Arwyn Week 26: Baby's First Food! - 12/17/2015

Arwyn is really moving and shaking things up these days.  She can now log roll across her play mat to get a toy she wants (lying on back, rolled to tummy and even got that arm out, and then on to her back again)!  Her feet are still very interesting, and she now enjoys inserting the entire foot in her mouth.  And she had her very first solid food this week!  Like Leia, we started her with mashed banana, unlike Leia, she really did not seem to like it at all!  She wanted nothing to do with the entire process, wore a tortured looking face the entire time, and really didn't care to even play with the spoon.  Oh well, we'll just have to keep trying.

Leia finally got the dreaded Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease that's been going around school.  We're trying so hard to keep her away from Arwyn, but she always wants to kiss her and cuddle her so badly that even though she says she'll stay away, and does try, she also constantly sneaks in for a little love.  Oh well, not much we can do.  She's also so funny when she interacts with Arwyn, beccause she tries to copy us adults to say these loving and affectionate phrases, but it just sounds so funny coming from another little person: "Hey Cutie!  Hey Little Guy!  Leia's new favorite show is called Jake and the Neverland Pirates, and it's also turned into her favorite pretend play game, especially if I need to distract her from wanting to watch more TV!  "I got my sword, I got my map, I got my pixie dust!  We have to cross crocodile creek.  Let's go!"  Then we go running around the kitchen, back and forth.  It's so awesome how much she loves it.

We had a very nice celebration for my birthday.  Josh took the day off so we could all be together as a family.  Leia made me a very cute card, and we had fun singing the happy birthday song a lot.

Working on sitting up by herself...getting a little core workout but still needs a little support from the pillow.

Gently cradling and singing to her sweet baby!

Goofy post-milk faces!

Exploring the little nuances of the toy with her feet...so dexterous!

It's all about rolling onto that tummy!

Leia force feeding "milk" to Arwyn while they both ride the Daddy Train...so many things wrong with this picture!

Guess it's Torture Daddy Day...even Arwyn is learning the tricks of how to steal his glasses now!

I got you Daddy!

Daddy just wants to sleep but there's no rest for the weary around here!

Oooooo, cool tag!

Hard to see with the baggy PJ's but she's working on getting those knees tucked up under...crawling won't be long...

Fish-hooked by a foot!

Love a baby who still likes diaper changes...how much longer do you think we'll have of this?

Just can't get enough of these bath time smiles!

Snuggly little burrito!

Here we go, first bite of banana!

Exploring flavors, pondering textures...

No thanks Mom, and back out it comes!

Ok, got rid of that horrible mess they put in my mouth, I think I'm alright again now.

Ugh, more mash...these people just won't quit!

Cool new crayon set...thanks Cousin Chryssa!

Very fun birthday party with my Leia!

Arwyn gave me sweet birthday smiles too!

Those sweet cheeks are just asking for millions of kisses!

Still loves her standups!

It's your birthday Mom, I don't want to sleep, I want to party!

Hmm, now how many fingers are on this hand again?

Oh look, Nana has fingers too!

Arwyn Week 25: Santa's Lap - 12/10/15

Arwyn got to meet Santa this week.  She liked him a lot more than Leia did; just another nice place to sit and hang out!  She's doing this crazy whipping of her head back and forth this week, and I don't know why.  I try to imitate it, and the force and speed that she uses hurts my head, so it makes me wonder what the heck is going on, but it doesn't seem to bother her at all.  Babies are crazy!  She's also doing the cutest little flirting smiles with her Daddy.  She looks at him, turns away really quickly, then looks back with this shy smile, and looks away.  He laughs so hard every time.  She's getting much stronger with her push-ups, but still not really experimenting with her knees yet.  I tried not giving her the acid reflux medication for a few days, but she definitely started spitting up more until I got her back on it, so I guess she still needs it.  Hopefully that tummy of hers settles down soon.

Leia has been doing lots of really cute morning singing and talking that we hear in the monitor.  Her song selection has really expanded, especially considering all the songs she just makes up, and her imaginative play and conversations with monkey have really exploded again.  She's getting much better about being quiet when we put Arwyn to sleep.  She helps sing for a little, and then she sneaks into her little hiding place behind the rocking chair and just waits silently for me to finish.  It's so much nicer when she's cooperative and helpful like that.  She was also so much better about the whole TV thing this week, thanks to our little break last week.  It's not the first thing that she asks for anymore, and if she does ask, its much easier to distract her with some fun pretend play.

Modeling the PJ's with the goofy matching hat...yes, I deserve a tongue sticking out for this one!

This big guy seems nice, and I like sitting here and having everyone look at me!

So much stress seems to come standard with the Christmas holiday; I feel like such a grinch. Then I see this, and it makes me smile!

Not quite ready to tell Santa what she wants for Christmas, but happy to show him all the cool stuff she already has...like her favorite purple spikey ball.

I haven't sat with Santa in a very long time!!  I hope I get what I asked for!

First time decorating Christmas cookies, or any cookies for that matter!

Expertly placing the Christmas tree balls just so.

Ta-da, a masterpiece!

It's really a special day when you get to decorate Christmas trees with Santa!

Always cheerful, even if she gets screwed out of her naps or tortured by Leia.

Exhibit A, getting tortured by Leia.  "She wants to come under the table Mommy!"

Checking out the new climbing wall at gymnastics.

Pretty much made it to the top before she got nervous.

Balance beam over the snake pit of doom...she's got it!

First hula hoop! And yes, Mommy was able to give a decent demonstration.

Tried out the kettle bells like Nana and Poppy do at their gym.  Oooo, so heavy!

Thank goodness we had a reason to wear the new leotard from MumMum in the manner it was intended to be worn!

Yay, Daddy's home!

She loves her stand-ups!

Arwyn Week 24: Chef Leia - 12/3/2015

Arwyn is back to having at least a few nights where she's sleeping better at night, except for when she gets her legs stuck up inside her jams and can't straighten them anymore.  Makes me want to throw out each pair that causes that!!  She is, however, sleeping horribly at school - barely 30 minutes a pop most times.  I knew that long nap at the beginning was too good to be true!  But it doesn't seem to bother her; everyone says she just smiles and plays and does her mellow things all day long while she's there.  She is exhausted by the time she gets home, but still good mannered, so oh well.  She is also smiling and laughing more than ever at Leia, which really makes Leia happy.  In fact, now it kind of disturbs Leia when she's not happy.  A couple times driving to school in the morning, when Arwyn is clearly tired and just wants to zone out in the car, Leia tries to cheer her up, "Smile Arwyn! Hi Cutie, smile!"  And then, "Mommy, she's not smiling.  Arwyn's not smiling." "I think she's just tired," I reply.  "She smiles at school," Leia says, and sure enough, she always smiles when we get there.

We had to tell Leia that the TV was broken this week because she was getting way too addicted.  It was the first thing she wanted when she woke up and it continued all day.  And she had started kicking and hitting me if I tried to tell her no.  So, away it went, cold turkey.  I chose the one day that both Josh and I were home so we'd be able to help each other with extra entertainment that would be necessary, and guess what, it worked great!  She went back to playing so much more and using her imagination, singing, and all that good stuff.  Of course it was much harder on me and Josh because we lost our rest time, but it's going to be better in the long run.

We had a fun play date with Sara Davidson and her twins Hanna and Adrian.  I tried to keep it outside, but everyone was cold and wanted to play inside.  Luckily, Leia did great!  Much better than usual with sharing her stuff.  Of course there were a few problems, and funny enough it was mostly with sharing with another girl rather than another boy, but we worked it all out and they are definitely invited back.  If fact, Leia kept asking for them the rest of the weekend.  We also had the Leunigs over for cocktails, so Leia got to play with some older girls, which was fun for her.  And Leia even allowed Sabrina to Spiral French Braid her hair; I couldn't believe it!  She was so cute in the morning because she was totally crying in bed that her hair tie was gone and her "pretty hair" was all messed up.  I tried to redo it, but apparently I'll have to polish up on my skills because it did not turn out nearly as good as Sabrina's!  Luckily Leia didn't notice.

Leia is still into "helping" me put Arwyn to sleep, but it's really cute now because she brings Monkey into the room and she holds him and sings to him and bounces him exactly the same way I do for Arwyn.  I just love watching all the things that she mimics us doing.  The biggest news of the weeks is the "Where's Willow" saga.  I don't have an accompanying picture because we finally lost Willow in a spot where she could not be found.  It was soooo sad!  Every day we promise to do a deep clean/big search, but so far our attempts have been unsuccessful.  And it was really sad because Leia was looking through pictures on my phone, and kept seeing my "Where's Willow" pictures and going to check if Willow was still in that spot where she had been found in that picture, or she would see herself holding Willow and ask again if we found her.  It was like rubbing salt on a fresh wound! Josh and I finally decided that we'll have to break down and buy another, but I actually can't find any Willows on the internet, only her sisters, so hopefully they will be acceptable.  RIP Willow and maybe we'll find you when the snow melts!??

Are these two too cute or what?  I love to see them happily snuggling!

Getting so strong on those push ups and more comfortable on the tummy!

I'm thinking Leia might have a real knack for this photography thing!

It's a perfect back arch!  Leia is definitely admiring.

These next 4 images comprise Leia's first Exposé as a professional photographer.  We call it "Feet."

Living Room Feet

Dining Room Feet

Bedroom Foot.

Everyone has feet.

Loving her pretty circle braid care of Sabrina.

Leia and Nadia...the big sisters with their matching braids.

Anya and Arwyn...cutest little sisters in town!

Two happy campers!

Hey there Big Truck Baby!

20 degrees out, and this is what she insisted on wearing for the walk to Nana and Poppy's house! Arwyn wasn't wearing much more either, but that was also Leia's fault for distracting me. At least I was warm!

Chef Leia's First Lesson in Chopping from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Password = Leia

Hallelujah for this wonderful bed and place to sleep!

Proudly setting herself up a little candlelight dinner for one!

"Ta-Da!"

Clean puppy snuggles.

Always so serious when we're out exploring the world!

Chewing up another delicious lunch for me...looks like she takes after her Daddy!

I just love how she always sleeps with her hands over her eyes, like she's trying to block out that one blasted ray of light!