Frosty Season is Over!

Wow! That happened fast. As it always does these days, since i'm busy chasing my two little ones. So much has happened.

We had a wonderful holiday with a few bumps. Homer got sick and that made busy even more busy. But we managed to enjoy a lot of holiday goodness anyways. In fact, maybe it slowed me down just enough to get me to enjoy the big picture just a little bit more. We went to the Costa Mesa Snoopy house one night to see the decorations. We went down the street to the light show at the house on Meredith St., where the lights are set to music. We went to see the neighborhood light display at the brookhurst/heil sts. And best of all, we went to the Newport Beach Boat Parade and got the very best spot in the house for checking out the boat parade. The kids absolutely loved that. Decorating our house happened slowly and steadily, something I've really come to enjoy and savor. We had the family holiday party at our house one week before Christmas, and that stretched the holiday out a bit more too. We had a lot of Christmas. The big day came, Santa came, and Marea enjoyed it more than ever. She got her own computer, a big toy horse, a lite brite, princess nightgowns, tinkerbell toys, a few games, lots of new books...a huge success and one happy little girl who has played her heart out all day today with all her new stuff. It's fun to spoil the kids on Christmas. That's the best present for any parent!

Another fun thing we did recently was go to Marea's first movie theater movie...The Princess and the Frog! We went with Kate and Madison to an afternoon show. We got popcorn and candy and we watched the whole movie. She got a little restless, and thankfully the theater was empty so Marea and Madison got to jump around a bit. Afterwards we went and got the music CD and she loves it. We're listening in the car all the time! I'm glad to have some new kid music, finally!

Evie has been her crazy baby old self. She is a CLIMBER! I thought Marea climbed a lot, and I was wrong. Evie climbs on everything. She can climb up onto Marea's bed...up and over the railing. She'll climb up the rocker in her room and onto the bed in there. And she loves to climb and stand on every stool, box, crate, anything-she-can-possibly-stand-on thing in the house. She absolutely loves to be outside. And she knows the shoes/jacket routine before going out. She gets so excited she runs and pounds on the door when she knows we're going outside. Sometimes she runs straight for the garage and climbs up on Marea's tricycle, or she'll take off down the sidewalk. Her run is so darn cute...and FAST. She is so physical. She loves to dance and move! Her favorite show is still Yo Gabba Gabba. I don't know what it is about that show, but she is enthralled by it. She has a pretty awful cold right now and it's very hard to see her feeling yucky. She doesn't seem to bounce back from colds as well as Marea used to. Thankfully it's just a cold though, and not the awful stomach flu that rocked me two days before Christmas!

It's Frosty Season!

It started the day before Thanksgiving. I swore I wouldn't do it. Maybe it was because I was so sick of the CD's that we have in the car, and I was longing for something different. Or maybe it was Marea's excitement about Christmas (I think it was that). But the "Frosty Loop" has made it's way back into our lives, for the third year in a row. It's time to find a new Christmas CD, before I start to despise the poor old snowman.

Yes, her excitement is catchy. She started talking about Christmas a few days before thanksgiving, probably because we went to the mall and it's all decorated already. She got it in her head that Christmas is coming and we must start the preparations immediately! So it started with the music, but I held off on everything else until now. And I now declare us officially ready to start the season. I'm ready! This is going to be great! With the exception of keeping Evie and Little Ick away from the tree. That should be interesting. Marea has been talking almost every day about daddy bringing home the decorations, and getting a tree. We watched The Grinch last night. We made our gingerbread house. I think this is the first year that she'll get the idea of Santa. So this year stands to be super fun! Time to bust out the old 'be good or i'm calling santa!' trick :)! Of course I wouldn't do that! Or will I? We'll see where desperation leads me in the next 25 days.

It will be fun to see what Evie thinks about all the Christmas stuff. Of course she'll be insanely curious, and have to touch everything over and over and over. And carry things around the house and dump them. She is the queen of that. I'm sure she'll find all the decorations and preparations interesting. Maybe we'll be able to teach her a few new 'holiday' words. She's getting pretty good with her vocabulary these days. "Kit-tay" is a super popular one. And "eh juice'. We have no idea where they is the 'eh' in front of it but it's funny. And she loves singing the 'Do Do Do, Da Da Da' song, and the Elmo song.

So we got a new kitten, Little Ick. That's what Marea has named her for now. I'm not too excited about the name so we'll see if anything else sticks. Sticks to Ick. Ha ha. For now, it's working, because she's got super stinky poo and farts. She's kind of icky right now! Marea just adores her. But part of me is wondering why I brought this chaos into the house. As if I needed another thing to worry about! I am trying to teach her how to pick her up correctly and when she needs to let her run away. I hope this kitty ends up liking her and isn't scared of her. Little Ick, who lives in the bathroom, as Marea says.

Tonight we are going to Great Grandma Irene's 98th birthday dinner at Acapulco. Happy Birthday Grandma! Hope to share many more :)

Breakfast in bed!

One day, while waiting for Evie to wake up and trying to stay out of the way of the housekeepers, Marea and I ate an apple on my bed.  She thought that was pretty cool.  And then I told her about 'breakfast in bed'.  And that we should get daddy to make it for us!  So the following Saturday, he did.  And now, every morning, little lovely crawls into my bed nice and early, and waits...hoping....and finally suggesting, another breakfast in bed!  Unfortunately, it's just too hard for me to pull off with both kids during the week, and not the same anyways, so we haven't done it again.  But I think we'll plant the seed with Gary and see if we can get ourselves another relaxing morning in bed!  Oh, and the menu was, pumpkin pancakes and sliced kiwi.  (It was on halloween, after all!)

And, Evie has a new song around here.  "A do do do, a da da da, is all I want to say to you, A do do do, a da da da, the meaningless that's always true".  She loves it when we sing that to her.  And Marea thinks it's hilarious.    Evies favorite foods right now...beans, beans, the musical fruit!  She just loves any kind of beans.  Black beans, canellini beans, kidney beans, pinto beans...beans!  And she like avocado now, and will gobble up half an avocado.  She loves cheese, my homemade minestrone soup, zucchini, broccoli, berries,  chicken, and the fresh fish we've been enjoying since Gary's fishing trip.  

Marea stayed home from school this week, she had a cold.  We had a great day at home though.  Complete with a giant fort, in which we set up the DVD player so she could watch peter pan, and glow sticks.  She really liked the glow sticks.  And we even made a cut out flower garden for the fort.  Sometimes just being at home, and dropping everything else to just play, all day, is the best remedy.  For all of us. 

Another fun thing we did this week was go to Jump N Jammin.  Marea REALLY liked that place.  It was fun!  A jumpie, a ball shooting pit, and lots of climbing obstacles.  She was telling Gary all about it last night, and everything that they are going to do when they go there!  

Because it's Halloween, it's Halloween....nananananana!

Oh Yo Gabba Gabba, how did you make your way into my house?  And why was your Halloween special so good, we had to watch it over and over again?  Well, I guess it's partially because Evie lights up when she hears the music for that show.  It doesn't hold her attention for very long, but she's definitely interested.  Marea always claims not to like that show, but the Halloween one was just too fun, we all got sucked in. 

So this year I swore off Tanaka Farms pumpkin patch trip, but then I got sucked into the season and decided to take the girls.  And, I won't do it again!!! NO NO NO!!!!  The few days of fall weather tricked me.  But of course on the day we went, it was HOT and DUSTY and STINKY (that petting zoo is so disgusting) !!!!  I wanted to like it, but didn't.  Enough about that. I am breaking it off with T.F.P.P.  Which is easy to do because we discovered the Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch!  It was super fun. Lots of great stuff for the kids, including a bounce house (which M loved of course), and a haunted house (which M did not love, of course) and a train ride.  It was shady and festive and nice.  

Those pre-halloween, fall-type activities were fun, but the best pumpkin patch night was when we went the Friday night before Halloween to pick out our pumpkins.  It was dark out, and we all went, and had fun running around checking out and choosing pumpkins.  Marea even picked her own. And Evie rolled them around, sat on them, and danced around them.  It was too cute.

Visiting Grandma Irene was fun, too.  I took the girls in their costumes, and Marea decorated a pumpkin for her, with stickers and gluey stuff.  

Marea was a fairy, and Evie was the recycled pig.  Trick or Treating was fun.  We discovered a street in our neighborhood that goes all out with decorating and scaring the kids!  Marea was hesitant at some of the houses, but I helped her, and explained how it was just normal people trying to scare the kids, and that it's okay to feel scared for just a second.  It was hard for her to resist the candy, even though she hasn't eaten much of it.  She just likes the process, I think.  

Holidays are just way more fun with kids!!! 

Things to remember.....

Marea:

-Our conversations in the car.  I loved the recent one about her getting big and having her own house, right next to mommy and daddy's house, and Evie could live with her and she will take good care of Evie.  And maybe mommy and daddy can live there too.  

-The big slide in Utah.   So much fun.  And making fairy houses. 

-'playing' halloween.  She's gonna be a fairy this year. 

-her green bikini is her 'zu-kini'.  Or, zucchini.  And cupcakes are still pu-cakes.  

-Marea's current favorite song..."strike the bell", on the sailor songs CD.  

Evie:

-the Evie spin.  

-da da da da da da.  Baby.  Still.  

-she loves beans!  black beans, kidney beans, canellini beans.  But nooooo citrus. It gives her fire butt!

-latest words...shoe, sock, rock, juice.... i gotta get it on video.  

-she LOVES her bath.  Everytime she walks in the bathroom, she does the sign for bath.  

-all done with the milkies.  so sad!

Getting into our groove

Sometimes it seems like we're getting into a groove.  Especially since Marea started school, and now there is a bit more structure to our life.  Or maybe it's just MY life that feels a bit more structured, now that I have a little more free time?  Well, free, meaning, one less kid for a few hours a week :)  I guess I *am* finally tackling a lot of little projects that i've been meaning to do for a long time.  It feels good.  Sometimes I feel a little bit guilty about sending Marea off to school, because I love it so much.  I really dig that free time right now.  And it makes me a better mom.  I am more energized, and more organized.  But something that really keeps me in check, and feeling a little more balanced, is that I get to work at the school!  We call them 'special mommy and Marea days at school'.  I love being there!  I get to see everything that she gets to do, I get to watch her play and interact with other kids, and I get to interact with her friends, their parents, and her teachers on a much more personal level than I think I would of at other schools.  All around, I think this school is a perfect fit for us.  It is going to be so much fun to watch her grow in this environment.  It's a new, exciting facet of our lives.  Evie loves it too.  When I tell her it's time to go pick up Marea, she goes running for the door.  "ray a, ray a".  And she loves running across the playground on our walk to the school.   And when I open the gate, she know right where to go, and right now, she goes straight for the baby basket.  'da da da  da da' is currently how she says 'baby'.  I have no idea why, but of course I think it's absolutely adorable.  Someday, Evie will love Hilltop too. 

On the home front...Marea insists on wearing dresses that spin, or twirl.  And it must do so JUST RIGHT or there may be tears.   I went out over the weekend and got her a few warm dresses and tights and leggings, since it's officially fall now.  But she's not completely satisfied with any of them.  She's excited that they are a dress, not so impressed with how they twirl.  Oh well.  I better get used to this.

Evie is on fire, as usual.  She will climb just about anything, fearlessly, and then scream out and dance with joy as she stands in a not so safe spot.  She loves running across the room then falling into the green bag chair.  And she's learning words!  She can say 'shoe', 'juice', 'ray-a' and a few others....but ball is still 'cawl' or something like that.  She's taken an interest in coloring and painting.  She's sleeping until about 5:30 most days, and then sometimes goes back to sleep for another hour.  It's been a long time coming, but she's FINALLY sleeping almost all the way thru.  If only she could make it till 6:30 every day......

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, Miss EEEEEEEEEEE!!!

To my Little Miss E, on her FIRST birthday....

What a year it's been.  It has gone by FAST.  I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I see you....you are HERE!   And you are larger than life.  You are the most perfect fit for us.  You balance out this family so well.  You and your sister are going to have the most awesome complimentary relationship.   I can't wait to see what the future holds, but please, slow down.  I want to cherish this time with you (while still maintaining a sense of myself, too!).  

It's not funny! (As i'm laughing!)

Evie-climbing up on the stove.  Stepping up on the bottom handle of the broiler, hands on the oven door...and then...to add insult...turning the knobs of the stove.  And Gary and I standing there, laughing.  What else were we supposed to do?  

Evie-I turn around for a second, and she is standing on top of the picnic table outside.  How did she manage to climb up there?  She's not even one year old yet!!!  All the other babies her age are still happily sitting on their blankies at the park, shaking the same old toys.  Not my girl.  She's standing on the picnic table, practically on top of Marea and Madison's dinner.  

Evie-dancing on the red chair in the living room at 7 a.m.  And just when i've got my eyes opened up enough to see (zzzzzzz), and decide that mustering up the energy to do something about it is IMPORTANT, like NOW (!), she gracefully steps off, as if she's done it a thousand times.  

She's a wild one, that Miss E.

We LOVE it.  

Chili's Gang Days

Today we had one of our park days with the girls from my Chili's days.  Rachel with Lauren and Danielle, Kristen with Emma, Julia with Gabe, and Cathy with Dillan and Sophia.  We often meet at Livingston park in Belmont Shore (my old stompin' grounds!) for some fun on the extra super fancy new playground down there.  The kids all play together really well and us girls get to catch up a bit.  One of my favorite things about these days (besides the fact that we have all been friends for SO long and being together is ALWAYS super fun), is that we got each other's backs.  Everyone watches everyone else's kids.  We used to be the Chili's waitress team, and now we're a team of moms.  Today was also special because we went to lunch at SuperMex after the park.  It's been so long since i've eaten there....brought back memories, for sure.  Except this time, we had our stroller brigade, and no corona's were drank.  My how things change.  And how so very much they stay the same.  

End of Summer Happenings

The calendar tells me it's the end of summer.  But as always, summer weather is here for a while longer.  This year, though, will be different because Marea is starting school soon, and the start of school always coincides with the 'end of summer'.  This is weird for me. It feels like just yesterday, I was in school, enjoying summer vacations.  And now, my baby girl will be starting school and the school year calendar will a big part of our life.  I don't want to think about this anymore!

So here's what's going on around here....

Marea is obsessed with Peter Pan.  When I start singing "I can fly", she takes off in flight wherever we are.  She's very interested in getting big, and will often say 'because i'm getting bigger' or 'when i'm big'.  She loves to crack the eggs when we cook together.  And she loves to do projects, meaning, art projects such as painting or glueing.  I've got lots of fun stuff like that and she really digs in, which is super fun for me because I love to do that stuff with her.  Recently we made a book together.  We've also painted paper surfboards.  I've got to work on teaching her to write letters.  She is really interested in that.  I think we'll start a letter a day thing, where i'll try to teach her one letter every day.  

Evie is crazy as ever.  She loves to climb up on chairs now and jump as if to say, 'look at me!! i'm doing something dangerous!'  and she has no fear.  She will often do a downward facing dog position too, looking between her legs.  She thinks this is hilarious, and it looks pretty funny.  She loves eating the tomatoes off our plants, or the ones that have fallen into the dirt, and she often becomes a filthy mess with tomato juice running all over her face and dirt all over.  She's got her two bottom teeth and the top four are right there, just not poking through yet.  She's been sleeping pretty well....she usually gets up once, around 4 a.m., to nurse, then sleeps till 6:30.  Hopefully the all nighters are coming soon!

Caw!

Evie is our tropical bird.  Her favorite expression seems to be CAW!  Which means ball, but also many other things.  She points at things and says caw.  Things in books, or things she sees on the counter.  Caw, Caw, Caw!

Marea is doing great in the pool.  She loves to jump in with only a swim ring on.  If there were several more months of summer left, she would be swimming soon.  But I don't think it will happen this year.  Swimming lessons this spring I guess.  We're going to miss the long days at grandma's house of playtime and pooltime.  I think it's one of Marea's favorite things about summer.  

FLY BY'S!

I can't believe I haven't written about the FLY BY yet.  I've been meaning to get it on video too.  It's Marea's after shower thing.  Daddy wraps her all up in a towel and then zooms her around the house, through the air.  It's a fly by, of course!  She loves it.  It's part of the routine!  I imagine Gary will be doing this for years to come (until he can't lift her anymore) and then Evie will follow.

The other thing I'm loving about Marea right now is her obsession with the dirt pile in the back yard.  Formerly a giant hole, now filled with dirt, in the corner.  We have this big, beautiful yard with a nice lawn and tons of toys.  What does she like to do?  Play in the dirt area.  Her imagination goes nuts over there.  She usually gets really involved in it when i'm inside working in the kitchen, so I get to watch thru the window.  I can't hear what she's saying but she's definitely playing an elaborate game.  Sometimes it involves roly polys, her new fave bug.  It's such messy play, she gets so dirty.  But she loves it.

Evie is a pizza crust maniac.   Give the kid a hunk of pizza crust and she's happy for hours.  Well, it's probably like this with all food I guess but it sure takes her a long time to suck away at a pizza crust.  It eventually ends up a sticky dough ball mess that I have to take away, which of course prompts lots of tears.  She does not want her crust taken away! 

She NEVER stops moving

Evie has an amazing amount of energy.  She never stops moving unless she's in her high chair eating.  And trust me, we trap here there often and feed her, just to keep her still for a bit.  She walks this house ALL DAY LONG.  Round and round and round.  Wandering.  Picking things up, waving them around, giving them a taste, tossing them on the floor and then it's on to the next thing.  Every day, all day.  It's crazy.  She prefers to be in whatever room i'm in, especially if it's the kitchen, because she wouldn't want to miss out on a scrap of food.  She will come over and tug on my pants (to the point of pulling them down once!) and let out her screams.  Is all of this cute?  Kind of.  Right now it's cute, as i'm talking about it.  But sometimes it drives me nuts!  What is cute is when she brings me books to read to her (Little Bee, Twinkle Twinkle, Bean), or her kitty, or her babies, to kiss.  And she makes that adorable nose when she brings something over....tssss. 

Marea just finished her first summer camp program at Hilltop.  A raging success.  She did GREAT, as I knew she would.  Tomorrow we're having all her friends over for a backyard kiddie pool playdate.  I think it's going to be super fun.  She made her first hopscotch in the backyard.  It was so cute, just a bunch of circles lined up.  One for me, one for her, and a tiny one for evie.  She's getting better at drawing.  She's putting thought into it and controlling the crayons.  She loves to draw Suns.  Perfect.  Me too.

Sumertime continues

We've been spending lots of days at the pool.  Today Marea, on her very own, got out of the pool and jumped in by herself...with her floaties and swim ring on.   She got so happy and excited with herself!  Then we suggested that she try it without the ring, that her floaties would hold her up...and she got out and stood there, then chickened out.  But then, without any encouragement or pushing from us, she just did it.  She went under a bit, but she was fine.  And she was SOOOOOO proud of herself.   It was adorable.  I love watching her conquor fears.  I remember when she was scared of the carousel, and would cry every time I took her on it.  And then one day, she was perfectly fine.  It was such a simple, proud moment, for both of us.  And after watching her today, I know she'll do great at her first day of preschool summer camp tomorrow.  I'm freaked out of course, because I hope my baby girl gets well taken care of and all the attention she needs, and makes new friends.  But she'll do great, because she can!  

Two more Marea words that i'm loving: a-cause (meaning, because) and da-jamas (pajamas).

Evie is busy busy busy.  Her favorite thing to do right now is bring us her little white kitty, which we pretend kiss, and her books.  She gets our attention with an obnoxious scream thing that she does.  It's SO loud and annoying!  Yesterday she entertained us by doing the 'Evie butt dance' in the living room when the music was on.  Thank god I got that one on video, it was too cute.  She is trying to say ball but it sounds more like 'cawl'.  But i know she's saying it because that's what she says when she sees a ball!  I can't  believe she'll be 10 months old tomorrow.  AHHHHH!!!!!

Busy Busy Busy!

That sums it up for us right now.  Busy as can be.  Busy with lots of activities-parties, playdates, pool days-and busy chasing the girls around.  Especially little miss E.  The child is crazy.  She walks the whole house, over and over and over again, screeching with happiness.  She's loud and excited.  And she can be pretty fussy and needy, too!  She doesn't like it when we leave the room.  She requires constant attention.  Which is good, because it makes me stop, and pay attention!  And seeing as though the baby stage is going by way to fast, i'm glad to have her demanding me to sit back and enjoy.  Her faves, right now:  walking everywhere, her baby white kitty, (and homer too!), jumping on giant lamb, eating cat food and shoes,  stealing Marea's pacis in the morning...and Marea just in general.  She loves watching Marea and taking over whatever she is doing.  

Marea has been quite the pleasure lately.  Her vocabulary is expanding, still, and the conversations are even more fun and interesting.  Especially when she talks about things she remembers from the past.  Sometimes she'll recall something that I forgot about, or puts her own little spin on something, and it's just so amusing to me.  I can't remember any of those things right now, but i'll try to think of something!  

We took Marea to Mahe for the first time last week, and she ate her fill of sushi!  The kid has good taste!  I love that she loves food.  Although she has a sweet tooth too...she demands her treat every night after dinner!    We had our first sleepover at our house last week, Harper and Mary came and spent the night, so I guess it was a sleepover for me too!  Marea loves sleepovers.  Hopefully we'll have lots of them in the future.  

My baby girl turns 3

Another year goes by and I sit here wondering, where did the time go?  How come my sweet baby girl is already turning 3 years old?  Why do I LOVE her birthday SO much (well I guess that's obvious...), is there any way that I can freeze time RIGHT NOW, so it can be this day, forever?  I guess my way of dealing with the fact that a birthday 'day' just comes and goes way too fast is to celebrate it for many days, in many different ways.  First, the party planning.  Because there simply must be a party (with the kitty jump, again, of course!).  This year was a bit different...a sign of things to come and a change...this year, we invited Marea's friends.  Maddie, Madison, Jack, Mia and Sean, Bella,  and of course her faves, Jackie and Emily.  So planning the party was like a warm up for the big day.  There was jumping, snow cones, pizza and cake, great presents like hungry hungry hippos, and my special hand made goodie bags with Marea's Mix and a ribbon stick.  I think the best part was that we celebrated it on my birthday, a Saturday.  Marea's birthday landed on Tuesday, so for the few days between the party and her actual birthday, things were still in a celebratory mode.  For me, at least. Because honestly, Marea is still a bit young to understand that one day was the party, and one day was the 'real' birthday.  But I felt the anticipation of the day to come, because I knew that I wanted to make it special.  And I think it was a success!  On Tuesday, we woke up and gave her the present from Mommy and Daddy, Bunny Treehouse.  Which we played with all morning, after we ate chocolate chip pancakes and looked at pictures from when she was born.  Then Grandma Carole came over to give Marea her gift (boogie board!) and play for a while.  Then it was off to Grandma Susan's for swimming.  Daddy came home early and we hit the pool for a swim session with the new boogie board, followed by Jackie and Emily arriving, a popsicle, a bag of cheetos, and to top it off, an ice cream cone.  On the ride home, both girls fell asleep.  Marea must of been wiped out, because she slept for 2 hours on the couch!  And now....a bath, a daddy after bath 'fly by', and finally, a little bit of a movie while cuddling with me on the couch.  But I think the BEST part of the day was cuddling with her on the couch earlier and admiring all those little parts, once again.  The feet, legs, arms, hands, face, that are all still so very tiny, so very soft and kissable, still so very mine to love.  The hand that reaches for a chunk of my hair, her sucking on that damn pacifier which I don't have the heart to take away.  And now it's time to go.  It's movie time and my girl wants to cuddle with her mama.  I get to savor it one more time before bed.  Today, tomorrow, and hopefully for many more days and birthdays.  

Saved by the Potty Seat!

In a moment of craziness, I did something bad....I laid Evie on the countertop while I filled up her bathtub.  But I kept my hand on her!  And the little gymnast still managed flip herself off the counter.  Thank goodness....Marea's cushy potty seat was there to break her fall!  Well, I also still had a bit of control since my hand was still on her.  But boy was I glad, to look over and see my adorable little darling face down on the potty seat.  Thank goodness it was bath time!

Yesterday Marea and I sat on the couch and read some books, one of which was "great day for UP'.  At the end, it says, 'Please go away, I don't want to get UP today!" and I told Marea how I felt that way sometimes.  Later in the afternoon, when I was having a moment of grumpiness, Marea repeated that line and said she was going to help me so I didn't have to get up, that she was going to tell daddy.  I felt so grateful!  Now if only it would of worked.  

Laying together

I remember when Marea was a baby thinking, wouldn't it be great if she could just lay on the couch with me in the evenings, and just cuddle and hang out quietly.  Well, those days are finally here.  It's become part of the going to bed routine, cuddle time with mama on the couch.  It usually involves an episode of little bear, which I enjoy...it's a good show.  So together we lay, Marea usually grabbing for a chunk of my hair, me getting to hold her close.  And sometimes there's some interesting conversation in there, too!

The not-so-lazy days of summer

Afternoons at grandma and grandpa's house, swimming in the pool with Jackie and Emily.  Then enjoying a popsicle.  And maybe the occasional Friday night BBQ of ribs.  It's here.  WOOHOO!  This is how we spend many days in the summer.  

Marea and her friends-duck, owl, cat and....baby sunflower

I know i've talked about Marea's Little Bear obsession, but it's just such a big part of our lives, I must mention it again.  She is OBSESSED with Little Bear.  So often I hear her making up games and she's talking with Duck, Owl, Hen, and Cat.  It's amusing to me, and it makes her happy and keeps her busy.  Yesterday, though, she thought up a new game.  We were hanging around in the yard and I found a small dead sunflower.  I picked it up, showed it to her, and threw it down, declaring it done.  But she picked it up, and it bacame 'Baby Sunflower'.  She treated it just like her baby.  Feeding it, putting it down the slide, giving it a ride on the hammock, sitting in on the chair.  It was too cute.  Who needs toys????

Evie can WALK!

So we just returned from a two week vacation in Utah, where we had LOTS of fun.  But I think Evie had the most fun, because while we were there, she took her first steps.   That's right folks, 8  1/2 months and our Miss E is walking.  Gary says she was motivated by his beer.  Which doesn't surprise me, because she's our kid.  She likes to mouth the beer bottles, it must feel good on her gums.  Gary was holding his beer, and she let go of the table she was holding on to and took 4 steps over to him. Grandma Carole, Gary and I were all there to witness it!  I thought it was a fluke, but since then she's been getting more and more brave, taking more and more steps.  And when Grandma Susan saw it, she's declared it a walk.  So it's official!  Evie can walk!  She usually takes a few steps before sitting down and crawling towards her destination.  (For now...i know how quickly this will change, and she'll never crawl again..sniff sniff!) And she is into EVERYTHING! But most importantly, she is SO DARN HAPPY!  She even claps for herself all the time.  (Mostly I think that she's just excited about knowing how to clap, so she does it all the time.  So darn cute!)  And the other latest and greatest Evie accomplishment is a new noise...da da da da!  And of course, the high pitched, 'i'm SOOOO  excited' Evie scream.  Oh and one last thing...she can say 'uh oh' when she drops something.  It doesn't sound exactly like that but she's doing it!  She will intentionally drop something and say 'ah ah'.  She's getting it!  I can't stop her!  She is changing too fast!

All this Evie growing up on us stuff is pretty exciting for Marea, because she now has a playmate.  Evie isn't the perfect playmate yet, because she likes to get into or destroy whatever Marea is doing, but Marea is enjoying her bigger little sister.  The hardest part is making sure Marea knows her limits when interacting with Marea.  She tends to be a little bit too much still.  But it's all starting to come together, and my girls are developing their own little relationship.  Just like everything else i've experienced on this parenting journey...This is going to be Good.  

Speaking of relationships-It was so great to watch Marea and her Grandma Carole out in Utah.  Marea is particularly fond of her, and just enjoys following her around, discussing whatever is going on in nature out there, and having Grandma prepare her snacks or meals.  They seem to have great conversations.  What a beautiful thing.

Other Utah fun....having Jackie and Emily out! It's so funny when the girls all get together and do their 'run in circles and scream and giggle' thing.  It's not a designated activity, and they arn't really interacting, but they are excited to be together and they love it.  Pretty soon it will get one high pitched girly scream louder.  It was so nice to see Jackie and Emily get as excited about the outdoors and nature as Marea does.  They got into watching the wildlife, hiking up to dancing rock, and playing at the sand dunes.  We also had fun at the indoor water park, the community pool, and Gary built them an awesome fort that they just loved.  It's always a little more hectic with additional kids in the mix, but they have so much fun together.  

Marea shocked us by enjoying a great BIG waterslide at the indoor water park!  The first time I took her on it we were both giggling the whole way down.  And then at the end, I forgot to hold her up so she wouldn't go under...but she didn't mind too much, and was game to go again and again.  

Evie can crawl!

Our little monkey does a modified crab type crawl.  She drags one knee along and uses the other foot to push herself along.  It's complicated, but it's crawling.  I would say that it officially started yesterday.  I made my prediction of two weeks on April 10.  So I was really close!  So...what is Evie doing with her new found freedom?  Well, crawling over to ANYTHING that she can pull herself up to standing on, of course!  Because she's still obsessed with standing up.  She even crawls over to me and pulls herself up on my leg.  Which can be difficult when i'm trying to walk away.  But maybe it's because she never wants me to walk away right now!  She's also been standing up in her crib a lot lately.  Which she thinks is just awesome.  But I think it's sabotaging our sleep!  So...how long before she walks?  That's a hard one, because walking is difficult...she already like to 'cruise' around the furniture, so she's figuring out the stepping thing a little bit....I say she'll walk at 10 months, just like her big sis.  I don't think I really want her to, but it's coming, regardless of what I want.  I just don't want my baby to grow up any more right now.  It's happening way to fast.   Before I know it, she'll be just as big as her big sis.  Who has been absolutely adorable these days!  Marea has definitely turned a corner.  She has been so agreeable, and pleasant, and playful, and fun.  Her games have been funny and interesting.  I'm enjoying her company more and more these days.  We've made it through some of the more difficult aspects of being 2 (I think..i hope!) and we're on to bigger and better things.  

 

Sticks, Twigs, Leaves, Flowers, and Rocks

I find them everywhere!  Marea loves to find these things and drag them around with her.  There are sticks, twigs, leaves, rocks and flowers in all the corners of our house and in the car.  She is often carrying around something too.  I guess I could be annoyed that she deposits this stuff everywhere...and sometimes I am...but the bright side is, the kid loves nature and appreciates all the little objects she can find.  And she's perfectly happy to go on a walk and find little things and bring them along.  

She MUST stand!

So I don't know if Evie will ever crawl.  Because a few days ago she figured out how to pull herself up into the standing position and it's all she wants to do now.  And it makes her SOOOOOOO happy.  She just smiles and does her happy screams....until she realizes that she doesn't have anything in her hands, at which point she starts to fuss a little.  But she's digging the standing thing for now.  Will she go straight to walking?  She's also figured out the cheerio thing.  She can get them in her mouth now so she's been having fun with that and it KEEPS HER BUSY for a few minutes!  Because she's pretty needy these days!

Recent Happenings

Last weekend we went to San Diego to visit Mary, Geoff, Jonas and Harper.  The main purpose of our trip was to visit our friends who have been stuck at home battling leukemia.  But we decided to make a weekend out of it and get a hotel room and go to the ZOO!  Before we went, Marea was hesitant about seeing the animals, saying that she didn't want to see some of them.  But as soon as we got there, so was so excited!  She got so close to the giant Orangutan and wasn't even scared.  She says that her favorite part was the giant snakes.  Another fun thing that we did was stay in a hotel.  I prepared Marea for this beforehand so she wouldn't be so surprised.  So we went to dinner and I left early to put Evie to bed.  Marea and Gary returned right as Evie was going to sleep so we hid in the bathroom and ate candy.  Marea had jellybeans in the bathtub and thought that was super fun.

Evie has been working on all kinds of physical stuff lately.  Basically Gary and I area her jungle gym and she practices climbing us.  She is getting better and better every day.  We just sit on the floor with her and she climbs all over us.  She is almost crawling...I say another two weeks.  We'll see if i'm right!  Evie is such a busy girl.  She always has to have something in her hands (and then mouth).  She is constantly reaching for something or looking for something to reach for.  Even when she's eating, her hands have to be busy.  She's also been SO vocal lately.  She has this high pitched scream that she does when she's excited.  It's cute, but LOUD.  I wonder sometimes if the neighbors think we have a loud squaking parrot in the house.  The leg kick thing she does when she's excited is pretty funny too.  She's almost 7 months old now.  I have fallen for her all over again.  It's that magic time!  

Our Week

Monday: Park with the mom's group

Tuesday: Disneyland! with Auntie Sam.  Marea like the Tiki room, Pooh ride, It's a Small World, but cried on the Jungle Cruise.  She enjoyed a giant mickey chocolate covered ice cream bar and most of the frozen lemonade I wanted all to myself!

Wednesday: Coastline class...without Evie for this one, so I could observe her play a bit more.  I'm trying to be more aware of the social issues that are coming up now as she's more interested in playing with other kids.

Thursday: We had to do a bit of shopping because we cooked dinner for Isabella and her family, as our contribution to the 'meal train' to welcome their new baby.

Friday: Dress up play date at Kayla's house, with two Bellas, Chloe, Maddie and the babies.  Marea donned her bikini, mexican bikini cover, sunglasses and lei.  A hawaiian look (ha ha, no princess for me!)

Saturday is the first annual Chili's reunion picnic and Sunday we are vacating the house so Gary can paint our new window seat.  We'll spend the day at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Long Beach where we're having a birthday dinner for Grandma.  And Marea will get to play with Jackie and Emily.

So is it any wonder that with all these activities, along with my usual upkeep of chores and the house, that when I get a few minutes, I forget to write in here?????

Current favorite thing that the kids are doing....Jumping together.  Evie just cracks up when Marea jumps on the couch or the bed. It's the best, and caught on video!

Finally, back to this

I know I said I was going to write more.  Ha!  Well i'm trying!

Evie loves her pretzel sticks.  The super hard ones from Trader Joes.  Perfect for teething.  She just seems to love food.  So far, it's sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, and squash.  Almost time to start something new.  I think i'll try avocado next.  Marea didn't like it till she was older, but it's always worth a shot.  Now Marea will often put down a whole avocado if I let her.  Although I usually only try to give her half.  It just seems so rich, to eat an entire avocado at 2.9 years old!

Miss Miss E

What I often find myself calling Evie these days is either 'miss miss' or 'miss e'.  I am considering changing the name of this blog to 'Little Miss E Pie' to reflect the nicknames of both my  girls, because doing a whole separate blog for Evie isn't possible, I just don't have the time for that.  So this blog will have to be for both the girls.  A lifetime of sharing is in store for them anyways!  

(And for the record, Marea often goes by 'Big M' these days.  Or baby cakes.  Or sweet face.   Or honey pie. )

I've thought a million times about writing in here but just haven't done it. Most of the time I just forget, it's hard.  Or my brain isn't working well enough to put my thoughts together.  But I am going to try harder.  Because I feel this baby-toddler phase slipping away from me, and I don't want to forget any of it!  I love it so much!  

So here's some random stuff going on with us.

Evie just turned six months old!  I really can't believe it.  She still has her serious case of 'I must stick everything into my mouth no matter what it is-itis'.  Mostly this includes toys, although she prefers anything thats not a toy that looks interesting.  Last night we took her to original pizza and she went nuts for some crust.  Everytime we had to take it away because it was getting too mushy or breaking off she would start to wimper and cry till we gave her a fresh piece.   She's sitting up so well.  She LOVES watching Marea and is kind of starting to interact with her.  And Marea has fun entertaining Evie these days.  Evie loves looking at herself in the mirror.  We have a little game where when I stand her up on her changing table, she looks in the mirror and gives herself and me a big old smile and a screech.  I think that's my favorite right now.  She also loves putting her feet in her mouth at changing time.  And she does the Evie bounce.  Any time she gets excited, or wants something, she does this whole body wiggle.  It's so darn adorable. 

Marea just got signed up for preschool and i'm so excited.  I know she's going to love it, and i'm looking forward to being able to share the experience with her since it's a co-op.  Some of her friends are going there too, and i'm glad she'll be able to have them there with her (Maddie, Mia and Sean, Kate).  Hopefully they'll all be lifelong friends.  Marea is still loving her music in the car, and that makes me so happy.  She thinks i'm the DJ though, and that can be hard when i'm driving.  She knows all her favorite songs and will demand them from the back seat.  (You are my sunshine, No strings, Froggy went a courtin, and Little bird which is her absolute fave right now).    I know there's more, but my brain is fried for now.  So i'll be back-sooner next time...to tell more stories about my all time favorite girls.  

She's gonna eat it!

Evie puts everything in her mouth.  Which is normal.  Marea thinks it's hilarious, and will often say, 'Evie's gonna eat it!" when Evie grabs for something and heads for the mouth.  The funny part to me is how WET Evie is all the time.  The kid seriously produces an enormous amount of drool while mouthing everything.  I've resorted to putting bibs on her whenever she's playing with toys.  Because the front of her shirt is soaking wet afterwards if I don't.  

One fun game with like to play is the 'Evie Monster'.  Marea loves it when I have Evie go after her and say,' AHHHH, it's the Evie Monster!'  Evie likes to leave a big gob of wetness on Marea's head.  Payback!

We're back in the Coastline Parent Education class and Marea is loving it.(And so am I!) On the first day, she hid under the slide and cried when it was time to leave.  Marea never does stuff like that!  I think her favorite part of the class is the end, when we do the outside circle and do ring around rosie and the hokie pokie.  She's always smiling, laughing, and singing.  She also enjoys the art and crafts project and is always very excited to take her things home and show them to Gary.  She absolutely loved a pair of binoculars made from two toilet paper roll tubes.  She carried those around forever.   Her and Madison play together a lot in that class, mostly in the play house.  I think they are playing babies and families a lot.  I like the class because I am able to focus on thinking about what Marea is going through developmentally.  Which has been difficult for me lately because I still have a new baby at home.   So I really like that time where I get to think about where Marea is at.  The toddler years are such a fascinating time, and the discussions always get me thinking.   It's true that when you understand what they are going through, that the more difficult aspects are easier to handle.  

Don't Cook It!

The toddler power struggle can be SO frustrating.  And so entertaining and funny.  One of Marea's favorite control issues is asking for something to eat but not wanting me to cook it.  Like oatmeal (aka eatmeal).  She will ask for oatmeal, then tell me not to cook it, and cry when I do.  She cries when I heat anything up.   Always after asking for something to eat, the next phrase is, 'don't cook it!'

Another adorable thing she's been saying lately is 'Why not?'  What she really means is just 'why'.  It sounds so funny sometimes.  "Marea, please pick up your blocks....why not?", or "Marea, lets put your shoes on....why not?" and on and on about everything. 

The newest favorite game is her pretend family game.  Every imaginable thing becomes a family...every stuffed animal, figurine, doll, etc. becomes a mom, dad, big sister, and baby sister.  Even the forks from her play kitchen became family people yesterday. I couldn't help but laugh (secretly, of course!).  Mostly they go to bed or go to the potty.  Those are her favorite things to do with them.  Gary and I help her elaborate on this play and it can turn out very funny sometimes.  I just hope we don't give her some strange ideas.  Especially Gary.  His sense of humor can be so strange sometimes.  Why did I have to explain to him that The Simpsons is not appropriate for a 2 year old?

Now on to Miss Evie....She's just getting cuter by the second!  Her favorite thing to do right now is stand on our laps and interact with us.  She loves to grab my face and scream and laugh.  She's also miss grabby hands...I sit her up on the floor and she will grab for everything all at once.  (She can sit up now!).  It's like she can't make up her mind so she goes for everything.  And of course, it's straight into the mouth.  The baby decathalon is in effect around here.  It's the command center, doorway jumper, high chair, standing on our laps, floor time....eat and nap.  Her favorite book is Little Bee and her favorite toy is Sophie the Giraffe.  She is so darn wet all the time...she is the drool queen, and I have to keep a bib on her all the time so her clothes arn't soaked.   And now I must go, because she's up from her nap!

My fave words-Second Edition

macamole-guacamole

green bag chair-our green bean bag chair

hair crip-hair clip

eatmeal-oatmeal

 

keep em coming marea!  don't start talking like a big girl just yet!

Things I want to remember

Marea's fave babyhood books:  Bean (BEEEEEEEEEAN); Polar Bear Polar Bear, and that bizarre Twinkle Twinkle book.

Marea's fave songs:  right now it's from the Elizabeth Mitchell CD, "Little Bird', and her remake of Bob Marley's "three little birds" (which is why we got a new doormat with three little birds!)

And she's also enjoying 'No Strings' (from the Folk Playground CD) 

Marea's new fave thing to say to me when I ask her to do something: 'i busy'.  Oh really?  

Evie's humming after one of our night time sessions...the cutest darn noise ever!  Even at 2 am I hold her for that extra minute just so I can hear it.

Evie and her thumb:  Yeah!  She can suck her thumb, and she loves it.  I lay her down and she goes for her thumb and goes to sleep.  Hooray for the thumb!  (i bet i'll be taking this back when she's 5).

I also want to remember how during her fussy days, Gary whistled her Beatles songs while looking in the bathroom mirror with her, and it calmed her down.  Too funny!  And too bad I can't whistle!

Marea's opinion on the inaguration

Today Marea and I watched Barack Obama be sworn in as the 44th President.  She mostly wanted to just play (of  course) but I kept telling her about what was going on on the TV and made her look.  When they flashed to the huge crowd, I told her to look at all the people, and she said, "they're happy".  She's right.  

I'm happy that my children will be growing up in an America where huge progress has been made.  And with our new president, i'm hopeful that their future as Americans will be strong and bright.  

Here comes the Sun

Marea's first recognizable picture.  At least, something that I recognize.  It's Daddy Sun and Baby Sun.  (Mama sun was drawn later).  I am blown away!  I guess she also has a story about how the sun goes down and the moon  comes up.   I haven't heard much of it yet, but Gary knows it.  My little hippie child!

Little Bear

Marea is OBSESSED with Little Bear. What's not to love about Little Bear? He's got an amazing imagination, wonderful, loving parents (and a mother bear constantly baking pies and cakes for him), and a fun crew of friends (cat, duck, owl, etc.). The show is super cute. Nothing negative, ever. Just always about Little Bear using his imagination and having a good time. And Marea absolutely loves it. Little Bear is making his way into our lives more and more. Since we've been out in Utah, she's started taking Little Bear and his friends on her morning hikes with Daddy, and in the pool too. They have become her imaginary friends. She also pretends that she is Little Bear and Gary is Father Bear and I am Mother Bear. It's pretty hilarious. Normally I would be annoyed that she was acting out a TV show, especially if it was some princess or disney or other heavily marketed crap. But I like Little Bear, and how he socializes and interacts with his world. And I think it's having a positive effect on Marea's imagination.
Marea still continues to blow me away with what a great kid she is. Seriously, she has no bad days. She has her moments of course, but overall, she's just a happy, go with the flow kid. She doesn't get clingy, or (too) moody, or uncomfortable in new situations. She makes the most out of everything and just has fun! And people still comment to me all the time about how great she is. I love that.
It will be so interesting to see the kind of person that Evie becomes. So far, she seems very different. She can be tempermental and not so easy going sometimes. But she's active, plays hard and sleeps like a dream. She can barely stay awake for an hour between naps, still at 4 months! She just figured out how to suck her thumb and that is very exciting because I lay her down in her crib and she sticks it right in her mouth and she goes to sleep. We brought out the command center and it's her 2nd favorite place to hang out these days. Her absolute favorite is the dooryway jumper. She goes nuts in that thing! Thank god for our video camera so I could capture some of those adorable moments to remember forever. She also just recently figured out how to grab a toy and bring it to her mouth. So that is very exciting, she is now constantly reaching for anything we put in front of her.