Snapshots of Elsie at school...

Climbing outdoors

Being silly

Practicing her balancing

Little scientist

3-year-olds travel in gaggles- with her besties, Antoinette and Lucy.

Sylvie's first farmer's market on the square.

It was a very, very foggy day, but the rain held off so we packed up Kermit and headed downtown.

Elsie had a great time running and jumping all over the Capital- so many "balance beams" to walk on!  Sylvie enjoyed the people-watching, ambiance, fall colors, and local music.  This banjo-playing one-man band was favorite of both girls.  He even had a basket of shaker eggs ready for little hands to play along!  I caught the end of Elsie's dance, right before she noticed that she was out of cookie and desperately needed more before her dancing could resume.

Only a few weeks left before the market moves inside for the winter, so we were glad to be able to enjoy one last loop around the Capital before the snow flies!

Sylvie Harriet is 7 months!

Sylvie now weights 15.2 lbs (25%) and is 26 inches long (48%) (for those interested, Elsie was 14 lbs, 11 oz (8%) and 27 inches (62%) at this age).  She is between size 2 and 3 diapers (when she uses disposables), and mostly wears 6 month clothes.  Sleep is touch-and-go...she normally takes one 2 hour nap a day, and one 20-minute nap (or sometimes three 30-minute naps instead).  At night, she usually sleeps in 3-hour chunks.  This is consistent with Elsie's nighttime sleep patterns at her age, which I find interesting since new research is proving that most of baby's sleep habits are genetic and that night-time waking has very little to do with parenting or sleep training.

Sylvie is an expert sitter, preferring to play sitting up rather than on her tummy or back.  We usually don't even put pillows around her any more- she hasn't fallen over in weeks.  In fact, at her 6-month appointment Dr. Lo told us he hadn't ever seen a 6-month-old who could sit so well (I'm just a little proud)! 

Locomotion-wise, she is very fast and definitely gets where she wants to go, though I wouldn't say her motion is quite a full crawl yet: tummy off the ground, hands and knees, but kind of a caterpillar-type movement!   I blame her slow progress in the last month on the fact that whenever she gets frustrated with trying to crawl, Elsie rushes in to give her whatever she wants.  I can hardly be upset about having such a loving, gentle little empath around to help take care of her sister, though!

In the last month, Sylvie's two bottom teeth have poked through, and we are pretty confident her top two are now on the way!  It's a good thing, too, since this little girl LOVES to eat.  Chicken, asparagus, carrots, zucchini, bread, cereal, eggs, applesauce...and anything else she can get her hands on!  After only a few days of purees, Sylvie was already working her jaws to mash her food, so we quickly moved her on to "step two" foods, and we haven't looked back.  She loves to sit in her high chair at the table and be part of meal times, and is especially happy since we moved her chair to be next to Elsie's!

Sylvie continues to have a calm, happy, even temperament.  She is generally happy no matter the situation- sitting in a restaurant, in her bouncer, in the car, on the bed- she is content to go with the flow and nap when she can.

She loves to hold our hands and either stand or walk around; she also loves when we find something like a chair or box for her to hold on to so she can stand by herself. 

We still haven't decided what color Sylvie's hair is- sometimes it looks white, and other times it appears auburn or even brown.  The ends are definitely darker than the new hair coming in at the roots, though.  Elsie insists that Sylvie is going to have red hair just like her!

Watch me grow:

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

 And just for fun, Elsie at 7 months:

September quotes by Elsie

Mama:  "Okay, Elsie, time to put in your ear drops!"

Elsie:  "No, Mama, I will do it by my own self!"

Mama:  "Well, ear drops are medicine, and that is just for Mamas and Daddys to give out,  plus, how can you see your own ear to put your drops in?

Elsie:  "It's okay, Mama!  You can bring me my flashlight, and then I will be able to see my own ear!"

 
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Happy girl playing at the park with Papa Todd

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Upon waking in the morning:
"Shhhh, everyone!  I think there are some baby bunnies hopping outside our house!  We have to be very quiet so we don't scare them!"

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Upon returning home and driving the car into the garage:

"No, Mama, let's leave Kermit outside.  He needs more air, so he wants to be outside!"

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Those are some expressive eyebrows while she crawls!

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After picking up a piece of cheese that fell on the floor:

"Mama, can you get the Fur Cat off my cheese?"

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Picking raspberries, pears, and tomatoes at Miss Heather's house.

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The night before a "road race" for Elsie and her friends:

Mama:  "Are you going to run so fast tomorrow at the race with all your friends?

Elsie:  "Yes, but not TOO fast.  If I am too fast, then all my friends will feel sad that they aren't as fast as me!"

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First time riding by herself!

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Sesame Street:  "Now everybody go bananas!"
Elsie:  "Go bananas?  But Mama, bananas don't go!"

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After I picked her up from her first day of school (at 10:30 am):
"Okay, Mama, now let's go pick up Daddy and bring him home, too!"

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Waking up from a late-summer nap at the pool!

 

I designed some stationary for me to use!

Stationery Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Look for one in your mailbox soon!

Visit from Papa and Grandma Julie!

 

(Thanks, Julie, for the first few pictures!)

Elsie's first ballet class!

So excited while they wait for class to start!

Learning first position.

Practicing walking on their toes- Elsie ran.

Practicing sashaying...Elsie ran.

Elsie was supposed to be on the teacher's left, but didn't want to be apart from Adah.

I think this was the only point where Elsie was actually doing what she was supposed to be doing...

Elsie and her friend Adah had their first ballet class together last week.  After MONTHS of anticipation ("Can we please go to ballet class today, Mama?  Well, can you at least sign me up for ballet class today so that I can go tomorrow?"), the big day finally arrived. 

Elsie's actual performance in the class was less than stellar, but I am going to partially blame that on the fact that she did a road race a couple of days before, so she didn't quite understand why she should sashay or walk between the two lines in the room instead of RACING between them.  Why practice walking slowly on your toes when you can RUN???

While following directions during ballet class wasn't exactly Elsie's forte, but she LOVED the experience and can't wait to go back again next week!  I am hopeful that with another week's distance between her and the memories of the race, she will be a little more interested in actually doing the ballet lesson this time around...

Big Kid!

Sitting up, crawling, reading books, growing teeth...
you know, doing important Big Kid Stuff.

The Big Race: The Melissa Court Caper of 2013

Warming up and milling around the starting line,
where we learn that corralling preschoolers is much like corralling cats.

Final mental preparations.

Ready to go!

Last minute "strides" with a friend.

And they are off!

Daddy shows the way!  The backs of their shirts say "Future Marathoner"!

Some more happy cheerleaders!

Determined girl!

Coming 'round the bend in 3rd place!

A dramatic finish (no one wanted to go through the tape and they all had to be prompted).

Hooray!

Yes, she ran the whole race without letting go of her dandelion.

Contemplating her metal.

Sylvie enjoyed the festivities.

Can we do it again, please?  Let's go again!

 

A family pic.

Elsie was not entertained by the funny dance Mr. Bart did while trying to get her to smile.

Sylvie and Elsie shared a sister moment.

Tired out after the big run.