2 Years, 10 Months

Dear Lily,

I'm sorry it's been a few months since I've written a letter to you! It's gotten hard to find a time to sit down uninterrupted to write one of these out lately! I'm trying my hardest to catch up! I do take photos every month though! You've grown so far in the last 4 months since I've written to you! You are learning new things left and right!

A big theme in your life has been music. You are still making up songs all the time! You love to walk around the house making up lyrics as you go! It cracks us up every time! I'm so glad that you love music so much! You also love to listen to music, especially things with drums! And you love to play with your musical instruments, and the little toy keyboard. I hope you continue to love music as much as you do now! It's a big part of Mommy's life, and I hope the same for you.



Your play has gotten a lot more developed over the last few months. You love t play pretend with me. You'll go through stories with me, pretending to cook or go shopping. I recall one day playing with you, and you were pretending to make pancakes. You kept asking me what I wanted in on my pancakes. "You want strawberries on your pancakes Mommy? Here you go!! You want whipped cream Mommy? Here you go!! You want ketchup Mommy....no no no!" You have such a fun sense of imagination now!

Another thing you love to play with me is with your blocks. Our new thing together is to build a zoo or a farm out of blocks, then play with your animals in the structures we made. One day we made a theme park for the animals to play in, complete with a grand entrance to the park and a huge slide! "Excuse me Mr. Elephant, can I have your ticket please? Enjoy your day sir!!" We had a lot of fun that day taking turns being the ticket master, and making the animals go down the slide!

Another fun play that we have started this month is acting out stories. Right now we've just been sticking to "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and "Three Little Pigs". You like to be Goldilocks and Baby Bear, and the Wolf. You still need help remembering your lines, but you have fun! I've been patiently waiting until you were an age where we could start doing this, so it's exciting for me! I can't wait to add some new stories to our repertoire!

Another thing I've been patiently waiting to do with you is writing out your own stories! We finally are starting to do that! You've written 2 stories so far while drawing. Your first was a short two page story about Charlie and Lola. It read "Charlie, Lola, and Marv, and Lotta are on the paper. Charlie and Lola have and orange car! They are taking a trip!" That was written a couple months ago. Last week we tried again to write a story. It started by you telling me this silly story about going to work on a spaceship, and learning Spanish from the people at work! I saw an opportunity there, and asked if we could draw some pictures and write down your story. We had a really fun time writing this one down! Here is your story: "One day Lily took her spaceship to work! She explored the planet! Lily found a marshmallow on the planet! She ate it! It was too yucky! She threw it in the trash can! Lily broke the marshmallow! Lily met a head on the planet. The head said 'Scoopoo!' Lily said 'CiCi!' Lily has a spoopoo!" By the end you were starting to loose interest with coloring, and the story got a little silly, but we had a lot of fun writing and coloring together! I hope we continue to make up stories together!

Drawing artwork for the story above:


From the story I just wrote about, you can see that you have been silly lately and are making up words! This has been a HUGE theme in your life lately!! You are often speaking weird words that you have made up, and tell me you are speaking Spanish! It's so funny to see you making this stuff up!

In addition to making up your own words, you've also been using a lot of baby talk lately. In fact you've been pretending to be a baby a lot lately. You seem to be having a hard time with growing up and becoming a big girl lately. I'm sure it has something to do with your sisters. You suddenly want to use bibs again, don't want to use the potty anymore, refuse to relinquish the binky, and have even asked to nurse a few times. You often will say "I'm not a big girl! I'm a baby!" It's sad to see you struggling with moving on from being a toddler to a preschooler. I'm struggling with it too! I wish you could always stay my baby, but at the same time, it's so exciting to see how much you are growing up and learning! When you are having a hard time with this, we try to give you extra cuddles, and remind you of all the fun things big girls get to do that babies don't get to do, like go to the park, eat lollipops, and go to little gym!

Speaking of Little gym, you've come so far in the last few months! You are now able to do your forward rolls completely by yourself, and donkey kicks, walk across the beam, spider crawl, and swing on the bar, all by yourself!! You've even done warm up by yourself before! We only have this summer left of parent child classes!! :( In the fall you are moving up to the gymnastic class, and we're going to be left behind the glass to watch you! I'm so sad that we are moving on from those parent child classes! I've had so much fun playing with you in the gym for the last 2 years!
I know you will also be sad to no longer see Miss. Lori every week! It will be fun though to see what you can do on your own!

You continue to assert your independence any way you can. You want to do things yourself or help with everything, especially getting dressed, brushing your teeth, and making your meals! You LOVE to help me make lunch! You like to spread the peanut butter or mayo on your sandwiches, and get the water for your bottle. You also love to help me bake! The other week you had a fun time helping me make Daddy's birthday cake! You've also been really interested in listening to recipes. You often as me to tell you the recipe to make certain things! We go through simple things like making a PB&J sandwich, or a cheese burger, to cookies and cakes! You really like talking through the steps to make lots of things!

Unfortunately things aren't all good at this age. You've been testing our limits a lot lately. You do things like jump in the couch, scream at the top of your lungs, and walk circles around your sister, pretending to step on them. I admit, sometime it is hard to stay calm when you are testing us. We've started singing a calm down song with you though when you get frustrated, which has been helping sometimes. You are always quick to suggest I sing it when I need to calm down too!


The most exciting thing in your cognitive development over the last few months is you're beginning to recognize letters!! You can recognize L, B, O, and T most times, and have also been able to point out a few other letter correctly!! You also have been working on sounding out words to figure out what the first letter of the word is! We'll her you say "Ba, ba, ba...ball! Ball starts with B!!" You're favorite is to sound out Lily though. Every time you see and L you exclaim "L, L starts with Lily!! That's my name!"

You seem to have a love hate relationship with our sisters right now. I expect this to last for a while! They are at the stage now when they are starting to reach for and play with your toys, which you really don't like! It's been hard getting you to share toys with them. Usually you are really good though and will pick out a new toy for your sisters if you want to take away the toy they have. You also continue to be really good at helping me with them. You love having little jobs to do. And you love to tell be "I'm and good big sister helper! I get the bottles, and diapers and toys!" You do adore your sisters, even if they play with your toys sometimes. You love giving them hugs, and kisses, and get just as excited as I do when they roll over or get up to their knees! You are a great big sister Lily!


Right now we are in the middle of what we are calling our summer of adventures. We've made a plan to go on some sort of adventure each weekend this summer. Last summer was had with me being pregnant with twins, so we didn't get to do as much as we would have liked with you, so we are trying to make it up to you this summer. So far we've taken you to the zoo for the first time, a Renaissance faire for the first time, the aquarium, and to your first real movie ("How to Train Your Dragon") and also to see Shrek 4 on a special date with Mommy! We're also going to the Berkshires next week with Nannie, and then to Vermont for the 4th of July! And we're hoping to go to the beach sometime, and Boston, and who knows where else! We love getting you out to new places! And you are having a fun time seeing and trying new things!

We are so so so proud of how much you have grown and learned over the past few months Lily! You are becoming such an independent little lady! You almost aren't a toddler anymore, you are almost a preschooler! It makes me so sad how fast time has flown, and how quickly you grew up. Before I know it you are going to be going to school! Please slow down! I'm not ready for you to be growing up this fast! I love you so much Lily!

Love,

Mommy


What I get when I ask you to smile for me now:

Tom boy at heart:


Helping in the garden:


2 years, 10 months photos:

Happy Father's Day!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband!! I couldn't have asked for a better father to our children! I love you!!

Dear Violet

Dear Violet,

Happy half birthday pumpkin!!! I can't believe it's already been 6 months since you joined our family! It's been flying by! I wish you and your sister would stop growing so fast! I already miss those newborn days! But at the same time, every day that passes with you gets funner and funner!

You've gotten so strong this past month! You are now rolling both ways whenever you please. Any time I leave you on the floor, I come back to find you in a new position! Not only are you rolling all over the place, you are also break dancing all over the floor in circles! You both have been doing this for a couple months now, but it seems to have gotten more extreme this month, with more purpose! You are also starting to learn to sit up unassisted. You are not to sturdy yet though, so I can't step away from you while you are sitting yet! You'll get there this month I'm sure! I've also caught you starting to try to get onto you knees a few times! You push your stomach as far as you can off the floor and get up on your toes! Will we see creeping of crawling this month?


You have become a solid food eating fiend! You LOVE to eat solid food! You never turn down a spoonful of something, and are always happy with every new food you've tried so far! So far you've had apple sauce, banana's, carrots, sweet potato, and peaches. Peaches was the only one that you didn't love, but you still ate it. Banana's I think are your favorite though! You gobble those up! You get so impatient when I have to feed you and your sister at the same time though. When I'm giving her a spoonful, you get so upset and whine or cry until I give you another bite! You also love to play with your spoon a lot. You get so upset when I have to take the spoon back to feed you! Must be soothing to your poor teething teeth.

Since you having been eating more solids now, you've started to be less interested in breast feeding and bottles. You've dropped a bottle, so now you get three 5oz bottles a day. And we nurse a few times a day, mostly in the am and pm. It seems to be more of a comfort thing for you now. I'm so glad we stuck with it, even though it has been such a struggle, especially with you. We're in that nice bonding stage now of our nursing relationship! I love when you look up at me sweetly while nursing, and reach up to touch my cheek! That just makes my day! You also love to grab at my nose, and pull my glasses off my face! You are also easily distracted during nursing sessions now! You keep looking around at every little noise! So nosey! Still, I'm so glad we are at this point, and hope to continue nursing you as long as possible!

These past 6 months you have been the happiest baby I have ever come into contact with! You are so easy going! Every time someone meet you the comment on your beautiful smile! Daddy and I always joke about what a big flirt you are! It's adorable now...but I think in several years Daddy will start losing all his hair if you continue to be so flirty! Right now we love how happy and cheerful you are though!


Like your sister, you have become more and more vocal over the last month! You love to show off your voice with your coos and shrieks! The funniest thing you've discovered with your voice this month is how to click your tongue! I was stilling on the computer typing up something with you in my lap on 6/7, and suddenly you clicked your tongue! We both started laughing...it was so funny! You continue to click your tongue all the time! Another fun noise you've discovered how to make is a raspberry sound! You've started blowing them on my arms a lot now! It's hysterical!

My favorite new thing you've learned to do this month is give hugs! When we pick you up now, you wrap your little arms around us, and nuzzle your head into our neck!! It is the sweetest thing in the world! Truly melts my heart! You are also trying to either give kisses, or eat our faces off! You grab my face, and move in with your mouth open wide, and then attach yourself to my cheek, or nose! It's adorable, and slobbery!

You seem to adore the cats! Ouija, next to your sisters, seems to be your best friend! You just light up whenever you see her!! You love when she bumps heads with you, and curls up next to you, so you can brush your fingers through her fur. They both are so gentle with all you girls, even though you pull at their whiskers and try to bite their ears. They have always just patiently took all the gentle abuse. I hope you continue to have a love for animal though. I've always been a very sensitive to animals, and I can tell you are going to be the same way as me!


You continue to adore your sisters! You face just lights up when you see either of them! You think Lily is the funniest person alive, and you have such a sweet spot for Ella. Whenever I put you on the floor with Ella, you always reach immediately for her hand to hold, and you start talking to each other. Of course like any sibling relationship, you have your little squabbles over toys. Ella, unfortunate for you, almost always wins when you are going after the same toy. But you are so easy going, you often will be happy with just watching your sister play. It truly is a joy watching the toy of you play together though!

We love you so much Violet! Having twins isn't easy, but I am thankful every day that we were giving this wonderful opportunity to watch two of our children grow up right next to each other! I couldn't imagine our family without you and Ella being twins! It's crazy some days, but really we are blessed! We are so proud of how far you have come already! Even though you are a full 2.5lbs lighter than you sister, you don't let us know it at all in your development! I can't wait to see what next month holds for you and your sister! Stop being so eager to grow up so fast though! I love you Fuzzy!!

Love,

Mommy



Fast asleep in the jumperoo:



With best friend Ouija, trying to eat her ear:



Still teething, and still no teeth!

Dear Eleanor,

Dear Eleanor,

Happy half birthday sweetie!!! I can't believe half of our first year is already gone! It makes me so sad how fast you and your sister are growing up! But it also makes me proud, and a little bit relieved that we've survived thus far! :)

In my last letter to you girls, you were just barely starting to roll. Now you are rolling all over the place!! Not only are you rolling over from your front to your back, you are now going from your back to your front!! You figured that out on June 4th! I was so proud...you've been trying to figure out how to roll that way for a couple months now! Now every time I put you on your back, you roll to your tummy immediately! Every time I leave you on the floor, I come back to you in a different position! You are also break dancing all around the floor too, turning yourself around in circles! You've been doing that for a few months though, so it's not new...but it seems to have picked up this month! You are not creeping yet, but I think you are very close. I've caught you a few times this week trying to get up to your knees! You also stretch out your legs and get up on your toes in a plank like position for a few seconds. I think this next month I'll be seeing you get a lot more mobile! You've also gotten a lot sturdier at sitting up unassisted! I still need to be there next to you to catch you when you wobble, but you're getting better at it!


We've continued down the path of solid foods this month, trying a few new things! Your first real food after cereal was apple sauce! At first you didn't seem to care for it, but after your first meal of apples was finished, you loved them! Now that is a staple food in the house. You and your sister gobble up your food when apple sauce is mixed in! I think it may be your favorite so far! You've also tried bananas, peaches, carrots and sweet potato. With each new food I give you, you make a funny face the first few bites, as if you are saying "What in the world is this Mommy?". But after those first few bites, you always seem to love the food! You are a good eater now! Messy, but good! You are a little better than your sister about being patient while waiting for your turn with the spoon, but you still get a little upset sometimes when I need to give Violet a few spoonfuls, making you wait!

As for your other food, you are still getting breast fed with supplements of formula. Since starting the solids though, both breast feeding and bottle feeding have been a little messed up! We've dropped a bottle, so now you are only getting 3 bottles of 5 oz a day...and usually you don't even finish that! As for breast feeding, you nurse a few times a day. It's been hard having a low supply, but I'm so glad I stuck with it. We are now getting all the great bonding benefits of breast feeding! I love our quite one on one time together when I'm feeding you! For the last couple of months you've been reach up and touching my face, or grabbing my nose while nursing! I love this stage of the nursing relationship, and I'm so glad we were able to get to this point! I'm hopeful we'll be able to continue nursing for a long while now!


You've become a lot more vocal this month! You've been shrieking and "talking" a lot! You like to talk to your sisters, making a lot of coo like sounds. You also when you are mad babble "Mum mum mum". Lily use to do the same thing! You also discovered how to make a raspberry sound by pressing your lips together and blowing. Very cute! I wonder if I'll see some real babbling from you sometime this month! I'm excited to see what you say next!! (As I write this I can hear you in the other room talking away! Lots of vowel sounds, Ahh, EEE, AHOOO, YEA! Very cute!)

You and your sisters are the most ticklish little monkey's I've ever seen! You love getting tickled on the belly, and just shriek with joy! You're laugh is just so infectious too!

Over the last 6 months you've developed a few nicknames. Of course there is Ella, which is what we call you most of the time. I've also been calling you Ellie a lot lately. Those two names have lead to Ella Bella and Ellie Bellie! Other nicknames are Ellaphant, Ellagater, Ellabellerina, and the usually monkey, princess and squishy. I love that you have so many nicknames!!


You continue to adore both of your sisters. I hope this keeps up for a very long time! You love when I put you and Violet on the floor facing each other! You talk, and play, and touch each other faces!! (Or maybe sometimes it's yell, fight and scratch each others faces! ) You do fight over toys, usually Sophie the giraffe, which is both of your favorite toys. You, being the "dominant" twin, usually win! I hope someday you'll learn to let your little sister have a turn!

As always, we are so proud of you Ella! It's amazing to me to look back over the last 6 months, and see all you've learned in that short time! It's flown by so fast already! I can't believe you are already sitting up and getting ready to creep...to me it seems like we should still be trying to get you to hold your head up! I look forward to seeing how much you'll learn in this next month!! Maybe we'll see a tooth make an appearance, or maybe you'll start creeping or even crawling? We love you so much Ellie Bellie!

-Love
Mommy





Playing is such hard work!




Photo shoot out take (aka "It's too sunny out Mommy!!")

6 Months!!!

Happy half birthday girls!!! We are SO proud of you both! These last 6 months have been a lot of hard work, but so much fun! We're so blessed to have both of you in our lives!

Love,
Mommy and Daddy









Photo shoot out takes:

Hard to get you to both look at me!


Sisters means there is always someone there to catch you when you fall!! (aka...Violet needs more practice sitting up!!)


Open your eyes Violet!!



Full 6 month letters for each to come!

Birthday At the Aquarium

We spent Sean's 28th birthday this year at the aquarium, eating sea food, and of course, a stop at the book barn for my book loving husband!

It never ceases to amaze me how much there really is to do at this small aquarium! We've been members since Lily was about 4 months old, and have been so many times, and there are still new things for us to do! This trip we saw / did 3 new things! First was a new exhibit, that just opened up since the last time we were there...jelly fish!! All different kinds! They are so pretty to look at!

Second new thing was the bird exhibit! We've never gone into the cages to feed the birds before, and to be honest, I'm not sure we'll be doing it again any time soon! They give you a little stick with bird seed stuck tot he end, and send you into this cage with what's got to be hundreds of birds. Of course they come flying for the food! It was fun at first, and Lily was delighted to have this one little green bird eating from her stick.






Then they started swooping at her, and it scared her, so she handed the stick over to me, and I had a couple birds land on my arm!! Scared the living daylights out of me! :) We id have one pretty yellow bird stay with our stick for a bit.


Lily was still scared though!


I ended up finding a spot in a tree to ditch the stick that still had food on it, so we could leave. It was fun, but just made both of us a little to nervous!

All 3 of my girls...still haven't got a decent picture of the 3 of them!


The 3rd new thing we saw was the bull frogs singing in the marsh. We usually go to the aquarium in the winter/spring/fall months, so we often see the marsh with all the tadpoles...but have never seen the frogs before! It was fun running around the boardwalk finding with frog was singing!


Of course we stopped to check out the penguins and the sea lions!


This is the huge male sea lion they have. I've never seen him come out of the water like this before! It's like he was checking us all out! He was just out of the water for a minute or so, but it was really neat to see really how large he is!


I really love that we can go to this aquarium so many times, and still have a different experience each time!

I also have a few pictures to share relating to Sean's birthday.

Here is one of the pictures Lily painted for her Daddy:


She said that it was a picture of Daddy, with his eye brow, eyes, and nose!

Painting another picture:


And then showing off one more picture. She was so excited that she made gray by mixing all the colors!


And here she is helping me frost the spice cake that I made yesterday:



(Note to self...left the cake cool completely before trying to frost with butter cream frosting!! It kept melting! I was in a rush though to get it down before her nap! Also need to figure out a better way to mix pumpkin puree into the frosting...it didn't mix as well as it usually does!)

And the birthday boy blowing out his candles with a little help from Lily and Ella:


I hope you had a wonderful birthday sweetie!!