Snow Day

Mother nature was kind enough to shed 8+" of snow between late (last) Thursday and early Friday....most all of the local schools were closed as snow crews tried to clear the roads. Paul surprised us by staying home too. We had a fun day together.

After Julia's morning nap, we loaded the girls in the car along with our swim suits and towels and headed to Coco Key Water Resort. Paul has wanted to take Elise there for quite some time and with the weekday special, we were able to try it out without breaking the bank too much. While she was a little skiddish early on, she was going down the kiddie slides at the end and having a great time! For being the first time in a pool, Julia tolerated things very well. She didn't fuss one bit and passed the time by taking in all that there was to see.





In the afternoon, Elise and I bundled ourselves up and headed outside to play in the humungus mountains of snow in our front 'yard.' We climbed up and down and tried to make a slide, though the snow wasn't quite wet enough for packing.



All in a days' work....here was the end result:

A Week of Firsts

Julia is 8 1/2 months old now. We were at the doctor's office for her check-up and immunizations on Monday and she weighs 19lbs., 1 oz. (75th percentile) and is 28 3/8 inches tall (95th percentile). The doctor was pleased with her progress and said she's ahead of the curve in a lot of things (not just her size!).

The last week has been an amazing one for Julia...

1) Crawling--she's been scooting backward now for about a month, but on Monday she finally figured out how to move her wheels forward. It happened while Paul was at work and as much as I tried, I could not catch her on video. We finally found the right motivation yesterday....Hungry Hippos! Julia was so curious about the game that she may have left skid marks on the floor from moving so fast. Here's a clip we were able to capture (in hot pursuit of the egg shaker):



2) First Tooth--the doctor mentioned that she'd be getting her first tooth soon, but I never imagined it would come within a week. Sure enough, the first one (bottom right) made it's first appearance this morning and according to Daddy (who was able to get a better look), the lower left won't be far behind it.

3) New Found Taste Buds--Julia has shocked us with her enthusiasm for eating. Until this week. She's decided that she definitely has dislikes, including oatmeal and baby meats (who can blame her for this one). She still seems to enjoy her fruits and veggies, especially the mixed berries. She also loves sweet potato puffs, but doesn't care for the apple cinnamon variety. We're starting to introduce table food to her now.

4) Get Out of Jail Free--with her rapidly improving large motor skills, Julia has also learned how to pull herself up on objects, including her crib. Case in point, when she woke up from her morning nap yesterday, I found her kneeling, holding onto the railing. It did not take me long to lower her mattress so that she wouldn't fall out!

5) No Sleep for the Stinky--while this isn't necessarily new, I find it so funny that the girl will not sleep if she has a stinky diaper. It could be in the middle of the night or during a nap, but if she poops, she cries and cries until she is changed and then will generally go back to sleep. I don't want to jinx myself, but perhaps she'll be easier to potty train!

We've been battling a bad cold for the last 7 days and now that she's feeling better and is able to get to where she wants to go, she sure is a happy, fun baby! Here are some newer pictures:

Guess what I had for dinner?

First Day of School

Yesterday was a big day for Elise. It was her first day of preschool! She's signed up for 3 mornings a week, from 8:30 to 11:30a. As you can imagine, getting everyone ready and out the door is a little tricky, but the payoff is (we're hoping) worth it.

Elise did fabulous. I was a little worried that she would resist staying with her new class, since sometimes she's a bit apprehensive around new people, but boy did she prove me wrong. She found a toy to play with and said good-bye and that was that. And when I picked her up, she was following the instructions of Miss Gretchen perfectly. If only the same could be said of her at home! By dinnertime, she was pretending to be the teacher of her babies, explaining who she was, instructing them to line up on the line and telling them all of the fun things they could do in their classroom (sit, kneel, jump, spin, etc). It was a little peak into what her morning must have been like.

Cute Pix

A rare moment of Paul and the 3 little girls....

Happy New Year!

December proved yet again to be a crazy month. From choir practices/performances, Christmas shopping, and haircuts to cooking/baking, traveling and Christmas parties (count them...we had 6 family Christmases!), we've been moving non-stop. Mix in stomach bugs, coughs and colds....oh what fun!

Our Christmases in Michigan were enjoyable. Elise had a great time opening her presents (and everyone else's). Julia loved playing with the wrapping paper and packaging, and benefited from a lot of fun toys. We had a great time seeing our families and Elise had a blast playing with her cousin Libby, as well as her extended cousins from Uncle Jon's family. Julia mostly went along with whatever the rest of us were doing, but she too seemed to like 'playing' with her cousins Kendra and Reagan.







When we returned to Illinois late on the 26th, we decided that it was time to reclaim our bedroom closet and move Julia up to Elise's room (closet). I was a bit concerned that they would wake each other up, especially when we let Julia cry herself back to sleep, but so far we've been pleasantly surprised. The first night she cried for about an hour at 3a, but Elise slept right through it. After almost 8 months of interrupted sleep, Julia finally, yes finally, slept through the night (7p to 8a) on Sunday!! 2008 is looking better already!

We had hoped to take Elise bumper bowling on New Year's Eve, something our church sets up with a local bowling alley. Sunday night she came down with an eye infection (red, blood-shot eyes and goop). I thought maybe it wasn't such a good idea to share this with other kids, so we stayed home. Elise and Julia were both in bed by 8, fast asleep. Paul and I enjoyed the evening together, celebrating the east coast New Year at Times Square. We then watched the Chicago broadcast....did anyone else watch? Talk about a sad, sad celebration. You'd think for a big city they could do a little better. Anyway, Happy 2008!

We started to take down the Christmas decorations yesterday. Sadly, the house looks so bare now. Back to the boring white walls. And while the Christmas celebrations are over, it's nice to have a little time to kick back and not go anywhere.

Next on the agenda is preschool. Stay tuned....

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

December has been unusually snowy here in the windy city (at least from what I can remember). WGN reports that we've had 21" of snow since September, but if I remember correctly, the first snow fall was right around Thanksgiving (the 7th snowiest year since 1928). Last Friday, we had the best snow and sunny, mild day for building a long awaited snowman.

Elise doesn't have much tolerance for cold weather (she doesn't like to wear sweaters and hates to wear a coat), so she doesn't last too long outside. The snowstorm that came through on New Year's Eve / Day brought even more snow to play in, yet it's SO COLD (negative wind chill today). I think we'll be staying inside.

The Elves have been busy....

It's been at least 3 years since I've done any significant baking for Christmas. Here's what's cooking (I mean baking):

*Peanut Butter Blossoms
*Magic Cookie Bars
*Ginger Snaps
*Buckeyes (NEW!)
*Cappuccino Crinkles (NEW!)
*Brownie Biscotti (NEW!)

Yum! You'll have to come to one of the Christmas celebrations to get a taste....

Great Investment

I love my new food chopper from The Pampered Chef. It's one of the best investments I've made as of late. Chopping nuts for Christmas cookies has been a piece of cake. It's true that a food processor would do the job, but this is so easy and it can all be washed in the dishwasher. Love it!

First Haircut

My apologies to my family and friends for the lack of updates. It's been one cold/flu after another here....

Julia had her first haircut today. While I was sad to see her long locks go, she looks so much better. And now that she's determined to scream every time I comb her hair, this should make things easier. Here are the before and after pictures:

BEFORE (Shaggy-do)

AFTER

By the way, in stereotypical 2nd child fashion, the hair stylist (also named Julia) had to remind me to collect a few locks for the baby book. I forgot!