Sewing

Addison is always very interested in my sewing projects and she is under the impression that I can sew anything.  I appreciate her confidence in me, but the most recent request was for me to sew a purple chair for her room, like her pink chair.  I tried to explain that Pottery Barn made her pink chair and that it would be hard for me to make a purple one to match...but she insists it is something I can do.  Maybe one day kiddo! 

I thought that it was cute the other day when she claimed that she was sewing.  This is her sewing project

She stuck a bunch of needles in a piece of fabric that I had been cutting.  We've had many, many discussions about how needles are "pokey" and can hurt, so you don't play with needles.  One might consider this playing with needles, but she was being very deliberate in her placement,  and we had yet another discussion about how needles can hurt you and she told me that she was being careful.  No fingers were pricked during the project and I like that she is interested in "sewing".  Still may be a while before she is allowed to touch the sewing machine thought! 

Guess The Wolf Baby Part 2

Yep, Ella is #1 and Addy is #2.  A number of you cheated and made the call based on the clothing -- you are right, I wouldn't have put Addy in a tank top in November!  No doubt they are sisters huh?  Can't wait to see how Ella grows and changes.  We'll play the game again at some point and I'll try to put them in the same outfit to make it more of a challenge!

The Zoo

We spent a very hot morning at the zoo today.  Not sure we'll be making that trip again until it cools down significantly.  But Aunt Susan was in town and we hadn't gone to the zoo in a while so we thought that it would be a fun outing.  It was fun, but hot!  Ella got to go to the zoo for the first time and we got to put our new double stroller to the test.  Ella of course slept through 90% of the excursion.  We went in the reptile house for some air conditioning (and Addison really likes the reptiles) and I walked around with Ella so she could cool off.  As we were walking around I was telling her about the lizards and snakes, but can't say she was too enthusiastic at 8 weeks old!

Here is Ella at the sea lions

We had fun meeting with with Susan's friend Christi and her little boy Nolan.  Here are Addison and Nolan looking at the new baby elephant. 

This pic would have been really cute if missy would have been looking at the camera

Addy showing off her wingspan!

My camera got a smudge on the lens or something so this pic didn't turn out great, but here are Addison and Susan in the prairie dog exhibit.

Wouldn't be a trip to the zoo without a ride on the carousel.  I'm not sure if it was me or Michael that did this to her, but Addison was very cautious during the ride - Susan tried to get her to give her a high five at one point and Addison said she couldn't do it because she had to hold on with both hands.  Too cute!  I remember when I had to stand next to her and hold onto her during the ride and how she can sit there all by herself.  Such a big girl. 

Little Camper

I know that Addison likes school, but I think that she really likes camp.  We got a progress report from swimming and she is doing really well I think - there were way more things crossed off than what I expected.  For example, she has apparently demonstrated that she can "open eyes under water and retrieve submerged objects".  She hasn't ever done that for us I don't think.  We are going to go for a swim tomorrow at Dad's house and I am hoping that she will demonstrate some of her new skills! 

They had the photo booth set up at school again and I just love the pics she comes home with.  Unfortunately she wasn't put in a class with any of her good friends from school but apparently she has a new friend named Danielle and they took pics together.  I love the silly faces! 

Wednesday they also did face painting and go figure Addison came home with a crown on her cheek.  It was also PJ dress up day, so she got to wear her nightgown all day which was fun.  Next week is costume dress up day on Wednesday - I can't tell her about it until Tues night otherwise she'll ask to wear her costume every day until then.  The big question will be "fairy or princess?"

Hands and Smiles

I was able to catch a smile on camera!  It is usually more of a little grin, but I love this smile and am looking forward to more and more.

This pic doesn't do a great job of capturing it, but Ella has finally realized she has hands and that she has some control over them.  Usually they are flailing around, but this week she was able to master control over them and now it is fun to try and suck on them.  A couple of times she has even preferred her hands over a paci.  She isn't trying to get her thumb in her mouth or anything, more like her entire fist, but it is a start. 

This was a productive, yet quiet week.  I got a lot of things scratched off my to do list and went to the doc to get the OK to be a normal person again - even worked out twice and actually enjoyed it a bit. 

Aunt Susan comes in town tomorrow and we have some play dates next week so we are excited about all of the upcoming activities.   The most important thing next week is Daddy's birthday of course!!  Addison already has a plan of what she wants to get him - we'll see how he likes his gift chosen by a 3 year old! 

Happy Father's Day 2010

Happy Father's Day Michael, Grandpa and Granddad! 

Michael and Addison celebrated Father's Day by going to see Toy Story 3.  This was Addison's first time to see a movie in the theater - Michael said she seemed to enjoy it, but she also decided it was time to leave about 2/3 through the movie and in the car ride home she said she liked to watch movies at home better.  Apparently the highlight of the outing was eating popcorn and watching the coming attractions!  Emphasis on the eating popcorn part. 

Grandpa celebrated Father's Day in Taiwan, but Granddad came over for Father's Day dinner.  We had a nice dinner and then tried to take some pics -- think we should have done the pics before dinner b/c both Addison and Ella were not really enjoying picture time.  Got a couple of cute shots though!

Coach Adam

This evening Addison asked me if I new the name of the first person God created.  Not knowing where in the world she was going with this I told her that I didn't and asked if she did.  Her response was "It was Coach Adam".  When I asked her if she was talking about Adam and Eve she said yes.  Her gymnastics coach last spring was Coach Adam -- I'm not sure if she thinks that Coach Adam is actually the first person that God created, or if she thinks that every Adam is a Coach Adam.  Either way it was pretty funny!  A couple of days a week they have Judaic time.  Going to a Jewish school, she is going to have the old testament down! 

Playtime

The theme for this week was definitely play time.  Addy had a great time at camp this week playing with her new friends and counselors.  She seems to really like swimming every day and according to her she has been putting her face in the water and holding her breath.  This week we got a note home that talks about the skills she is working on and starting next week we start getting progress reports to tell us what she has accomplished.

Ella continues to stay awake for longer periods and enjoys "playing".  Her absolute favorite past time now is watching the fan.  We turn it on low and she just watches it go around and around.  This afternoon I'm pretty sure she was laying there staring at the fan smiling.  Not sure the smile was on purpose, but it seemed more legit than the "I just made a dirty diaper" smile!

Ella also took a fairly decent nap in her crib this afternoon.  Now that she is focusing on object she seems to like the mobile in her crib.  It will still probably be a while before she spends the night in her crib, but we may try more naps in hopes that it helps the bed time transition. 

Most afternoons this week we picked Addy up at 3:30 and then came home and the 3 of us played.  Addison is just great around Ella, understands that there is a difference between baby play time and big girl play time.  Ella is very tolerant of toys being put in her face and goes along with Addy's plan most of the time.  When she is tired of playing she definitely lets us know!

Ella is even enjoying tummy time I think.  There were a number of times when she spent a decent amount of time on her tummy with no fussing at all!   This is good since Addy loves to put Ella on her tummy.  Usually she is wanting to do it right after Ella has a bottle so we talk a lot about how it is a bad idea to do that right after a baby eats. 

In this case Ella just fell asleep in the middle of playtime.  Addison pulled half of her stuffed animals off her bed and put them all around Ella in the princess tent. 

I really like this pic - not sure if Ella is really looking up at Addy, but it surely looks that way.  Addison unloaded every baby toy out of the cabinets in Ella's room.  When Addy was a baby and we had the toys I didn't realize how many there were - some of our friends would comment on the number of toys, but I never believed them.  Now I do!  Fortunately Addy seems to really enjoy playing with the baby toys again, I don't think that she remembers any of them so it is like a whole new toy box to explore and a new friend to explore it all with. 

Guess The Wolf Baby

As with all parents, a frequent question we get is "who does she look like?"  My response has been that she looks like her big sister.  I found 2 pretty similar pics of the girls, so I thought that we'd play a guessing game.  Which pic is Ella and which is Addy?  If you want, leave a comment using the link at the end of the post and I'll post the guesses, or send me an e-mail - I'll reveal the answer later! 

Baby Wolf 1

Baby Wolf 2

Week 6

This week we started our new summer routine. Addison started camp, so I had to figure out how to wake myself and Addison up, get at least Addison fed breakfast (ideally me too, but that didn't happen a couple of days), feed Ella and get Addison to school by 9:00.   I am notoriously late, but was on a mission to get Addison to camp on time since she was swimming at 9:15.  Although it was hard to start setting an alarm, we got our routine down and it wasn't nearly as rushed as I expected.  Fortunately Ella is happier in her carrier these days because she is getting stuck in there more frequently now that we are going to and from school and running errands.  

Michael was in Vegas for a conference the end of the week, so I was single parent for a few days.  Surprisingly stayed pretty sane too!  The first night Michael was gone Ella wasn't real happy unless I was holding her, so that made bath time and story time for Addison a little tricky, but we survived and as soon as Ella got her bath and bottle she was happy and out for the night. 

I weighed Ella on our home scale this week and she was 10 lbs.  She continues to eat great.  I think that "sleeping through the night" is technically 5 hours or something like that - I certainly don't consider that sleeping through the night, but that is what the websites say - but Ella can definitely do that now which is nice.  Sometimes longer and sometimes shorter, but she continues to be a good sleeper too.

When Ella is awake she is a lot of fun now, she will actually look at you when you talk to her and she is tracking objects and all of those fun developmental milestones.  Definitely holding her head up much better, especially when she is really awake.  She also loves to stand up and put weight on her legs.  It is really cute because she gets a look on her face like she is really proud of herself for standing up so straight.

Thanks Aunt Connie

Before Ella was born I went on a sewing and crafting rampage.  I had somewhat been turned off of sewing clothes since Addison had not been a huge fan of the dresses I had made her.  And really, the clothes in the kiddo section at Target are so stinkin' cute that it is hard to justify the time it takes to make anything when you can buy it for less than $10.  I wanted to make her something though - she is a newborn, can't complain about not liking anything yet!  As Aunt Connie prepares to make the big move South she cleaned out her sewing supplies and sent me a box full of all kinds of goodies and fabrics.  I found some adorable fabric and knew that I needed to make Ella a dress with it. Thanks Aunt Connie! 

Shorts vs. Skirts

I was talking to Granny recently about Addison's clothing preferences and mentioned that she won't really wear shorts, she only likes skirts and dresses.  Through my comments in other posts, there are many references to our clothing drama here - this one is pretty minor compared to the drama of the past, the mismatched clothing issues isn't as bad as it was and she is wearing weather appropriate clothes.  Although this one might be one where she is mirroring me, I don't wear shorts very often, but that is because I don't have any that fit well!

But after we talked I realized that I had bought her a number of cute shorts and I decided I needed to come up with a way to make her wear them.  So we have created the shorts or skirt clothing chart.  She got to choose which days she wore a skirt and which days she wore shorts.  Wednesday is dress-up day at camp, hence the cowboyish outfit that day.  Wasn't sure how it would work, but today was shorts day and she wore shorts to camp.  So, she did change into a dress when she got home, but she at least put the shorts on for a while!  Enough to call them dirty and need to wash them.  We'll keep working on it. 

The Beach

Last week we took our first trip to the beach as a family of four.  Also the first time that Addison has been down for more than a day since before the hurricane.  We weren't sure how it would go considering the beach house is still a work in progress and Ella is only 5 weeks old...but it was wonderful!  Michael took off all week last week and we decided to avoid the Memorial Day crowd by waiting to go down on Monday and we came back Thursday.

Addy was so excited to go that she put on her swimsuit Monday morning and was asking when we'd be there until she finally fell asleep in the car.  When we got there she had to head to the beach 1st thing and she went down to the water every day except Thursday.  Would have gone on Thursday but it was rainy in the morning and we had to pack up to head home.  She LOVED every minute of it.  She loved digging in the sand, making sand castles, running around in the water and "feeding" the waves.  In case you are not familiar with feeding the waves, it involves gathering a handful of shells and running/walking into the water and either gently dumping the shells into the waves as they come up or throwing the shells at the waves.  (She is quite creative these days!)

Ella went down to the beach one of the trips.  Surprise, she slept the entire time and she spent most of the time hanging out in her carrier in the back of the Expedition.  I was going to at least put her feet in the water for a quick pic, but I figured she should at least be awake for the occasion.

One thing I think that Michael and I learned this trip is that it is way more fun to go down to the actual beach when you have kids.  In the past we'd rarely actually walk down to the water, instead enjoyed lounging on the deck at the house, but it is quite fun to run around in the water and dig in the sand.  Brown sand and water and all! 

Here is Ella hanging out at the beach (the blanket around her head keeps it from flopping around as much when she is sleeping - she is getting more neck control but she is still quite floppy)

Lots and lots of digging

Lovin' the water

Zonked out on the couch after a long day of playing

Ella Week 4 and 5

I know I say this every week, but where has the time gone?!  Ella is 5 weeks old today and we've been so busy I didn't even get to post anything for week 4.  Ella seems to be growing like a weed.  The past couple of weeks she has earned the nickname "Milk Monster".  The girl is eating a solid 4.5 oz every 3 to 4 hours.  We can definitely tell when she is hungry vs. tired or needing a diaper change.  She screams and is inconsolable until she gets a bottle.  Here is her milk monster face...(I know it is mean to be taking pictures when you child is hungry and needing to eat, but she is cute even when she is screaming so I had to snap a pic!)

Good news is that she is sleeping longer at night.  She'll have her final bottle around 9-10ish and then she doesn't get up until 4-5 in the morning.  Part of the good sleeping is also attributed to this great new bed we got for her. It is just a Fischer-Price product, Michael refers to it as a manger without the hay, but it is fabulous.  She had been sleeping in her pack 'n play and you could tell she wasn't a huge fan.  But she settles right down in this and sleeps great.

In other developments, she is getting really good at holding her head up.  Especially when she is really awake or when she is really mad.  She is not a huge fan of tummy time, but we are trying to do it more often.  Now that she is awake more we are playing more.  Play time basically involves looking at herself in the mirror or staring at the black and white images on a play toy we have. 

When we are playing especially, she seems to be doing more "talking".  Just cute little noises and coos.  This week she really seems to like to stand up and put more weight on her legs.  She is still quite a wiggly worm and pretty floppy, but each day you can tell she is getting stronger. 

A funny development, she does a really good job riding in the car but she likes to keep moving.  Frequently, unless she is really asleep, when we get to a stop sign or stop light she starts fussing.  Then as soon as we start moving again then she stops.  I remember that Addison did this when she was little.  But now I have Addison in the back to help calm Ella - Addison will start making up a song or talking about how you have to stop at red lights and have to wait.  It doesn't really calm her, but it is cute.