Girls just Wanna Have Fun

Zoey's birthday was very laid back.  We went to Bob Evans for dinner since they were the only close restaurant that would sing to her.  Her naps and bed time made a lot hard to squeeze in, but she got to open a few gifts and have some cake.

Zoey is doing better at taking steps, frequently up to 7 or so at a time.  She loves pushing things around, sometimes the toys intended for this, but often her highchair or the kids chairs.  And can just pop right up, no pulling up or tripod stance needed.

Her official panda shot.

 A decorated high chair before cake.

 I learned from the great cake disaster of '09 and made one with a bit of sugar this time.  I made the Pumpkin Apple Harvest Cake from this website:
http://grizzlybirds.blogspot.com/2007/01/babys-1st-birthday-cake-recipes.html

It was actually pretty good. I topped it with a whipped cream and cream cheese icing.  Zoey dug right into her smash cake.  Notice the Z t-shirt.  I did the applique.

Yesterday involved quite a surprise.  Zoey got up for a diaper change and nursing at 2:30, Phoenix threw up and barked in the middle of the night, so the day was not going to be great anyway.  Zoey started crying a little after 7.  I waited just a couple minutes in case she would go back to sleep, then headed that way.  It was not hysterical for sure.  When I got to her room, the crying seemed loud and the door started moving.  There beneath my feet was my 1 year old.  Yikes!  So Nick cut and sealed the wood for an extra rail and we installed the crib tent in the mean time.  I heard it can be a strangulation risk, so we may go with trying the wood rail.  But the fall risk is pretty high given my dare devil.  She loves to climb on chairs and benches. Today she climbed a slide in the blink of an eye.  I keep hearing how boys have more energy and are rougher.  I think those who say that need to meet my girls, especially Zoey.

We have been doing other fun things besides celebrating Zoey.

Sam had a ballet demo.  I tell you, she is a born leader.  Tries to figure out what is coming.

This video will probably embarrass a teenage Sam, but while waiting for her demo, there were hula dancers.

Faces of Zoey

Life has been crazy and I have some issues with my blog photo storage.  I am looking into options, and hope to fill in the updates soon.  But...

Here is Zoey through the months.  Such a happy baby, except when you set off that red headed temper.  She has 11 teeth and is working on the 12th.  She can easily stand up and can even stand and dance, but she will only take a few steps at a time.  She spends a lot of time popping up and dropping down to crawl.  And she gets really mad if you try and entice her to take a few steps.  She loves food and eats a pretty good variety.  She is finally sleeping through the night, although we did have set backs with some of the recent teething. She can say a lot of words and signs a few more.  Some of her words take context to figure out if she is saying bye-bye, baby, or bye for rock-a-bye. And a lot of them are missing the end sounds.  Overall, she is a very joyful baby, it is super easy to get her to laugh.  She adores her big sister and her sister adores her.  We are so blessed with these two amazing and sweet girls.  Here is to many more years of watching them grow and change.  We love you both so much!  Happy Birthday Zoey!

Birthday 4+

The Monday after Sam's birthday was her day to celebrate at school.  She got to be the leader and bring in show and tell.  She brought in her ballerina barbie and this bird.  There are ibis birds that hang around McDonald's.  Sam loves to feed them, especially one that another lady calls Charlie, because he eats out of your hand.  The lady who named Charlie and feeds them gave her this bird with Charlie written on its chest.  It was a big hit with Sam and she has been telling many people about it, even though most have never met Charlie and get a bit confused.

I got to bring in cupcakes, pink of course.

Nana, Zoey, and I came to celebrate with Sam.

Zoey got a turn in the chair.

Zoey loves this rocking chair.  She says "bye-bye" for rock-a-bye.  You can tell which she means because goodbye involves a waving hand and rock-a-bye involves torso movement.  So she says "bye-bye" and tries her hardest to get in the chair, lifting her leg, putting it on the bar, and such.  Very cute.  She is a determined child.  I think I will have my work cut out for me soon.  Sam has been a busy body and into most things and of course very curious.  But she is a pleaser.  Zoey may not be so as much and she has a temper if she does not get her way.  Although the other day she crawled under our chair and got stuck.  I thought she would get mad and cry, but she kept at it for a couple minutes and finally wormed her way out.  I am trying to help her develop a better tolerance for frustration.

Nick the chair.

Before ballet pretending to be a pirate, saying Arrr!

Opening her cool animal play set from Grammy.

My silly sleeper.

I have come across some great articles recently that I want to share.  I am trying to shift and do more positive parenting, mainly less yelling, more praising.  Sam has been much better lately and I do not want to let my stress be taken out on her.  Some days it does seem like I use up all my patience on Zoey and Sam bears the brunt.  But I do not want to be that way and I know that yelling is the new spanking.  So I tried giving Sam do overs and that was somewhat successful.  But a lot of it is me and I am trying to relax about it more.  

One article that has inspired me is this one about smallies and biggies.  I do find that often, especially mealtimes, I fuss at Sam about a lot of smallies.  So I am trying to refocus there.

http://www.positive-parents.org/2012/01/biggies-and-smallies.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+positive-parents%2FbahS+%28Positive+Parenting%3A+Toddlers+and+Beyond%29

And my recent favorite, which I think every parent should read is one entitled "Don't Carpe Diem."  I do not think I exaggerate when I say it may totally change your perspective.  It goes along with a favorite quote of mine, "The days are long, but the years are short."  I try and remember that this time in my life is a short one, that in a decade the sleepless nights and other sacrifices of having such young kids will have faded.  I try and enjoy these fleeting moments, but the day to day of raising kids is hard, especially with busy lives such as ours.  I know a lot I take on myself, hosting playdates and signing up for baby classes, but these things are important to me.  Anyway, please read this article if you have not yet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/glennon-melton/dont-carpe-diem_b_1206346.html

A wrinkle in time

I was holding off on posting this because technically the playhouse has a tiny bit of work.  But Nick has decided to hold off on the final touches for a bit.  So here is a time lapse video of playhouse construction Nick edited together.

Birthday celebrations 2 and 3

After the party was presents from Mama and Daddy.

But first, a shirt made by a mom's club friend.  She even made a unicorn one.  Sam loves it.  And is wearing it today.

The same friend helped me do this applique on the apron I bought.  Now Sam can be stylish when she cooks with me.

Not even sure what this was :)

I have gotten into pinterest lately.  If you do not know, it is a virtual bulletin board.  People pin things and you can get inspiration.  I am sure it will come up in later post, but this idea came from there.  You take makeup containers and empty them.  Then you pour in nail polish and let it dry.  Voila, pretend make up.  Of course, when the polish dries it evaporates some and it took me a few days of adding to it with a lot of stink in the back room.  But it was a big hit and possibly one of Sam's favorite gifts.  I had 1 old container and some old polish, so I used my stuff and then bought one container and one double polish pack from dollar tree.  Can't beat  $2 plus tax for such a reaction of joy, great return on my money.

A pretend microphone.  My aunt Eunice had sent one a year or so ago, it was well loved until Zoey threw it down and broke it.  So I replaced it.

Sam really wanted slap bracelets, so I got her a bunch.

There were even more gifts, a spinbrush, glitter glue, chapstick, a princess, and more.  Sam really was appreciative and gave me a big hug.

 One of my favorite was this unicorn puzzle.  I saw a link on pinterest to an etsy store (http://www.etsy.com/listing/79469245/unicorn-wooden-puzzle?ref=v1_other_1).  It is so cool and went with her theme.  Zoey also has a scroll saw elephant one given to her when I was pregnant by a man who made it for a store display at Rockler in Atlanta.  When we asked about a pattern, he said take it for the baby.  Sam was excited to have her own.

We also went to pig fest for an early dinner.

On Sunday, we celebrated at Nana and Papa's.  Sam got to pick where to go and she chose Wendy's for lunch.  Then, time for more gifts.  A Ballerina Barbie for our ballerina.

And a pretend computer.  Look at Sam's face.

Mom got her a fairy cake with rings and a treasure box.

Zoey had on her Grandpa's pride and joy, even more appropriate for her since she is papa's girl.

Still to come, the party at school and an interview with Sam.  Thank you to everyone who made her birthday special with calls, cards, gifts and your presence.

Fantastic four! Unicorn power!

We have a four year old!  Wow, how time flies.  The threes were terrific, with some rough spots with all we threw at Sam, especially if she did not get a nap.  But we are ready for the fantastic fours.  She already seems to have adjusted to being more mature.  She told my mom a few times lately that she was angry instead of pitching a fit or crying.  She is such a wonderful child, she never ceases to amaze us.  She is improving on reading every day.  She is creative and getting quite artistic, when she tries.  And you never know what will come out of her mouth, but it rarely matches her little girl voice.  It is not uncommon to hear her say words like interesting, frustrating or such.

At her check up she was right at 40 inches (~50th percentile) and 32 pounds (~25th).  So still long and lean, but not troublesome.  She definitely hit all the milestones they asked about, some years ago :)  What a blessing it is to have a healthy, happy, wonderful child.

Sam had a great birthday celebration.  She opened some gifts early.  She had a wonderful unicorn party with no gifts.  We did donations for the SPCA, she really does not need more stuff and was getting some from family and a few friends anyway.

The party pictures, in somewhat random order.

The cupcakes, pink of course, arranged in a 4.

The birthday girl getting pushed in the swing.  Notice her unicorn horn I made.  Each guest had one, but they did not all stay on as long as Sam's.

General party fun.

A mom's club friend who shares Sam's birthday.

Chasing.

Cupcake time.

 Sam won pin the horn on the unicorn, which was the main thing she wanted and why she picked this theme.

Ribbon cutting of the playstructure for the grand opening.

More swinging.

The birthday girl and her horn.

Zoey napped through the first part, but woke up for some fun, swinging, attention, and cupcake.

The girls and papa.

Sam loved her party.  I tried to really have fun with the theme.  The horns were a hit, so was the game.  Snacks were unicorn horns (bugles), carrots and apples, and oats (a heart shaped oat cereal).  We also served hot dogs.  Even the favors were unicorn theme with some other stuffed mixed in.

11 months!

Wow, Zoey is closing in on a year!  How time flies.  Her official panda shots.

Sam wanted a sister shot, but Zoey wanted to get away. She is a wild child at times.

A close up of Sam.

Then a silly one.

The mom's club theme for January was musical arts, so I hosted a make egg shaker playdate the day before Sam's birthday.

Zoey is getting really good at standing.  She can stand and dance or clap.  She can stand without any help, even from objects.  She just pops right up.  So strong, she just will not try a step.  Stubborn kid.

And the playstructure is pretty much done.  After the coat of gray, Nick dry brushed some lighter shades on.

The inside got panels on the walls and ceiling.  And mats on the floor.

Then the brick mortar was painted on.  He still has to paint the mortar on the garage.

A straight on view.

The back wall has chalkboard paint.  My mom donated her kitchen set, which was a huge hit at the party.