That for which we stand

Welp, life here remains rather interesting. Victoria is our enthusiastic, vocal one with a rather colorful personality.

2009-4-24

It's hard to remember that Isabella is only two and a half, when she's doing a lot of grown up sort of things - copying EVERYTHING we say, putting on my head bands, taking care of Henry (her precious dog) the way I talk to her and the way I take care of Victoria. One challenge for Isabella is understanding how to be gentle with those who are smaller than her, like Victoria.

2009-4-24

2009-4-24

But the two of them seem to get along generally speaking. Victoria finds Isabella amusing much of the time. No really. Victoria will cackle and laugh joyously.

2009-4-24

And today? Victoria stood up on her feet for the first time! She pulled up on a little table, and then she did the same thing with the recliner. A little motivation coupled with determination did the trick.

2009-4-27

She's standing here in this picture, but it's hard to tell, since she's standing at an angle.

2009-4-27

VIctoria is 11 months old today!

Sniffles, it is just one month until the anniversary of her birth. Hardly seems like Victoria's been in the world that long. It's been fun seeing the two girls interact and observing how each has done things differently. Watching Victoria do the classical crawl has been interesting. As you well know, Isabella skipped the classical crawl. She went from the army crawl to walking. I feel bad for Victoria because her knees seem rough. Guess that's part of the journey.

Victoria is snacking on bread in these pictures. Had to wait until I had decent natural light coming into the home to take these pictures. Still haven't gotten my flash fixed. We're supposed to have 10-18 inches of snow by Saturday sometime. That's right folks, we mix it up in the spring season in Colorado, a bit of sunshine and some snow.

Watching three little ones, two years old and under

Thursday of last week, I watched three children two years old and under ALL DAY. Two were mine and one was not. By the end of the day, I was exhausted and cranky and decided I wasn't fit to be a babysitter of multiple little children.

Later? I realized that I needed to cut myself some slack. Two needed to be spoon fed. One was so tired he needed to be down for a nap but had trouble falling asleep in a new and exciting place. And, it took me forty minutes to an hour to get this little guy to sleep, which overlapped with the girls' lunch time. Victoria cannot very well feed herself just yet.

Oh, and did I mention that I have absolutely no recollection of what little baby boys are like and that they like to rip the faces of EVERYTHING, including little girls. I assure you boys don't mean any harm; they're just a different breed from girls. Leaving the three of them alone in a room for even a moment was FUTILE. FUTILE, I say. Somebody got hit, bitten, grabbed, pinched, or something worse.

Did I also tell you that I did many of the house keeping I usually do? I cooked, washed dishes, and some other stuff, in addition to feeding three children, changing three babies' diapers, and putting three children down for naps.

Here is the extra little guy I watched, who turned 1 year old today! Happy birthday, Oliver!

2009-4-9

So, what do you guys think? Am I fit to be a babysitter/daycare?

Who's a Nap Nazi? I am! I am!

I still remember, in preschool, having to lay down after lunchtime, whether I wanted to or not, whether I felt sleepy or NOT. In hindsight? Good idea. Even if I didn't sleep during that time, I rested (we were required to lay down).

If asked, Isabella is NEVER interested in napping these days. Still, she has to lay down around 2 pm. This Nap Nazi, me that is, will take away Henry (her precious dog) if she does not lay down. I figure sitting or standing decreases the chances of her falling asleep.

Some days, like the one during which I took this picture, I catch Isabella playing make believe with Henry, Elmo, and Big Bird (and sometimes White Dog).

2009-4-7

Interestingly, when it comes to taking her naps, though, only Henry gets to stay in her bed. White Dog, Big Bird, and Elmo usually get kicked or thrown out. I'm convinced that sleeping is not only important for growing babes, but it offers sanity for everyone involved.

Today, Isabella napped for about an hour to an hour and a half. Not bad, not bad. She gets laid down every day for nap time but doesn't always necessarily sleep. That's alright.

Too cool for school

Thursday, April 7th, Linette and I took the girls on a walk, from Pinnacle at Mountain Gate, where we both live, to Aspen Grove Shopping Center's Starbucks and back. About 2.6 mi. roundtrip. Need much more than that to make up for the Easter M&M's I've consumed today. Isabella borrowed Linette's sunglasses and decided to model them for us.

2009-4-7

2009-4-7

Between the Ergo and the Baby Bjorn, I LOVE the Ergo. Much easier on me to carry Victoria.

A little girl with many faces

Not to say that no other little ones have personality, but this Victoria of ours sure seems to wear a lot of facial expressions. Looks pretty ordinary here, right?

2009-4-2

Just a regular ole smiling baby, huh? With some cuteness and adorableness, too, right? Sometimes. She loves to talk (okay, okay, she's not quite saying words, yet, but she sure likes to babble), hold her own conversations, and make faces. One of her favorite is to scrunch up the area about her nose, between her eyes and inhale and exhale through her nose quite audibly. She's sort of doing it in the picture below.

2009-4-8

Deal of the century for Earth's Best Babyfood at Babies R Us on Good Friday

Hey, those of you who have little tots who are eating baby food or will be eating baby food in the foreseeable future, Babies R Us will be having a KILLER DEAL on Earth's Best (MY FAAAAAVORITE!) Baby Food Jars - TEN JARS for FIVE DOLLARS - for one day only, this Friday, the 10th, Good Friday. Folks, that's $.50 a jar for organic baby food. I haven't the energy at the moment to dig up articles on the benefits of giving the little ones organic baby food, but here's the thrust of the story. So, the FDA usually has restrictions on pesticides that can be used on foods, safeguarding the health of people. However, during economic hardships (LIKE NOW), the FDA lifts its stringent requirements a bit. Since babies, especially the younger ones, do not eat a large variety of things, they end up getting a larger concentration of whatever pesticides and crap that was used on the vegetables in the baby food jars.

I saw this deal posted on two of several websites I check somewhat regularly: here and here.