Father's Day with Daddy!

Last year, J celebrated his first Father's Day with some of his best friends at a brunch. But this year was completely different because E is so much more involved than she was at eight months. This year, J asked that we spend Saturday on the lake to celebrate. This request worked out perfectly with the recent acquisition of our boat and that the forecast called for 105 degree weather.

I was kind of apprehensive about how E would handle being on the boat for the majority of the day. She has been on a boat before, actually, it was almost exactly a year ago. She HATED the life jacket that she was required to wear at the time because the style restricted the range of movement for her neck.

2011

 In preparation for many hours spent on the boat this summer, I shopped around for a life jacket that would work for someone of her weight, but didn't have the attractive around-the-neck feature. Toys R Us came through for me. We tried it on at home a week or so before and she seemed pretty excited about it. 

2012

We packed up the night before and got up early in order to take advantage of E's most wakeful hours. I wasn't sure if she would be willing to nap on the boat, or just fuss until we got her in her crib at home. You see, E is not the kid that will fall asleep wherever she is whenever she is tired. She sleeps in her bed, and only in her bed (or pack n play at daycare). She hasn't granted her Daddy's wish of peacefully falling asleep while snuggling on the couch or in our bed since she was just a little fry.

The day far exceeded my expectations! E had a blast; she hung out with her Aunt and Uncle, didn't try to take her life jacket off, and seemed to feel very comfortable on the boat. She would even ask to sit on J's lap while he was driving. Maybe she'll be driving the boat while he wake boards behind it in a few years!

It was the perfect day to celebrate the perfect Daddy for our daughter. J has always been very involved with every stage that E is going through. He is more than I could have dreamed of as a father for my children and a partner in the journey that compares to nothing else. He is attentive and devoted to that little girl. Everything else falls away when she is in his arms.

Nakey Baby!

I am fortunate to be able to stay home with E on Fridays. When I went in to get her from her nap on last Friday afternoon, I was greeted by a sweet little naked baby who handed me her wet diaper and told me it was dirty. Thankfully she hadn't gone to the bathroom in the crib, but she thought she was pretty hilarious! 

Maybe now that she can take her diaper off by herself, she can start changing it too!

One for the Archives: Birthday with Momma and Daddy

On E's first birthday, J and I took her to the Long Beach Aquarium. We have a large fish tank at our house and she has always loved watching the fish and we figured that she would love to experience everything on a much larger scale.

The Long Beach Aquarium isn't huge, so it's perfect for someone that is E's age. It's a place that you could stay all day or walk through in a couple of hours and go grab lunch at one of the great restaurants nearby (which we usually do).

It was awesome to spend the day together, just the three of us, at a place that none of us had been to before. One of the best things about being a parent is to see things through your child's eyes and to experience things with him or her for the very first time. It's amazing and humbling every single time.

20 Months!

E is growing up so fast. At this stage in her life, she continues to want to try to do everything by herself and thinks she knows best. But we are having fun showing her everything that we can offer.

E, at 20 months you:

-Love to high-five and fist-pound as part of your normal goodbye routine.

-You are doing a great job eating with a spoon and fork.

-You threw your first major tantrum; you really don't like to be rushed through your morning routine.

-Daddy let you have your very own popsicle instead of sharing with him on a hot day on the patio.

-You love to draw outside with sidewalk chalk and inside with colored pencils. You have even surprised Momma with a beautiful mural on one of the walls in the house.

-You have grown out of your first pair of Converse Chuck Taylors,we definitely need to go shoe shopping for a new pair to keep with family tradition.

-Momma gave you your first timeout for intentionally throwing crackers on the floor.

-You had your first injury (with blood) while out to lunch at Madison Bear Garden. You slipped on the picnic table and cut the inside of your mouth. There was a lot of blood, but thankfully, not too many tears. You were a  tough little cookie. 

-You have an amazing vocabulary and pick up on new tasks and words very easily.
-You are regularly using almost 50 words.
-You can point to most major parts correctly when we ask.
-You love looking at pictures of animals and telling us the sound they make. We just play along and let you think that giraffes growl every now and then.

Within the past couple of weeks, you have really been working hard on figuring out how to put your pants and shoes on by yourself. Sometimes you will sit quietly in your room and empty your entire pajama drawer so that you can work on getting each pair of pants on. I just have to make sure I pop my head in every few minutes, because complete silence might mean trouble.

We are loving this phase with you. Even though sometimes it's hard to interpret exactly what you want, you are so gracious in showing us what you are trying to say. I can't believe your birthday is only a few months around the corner.

For the Archives: E's Bee Day Party

The original date of this post was October 19th, just two days after E's first birthday party. I guess I got way to busy to finalize this post at the time, but can't go without recording it here.

J and I decided to throw and all-out bash at our house to celebrate E's first birthday, and surviving our first year of parenthood. After searching endless party blogs, I finally stumbled upon a theme that I loved: Bee Day. The entire party was bumble bee and honeycomb themed, the invitations, decorations and, of course, the cake!

I won't bore you with the details, cause I'm sure you're dying for pictures. I had a wonderful friend agree to photograph the party so that I didn't have to worry about missing any of the priceless moments with our girl. All images © 2011 Jennifer Leanne Photography. I highly recommend this practice to anyone planning an important celebration. It's so important for parents to get out from behind the camera.

Laughlin 2011

For the past three years we have taken a summer trip to Laughlin with some wonderful friends. We always go with the K family, which includes one of my best friends A, her boyfriend P and their son. Also along on this trip are both of A's sisters and their families and her parents. We have been very lucky to be adopted by this family and have many great memories with them over the past few years. Each year the trip is a little bit different; the first year we were invited, A and her sister we both pregnant, last year I was pregnant and this year we had three beautiful babies to keep us entertained.

This year, we went in the very beginning of June and decided to take our chances camping at Park Moabi in Needles, Calif. The site has full hook-ups for the trailers so that we could crank the air conditioning to combat the 105 degree temperature. Our campsite was backed up to the river and had it's own private beach. Each morning we set up camp on the shoreline and enjoyed the day playing the in the pool with the kids, wading in the water and riding the jet skis.

This early in the summer, the water in the Colorado River can still be pretty cold. We would fill up the kids pools early in the morning so that the sun would warm up the water for the kiddos. J and I weren't sure what E was going to think of the river water, but she loved it!

Here are some pics from the trip:

First Time in the River

Taking a Bath in the Trailer

E's First Boat Ride

We spend about half of each year looking forward to this vacation. It is the perfect time to unwind and spend some quality time together as a family. This year was really special, as we got to make some great memories with E and look forward to spend more time there together.

9 Months, Just a Little Late ;)

I know this post is long overdue, but things have been a little crazy around our house. J and I are trying to keep up with endless workloads, projects around the house and our lovely little E. Never the less, I wanted to make sure I recorded this milestone.

Baby E at 9 Months:

You are 17 lbs. 10 oz. (28th percentile)

You are 28" tall.

You are crawling at full speed, sometimes J and I can't keep up!

You are standing in your crib, which led to a few challenging bedtimes. We dropped the crib mattress to the lowest setting and all was well with the world again.

You gave you Daddy the best Father's Day present, you said Dada! I think J may have gotten a little teary-eyed.

You are started pulling yourself on the side of the bathtub.

You are pulling yourself up on furniture and flat surfaces. This skill comes in handy when you want to watch the dogs through the sliding glass door.

You are holding your own bottle, but haven't figured out how gravity works yet.

You are walking along objects and have started gauging distance between objects. You can almost see her brain trying to figure out if she can make it from the ottoman to the couch without taking a dive.

You have become an expert at peek-a-boo, you pull things over your head and then pull them down quickly expecting a reaction from whoever is watching. You also started using the ottoman and couch to squat down and pop back up. So cute!

Thank you E for all of the bright spots that you bring to my day. You smile and giggle can melt away all the ugliness of a bad day. It's a pretty amazing feeling.

Double Digits!

Today my dearest daughter is 10 months old. We have hit the double digits! It is a really surreal feeling that E has been in my arms longer than she was in my belly. This milestone has really made me reflect on my pregnancy and what a special time that was for J and I. I know that our next pregnancy will not be the same as the first one. All of the quiet time that you have with a first pregnancy will be virtually non-existent with a little whippersnapper running around. Remember those semi-comatose naps at 5 in the afternoon? Never again, but I am sure it will be worth it, eventually.

Baby E, at 10 months:

You cut three more teeth, you now have four top teeth and two bottom teeth.

You have started standing up in the bathtub.

You had your first real fever of 102.5 degrees, which didn't make for a fun night, but we got through it.

After mastering standing up in the bathtub, you now take full advantage of every inch. She is pulling herself up on the faucet, checking out the knobs, splashing and swimming around like a real fish.

She has started sharing her bottle, toys and food. She will put something to her mouth and then extend it to your mouth.

She went on her first hike in the wire-frame backpack carrier with Daddy, she loved every minute of it. She was so tired, but willed herself to stay awake until the moment she got home.

She has started laughing much more freely. She recently had a complete giggle fit watching me play with our dog Sadie.

She has started using a walker to scoot around the house. She is pretty steady on her feet, but sometimes walks on her knees while pushing it around. Silly girl.

You have figured out how to go up stairs, but you can only make it down one.

E went on her first airplane ride. Our family flew to Chicago to attend my cousin's wedding.

And the biggest accomplishment of this month...E said Mama!! I love hearing her repeat this as she crawls around the house, but it's especially heartwarming when she does it as she is pulling herself up on my leg.

Sadie Waiting for a Treat

Helping with the Dishes

First Strawberries!

Our sweet girl is growing everyday. She is still the happiest, most lovable baby that I know, but I might be biased. I can hardly believe it's time to start planning her first birthday party!

We've Gone Mobile!

I hope each of you are enjoying your summer so far. I have a feeling that Jason and I are going to spend a lot of our summer chasing after this sweet little girl. It's been just a week since those first wobbly moves, and she is crawling all over the place today! Now if she wants to get to something or someone, she just goes for it!

Eight is Gonna Be Great!

Today, June 11th,  my sweet, sweet girl is eight months old! I am so excited because I know this summer is going to bring a ton of fun changes for her - crawling, talking and walking! We might be doomed with all this mobility, but we are going to have fun while we're at it!

E has been really busy this month:

She took her first face-first dive in the bathtub, but wasn't the least bit upset.

She rolled from her back to her belly.

She spent her first night in a hotel in Sacramento the night before Aunt S graduated from college.

She attended (and behaved) at college graduation ceremonies for Aunt S and Uncle T.

She ate dinner in a high chair at a restaurant for the first time.

She fits into six month clothes.

She started rolling onto her stomach and side while sleeping.

She took her first family vacation to the Colorado River, outside of Laughlin, Nev.

She took her first boat ride, I think she liked it, but she definitely HATED the life jacket.

She cut her first tooth.

You love being held, but are also very comfortable playing independently.

Most miraculous of all, she took her first wobbly crawling 'steps' on Skype with Nana and Grandpa. I still can't get over the fact that they witnessed such a thrilling moment with us! It was second best to having them in the living room with us.

We are loving E more and more everyday. J commented the other day how much he loves seeing her personality develop. She is still the happiest baby on the planet, smiling all the time. But she is developing a sense of humor and a profound sense of curiosity, which means we have to be one step ahead as she becomes more mobile.