Halloween fun

October 31- We went trick or treating tonight with the neighborhood girls. The three of them covered a ton of grounds and collected lots of candy. This was E's first taste of candy, and she loved it. The girls were a little concerned going up to people's doors at first, but once they got the hang of it, their was no hesitation. E took two pieces at each house (one for each hand). She was a little too intimidated to say "trick or treat," "please," or "thank you" but she impressed a lot of people with her costume. E also used her size to her advantage, she used it to fit around A and R to get to the door first.

October 30- We trick or treated at Grandma and Grandpa's house this morning, E refused to wear her costume! She had lunch at Grandma and Grandpa's and looked for birds and bunnies. Despite being exhausted, E refused to take a nap, she added her big giraffe and big monkey to her bed time companions, but even they couldn't help her take a nap. We got out a few of E's baby things to lend to a visiting friend, and E had a great time playing in her car seat, she likes it better now then she did as a baby. We went to the park to play, but E fell asleep on the way over.

It was  a hard bed time, E was in a great mood, she was just ready to talk, while we wanted her to sleep. Her vocabulary has been growing and her sentencing getting better, last night, she explained to me that "momma milk broken" I was amazed at the sentence, but sad at the content.

October 29- Today we celebrated lots of Halloween. First, we trick and treated at Ama and Ada's house, then we went to the condo association's Halloween party. A was there, and the two girls had fun coloring pictures and drawing on pumpkins. After the party, dada and his friend had their annual Halloween movie marathon. So, E had dinner with company, and enjoyed showing off for them. She even went to bed with momma putting her down instead of dada.

October 28- We had another swap with A’s parents tonight, so E got to spend the evening with A. The girls were busy, they painted, ran an obstacle course, and played with A’s puppets. A’s mom kept the girls moving, and really wore her out! She slept from about 9 pm to 8:15 in the morning, a record.

E also has a new favorite thing, she calls it “Jay Book” it’s a Bible that her godfather Jay gave her at her baptism, she loves to read it before bedtime. E takes her boppy and puts it behind the rocking chair and then sits in it reading. She calls it her room

Halloween and helping

October 27- Today was the Halloween party at E's daycare. Even thought Thursday isn't her usual day, they were nice enough to let us come and party. E spent the morning at Grandma and Grandpa's house and then went to the party. At the party, she tried out her ladybug costume, she didn't like the hat and wouldn't wear it for more then a few minutes. She had snack, danced with her classmates, refused to touch a pumpkin's insides, and listened to a story. My favorite part was getting a little glimpse of what her day at daycare is like.

October 26- E has been very into helping lately. Mostly, she likes to help buckle her car seat, but tonight she helped dada put his glasses on. Tonight I spent a solid 10 minutes trying to get her into her car seat. We took advantage of the nice weather to go for little walk, watched Elmo, and had a very long bath playing with her bath tub letters.

October 25- Today E made it clear that she has a new pattern, every morning, she likes to have a bowl of Os and milk. Now that she's no longer nursing, this is the first thing that happens once she wakes up. So, today, she ate Os in her jammies, and then, again, had Os for dinner. My favorite part of the Os meal, is that she opens her mouth as wide as she can, as soon as she starts moving the spoon toward her mouth. She opens it as wide as possible no matter how many Os are on her spoon. She also uses her left hand push in any Os that don't quite make it in.

After daycare, we went to Target, E is getting the hang of shopping, she kept picking things up off the shelf and asking to put them in the cart. We also got to have a playdate with A and R. The girls hadn't been together in a group for about a week, so it was nice to see them together again.

October 24- Eating is always a problem for E, she frequently eats only a few bites of dinner, only to want a snack later.  Given her size (she's wearing a 0-6 month shirt above) we generally let her have a snack whenever she wants, although I worry we are teaching her bad food habits which will cause trouble later in life. Tonight, after dinner, she insisted on this granola bar and later, ate almost an entire yogurt. The picture above also shows one of our ongoing battles, that you have to sit in a chair. She'd prefer to stand, or lay down, basically, anything but sit.

When I picked E up from daycare tonight, we spent nearly 20 minutes in the parking lot. I couldn't get E into her car seat. She was standing in the seat, trying to buckle the buckles, she kept telling me she was "helping." I couldn't get her to sit down for anything. I'm hoping this doesn't become a new issue.

Back at home!

October 23- This morning, E and I went shopping and she loved riding in the cart. All of a sudden, E had outgrown every single pair of socks she owned, so it wasn't an exciting trip, but necessary! We also had to go and get her some new dishes, since she threw/dropped a plate and broke it today. But, at the end of trip since she'd been such a good girl, we went to the park and played. Today, her favorite was going down the slide alongside me.

We helped Great Grandma celebrate her birthday today, and saw E's second cousins. Then, we took E furniture shopping, which she absolutely loved. She ran all over the entire store, fortunate the staff thought she was cute, not a bother! And, to top it off, the dads and little girls went for a nice walk. E went to bed absolutely exhausted.

October 22-I got home today, and got to get E up from her nap. She was excited to see me, and demonstrated by jumping and flopping in her bed. This is one of E's new favorite games, she requests that her tunnel be put "up on top" and then she stands and wiggles in it until she get out.

Up on top is one of her favorite expressions, and means that she wants something (often herself) put up on something else. I absolutely love that this is the way she describes it. We took an afternoon trip to the park and had a nice family dinner.

Business Trip

I was in Lexington, Kentucky from Tuesday until Saturday, attending the Best Practices Exchange. This was the longest time I've ever been away from E. It was a hard trip for me, although I began to appreciate sleeping when I wanted, and I think it was hard at times for E, but she got through it just fine.

Its amazing what a different four days makes. She can put more and more words together to make sentences. It seems to me like she's remembered all the words she's ever heard us say, and now she uses them in context. Its amazing. She also developed an interest in removing her diaper immediately after its been used, and in running around naked.

We used the trip to wean E, and so far its going pretty well. She still asks for milk, but when we tell her no, she reacts pretty well, and moves on to something else. And, dada reports that she has been sleeping better.The weaning was a hard one for me, I don't think I was ready, but I am so glad we made it 19 months, its much longer then I thought we'd make it at the beginning.

E and dada spent a lot of time with Ama and Ada and Grandma and Grandpa. We are lucky to have them so close by. Their willingness to help is one of the reasons my trip was possible.

October 17- Today was a hard one for me, I’m leaving town for a conference and will be gone for five days. Until this trip, the longest I’ve ever been away from E is about 12 hours. Going through the night time routine was particularly bittersweet tonight, since when I get back, there will be a whole new routine, and she will probably be weaned.

After daycare, we immediately went to see the football players. E has become quite the football fan. We got home and had some nice playtime with her dollhouse before dinner. We had quite the scare tonight when E fell off her chair after dinner. She was standing on a chair, eating a little more, when off she went. She was OK, but she was hurt and scared. She had a blast in the tub tonight, pouring water from one cup to another, and insisted in staying in until the water was cold. We had a very nice bedtime, with her favorite stories and milk. She insisted on holding Doot Doot during the stories and milk, and at one point, was alternating between pretending to give Doot Doot milk, and having some herself. 

 

October 16- We took E to Pecks Farm today to get a pumpkin and see the animals. We took a ride on the little train, which E loved. She had an ok time looking at the animals, she was impressed by the deer, elk, and bison, but found the birds scary. E chose her very own pumpkin from lots of choices (and discovered at home that she could roll it over the floor). After some string cheese and kettle corn at Pecks, and lunch at Culvers, an exhausted E took a short nap. We went for a walk with R and the two girls managed to share a single tennis ball. After dinner, we played the tickle monster game (me chasing E and tickling her when I caught her), and then called it a day.

 

October 15- E’s mood from last night carried over into today, the morning had several small bouts of tantrums, food throwing, and other sassy behaviors. But, when we went to Ama and Ada’s house to park cars for the football game, that all changed. She was back to her old self as soon as she had an audience. Ama and Ada let her pick and eat several tomatoes and run in the back yard. After her nap, E and dada had some time together where they took a little walk. Then, it was back over to Ama and Ada’s house where E was a wild girl. She ate constantly, ran around, had a successful potty, and generally impressed with her antics.

E’s favorite part of the day was wearing her Bucky shirt, she loves the Bucky Badger on the sleeve, and showed it to everybody. She can also say "Go Bucky"

October 14- Tonight was a night of tantrums, E must have been feeling a little under the weather. When we got home from daycare, things were going well, then suddenly, E said "mat" and took off toward the garage door. We assumed she wanted to play with her sleeping mat from daycare, but what she actually wanted was the mat the bedroll attaches to. Unfortunately for everyone, the mat stays at daycare. After several prolonged tantrums, we got out dada's old camping mat which was an ok substitute. But the tantrum attitude stayed with her all night, she was only happy in the tub, when she was sticking these letters to the wall.

October 13- We got into a little bit of an Elmo habit after dinner this week, here's E waiting patiently for Elmo to start. I love how she's got her little legs crossed! She spent the day with Ama and Ada, and they went to their first MSCR play camp of the fall, E had a great time, she enjoyed keeping up with the big kids. After I picked her up, we went to try and find a Halloween costume. E didn't show any interest in any of them. We also bought new shoes, and E got to go to the grocery store and ride in one of the carts that looks like a little car, she loved it.

October 12- There are several notable things about this picture. First, you can see two sippy cups, E insisted in having two milk cups today, she drank from both of them, and carried them around with her. Also visible is her dollhouse beds. These are her favorite part of the house. The little bed is for the baby, and it has a spring so that it makes a great boing-boing noise. The dada sleeps in the big bed, he can be a little frustrating to fit into it. Third, dada is sneaking a kiss. E doesn't always hold still, and would prefer to be on the go, so we've got to get our kisses when we can!

October 11- This is E's new dollhouse, she loves it! Her favorite part is putting the guy, as she calls him, nite nite. Her favorite character is the baby, its bed has a spring, and she loves pushing it. This morning she was playing with the baby and said "milk" and she held the baby up to the chest of one of the dolls. After daycare today, she had to get her Hep A shot, and she only cried a little bit. She also weighed in at 21 pounds, we are thrilled she finally broke the 20 pound mark! We took a nice long walk with her friends tonight, and we ended up on the tennis courts, for some reason, the girls loved pretending to go nite nite on the tennis courts. They also played a pretty good game of catch.

October 10- Here is E on the jumping spot, its a small green plastic rectangle, and she stands on it, waits for us to count to thee and jumps. She's actually getting good at jumping, and her feet leave the ground. E took three walks tonight, one with her parents, one with A, and one with dada and our friend Abi. By the last walk, E was worn out. Tonight Abi and her mom gave E a dollhouse that had been E when she was younger, E had a ball with the house. I let her stay up a little late to play with it, and unfortunately, was then too tired to go to sleep easily. But, she slept till morning, so we can't complain.

Today was the first time that E has ever cried when it was time to leave daycare. I got there to pick her up, and they were just getting ready to get out the tunnel. E was clearly heartbroken over the idea of missing the tunnel, so we stayed, and after one crawl through she was fine, and we could leave.

 

October 9- It was unseasonable warm today so we took the girls to the Fitchburg Dream Park. They loved it! They didn't get to far from the ship and the slides, but both E and A (or Titi as E calls her) loved climbing up the steps, and the spiral slide. I couldn't get a picture of both girls looking at the camera today. I  don't know why E has her hat strap in her mouth, but she played all day like that. E is also wearing her football shirt, its a Packer's shirt she is very proud of, she told everyone about her shirt.

After we said good bye to Titi, and a nice long nap, E visited her friend L's house to decorate Halloween cookies, then we had dinner with Ama and Ada. A tried little girl, insisted in wearing her football shirt over her jammies.

October 8- Today was a busy one. E had a great time playing with her friend A, they loved trying to go through the tunnel together and playing with the Elmo toys. The girls spent the morning playing together, then E went over to our neighbor's birthday party, the neighbor A turned two! After the party, E and her dada spent the day together, they played with dada's pocket watch, and E practiced putting it dada's pocket. The had dinner at grandma and grandpa's house, and took a nice long walk together. E and A got to stay up late playing and clowning around.

October 7- E is sword fighting with dada, she loved playing with the wrapping paper tube. We had a pretty calm Friday, although we were busy trying to keep track of the Brewer game. We took a nice long walk with A and her mom, we went all the way around the prairie. We did our usual circuit, we've added a stop along the way. First, we go to the jumping spot, then we added a running hill, then we go up and watch football, then we jump off the little platforms, then run and get carried down the long side. Once we get back to the path, we have the knocking sign, and a few other jumping spots, and then we are home! 

October 6- E has started stringing words together, its great to watch. However, mostly she commands us, "momma/dada sit" is her favorite. E spent the day with Grandma and Grandpa today, they went to the park. Once she got home, she wanted "noonels" for dinner, which we gave her, she's been ending her meals by throwing her food on the floor, which also means that dinner has been ending in a 20 second time out.

October 5- We had A over this evening for our monthly sitting exchange. We headed over to the park for some playtime. The walk over went slowly, both girls kept finding fun stuff to look at. We carried, and then threw pinecones for awhile, ripped up grass, picked flowers, and ran around. The girls have differnt playing styles, E loves to climb, and isn't afraid to go down the big slide alone. A wants to hold hands the whole time. After the park, the girls and dada read lots of books, and they kept saying more.

We learned at daycare today that E hasn't been eating very well at daycare. According to the teachers, if they want her to eat, they need to put the food on her fork, and actually feed her. At home she can feed herself, so we aren't totally sure what is going on.





October 4- E's shoe obsession has started young! She is always finding dada and my shoes, bringing them to us, and then helping us to put them on. Tonight, she found some of my work shoes, and walked around in them. I can't believe that she can get around in them. We had A and R over after work today, fortunatly, we had three Elmo toys, so each girl could have one, so the playdate was a success.

October 3- E was being a monkey tonight (and she can say monkey). I was tipping her upside down, and learned that she knows how to do flips. If you hold her hands, she'll flip over and land on her feet. Everyone tells us we need to sign her up for gymnastics, and I guess now we have proof.

October 2- This was our second day in Minnesota, we were lucky to see Titi Willy and her daughter A this morning. The girls went swimming, they took turns playing with E’s Christmas present, a swimming Elmo, and they both enjoyed pouring water from plastic cups. E is convinced that little A’s name is titi. All the playing wore E out so much that she slept for three hours on the way home. We stopped in the Wisconsin Dells outlet mall, where E and Ada played on some toys while Ama and I shopped. She was so happy to get home and see Dada, they immediately went to play on the swings, and take a little walk. 

October 1- We drove to Minnesota today with Ama and Ada. We left a little early, and E was awake for the first hour of the drive. She was a trooper, and ready lots of books. After an hour nap, she was awake for the rest of trip. She did pretty well on the trip, only a few sobbing bouts. We got to Nate and Annie’s house and she met Coco the dog. She wasn’t even scared (as the day went on she did get scared though). We saw Becca and took a nice walk. We celebrated Nate's birthday, and E helped presents. Later,  at the hotel, she got to go swimming with Nate and Annie, eat pizza (or pitze as she calls it) and to stay up way past her bed time. Even though we stayed in a hotel, she slept pretty well, only getting up twice and going back to bed pretty quickly.

 September 30- We decided to make it a family night tonight since E and I were going out of town the next day. We picked E up from daycare together, and played in E's tunnels a little bit. Then we went for a long walk with A and R. The girls made it all the way to the tennis courts where they looked for forgotten tennis balls and ran around the courts. Our evening walks were a tradition all summer, but its getting colder and darker earlier, so we are probably nearing the last few weeks. 

 

September 29- E spent the day with Ama today and Ada was home in the morning. They went for breakfast at one of E's favorite places ZuZu Cafe. When its warm, she loves the sandbox, and in the colder weather, there are lots of indoor toys. ZuZu is also the first outing that Ama and I took E, we went when she was only 10 days old, it was my first time out after having her.

September 28- We had a playdate with A today. They still engage in parallel play, and its funny to watch, the second one shows an interest in a toy, the other one wants it. They shared pretty well, but they had their moments. Both of their favorite activity was eating snacks, and they polished off Os and cheese crackers. We had another successful bed time, hopefully we are working on a trend.

September 27- Tonight we had Grandpa over for dinner, which E loved. She had a good time talking with him,  and clowning around. She ran laps around our house, giggling and saying “run” the whole time. We had a first, at 6:45 she asked to take a bath, so we let her, when she was done, she asked for milk, and then we read several stories. Her current favorites are Ten Little Dinosaurs, The Moon Shines Down, The Nose Book, Hug, and Tall. We put her down, and she fell asleep without a peep. She stayed asleep until 5:30 in the morning.

 

September 26- E has reached an age where she wants to help with everything we do. This is  particularly interesting when we are making dinner. When I’m cooking dinner, she pulls an apron for me out of the drawer, and then one for herself. She holds hers and asks for help until it gets tied on. Its difficult to find age appropriate tasks for her, but she has helped stir, poured noodles into  a pot, and poured water in a pot. She is best at setting the table, she carries over each plate one at a time, and then the silverware.