Snack Time

The girls have been enjoying their snacks at the little table together. Some nights there is more wandering than eating on Leah's part...but she's getting better at staying put.

It's been fun to see these two interact lately. They are growing into good friends and want to be with each other more than they want to be apart. I'll especially be excited when we can combine the bedtime routine a little more. Right now, Leah is ready for bed 30-45 minutes before Lesley so we basically have 2 bedtime routines each night. But I think soon we'll be able to read books and snuggle all together.

A Party!

Dear Lesley

September 16, 2011

Dear Lesley,

It's been a long time since I last wrote you a letter. Not because I have a lack of things to say, more so because I have too much to say and it's a bit overwhelming to think that I need to document what might be important to you years down the road. But, I must get something posted before it all disappears in my mommy head.

I will admit that when it came time to put together your 24 month/2 year letter, I just sat and cried. It was a tough time for you, and for me, and for the family. It was almost like you had changed into a different person the minute you reached your birthday (or understood that it was coming). There were meltdowns and fits and tantrums and screaming….and tears! From both of us! I truly felt like a mommy failure and that I was letting you down. You were naughty and I was struggling so much to "parent" you and guide you. Independent, disobedient, sassy, mischievous, bad, etc. were all descriptions that came to mind time and time again.

But, I think we are over that hurdle. You are now 2.5 years old. A little girl. No longer my baby (although I still try to get away with calling you that from time to time). You love princesses and your baby sister. You need consistency and time to process change. You are ornery and like to push the limits. You make me smile and laugh each and every day. You are smart and remember the littlest details.

Potty training was easy peasy for us! We had introduced you to it long ago and just went with the flow. When you wanted to use the potty, we encouraged you but we never pushed you to use it if you weren't interested. Early in the summer, we started letting you wear a pull-up in the mornings but you knew that once the pull up was wet or dirty, you had to use a diaper for the rest of the day. You immediately decided that you didn't like diapers and you started using the potty pretty regularly. Some days you would even come home from Chris's in the same pull up you went in. Yeah! In early July, you really started loving the princess panties we had bought for you. Some days you wore princess panties over your pull-up/diaper – because you insisted and it avoided meltdowns. One weekend, we took the plunge and let you wear the panties without the diaper. You did awesome!!!! We've never really looked back. There have been a few accidents here and there, and even some purposeful "peeing on the floor" events, but overall, it's great! Soon, very soon I think we can stop putting the diaper on at bedtime. We just need to nix that night time sippy cup of warm milk.

Speaking of, ever since your little sister started drinking from a bottle, you have insisted that your milk be warm, and you are very, very particular which sippy cup the milk goes in versus juice or water. "Warm it up Mommy." "No, not that sippy cup." I've even caught you attempting to get your sippy cups in the microwave yourself, and pouring milk into the sink because it was the wrong cup.

Your love of princesses can be seen based on the numerous Princess bandaids you wear, the princess bubble bath in the tub, the princess church/snack bag, the princess dinner plates, the princess matching game, the princess scooter, the princess pull-ups (only at bed now), the princess toothbrush, and the princess panties. Not sure we could get more princess things if we tried!

Some of my favorite quotes:

Save my seat. – when you needed to use the potty during dinner one night. I guess you thought we might give it away and you didn't want to miss out on dinner that night.

Wonderful! – I love the excitement and true happiness in your voice and in your eyes when you say this word. Sometimes you say it at what seems to be the silliest things, but then I have to remember that you are only 2 and the littlest things might be just that for you, WONDERFUL.

Hi Katie. Leah, it's Katie. Do you want to talk to her? – We went through a long period of time when you always had to call Katie from your (disconnected) cell phone. You would put that phone up to your ear and start chatting away. We could never really hear all that was being said, but it was a daily occurrence for quite some time.

Chick-fil-a conversation: Daddy was ordering our meal at the counter with you and the cashier asked who to call when the order was ready. Daddy said, "Jason." You quickly said, "It's Daddy." The guy at the counter said, "I'll just call for Daddy when your chicken nuggets are ready." We all laughed about that, but now that you refer to Daddy as "Jason" from time to time, Daddy doesn't think it's so funny.

Are you petting Mommy? – one night when Daddy was rubbing Mommy's back. Just this week you have started rubbing my back with your sweet little hand when I lay in bed with you at night. You even like to whisper in my ear, "Mommy, I'm rubbing your back." You must remember how much Mommy liked it when Daddy rubbed her back.

I'm being patient. – During that rough time, patience was not your strong point and we have asked you to be patience many, many times. One day when we were waiting on something, you proclaimed that you were being patient in a very proud voice.

Clothwash – This is one of Mommy's favorite words you have stopped saying. Boo. I loved it when you would refer to a cow as a moo or a horse as a neigh. Clothwash was also something super cute when you needed a wash cloth.

I need some corn on my butter. – We had sweet corn a handful of times this summer and you would always ask for corn on your butter when we were prepping the ears.

Nothing. – Ever since you were little, we would "talk" about your day and what you did at Chris's house on our way home. A lot of times I would ask what you had for lunch, or snacks. I was trying to test your memory since Chris always sends us e-mails with what you eat and often what activities you do each day. At a certain point, you started saying "nothing" to any question we asked. You were insistent that you didn't eat anything all day long, and you just sat and did nothing.

Just checking. – I can't remember exactly why this comment came up the first time, but I still hear it from time to time and it's awful cute.

You are also getting very good at cutting and markering (not sure this is a legit word, but it's what Chris calls it at daycare so we just go with it). I was shocked and super excited the first night you took a coloring page and markered inside the lines! Impressive! Just tonight you shocked me by cutting out an airplane and watch very neatly. I'm just amazed at the skills you have picked up lately.

We are working on sharing and picking up toys when we are done playing, but that's been a slow process. Baby Sister has really started noticing when you aren't being "fair" or just grabbing at what she has so we'll have to learn about sharing a little more. No longer will it be acceptable to just hand her something else when you want her toy or book. She knows the difference now! Chris says you have attitude when she asks you to pick up toys, Mommy and Daddy are partly to blame because we aren't great about making you help clean up the living room each night. That's on our list!

You are a pretty good eater, but sometimes picky and more often than not distracted. Some nights it would be much easier if we could just strap you in the booster seat and force you to stay put. But, we had decided to give you some freedom to just sit in a "big girl" chair. We resort to the kitchen timer every now and then...you can't leave your chair until the buzzer goes off. It works great! You even request for us to "turn it more" sometimes. I guess you haven't picked up on the requirement to sit still and eat while it is going. We'll keep this trick for now!

Bedtime is kind of a slow process but pretty painless. Snack downstairs usually accompanied by some warm milk, upstairs to use the potty and change into pj's, brush teeth, jump into bed to read a book or two or three or more, and then some snuggle time. You don't like to listen to your yoga music any more. "I'm a big girl, I don't need music." Mommy needs to get that CD player moved to Leah's room so she can still hear those familiar sounds every once in a while.

You have a big girl bed now and absolutely love it! It's hard to explain how difficult that process was to convert your crib to a full size bed. Mama shed a few tears, but you never looked back. You love your sheets and "comfortable" (i.e. comforter). Good or bad, you refuse to get out of the bed without either Mommy or Daddy coming into your room to get you. One of these weekend mornings, we need to teach you to head downstairs and turn Mickey Mouse or Chuggington on the TV, what buttons to push on the microwave to warm your milk up, and then you can just relax on the couch while Mommy and Daddy sleep in.

Each night I'll hear "Just one more minute mommy" or "Lay with me for just one more minute." You tend to win that game because Mama cannot resist your sweet pleas and she knows that all too soon, those nights when you want your Mama will end. I am all about cherishing those minutes....because I cannot get enough of you baby girl. After Mommy is done snuggling, she gives lots more kisses and then you ask for Daddy to come back and tuck you in again.

So, sweet Lesley...you just keep growing up. Each day is a blessing with you in our lives and we are thankful that God trusted us to be your parents. We love you so very much!

Love,
Mama

Two for Two

Another trip to the ER, this time for Baby Leah.

Rewind to last week when we thought Leah was teething and learning to how to perfect her tantrums. After a night of screaming and very little sleeping, the doctor said she had a pretty nasty ear infection. Mommy stayed home with her Friday and we struggled through a day of crying and over-tiredness (for both Mommy and Leah). The doctor also mentioned that tubes might be in Leah’s future if the same pattern of ear infections starts up like we dealt with last winter.

We headed to Iowa Friday night because although Leah wasn’t 100%, Lesley would have been heartbroken had we not gone to see Grandma Nancy, Lilly, and Mack (Grandma’s kitty). So off we went! Leah feel asleep at 5:30pm, woke briefly around 6:30pm to eat some applesauce and yogurt in the car, then back to sleep until 2:30am for a quick bottle, and again at 6:30am for another bottle. For a total of 14 hours of sleep! I think she needed it after a sleepless night Thursday.

Saturday was a great day! Spending time with Grandma Nancy, visiting Papa at the shop, going to the bank and the library, a good nap, and even digging potatoes in the garden. Lesley was very proud of the potatoes she "picked".

Keep digging daddy, there are more.

No Baby Sister, not the dirt. The bucket is for the 'tatas!

That's right Leah, just the potatoes!

We even had a fun barbeque with Great Grandma, Great Papa, Aunt Connie, Uncle Dean, Megan, Brian, Aunt Jean, Uncle Mike, AND Aimee, Mike and Lilly. We enjoyed some fabulous smoked meat and outstanding dessert!

The girls went to bed around 8:30pm and all was good….until 9pm. Leah started fussing a little. Jason checked on her and she settled down pretty quickly. About 5 minutes later she started crying again. I went upstairs to get her and brought her down after just a few minutes. She was very upset and I didn’t want her to wake Lesley. I handed her off to Jason so I could finish brushing my teeth and taking my shot. Before I could even get to the bathroom, Jason said, “I think we have a problem.” This was followed by “Leah looks puffy and swollen.”

Yikes! That was a bit of an understatement! She quickly turned bright red and after taking her pjs off, we could see a rash quickly spreading across her body. Pretty soon she was so swollen that she couldn’t even open her eyes and her sweet baby cheeks looked like chipmunks and super hard. After just a few minutes of trying to figure out what we should do, I said, “we are going to the hospital.” I grabbed Lesley’s epipen and the bottle of antibiotics. We threw her in the car, covered her with a blanket and took off towards the hospital. Grandma and Papa came with and Mike and Aimee stayed with the big girls (who had no idea what was going on).

Before pulling away, Jason noticed a bump, reddish spot on Leah’s forehead. Could she have been bitten by a spider or other bug?

Leah screamed the entire way to the hospital. It was good that she was crying but terrifying too. Jason was driving FAST! So fast, as a matter of fact, that we got pulled over by a police officer about a mile from the hospital. Jason stopped, motioned for him to come up to the car quickly, and told him we needed to get to the hospital “NOW!” Mr. Police Officer escorted us the rest of the way to the hospital. He felt really, really bad for stopping us, but there was no way he would have known. We certainly would have expected it and probably wondered what the heck he was doing had he not turned his sirens on.

We got to the ER, Jason and my mom rushed back to the exam area while I checked in with the receptionist. She was great and understanding, but it was awful hearing Leah scream from down the hall and trying to answer questions like “what’s your address?” Thankfully my dad stayed with me and filled in the blanks as needed. And, once she had my insurance card and the vital information I rushed back to see what was going on.

The doctor had examined Leah, they had hooked up a monitor to her toe, and determined her breathing was not being affected. Looking back her screaming was a sign of that. A very extreme case of the hives. The nurse said she looked like a ripe tomato. A possible culprit was the medicine. Side note – this is the same medicine she has taken a couple times and it had been about 12 hours since the last dose. But still, they think that was a likely cause.

Leah was very upset. Holding her was difficult because she was just thrashing and squirming and PISSED and probably very scared too. She still couldn’t open her eyes, but she could tell there were strangers around and something was not right. We had to lay her on the hospital bed just so we didn’t drop her. Eventually she calmed down enough where she would stop crying for a bit and hold on tight to me or Jason. But, then they wanted to draw some blood for testing and give her a couple shots of steroids followed by Benadryl. Ah! More hysterical crying and holding her down. It was funny when they tried to put Band-Aids on the spots where they gave her the shots. Because she was covered in red spots, they totally missed the spots and you could see the blood spots.

Once the doctor and nurses started leaving her alone, she was getting better. Papa even got a few (almost) smiles out of her. Yeah! Soon, the Benadryl kicked in and she was sound asleep. Her swelling had gone down quite a bit and she was starting to look like Leah again. Her red spots were also disappearing slowly. At this point, they still wanted to keep her overnight to observe, and then be examined by the pediatrician the following morning. Sounded like a good plan, we sent Grandma and Papa home and said we’d call in the morning when we needed a ride. The nurses and doctor had to go suture up another patient and would be back to start the IV and transfer us to a room. This is a rural hospital so not a lot of staff at any one point. (But, I did receive a phone call from them Monday night checking to see how Leah was doing. I bet you only get that type of follow up from small town hospitals.

We weren't intending on such excitement for the evening so the camera wasn't with us at the hospital. These few photos were snapped with Jason's phone because I had left mine at the house too. I kind of wish we had gotten a photo of her swollen face and bright red body....although it would probably give me chills seeing it again.

When they returned to the put the IV in her arm, Jason asked if it was really necessary. He pointed out that she is peaceful and her skin looks a lot better. If they needed to give her more medicine later in the evening, they could just poke her then. The nurses agreed and went off to ask the doctor. They all returned and said we could go home since she was doing so well and “we are responsible parents”. Phone call off to the grandparents (who had just crawled into bed) to come pick us up.

We got some Benedryl , strict instructions not to give her more of the antibiotics, and encouragement to get allergy tests done. No alternative medicine for the ear infection though. Bummer, that was a big question from me after a night of no sleep. The ER doctor said her ears looked pretty good. I was skeptical, but knew we’d be returning to the peds office Monday morning so didn’t push it.

Poor Leah! It was a rough couple days. She now has new antibiotics and we had great evenings both last night and tonight. She was happy, ate a ton of carrots and green beans for dinner, played independently, and laughed and giggled. So, I think we are on the road to recovery.

So, we are two for two going to the ER this year and now have 4 epipens between the 2 girls. And, Grandma and Papa have escorted two of their three granddaughters to the ER in the past two months. Remember Lilly’s trip to the ER while we were in Colorado? Let’s hope these trips get us off the hook for the rest of the year (and longer!).

Teething and Tantrums

You know it's bad when Lesley tells Leah the other night, "Stop being fussy Baby Sister."

This girl has been cranky for 5-6 days now. Not her usual self, that's for sure!

We suspect more teeth. She's not eating very well and sleeping is pretty much the same story.

And, the TANTRUMS! Oh my goodness, if these are any indication of her terrible twos, I'm in for it. She arches her back and throws herself on the floor. She points and grunts and almost appears to be stomping her feet. She whimpers and whines and pretty much gets hysterical if she is not getting her way. Big Sister is trying to be patient, but it's hard for her when Baby Sister is always grabbing and stealing her things.

She's also been trying to eat crayons. "Art" time is very supervised these days, and typically a very short adventure.

She desperately wanted to swing like big sister. But she wasn't very good at it. :( So, it did not last long and then there was another tantrum...in the neighbor's backyard. Perfect.

She was a fan of using chalk. These were some great smiles and happy moments.

Then Abby came across the street and started blowing bubbles!

We were able to enjoy a walk several nights ago. But, then I tried to take the girls by myself Friday night and it was pretty much a disaster. Leah didn't want to ride in a stroller or the wagon, but Lesley insisted pulling the wagon was a good idea. Leah didn't want carried but also didn't want to walk on the sidewalk. Lesley didn't want to turn around....and I didn't know which girl to keep happy. Would Lesley be louder throwing a fit or Leah? Tough call. I waited it out and spent 45 minutes on a route that should take 15.

At least it sounds like Leah has been behaving at the sitter's house, and napping well. It's a different story when I pick her up, she basically wants nothing to do with me and screams as I wrestle her down and carry her to the car, then whimpers and whines all the way home. It's such a good feeling. :( At least I know the babysitter treats her well because I'm pretty sure she'd be happier just staying there rather than go home with Mommy.

So....Mommy, Daddy, and Big Sister are crossing our fingers that the issue is teeth and not an a new behavior shining through.

Shoe pile gone!

When you go from the garage into our house, you are immediately in the kitchen/living area. I have always HATED how there is no place to put coats, purses, or SHOES. We always end up a massive shoe pile right inside the door. I first tried a basket to accumulate shoes but that still wasn't good enough. The pile just went from the floor to a messy basket which would need emptied when looking for shoes because the pair you need is always on the bottom. I've been searching for an entryway bench to place right inside the door, but haven't found one I love, and was not keen on putting a bench to accumulate "stuff" in the living area.

One night while we were on a walk around the neighborhood, we were being nosy spotted a garage with a shoe organizer next to the door. Genius! I asked Jason to clean out his shoe organizer in our closet and mount it next to the door in the garage. Doesn't it look nice on our newly painted wall? So neat and so handy! It's at the perfect height (planned of course) so Lesley can get her shoes out and even put them away before coming inside. So far it's working great! There even seems to be less dirt being tracked inside with the majority of the shoes staying in the garage.

Note that the dust buster does not belong on the stairs, when the photo was snapped, Jason was still in the process of putting the garage back together after finishing the paint job. Also want to point out that there are 6 pairs of adult size tennis shoes in the shoe rack. FIVE of them are Jason's. And, that was after he threw away one pair of his mowing shoes. Geez!

I sure love a clean and organized house!

A New House

Our great neighbors were generous again and sent this "old" house over for the girls to play with.

Zach and Abby have been cleaning their basement and giving away old toys. Lesley and Leah have been lucky girls lately.

Lesley knows it's a tee-pee and if you call it a tent, she will correct you.

Unfortunately, Leah doesn't understand climbing through the windows is not a good approach. She already ripped one of the sides that Angie had stitched up. Oh well, Leah sure has had fun these last few days!

The Greatest Show on Earth

The circus was in town!!!! We went with some friends and their kids and had a good time. It was certainly different than what I remember as a child, but I can say that Lesley enjoyed herself. She sat in awe for a lot of it and wanted to see the elephants over and over.

It was about one hour too long for Miss Leah, she clapped and squealed during the first 10 minutes, sat reasonably still for 10 more minutes, held out with snacks for the next 30 minutes, was restless in our seats until intermission and after intermission, and then ended up in the concourse with Daddy for the last 20 minutes before passing out in the stroller.

The tigers weren't all that exciting...I guess I'm not sure what we were expecting and maybe no excitement was a good thing.

We are lucky enough that our kids are young enough not to ask for the over-expensive, poorly made circus toys. This box of popcorn and an $0.89 drink from the Quicktrip inside the Sprint Center were the only things we purchased (other than the tickets). Another example of us packing a lunch and taking plenty of snacks.

Lesley also liked the motorcycles. These guys are crazy!

Lesley's favorite part - the elephants!

My favorites were the tight rope walkers and trapeze artists (no photos). These folks are pretty amazing and must be so, so strong.

I'm glad we went, but I don't think it will be an event we attend every year.

Happy Birthday Aunt Denise!

According to Lesley, Age 2 1/2

We asked Lesley a few questions the other day to see what she would say, at age 2 1/2. I also included what answers Mommy and Daddy would say in parenthesis.

What is your favorite color? Orange (pink)

What do you like to eat? Green beans (fruit snacks!)

What do you not like to eat? Spicy sauce

What shows do you like to watch? Baseball (Although Jason was very proud of this answer, I'd have to say she probably likes Mickey Mouse or Chugginton better than silly baseball games.)

What do you like to play? with Abby Dabby (cutting and glueing)

What's your favorite book? Elmo (we read a lot of Sandra Boynton books, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is another favorite, and a new one is The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear)

What makes you scared? Dogs (Agree, she is not a big fan of dogs)

What makes you sad? Matt (Mommy not dropping you off at daycare, you would much prefer if Mommy dropped you off AND picked you up. And, for some reason, Lesley gets nervous around Matt. When he isn't with us, she will say things like she loves Kim and Matt, but then we are with him, she gets all shy.)

Where's your favorite place to go? Park (Agreed! And, it's always "new park"...we are to the point where we can't really find new parks in the area so we just have to mix them up.)

What's your favorite song? Wheels on the Bus, Laurie Berkner songs (Under a Shady Tree and ABC's)

What will you do as a painter? the wall (we happened to be painting the walls in the garage that weekend, she paints almost every day at the sitter's house)

What do you like to do outside? Bike (play with Abby, water the trees)

What's your favorite thing about your baby sister? Giving her hugs, and making her giggle (waking her up in the morning)

What do you like to wear? Abby Dabby shirt and crocs

What do you like to do with Mommy and Daddy? Hugging

What's Mommy's job? To the building (she has no idea what Mommy does, but she will ask if I went to the building at night when I pick her up)


We asked a few other questions but she was too distracted to answer, or just couldn't process when put on the spot.

Friends

Lesley has a great friend in our neighbor Abby. Every night as we are driving up the street, she looks over towards Abby's house and reports back if Abby is home or not (based on whether the van is in the garage or not). Whenever we go out to play at night, she wants to see if Abby can play, or see if Abby can go on a walk with us, or share a freezer pop with Abby. We even took Abby to the park with us the other day. All THREE girls loved that...and so did Mommy and Daddy. It was fun to watch Abby and Lesley play, and Leah try to keep up with them. We are thankful for the friends we have made on our street, and for Abby who likes to play with Lesley and is patient with her despite the age difference.

A Frozen Treat

We needed an end of the summer treat one night last weekend. It was one of that last hot and humid day in the forecast.

Look Mommy, M&M's and blueberries!

Oh, I get a bite too!

So, so good!

And, finally, a leftover mustache.

T minus one month

Dear Leah,

Oh my goodness…I need to get all these baby memories documented ASAP because you are growing up so very fast. In just 4 short weeks, you will be ONE. How did that happen? I've been telling Big Sister that she's not going to be able to call you Baby Leah anymore. How sad is that?

This past month has had it's ups and downs. Literally. One of your new favorite activities is climbing up on things, mostly things you should not be climbing on. You like the little chairs from the table set, the stairs, even the little table, etc. We always have to say, "Sit down Leah." At which time, you get a huge "I know I'm not supposed to be doing this" grin and sometimes proceed to follow instructions, or just keep climbing. I think you are understanding a lot more of what we say, i.e. go get your shoes, take this to daddy, etc. We are still working on simple instructions, but it's amazing what you have picked up over the past month.

You acquired two new teeth this month, on the top – August 19^th and around August 29^th. The second one seemed to pop through, then disappeared to only come back a few days later. It's a slow process for you! Much to mommy's dismay, you now like to grind your teeth together. It is awful and you really should stop. I promise those teeth won't fall out anytime soon so no need to check that they are still there by grinding them together.

During this most recent teething time, you also had a bad case of the stomach flu. All the signs made us think it was just teething, but once the teeth came through and you were still dealing with something crummy, we knew better. You had us tricked! Thankfully you are back on track and eating like a champ again. For about 10 days, you were on a food strike! You didn't want to finish a bottle, refused a lot of the table food we would give you, and throw up about every 4^th bottle in it's entirety. We even got a prescription to settle your stomach and help with your diaper "issues." Now, no more baby food for you as you only like to eat whatever Big Sister is eating. You are very picky about that and beg like a puppy some days. We have also started offering you whole milk in a sippy cup during meals. You aren't too sure about it yet, but I think it's because the milk is cold and not warm like your bottles. You'll adjust! And, we can stop buying darn formula soon.

You like sitting in the rocking chair, or Lesley's big stuffed chair and read books. Your favorite are the books with textures. You will rub your fingers across them, and even your toes from time to time. I remember how Lesley loves those books and it's fun to see you go through that same stage now.

This month has confirmed that your first word is "Da-da". You say it with purpose and any time you see Daddy walking in the room, or past you. It seems to be fitting because in the last few weeks, you have sort of favored your Daddy and we see more and more of your personality matching up to Daddy's. Don't get me wrong, Mommy is still your favorite(!) but there are times when you want Daddy to hold you or you want to cuddle up on his shoulder. You sleep like your daddy (lots!), have his tushy, his facial features, and his feet, and you giggle easily like your daddy too. Mommy really likes those moments when you reach out to Daddy and want him to hold you, and hopes that Daddy cherishes them too. All too quickly they will be gone and we will really wonder where our baby girl went to.

I also think you say the word "up" when you want to picked up. You'll walk over to me and lift your arms above your head and grunt something that sort of sounds like "up." Maybe not truly the word, but it gets you what you want so I guess it's a form of communication. And perhaps the word dog is making it's way into your vocab too. Not sure, but it seems you say "Do" when you see or hear a dog. No "Mommy" yet..you don't even seem to know who "Mommy" is other than some lady who you love.

Another fun thing this month is your desire to hand things to people. You pick up pretty much anything and then extend your arm out offering to whomever is close to you. I love how we can trick you into giving us something you shouldn’t have.

You are really starting to play with the "big kid" toys. Unfortunately for us you are now strong enough to get the markers open and Lesley's art tub is no longer safe. Lucky for us though, no major stains or consumption of crayons. Poor Big Sister has nothing safe these days! You like to ride the trike, Kawasaki, and Cozy Coupe when we play outside. You love going down slides! You like to push the shopping cart around the kitchen, open the cupboards and pull dish clothes and towels out of the drawer. You don't like to wear a bib and usually pull it off before the meal is over. You sometimes give open mouth kisses and LOVE getting on Lesley's big girl bed to play wrestle with her. We've packed away more baby "stuff" this month and it's been fun to see you learn and develop into a toddler. You try so very hard to be like Big Sister and one day, I think you might just catch up to her.

We are planning a fun birthday party next month and I hope even if you don't remember the party, you will always know how important you are to us and how much you are loved.

Love,
Mommy

Like Daddy

Which one of these girls looks more like daddy?


(I included two photos because one is a better shot of Leah but Lesley has her eyes closed. And, the lighting sucked....although I tried different angles, I could not control the darn sun! Or am not talented enough to do anything about it.)

Our Weekend

Here is what we did on our pretty low key holiday weekend.

Cleaned the car (sort of)...

Ate snacks in our diapers...

Practiced gluing and cutting...

Stretched out with some yoga poses...

Painted the garage...

Played at a new park...


Took naps in Matt and Kim's camper...

Climbed on things we aren't supposed to....

Went swinging on a horse...


Said "hi" to Duke....

Carried some horseshoes back and forth...


And, played some cards...

We also took a super fun boat ride on Clinton Lake with my cousin and his in-laws. Leah was in love! She kept pointing and "chatting" the whole time. The lifejacket didn't bother her one bit and she was so cute waddling around the boat. At one point she just stood in the front pointing out while the water splashed her over and over. She thought that was pretty great. Lesley on the other hand didn't like getting splashed. However, she did want to get in the water with Daddy to swim for a few minutes. I was proud of her for doing that!

We hope you had a great long weekend too! We are certainly enjoying the cooler weather. Bring on Fall!