Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Happy Easter!
While the weather didn't exactly cooperate for our Easter weekend with
Grandma Gail and Grandpa Rich, we had a wonderful weekend. Brent and
Sabrina played hooky on Friday and spent the day eating pizza in Denver and visiting the Denver Zoo. Sabrina has figured out zebras lately and she saw them right away by the entrance and then thought all other animals should be called "zebra" for the rest of the day. However, she did know the names of a lot of the animals. Maybe all those repetitive book readings are starting to pay off. She can even do a really cute arm motion when she describes what an elephant says that includes a hand motion. You can see it in one of the pictures. She makes her arm the trunk and makes a funny elephant noise. Brent gets credit for teaching her that one.
On Saturday I went to a blessingway celebration for Natalie & Kurt's new baby (who is due on May 15th) while Sabrina, Brent, Grandma Gail and Grandpa Rich hunkered down at home while the untimely snow melted outside. Sabrina showed off her cooking skills and taught Grandma Gail how to dance to her music machine.
Then we went down to the Butterfly Pavilion in Westminster. There are a lot of pictures from there because we finally remembered to bring the good Nikon camera with us and we managed to capture one of my favorite photos of Sabrina ever. It's the first close-up of her. What a looker!
Easter morning was a blast and started with her first easter basket in her crib (we're not sure she actually noticed it, but it was fun to sneak in and put it in there), then we "practiced" egg hunting in our living room before heading over to Nana and Poppy's for the big hunt. Natalie, Kurt, Celia and BB2 (on board) joined us, along with Brent's cousin Tom. We enjoyed the best ever eggs benedict thanks to Nana and had multiple egg hunts for the girls, long wheel barrow rides with Poppy, and really fun blanket tossing with Uncle Kurt and Poppy. The girls even did a good job of sharing the blanket: "Celia turn" then "Brina turn" then "Celia turn" then "Brina turn"...pretty cute.
We finished off the weekend with a sushi dinner at Hapa on Pearl St. and Sabrina ate a full sushi roll! It didn't have raw fish, but it was rice and seaweed and she took it down without a problem. Then she made friends with the frog statue at the Boulder Book Store so we had several visits there during dinner (see photo). Man, she's hard to keep up with these days!! She keeps us on our toes. It was great to have 2 extra sets of hands around this weekend and I think there was a moment when Brent and I were actually sitting at the table, at a restaurant, at the SAME TIME. what a treat! Thanks Grandma Gail and Grandpa Rich!
Sabrina did great with her names this weekend and we think she might end up calling Grandpa "G-Pa" - thankfully he seems ok with that. She got pretty good with Grandma too! She's asked for them both several times since they left early Monday and we know she can't wait to see them again soon. Thanks for the fun trip Grandma and G Pa!
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Two-word phrases!
I almost forgot one of my favorite milestones from the weekend - Sabrina has figured out two-word phrases! It started with "Bye Bye Daddy" as we drove away from the house and by the end of the weekend we'd heard "bye bye doggy" "hi Celia" "bye bye Celia" "hi Celia"...ok you get the point, she loves Celia...and a few others like "more milk." i even overheard a spot on "I love you" to Brent while he was putting her to bed. We're thinking that was a mimic more than a sentence (since we haven't gotten her to say it again yet) but it was adorable.
She also answers questions pretty accurately these days. She says both "yeah" and "no" and she's usually pretty logical and correct in what we're asking. She has a boy in her class at school that says yes to absolutely everything and she does that when she's tired, but most of the time she really means what she answers. It's nice when it comes to meal times and she can actually let us know what she wants or doesn't want. Of course...she's one, so there are times when she's completely illogical, tired, fussy, and irrational, but we're able to communicate with her more and more these days. Bring on the sentences!! (I know, I'm going to regret that..)
She also answers questions pretty accurately these days. She says both "yeah" and "no" and she's usually pretty logical and correct in what we're asking. She has a boy in her class at school that says yes to absolutely everything and she does that when she's tired, but most of the time she really means what she answers. It's nice when it comes to meal times and she can actually let us know what she wants or doesn't want. Of course...she's one, so there are times when she's completely illogical, tired, fussy, and irrational, but we're able to communicate with her more and more these days. Bring on the sentences!! (I know, I'm going to regret that..)
Friend Filled Weekend
This weekend we spent a lot of time with friends. On Saturday afternoon we got to see Sabrina's buddy Triana just before her 1st Birthday, which is today. Triana is my friend Alicia's daughter and you can see what a cutie she is these days in the photos that Alicia took. I was glad Alicia took pictures and shared them since we've fallen down on the job of taking good pictures of Sabrina lately. Oops. She just moves a little too much for that! We spent time out on their newly completed back deck and in the yard enjoying the sunshine. Since they live very close to the airport in Longmont, planes were flying overhead the whole time and Sabrina has mastered "airplane" and is pretty good at hearing them and then pointing to them in the sky. A few times she did an adorable crouch down and hold up her finger by her face like she wanted us to be quiet so she could listen for the next "aaarplane."
We also spent a lot of time with Aunt Nat and Celia (which Sabrina says almost perfectly now...and often!) as Brent was continuing work on the deck and Kurt was out of town on business. We spent about 2-3 hours at the Farmer's Market on Saturday on a beautiful spring day in boulder. We had a picnic in the shade while Sabrina took a catnap, Celia (and eventually Sabrina) played in the dirt with shovels and buckets, and Natalie and I finally had a long-overdue chance to catch up. Saturday night we saw our friends Lea and Justin, along with Nat and Celia. Celia and Sabrina pulled off their all-time cutest night together and ran around the restaurant probably 45 times, cracking up at each other as they chased each other around, and calling out each others' names over and over. Thankfully the rest of the diners were understanding..and most were laughing as much as we were! Sabrina proceeded to sleep like a rock for over 12 hours. We're thinking of hiring Celia on a retainer for 1 hour just before bed every night. It was adorable and a wonderful, fun night with friends.
Sunday morning we took the girls to the pool, where Celia showed off her fantastic swimming skills and Sabrina got a little more comfortable in the water. We're thinking that swim lessons might be good to do again just to get her more comfy in the water since she seemed to love it when we did lessons last summer. She did very well overall, but had a few clingy moments when the (very crowded) pool got loud or crazy. It was packed and chaotic so I didn't blame her. But watching Celia jump off the wall, dunk her head, and come up smiling was pretty great to see. We'll get there!
We rounded out the weekend by having dinner Sunday night with my second cousin (we think) Abbie and her 8-week old son, Knut (pronounced ka-newt). He is a little doll with beautiful eyes and a cute smile, especially when he hears his mom's voice. We had a nice, though hectic, dinner at the Southern Sun and we're slowly acknowledging that dinners out are just not the same when all Sabrina wants to do is go "OUTSIDE." We each take turns constantly running after her (which she loves) and having half-conversations. But we know it's a phase and there are a lot worse things that she could be addicted to than being outside. We love our little Boulderite.
She's got quite a personality lately (which Ashley got to hear first hand on the phone the other night). Ooh boy does she get mad at the drop of a hat these days! But she recovers just as quickly so it's just a matter of riding out the frequent but short bouts of tears.
Finally, our latest update is that for three nights in a row now (we're not counting our chickens before they hatch...but...) Sabrina has gone to bed without a bottle! It used to be part of our nighttime routine but the doctor cautioned us against it since it's bad for her teeth. So we now brush her teeth, read books, and just put her in bed and she falls asleep. I guess she was more ready for it than we were! I'm sure we'll have some relapses, but now at least we know she doesn't need it. It feels like progress...for now.
We're looking forward to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Rich coming to visit on Friday for Easter weekend! We'll post more during or after their trip. Happy Easter to all!
We also spent a lot of time with Aunt Nat and Celia (which Sabrina says almost perfectly now...and often!) as Brent was continuing work on the deck and Kurt was out of town on business. We spent about 2-3 hours at the Farmer's Market on Saturday on a beautiful spring day in boulder. We had a picnic in the shade while Sabrina took a catnap, Celia (and eventually Sabrina) played in the dirt with shovels and buckets, and Natalie and I finally had a long-overdue chance to catch up. Saturday night we saw our friends Lea and Justin, along with Nat and Celia. Celia and Sabrina pulled off their all-time cutest night together and ran around the restaurant probably 45 times, cracking up at each other as they chased each other around, and calling out each others' names over and over. Thankfully the rest of the diners were understanding..and most were laughing as much as we were! Sabrina proceeded to sleep like a rock for over 12 hours. We're thinking of hiring Celia on a retainer for 1 hour just before bed every night. It was adorable and a wonderful, fun night with friends.
Sunday morning we took the girls to the pool, where Celia showed off her fantastic swimming skills and Sabrina got a little more comfortable in the water. We're thinking that swim lessons might be good to do again just to get her more comfy in the water since she seemed to love it when we did lessons last summer. She did very well overall, but had a few clingy moments when the (very crowded) pool got loud or crazy. It was packed and chaotic so I didn't blame her. But watching Celia jump off the wall, dunk her head, and come up smiling was pretty great to see. We'll get there!
We rounded out the weekend by having dinner Sunday night with my second cousin (we think) Abbie and her 8-week old son, Knut (pronounced ka-newt). He is a little doll with beautiful eyes and a cute smile, especially when he hears his mom's voice. We had a nice, though hectic, dinner at the Southern Sun and we're slowly acknowledging that dinners out are just not the same when all Sabrina wants to do is go "OUTSIDE." We each take turns constantly running after her (which she loves) and having half-conversations. But we know it's a phase and there are a lot worse things that she could be addicted to than being outside. We love our little Boulderite.
She's got quite a personality lately (which Ashley got to hear first hand on the phone the other night). Ooh boy does she get mad at the drop of a hat these days! But she recovers just as quickly so it's just a matter of riding out the frequent but short bouts of tears.
Finally, our latest update is that for three nights in a row now (we're not counting our chickens before they hatch...but...) Sabrina has gone to bed without a bottle! It used to be part of our nighttime routine but the doctor cautioned us against it since it's bad for her teeth. So we now brush her teeth, read books, and just put her in bed and she falls asleep. I guess she was more ready for it than we were! I'm sure we'll have some relapses, but now at least we know she doesn't need it. It feels like progress...for now.
We're looking forward to Grandma Gail and Grandpa Rich coming to visit on Friday for Easter weekend! We'll post more during or after their trip. Happy Easter to all!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
March & April Activities and Events
We have had an action packed month with tons of birthday celebrations, fun milestones with Sabrina, and another great doctor's appt (except for those pesky shots). Erica kicked off the birthday celebrations on March 27th and in honor of that we finally got our Family Wall built on the refrigerator and she loves it.
The first morning it was up, she just stared at everybody for several minutes as we pointed to each person and told her who they were. We worked hard on Erica for the weekend in anticipation of a solid "Happy Birthday Erica" but we ended up with a few good "Erica's" and a rushed, but sincere "Hap thday" (or something like that...it's a little short on syllables). Then the 29th brought Poppy's birthday and she certainly has "Poppy" all figured out. She says his name over and over and over. To be honest, as soon as she got "happy birthday" and "poppy" related in her mind, it's been hard to break her of it. It was rough for Celia and Grandma Gail who came on April 5th & 6th and each time we said Happy Birthday, all Sabrina could say was "Poppy!" We've decided that he's a Toddler Whisperer. They simply love him. Celia talks about him randomly during the week as well. Funny stuff. But I will say that the Family Wall on the fridge is working well and she can pretty consistently recognize and say Ashley, Erica, Poppy, Nana, Josh, Grandma (Gail), and Grandpa (sounds like Papa) (Rich). She's learning the rest too!
Here are a few pictures of Celia's 2nd birthday party at Nana and Poppy's. Notice Sabrina's curious little eyes viewing that present...
After many birthday celebrations, we've found that Sabrina only slightly likes sweets, but we don't push that too hard. I'm sure that time will come. Truthfully she'd rather eat peas most of the time. She's gotten really into chicken nuggets lately and can eat them like a pro with her fork. In the past 4-6 weeks she's completely mastered eating with a fork. (see video...in which she also randomly ate about 6 sushi rolls...complete with the seaweed on the outside!) Sometimes we wonder if she likes what she's eating, or is mostly infatuated with eating with a fork.
She's getting better with spoons as well, but those are tricky devils sometimes. Things fall off! Not cool. Overall she's doing very well with her eating lately. She still goes through "fruitatarian" stages now and then and only wants melons, grapes, or strawberries, but other times she'll surprise us with chowing down on quinoa, cous cous, pasta (a favorite word), fried eggs, vegetables (she loves grilled carrots), and yogurt. We're sticking with goat's milk and yogurt and she seems to be doing so much better. The phlegm issues we were having are much improved - very little coughing and sneezing these days. Yay! She made it through a pretty tough cold and flu season this late winter and we even got good marks from the doctor for not bringing her in from December through March. And a daycare kid too!
Speaking of the doctor, we took Sabrina in a few weeks ago for her 15 month appt. and she got great marks, yet again. First and foremost, they couldn't believe her verbal skills. In fact, when the doctor came in she thought the nurse had put her on the wrong height/weight chart because Sabrina was reading a book with me and identifying all the animals by name and their sounds. The doctor thought she must be at least 18 months! Looking at the correct growth chart though, Sabrina fell into the 25% percentile for both height and weight and 50% percentile for her big head. She weighs 21 lbs., 2 oz., is 29 3/4" tall, and her big noggin is 18" around. She's not putting words together into sentences yet, but she's certainly got a ton of words. They said her vocabulary is about that of a 2 year old, but putting words together into sentences is the next big step we should watch for. I've started noticing a few things like "what's that?" and "that mine", but I'm not calling those sentences yet. We're certainly shocked at the things that she points out each day though. It's amazing to see her little brain developing so rapidly.
Spring has definitely sprung here in Colorado and while we've gotten a few spring ski days in, we're moving into "outside" mode (Sabrina's all time favorite word) and we spend most of our time at home trying to find things to play with outside. One thing we noticed right away is the 3' drop off just to the left of the door when you walk out to our back deck. Between Sabrina's little legs and Pongo's desire to run out the door right on top of her, it makes for a dicey place to have a large drop off. Brent has spent time over 2 weeks and built her a wonderful railing. Now we don't feel quite as nervous about letting her walk out the back door. Of course there's nothing else she can get in to outside, right?
The first morning it was up, she just stared at everybody for several minutes as we pointed to each person and told her who they were. We worked hard on Erica for the weekend in anticipation of a solid "Happy Birthday Erica" but we ended up with a few good "Erica's" and a rushed, but sincere "Hap thday" (or something like that...it's a little short on syllables). Then the 29th brought Poppy's birthday and she certainly has "Poppy" all figured out. She says his name over and over and over. To be honest, as soon as she got "happy birthday" and "poppy" related in her mind, it's been hard to break her of it. It was rough for Celia and Grandma Gail who came on April 5th & 6th and each time we said Happy Birthday, all Sabrina could say was "Poppy!" We've decided that he's a Toddler Whisperer. They simply love him. Celia talks about him randomly during the week as well. Funny stuff. But I will say that the Family Wall on the fridge is working well and she can pretty consistently recognize and say Ashley, Erica, Poppy, Nana, Josh, Grandma (Gail), and Grandpa (sounds like Papa) (Rich). She's learning the rest too!
Here are a few pictures of Celia's 2nd birthday party at Nana and Poppy's. Notice Sabrina's curious little eyes viewing that present...
After many birthday celebrations, we've found that Sabrina only slightly likes sweets, but we don't push that too hard. I'm sure that time will come. Truthfully she'd rather eat peas most of the time. She's gotten really into chicken nuggets lately and can eat them like a pro with her fork. In the past 4-6 weeks she's completely mastered eating with a fork. (see video...in which she also randomly ate about 6 sushi rolls...complete with the seaweed on the outside!) Sometimes we wonder if she likes what she's eating, or is mostly infatuated with eating with a fork.
She's getting better with spoons as well, but those are tricky devils sometimes. Things fall off! Not cool. Overall she's doing very well with her eating lately. She still goes through "fruitatarian" stages now and then and only wants melons, grapes, or strawberries, but other times she'll surprise us with chowing down on quinoa, cous cous, pasta (a favorite word), fried eggs, vegetables (she loves grilled carrots), and yogurt. We're sticking with goat's milk and yogurt and she seems to be doing so much better. The phlegm issues we were having are much improved - very little coughing and sneezing these days. Yay! She made it through a pretty tough cold and flu season this late winter and we even got good marks from the doctor for not bringing her in from December through March. And a daycare kid too!
Speaking of the doctor, we took Sabrina in a few weeks ago for her 15 month appt. and she got great marks, yet again. First and foremost, they couldn't believe her verbal skills. In fact, when the doctor came in she thought the nurse had put her on the wrong height/weight chart because Sabrina was reading a book with me and identifying all the animals by name and their sounds. The doctor thought she must be at least 18 months! Looking at the correct growth chart though, Sabrina fell into the 25% percentile for both height and weight and 50% percentile for her big head. She weighs 21 lbs., 2 oz., is 29 3/4" tall, and her big noggin is 18" around. She's not putting words together into sentences yet, but she's certainly got a ton of words. They said her vocabulary is about that of a 2 year old, but putting words together into sentences is the next big step we should watch for. I've started noticing a few things like "what's that?" and "that mine", but I'm not calling those sentences yet. We're certainly shocked at the things that she points out each day though. It's amazing to see her little brain developing so rapidly.
Spring has definitely sprung here in Colorado and while we've gotten a few spring ski days in, we're moving into "outside" mode (Sabrina's all time favorite word) and we spend most of our time at home trying to find things to play with outside. One thing we noticed right away is the 3' drop off just to the left of the door when you walk out to our back deck. Between Sabrina's little legs and Pongo's desire to run out the door right on top of her, it makes for a dicey place to have a large drop off. Brent has spent time over 2 weeks and built her a wonderful railing. Now we don't feel quite as nervous about letting her walk out the back door. Of course there's nothing else she can get in to outside, right?
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