Tuesday, April 29, 2014

April 29- M finally got the remote control! Tonight we went to the "running mall" again, to burn off some energy. E's friend L wasn't there, so we just had to play with our family. E used her imagination quite well, and M had a blast climbing up and down the stairs.

M and Ada went to the last story hour of the season today, they are wondering what they are going to do on Tuesdays now.

April 28- We went to the "running mall" with Ama and Ada tonight while dada was at work. Both girls had a great time. E's friend L was there, and they played with a bouncy ball and play dough. M kept running toward Ada and hugging him on the legs.
April 27- This morning, the girls and I went to Breakfast on the Farm at the UW campus. We also went the E's friends, A and A, and R. We had eggs, pancakes, and sausage (and ice cream!) Turns out that M doesn't like pancakes or eggs, and E only ate a few bites.

Once we went into the animal barn, M was in love. She kept walking up to animals and waving and smiling at them. She was brave enough to touch the goats and the sheep. E pet a few of the animals, but was a little less brave then her sister. The girls both loved playing in the soy bean pool and the corn. E kept saying "these are soil beans" and I'd say, "no, soybeans." Then E would say "No, soil beans. Why do you keep saying soy beans."

In the afternoon E and I made cookies, and then we pretended to be girl scouts, and delivered them to the neighbors.
The 27th also marked M's first dress up like a princess!

April 26- We played outside a lot today, now that the weather is nicer, we try to get out as much as we can. I went to a bridal shower, so the girls and dada were on their own for a bit. When I got back, they had decided to have a Star Wars movie party. Here, dada and E are choosing which discs they should watch at the party.

April 25- E likes to hang out behind this bush when she is playing with her spray bottle, because she thinks that I don't know that she is drinking from the spray bottle. Of course, now Miss M has to be there too. Today was a little different, the girls went to Ama and Ada's today, and they played hard. They went to the Little League field and played on the playground, and then had lunch out.

In the morning, E and I went to her new school "Bless-a-min Sacrament" for orientation, we got to look at her 4K classroom, and meet her teacher. We also had breakfast at Mickies on a Friday, things were silly.


April 24- Today we went to Costco to pick up dada's new glasses. E made us walk and hold hand, each time we got to a crack in the floor, we jumped over it. The girls had a wonderful time, M walked around giggling the whole time!



April 23- Two dazed girls and dada. This was during program time, and the girls both needed to be with dada. M took this shovel out of the sand table, and carried it around all night.



Tuesday, April 22, 2014

April 22- Today we played with R at the sand table. M loved playing with the big girls, and both girls did a pretty good job of sharing with M when she would grab things out of their hands.

The girls also had to do tubby time, and they took separate ones for the first time in a long time. Then E got her sheets changed and using the opportunity to bounce on her bed (her all time favorite).

M is wearing the "magic" PJs, they were deemed magic after E slept through the night wearing them. E slept for a long time in her bed last night, so hopefully we'll get the same tonight.


April 21- It was the last day of spring break, so after playing at home and having dinner, we went to the ice cream parlor for dessert. M didn't have ice cream, but she ate her first ice cream cone. The ice cream parlor has tons of toys, so M and E both had a great time.

Tonight E started calling her "boyfriend" on the phone. She balances between the couch and chair, and talks in a flirty voice on the phone. We thought we had lots more time before we started on this.

April 20- We celebrated Easter today with a visit from the bunny! He left lots of eggs for the girls to find, E's were full of candy, socks, and coins. M's had puffs, yogurt melts, and socks. The bunny also left a play kitchen and baskets with tooth brushes, books, and snacks.

We then spent a little time with Nate and Anne playing outside, and then we had dinner with Grandma and Grandpa N. The girls had a great time at their house, they both really liked the chance to spend time with them and play with new toys.



April 19- We had the condo association egg hunt this morning. E found TONS of eggs. M had no interest in the eggs, and instead focused on walking into the parking lot. She'd walk toward the lot, I'd grab her and bring her back and she'd cry and cry. Then we'd repeat.

After quiet time, we went to Ama and Ada's house to celebrate. The weather was great, so we spent lots of time with coco puppy and then had dinner with the family.

Today was sort of strange for me, last year after the egg hunt and dinner at great gramma's house, we came home to get ready for Easter and my water broke. It was pretty strange to be basically reliving that day, with the exception of the baby!


April 18- Dada and I got to spend the day together while the girls were at day care, it was great. M practiced her climbing skills! She is getting really good, and combined with her fearlessness, we've clearly got trouble.


April 17- Another hard night going to bed.

April 16- When I picked E up at daycare today, the kids were all talking about dyeing Easter eggs, so of course, E wanted to too! So we got the eggs and after dinner, we dyed eggs. M liked to taste the eggs and pushed on them until they broke, E loved dying the eggs, and made some nice color combinations.


April 15- Dada planned to take E to the track meet tonight. However, M noticed that everyone was standing by the door, so she did too. When I picked her up to move her out of they way, she cried and walked right back to the door. So, dada took both of them to the track meet.

April 14- This was our second day in Milwaukee. We swam in the hotel pool, and then went to the Milwaukee Public Museum. E has been competly obsessed with mummies and ancient Egypt lately, so she was so excited to see a real mummy. She also wanted to do all our usual things at the MPM, so we saw the butterflies, bought gummies in the Streets of Old Milwaukee exhibit, looked at the animals, and skipped the dinosaurs.

We left Milwaukee in snow, which we couldn't believe. M was so glad to be home, it was clear that the hotel kind of bothered her, and she really liked being back to all her things.

April 13- When we got up today, E said "I'm ready to eat my breakfast cereal box" and wanted to get in the car. So we left a bit earlier then we wanted to. It worked out ok, we had lunch at the mall food court, and the girls played in kiddy play area. It was one of the nicest play area that I've ever seen.

Then, we went to the Sprecher Brewery for a tour, and all the soda that E could eat. She had a good time, but had less soda then we expected she would want. We checked into the hotel, and E and M played with the coffee maker (E's favorite hotel activity) and swam. She also watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which she didn't understand why it was so long!


April 12- A new kind of shoe, M grew out of her first pair of shoes, so I brought out the next size up. She's having a little trouble walking in them, but she'll get the hang of it.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

April 11- Ama and Ada were out of town, so M and I spent today together. We had lots of fun playing outside with A and A. Outside is one of M's favorite things. When she thinks its time to go out (or when she notices that someone else is going out) she stands right by the door and waits. If she notices that she doesn't seem to be going too, she cries.

I am always a sucker for kids taking stuff out of kitchen cabinets, dada hates it. This picture reminded me of a similar one with E taken on a day when we were home alone together.

After some nice outside time, M took a nap, cuddled up to me, and then we went to the store to get ready for our big vacation! Another nap, and it was time for dada and sissy to come home. We started a movie party, but otherwise had a pretty uneventful evening.

 April 10- I hadn't seen M lay quietly on her back for this long since she was a baby! She wasn't going to bed, but she was so sweet playing next to me.

April 9- E and M had their doctor appointments today, E was a trooper getting her shots, she said "it hurts, it hurts" and that was that. I was so amazed! M did ok, although their was a lot more crying. But overall, they both handled it well. M weighed in at 19 pounds and E at 32 pounds. Both girls are average heights for their ages.

After their appointments, Ada dropped E off at daycare, and then took M to his house.


Tuesday, April 8, 2014


April 8- I realized mid-way through today, that if things had gone as scheduled, today would have been M's birthday! Instead, she had other plans, catching us completely off guard, and arriving a week ahead of schdule. For some reason, once we had her c section scheduled, it never occurred to us that she might be early. So, we had no hospital bag packed, no plan for E, and we headed to the hospital frantically!

Today, M had a busy day, she and Ada went to the retiree's breakfast, had to pick up great gramma, and had to deal with phone and tv repair people. After work, she and I played outside, and walked almost all the way to the practice field. E and dada went to the La Crosse game,

Both girls put up a fight at bed time tonight, dada is grading while holding M, and E is in her room, after she told me that she was "never going to sleep."

April 7- M is still on her bedtime strike. This is what happens when I pass her to dada so that I can go up and snuggle with E. The bed time thing is getting crazy here. Generally, a "normal" night ends with both girls sobbing, and E screaming. M sobs herself to sleep in dada's arms, and E eventually calms down and falls asleep on her own, although, lately she's been falling asleep on her floor.


April 6- Today was E's last dance class, and she has really improved. Both her listening, and her dancing. She volunteered to demonstrate several moves and did what she was supposed to do as she danced across the stage. In the afternoon, E and I went to the science expo at the UW, it was slightly above her head, although there was one station where she got to dig for fossils, and she LOVED that.

M loves going outside, when she thinks its time to go out, she brings you a coat (any coat) and waits for you to put it on her. I'm glad that she likes the outdoors, it will make the summer go smoothly.

April 5- This was our first nice weekend day, so we spent as much time outside as we could. M and I took three walks, and then we flew kites with dada and E. E had swimming, but aside from that, we stayed close to home, and outdoors. We watched the Badger basketball game with Ama and Ada, and the girls had a great time playing at their house and eating lots of snacks. M finally learned to crawl down the step to the back porch backwards, which was very exciting!

April 4- Nate and Annie sent M this birthday card, and she has the best time listening to it. She keeps trying to peel apart the cover and see where the sound comes from. One of her favorite activities is making music, and this card is right up her ally.

April 3- No photo, I don't know why


April 2- Back outside, this time she had to carry her sister's shovel along with her.

April 1- E does this Sofia the First puzzle all the time, and each time M is in her room, she tries to take it apart.




Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Birthday Girl



March 31- Today was M's first birthday! We celebrated in several ways. First, she and Ada came to coffee break to have a birthday with my co-workers. Its a bit of a family tradition, I had a first birthday at coffee, E had a first birthday there, and now Miss M. She had a great time making faces at my co-workers and showing off her babbling and smiling.

After work, we all went to the Nitty Gritty for M's first birthday mug, she got a sippy cup sized one! We had a nice dinner, and M tried her first ever chicken finger (it was a hit). She loved playing with the ice in dada's cup, and she and Ama and Ada had some nice moments. When we got home, she opened her gifts from us, E chose a bubble lawnmower for her sister, and she couldn't wait for her to open it, I'm sure M will love it when it gets a bit nicer. We got her a little people zoo train, which has also been a hit.




March 30- Today we had a birthday party for M with Ama, Ada, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Bob, Aunt Norma, and Great Gramma. We had an afternoon party, with some snacks, juice and cake. M had her first bites of wheat, and really sugar. She was interested in them, but didn't mash her face full of cake, she took a few tastes, poked it at, and then tried to drop it on the floor. She had a great time being the center of everyone's attention, and even danced for them (her signature one foot pivot move)