Get Out! Outside that is...

Oh how our perspective is squewed here in Southern California.  Unless the temperature is 70-something, it is either too cold or too hot.  Lately it's been 'too cold' to play outside, which means it's been in the low to mid-60s.  And when we do go out, we bundle up.  It is amusing to stroll around town, and easily spot the tourist.  Locals are in Ugg boots and parkas, and tourists in shorts and t-shirts.  We did finally get a nice, sunny and 'warm' 80 degrees on Saturday, so we took Ellis on her maiden visit to the beach.  It was also Leyton's first trip in a long time, and finally... she LOVED it!  The water was so cold, about 55 degrees, but that didn't stop her from wading out as far as Ryan and I were comfortable to let her go.  Eventually her little feet got so cold she had trouble standing, so a little wave knocked her over and she got all wet.  Even then, we had to drag her away.  It's rather high maintenance to take two babies to the beach, so we will probably alternate taking just Leyton.  

Ellis is still rapidly outgrowing her clothes.  I had to pack away several 9 month shirts and jeans that are too tight around her belly.  She is a pro at rolling over, but only from her back to her tummy.  As soon as you put her down, she kicks her leg over and she is on her tummy.  She is happy there about 12 seconds, and then starts to fuss because she is stuck.  I can't complain though.  Other than putting herself in tummytime, she is possibly the best behaved baby on Earth.  She occasionally is fussy in the afternoon, but only if I have lugged her around and messed up her naps.  She can finally reach her toes, and she can grab anything within reach now, no problem.  Whatever she grabs is then immediately pulled into her mouth.  No teeth are poking through yet, but she is a drool monster.  And, very excitingly, we are fairly certain she is actually growing hair!  She has as much hair as her sister did at 12 months -which ain't saying much, but still.  Just another thing on her list to do Bigger, Better, Faster than her sister.  Watch out, LC!  She's gunning for you!

It's a good thing Ellis is so well-behaved, because her sister is not.  Leyton is often up to no good.  Whether it's hitting her sister with a doll, running away from Mommy, or just sassing in general, Leyton can be a challenge.  Her new thing is yelling "NO THANK YOU!" and running into her room and slamming the door.  It is so amusing it diffuses my anger.  Of course, she can also be such a sweet little girl.  She gives the best hugs and kisses.  Her new favorite activity is dressing her princesses up in 'new' Play-Doh clothes and hats.  "Ariel new blue dress" is a common phrase.  She can count up to ten, but she gets stuck at 4, so you have to give her 4, and then she can take it from there.  She still loves to sing, and has added 'Winnie the Pooh' and 'Mary had a Little Lamb' to her set list.  Still very picky with her clothes... girlfriend will NOT wear jeans or these really cute corduroy pants I bought for her.  Sigh.  Volatile, unpredictable, passionate... all good words to describe this -and most, two year olds.  Just look at this sweet face.

Now, see that lip?  She busted it during a fit of rage.  She threw herself on the floor (I think because I asked her to get in her highchair for lunch) but misjudged and smashed her lip on her table.  Drama can be painful.

Meanwhile, Ellis is just chillin.

I am enjoying this sweet baby as long and as much as I can.

Because she's watching and waiting...

And she'll be 'terribly two' soon enough.

My new favorite picture!  

She LOVED the beach.

Even after she fell down and got all wet.

She went right back out.

A Quick Update

Wheh.  Where to begin.  As I type, neither kid is asleep, but both are in their crib because it's naptime.  Naptime and bedtime are challenging.  Before a couple of weeks ago, both girls went to bed at 8pm.  Ryan bathed and read to Leyton and I nursed Ellis.  But then Ryan had a series of night events, leaving me solo on the night shift.  Trying to get two tired kids to bed at the same time didn't work.. for ANY of us.  So Ellis now goes to bed at 7.  Naptime is supposed to be at 1.  Leyton now pitches an absolute fit prior to nap (and prior to hand washing, diaper changing, coming inside, or doing anything that she doesn't really want to do), and then generally takes an hour or so to actually fall asleep.  Not sure what I am going to do once we have to put her in a big girl bed.  But anyway, this is the only time of day I have to post... and clean.. and eat lunch.  No wonder I am in bed by 8:30, even on the weekends!

Ellis rolled over a couple of weeks ago, but hasn't done it since.  She rolls easily onto both sides to get any and everything into her cute little mouth.  She and Leyton are interacting more and more, which is very sweet to see.  Leyton seems to have accepted the fact that Ellis is here to stay.  She will even share on occasion.  This week, for example, she shared her cold.  So both kids have snotty noses.  But when are kids not sick?!  The worst part is not being able to take them anywhere.  Not to the park or library or bible study... I don't want to make other kids sick too.

We let Leyton watch a couple of princess movies this week.  Turns out our neighbor has a whole library of movies to choose from, so we watched The Little Mermaid and The Princess and the Frog.  Ariel and Tiana are the favorite princesses in this house, so those movies did not disappoint.  We also played a lot of Play Doh, until Mommy accidently left it out all night.  Now it is 'stuck' and we need "New Day Doh, Pease."  Her vocabulary continues to grow and she chats and sings all day.  She makes us laugh out loud with some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth.  She is such a smart little kid.  Too bad she's got my number.  I feel like I spend all day correcting her behavior.  Not my fault.... she spends all day testing her (and MY) limits!

Mommy had a birthday on Sunday.  I celebrated with cupcakes, a Superbowl party, and by getting a much needed haircut.  I had to get bangs, because postpartum I lose a LOT of hair, especially up front.  As it grew back last time, it looked terrible, so I am trying to camouflage that this time with bangs.  I also signed up for my first marathon in three years.  The last one I did was when I was 6 weeks pregnant with Leyton.  I am going to do the Rock and Roll marathon here in San Diego in the beginning of June.  I had my first official 'long' run last Saturday.  I did 6 miles.  My hip still hurts.  Wish me luck!  I have no time goal.  Just to finish marathon #9.

Ryan is very busy with work, generally working 10 to 12 hour days.  His squadron is prepping for deployment, so there is a lot to do.  So he works all day and then comes home and lets kids crawl all over him so Mommy doesn't go completely nuts.  He is such a good daddy and husband.

We have booked our flight for Mason and Liesl's wedding in March.  We are flying into and out of Roanoke and will be staying in a cabin on Claytor Lake with Poppy and BB.  We are excited to see everyone and to celebrate the wedding.  Not to mention that Ryan and I have a soft spot for Blacksburg, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't dreading the flights.  DREADING.  And the time change. And the sleeping (or lack thereof).  But it's not every day a brother gets hitched, so we wouldn't miss it!

Guess the girls decided to nap!  Blog is done, lunch is eaten.. time to clean!  Sorry, only one picture this time.

Couldn't help it... so stinking cute!

I would translate, but I don't know the words either.  I do know she says 'Jaq and Gus' when she stops singing, which everyone knows is the name of the mice that help Cinderella.

Ellis is 4 months old!!

Baby Ellis is now a quarter of a year old.  But she looks more like a 9 month old.  At her 4 month doctor visit, she weighed 17 pound and 4 ounces (94%) and was 25 inches long (74%).  I know it's not a good idea to constantly compare your kids, but I do anyway.. and at 4 months Leyton was also 25 inches, but just 14 pounds.  Leyton didn't weigh 17 pounds until she was 9 months old.  Which is why Ellis is now almost completely in 9 month clothes.  I just have to roll up the pants and sleeves a bit, but they fit just fine.

Ellis had a little bit of sleep training last week.  Between the hospital and travel, she had switched her night and day eating schedules.  She would nurse every 2-3 hours at night, and only twice during the day (though I tried to feed her more.. you can only lead a horse to water).  So last Friday, after SEVERAL people had asked if I was doing okay and if I was getting any sleep (which I wasn't), we took action.  We moved Ellis to the other end of the house, and I vowed to not nurse her before 1am and then I would slowly move that time back each night.  She cried some, but not for hours, and last night she slept from 8pm until 5:30am this morning!!!!  Woohoo!!  We are back on track!

I also think the little one may be teething.  She spends every waking hour desperately trying to get something in her mouth to chew on.  So she may be getting teeth, or she may just like chewing on stuff.  She is still not rolling over yet.  The doctor asked how much tummy time she was getting.  I explained that tummy time with a big sister running around can be rather dangerous.  The doctor laughed and explained how her second child took longer to roll over and crawl for the same reason.... if the little one is on the floor, the big one is all over her.

Speaking of the big one, Leyton is still rapidly getting bigger.  The shoes that I bought her are now too small, so she is now a size 7, and most 24 month pants are too short (unless they can pass as leggings now).  Her vocabulary has really blossomed.  She is now using sentences and she can say most colors, sing songs, and count to three.  Her favorite saying is, "Mommy sit PLEEEASE!"  The 'Please' gets louder and more drawn out the longer I wait to respond.  At least she uses her manners when making demands.  One of my favorite things she says is "money."  She calls her Bunny "Money," even though she can say 'B' sounds... she says 'bumble bee' and 'bubble'... but anyway... she walks around the house saying, "Money, Money, Money."  It's amusing.

No more potty action.  We ask all the time if she needs to go and she always says 'No.'  Dora the Explorer has now beat out Princess when she gets to watch videos while Ellis nurses.  This makes me very happy.  I think Dora is much more age appropriate.  But we still play plenty of princess, so that phase isn't nearly over yet.

Cool kid

Big girl!

Leyton was very taken with Mommy's pretty toe nails, so we painted hers pink.

Ryan had Monday off for MLK, so we took Ellis and LC to the zoo.  It was Ellis' first trip.  She slept the entire time.  Leyton wanted to see Dumbo (elephants),Coqui (frogs), ducks, turtles, Boots (monkeys), and Money/Bunnies.

Ellis now sleeps with her Dodo.  She nurses it like Leyton does.   I usually put her down sleepy but awake, and give her Dodo, turn on her Glowworm, and she falls asleep!

Cave at the zoo

Ryan took the official 4 month photos.  He congratulated himself on such great pics.  I told him it's easy to take good pictures when you have a good model!

I don't remember exactly what I was saying here, but I know it was along the lines of 'GENTLE!!'  I find myself saying that a lot lately.

December 5 Family Photo Shoot

Ryan bought us a TroopSwap (like a Groupon but for military only) for a photo session, so we used it for our Christmas cards and some cute art for our wall.  They were taken a few blocks from our house at the Marriott Hotel and on the San Diego Bay.  Ellis was wonderful for the entire shoot.  Leyton wanted to play with the ducks... but we still managed a few good ones.

Ellis is 3 months old AND Happy New Year!

Baby Ellis turned 3 months old the day we flew to Kentucky.  On her doctor's follow-up visit post meningitis, she weighted 15 pounds, 12 ounces (95th percentile) and was 24.5 inches long (75th percentile).  Such a big girl!  And still so sweet.  Her sleeping patterns are still all over the place, as is her eating schedule, but now that we are home and she is older, I plan to try and get her on a more predictable routine.  I'll let you know how that goes!  She can't roll over, but she is very close.  We had also planned to get her out of the newborn napper that she sleeps in and into the flat crib.  She slept on the flat crib the entire time we were away for Christmas, and woke up at least 3 times a night.  UGH!  She just sleeps so much better all snuggy in the napper, so we will have to figure something out.  Meanwhile I should probably check the weight limit on that thing.

Sister Leyton is talking better every day.  For instance, she can now say 'poop.'  The other day she wanted to watch Princesses on the computer, and I told her she could if she went poop or pee in the potty.  She just cried and ran off.  A short while later I told her it was naptime, and suddenly "Poop! Poop!  Poop!" She conveniently only has to poop or pee when there is something she would like to get out of.  Although, she DID pee one day and got to watch Cinderella.  But nothing since then.  

Leyton and Ellis are both battling colds right now, so they are cranky and sound like Boston Terriers.  With all the travel and people visiting we did for Christmas, if all we end up with is a cold, I'll be happy.  To polish off the family visiting, we were happy to see Aunt Sonya, Uncle Ben, McKinley and Piper when we got back to San Diego.  We all went to see 'Work' where Daddy goes to fly helicopters.

Leyton thought it would be lots of fun to run amuck among the helos and missiles

The family checking out 'Work'

Ellis' 3 month photo shoot.  I didn't notice until now that her bow doesn't match.

And her dress was too short.  I wanted to get a picture of her in to before she was too big.  She is also sporting a cloth diaper, which she rarely wears unfortunately.  She is so chubby, and they are much more bulky than disposables, so I have trouble getting pants on her with cloth diapers.  Leyton is the opposite.  She is so skinny, that she looked rather pitiful in disposables that she wore over Christmas.  Plus, they gave her the equivalent of baby jock itch.  Yuck!

I also planned to take more/better pictures with her 3 month sign and a change of clothes.... but that hasn't happened yet, so these may just have to do.

At a playground in Balboa Park

These are probably my favorite pictures of Ellis

Thanks Aunt Sonya and Uncle Ben for the sweet hat!!!

Happy 2013 Everyone!!