All About Ellen, June & Frances

Saturday, July 27, 2013

EVB: 3 Years + 9 Months Old!

EVB is just three months shy of her 4th birthday ... I wouldn't believe it except for the fact that she already looks like a 4-year-old. Ellen continues to grow taller (I swear she wakes up taller every day) and take on even more of a big-kid look. Ellen has had a great month. Here are some highlights:

Loving her dance/tumbling (always pronounced by Ellen as "dance-slash-tumbling") at the Y. Ellen enjoyed class time on her own, always insisting that she be dropped off while Mom worked out and June went to Kidstuff (the Y's childcare). Although I wasn't (ahem) "allowed" to observe her, EVB was always grinning from ear to ear when I picked her up after class.
Policing everyone's manners. I've been reprimanded more than once recently for accidentally saying "butt" in the presence of Ellen. EVB is VERY serious when she tells me that "butt" is not a polite word and that I should instead say "bottom" or "buns." Likewise, Adam has been told to now refer to the private parts of the buffalo statue at the Minnesota Zoo as "frank and beans" (he's a mature one, that Adam ...). Besides the impolite choice of words, Ellen insists that it is not good manners to talk about private parts. And then there's poor June who gets scolded by Ellen for not saying "please" and "thank you" ... EVB doesn't quite seem to understand that June is not yet capable of saying these words. :)
Having a strong aversion to bows and buttons. I never realized how many little girl clothes are adorned with buttons and/or bows (both functional and purely decorative). This has made getting dressed each morning very challenging!
Sharing random thoughts. My recent favorites from the backseat of the car include: "Mom, God gave me just a little smile because that's what I wanted" ... "Mom, dolphins don't have feet"... and "Mom, my stuffed animals don't have bones."

Monday, July 15, 2013

JEB: 16 Months Old!

June is 16 months old and is busy growing and learning more and more each day ... Here's what Little Red has been up to in the past month:

Adding to her vocab. June's latest words include: waffle, "affe" (giraffe), shoes, book, fish and bear. She has also started to put two words together (e.g., "Hi woof" when greeting a dog).
Mimicking more sounds. My new favorites are "Shh" (complete with finger to lips) and June's impression of snoring.
Understanding everything. June can point to or find any object/picture of an object and can complete just about any task we ask her to do (retrieve her shoes, put toys back in the playroom, etc.)
Running all the time. June is so speedy and needs to be monitored at all times when we're outside. She's bound and determined to run down our driveway and into the street. :/
Driving. Now that we have a driveway, June enjoys cruising around in her cozy coupe and pretending to fill it up with gas.
Loving blueberries. June cannot get enough of them.
Hugging. June still gives the best hugs, complete with a double pat on the back.
Acquiring more pearly whites. June has two new bottom teeth.
Being a goofball. June is the family jokester who loves to be silly and make everyone laugh (especially her big sister).

Getting some curls!

Luckily, June's heart is as big as her eyes. :)

Thursday, June 27, 2013

EVB: 3 Years + 8 Months Old!

Ellen is officially 3 years and 8 months old ... and still seems older and bigger to us each day. Our little lady has been loving the warm summer weather (now that it's finally here) and can't get enough of playing outside. Considering we still don't have a yard to call our own, we've been making lots of trips to the local parks and, of course, to Omma & Boppa's pool. Here's what Ellen is up to these days:

Continuing to crack us up with the things she says. One of my latest favorites is if someone says something funny, Ellen will reply "Hey, that's my line!" (No clue where she got that one from ... ?!) And a few new Ellenisms: "Cavette" = Corvette and "Tall Bunkin" = Paul Bunyon. :)
Being attentive to June's needs. Ellen is quick to help June if she drops something, needs help reaching a toy from a shelf, etc. She's so in tune with June's needs that she often notices June requires assistance before I do!
Helping out around the house. Whenever I get out the broom to sweep, Ellen bolts to the playroom to get her little broom to help me. She's also great at setting the table and clearing her dishes after a meal without anyone having to ask her to do so. I love this!
Getting excited about dance/tumbling class. Ellen's new class at the Y starts next week and she can't wait!
Dressing herself and selecting her outfits all on her own. Ellen is still learning to coordinate tops with bottoms and pick out socks that match the outfit ... For now, there's a lot of "loud" ensembles going on with crazy accessories. She's so proud of herself when she comes out of her bedroom all dressed each morning that I don't have the heart to tell her what she's chosen doesn't match. :)

Happy Girl! (Notice the fish shirt, flower shorts and Christmas socks!)

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

JEB: 15 Months Old!

June turned 15 months old on June 15! Our little Bug is doing great, but boy is she FIESTY! We've decided that the best word to describe June is "intense" because every emotion she expresses is to an extreme. If she's happy/silly, she's really happy/silly. If she's mad or frustrated, she's really mad or really frustrated. Needless to say, this intensity can be either super fun or super challenging depending on June's mood. :) Aside from displaying a lot of ... ahem ... passion, June is doing swell as of late. She's literally running all over the place and her sense of curiosity keeps her busy opening cabinets and rummaging through just about anything she can get her hands on. Here's what else our fiery little redhead has been up to:

Talking a little bit more. Recent additions to JB's vocab include "hi", "cah" (car), "cacka" (cracker), "mowh" (meow), "ah-ah-ah" (monkey sound), "Boppa" and "bubble."
Sliding. June enjoys the toddler-size slides at our local playgrounds, but she wants NOTHING to do with a swing of any sort. She freaks out if she's within 10 feet of a swing, which is odd since she absolutely loved swings last summer. I'm hoping she gets over this phobia soon, because I can only lift her to the top of the toddler slides so many times in a single outing to the park.
Dancing. June still loves "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and has a few signature moves (marching in place and spinning in circles) during the opening theme song and "Hotdog" dance. This usually results in extreme dizziness and stumbling into nearby furniture, which apparently June finds hilarious.
Organizing/shuttling cups. June's favorite (and most accessible) cabinet is the one that houses all the kid cups and plates. June will spend serious chunks of time taking cups out one-by-one and lining them up in various locations throughout the house. Once she's done, she'll move them one-by-one to a different location and so on and so on ...
Weaning? Maybe? June is slowly ~~quitting~~ being cut off from her morning and bedtime nursing sessions. At this point, it's just habitual because she certainly can't be satiating any thirst this way ... We're still working on increasing June's fondness for cow's milk; it's a work in progress.
Eating varying amounts of food: Some days June is nothing but a picker; other days you can't get food in front of her fast enough. Fail-safe options seem to be yogurt, blueberries, fruit pouches and any shape of pasta smothered in red sauce. (Also, June recently sampled her first-ever mini donut and she was in heaven!)
Still wearing a combo of 6-12 month and 12-18 month tops and 3-6 month shorts. (Poor girl needs some hips to keep her pants up!). Still in a size 4 shoe, but I should probably get around to having her feet professionally sized. And she's still wearing size 3 diapers.
June goes to the doctor in a few weeks for a checkup where we'll get her official stats, but I think she weighs about 20 pounds.

15 Months Old!

Smiley duck

So big (and so cool)

So proud of herself for going down the slide, she's doubled-over with excitement!

June's cup stash

Lovin' the sunshine and water!

Monday, June 3, 2013

EVB: 3 Years + 7 Months Old!

Technically, Ellen is 3 years and 7 months old; however, if you ask her how old she is, she'll say, "I'm 3 and a half, but I have an old soul ..." So true! This past month, Ellen's maturity and intelligence seem to be catching up to the "big kid" look she's taken on recently. I'm amazed by all she seems to know and I often wonder where she picks things up. Here's what our little blonde girl has been up to lately:

Letters. Ellen is obsessed with stating the letter that various words begin with ... This usually spins off into games like "let't name scary animals that start with [letter]," all orchestrated by Ellen. She also likes to practice writing letters on her capital and lowercase letter whiteboards.
Numbers. Ellen is into number sequencing and identifying and repeating numbers on houses, signs, etc., when we're out and about.
Patterns. Ellen has taken an interest in organizing items by size and color. For instance, I recently noticed that she had arranged her fruit snacks by alternating colors all on her own!
Getting excited about preschool! Ellen screams with joy every time we pass "Briar Rose/St. Brambrose" (St. Ambrose), which is very close to our house. I keep having to remind her that preschool doesn't start until the fall. :)
Making friends at the playground. We cannot go to a playground without Ellen going up to another child, introducing herself and asking him/her if they want to play. I love seeing this since this is something that would have been way out of my comfort zone when I was young. :)
No longer napping. Ellen has completely done away with naps. I'm not sure how I feel about this one ... On one hand, I miss my solitary time to get things done around the house in the afternoon (and Ellen can get a little crabby in the late afternoon/evening when she's tired). On the other hand, by skipping her nap, EVB crashes when bedtime does roll around and sleeps very well throughout the night.
Taking care of June. Ellen has traded much of the pushing, chasing she reserves for June for kindness in the form of reading her a book, calming her down by singing her a song, explaining why something is not safe for her, or just talking sweetly to June in a mom-like voice. Love it

We're hoping that the warm weather will finally come and stay so we can enjoy a fun summer with our sweet EVB!

Bath Buddies

Ellen and June recently took a bath together for the first time ... We had put this off previously I think out of fear for June's safety. However, since our inflatable ducky baby tub is on the fritz, June is getting bigger and Ellen has been acting a bit more gentle around her sister, we figured we'd give it a try. With Mom and Dad each responsible for washing one girl, it was pretty efficient. The girls seemed to enjoy it too!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

JEB: 14 Months Old!

June Bug turned 14 months old on May 15! Little Red is doing great, but she really is LITTLE! She still loves to eat most of the time, but is losing a lot of her chub (probably because she's always on the move!). I'm not sure how much she weighs, but when I went to put size 6-12 month shorts on her the other day, they instantly fell to her ankles. I was forced to dress her in size 3-6 month shorts (the same ones that were snug on her last summer) and there was plenty of room in the waist!

Here's what June has been up to in recent weeks:

Singing. I think JEB sings more than she talks. She "sings" "Elmo's World," "Twinkle, Twinkle" and "Baa Baa Black Sheep."
Not talking much. I don't think June has permanently added any words to her almost non-existant vocabulary this month, but she has said "read it" a few times when brining me a book and I've heard a "Mickey" once or twice in reference to Mickey Mouse. (June LOVES "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.")
Scaring us. She lets out a ferocious growl when we say "Oh, don't you scare me!" and then laughs hysterically.
Calling herself (and lots of other things) Dada. I mentioned before that June thinks it's the funniest thing in the world to point to herself and say "Dada," but she seems to say "Dada" for just about everything (even Mama most of the time).
Woofing. June has added "woof" to the list of animal sounds she can make. (In addition to "woof" for dog, June makes noises for pig and duck, which sound the same).
Pointing to various body parts on command. June can correctly identify her tummy, hair, teeth, mouth and "pee-ew stinky" feet.
Proudly sitting on things like a big girl. June loves to sit in little kid chairs, on our little kid tuffets, at the bottom of slides and anywhere else that makes her feel like a big shot. The look of pride on her beaming face is priceless.
Working on more teeth. I swear this girl has been teething since birth ... June now has (I think) six teeth (four on top, two on the bottom), but it looks like more are on there way.
Still nursing about three times a day. We're trying to get June to drink more cow's milk, but so far she's been nothing more than a casual sipper during meals and snacks.
Sleeping less during the day. June has phased out her morning nap and now just takes one nap a day (after lunch).
Still wearing size 3 diapers, size 4 shoes and a whole mix of sizes when it comes to clothes ... I think I even need to unpack some more smaller sizes from last summer based on the experience with shorts I mentioned above.