Beach Weekend

Going to the beach in the dead of winter isn't most people's idea of a great vacation, but we had a great time this weekend.  We weren't sure how Addy would feel about the beach without being in a swimsuit and being able to swim, but she had a great time, mainly because Michael introduced her to fishing.  Dad resurrected one of my old kiddie fishing rods which is probably 30 years old, but it still worked.

Michael and Addy fishing in the lagoon.  She was able to pick up on casting really fast.  And she quickly learned that there were no fish here. 

4 years old and already a lazy fisherman.  Or as Addy would say, "fishergirl".  Granny - that is the chair that you bought Addison ages ago, it survived the hurricane and it still gets tons of use each time we are at the beach house. 

On to bigger and better fishing locations - the beach.  Unfortunately, they still didn't catch any fish.  On Friday, when we were getting ready for the beach Addy had decided that she was going to fish with a sandwich on the hook, because fish like sandwiches.  Obviously!  But fortunately she forgot that plan and I didn't have to make any sandwiches for the fish.  I anticipate a lot more fishing in our future!

Growing Girl

It is hard to believe Ella will be 9 months next week.  She is growing so fast!  We are already in 9-12 month clothes (although there is plenty of room to grow) and she is getting quite brave. 

I think that she really wants to skip the crawling and start walking.  She is starting to pull up on everything she can.  This is her favorite since she can get a good grip.  Tonight she mastered pulling up on the ottoman in the living room.  

We find her sleeping on her stomach more and more, which is really cute.  And my favorite is the big puddle of drool under her mouth...this pic doesn't really capture it very well, but it is pretty funny!

Ella is somewhat addicted to puffs.  She definitely gets more in her mouth and less are falling from her chair and ending up in Star's mouth.  This one ended up stuck to her cheek!

Wintertime Picnic

Who says you can't have a picnic when it is 40 degrees outside?!  Addy set up an indoor picnic for us the other day.  She was a bit worried that Star would try to eat her food, which is a legit concern, but Star stayed away and Addy and Ella enjoyed their picnic lunch.  And we didn't freeze! 

Styling Ella's Hair

The other day Michael came in claiming to have done Ella's hair after tub, and I thought that he was just talking about brushing it.  Nope, he gave my little girl a mohawk. 

While it is exciting that her hair is getting long enough to "style", not sure the mohawk is really the look for her! 

Nap Mat

When Addy moved to the class at school with no cribs and when Ella moved, I was always skeptical that they would sleep on their nap mats.  Even skeptical after their teachers would say they did great.  The other weekend I was putting the finishing touches on Ella's nap mat and set it down on the living room floor.  Not much later this was the scene in the living room...apparently daddy likes it too!

8 Months

 Ella turned 8 months on December 30th.  She seems to be changing daily at this point.  She is a super eater and super sleeper.  She still loves the bottle and really likes solids now.  Her favorites are any kind of fruit and she is doing OK with the veggies.  Definitely not a fan of green beans and the other day I was giving her a jar that was spinach and potatoes and I'd feed her fruit and then slip in a spoon full of the veggies and she cried out every time she realized what it was.  Mean mom!  There isn't a huge selection of baby food and I really don't have time, but I'd like to try making some for her.  I tried with Addy and she hated what I made, but ate the store bought stuff up, so I got discourage and gave up.  Don't think Ella will be as picky.

 She only does this when she is laying down, but she can feed herself her bottle! 

As far as milestones go - rolling both ways has been mastered and we are getting very close to crawling I think.  She is lunging forward and ends up on the belly and will push her tummy off the ground and just scoot backwards.  She is quite frustrated at the moment, but in no time she'll figure out how to go forward.  She doesn't start screaming the minute she ends up on her tummy now, so that is positive. Here she has backed herself into the wall...she is really good at little baby push-ups and is practicing her yoga by holding herself in the plank position. 

Ella started in a new class at school this past Tuesday.  She is no longer in the baby class and has moved up where she is probably the youngest now and there are kids walking and crawling all around her.  Fortunately some of the other kids around her age moved too, so she does have some other stationary friends.  She is sleeping on a nap mat and she has more activities like gym.  I hear that they do a lot of craft projects in her new class, so I am anxious for those to start coming home.  She still seems really happy when I drop her off in the morning, so if she is happy, I'm happy!

I stole this idea from a friend, but I took some pics of Ella sleeping which I think are just too cute.

She loves to sleep on her side curled up with her little lovey. 

On her back, still snuggling with lovey.  We have 2 loveys now.  Lovey #1 my friend Merri made for Ella and it is super cute with her initials monogrammed on it and everything.  We've made that one school lovey since it had her initials on it and I made a similar version that is home lovey.  Definitely not as fancy as #1, but it seems to work.  We'll see if she ends up preferring one over the other.  Addy definitely did!

This is pretty much the look you always get when you wake her up.  In this case it was a bit of the "why are you waking me up and taking my picture", confused look.  When she is already wake and you go in to get her, you are almost always greeted with a smile. 

Favorite activities include holding your hand and walking around the house, chewing on anything she can get in her mouth, playing in her walker which has been a big hit (and mom and dad enjoy it because she gets to walk, but we don't have to bend over walking around with her), jumping in the jumperoo, and playing with big sister who is always doing crazy things for Ella to watch. 

Play Time

 Ella wasn't super excited with Addy's idea to take a pic...

 so she got a little revenge with some hair pulling!

These pictures were taken on Cotton Bowl day, BEFORE the Aggies blew the game.  We weren't all smiles after the game. 

Poor Star

Girls stayed and played with Grandma and Grandpa on New Years, but Star came with us to the beach house.  Star hates fireworks and this is how she spent most of the night

New Years

Michael and I went down to the beach house for New Years and the girls went to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The beach was great, we got some work done but also had a super relaxing night.  Michael decided to be a creative bartender and made a run punch based on a Charles Dickens recipe from the mid-1800's.  Here is the original recipe

"Peel into a very common basin (which may be broken in case of accident, without damage to the owner's peace or pocket) the rinds of three lemons, cut very thin and with as little as possible of the white coating between the peel and the fruit, attached. Add a double handful of lump sugar (good measure [although Dickens had rather small hands]), a pint of good old rum, and a large wine-glass of good old brandy‹if it be not a large claret glass, say two. Set this on fire, by filling a warm silver spoon with the spirit, lighting the contents at a wax taper, and pouring them gently in. Let it burn three or four minutes at least, stirring it from time to time. Then extinguish it by covering the basin with a tray, which will immediately put out the flame. Then squeeze in the juice of the three lemons, and add a quart of boiling water. Stir the whole well, cover it up for five minutes, and stir again."

Fortunately we had a more modern interpretation to follow and it turned out much better than we expected.  However, the key part for Michael was the direction to "set this on fire".  Our first attempt was unsuccessful, but second try went better and Michael was satisfied once we had fire.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Wonderfile

After walking up to her spot at the table and seeing papers and mail spread out all over the table (I had just opened the mail), Addy says "Mommy, you need a wonderfile".  Took me a bit to figure out what she was talking about, but it was this

Seriously?  Think she maybe watches too much TV and has way too good a memory.   Then she started telling me about the features..."it can even hold a laptop computer".  Need to start back on the Nick Jr. channel since it has no commercials.