The Big 1!

Well, she gone and done it. My baby turned 1. (And I would say I'm coping rather well.)

This month, Eliza learned lots of things. She still isn't walking, but she has learned to cruise around. She does take a few steps with assistance, occasionally.

She finally figured out how to climb down from things. This is very important in our house, since we have a recessed living room. It's no fun being trapped in the hallway when all the action is in the living room!

She also learned how to climb into things. She started climbing into dresser drawers, empty plastic bins, baskets,

kitchen cupboards (and sampling the onions and garlic while she's in there),

and bathroom cabinets.

And Eliza and I both learned that Jack is not to be trusted. I don't know what happened when they were alone, but that night Mommy and Daddy also got a lesson... in the wonders of super glue. (Our first time. Would you believe that?)


A few fun bath shots to share...




And two more of my adorable baby. (I can still call her that since she's the youngest.)


Eliza is such a joy to have around. She is sweet and loving with everyone but doesn't hesitate to jump in and wrestle when the opportunity arises. She is quick to laugh, whether we smile and make funny faces intentionally, or she is just watching her older brother and sister's antics. She is saying "naw," "yeah," and "uh-oh" pretty regularly now, and has several other ways of communicating her wishes and emotions. She still likes to cuddle and snuggle, especially when she's tired. And she still sleeps wonderfully during nap time and at night. It is such a joy to watch her grow and learn and develop every day. We are so glad that she is our baby, even though she's a toddler now!

I guess Phil was right.

It's only been a few weeks, and I may be a bit premature, but I am taking this opportunity to thank Punxsutawney Phil for correctly predicting an early spring. We had an unusually cold winter this year (LOTS of below freezing days, but no snow to show for it!) and we have been so thankful for warmer weather recently.

President's Day was a gorgeous day, so we met several other families from our ward and headed to a nearby beach for some fun in the sun. The weather was in the high 70s and low 80s - too cold to swim in the ocean (but someone forgot to tell Cat that) and a little windy, but warm enough to be comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt (or swimsuit, if you're a child). We even stayed long enough for me to get my first almost-sunburn of the season. Yeah for the South!

When Jack wasn't trying to swipe strangers' beach toys or eat their food, he was either playing in the sand:

or playing in a big tide pool.
He also found a hole to hang out in for a while.

Cat got in the water several times, and didn't mind the cold at all. This girl LOVES the water.

She played in the sand a lot too, and even took turns burying/getting buried with her friend Ashlyn.

Eliza hung out in the Baby Bjorn almost the whole 2 1/2 hours we were there. She is such a trooper! Thank you for not making me change sandy diapers, E, since you would have inevitably eaten LOTS of it, had you been crawling around the whole time.

I did let her "experience" the beach a bit. She rubbed her toes in the sand. Cutest toes ever.

The only way it could have been better is if Ben could have hung out with us too. But at least he got to come home to a very happy family that day!

She'll never be out of a job.

I didn't put it together when we signed Cat up to be a Daisy Scout this year that she would have to sell Girl Scout cookies. But each girl in her troop was challenged to sell a certain number of boxes to help the troop raise money, since it's a new troop and they started the year with almost no money in their account. We figured we should support the troop and help Cat do her share. So we made a couple of trips soliciting neighbors and asked Cat to call some family and friends she was comfortable talking to over the phone. We expected to have one or two "don't feel bad that people don't want to order cookies from you" type conversations and perhaps Cat would learn a life lesson from this experience but... we were wrong. We had people thanking us for asking them to buy Girl Scout cookies. These things sell themselves!

Cat was a little hesitant when I first took her door-to-door, but gained confidence after the first couple of houses agreed to buy cookies, then insisted on trying "one more house" until we absolutely had to go home.

Then on the Saturday during pre-sales, she and Ben took their bikes out and tried to sell a few more boxes. Their first stop was to our two-houses-down neighbor, a retired gentleman who used to manage all of the landscaping at the local college. He and his girlfriend now own and run the local ice cream shop and he has no problem talking our ears off when he gets the chance, and always tells it like it is. When Cat and Ben approached his house, he was working on his roses. Cat asked him if he'd like to order some Girl Scout cookies and he said, "No thank you. I'm on a diet." She didn't skip a beat, because why would someone not want to buy the cookies?? She stepped up her game. "Well, you could donate some to the soldiers. Or you could give them as a present." He ordered 3 boxes. When Ben tried to chat with our neighbor as he filled out the order form, Cat cleared her throat loudly. When they continued to talk, she took her bike and rammed into Ben's leg with it. While she and Ben biked to the next house, Cat firmly told him, "No chit chat! You're taking time away from selling!" And those 3 boxes our neighbor ordered? He gave them to our family when we tried to deliver them to him. And he told me that Cat should go into used car sales. At the age of 12.

So, Cat did a great job selling cookies this year. With a little help from Grammy and Daddy, she's sold almost 50% more than her troop-mandated goal, and still going strong.

We saw that same natural saleswoman talent come out a couple of weeks ago when we had a yard sale. It was pretty cold that morning - in the 30s when we got started - but she stayed outside at her table almost the whole time. She had a few random items at her table and we told her that she could keep the money for everything she sold. (My way of keeping her from playing and being completely wild throughout the yard sale. It worked.) She started out by announcing to potential customers in a very loud voice, "I have things for sale over here!" And eventually got bold enough to approach people with items she thought they would or should be interested in. I even heard her tell a woman who was there with her daughter, "I think your 5 year old would like this fairy doll." She made $12 that morning. $5 of which came from a guy who just decided to give her money.

The question is... what is the best use of her talents for us right NOW? She should start making us money somehow, right? :-)

Our V-Day

We had a fun Valentine's Day this year. Cat and Jack helped me decorate the house by painting and coloring in various Valentines-y and some not-so-Valentines-y colors at the end of January and beginning of February. Then Cat and I cut them into heart shapes and taped them to the wall.

I have these red marble/pebble (?) things that I pull out occasionally and I thought they were fun on V-Day, so I put them out for a while, knowing they might not last. Of course, they didn't. Jack thought they were candy, so he kept putting them in his mouth. When I told him to spit them out, he spit them out onto the floor and found out that they bounce when dropped on tile. So then he referred to them as "balls" and just kept dropping them on the floor and letting them go all over the place. So I put away as many as I could find. (Would you be surprised if I told you that I found a straggler in Jack's diaper the following day?)

A few weeks ago I was working on an 8x10 canvas making a present for a friend, and Cat asked if she could paint on my extra canvas (from the 2-pack I bought because it was cheaper than a single canvas). I finally relented and asked her to make something festive we could use to decorate for V-Day. I love what she came up with!! Note to self: do not use watercolors on a canvas.

Since V-Day fell on a Monday, we did our traditional fondue dinner on Sunday evening so that Ben could be with us. (He normally doesn't get home from work until about 7:00 so we typically eat dinner without him.) We invited some friends to join us and we had a wonderful time eating good food together. Didn't take any pictures.

I still wanted to do something different for dinner on V-Day even though we'd already had our designated celebratory dinner. So I borrowed a good friend's family tradition and made heart-shaped pizzas. It was easier than I thought it would be to shape the dough this way, and of course a fun and yummy dinner.

I really need some round baking stones!!

I like to give the kids a little something for V-Day. I made everyone presents last year, but this year only E got a homemade gift - a little stuffed elephant I made during nap time that day. C & J got small toys I've had in my gift stash for a while.

The funniest part about the whole day was that I took about 10 or 15 minutes Sunday night before going to bed and cut out a bunch of quick little red and pink paper hearts. I was giddy as I scattered them on the floor in Cat's bedroom and down the hallway. I just knew she would love it and that it would be an awesome way for her to start her day. When she woke up all she said to me was, "Mom, why did you put hearts all over the floor?" Haha. Oh well. At least I had fun putting them out!

All in all, it was a happy Valentine's Day. :-)

Cheap Entertainment

When I went outside to load the kids up to take Cat to school on Friday, I noticed a school bus stopped right in front of our house. I checked to make sure there was enough room on the road for me to pass it on my way out, then didn't think too much of it.

When we got home from dropping Cat off, Jack was really interested in the school bus.

Eliza noticed it too.

But it became downright entertaining when a really big tow truck arrived to jack the bus up so that they could change a tire. He was mesmerized.

He watched the bus and tow truck for about 15 minutes. And we may or may not have called the doctor we had an appointment to see and told them that we were running late. Because, really, a boy should be able to enjoy this kind of experience. And a Mom should be able to enjoy the quiet.

11 months old!

So, the end of babyhood is rapidly approaching for my little Eliza.

Let the mourning begin.

Lots of big developments this month!
Eliza moved into a convertible carseat. Still can't believe she's big enough for that.

We expanded her exposure to table food, and she's doing great.
Green beans were a hit the first time. Not as much after that, but we're still hopeful.
She also eats a whole banana, before or after downing 1-2 jars of baby food.

We discovered that Eliza loves Goldfish and Tostitos. (Can you blame her?)

Unfortunately, so does Jack. And her chair was close enough to his that he pulled her tray until she was within reaching distance.

And terrorized her by taking her Tostito.

Eliza has finally gotten the hang of the sippy cup.

And she is beginning to figure out the real cup (thanks to bathtime).
Although this usually ends with water all over her front side.

Eliza began shaking her head and saying "naw" when she doesn't want something. It's pretty cute! She has also been standing independently a little bit this month, but she's still not cruising, so I think walking won't happen for a little while. It's fun to watch the process, though.

She's been doing a lot more playing with her siblings recently and laughing at all of the silliness in our family. She doesn't like to be left in a room by herself, and will crawl around looking for action if you leave her alone for too long. She's opening cupboards in the bathroom and kitchen, getting her fingers stuck places, and touching things I don't want her to touch. I'm so not ready for another toddler! Oh well. Ready or not, right?

A happy discovery.

I blogged about doing a cleaning blitz in August 2009. It has been a valuable tool for us over the last year and a half or so, but we hadn't done one in a while because things had just gotten a little too hectic. But now that things have calmed down a bit, I am determined to get back on top of everything. Including my (unclean) house. So naturally I enlisted the help of my family and we had a long overdue cleaning blitz on Saturday. Yeah!


And what was the happy discovery? That Jack is actually helpful now! His main contributions were that he dusted (with a sock over his hand) and helped wipe down mirrors and the glass doors. He was a great little worker and Cat was much more cheerful since Jack was helping too; she didn't feel that she was the only one being unjustly forced to clean.


We cleaned for a while and I am much happier about the state of my house as well as my family's ability to work together.