teeth, put them in their waterproof rain pants, warm coat, mittens (rolling my eyes at this step, since it will be all of 5 minutes before tehy are soaked), and boots and off to the playground we go. most of the playgrounds are drying up, but they all have some spectacular puddles, and after an hour or 2 we return home where i chase them up the stairs to the house, saying "do NOT go inside until every last stitch of muddy clothing is off!"

given that i have an infant, sometimes it is a good 4 hours until i remember about the pile of muddy clothes outside our front door, and i cringe at what the neighbors think.

speaking of said infant, she is definitely getting longer and bigger and more engaged. she has spent lots of time just looking around, curious, and she continues to coo at the radiator. she is desperately trying to reach for things, and spends a lot of time concentrating on her hands -- without looking at them though. occasionally her hand will make its way to her cheek, and she will freeze, contemplating this new coordination of touch--2 surfaces communicating to her brain. and she is getting stronger--when she is lying down on her tummy, she can pick her head up and turn it from one side to the other, and when she is on my shoulder, sometimes she will pick her head up to turn and look at me. she also has been more responsive to my arrival when she wants to be retrieved from her bouncy seat, and seems to have begun to snuggle a little. of all 3 kids, she appears to have the fairest skin--carter is obviously the darkest, with his father's olive skin, and ava has nearly translucent skin, but it has a warm cast to it, that seems to be due to some yellow undertones like mom, but anna has superbly fair skin--with blue undertones, i think. it obviously remains to be seen, but her hands are incredibly porcelain-ish.

and, if i may say so (after 2 kids that look nothing like me, i think it is fair for me to say so), there is something that i cannot put my finger on that makes me think she actually might look like me. albeit with different coloring.

and the other thing that she has developed is the genuine crumply lower lip. she used to just holler, but it was not distressing--it was just indescriminate noise creation stating a need. but now, if she is startled or something hurts, she will first crumple up her lip and before she cries will sort of say "mmmmmmmmmm....aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" and then truly cry. it nearly makes me cry all the time.

both kids continue to adore her. phew.