Happy Birthday Ivy!

Last night I was thinking about how fast this past year has gone, since Ivy was born. Although it seems like time has flown by, Ivy doesn't seem like a one-year-old to me just yet. Maybe because she's so little, doesn't have teeth or enough hair to do anything with, still nurses quite a bit, and wakes up 1-3 times a night. STILL.

Despite being SO much more difficult than Sophie was as a baby, we adore our little Ivy. Although it's tiring sometimes when the only one she wants is me, I love making her happy. I love seeing her gorgeous, gummy smile, and I love that she lets me cuddle with her. I could sit and stare at her all day -- just like when she was a newborn. The fact that she's close to walking makes it seem like she's growing up fast, but her petite-ness keeps me from getting baby hungry. (Oh, and that I haven't had more than 5 consecutive hours of sleep for the past year.)

Happy Birthday Little Bit! We love you!

Here are her latest stats:

Height: 28.5 in
Weight: 15.5 lbs
Number of Teeth: 0 (her first one popped up on the 30th, followed by the second one on the 2nd)
Favorite Foods: Cheerios, Goldfish crackers, grapes, most melons, beans, soup, Mexican food, Indian curry (particularly this one)

Interests: dolls, books, putting on her jacket (for some reason that makes her really happy), being a tease, cuddling with/being held by mom

Sports: Climbs on the couch, up the stairs, into the refrigerator & dishwasher, out the front door, on mom's legs or anyone who's sitting on the floor, plays catch (sorta).

Latest tricks: Stood by herself for about 5 seconds, colors and holds crayons with pretty good form.

Communication: Points and says, "mmm- mmm-", recognizes the Cheerio box, makes it very clear when she want to nurse, understands when we say, "Where's Sophie/Mom/Dad?", "Put it back", "Sit down", "Turn the page", "Wanna bite/drink?", "Give the baby loves" (sometimes she hugs the baby and sometimes she throws it with a smirk on her face -- like I said, she's a tease :))

Gratitude

Warm fuzzies on a cold, rainy day . . .



Being grateful makes me happy. :)

Park Day

One of my favorite things about living in California (right after the variety of food) is being able to go to the park in the winter without bundling the kids up in snow clothes.

We were at the park a couple of weeks ago with some friends and thought it would be a cute idea to put the siblings in the swings together. It was, as you can see in the pic below. . .

until the time came to get Gavin out of the swing. He'd managed to wedge himself in there pretty tight and was NOT amused when Heather and I both struggled to get him out. I thought we might have to cut the swing apart at one point. It was one of those, "sorta funny, sorta sad" moments.

This is a little demonstration of how slow my camera is when taking successive pictures and how fast Ivy's getting at crawling. This was the first time she crawled around on the playground equipment. Luckily it was like a corridor on the way to the slide so she couldn't slip out.

Brace Yourself

. . . especially if you are a grandma because you might just die of cuteness. I almost did.

My mom gave Sophie this little cheetah (leopard? I can't tell them apart) print onesie that has a tutu sewn on. It was a little small for her, so it's been tucked away until Ivy was big enough to fit into it. I wasn't sure when to put it on her because I didn't want her to get food/snot/slobber/dirt/general baby grime all over it. It never occurred to me until last Sunday that she could wear it to church!

Are you ready for this?

Nope, she will NOT stand up

. . . unless she decides to on her own


or if there's a popsicle involved.

Holy cow this makes my insides turn to mush.

Sophie looked cute that day, too, but not quite as life-threatening cute.

If the tutu-onesie didn't do the job, then this definitely will. Probably the cutest video of them I have so far.

Sophie was taking a nap on the couch, and I brought Ivy down to wake her up. She usually just climbs on her and sticks her fingers in her face, but this time she gave up some love.

Oh, and um . . . watch where Ivy grabs Sophie in the middle of the clip. THAT's what Sophie was talking about. (Plus she gets her "mine" and "yours" mixed up.) That's the only sketchy anatomy word she knows. :)

Deja Vu

Look familiar?

October 2009

Need a reminder?

October 2008

I made these a couple of weeks ago and remembered that Sophie also helped me last year when I made them. Her little face hasn't changed that much -- she just has more hair. :)

This may become a yearly tradition.

Friends

I failed to mention in my last post that we carved pumpkins with some good friends of ours, the Webbs. And that three of the five pumpkins in that photo down there are theirs. (The good-looking ones. Somehow I thought eyelashes would look good on a jack-o-lantern.) Some friend I am, eh? At least I got to bask in some pumpkin-carving glory for a few days.

No really, we love the Webbs. And I'm Bummed, with a big, fat, capital "B", that they're moving next month. But I'm equally happy that they get to move on with their lives and from school, and from these crazy little houses we all live in.

I'm still bummed though.

Hallie and Sophie are BFF's and it's been so fun watching them grow together. And after being pregnant with Heather last year, we've arranged Ivy and Gavin's wedding. (I hope they don't mind. They'll love it.) It's amazing how much raising (and having) your children with friends bonds you to each other. We have a lot of great friends here, and I'm equally devastated and ecstatic (for the reasons above) that we might be moving next year when Steve graduates.

Crap, I feel like crying.

Anyways . . .

I made doughnuts over the weekend. Phew, tears averted.

P.S. Heather, I posted the soup I made that night. :)

More Halloween

I forgot I had more pics and stuff from Halloween. It turned out to be a week-long fest for us. Sophie loved it. Now when she sees jack-o-lanterns or Halloween-ish looking stuff she goes, "Hey, it's Halloween!" Did you know that Halloween has a sound, too? I didn't until Sophie told me. Clench your teeth together, scrunch your nose, then breath through your nose hard and kinda fast. According to Sophie, "that's what Halloween says."

Just to catch up real fast . . .

We carved pumpkins:

We had a little Halloween block party during which we played a silly game where you try to drop ice cream into a cone, held in someone's mouth who's lying on the ground. Oh, and you have to hold your arms straight out in front of you.

It wasn't a rule that the guys had to be on the ground. It was chivalry.

Sophie thought it was fun, too:

Then a little trick-or-treating afterwards. Steve couldn't find the bucket I got for her (ahem, in plain sight), so she used her goodie bag from the party. And filled it to the top.

It's kind of a tradition in my family to get a Halloween box from Grandma. We got one every year from my grandma and now my mom sends the girls one. Sophie loved it, and I loved it, too. Instead of sending her a box of candy, she sent things she could actually play with, like books and accessories and some toys. Sophie talks about her Halloween stuff all the time and that it was a "present from Grandma". Way better than a bunch of candy that gets put up on a shelf (which she has plenty of already). We all thought it was pretty great. Thanks, Mom! :)

Sophie had just woken up from a nap, so she was a bit groggy.

Ode to the Dollar Section at Target

You know which section I'm talking about, right? The section of $1-$2 items when you first walk in the door. About 90% of it is cheap junk, but the other 10% is cheap, useful junk. I've found so many things there to either entertain Sophie while I'm shopping or to put away and pull out on a rainy day. Or a day when she's driving me batty, I need to get some things done, and I feel too guilty to turn on a movie for her. Ya, it's usually one of those days. They're great for stocking stuffers, too.

Some of these little treasures include stickers, little notepads, books, puzzles, play dough, window decals/gummis, pencils, and Sophie's favorite -- those dissolvable capsules that have foam critters hiding inside. She loves those. I even got a cheap chip bowl to set by my cutting board to use for vegetable scraps while I'm making dinner. (Think Rachael Ray's garbage bowl.) I love it because it keeps all my scraps off the counter, and I don't have to keep reaching over to the garbage can under the sink.

Best dollar I've spent in a long time.

Lately I've been spending some one-on-one time with her during Ivy's morning naps. Sometimes we do little Sesame Street 20-piece puzzles (found in said dollar section) -- her current favorite thing to do. I'll give her something to look for on a piece (i.e. Elmo's fingers), she'll find it, then I'll show her where to put it. Sometimes she figures them out on her own if they're really obvious matches. I love to watch her little brain at work.