Playtime

These last couple weeks I've been trying to be better about actually playing with Liz instead of just carting her off to playdates, parks, and other activities. Those are important, but I realized we weren't spending much time just the two of us. So, here are some of the things we have been doing at home:

Dress ups. We had to put on "pretty things" and use the goopy makeup encased in one of Lizzie's rings.Dyed rice. We also made a "seek and find" jar filled with our rainbow rice and random bobbles.

Paper doll chain. I love the way Lizzie does lips lately and of course all the ladies have lashes.

Painted with bleach. We tried two different bleach pens first, but they didn't really work. What worked was a cup of bleach and a couple paint brushes.

Excavated treasures. I froze them into an ice block. Liz cried when she saw a couple ponies in there, but once they were freed she really enjoyed herself. We used salt, hot water, a hammer, and a toothbrush to excavate.

Made piles of cloud pictures using a cotton ball to stamp and then paint in folded paper (like ink blot tests).

Painted with salt water. The water evaporated in a warm oven leaving behind our our salty drawings (and writing).

Built structures and creatures with marshmallows and toothpicks. Liz actually did this almost entirely on her own while I took a "lunch break" in my room.

I have some other ideas for the coming weeks, but I also welcome suggestions.

Lainey Update

I took Alaina to the doctor last Friday morning at 6 a.m. I always thought they were crazy to have such early walk-in hours. Who goes there so early, I wondered. But when we were giving Lainey a luke warm bath at 3 a.m., in an effort to bring down a particularly stubborn fever, it was nice to know I only had to wait three hours until I raced to the doctor's office. Turns out she had some virus related to foot and mouth disease . . . not serious, nothing to do but wait it out (and in the end the waiting wasn't long). The exciting thing for me was to find out her current weight (much more accurate than when I stand on the scale with, then without her).
She weights 17 pounds, 1.5 ounces.

Other tidbits about Alaina at 10, almost 11 months old:

She likes to nod at people and have them nod back (she's not much into waving).

She is still not crawling (she rotates in circles, lunges, and scoots a bit).

She still eats everything we put in front of her.

She says "na na" when she is upset.

She likes to ride on shoulders (squeals with laughter whereas Lizzie cried).

Pioneer Day

Yesterday in honor of Pioneer Day, Lizzie and I made cream cheese banana bread (or as Liz spells it "brad") . We also made butter. Shaking it was a great car activity for our long trek to DC to pick up Daddy.

Today Liz went to her Pioneer Day Primary Activity. She has been SO excited about this. Drew and I went to the gym while she was there so I don't know exactly what she did but when I left her she was coloring part of the campfire.

My favorite part was Lizzie's "pioneer dress." My mom sewed it for me when I was kid (Christmas dress I think) and I loved seeing my little girl in it. When Drew saw the dress he said, that's cute where'd you get it? I said, it's mine, I wore it when I was a kid. He said, when the 1800's?

Sunset Serenades

Last week we went to the Sunset Serenade at the National Zoo. So fun. Tonight is the last one too so if you are in the area I recommend it (free concert, free parking).

Liz fell asleep shortly before we pulled into the parking lot. We lingered in the car until I got bored, then I threw Laina in the Ergo and laid Lizzie on a blanket in Lainey's infant carseat: She woke up shortly thereafter and had a fabulous time running around barefoot with friends. She was seriously barefoot the entire night and I felt kind of sad that she doesn't have a yard she can run around in like this all the time.

We met up with a couple a Lizzie's kindergarten friends and my high school friend, Kristen, brought her family as well.

The babies weren't really into having a photo op, but at least we got something.

Alaina also had fun at the concert. She spent pretty much the whole time eating.

We learned that she sticks out her tongue when we blow in her face.

And of course she did her signature nose scrunch.

Level Two

Today we started round two of swim class. I'm sick of trudging to the pool, laden with gear, but I'm excited that Lizzie is finally in level two (her third summer of classes). Also, since we we're the only ones signed up for level two were getting private lessons for the same price as a group class (for today anyway).

Lainey didn't get in the water today, but look how cute she looked last week.

Another shot from last week: Liz with five lollipops in her mouth (gifts from her swim teacher on the last day of class).

My Pajama Day

With swim lessons over we finally had a day home. It was nice to stay in my pajamas all day and get some stuff done at home. And by "stuff" I mostly mean making the beds and baking cookies.

Liz had a playdate that kept us all pretty busy.

Alaina enjoyed her time at home as well.

Feeding

A little while ago Andrew said that although it's the second time around for us, sometimes with Alaina it feels like we are experiencing things for the first time. I completely agree.

This last week we have been so excited that Lainey is finally feeding herself bits of food (and before that we were all hyped up about her clapping).

Of course with feeding herself comes some other issues. Today I set her on the ground for just a few seconds while I loaded the trunk. When I picked her up she had a pebble in her hand and she was chewing. I swept my fingers in her mouth and pulled out a leaf. Clearly I'm going to need to be more vigalent. vigelant, vigelent, vigalant

Ah, feeding memories:

She was SO little when we first put her in the bumbo (on the counter naturally).

Laina's been a "good eater" so far.

Even if she doesn't like what we're feeding her she still opens her mouth . . .

Of course she also grabs for the bowl (and everything else within reach) and she often puts her foot in her food (but that's the feeders fault really) . . .
She often blows raspberries or babbles with food in her mouth letting puree ooze out.

She is also easily distracted . . .

This one's for the grandparents . . .

The other day while I was driving Lizzie and her friend home for a playdate, I overheard Liz talking about how much she loved and missed her grandparents. Then she said that sometimes she wished that Nana was really her mommy and I was really her nana and that Papa was actually her daddy and so on.

Making Do

Liz had a play date out our house this afternoon. Alaina needed a nap. The girls share a bedroom. All of the toys are kept in the girls room. Argh.

What to do with the sleeping baby? I'm still not quite sure. Today I tried laying her on a blanket in our closet. Needless to say she didn't sleep as long as she usually does. Poor second child.

Swim

So it's Sunday night and tomorrow will start week two of swim class. I originally planned to do six weeks of classes, but I'm not sure I will last that long.

Other notable things from last week and weekend:

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We enjoyed fireworks at Alexandria City's 260th birthday party on Saturday (America is only 233 years old).

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Andrew and I went to the gym together for the first time ever. So fun.

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Alaina started to consistently feed herself (without us prompting her to put her handful of food in her mouth and then let go).

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Liz put her face in the water (multiple times) at swim class!

I love Freecycle!

On Friday, around 6 p.m. I listed our computer hutch and couch on Craigslist and Freecycle. It was their second time through on Craigslist, but the first time on Freecycle. Freecycle totally came through! Within four hours I had over a dozen requests for the furniture and within 24 hours they were both gone. It is an awesome network. Use it. Love it.

South Carolina & Georgia

I spent last week in South Carolina and Georgia visiting family. It was my first time in Georgia so I got to check it off my state list (only 27 to go!). Here's the lowdown on our trip:


Sunday - drive forever. The kids behaved wonderfully. Liz listened to Pippi Longstocking and seemed to like it. Afterwards I said, "That was a silly story wasn't it?" And she said that it was definitely NOT SILLY because sometimes Pippi did not do what she was supposed to and was orphaned and children were chased by a bull and stuck in a burning building and so on. . . . Despite this, she has wanted to listen to it non-stop since then (I think we are on our 8th time through).

Monday - my mother and I started a new quilt for Lizzie's bed. And we discovered (and caught and disposed of) a mouse in the basement and probably completely traumatized Liz in the process because at one point we were all standing on the couch screaming and I had to pry my mother's arms off Lizzie and Liz was screaming "I want my daddy!" over and over. Later that night I drove to Georgia to visit my brother, Scott's family.

Tuesday - went to a fabulous Six Flags waterpark. The girls had fun, but they seemed to enjoy playing in the bushes at lunch almost as much as the water slides. When they had a five minute warning they chose to spend their last precious moments of park time in the bushes instead of the slides.

Wednesday - Liz, Iris, and I went to the Georgia Aquarium, the biggest in the world. It was amazing. My favorites were the jellyfish, beluga whales, and dragon fish. Liz loved the whale sharks. That evening we went to a laser and firework (and pyrotechnics) display at Stone Mountain Park. Everyone loved it but Willa and Lizzie. Liz was completely freaked out whenever there were fireworks or pillars or fire shooting out of the ground.

Thursday - drove back to South Carolina with my girls and Iris. Pool time. Sewing. Playing. Andrew and Iris' parents arrive in the evening.

Friday - We celebrated Mom's birthday. First, Mom, Codi, and I went to a tea house. It was super cute, the food was fabulously girly, we got to pick out our own tea cups, and they even had gaudy hats for us to wear. When we got home we had cake with the family and that night Drew made us a delicious feast of Chinese food.

Saturday - Lots of pool time. Drew barbecued for us, Liz freaked when we lit off some fireworks but she slowly warmed up to sparklers so it felt like a small step forward.

Sunday - Mom finished Alaina's baby blanket. So cute. Drive home. Liz was with Drew so I didn't have to listen to Pippi.