Big Girl Bed

Finally! Athena is sleeping in her "big girl bed!" We initially introduced this bed way back in the early Spring and Athena wanted nothing to do with it. At that point, Zoe was in the cosleeper and getting bigger and bigger everyday. Our plan was to transition Athena into her toddler bed and then have Zoe sleep in the crib in Athena's room once she was sleeping through the night.

Well, as all parents know, toddlers rarely go by your plan. She enjoyed playing in the bed, but refused to sleep in it. She would freak out when we tried to put her down for the night and even said it was "scawee." After a couple of months of resistance, and a final ultimatum that we would take the bed away if she did not sleep in it, we lived up to our promise and removed the offending bed. Athena was happy to see it go.

Luckily a very nice mother of triplets gave me one of her cribs and we've had two cribs in the nursery since August. And then, over the Thanksgiving holiday, Athena slept in a hotel bed all by herself every single night. We made such a big deal over her sleeping in "the big bed" we thought we would try her "big girl bed" again.

We included her in the whole process of the transition. We talked to her about it. She helped Daddy dismantle and remove Zoe's crib (it didn't match the other nursery furniture). We let her choose where she wanted the bed to go and she helped her Daddy build it. And she's been sleeping there for two nights now! No problems.

Happy Birthday Daddy

We almost didn't make it to celebrate Chris' birthday. In all the craziness of our travels, the overwhelming amount of work work, the chaos of this house and YiaYia's battery dying, we almost threw in the towel and said we would celebrate another day. But we pressed on, a little stressed out and an hour late, and ended up having a great time at the Japanese Hibachi restaurant, even making friends with the others at our table who were also celebrating a birthday. Hibachi is like dinner and a show for toddlers, totally engrossing, although both Athena and Zoe screamed a bit when he lit the grill on fire.
The birthday boy requested handmade gifts this year and I think he received presents more precious than anything we could have bought. A collection of child care coupons from Mimi and a handmade ornament, beautiful framed collage from Athena, a special photo from Zoe and from me, a handmade calendar with a reason why I love him on each day, YiaYia took care of the bill (thanks Mom!)

Athena ate everything. Miso soup, noodles, chicken, broccoli. All with
children's chopsticks and even fishing out the wiggly bits of
tofu in her soup. She did better with her chopsticks than YiaYia did.

Zoe charmed the waitstaff and enjoyed the show.

Well worth the trip

We started our travels at exactly 6:17 this morning - plucked the little girls from their warm beds and poured them into car seats still in pajamas. It was a gray overcast morning and they peacefully slept for the first 200 miles leaving Chris and I to ramble along quietly listening to NPR. We stopped for breakfast, lunch, a couple of potty breaks and Mimi and Stu (who left at 8) easily caught up so we met up for lunch. We finally made it home just before 10pm. Poor Zoe had a total meltdown the last half an hour, I have promised her I will not take her on any long errands in the car for a couple of days. Besides the final breakdown, the girls traveled so well. We think for Athena, the car trip represents a fabulous time: endless tv, cookies on demand and staying in her pajamas for most of the day (why it's somewhat like YiaYia's house).

All in all our travels were well worth the trip, and special memories were created, like Baba reading with Athena happily cuddled up next to him...my heart melts.

Arts and crafts

A full day of visiting and arts and crafts. First at my good friend Caragh's house where we made fantastic Christmas ornaments with the girls and her sweet little guy, Joseph (hmm...what will grandparents be getting for Christmas this year??). Then on to MorMor's studio for some more fun. Athena made something special for someone special whose birthday it is soon. I cannot say anymore. I am sworn to secrecy.
Zoe occupied her time roaming the hallways of this massive old mansion turned into artists gallery and studios. She walked from room to room with me following closely behind, stopping occasionally to look at the artwork.
She found one artists sculpture in a corner of the house that she took quite a liking to it as you can see from the photo.

First movie

Athena saw her first movie today - which is a huge milestone in this family of movie lovers. While Zoe and I relaxed back at the hotel and Mimi, Chris and Uncle Stu went to see a grownup movie, the grandparents took Athena to "Bee Movie." Apparently, she loved every minute of it and made them stay until the last credit rolled up the screen. No fidgeting, no crying, no running up and down the aisle, it kept her interest throughout even though she watched most of it from Nana's lap. She even ate a small bag of popcorn then took the last half home for me because "Mommy likes popcorn" and happily came back with all sorts of stories about how she saw a t.v. "as big as a room"!

(I caught up on a couple of Thanksgiving posts below...)

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving at Baba and Nana's house. Great company, great food and ending in a poker game. Uncle Stu has all the best photos on his camera, here's just a couple of the girls for now, they were cute as can be in their festive dresses. I'll add the Stu's photos here as soon as he can send them to me. I am very thankful for my big crazy family, and very blessed to have my little family.

A rare photo of me.

Traveling

On our way to "our Kentucky home" for Thanksgiving. Athena has been talking about going to 'tucky for a couple of days now and is so excited about the trip. We've told her that we're going to see Baba and that she would eat in the car, sleep in the car and watch t.v. in the car. She was so ready to go and she did just great. We had a dual monitor DVD set up and she was truly impressed that first, there was a t.v. in the car and secondly, she could watch it endlessly.

Her sister on the other hand was not that impressed. The DVDs were only a mild distraction, but mostly she did not understand how Mommy could be so close, yet not pick her up. Plus the jostling and noise didn't allow for any substantial napping, and she was over tired, cranky and in desperate need of cuddling for most of the trip.

Here's a photo of Zoe just minutes before she vomited all over herself, the car seat, her special blanket and my purse. Luckily we were only a few miles from home and we were able to turn around, change out the car seat, wipe down the backseat, wash her, wash me, change clothes and regroup with only having lost an hour and a half. As this happened at the very beginning of our 12-hour drive Chris said, "Well, it can only get better..." and, in fact, it did.

Transitions and crud

What a week, the house looks great after scrubbing off the last remnants of "old lady" decor, but both girls (and Mimi) have been sick and to add even more chaos we seem stuck in a transitional phase with no schedule to rely on.

Zoe is not yet a walker but will just pick up and walk across the room suddenly. She's capable of doing it, even though she looks like a tipsy duck, but she isn't very secure and has not chosen it as her preferred method of transport. She falls all the time, often hitting something on the way down. I find huge welts on her forehead or cheek and she just brushes it off without a cry.

The other day Zoe sneezed and hit her forehead on the edge of the t.v. stand, really hard, and then went about her business without a sound. Both Athena and I were right next to her when it happened, Athena looked at me and said with amazement "Mommy, Zoe no cry!"...this coming from the child who sobs when the wind blows.

Athena will go a whole diaperless day without any accidents then the next day have three. So, we're never completely confident that she will inform us before she has to go and I have to carry around a couple of changes of outfits at all times. We're trying very hard to keep our emotions out of it so that we don't stress her out, but it can be a bit frustrating.

Then there's the napping, Zoe is showing signs of being able to skip her morning nap one day and then the next day she begs for it (crawls into my arms and says "NaNa" meaning "Night-Night") . Athena completely resists her afternoon nap, but obviously still needs one as without it she falls asleep at dinner. Then when she does get a good nap, she's awake (singing songs in her bed) until after 10.

This week has also brought us a full progression of the kind of crud that starts in your head and ends up as a hacking cough. Athena skipped school on Tuesday, and then was able to convince her teachers that she was still sick the next day (even though she was really quite fine). The school called us to pick her up because she was just lying in the sensory room not doing anything and telling her teachers "I sick." As soon as she got home, however, she was her normal self, full of energy, just with a little bit of a runny nose and a new, interesting understanding of how to get special attention. I kept her home the next day because the hacking cough had started and it just sounded awful. Luckily Shrek 3 came out on DVD...see the photo that captures the Shrek "stare" ?

Hopefully we'll get everyone healed for the 12 hour drive we are planning on Tuesday (how crazy are we?).

Musical Interlude

Whew! We've had a long weekend of home renovations. Until we can get back to normal here, Athena will entertain...

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Park Pics

A couple of pictures from our visit to the park today. Sure there is alot of other things to report on here - like the fact that Athena has had two diaperless days without any accidents, and that Zoe picked up and walked across the floor to her Daddy like she's been doing it all along - but I don't have any photos to go along with those stories.

Instead, we have our day (uh, hour) at the park. It was a little chilly and poor Zoe had a runny nose and pink fingers by the time we left, but her sister did not want to go and kept saying "No Mommy, two minutes!" (even though she has no idea what minute is...). She was finally coerced into leaving by a promise of jam sandwich and Caillou at home.

Here's how my weird baby likes to swing
facing down like she's flying.

Her sister tried to show her the proper technique.

Mmmmm. Dirt.

As soon as Zoe went down the slide she wanted
to go right back up. She got a taste of something good.

Zoe's One Year Check up

23 lbs 5 oz
30 inches
70% for height
70% for weight

Zoe's weight somehow caught up with her height (maybe it's that daily half gallon of milk)? The highlights: She's hit all her developmental milestones. She took a Chicken Pox shot without a sound. We discussed EI and now have a referral for an assessment. The Dr. thinks that likely she will only need Speech, and if that is the case then therapy would not start for several more months. We need to take her in for a lead screening blood test as she is in two of the risk categories: 1) She lives in an old house with peeling paint (even though we know it is not lead paint) and 2) She chews on her toys (isn't it horrible that by chewing on toys she is at risk, ugh!). We're starting her on some vitamins. Her rash looks fine and is being managed by topical creams although not entirely clearing up. The Dr. is pleased with healing of her lip repair and even her tooth growth. He said it could be worse, her teeth could be coming in horizontally, as long as they remain vertical, he's happy.

Classic Fall Pictures

Two Peas

We spent the night in Saratoga Springs visiting Sarah and Jonathan and their girls Chloe and Julie. Chris and Sarah got up early and ran a 5k while Jonathan and I sipped coffee and hung back with the kids. Although the race was the reason for the trip, the intention was to spend time with great friends. It was a nice start to this month of giving thanks, I'm so grateful to have friends I've known for over 20 years.

Julie and Athena are two months apart in age and are pretty adorable together. I know you can't force lifelong friends on your child, but you can hope!

The Saturday Morning Dora Fanclub


Hanging out at brunch.

Feeding Zoe

At lunch today, I had to get something from the kitchen right in the middle of feeding Zoe. Athena took it upon herself to finish the job. I came back to find Zoe covered in tomato sauce... forehead, cheeks, ears, hair, chin and spilling down her front. After the "feeding", she had to be immediately dunked in the bath, but it was a cute moment.

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