Ellie at 2.5

Nov - Feb.

Ellie is a fascinating study in contrasts.  At home she is a little firecracker.  She's spunky, curious, and fully exploring that toddler stage of testing her own power.  She already shows a mischievous pleasure in bugging her siblings.  But she is also a little love bug.  She loves getting good snuggles (on her terms of course).  On the flip side, when she is around new people she is super shy.  It took until November for her to say more than one word to her teachers at school!  And even in group situations with family, she tends to be very quiet.  She's gained the nickname "stone face" because she clams up and gives a blank face look.

Sleep:
Ellie generally sleeps through the night and takes an afternoon nap.  She goes to bed at 8 but is awake longer because of the nap.  So she probably sleeps 9-7:30.  Then nap time starts at 1:30 or 2.  We often have to wake her up at 4.  We've had a few days where she hasn't napped though.  She's been in a crib in Claire's room since Daniel came.  On January 10, we converted the crib to a toddler bed. She hadn't napped that day so the night went pretty well.  But generally she's up out of bed talking to Claire or rifling through the books for a while.  We use the monitor to tell her to get in bed a couple times and then finally she is out.  In the morning I usually find her and Claire on Ellie's bed talking, playing or reading.  (Or fighting).

Our house was the last holdout though.  She has slept on the trundle bed at Grammi and Paaps' for a few months now.  At Grandma's for Christmas she slept on a toddler air mattress.  Back in October we tried her on a cot when we traveled to Maine.  That was probably the first time she was free and it didn't go too badly.  So we mostly knew what we were getting ourselves into here at home.

Food:
Ellie is generally a very slow eater.  She is interested in observing everything going on more than eating sometimes.  At times she can consume a large amount of food but in general she's not eating too much these days.  For meats she only really eats chicken and ham.  She'll leave pork, beef, steak, and fish sitting untouched on her plate.  And telling her to eat ABC before she can have XYZ does not motivate her.  If she doesn't want it, it's not passing her lips.  She's more picky and hesitant to try new things than Claire was.  And she definitely takes her cues from Claire when Claire is informing us of the things on her plate that she doesn't like.

Ellie loves every fruit.  She does well with basic veggies (peas, corn, broccoli, carrots, green beans). She likes a fair amount of raw things: carrots, sugar snap peas, baby sweet peppers, cucumbers, and sometimes celery. She does not like zucchini, squash, salad, or greens.

Interests:
Ellie is interested in whatever Claire is interested in!  It was really hard for me to separate out at Christmas what her own unique interests are.  Some of her favorites are books.  She loves the Duck and Goose and the Gossie and Gertie series.  She also still loves interactive books like the touch and feel "That's Not My ___" series and Bizzy Bear books.

She plays really well when she's on her own.  If her siblings are around there is bound to be trouble since she will want whatever the other has.  Her play runs the gamut.  She'll play with Barbies or dolls, do some pretend in the play kitchen, or pick up some cars or trucks.  She likes duplos and puzzles if someone gets them out.

Development:
Colors - Really has been emerging the past 3 months and now she is getting pretty good at IDing correctly.
Counting - when she counts she says 1, 2, 6, 9!

Language:
Ellie's voice is a little nasally and can sometimes sound husky.  She likes playing around with a deep voice.  She use it to emphasize something.  She copies a lot of what other people say.  Not to be annoying but to try out more complex language.  Although sometimes it is annoying!

Some cute words/phrases/lanuage usage
manna = banana
Cam I or Can My = Can I?
anyo or yoyo = yogurt
pineapple straw = pine straw
pink my pants! = My pants are pink
Trouble with s + consonant blends.  farkly=sparkly, farties = Smarties candy

Finally got her to use her own vacuum instead of
"helping" me with mine

Fashionista at play

Gobbling up some squash before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving/ Daniel's birthday party

Eating her cookie creation at Stone Mtn.

Making Christmas cookies at Grammi's

Eating some sprinkles

Santa at her school party

Doing crafts at the party

Appropriate attire must be worn for watching
Christmas movies

Snuggling with Grandma on Christmas

Cutie!

Finishing her ice cream at Grammi's birthday dinner

Daniel at 13 months

Such a fun and frustrating age!

It's fun watching him toddle around, explore, and play.  He loves carrying things around.  Particular favorites to tote around are matchbox cars, plastic screws, mega blocks, and magnetic blocks.  He loves to push around the stroller and the shopping cart and play in the play kitchen

Definitely says all done, mama, and dada.  Not always used in context.  Imitates sounds like banana (na na), night night (Nigh nigh nigh).  He signs more (clapping), waves (with delay), and gives high fives.

He loves books!  He gets so excited when it's time to read books before bed.  He'll bounce on my lap making eager ooh ooh ooh noises.  If he's in the right mood he will give good snuggles and lean his forehead in for kisses.

He's been hamming it up with funny faces, usually at dinner time.  Usually he'll squinch up his face and show off his little chicklet teeth.

We've also been dealing with some whiny and cranky behavior.  Part of it seems hunger related.  He wants to eat all day.  He also is going through some separation anxiety and doesn't like when Mama leaves the room or isn't holding him.


Illness:
December to January - three eye infections, two requiring a dr visit and antibiotics.  In early December it was a double ear infection and the eye infection causing his eye to swell up.  In early January, pink eye turned into another eye infection.  Then mid January, just as we finished the meds and drops from the eye thing, he had a fever that lasted 5 days.  Ears looked okay throughout and not many other symptoms. His eye got crusty at the end but we avoided another eye infection this time.

did lead to some sweet snuggles when his fever was creeping up, and rocking him to sleep in my arms at 5 am which hasn't happened in many months


Pictures!

Mmm, mashed potatoes!

Trying to explore at the playground.  Mad that
Mama tried to take his picture before helping him up

Sick baby

Vroom vroom!

Pushing around a box of hot tamales

Snow play with Mama!

Happy

Sad!  (He fell down)

Ooh what did one of my sisters leave out?

A puzzle?  Yeah, I can make a mess with this!

Mmm, smoothies are yummy!

Claire, age 4, part 2

Four and a half!

Claire's personality and her interests are similar to what I detailed at age 3 and early 4. Sweet and silly, still working on being less demanding. She has become even more outgoing over the past year. She will talk to anyone who listens. The cashier at the store, the teachers who get her out of the car at carpool, wait staff, they all get an earful.

She still gets random bouts of shyness or nerves though. My cousin Josh came into town. The whole drive down she was excited to see my parents and meet Josh. We pulled into the driveway and she suddenly got quiet and hesitant. Similarly, a week after school started in the fall she told me she didn't want to go the next morning. She had been so excited in the days leading up to school starting that it seemed very unusual. I tried to give her some language to talk about it and the best we could do was that she was having a "nervous" day. She whined about it until I firmly stated that she was going. Staying home was not an option but I would be happy to help her. We settled on me walking her in and letting her teacher know she was having a nervous morning. Everything was fine after that and that afternoon it was like it hadn't happened.

She's extra affectionate, almost needy, with Jeff and I and my mom.  She wants to snuggle a lot and very frequently tells us she loves us.  

She also overreacts to injuries. And I don't mean the dramatic overreaction, which we have in spades. I mean, freaking out about how serious the injury might be. "Is it going to be ok????" She had a nosebleed and you would have thought someone told her she was going to die. I guess she just doesn't have a frame of reference for what is minor and what is serious.

Her interests include princesses, science (especially space, dinosaurs, and rocks), arts and crafts, horses and unicorns, and TV. In the summer of 2015 she was all about Ariel. By the fall she had moved on to Jasmine. For Halloween she was a rainbow unicorn.

Parade at school

Acting goofy before trick or treating

She's tried a couple different activities this year. 
Soccer:  
In the fall she aged up to the Under 6 group. It was an all girls league with a hour weekday practice and an hour game on Saturdays. She was definitely one of the smallest. She was overshadowed on the field by larger or more skilled girls. But she was oblivious and had fun.

Practice

Game

Last game team photo

Gymnastics:

She doesn't give me a lot of feedback about gymnastics.  She does look forward to going.  I think sometimes she gets frustrated that she is not able to do all the skills well right away.  Or as well as some of the older kids.

Ready for gymnastics!

School Fall 2015:
Claire is Mrs. Spotts Early 5's class this year.  It's for kids who turn 5 between September and Feb. So once again Claire is the youngest in the class.  But she seems to hold her own so it's not an issue.  She goes 5 days a week, 9-1.  She was very excited for school to start.  Over the first half of the year she made good progress in her writing, her early reading skills, and her early math skills.  She can rhyme and break down words into their sounds.  She's making progress in being able to put sounds together to make words.  This summer she had no concept of addition and subtraction.  Now she has a few addition facts memorized and can do up to 10 or 20 on her fingers. She gets the idea of taking away for subtraction and can do small amounts with her fingers.  By February she could write her first and last name.

Vacations:
Maine, October 2015
Jeff had a conference in Boston.  I wanted to tag along for a few days to have an adults only weekend revisiting some of our college favorites.  But we also turned it into a family trip to Maine.  Grammi came along and babysat for a few days while Jeff and I escaped to Boston.  We visited with my grandfather and his neighbors, strolled in downtown Ogunquit, and played in leaf piles, to name a few things.  Claire had a great trip!  When we got back, she said she wished we lived in Maine.

Plane ride to  Maine

Pure joy!

Playing in the woods behind Great Grampa's house

San Diego, November 2015
In early November we vacationed with our college friends, Sally and Nate, and their almost 2 year old daughter.  Four kids under 5 and 3 times zones away is a lot to deal with!  We definitely had some rough spots on the trip but had a wonderful time visiting the sites with our friends.  We went to the zoo, of course.  And Sea World, various museums and playgrounds, and multiple beaches!  And ice cream as much as possible.  When we got back, Claire said she wished we lived in San Diego!

The zoo!

Everyone wants to hold hands with everyone

Big feathers!

We found the beach

Picnic lunch with a view

The water was chilly in the pool at our rental, but that didn't stop her!

In other big news, Claire got her hair cut short!  On December 22, I took her to get it cut.  She had been talking for a a little bit about wanting to go short.  And she followed through!

Before and after of her haircut

And finally, some miscellaneous funny phrases, anecdotes and conversations...

"Hermit the frog"

Claire and Ellie found some empty boxes and played space ship

She loves to give herself a milk mustache.  She shows it to us and says "Milk mustache!"  I have no idea where she learned about a milk mustache.

She thinks she will live with us when she grows up. She doesn't want to ever leave to move out or go to college. Also, she wants to have twins.

She's telling Jeff about getting a haircut, in rapid fire:

"There's a cupcake place by my barber shop. Mine is more funner [than mama's that also has a cupcake place by it]. See, first you get your hair cut.  Then you get to pick from the treasure box with lots of things you can get. Then you get to go to the cupcake store and have a cupcake. You get it?

She's very into knock knock jokes. She makes up nonsensical ones. Peedy weedy and such. But also loves the interrupting cow one.  After a few weeks figured out how to do it with correct timing.

One day in the car, Jeff and I talking about intelligent comments she makes.  Like when she asks if the current of the rain water is fast or is there oxygen on the dwarf planet.  We wonder if this is normal stuff for a 4 year old to ask.  Then she pipes up from the back:

Hey mama! 
Yes? 
Pee pee. Hey mama! Poo poo

In August, I took the girls out to play in puddles during Daniel's nap. Oh how I wish I had a video camera to record the cuteness. Giggles, lots of running and splashing, hand holding, and worm friends! Claire fell in love with a worm and said "I love him so much! I want to take him home."

Claire and I made muffins one afternoon. Then she put on a dish towel cape while helping clean up our mess. She said she was a cleaning superhero. When I told her I needed her to come every day she said "Mama! I live here!"

Cleaning super hero

With all the rain, it was a movie kind of day. I'm in the kitchen making dinner and hear crying. I look up and Claire is sobbing. Apparently things got a little dicey for Wall-E and Eve and her poor little heart couldn't take it.

Two minutes away from freedom (bedtime) and I have to field questions about heaven, what if there was a fire, and what if animals got into her room (thanks to the snake in the grandparents house story), etc. I'm so tapped out. I have no capacity for dealing with those topics at that time of day. Especially this day!

Stockings = beanstalks

In the car on the way to school one morning:

"Mommy I love you to Pluto and back. I love Daddy to the moon and back. I love Grammi to Saturn. And Auntie to um, Earth and back. ... That's all the planets I can remember.

Oh, I love Paaps to the asteroid belt! (I chuckle)

Mama, that's real, why did you laugh?!

And I love GG-Ma to Mars and back!"

On the way to school this morning Claire told me she didn't want kids anymore (she had wanted twins). Then she asked how nurses and doctors help get a baby out of your belly. !!

So I gave her the real deal. And she laughed and then said "that's funny. Wait, is that really how the baby comes out?" She wasn't impressed. Even less so when I said the doctors could also cut your belly. She told me she didn't want to die. So then I had to clear up that misconception. She is still pretty sure she doesn't want to have a baby.

Also, I had to walk them in to school today to warn her teacher of this conversation. And because I forgot Ellie's diapers and needed to see if they still had some. Claire, 30 feet in front of me in the hall, stopped by Ellie's class to tell the teacher "Ellie's mom forgot her diapers!" and then skipped away to her room.

Claire had a complete freak out tonight because she got stuck in her comforter. She crawled inside the duvet cover between the buttons on the bottom and couldn't get out. A screaming crying blanket lump. Good thing Jeff handled it because I would have been laughing too hard.

Miscellaneous pictures:

Dressed as St. Therese for All Saint's Day

Finally she can pedal!

Claire wants to be a "bike riding trainer"
when she grows up

Looking at worms

Jumping in puddles!

Playing at the sand table

Sliding

Sweet girl!