A big week...

It's been a big week at our house!

Growing up fast!

Elsie had her first night in big-kid pants.  She woke Andy up at midnight to use the potty, then woke up dry in the morning.

Sylvie's first trip across the bed, right into Daddy's arms!

Sylvie has mastered the army crawl/scoot (edit:  I googled, and learned that since her tummy is down, the correct term is "creep"), and will propel herself across the bed or floor if there isn't someone there to stop her.  Whoa!  Apparently this isn't supposed to start until 6 months at the earliest, but Sylvie is in a hurry to catch up with her big sis.

These girls of ours are growing up so fast!

Sylvie is four months!

At four months of age, Sylvie is busy learning all about her world.  She rolls, plays with toys, eats her toes, and mostly stays happy and busy in any situation.  She has latched on to a giraffe blanket as her favorite 'lovey", and is happy to hold, snuggle, and chew on it all day long.

She is on the move, and scoots herself a few feet at a time (mostly face-planting army crawl style, with heavy leg action).  Since she prefers to spend most of her time having someone help her stand, we are pretty sure she will be doing everything in her power to crawl and walk as soon as possible.

She sits in her bumbo chair like a pro, and is trying hard to sit on her own (but inevitably falls forward after a few seconds).

She weights 12.7 lbs (15%) and is 24.5 inches long (50%) (for those interested, Elsie was 12lbs (8%) and 24 inches long (40%) at this age).  This is the first month where Sylvie's growth has surpassed that of her older (and born bigger) sister (at the same age), and she is pretty proud of herself.  She is just beginning to wear some 6 month clothes.

Watch me grow:

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

 

All about Elsie at Age Three

Elsie's answers are in italics- Mama's answers for what Elsie's behavior actually indicates are second, if different from what she answered.

Favorite food:  "Ice cream." (watermelon or raspberries)
Favorite show or movie:  "Bo on the Go and Dumbo." (Bo, Diego, Dumbo)
Favorite animal:  "Horses." (puppies)
Favorite song:  "Baby Beluga." (anything Daddy makes up)
Favorite book:  "Hippopotamus (But Not The Hippopotamus)." (Brown Bear)
Favorite activity:  "Pool time and swinging and playing with my animals and outside." (Swinging, walking with Lila)
What I want to do when I grow up:  "Climb up Daddy." (veterinarian)
Best friend:  "Baby Sylvie." (Adah or Henry or Annie and Ben or Lucy)
Favorite animal friend:  "Lila Puppy." (Pongo, Isaiah, Lila, Lucky and Cricket)
Favorite color:  "Blue, like Mama's special ring is blue." 
Favorite toy:  "My animals (Schleich figurines)."
Favorite place to visit:  "Grandma RJ's house."  (Children's Museum or castle park)
Favorite thing to do with Daddy:  "Play puzzles."  (chase and swing, build towers)
Favorite thing to do with Mama:  "Climb on my swing set."  (art projects and baking)
Favorite thing to do with Sylvie:  "Tickle her!" (hug her, lay out animals for her to see)
Favorite thing about my family: "Our toes." (dance parties)
Favorite thing about Mama: "Her arms, for cuddling."
Favorite thing about Daddy: "His tummy, for climbing."
Favorite thing about Sylvie:  "Her toes."

Elsie is 3!

Elsie's third year of life was one of transitions.  We were constantly amazed at the changes we saw in her on a seemingly daily basis.  Watching her language explode, personality develop, and witnessing her blossom as a big sister have been big highlights of the year.

Growth:
Elsie is 36.5 inches tall (30%) and weights 27.5 lbs (16%).  She wears size two tops, 18 month bottoms, and size 7.5 shoes. 

Learning:
Elsie recognizes most of her letters, and counts to 20 with ease.  She likes to be challenged with spelling, letter-recognition, and simple math questions.

She is a puzzler-extraordinaire, easily completing 48-piece puzzles by herself.

She is also very good at cutting with a scissors, and loves to cut and glue art projects every day.  Especially if they involve paint and glitter.

She is a whiz at using Mama and Daddy's iphones, and plays lots of learning app games and navigates the touch screen with ease.

Playing:
Elsie's favorite thing to do is play outside.

She would be perfectly happy to swing for a couple of hours every day, and is not very motivated to learn to pump by herself.  She also loves climbing, jumping (completely skipping a whole city sidewalk block!), and sliding, and going for walks to fill up a basket with found-item treasures.  

When she has to be inside, she prefers imaginative play with her animals ("animal rescue" is a big theme).  She also enjoys serving people pretend food that she make in her kitchen, "playing" the piano, and working on art projects.  In the evening, she happily plays "chase" with Mama and Daddy for twenty or thirty minutes before becoming tired. 

When she has "quiet time" in her room, she prefers to play with her animals and read herself stories.

She doesn't have a particular lovey, rather she chooses a new animal (or 2 or 3) to be her favorite each day.  The chosen ones will run errands with us, go on stroller rides, play at the park, and join us at the table at mealtime.  If they are plastic, they also have bath time with Elsie before they find their way into her bed at night.  The next morning, they are usually discarded in favor of a new set of friends.

Tutus are a favorite, as is imaginative play centered around a "going to ballet school" theme.  Dress-up of any kind is loved, especially if it involves dresses, leotards, hats, or animal costumes.

Personality:
Elsie's transition from toddler to preschooler has seen her become rather shy and observant.  She tends to let her friends lead at play dates, and does not enjoy meeting new people (especially adults) or venturing into unknown spaces.  She is often even too shy to talk to grandparents on the phone.

Around her friends, she is very energetic and agreeable.  She plays easily with younger kids (she loves babies), and is thrilled when older friends include her in their games (especially if they involve chasing!).  Although she has the typical preschooler trouble sharing her toys, she is very empathetic and tries to help friends who are sad by giving them new toys or sharing with them.

When she gets in naughty moods (mostly when mom or dad are busy with Sylvie and she wants more attention), she likes to run away from us, yell, or pretend she can't hear us.  She is an expert tantrum-thrower, and has perfected the "limp body" defense when she doesn't want to do something.

Eating: 
Elsie eats most foods...when she wants to.  She goes through phases of loving everything, from grape tomatoes to salami to apricots.  And then suddenly she claims she doesn't like them anymore, confusing mom and dad and making grocery shopping a game of hit-or-miss.

Sleeping:
Elsie has trouble going to sleep.  She has given up her daily nap, and sleeps at night from about 8 or 8:30 pm until 6 am.  She generally sleeps through the night, except for the occasional bad dream.  Instead of nap time, she likes to "cuddle up" with an iphone and pick a show to watch on Netflix.  Dora the Explorer, Bo on the Go, Diego, Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, and old Disney movies are her favorites.

Self Care:
Elsie is very interested in becoming more independent, and is working hard to master such things as putting on her own shoes, socks, and shirts.  Before going outside, she often reminds Mama to help her with her hat and sunscreen.

She does a great job at wiping and re-dressing after using the potty chair (fully trained!!!), and is a pro at using utensils and cups at the table (when she wants to- dropping food on the floor "accidentally" is also a fun game that Mama and Daddy are not fond of).

Her next big battles are going to be night potty training, learning to tie her shoes, and learning to brush her own hair (but her mass of curls might make that last one a tricky skill to learn without inducing more snarls)!

Party Time:
Elsie's birthday fell on Father's Day this year, and she enjoyed a party with friends the day before, then shared a special family day with Daddy on her actual birthday.  She had a great time picking out her party decorations, food, and theme ("Puppies", of course!).  Always the social butterfly, she chose 15 friends that she wanted to invite to her party (7 of which were babies!).  She really impressed her parents by doing a great job playing with all her friends on her big day.  She even offered to trade balloons with a little boy who wasn't happy with his color.  The highlight of the party was the puppy cupcakes- she ate the frosting off of her birthday cupcake, then threw the rest away before Mama and Daddy realized what she was doing, and grabbed a second one ("But for my birthday I just want a frosting cupcake, please!").

Watch Elsie Grow!
Comparison Photos:

1 year

2 years

3 years

Swimming with Auntie K and Uncle G!

K and G offered to take me swimming today, and I wasn't scared a bit!  I ran across the parking lot right to them, and didn't even care that Mama didn't come with.

Auntie K took these great pictures of me playing with my youngest uncle.  I love Uncle G!

It was kind of cold out, so Uncle G helped me warm up when we got out of the water.

When Mama came back to get me, I was playing in the giant sandbox.  Oh, and see that big water slide in the background?  I went down by myself.  Because I am a big kid.

Mama and Sylvie went for a walk at a nearby trail while I swam.  Sylvie didn't want to sleep, so they took a picture instead.

When I saw Mama at the fence, I came running to tell her all about my fun time with G and K.  I had such a great time, I had Mama fill the pool in our backyard so that I could splash just a little bit more before coming inside to finally get out of my wet suit.  What a fun day to be a big kid!

Whoa, dinos.

Mama left me in charge of Sylvie for a minute, so I decided to improve her view while she worked on some tummy time.  Based on her cries, though, I think it's fair to say she doesn't like dinosaurs as much as I do. 

Miscellaneous...proud moments for Mama.

Mama:  Elsie, do you want me to help you with your undies?  They look like they aren't on quite right.  Elsie:  No, Mama, I LIKE them like this1   

And....Sylvie's fist photo bomb (that's her hand, in case you can't tell).

Tis the season for birthdays...

Here are some pictures of me having fun at a friend's party:

Birthday party!

A day at the farm with friends.

Bottle-feeding baby goats.

He tried to eat my hat!

Silly goats!

Running to catch up with all my friends.

Hand-feeding the catfish and watching the goats play on Goat Island.

Sylvie was there, too.  She didn't seem too impressed, but maybe that was because she didn't get to pet any animals.

Using the rope swing.

Pushing Nico, Maddie, and Elie in the wagon (Katy helped).

Playing with baby kitties- my favorite part!

June Play Dates

With a birthday coming up and lots of spring cleaning to be had, we've been busy. We made sure to take some time to have a few play dates, though.

My friend Huck and I played at the park together.  We dug in the sand, walked around barefoot, and held hands while we ran across a field.  Mama was not fast enough to get a photo of that cuteness, though.

My friends Dahlia and Baby Fiona joined us for a date at a park, then lunch at Panera.  Dahlia is very old (4!!!), so I have to act like a big kid around her.  Dahlia gave me a birthday present, and I gave her my first unprompted 'thank you' ('Thank you, Dahlia, for the BEAUTIFUL, beautiful necklace!  I really love it!").  Mama was very proud.  I was just happy to have such a good friend to share my macaroni and cheese with.

Sylvie is three months!

At three months of age, Sylvie is a joyful, smiling girl.  She eats well, sleeps deeply, and loves nothing more than long, goo-ing conversations with Mama or Daddy.
 
Two weeks before her three-month birthday, Sylvie decided to learn to roll over.  She rolled about six times that night from her back to her tummy, and by the end of the next day she was making two and three consecutive rolls at a time, back-to-tummy and tummy-to-back again all across the bed.

She weights 11.0 lbs (10%) and is 24 inches long (60%) (for those interested, Elsie was 11 lbs 8 ounces (18%) and 23.5 inches long (55%) at this age).

She has managed to create quite a little bald spot on the back of her head from all the playing she does on her back, which we find very funny (Sylvie is getting a little sparse on top, too- it may not be long before she is bald just like Elsie was at this age!).

She has started to reach for toys (though rarely catches them), loves Sophie the Giraffe, and adores laying in her crib and watching her lamb mobile. She likes going for runs and sitting up in her Bumbo chair, doesn't mind car rides, and spends most of her days happily snoozing in the Ergo while Mama chases after Big Sis.

Watch me grow:

1 month

2 months

3 months