Lily's Song

Lily is having fun making up songs tonight! Here is her song about her "brothers and sisters", and jingle bells! haha!



And then she sang a song where the words went "My Mommy, My Mommy, My Mommy, my best friend evvvvveeerr since!!" Talk about melting my heart! :)

Violet Rolled!!

Violet just rolled over again! We haven't seen her roll since she did back at 8 weeks, so we're excited! She did it twice this time, so I don't think it's a fluke! Though of course as soon as I pulled out the camera she wouldn't roll for me! We're so proud of her though!

Ella's getting really close to rolling from back to tummy too. Lily rolled this way first, so it wouldn't surprise me if Ella did too. (Usually babies roll from tummy to back first, like Violet did) Ella gets up on her side and almost over. I'm keeping my eye on her, I expect her to get all the way over really soon!

Oh man they are growing up so fast!

Ella Laughing

Here's a little video from this morning of Ella laughing. Lily was running around in circles, and Ella thought it was the funniest thing!! This is the first real belly laugh I've heard from Ella! She chuckles a lot...but nothing this big! Best sound in the world! Also ths is the first time she's laughed for something other than being tickled (she's really ticklish!) or being bounced! Don't know why she thought it was so funny, but she did! Enjoy!

Random From Last Week

I had meant to get this posted before I published the 3 month blog, but never got a chance to put it together quickly before their 3 month "birthday". So I'm finally getting to share these pictures now! Just a few from our week!

Violet, getting much better at holding her head up in the bumbo:


Lily giving her barbie a bath after helping me give the girls a bath:


She had so much fun washing her doll, and was really careful and gentle with it, talking to it the whole time, saying "It's ok princess!":


Ella showing off her neck strength:



Tummy time together:


Violet getting the hang of it:


We've had some really great weather this past week, and are finally healthy enough to enjoy it! (Never posted it on the blog, but we had a pretty nasty stomach bug go through our house last week. Started with Lily last Sunday night, moved to me that night, then to Sean last Tuesday, and then Ella last Wednesday. Thankfully Violet stayed healthy! We're all better now!) It was so nice to get out for some fresh air finally!

Violet enjoying fresh air for the first time:


I noticed that Violet is really sensitive to sun light right away. Her eyes water when she has to look at something bright, so I threw a blanket over their play mat to provide some shade for the girls. Even then Violet still kept her eyes shut! Poor girl needs some sun glasses!

Ella enjoying the outside for the first time:


Lily really enjoyed getting outside after being cooped up all winter! She went rigt for her side walk chalk as soon as we got outside!


Then she wanted to push her baby in a stroller:



And then play in her car:

We are really enjoying this nice weather!

Ella sitting pretty:


More tummy time. I bug out Lily's old floor mirror, which really held the girls interest! I've never seen Violet hold her head up for so long! She was fascinated with her reflection!


Ella was too!


Sisters hanging out:


And lastly, a few from today! Happy St. Patrick's day from my little leprechauns! (Also happy birthday to my Uncle Johnny!)

3 Months Old

Dear Eleanor and Violet,

How are we already a quarter of the way through your first year already?!!? I wish I could magically slow things down! But at the same time, I'm relieved to be at 3 months now. This is when the real fun begins!

We've seen a lot of great development from you both this month! You both have gotten so strong! You both can lift your heads up fully on your tummy's now! You both will actually tolerate a few minutes of tummy time now because you can look around! You both still cry after about 15 minutes, but at least we can entertain you for a little while.

We haven't seen anyone roll over since Violet did last month. This leaves me wondering if Violet's roll was a complete accident. Both of you are trying really hard though. You'll both rock during tummy time like you are trying to roll, and even sometimes get on your side, but not quite all the way over yet! Keep working on it girls! I fully expect to see you both roll this next month! :)

Ella, you've gotten really strong legs this month. You love to stand on our laps! You also love to kick your legs. All month I've noticed you kicking at your toys on the floor mat! (Violet, you love to kick the toys on the mat too!)

Violet, you have started trying to sit up on your own! I put you down on your floor pillow, and you strain you neck out trying so hard to sit up! You smile so wide when I help you up! You really love sitting up, being about to look around the room! (Ella, you love to sit up too!)

We think you are both starting to teeth now. Both of you are munching on your hands like crazy, and starting to drool! You both love when we rub your gums too. I don't expect to see any teeth for another couple of months, but I'm pretty sure they are starting to work their way up!

The most exciting thing from this month is that you girls are starting to interact now!! You both love to be sitting up facing each other! You with make eye contact, then start "talking" to each other and smiling! Sometimes you will be on the nursing pillow, with one asleep, and the other will start talking, trying to get the others attention. You both just love interacting with each other! I can't wait to watch how you relationship grows!

The other extra special exciting thing from this month, you both JUST started laughing! In fact, I just heard Ella's laugh for the first time yesterday! I was tickling you Ella, and you chuckled a little! You did it twice! And Violet, I heard your laugh for the first time today! Same as with Ella, I was tickling you and you giggled! Both are just the most adorable things I've ever heard! I'm looking forward to this month being full of laughter!

It's amazing how fast you learn at this young age! The first two years are just so fun to watch, with you learning something new every day! You girls make me so proud with how much you've learned already! We all love you so much!

Love,
Mommy

Violet's 3 month photos:




Definitly teething!










Eleanor's 3 month photos:







Most of her photos looked like this....teething much?!





And the girls together:




Happy 3 months girls!!

30 months

Dear Lily,

2 and a half years old! Already! I can't believe it! Each month that passes seems to go by faster and faster! I wish I had some magic dust to slow down time! This month you really asserted your independence and tested our patience! We still love you though, and are happy to see you becoming so independent!

A big part of this month has been how your vocabulary is changing. You've always been a talker, and have a very large vocabulary. This month you really took that to a whole new level! We've been having little conversations with you for a few months now, but this month things really took off! Suddenly you were having full conversations with us, demonstrating not only your language skills, but also your memory skills and an amazing imagination! (We've even caught you telling a few lies...uh oh!) You love to just sit and talk about things with us. A favorite thing to do if we've done something exciting that day is to talk about everything we did that day during dinner, or in the car. For an example, we went to the aquarium on Valentine's day, and we had a blast talking on the way home about seeing the sharks, whales, fish and football (the sea lions had a football in their tank...for some reason you fixated on that as the most exciting part of not only that exhibit, but that trip! ). Days later you were still telling me about seeing the whales and the football!

Your memory has really amazed us this month! Every time we talk about Christmas, or see Christmas trees, you talk about Nannie and Papa getting our tree with us this year back in November! I was amazed the first time you recalled that memory to us! And every time you see a helicopter or plane you talk about Grampa B, and the short visit you had at his office last month! In addition to remembering thing related to people and things you love, you also have been memorizing your favorite books lately. You can recite "Brown Bear Brown Bear" all the way through. Just last night Daddy was reading "If You Give A Pig A Party" (for the same author of "If You give A Mouse A Cookie"), and you surprised him by reciting several of the pages, word for word! Now we've only had this book from the library for a little over a week, and have only read it a handful of times! Another fun test of you memory that we've been seeing for several months now is you recognize landmarks when we go places, and know where we are going. You know the routes to Little Gym, the library, and Jon and Becky's, among others!

Along the lines of your growing memory, you've been learning a lot of your favorite songs lately. You've known your ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle, and other nursery rhymes or finger play songs for a while now, so that's not new to this month. What is new is you learning more complicated songs like your favorite, Charlie Hope! You LOVE singing along to her CD now! You've been learning every song of hers this month. You've also been learning to sing along to "Tessie" and the other Redsox Drop Kick Murphy songs! You just really love singing right now! Every night before bed now, you and I like to sing a few songs together. Some you know and sing along with me, others are new to you...but you still try to sing along! :) I think this month I will work on teaching you some Broadway and Disney songs!

As I mentioned earlier, this month you have become really independent, and that sometimes has been trying our patience. You love to pick out your own clothes now, and insist on dressing and undressing yourself. Your rain boots have become your regular shoe for this reason. You insist on them, because they are the only shoes you have that you can put on yourself! Most of the time we just let you take the lead, but their are times when we just can't let you go out in some of the silly outfits you pick out. The tantrums that follow when we tell you no are trying, to say the least! These tantrums have been occurring anytime you don't get your way. We're trying hard to not give in and give you what you want. I know you don't understand now that we've got your best interest at heart...but hopefully someday you will!

A favorite new toy in the house has been your wood blocks. We finally opened them from Christmas, and you've been having so much fun building towers and castles. We like to play right along with you, and one of the thing we like to build most together is a zoo to put your animals in, which leads to (hopefully) a bit of pretend play. At least that's the direction I'm always aiming for. Some days you follow along and pretend with your animals...other days you just want to knock down the zoo or castle we've just built together! I don't mind! Both are equally as important to you learning!

The most exciting development from this month has without a doubt been your budding imagination! You've been playing at changing your baby dolls diapers for a while now...but recently this has become way more involved. You talk to your baby and practice all the steps, telling your baby what a big poopy it has, and putting diaper cream on their legs! You are constantly playing pretend with your babies, cooking for them, helping them do forward rolls and rocking them to sleep! Another way we've been seeing you use your imagination is you have started making up your own stories when reading a book to yourself. You look at the picture and make up the story based on what you see. Sometimes if it's a book you are familiar with, you will follow along closely to the real story...but with books you don't know well, you will completely make up what you think is going on! It's very fun to watch!

You continue to love being a big sister. We have to watch you really closely though, because you tend to show your love by being a little rough with your sisters. You just want to pick them up and hold them all the time! You continue to love helping us with them too. You like to help me make their bottles by pouring the water, and shaking it up. And you are always quick to run for a binky whenever they cry!

You totally surprised us this month with learning a phase in French. Out of nowhere you started saying "No tush pop". You're intending to say "Ne touche pas"-"Do not touch". Daddy says this a LOT to you :) and somewhere this month you picked it up and have started saying it all the time. You think it's funny to say that while grabbing for something you know you shouldn't be touching...like the oven door!

As always, we're so proud of how much you've learned this month! It's so exciting watching you grow and learn! We love you so much Lily!

Love,
Mommy

The silly faces of Lily at 2 1/2:

Conversations With Lily

Today Sean took Lily to the library after she woke up from her nap. While pulling up to the library they see a diseased tree with the bark peeling off. She pointed it out to Sean saying "Look at the spooky tree Daddy!" Sean explained to her the tree was sick, and that's was why the bark was peeling, to which she replied "Oh No! The tree is broken!". Sean also explained how the bark was like our skin.

Once they were home from the library, they shared their discovery with me, telling me all about the tree. Lily explained to me in a somber tone "Spooky tree sick! It's so so sad! The tree needs some medicine!" We went on talking about the tree for a while ( and she's still saying every now and then "Spooky tree, it's so so sad!") before moving onto talk about her "yummy tummy dinner".

It's so fun having these conversations with her now. The back and forth, and understanding really make our day sometimes! It's so fun to see a child's logic...if the tree is sick, it needs medicine! This really is a fun age! I look forward to hearing what else she has to say!

Happy half birthday Lily! Look for her 30 month post sometime soon. I'm halfway done writing it, but haven't gotten a chance to take pictures yet, as we are all sick (all but Sean...and Lily is now on the mend thankfully!)