Spring Blossoming!

It's been a big week for both girls!  Sadie seems so "with it" all of a sudden-she REALLY knows what's going on around her and not only understands some of what we say but has started responding to it!  She's picking up baby sign language ("more" and "all done"), clapping, waving good bye, and putting her arms up in the air when you ask her how big she is.  All but the clapping happened in the last few days! She's still not totally reliable to respond but it's amazing how she seems to have turned a developmental corner.  It's so much fun to see her huge smile when we get excited about what she can do!

Ella has also had some new learning this week.  True to form, if we don't push things, she does them on her own, in her time. It was this way with talking, walking, potty training so we've (mostly) learned our lesson and haven't pushed reading on her.  She's been reading certain words and starting to sound things out for many months now.  But a few days ago, I overheard Chris putting her to bed and heard that SHE was reading her bed time book.  I kept listening and noticed that I couldn't hear Chris whispering each word to her and it sounded like the stilted, staccato lilt of a new reader, not someone making up a story from the pictures or repeating after an adult.  I was incredulous and went into the room to find Chris sitting with her looking as shocked as I was!  We have a reader!

Sadie-7 months old

Sadie is 7 months old!!

New Skills
*Sitting up!
She's sitting really well unassisted now!  She still falls over if she leans too far but it's becoming rare.  She's having so much fun playing with different toys and reaching for everything in sight!

*Squealing!  A lot less "da da"  and "ga ga" this month and a lot more squealing and squawking in delight.   Still cute, albeit LOUD sometimes!

*Eating!  A LOT.  We tried to start off with eating once a day but she had a CRAZY 6 month growth spurt and wanted to eat a ton.  So, she's pretty much been eating 3 meals a day (plus still nursing 4x a day) since we started food a month ago.  She's gained almost 2 lbs in less than a month!  She's up to 17lbs from 15 at her 6 month appt!  Her growth spurt lasted about 7-10 days but she's still hungry enough to eat 3 meals a day of cereal mixed with veggies.

So far she's tried green beans, peas, squash, avocado, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, and bananas.  She does not seem to like the apples or bananas but everything else she gobbles right up.

I've tried to give her some puffs but she doesn't seem quite interested in them and spits them out.  She's gnawed on a pizza crust though and liked that :-) We also discovered baby Mum-mums a rice cracker type thing that she gnaws on quite happily.

*Clapping!
 I noticed her "clapping" a week ago or so and Chris practiced a little with her and now she smiles every time you say "clap clap clap!" and occasionally will actually do it.  She's sort of starting to try and wave too.  And we swear she says "Ella" and "hi" but it's not at all a reliable skill (or one she's even doing on purpose necessarily) :-)

Otherwise, Sadie is still a pretty content baby and smiles a ton.  Ella, Chris, and I are all totally enamored with her and love getting to be the one to get her first smiles in the morning or squeals of delight when you walk into a room.  She's SO precious to us!  Even Ella can't stop saying "Sadie is the cutest baby in the world!" So thankful for this joy-bringing little girl.

(Pre) School of Rock

When Ella's buddy Josh heard that she had a guitar he started asking his mom when she could come over and play "band" with him. (Josh has a drum set and can keep a beat better MUCH better than I can).  Did I mention he's 3?  Yeah.  And he's SO cute. Anyway, I digress.  

Ella was also excited about getting to have a band with Josh so the adults capitalized on it and we all had dinner together before we let the kids loose on the instruments.  It was fun (and VERY LOUD!)  The kids had fun trying each other's instruments and Ella is now asking for a drum set (yikes!)  

Even the baby sisters got in on the action.  Molly (1 year old) with a harmonica and Sadie (7 months) with an egg shaker.  I think we have a pre-school of rock in the making! (the last picture is my fave!)

Random Corinne Thoughts

Random thoughts....

1. I am a sucker for kitchen tools/gadgets and often they seem cooler and more useful than they are.  BUT, I bought this weird tool from a Pampered Chef party a couple months ago and I LOVE it.  No other tool in my kitchen can do the same job so it's actually extremely useful!  I've used it to evenly chop up ground meat (especially after it's been frozen), chop canned tuna evenly, mix enchilada ingredients thoroughly, squish bananas and so much more! Who knew you needed a Mix'n Chop?  You do.

2. I am not a big burper.  Just not an issue I have.  However, I've noticed in the last couple months that when I'm burping Sadie after feeding her, I more times than not, burp also.  WEIRD.

3. I love nuts.  If I get to crumble some pecans on top of something I get giddy about eating it.  Ice cream, yogurt, cereal, oatmeal, waffles, pancakes-rarely do I eat them (in my own house anyway) without nuts on top.  Yummm.

4. I love Top Chef.  I especially love the current season which has Top Chef All Stars back to try and win it.  It's the only show I'm keeping up with right now. I have watched every episode of this season twice.  I occasionally read blogs about the show.  I'm Ob-sessed.  I really think I may cry when the season is over.  It's SO good! (And I really want Richard or Carla to win, in case you're a watcher.) That is all.

5. I've been subscribing to Real Simple Magazine for many years now.  I like it a lot but don't implement things from it all that often.  One thing I tried years ago is using a multiple-pants hanger with those bars that swing out to hang necklaces and bracelets.  I LOVE it.  It's so easy to see everything and they don't take up room on my dresser or getting tangled in a jewelry box.  Many times a week, when I use this little apparatus, I think "I love this thing.  I really need to blog about it.  It's just that good."  And for probably 3 years, I've never done it.  And now I have!  But I'll probably still think about it everytime I get a necklace.  What can I say.  I'm Pavlov's dog.

Seems like enough randomness for now!

Girly Time!

 A few weeks ago my sister had an especially rough day at work and I offered to take her out for some pampering, pedicure style.  Ella ended up having a snow day so she got in on the fun!  I've painted her nails dozens of times but this was her first "nail salon" experience.  She did great! The salon even had special prices for different age groups which pleased my wallet. 

Ella's eyes got really big when the technician scooped her up and carried her to the drying station but she rolled with it and acted like a very mature little lady.  And, her blue sparkly toenail polish lasted a LONG time!  We'll definitely be doing this again.

See! I can be spontaneous! Really!

I'm not a big risk taker.  I'm not very last-minute or "fly by the seat of my pants."  But I can enjoy a quickly planned gathering from time to time.  So, last weekend some friends came over for a spur of the moment craft night (I know.  I'm wild.)  Our daughters ended up with a trove of mommy-made hair clips by the time we were done. And I'm happy to report Ella has worn one almost every day this week!) Here's how we did what we did...

She's famous!

Guess who made a guest appearance on my SIL's blog?

Check it out!

Artsy-ness

 It has become clear to me that I have not spent enough time on artistic endeavors for the last few years.  I'm not an excellent artist so I've shied away from creative tasks because I tend to like doing things I KNOW I'm really good at.  Crafts and such also require time and planning which is hard with 2 kids and grad school and a full life.  But, excuses aside.  It really feeds my soul to tap into my creative side so I've been trying for a few months to do it more often.  I'm writing more, singing more, taking pictures more, and crafting more. So, stay tuned for more crafty blog posts!  Here are some pics of a couple projects from December :-)

Coffee Filter Wreaths and Trees

Penguin Ornament

Weather

So, you could say we've been having some varied weather around here in the last week...

Friday: 70 degrees, sunny.

Activity of the Day: Day at the Zoo!

(sad to say, I did not take this picture-forgot my camera that day!)

Tuesday: 30 degrees, 4 inches of snow

Activity of the Day: Snow Angels

Friday:  50 degrees, INSANE thunderstorms

Activity of the Day: Storm Watching (and holding hands to fend of any fear of the thunder)

Princesses on Ice

Recently we joined a few friends to see Disney Princesses on Ice at the local Arena.  I'm a sucker for a good show especially if it involves Disney music.  My sister and I are known to break into our 20-year-old repertoire of Disney Songs loudly and often. "Colors of the Wind" anyone? "Part of your world"?  

So, given my penchant for a good Alan Menken tune, this show ended up being even better than I expected!  Complete with fireworks, pretty impressive figure skating in full costumes, and a dragon breathing actual fire on the ice, it was pretty awesome.  Oh, and Ella would want me to mention the enormous bag of Cotton Candy i got her at intermission.  That might have been her favorite part.  She did enjoy the show but she's a sucker for big bags of spun sugar too.  And it's ok because she's just beginning her schooling in the wonderful world of Disney Songs.  She's almost got down the lyrics to "A Whole New World."  That's my girl :-)