A Fabulous Fourth of July

Last week we celebrated 4th of July with my family. We started off the day with a parade. At first Allison wasn't too sure what to make of it, but by then end she figured out that they hand out candy and that you wave to people, especially the firefighters. After the parade we went to my sister's house for a BBQ lunch where the kids played water games. Allison enjoyed running around with all the kids trying to keep up with them. Amelia also had fun. By the end of the day she was beat.

Allisonisms

*Always on the go.

*No is her new favorite word. There are two kinds of nos. The quick and fast one almost in a sense of panic, "Allison do you want to take a bath?""No!" (she answers just as I am ending the question). Then there are the long drawn out, whiny noooooos. Those are annoying.

*Always wants to hold Mia. She will all of sudden sit down on the floor and hold out her arms, a sign that she wants to hold Mia.

*Loves practing her signs that we have taught her. She loves learning new words. Baby is her favorite sign of all and will do it if she sees a baby in the store.

*Learning new words and phrases. Last week at breakfast she pointed to Brian's seat and said "Dad?" I told her that he wasn't here and she replied "where he go?"

*Giggles like crazy when she is tired. We call this her slap happy period and will try to get her to bed quickly before it turns into crabbiness.

*Continuously says "Mum" while in the back seat of the car. She thinks it is funny when I reply back "Allison" really fast. It is even more funny when I call out other people's name like "Amelia, Ozzie, Dad."

*Bored with baths and tries to hop out after only a few minutes. Maybe some new bath toys will help (hint, hint...birthday gift suggestion).

*Has a perpetual bruise on her forehead. When one clears up, another appears.

So Expressive

This weekend we brought out the kids' pool. I had a lot of fun taking pictures because Allison has the best facial expressions. Even though she has some serious looks on her face, she enjoyed playing in the pool.

Bathing Beauty

Mia didn't like the water as it was too cold for her liking.

She was much more happy just sitting on the blanket.

Allison must have felt bad for her and gave her all the toys from the pool.

However she thought twice about it......

and all the toys ended back up in the pool.

Happy Father's Day

Dear Dad,

I know it isn't Father's Day yet, but mom says you don't read the blog on the weekends, so I thought I would surprise you and give you something to read at work on Friday.

I hope you have a great weekend because you are a great dad. Thanks for all that you do including:

Bringing me to daycare in the morning. Thank goodness mom didn't have to do that the first week. She would probably have cried the whole time; thus embarrassing me in front of the other kids. I'm also glad you pick me up in the afternoons. I am very happy to see you then.

Putting my swingset together...and my play kitchen...and my Cozy Coupe....and painting all those stripes in my bedroom. It looks very pretty in there. You did good.

Tucking me in at night. I like when you tell me stories and take the time to make sure I'm not sad about going to bed. I'm sorry I make you come to my room every once in a while after you have already put me to bed. I just like your stories so much that sometimes I wake up and want to hear another one.

Taking me on the merry-go-round at the mall. I think we need another daddy/daughter date night soon. Just think, one day I will get all dressed up and you can bring me to a dance at my school. But that makes mom cry just thinking about it, so I don't mention it to her. Mommy thinks Father/Daughter dances are just the best thing ever.

Taking me on walks around the block. Mom never wants to go past the end of the street when she has Amelia and I by herself.

Thanks for trips to the ice cream shop. Mom just loves it when you get me all settled in with my bib and spoon and she comes around the corner to see me sitting on the bench. Also, thanks for funding the trips to the ice cream shop.

Most of all thanks for being my dad.

Love
Allison.



Dear Dad,

I am so excited that I get to celebrate my first Father's Day with you. You are a very good dad. Thanks for introducing me to this world.

Thanks for:

Doing my hair. I look so cute when you brush it to the side.

Taking me to the doctor or picking me up from daycare when I am sick. You take very good care of me.

Giving me my bedtime bottle. I like cuddling with you at night, especially when mom keeps Allison out of the room. It is nice to spend some quiet time with you.

Taking me out for walks or taking Allison and I out to the mall to get out of the house.

Greeting me in the mornings...I always get a big grin on my face when I first see you. I also love your kisses.

I love you very much.

Love,
Amelia

8 Month Birthday

Well my baby is another month older. It has been fun watching Amelia interact with her surroundings this past month. She is discovering so much more.

Amelia loves to play with her toys but boy does she get MAD when Allison takes them away from her. She gets red in the face and screams. What Allison doesn't realize is that Amelia is growing at a faster rate than she is, so it won't be long before there are paybacks. In fact, when they are in the tub, Amelia will snatch Allison's wash cloth away whenever Allison isn't looking.

Speaking of the bathtub, Amelia loves her baths and could sit in there for hours if we let her. She especially loves it when Allison gets out first. I love watching her play in the tub; she looks so content like she is in her own little world. I think she will like the baby pool this summer.

Amelia also enjoys looking at books. We are trying to make a point of giving her some one-on-one time at night to read to her.

She is still content with sitting in one spot, however when she lays on her tummy she pulls herself up and is just starting to rock a bit. Hopefully this is the first sign of crawling.

Still no teeth yet, which is fine by me, although I hope they don't start when we are on vacation in a few weeks.

I introduced a few table foods to her in the last few days. I think it kind of snuck up on me that she turned eight months old and that I can start doing some table foods. We have done puffs, mashed potatoes, pasta, and chicken enchiladas (mainly the chicken). Amelia also loves ice cream, but we found that its best not to give her any when we go to the ice cream shop because she gets so upset if we stop feeding her for even a second. She has a complete temper tantrum.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the summer brings. It should be a fun time.

Run When It's Quiet

As you may know, I work both in the office and at home two days a week. I get my hours in during the girls' naps and after they go to bed. The other day the girls woke up a little earlier than they normally do and I didn't quite finish sending out the last of the emails I needed to send out for work.

After I got the girls up and changed their diapers, I put Amelia in her crib and had Allison play in Amelia's room, so I could quickly run downstairs to finish my work. I figured they both couldn't go anywhere since Amelia was in her crib and I had the bedroom door shut. I could hear Allison playing upstairs on the baby monitor and all was good, but then I noticed it was too quiet so I ran upstairs and found this.


Little stinker took out all Amelia's clothes in the bottom three drawers. She was laying on the pile with a big grin on her face, like she was just waiting for me to come up. Amelia just sat there and watched it all go down.

I'm looking forward to Amelia learning how to say "uhhh ohhh" and rat out her big sister. I was going to have Allison help put all the clothes away so she could learn a lesson, but I figured a) that idea was pretty much shot once I brought out the camera and starting taking pictures and b) it was more of a pain because she was throwing the clothes in there. So she was banned to the crib with Mia.