18 Months Old!

Yes, that is our child...sitting in a strainer...she did this all on her own I want you to know!

Our baby is 18 months old today. She continues to be quite the little talker, and is speaking more in sentences and short phrases than just individual words. She has recently begun singing her ABC's-some of the letters are omitted but she's got it down pretty good. Grandma introduced her to a Disney sing a long of "Bippity Boppity Boo" from Cinderella, so she requests that OFTEN. (It's chapter 17 on the DVD in case you needed to know) She still is a great eater and has cut way back on feeding Bailey from her high chair. Lately she entertains herself by running and falling on the floor, or by "hiding" under the pillows on the couch. Bubbles have also become one of her infatuations-she LOVES chasing them and popping them. Mike and I just got a little hippo that blows bubbles when you squeeze the handle, which is great since apparently we are now too lazy to dip the wand in and blow our own oxygen. Another huge milestone for us (and I hope I am not jinxing it by writing it down) is that Carina has been going to bed without a fuss. We have had the same bedtime routine forever, and still she would always cry before falling asleep. Now after goodnight kisses and sweet dreams, she goes to sleep peacefully. I cannot express enough how incredible this is for us. If only she would sleep past 5 am and wake up without crying...sigh...all in good time I suppose. She also threw what I am considering her first full blown tantrum the other day. We were playing out in the front yard, and she kept trying to run into the street. After several warnings and physical relocations, I deemed playtime outside over and took her inside. She proceeded to cry and roll around on the floor for a while. In a sadistic way it was actually kind of funny, but when she had calmed down I told her simply that we play on the sidewalk or the grass, not in the street. Mommy's job is to keep you safe, blah blah blah...I kept it short and life moved on. I don't know if sunk in or if I handled it effectively, but we were both pretty exhausted afterwards! She is such an amazing little person and I know there will be many more fits down the road, but we love her to pieces and we will all figure things out together as a family. Happy 18 month birthday Bean! We love you sooooooo much!

Papa & Gigi's Visit!

Last Saturday, my parents drove their motor home up to our house to stay for a few days. Carina was so excited (and surprised too I think) to see them in person instead of just on the web cam! They ended up parking their motor home in our driveway since the spot on the street that they usually use was occupied by a few cars. Although they blocked the sidewalk and put a very tiny dent in our rain gutter, it was a perfect fit...you know you're a home owner when the sight of a 39 foot RV backing up towards your house makes you want to throw up a little bit!

*pic coming soon!*

Sunday morning we drove to Sausalito to go to the Bay Area Children's Discovery Museum. What a fun place! They have an entire area devoted to toddler's called the Tot Spot. No big kids allowed! Everything there is hands-on learning fun, and it is so nice to put Carina down to go explore knowing it was designed specifically for kids her age (or as the teacher in me would say: developmentally appropriate). She had a great time, and as usual it was fun for all of us to watch her play and discover new things. Below is a picture of her in the "pond room"-it had round waterbeds for ponds, and big buttons on the walls of different animals that made the animal sound when you pushed them.

They also have an art studio there, and Carina headed straight for the painting area of course! I had to fight the urge to steer her towards a less messy activity...it was difficult but I let her go for it! I am not going to be one of those mom's who freaks out about their kid getting dirty...plus I was armed with baby wipes and a change of clothes if necessary!

The museum also has a great outdoor play area, which Carina also really loved, especially the water play. Forget the fact that although it was a beautiful sunny day, this place sits right on the bay so it was windy and about 52 degrees! So of course she wants to play in the water...sigh...oh well it was still fun.
After having some snacks and doing a little damage at the gift shop, we headed home. Mike and I ended up buying a year long (tax deductible!) membership, so now we can go back with up to six people if we want! The membership also includes admission to children's museums all over the country, including one by my parent's house and my sister's house in Colorado. Since we're going to visit them both this summer we figured it was a good investment.
Monday was a laid back kind of day since we were so busy the day before. Mike made Swedish Pancakes for everyone for breakfast-yum! Then later while Carina took her nap my mom and I went shopping. It was actually quite refreshing to go to Target without the worry of our sweet girl deciding when it was time to be done shopping! Browsing is such a luxury :o) Plus it was great to have some girl time with my mom. Later that afternoon we went to a park by our house. I don't know who had more fun on the playground, my dad or Carina!

We were a little sad as always to see Papa and Gigi drive away Tuesday morning. We all had so much fun together, and the days flew by too quickly. My parents had a few commitments they had to get back to at home-I swear they are the busiest retired people I know! Carina kept asking to go out to the "big o home" and see Papa and Gigi, or she would say "I say bye-bye, I blow kisses" A little heartbreaking but sweet! I guess it's just her way of processing the idea that they were here but now they're gone. We'll see them again in June, which will be here before we know it. Thanks for a fantastic time Mom and Dad! We love you and can't wait to see you again soon.

Check out my parent's blog! Click on the link that says Mom & Dad's Blog on my list on the right. They're pretty technologically savvy grandparents :o)

Our Little Leprechaun

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone!

"Dad's Lady Luck"

Sorel Family Visit

Our good friends Meg, Doug, and their baby girl Corinne came up a couple weekends ago from So Cal to visit their family and friends up here. Much like our trips down south, theirs was short and crammed full of places to go and people to see so we were happy to visit with them for a few hours! We saw them very briefly after Christmas, and I can't believe how much Corinne has grown since then! We got out our Bumbo seat and tummy time mat for her to play with while they were here, and you would have thought Carina was in paradise! She was so interested in playing with the "baby" things that we had put away not all that long ago (sniff...) Corinne became very captivated with a crinkly book that Carina had, so we let her take it home. Luckily Carina didn't seem to notice or care, although I'm sure she won't always love how Mommy just gives her things away! Anyway, we had a great time visiting and watching our girls together. Meg and I have been friends/sorority sisters since we were freshman at SSU, and Mike and Doug were fraternity brothers together too. It's amazing to see us with our little families now! We miss you guys...hope to see you again very soon!

Carina & Corinne...they don't know it yet but they are best friends!

17 months & Full of Spunk!

"I've got my blocks and I'm ready to play!"

Our little Bean is 17 months old!!! (As of March 1st I guess since there was no Feb. 29th this year?)I can't believe how much she changes every day. She seems to add a word to her vocabulary daily, and is even speaking in sentences! Yesterday she said, "I brush your hair!" (Of course she doesn't enunciate that clearly but you can tell that's what she is saying!) She is quite the little talker...I have no idea where she gets that from...One of her favorite things to do now is sing "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" We have GOT to get that on video because it's so funny!

As you can see her hair is finally long enough to go into a ponytail! She's actually pretty good about letting me do her hair, but I'm pretty much just sticking to rubber bands because I'd hate to lose any of the cute barrettes she has if she pulls them out! She looks more "little girl" and less "baby" with her hair done...we are trying to cherish every moment as they go zooming by. We love you Carina Bean!

Simple Things...

Here is further proof that kids are perfectly content to play with a box over a multitude of other pricey toys to choose from! Carina put a toy frog in the box and pushed it all over Grandma & Grandpa's house after she had so much fun riding in it herself! Mommy and Daddy's backs were grateful! (Sorry for the grainy-ness...it was shot with Mike's Blackberry!)