Designer Kid

The other day I made Elsa this T-shirt. It seemed like she could use something with her nickname on it. I sent the design into cafepress.com and they printed it up. Looks like she likes it! In fact, lately whenever I put an outfit on her or do her hair and tell her she looks cute, she says,"Mirror?" Then runs to the mirror to admire herself and says shyly, "Pretty!"


Elsa still loves books. When she's feeling formal, she climbs into her chair to read. Otherwise, she throws a casual armful of them into the hallway to enjoy. Either way you can see she's amused.



Spending some quality time inside dad's jacket.


The last couple days were spent at the park. When Elsa tires of the slides, she likes to relax on the swings. Here you can see she's rockin' the pigtails. She does NOT like having them put in, but DOES like to admire her tear-streaked face and new 'do in the mirror afterwards.


What's new with baby #2? All of my appointments have been fine, everything's normal and we're both growing at an average rate. We have all of the NB sized clothes washed, and we're pre-registered at the hospital. I start going to the doctor every 2 weeks already! It's going fast, but we're ready. Except for the name. That part is still driving us crazy. It's a tie between three...what will it be?

Play date and outdoor discoveries

Friday we had a play date with Trinity and Sophia in Minneapolis. They live near our old neighborhood. I hadn't seen Trinity in probably over 2 years, so it was great to catch up and finally meet Sophia. First we had lunch: homemade mac n cheese (YUM!), peas, and fruit. Then the kids played upstairs for awhile, and later we went for a walk around Lake Nokomis. We stopped at the beach so the kids could swing. It was such a fun day. Elsa slept the whole way home, then slept another hour once we got back.






Saturday we played outside almost all day. Elsa ran around pointing and talking and didn't EVER want to come inside the house, not for lunch or anything.
She discovered moss...


Pinecones...


And lots of other things. Being outside is her favorite!


Later in the day we went to the park and ran into Crystal and Gracie, but forgot to get pictures! I just have this one of Elsa on the tunnel slide. She loved it. She looked terrified every time she went down, but was smiley once she got to the bottom unscathed.


Here's a photo of a new 'do I tried out the other day: a ponytail! It looked so cute, but didn't last too long in her baby-fine hair.

Children's Theater, Big Mama Pics

Today we went to the Children's Theater with an ECFE group to see the play, "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie". The website said it was best suited for children 4 and up, but we decided to give it a shot anyway. Elsa was so good! She got a little irritated on the bus, but that was about it. She actually watched the entire 1 and 1/2 hour play! She fell asleep on my lap on the way to lunch at McDonald's, and didn't seem too keen on waking up at first, until I mentioned ice cream. :) I still can't believe how great she did for a 5-hour field trip!

Here she is with her friend Maddy. We had pretty good seats; I think it was the sixth row.


Writhing around on the bus seat.


Mean muggin' with her blanket on the way home.


Here's our new double stroller! Note Elsa's "baby sister" in the car seat.


It's a family tradition to go to the Village Inn for breakfast on Saturday morning. Elsa gets so excited. She'll shout,"Egg! Pa'cake!" until we get there.


And finally... some recent photos of me. The first one is of me pregnant with Elsa at 27 weeks, the next one (in the same shirt, for effect) is me now at 27 weeks. It looks like i'm carrying the same baby! Just about the same exact shape and size.

Easter recap, updates, video

Hey all, Happy belated Easter. We went to church in the morning, then spent the day with family. The first photos were professionally taken. The one below is the best one I could get on Easter Sunday. You get an idea of the outfit, though.




Our Easter eggs. Elsa liked watching, but didn't quite get it yet.


Too many Easter treats? Baby got back!


This book is currently one of her favorites. Gotta love the space for the face.


Sliding around on the floor with an orange in her mouth.


Sometimes when Elsa wakes up from naps, she's REALLY crabby. She'll throw herself on the floor and have a little tantrum. We figured out that her body maybe wanted to wake up a little sooner than her brain. We give her a blankie and a pillow, and continue about our day. She lays on the floor quietly, then finally lifts her head and says cheerfully,"Hi!". Here she rests while we watch a movie, but still keeps her eye on me.


After she's better, she asks for a hug from dad and watches TV with him for awhile.


We recently started sitting Elsa at the table with us in a booster seat. We even got her a Dora placemat. She seems to enjoy sitting with the adults like a big girl.


I wish I had a photo of the giant snowman Tim made for her last weekend. Not only was it bigger than the one I made, but it had orange smoke bombs for eyes. That were lit, of course, after they were placed on the snowman's face. Dads are cool like that, aren't they?

And finally, by special request from my sister, a few new videos:

True, true.



Her version of Hide and Seek.



Playing her new harmonica, hearing daddy in the background, resume playing harmonica.

Sunshine, Snowmen and Coloring

Today we took advantage of the nice weather and went outside to build a snowman. Elsa can say "snow" and "man", but when she puts them together she says "Dee-mon". So we had a demon snowman. (He did look rather skeletal and scary just an hour later, on account of the sun melting off his eyes, nose and mouth.) This earlier photo shows him in his healthiest first few minutes.


Soon after this, Elsa was tromping around the driveway and decided to sit in a puddle. Her mittens and pants were soaked but she didn't want to go inside. She ran around the yard, falling over, getting back up, digging in snow and eating it. Every now and then she'd stop and listen to the chirping birds and barking dogs.

After we got her into some dry clothes, we had art time. We each colored a picture of an easter bunny. She started out slow, but soon had the hang of it and would demand new marker colors like a pro. "Green!" (scribble scribble) "Red!" (scribble scribble) etc. When she was done, she colored her hand for awhile. Good news: washable markers really ARE washable. We cleaned her up in no time and went for a walk outside in the stroller. It was a very fun day, with many more to come i'm sure.




Our finished works of art. Notice how her colors stay fairly close to the bunny? You can even see how each flower at the bottom is a different color. I was impressed!
The black egg is from ECFE, and mostly my design. :)

The weekend

Thursday: Tim came home! We were very happy to see him. He brought Elsa a cute teddy bear wearing a Las Vegas sweater.

Friday night: Old Log Cabin for dinner. We typically go out to breakfast on Saturday morning, but decided to mix it up. Elsa was smiling and playing peek-a-boo with the other diners. She said,"Old Log" all weekend.


Saturday: Ashley's First Birthday party! All the kids and commotion didn't seem to phase Elsa; she simply had a blast. Here are some pictures from the party. As you can see, it's hard to get good photos of fast moving toddlers. Nobody wanted to sit still for long!
The balloons were a big hit.


Elsa and Ashley, the birthday girl.


Maddy and Elsa.


Running around amid the chaos.


"Oh my God, I can hardly believe... it's ELMO!"


"Ooooh, feel Elmo."


Sunday: I forgot my camera, so I'll have to paint the following old-fashioned word-picture for you. We went to Rosedale mall and got there too early, so we had to stroll around with the senior mall walkers for awhile. We let Elsa run around; she's really getting fast. If mall walking were a sport, she'd be serious competition. Dad took her on the escalators at Borders, then we did some shopping, ate at Arby's, and Elsa started to look tired. She looked at her Dora placemat and said,"All done, Dora." Then said,"Home. Nap!" She's such a willing napper. I sure hope her little sister is the same way, but what are the chances? Pray for me, people!

Unlike most of the population, we always look forward to Mondays. Monday is ECFE day. Elsa's favorite thing is the toddler gym, followed by singing, playtime, and snack. Really, there's nothing not to love.

PJ's, distractions, and words

After her bath tonight, Elsa wanted me to read her a book. Notice the 2-piece monkey pajamas given to her by cousin Ani. I think they're rather stunning.


Sliding backwards on the kitchen floor.


Back 4 months ago, when Elsa was much less mature, she used to like to scream in the store for fun. I always had toys to distract her, but they didn't always work. Someone in our ECFE class suggested bringing snacks that fit into tiny compartments, such as a weekly pill box. The idea is that the kid stays busy trying to open them and eating the treats. Elsa no longer screams for fun, but I got one anyway. The beauty of this one (besides the lovely added stickers), is that the compartments separate. Perfect for when we have two kids each wanting a piece of the action. I have yet to try it out in the store, but i'll let you know.


Here's video of Elsa saying some random words and holding her gray elephant. First she whispers "Gray", then says, "Elephant" (yes, it's elephant), "TV", and finally, "Elsa?". You can tell she's grasping at straws, trying to please me by saying stuff on camera, but she's not sure what.


Tim's been in Vegas all week and comes home tomorrow. We miss you Tim/Daddy! See you soon.