November 2013 Pics

ZJ went to the children's museum for the first time in over a year.  She loved it of course. 







IJ's best school friend had a birthday party at a bounce house and both kids loved it.  I was very surprised that ZJ liked this slide and that IJ very patiently helped her up the stairs each time and then waited at the bottom.




IJ demanded to wear this hair clip to school.


ZJ was hiding when it was time to brush her teeth.


She copies everything he does.  He stood on his pedals and she interpreted it this way.


I'm conquering my fear of yeast breads.  I made cinnamon rolls and this spelt flour loaf.




IJ's first soccer season ended.


IJ's been learning about and crafting for thanksgiving and Hanukkah simultaneously at school.


lol


We FINALLY let the kids ride in a car grocery cart and they were super excited.


NJ sold MY 10 year old car and bought a used truck.

IJ's art

IJ has improved his penmanship and drawing skills recently. Here are some examples from October.

He now signs in every morning at school by writing his first and last name.

I thought this was a cute little self portrait.


Here's another self portrait plus daddy and ZJ. He is holding daddy's hand and made sure to draw ZJ's hair in her face.  Daddy obviously isn't wearing pants.


Another school project (on a pillowcase for some reason).


This one is all his work but under the direction of daddy.  It was a birthday gift for grandma.

October 2013 Pics

Looking rough after a nap.


IJ lasted 4.25 years in a rear facing car seat but we needed to move ZJ into his seat so he is now forward facing in a new chair. He loves it.








IJ and I got to pet a giraffe at the zoo.










ZJ got a new ottoman for her room.


I finally introduced ZJ to play dough after IJ and I made a batch of pumpkin spice dough.  She likes it of course.


Both kids enjoyed the bounce houses at the neighborhood Halloween party.






I made mini (and full size) eyeball cupcakes for C & N's Halloween party.


IJ gave out Halloween goodies and went trick or treating for the first time.


Both kids in full costume at C & N's party.  IJ was "incredible IJ" and ZJ was a witch.

Zoo Boo

We went to the zoo Saturday for their annual Halloween event, Zoo Boo. We arrived before they opened and took some pictures in the park.  This is a pretty accurate portrayal of ZJ's typical look. 







The pumpkin patch was muddy and ZJ was not cooperating for pictures.  We did get this cute one on the benches in the middle of the zoo.  IJ is wearing his cape as his super hero costume.


ZJ's tattoo.

10.19.13

ZJ's 2nd birthday party

We had a small gathering at the house to celebrate ZJ's birthday.  She opened gifts and then we had cake.

Here she is opening her child sized Moby wrap so she can wear her own babies, gifted by C & N.  She's also wearing the baltic amber necklace NJ and I gave her.  We also gave her a wooden, stacking block train.


Her brother helped her open the gift from him.  It was the crayons we made from melting down old ones.  This gift went with the art easel our neighbors/friends gave her.


She also received a book from M & K, clothes from S & M and felt toy bins from grandparents (along with $ from several others).


Next was cake!  I made a pumpkin chocolate chip bundt with chocolate ganache.  I'd never made either component before and the ganache came out a bit too thick but everyone seemed to enjoy it and the cake.  We also had fruit and extra ganache for dipping.


She got a little uncomfortable when everyone sang happy birthday to her.

But was intrigued by her first cake experience.

After some coaxing I got her to blow on the candles.

She was definitely a fan of her first ever piece of cake! The word "cake" is now a permanent addition to her vocabulary.

10.6.13

ZJ's 2 year pictures

ZJ was all about making strange faces and doing odd things during her photo shoot.  These were the best.

ZJ is 2 years old!

10.6.2013

ZJ is now 33.5 inches (42nd percentile) and just over 23 pounds (9th percentile).  Her top 2 second year molars are both coming in.  She is saying lots of new things and is putting more 2 word phrases together.  She used to call herself by the shortened form of her name but suddenly started saying her name was "Z-naw-naw" or occasionally "Z-naw-naw-naw."  She uses "thanks," "welcome" and "sorry" properly.  Her favorite word is "no" which she often yells in response to any question or request.  She likes to say "oww" even if things don't hurt but could have.  She also likes to say "tadah!" when she builds things.  She says a few words that really don't sound correct such as "gah-me-ah" (pajamas), "baa-baa-bee-bee" (strawberry) and "sam-E-uhls" (sandals).  I told her she was awesome when she used the toilet one day and it stuck with her so she calls herself "awefome" now.  Her brother taught her the phrase "bad guy" and she often declares she is one and likes to identify them in books.  She used to alert everyone to her (or others) farts by just saying "fart" but started copying my response to her so she now says "oh my!"  This was humorous enough on its own but a few days ago she heard a stranger in the bathroom and yelled out "oh my!" in reference to the stranger farting.

ZJ has always loved to dance to music but now likes to sing.  She started with "rain, rain, go away," likes "wheels on the bus" and Old McDonald and also loves "YMCA" due to her brother's obsession with it.  She has no interest in television except to watch the beginning and ending of Thomas and Friends when IJ gets to see it.  She calls Thomas "Tommy" and identifies him in stores and elsewhere by screaming "Tommy!"  She likes to count to 10 with us and when she sees numbers on something she recognizes them as numbers and says "2-1-2-1."  She learned to answer what her age and her brother's age were in preparation for her birthday.  She finally started building with the Duplo but will only build towers with one size/shape of block.  She learned to close and open doors with the knob and shortly after that started locking them too.  She is also getting off the ground a bit when she jumps now.  She constantly requests both hugs and kisses now from NJ and I.

ZJ will go days with peeing only in the toilet and then other days will wet several diapers.  I think several sicknesses set us back this month.  She continues to occasionally poop on the toilet so I think she'll get more comfortable with that soon.

ZJ still occasionally skips a nap but will typically sleep 30 minutes to an hour.  I'm still walking her in the stroller to get her to sleep each night and she usually falls asleep around 7:30pm.  She wakes around 6:30/7 am.  She is still a breastfeeding addict and wakes throughout the night to nurse (still sleeping next to me) and nurses several times during the day.

ZJ had a pretty mild cold a few weeks ago.  She then got a stomach thing that didn't seem to bother her too much but affected her bowels.  Then, the day before her birthday she started saying her right ear hurt and she wouldn't go to sleep.  The cold symptoms came the next day.  It appears she has a virus/ear infection.

Here's ZJ's 2nd year at a glance.  See last year's here.