A Disgusting First.

Whelp, we had the day (or rather, night) I've been dreading for awhile: Ellie's first stomach bug. We woke up last night (or rather, Tim woke up last night - I hadn't been able to fall asleep yet) to a certain small someone losing her lunch all over her bed. Or rather, her dinner. Poor thing. And poor us. It was gnarly.

But with team work we got her cleaned up (twice. Two sad showers when all was said and done) and got the sheets in the wash immediately. And after we ran out of sheets, I remembered how as a kid, my mom would put towels on our bed to protect the sheets and make clean up easier. Wish I'd realized it after the first round.

But she went back to sleep eventually (after much snuggling) and then woke up at 5 for another stomach clearing, then slept until almost 8. She was in such good spirits in the morning that we didn't really question letting her have a yogurt. Another bad idea. But thankfully, that time she got sick on her way into the shower, and after that I figured no food for a couple of hours. Gave her a nice hot shower, put on some clean pajamas, and put her little baby hair back in a pony tail so that she couldn't get sick into it (she thought it was a great look though!) She and I ran to the store to get pedialyte, and then spent the morning snuggling on the couch watching Elmo. She was in pretty good spirits most of the time, and spent a fair amount of time dancing, playing with her Sesame Street friends and having a tea party with me, Smelly and Hop Hop. No fever, no chills, just an upset tummy. Poor little thing - at midnight when she first got sick, as I was taking her out of her jammies to get her into the shower, she got sick again and then goes "I'm happy now! I feel beddah now!"

She took a three hour nap, woke up ready to eat, and has been pretty okay since then. Famous last words, probably, but she did eat some toast, chug some water and a have a yogurt. Hopefully in the morning she'll be healed.

It did put a real cramp in our Wednesday plans though! We'd been planning on trick or treating with Elizabeth and Jonathan tonight, but obviously I could not bring a recently sick kid to hang out with a few healthy ones. We figured we'd just sit around the house until 7 o'clock stir craziness set in, and then we put her in her bunny vest, plopped her in the stroller and walked her down the main drag in our neighborhood. She enjoyed the lights, the other kids, but most especially the various dogs we passed. We stopped at our across the street neighbors' to trick or treat (and pet their dogs) and it was a pretty good night for her in the end.

The good news is, we did get to do some serious trick or treating on Tuesday afternoon at Tim's office. The company gives out candy to everyone and allows employees to bring their kids through. So all of the parents get to show off their little brats, and all of the non parents get to eat candy and not work for two hours.

Our little owl thought it was a pretty good deal. She figured out real fast that she just had to say "trick or treat" and then she got to pick a treat for her treat bag, and have me dole out an M&M to her. Winner winner, chicken dinner.

Plus she got to hang out with her friend Chase, AND see an office dog. Because Halloween is apparently all about dogs for her. Owls love dogs.

Well, That's Surprising!

My totally weird, unreasonable, pumpkin-loving toddler HATES jack o lanterns and was weirded out by the whole process!

Hello, My Name is Elder Price.

Another fun weekend around these parts!

Saturday we had a first - Ellie was baby sat by someone other than her Mimi or her Gigi (or her Grizz, in cases of emergency, or when she is already asleep and all he has to do is not burn the house down, heh.) Tim and I had to leave for evening plans in LA and mom and dad were coaching Sara's softball team to a gold medal win, so Shirley and Julia came in to fill in for a few hours. Ellie did well, and enjoyed having some new faces around, hooray!

Our big fun was an evening out to see family friend Michael perform in the Book of Mormon at the Pantages with Don, Eileen, Jake and Dawn. It was a really nice evening - we had a delicious dinner beforehand, and then the play was great. VERY vulgar, and definitely out to offend in parts, but having been a South Park watcher for many years, I knew what I was in for.

The coolest part of the evening for me was getting to meet Michael afterwards and getting a back stage tour. In my dreams, I would love to some day be in the back ground of a Broadway-esque production (no starring role necessary, I'd be happy to just be in the back ground clapping and stomping my feet during a number) so to stand on stage at the Pantages was awesome. I should have done a little tap dance while I had the chance.

Sunday morning we had a birthday party for one of our other October baby friends, Kayla. They had it at Pump It Up, which is a giant bounce house facility (in a strip mall! It looks deceptively small from the outside.) They do a nice job in that only your birthday party is in each room at the time, so I didn't have to worry about some strange 8 year old crushing my kid. But 2 is also sort of young for all of the activities - Ellie needed Tim or I with her at all times. And then around noon I made the mistake of leaving the room to go to the bathroom (even though she'd been playing with Tim the majority of the time) and she just freaked out, and clung to me sobbing, hungry and tired, until we got into the party room and had some pizza and cake. And then despite promises that she'd spend the rest of the day napping, she woke up after an hour and a half in a TERRIBLE mood. Perhaps third birthday parties will be better!

Breakfast in Bed.

Start the morning with tea party!

Hoot Hoot Y'all!

Remember, don't pollute!

Busy Week!

It's only Wednesday, but we've been getting a lot of things done.

Monday we went over to Nicole's house to paint pumpkins. Ellie was in hog heaven.

Nicole is a former kindergarten teacher, so she knows all the good crafts. And is not afraid of washable paint. I stood as close to Ellie as was required, but ran any time she turned towards me, ha!

Then yesterday after swim class we took Sara back over to Gigi and Grizz's house, and discovered that many of the caterpillars living in Ann's Home for Wayward Bugs had left their chrysalises (chrysali?) and turned into BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLIES! Gigi was a new mommy all over again! So we took her children outside and sent them on their way.

Ellie was a pretty good butterfly big sister... except when she tried to shake the poor, newly borned butterfly off her hand. Their wings are not finished drying out, kid!

Today was of course, music class. Preceded by some play ground fun with Lexi, of course. Then we had lunch with the ladies, came home to take a nap (supervised by Grizz while I was out running errands) and then we went out to Yorba Linda for a quick visit with Mimi and Pa while I ran a jewelry related errand (and IMPORTANT jewelry related errand, not a superficial one, like I normally do.) Came home and Tim had made us dinner, and she's all curled up now, hopefully catching lots of z's in her new fleecy pajamas. Just in time for it to be 80 degrees again this weekend!

Two Year Stats.

We had our two year well baby today. Like a dummy, I scheduled it at 2pm (which was probably the perfect time for a toddler who was still on two naps a day. Not so much for a girl who sacks out after lunch and sometimes sleeps until 3.)

BONUS: the neighbors are apparently redoing their driveway. They certainly were jack hammering it to bits this morning! Thank goodness, Elizabeth went down right around noon, and woke up okay at 1:45. We made it to the doctor's right on time. And she slept through the jack hammer, but woke up the second I cracked her door.

I have to admit, I was sort of nervous about this appointment - it's the first one since I stopped nursing. I always felt like nursing was perfect nutrition, so I didn't worry so much about what she was eating, because I figured she was always getting enough to grow. Turns out, she's continuing to grow grow grow just fine. She's grown OVER TWO INCHES since her last appointment!

She's 35.5 inches tall, which puts her in the 90th percentile, and a little over 28 pounds, which puts her in the 75th. Continuing to be bigger than average but not off the charts. The doctor was pleased with all of her updates, said it was okay that Ellie's not very interested in the potty quite yet, and so all was well. She did double check "your husband also has a big head, right?" because Ellie's melon is truly melon-licious. But still healthy and human sized. Two shots and a few tears later (mostly healed by a sticker) we were on our way.

The doc recommends coming in for a check up at two and a half, so we scheduled that. It's set for mid-April of 2013... so I'm already planning now how I can just make it a well newborn/well toddler visit all at once, ha!

Errands.

How a quick trip to Trader Joe's ended.

Game Day.

How Ellie spent the game:

A little Sesame street doll house time

Then A LOT of tea party with Itty Bitty Baby and Abby Cadabby

Oh, and mommy got to play too. Then Tim took over so I could shower. It's only taken him 32 years of achieving his dream of playing tea party!

Thor spent the afternoon wandering around and crying for attention, so I picked him up and had Tim help me zip him into my sweatshirt. He was less than pleased. But at least he buzzed off for a little while.

Funny cat story: last night I went down to Carlsbad to have dinner with a friend who was in town from the East Coast. I left around 7:30, having put Ellie in her pajamas. I put on some lullabies in the car and she was out before we passed Camp Pendelton. Got home, and she let me roll her into bed without a peep. Tim was out with friends so I immediately parked myself on the couch with one of my (many) stupid TV shows, and then about fifteen minutes later, I realized I had no idea where the cats were. Cracked the door to the nursery and there was Lulu, snuggled up at the foot of the bed. Thank goodness she hadn't woken up Ellie!

And in pregnancy news, I have given up and started wearing maternity jeans. I couldn't deal with adjusting the be band every time I stood up, sat down or walked around. It's useless! Good bye regular jeans, see you in the spring. I am slightly depressed about wearing the same two pairs of pants from now until delivery, but then I remember that I only own two pairs of regular jeans that fit currently. So it's not like my ordinary life is so fancy. I save fanciness for sequined tops.

Elizabeth Beans at Two.

ACCOMPLISHMENT BRAGGING!

At age two:
-Ellie can spell her own name and identify several other names (mainly Gigi, Grizz, Mama and Dada.) She can also point out certain letters.
-She can count to ten on her own, and can count the rest of the way to twenty with some help.
-She speaks mainly in full sentences, and though she normally gets shy in public and refuses to talk to strangers, I feel like people who aren't her parents or grandparents understand her when she talks.
-She loves Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (which is a cartoon featuring the puppet characters from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.)
-She has two speeds - asleep and running. And when she's not running, she's a-dancing!
-She loves to play pretend and has a great imagination. One day as I was putting her into her car seat she informed me that she has a tiny tiger in her lap and she can hold him and pet her.
-Loves coloring, asks to draw often (especially likes to ask when we sit down to supper.) By "likes to draw" I mean she likes to con people into drawing her a bunch of hop hops.
-Still as obsessed with hop hops as she's ever been. Sometimes when I draw her one, she will rub his hands all over it and say "oh, I holding him. He so soft!"
-Loves our cats still, though she has started chasing Thor (of course, now that he likes her, she just has to be a jerk to him.)
-Eats like a champion. Loves cake and ice cream, of course. Also loves brats. Sometimes, if we want her to eat another meat product (like steak) we will tell her it's a brat. Only my kid would prefer a snausage to a fine piece of steak. She will always ask first for an oh-gir-duh poppicle (frozen go-gurt) though, if she thinks she can get one.
-Is beginning to be reasonable and understand the concept of negotiating, ie, if you want a yogurt pop, you need to eat five more bites of chicken.
-Loves to imitate animals. In fact, she spent the last few minutes of her one year old-ness pretending to be a monkey.
-Also loves to snuggle, which is the sweetest thing. She really is a darling, affectionate little muffin.
-Has begun to "cry wolf" in order to get snuggles. She will tell me she's bonked herself (when really, she's just intentionally laid down on the floor) so that I show her some love (trying to nip that one in the bud by telling her that she just has to ask for kisses.)
-We spend a lot of time rough housing too, which is always fun, though I am also working on convincing her that she doesn't need to jump straight on to my abdomen.

The Reality of Two.

I hear babies cry, I watch them grow.

They'll learn much more than I'll ever know. And I think to myself...

What a wonderful world...

(10:30pm, October 19th)

Second Birthday Fun!

Ellie has been so excited about her birthday for weeks - mostly about the ice cream and cake that she was going to eat. Her favorite part was discussing who she was going to eat it with - Gigi and Grizz, and Mimi and Pa, and Sara and Jake. The other day I was tempted to start inviting more of her friends and our friends and turn it into a big party dinner, but considering how wiped I am right now, I am glad I stuck to my initial plan of immediate family only. It was plenty of crazy fun for everyone!

This morning we started her day (or rather, she started her day when she climbed into bed with us) by playing the Beatles "Birthday," and then we told her she had presents in the living room. I'd gotten her a Sesame Street doll house-type contraption, similar to one that my cousins had when we were kids. It's just a little house with a bunch of Sesame Street characters, and most importantly, it does not require batteries or make noise. And of course, she loves Elmo (aka: mommy's little red baby sitter) so I thought it would be a home run.

Yeah. She tore the corner of the paper and saw Ernie (not her favorite) and got sort of freaked out. She retreated to the other end of the living room and told us no.

Eventually, once we got all of the friends clipped out of the box and ready for playing, she was entertained. And then she was thrilled!

We went to Mommy Matters to see all of our friends, cupcakes in hands. It was actually a really nice celebration - we haven't seen Lexi since she turned 2 (ten days ago) and one of the younger babies just turned one on the 17th (which I always remember because that was my due date.) So everyone enjoyed.

Toddlers goofed off. All were happy.

Then we took the rest of the cupcakes to Tim, and got a chance to eat lunch with him and his coworkers. Ellie mostly snuggled up in his arms and tried to lick him (I was too busy scarfing my lunch to notice.)

Our afternoon was spent napping, hanging out and cleaning up a little, and then our lovely family began to arrive. We made brats ahead of time and so just had to warm them up, and then we had salad, pineapple and chips. The perfect meal for a very Midwestern baby. She was pretty thrilled with our offering (once she started eating. We had a little pre-dinner melt down from hunger.)

THEN IT WAS TIME FOR PRESENTS! She was so funny, because as I handed her a gift, she'd yelling "dis is my pwesent!" She didn't care terribly about opening it, or even what it was, she was just so excited. Then she got them open and was even more thrilled!

She got a Bitty Baby from Mimi and Pa and some accessories from Jake, and she was overjoyed about her new baby.

She also loved her rabbit vest from Gigi, and once the evening quieted down, she insisted Auntie Sara read her all of her new books.

Then pink bunny cake and ice cream, hooray!

It was such a nice night with our wonderful families. As I said before we started eating, I don't know how we would have survived the past two years without them. I could say Ellie is the lucky one to be growing up so near her grandparents, but really, we are the lucky ones.

Birthday Prep.

From Meg's Cake Baking Academy:

Did you check to see if you have enough flour? No, of course not. You are not an idiot, you always have enough flour.
You don't have enough flour. Better hope Keri is home and will let you borrow a cup!

You are doubling the recipe. Do you need to go and get a calculator to make sure you don't screw it up? No, of course not. You are not an idiot, you can do basic math.
You can't do basic math. Good thing your mistake is fixable. This time.

Does the recipe call for chocolate chips? No, but it should. DUMP IN A WHOLE BAG. Now lick the batter off the spoon. It has raw eggs, which are a pregnancy no-no.
But those rules were made by squares.

So now all the bunny shaped cake and regular shaped cupcakes are baking away. This is only the third time in the three years we've lived here that I've fired up both of my (teeny tiny) ovens. It's a fact that makes me feel better about the decision to go to a single oven/range with a warming drawer, and then the convection microwave over head. I am also looking forward to having an oven big enough that I can take a regular cake pan out without automatically having my hands brush against the oven's sides.

Also, here is a video of the big sister to be, loving on her stuffed animals, and singing Twinkle Twinkle. I know the audio is not great, but turn the sound all the way up and you should be able to hear her:

Boy oh Boy!

Had my 16 week check up today, and it's official! Lambeau Field Ford is a boy! A very cute little boy, albeit one who refused to turn so we could see his profile. Instead, he insisted on doing his scary Halloween face.

So, that big thing on the right side is his head - the black part is his brain cavity, and then you can see his eye sockets, nose and slightly open mouth. Then he has a menacing hand up by his face. He is all ready for some holiday celebrations!

Football Celebrations

What it was like to watch football with Ellie in 2010 and 2011:

What it's like in 2012:

I know, she looks like someone from north of highway 8, but it was pretty hot today and she brushed us off every time we tried to put pants on her. I pick my battles.

Parenting Moments of Hilarity.

So, this morning it was raining. Cara and I got rained out of our walk, but we had a nice play date and the girls burned off some energy. On the way home, I was thinking about how my mom and Great Lisa were mentioning their need for some more Elephant Juice liquor, and so I swung into BevMo real fast, because I am a giver. Please note: I was dressed in yoga pants, a tank top, and a weird sweater. Ellie was in monkey footie pajamas. I go and buy me some Elephant Juice, and the guy asks if I need a bag and I say no (because I am an environmentalist) and make some joke about how anyone who's had a toddler will understand my need to drink. Then I walk outside, booze in hand, baby on my hip, and a cop rolls by real slow. Thank goodness I was not also standing in a way that makes my pregnant belly evident.

Speaking of. I decided this morning that rather than walking around half the day with my pants unbuttoned, I will be a classy lady and bust out my belly band - it basically allows you to extend the use of your regular clothes through another month or so. I can leave my pants unbuttoned, but the belly band goes over and helps hold my pants up and disguise the fact that they are not fastened at all. It's like a tube top for your pants! Now, without the button of my jeans digging into me at all times, I've really started to pop.

So much so that my favorite lady at the nail salon asked me how far along I was when I crashed Mom, Lisa and Sara's pedicure to get a hoof job of my own. Please note that with Ellie no stranger ever asked me if I was pregnant until I was well into my sixth month. I guess you really do pop faster the second time. 

Our other big fun for the day was going to Joann Fabrics and buying felt for Ellie's Halloween costume - she was SO excited to be shopping for her costume, and getting to pick out what colors she wanted. She's going to be an owl, and I decided I would make her some wings in the form of a cape. I figure, it'll be an easy thing if she wants to wear it randomly during this holiday season, and won't require a lot of taking off and putting on. She will also have a little hat (with owl feather and eyes) but I didn't get a chance to make that today. Instead I spent her entire nap cutting out strips of felt and cutting chevrons into them, and sewing them onto the cape. I sustained a crafting related injury, in that my crappy scissors wore the skin off my finger. But I got it finished and she looks very cute... and then she told Great Lisa that she doesn't like owls.

I went out tonight with my girlfriends, and wore my new sequin jacket. It has proven to be well worth the purchase price. Even if I do look like a nut. Meanwhile, Ellie played with her favorite person, her daddy:

She recently discovered her train set and is absolutely in love. Our old neighbors brought it over when they were moving, and asked if we wanted it. Ellie was still a useless blob at that point, but I was not so addled to have forgotten how much that Thomas the Train stuff costs. Free train set? WE'LL TAKE IT! Now she enjoys sending her trains down the track with Tim... over and over and over again.

Strong Stance!

Those baby gym classes really paid off.

In other news, last night I was sitting on the couch and felt something slightly below my belly button that I didn't think was a muscle cramp or a digestive issue. I think it may have been a howdy do from my inside baby!

Chitter Chatter.

In addition to a recent growth spurt (now all of a sudden none of her 18 month outfits fit her) Ellie has gone through a really big verbal explosion lately. The most interesting thing is how much easier to understand she is. Grizz used to be Dizz, but now he's Gwizz. Her friend Clare was Tear, and now she's Cware.

Sadly though, she's starting to call oh-gir-duh by its regular name, yogurt. Growing up is hard.

Camera Phone Pictures.

Thank goodness for smart phones, so I could see regular updates as to what my baby was doing during the weekend:

Laser cat time with Gigi and Petunia

saying a final goodbye to Charles (and crying for food)

Just generally being cute

Hugging the trees of Yorba Linda

Doing some light reading

Checking in at the pet store this morning

Having a nice, comfortable snoozer with poor Smelly Cat

Chicago Photos, part 2

Becca and I go to a thrift store, and when we come home (after less than an hour) the boys have gotten Goldeneye set up on the Nintendo 64 and begun shooting each other in the head.

So at the thrift store, I found this amazing sequin and maribou jacket, which I am calling a bed jacket for when I have Lambeau Field. I hope I do not get blood on it. I went back and forth for SO LONG trying to decide if it was really worth buying, or just photographing and remembering, and because I am a weirdo, I decided that the answer was PURCHASE. I proceeded to then wear it all over the city, to the envious stares of tourists and locals alike. I am a total weirdo.

Our big trip yesterday was heading to the Sears Tower.

Lake Chicago!

Our feet, standing in the pop out box.

I have no idea what we're standing in front of, because my mom did not let me watch Married with Children. I know, I didn't miss much.

At the Bean.

At the Chicago Cultural Center, the former library.