Dress up

Zoe's shown a (burgeoning?) interest in wearing some of the adorable dress-up clothes that Grandma Lani gave her for Christmas. She loves that she has her own suitcase from which to pluck these items and especially loves the purse and jewelry.



Of course, too, she's good for wearing the hats. No go yet on the tutus... but I'm sure they'll make their appearance soon. ;)

Hey! I did it!/Happy Father's Day

It seems Dave's girls managed to DO some things tonight to commemorate Father's Day.

Eavesdropping on Zoe and her Daddy during their bath time routine this evening I heard this: "Hey! I did it!" As in, I went poopy in the potty, Daddy! Awesome! Zoe's been slowly making strides towards recognizing when she needs to go the bathroom and a willingness to go potty on the potty. I don't know if you'd call it a power-struggle, per se, but she's shown a specific reluctance towards this right of passage lately, so it's a pretty big deal that she's not only volunteering to go to the potty, but also succeeding and cheering when she gets there.

And in the same vein, I did something tonight, too. I cooked dinner! Those of you who really know me say "Gasp!". Yes! I figured since Dave's such a great dad that I owed him at least that much. So, with a bit of reluctance (I hate cooking, therefore it hates me - and the other way around, I'm sure), and a bit of assistance (BIG thanks to Zoe H, Glenna and Danika for your input and encouragement!) I think I pulled off a pretty good meal. Rosemary Pesto-encrusted Rack of Lamb and Cauliflower Potato casserole. (We'd have had a green veggie but Dave used the asparagus last night. Oh well, cauliflower counts in my book!) Anyhoo, here's the grub in all it's glory:




Dave's caption on this scene: "If it bleeds, she feeds"

And lest she be left out, Maggie added to the milestone markers by doing a pretty darned good job of sitting a little less-assisted. She will still basically crumple over if left to her own power, but as you can see, it was more or less a 'no hands!' situ this evening:



I hope it was a happy Father's Day, Dave. You're a pretty fantastic dad and I'm proud that you belong to us.

Love,

Les, Zo and Mags

Smile-worthy

Some great pix from recent days. As tired as I am (yes, still complaining about that), there's much joy to be had around here.

Love it.


Relaxing. What can I say? I was inspired!



Headed out for a walk :)


Sisters

Happy (early) Father's Day, Pepere

We're on our way to Nana's house, Pepere's house, Nana's house, we're on our way to Pepere's house, early in the morning...


Last weekend, Zoe, Maggie and I headed down to Nana and Pepere's to help my dad celebrate an early Father's Day. Dave stayed back to do another round of window installation - this time in the kitchen. (Only the true toughies to go! I think he's earning his own Daddy Day celebration, no?)

Maggie and Zoe of course had a great time absorbing all of Nana and Pepere's attention and energy. ;)




They even played a little with each other!



And, it should be noted that despite her vaccination hangover, Maggie decided to wow the crowd with her first tummy-to-back rollovers. No pix of that exactly - I was too busy cheering her on - but here are a few representatives of the before and after:

Thinking about it...


Reaching for the carrot (that's back to tummy!)


Proud Maggie keep on turning!


Happy Father's Day, Pepere!

Love,

Your girls

Maggie @ 4 months

Maggie had her 4-month check-up last Friday, her official 4-month birthday. Here are the vital stats:

Height: 26" (97th %ile)
Weight: 14lbs 4 oz (70th %ile and exactly twice her birth weight)
Noggin: 42.25cm (90th %ile - daddy's genes strike again!)

Now, I promise to better resist the urge to do this as the girls get older, but for now I feel the need to point out that it looks like Maggie's going to give Zoe a run for her money height-wise: Zoe was 1 1/4" shorter than Maggie at this same check-up.


Big girl

Otherwise, they are neck and neck development-wise. Both started smiling and 'talking' and playing with toys within days of each other; Maggie's lately displayed 'strangeness' being left with less familiar faces - right on track with Zoe's schedule; and Zoe first flipped from tummy to back in the pediatrician's office while Maggie did the trick the very next day (more on that later).

I think the funnest part about having two girls will be seeing how very much alike and how very different they will be at the same time. And as I mull those points in my very fatigued brain (oy, those 4-month vaccination shots!!!), I realize that this is what they mean when they say that you really can and do love your children the same amount but in very different ways.

Squeal found!

So Maggie's found that she now has LOTS more to say...with a delightful and delighted squeal.

Here's a sample. It's close though not *exactly* what she's been serving up lately (where is that pesky camera when you need it?!):


Prime time seems to be in the late evening hours before we put her down for the night and in the early morning hours, post-feed. It's quite funny and she gets VERY LOUD!

From what we hear emanating from our neighbors' house just down the street - they have little 4 girls - this may only be a precursor of what we're in for... Oh my. ;)

Another reader in the family?

While it's honestly been what feels like ages since I've picked up, let alone finished, a book that doesn't have 10 words per page and big, colorful pictures, I do consider myself a reader at heart.

So I'm glad to report that after initial exposures Maggie, like her sister, appears to be developing the joy of reading.



Love it.

The beach: with Nana and Pepere

Wx reports for last Sunday said it was going to be a hot, sunny one so I took the girls and Nana and Pepere up to Richmond Beach.



Our pic-nic wasn't terribly warm, nor was it really sunny, but the beach is so nice and mellow - full of young families and couples with sweet, happy, dogs - that it was plenty comfortable. Of course, the sun decided to show up just as we were leaving.

There's something about that fresh ocean air...yawn!


I think we'll be doing this lots in the years to come. :)

Girl friends

This past Saturday we hosted dinner (yummy freshwater salmon, scalloped potatoes & rhubarb crisp!) for pals Danika and Lucy while their hubby/daddy was playing up at Whistler. Part of the idea was to make use of our new kiddie pool (go Lucy!) and sandbox (forgot!) while the weather was cooperative, but really Zoe and Lucy had a much better time of just mixing up their own fun:







Missing here are shots of their end-of-the-evening game of "tag" in the living room. Bruises aside, I think we all had a blast!

Scenes in the house of a two year old

"I need to go clean the applesauce."



No. There was no applesauce in the living room, but man, that was cute. Now to get her to get that dust rag onto the bookshelves!

In the middle of the cleaning fit, she stopped to say, "I like to clean." Mommy's little girl, indeed!

And!

"I'm sorry," as she accidentally closed the door on her daddy on the way out of her bedroom.

What a little lady...