Butt Naked?

Another Funny Lilly Story-
Lilly is fond of her baby dolls- playing house and all sorts of things. Lately she chuckles while telling Rob and me, "This baby is butt naked." She really means buck naked, right? Despite many attempts to correct her, she insists her baby doll is "butt naked." I'm guessing a friend at Tiny Toes (Megan) taught her this phrase. It perplexes me and yet, at the same time, is very funny to hear her say. Rob agrees.
So, in search of the correct lingo, and for peace of mind, I did a little Google search on the term/terms. It's rather interesting what I found... perhaps Lilly is correct after all...
After googling "origin of buck naked," here's what I found:

Basically, there are 2 theories to the origin of "Buck Naked."
Theory One: One theory backed by the American Heritage Dictionary proposes the original phrase was actually "butt naked." The phrase was then cleaned up to "buck naked" so it could be used in polite company.

Theory Two: British wordsmith Michael Quinon has another theory. He's of the notion that "buck" and "buff," another term to describe nudity, are both derived from buckskin and buffalo hides. He argues that buff leather is tan in color, much like the color of the Europeans' skin after being in the sun. This led to the expression "to be in the buff," or naked. Thomas Dekker was the first to go on record with the term when he said in 1602, "I go in stag, in buff." The assumption is that "buck naked" has a similar derivation from buckskin.

Which theory is correct? We'll never know, so I guess we don't need to correct Lilly for referring to her baby as "butt naked." She could be technically correct according to theory #1, yet not too polite, to say the least. :)

18 months and more to come

Today marked Claire's 18 month well-check at the pediatrician's office. Her measurements indicate she is one healthy little lady- 90%tile weight and >95%tile height, imagine that. The doctor was most impressed with her motor skills and speech. She was oh-so-eager to get there- had a great time tearing up the paper cover on the exam table but was less than thrilled with her MMR and Hep A shots. This picture captures her uneasiness as we awaited the nurse's return just before shot-time.

They weren't that bad! After all, she did get to choose a toy from the treasure chest. It's amazing how a cheap plastic ring can make all the tears go away.
Cross your fingers that our next visit to the doctor will be a scheduled one in 6 months instead of an emergency visit due to the swine flu.

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18months and Halloween

Claire turns 18 months next week, and Halloween is only a few short weeks away... so what better excuse to visit the picture store this morning...

Claire was my best participant for this picture adventure.
She was her normal cheerful self.

Claire will be a "little pink bug" this year-
Lilly thinks this is hilarious,
and Claire thinks her costume is super neat.

The fearsome duo: Ariel and Little Pink Bug

Lilly was a little less than thrilled to have her picture taken today, but we managed to get a few good ones....

But perhaps this picture more accurately portrays
what really went on during the photo shoot:
Little Miss Wouldn't Smile and Little Miss Antenna

Mom... get these off!!
Oh well, they're still super cute!!

Happy Early Halloween from Lilly and Claire!!

Above the weather?

Little Claire is feeling much better. After her bout with the crud and lovely ER visit last week, she is on the mend... we hope. A lingering infrequent cough remains, but that's all. Instead of the "crabby under the weather Claire," today we enjoyed Claire's typical sweet self. Relief! She was all smiles for most of the day.

I've blogged off and on about Hannah and Lilly's dress-up adventures. Well, someone else has gotten in on the game... Claire. This weekend Claire showed interest in dressing up too. It all started this morning when she tried on her Halloween costume -- she thought she was BIG STUFF! Then this afternoon when Hannah came to play, Claire tried on a skirt or two. I snapped this photo while she "talked" on her phone. That's our Claire!

The Dress-up Divas

Time: Saturday Afternoon
Occasion: Nothing out of the ordinary
Event: Dress-up at Lilly's house
Hannah comes over it seems almost every day (give or take), and dress-up is on their top 10 list of fun things to do. They'll play tea party, dance about the house, and trade clothes over and over again. Today they decided to get out Lilly's Ariel Halloween costume, but since there was only one Ariel dress, they had to compromise - and they did: Hannah wore the Ariel dress and Lilly wore the Ariel shoes. In case you don't recognize them in their princess regalia, that's Barbie (Hannah) on the left and Belle (Lilly) on the right.

It's all about the clothes... already. I find it amazing that at the age of 3 and 4 two young girls enjoy being dressed up in sparkly, frilly dresses. And it's not just the dresses but the accessories that make it complete: high-heeled shoes, tiaras, jewelery, purses, play cell phones, pretend make-up and even toy baby strollers. Lilly has become quite fond of dressing up (even when Hannah's not over to play). She loves acting out the scene from Cinderella- you know, the scene where Cinderella dances with the prince (usually asks Rob to dance with her), hears the clock strike midnight (she begins to chime like a clock), loses her shoe (she kicks off a plastic high-heel princess shoe) and runs down the castle steps (runs down the hall to her room.) Then, we hear her call from her bedroom, "OK, come see if the shoe fits now." She has done this several times, complete unprompted by Rob or me. We know what is about to transpire when Lilly sways out of her room fully adorned in the princess attire. With a slight sheepish smile on her face she graciously says, "Oh Hiiiiii." Then, with that same sheepish grin she asks Rob to "be her prince" and dance with her. Of course he obliges (how could he turn her down), and she usually hums a dancing tune... until the clock strikes midnight.
Our Lilly princess is quite the drama queen already - in more ways than one.

Mom's little helper

Like mother, like daughter?
Lately Lilly has shown increasing interest to help in the kitchen. The other night we made roasted potatoes to accompany our dinner, and she was all over the preparation. We then made banana bread, and she was cued in on every step. There is a young chef academy (fun cooking classes for kiddos) near our home, so maybe we will look in to enrolling her next summer. For now, I'll continue to "feed" her curiosity for all things cooking. Maybe someday she'll show an interest in helping do the dishes.... I will patiently wait for that!

Ironically, that little step stool Lilly is standing on was made for Amy and me by our Grandpa Ham. It was the same step stool I used to stand on when helping my mom in the kitchen.