Our Week and a Sippy Cup!

We had a very busy and fun week!  Lily started "Stay and Play" at school which means on Tuesday and Thursday she brings a lunch and stays until 2pm (instead of 11:15)!!  She has been asking all year to be put in stay and play, but I liked having her home with us.  I know she'll be gone all day in Kindergarten and I was trying to keep her with me as much as possible.  But lately, it was becoming obvious that maybe that was not fair to her.  She is often bored at home and while I would LOVE to just play with her 24/7, I do have other responsibilities.  It has always been that way and I have always tried to encourage her to play independently for at least an hour a day, Btu I think she notices it more now that Danielle is here.  So, I agreed to let her play longer at school.  She is SO excited.  Matthew and Carys are in stay and play with her and she has been having a blast.  I have to admit, I liked the extra time too to get work done and get Danielle down for a couple of naps.  It may work out best for everyone -- and when she does come home I'll have more time to devote to her.

 

On Thursday after stay and play we met up with Carys, Matthew and Logan at the park and then went out for ice cream!  The weather has been beautiful - in the 70s - and looks to continue that way on and off, so hopefully we can have more days like this.  Lily told me for the next two days that I was "the best mommy ever!"  She really misses the old schedule with playgroups and extracurricular activities.  But with school everyday and babies nap schedule (not just ours, her bffs have babies too), it's not as easy to find the time to play.  Hopefully we can change that.  On Saturday we had a girl's lunch outing with Carys and Rhiannon at the Cheesecake Factory.   It was fun and Danielle ate mushed bananas off the baby plate!  She is growing up too fast!!  After lunch we all went to Emily's house to play.  It was an impromptu play-date, but it was perfect.  Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures either day of Lily, but I did get this one of Danielle all bundled up.  It was 60-some degrees outside, but it was windy.  The kids were playing outside in the bounce house at Emily's and Danielle seemed cold.  So Patti got her a hat and Rhiannon got her Abby's jacket out of the car, and we bundled her up.  It worked great since she took a nap outside in her carseat while the kids played. . . .  and she looked SO cute all warm and cozy!

I think that Lily is really appreciating the extra play time.  She has been SO good lately.  She has been polite and kind to me (not that she wasn't before, just not all the time).  She is cleaning up without being asked and trying to help out around the house.  On Friday I wasn't feeling very well and she was trying so hard to take care of me.  She asked, "Do little girls have milk in their boobs?"  When I told her no, why?  She said "because I wanted to feed Dani and put her to bed to help you out."  It was so sweet, it melted my heart.   Lily has always been a VERY caring and sweet girl, but she is also VERY stubborn and has to have her way, so we often bump heads.  But she has been perfect lately and we are all enjoying the peace and harmony -- I hope it keeps up!!

At Danielle's doctor's appointment on Tuesday he said I could start giving her water in a sippy if I wanted to, but there was no rush.  I really don't care if she takes it right away, but I was trying to keep her entertained at the table while we ate dinner, so I gave her some water.  I don't think she got any of it, but it was a good way to get familiar with the sippy.

It's Learning Time!

I had to take this picture the other morning because Danielle just looked so cute and little sitting there playing.  It is crazy sometimes to stop, slow and down and think -- there's a baby in the house!  :)

I'm trying to teach her some new words.  I remember Lily could point out nearly all the things in this book before her first birthday.  We still have a lot of time to work on it, but it is never too early and she likes to look at the pictures -- especially the ones of the babies and animals.

Pajama Days

Wednesday and Thursday were pajama days at Lily's school.  She picked out two pairs of Hello Kitty nightgowns to wear and I added some leggings to keep her warm.  I loved pajama day when I was in school and I love it just as much now -- so easy to get ready in the morning!

I wanted to get Lily's picture before we left for school, but she wanted to take it with Danielle too.

I love how the have the same expression on their faces.

Wednesday!

Thursday!

More "New" Toys

Danielle is loving sitting up and playing with all her toys now.  So we keep bringing out new ones and making her day.  This week we dragged out the house that Santa bought for her.  It is a little too big and she will definitely enjoy it more as she can crawl and stand, but she is having fun checking it out and watching Lily play with it.  I think it Lily's new favorite toy.

She reminded me SO much of Lily today since she was wearing one of Lily's favorite pajamas.  Lily wore those a lot, and I remember them more than others.  Even Chip remember those cute stripped pjs.

6 Month Stats

Danielle had her 6 month well visit today.  Everything looks perfect.  She is still a skinny mini, but growing at the same rate across the board. She is meeting all the expected milestones.  She is a perfect little 5 months old.  Plus, we got confirmation that her ear infection was all cleared up.   Her official stats are:

Weight:  14lbs 14.1ozs -- 25%
Length: 26 inches -- 56%
Head: 17inches -- 68%

Saturday Play Day!

Saturday we had a lazy morning in bed and Lily introduced Danielle to the ipad! It was such a sweet moment.  Dani was mesmorized and loved it.  She even managed to correctly play some of the games.  Of course, now we have to keep it way out of reach since she just wants to get her little hands on it.  It may come in handy when I want to get her to crawl -- I think she'd figure out a way to craw today just to get that ipad!

Then Saturday afternoon I got a makeover from Lily's salon!  It was a fun play day at home!

6 Months Old!!

On Friday my baby turned 6 months old.  I really can't believe it. It is so bittersweet.  But it is fun watching her grow up, especially lately as more aspects of her personality are starting to show.  She is silly.  She dances whenever she hears music. She loves to laugh and smile and scream with glee.  She absolutely adores her big sister.  She is constantly opening her mouth wide to give me big kisses!  I LOVE that.  She probably does that just to me since I pretty much spend all day kissing on her cheeks.  There really aren't any words to describe how special she is to us.  She is perfect for this family.  Literally about 15 pounds of perfection and we all just love her so much!

I am going to have Rhiannon take her picture and family pictures at the Arboretum as soon as the weather gets better and the spring flowers are blooming.  So until then, I went ahead and took her 6 month pictures on the 17th -- her official 6 month birthday!  Here are some of my favorites out of the 400 I took:

 

Some I edited in Lightroom, but not all of them.  There are just too many cute ones -- that is the problem when you are super cute!

I know these are a little over exposed and need to be edited -- I think the sun came out from behind the clouds and messed with my settings!  :)

And the 6 month picture with the boppy and the lamb!