Does He Like It?

It's rice cereal time! Mmmmmmmm.
Xavier had his first bite of solid food and the whole family was there for the occasion.
Does he like it? Eliza votes "no."

7 Months

Happy 7 months, Bubba!

Xavier continues to be our patient, mellow, smiley little guy. With two exuberant big sisters, he often has to wait his turn which he does with little protest. His two bottom teeth are growing in giving him a deliciously cute grin, and the top two have started to make an appearance. He's getting closer to sitting up, the next milestone for him before crawling. He also had his first taste of solid food.

And with sadness, he has decided to stop nursing. It was final on Valentine's day which did, in fact, break my heart. He had already surpassed his sisters at 6 months and I had hopes he might make it to 9. I'm trying to pump once a day but I think the end is just around the corner. I love the freedom the bottle gives, but will miss our quiet time together snuggled on the little sofa in his room in the morning and before bed. Knowing that this period in my life is over forever makes the end that much more difficult. Thankfully there is always much to look forward too and he'll always be my baby.

Smash!

Opening to a full house on Tuesday, Addie appeared in her first musical as a mouse in The Cinderella Story. All the kids ages K-5 in the after school program participated in this adaptation of Cinderella, but this time with an anti-bullying message. Cinderella wins the science fair!

Addie wasn't nervous at all and enjoyed the experience of being on stage, much like her theatrically trained Daddy. In addition to the singing, she had one line, "Wow, Macie, they're huge!" (tee hee). The elementary school musical is this spring and all the kinders have a group song so we will have another opportunity to see Addie on the big stage.

Spring is in the Air

Signs of spring are popping up everywhere although we never really said good-bye to summer as our tomatoes continue to produce. Ah Southern California + Global Warming.




Lesser Goldfinches. Attracting colorful song birds to our yard is on my 40 under 40 list (can check that off!). We now have 2 sock feeders as of this weekend and the finches are flocking to them. They are right off of our dining room and since we have no curtains (I can't decide how to redecorate . . .) we can watch them from our windows. I love them!


Eliza sunshine

Run Addie Run!

Addie's school had their annual Jog-a-Thon fundraiser on Friday. Kinders are supposed to only walk but Addie surprised us by running 15 laps collecting $210 in pledges. Cap and Papa Mit were there to cheer her on. As you can see from her red face, she really got a work out.

Thanks grandparents for your pledges (you'll be hearing from us soon to collect those checks)!

Me and Po by Addie

A drawing of Cap and I by Addie.

It was nine years ago today that we got engaged.  Happy Valentine's day everyone!

xoxo

New Year's Resolutions

It's February and I'm working on my New Year's resolutions. They aren't about eating better or exercising. They aren't about bettering my family or helping others in need. They are both vain and mundane at the same time. And they are achievable.

1. I resolve to wear make-up everyday. I turned 38 a few weeks ago and, guess what, I look old. Funny how that happens. I resolve that make-up is not just for special occasions or when I remember to apply it. It's for everyday. While I don't have to look at myself in the mirror much, other people have to look at me all day.

2. I resolve to to use up all my gift certificates this year. This is a good problem to have, don't get me wrong. You'd think this isn't really a challenge but I sort of hoard these things. I have one to an architectural/art book store dated 2007. This year, I will buy books, go to the spa, shop on amazon and get a free appetizer at Islands.

3. I resolve to use all of my health and beauty products by the end of the year and stop hoarding them. Soaps, gels, serums, oils, lotions, shampoos, sprays, perfumes and scrubs. All will be used. No more stockpiling hotel toiletries, fancy décolletage creams, youthful moisturizers and special foot creams that I only apply once or twice a year. I even have gone so far as using a funnel (seriously one of my favorite household items) to decant an absurd assortment of scented hotel body lotions into a single pump. It's rosemary, ginger, rose, sage, mint and old lady perfume scented body cream and it's fabulous.

Happy New Year!

(Hyper) Active

If you know Eliza, you know she's always in motion - a hurricane of activity. Sure, all toddlers are bundles of bottled lightening but Eliza is nuclear. Parents of other toddlers mention it and even her gym teachers comment to me how active she is. Her gym teachers. At the gym. A place where everyone is expected to be active, Eliza stands out as the most energetic kid. It wasn't until Coach Brian brought it up that I thought, wow, maybe she's not just active but hyperactive.

After some cursory googling on the subject I decided that it's too early for hyper active to mean anything more than we just have a really high energy girl in our lives.  Thank goodness for her school which has her both physically and mentally challenged all day, and for her toddler tumbling class on Sundays. Eliza's gym class is my special time with her. I have to endure group singing but it's worth it. She really loves the gymnastics part of it and is super strong and fearless.

We took both girls out of weekly swim lessons after the new year to cut back on costs. We needed a break. Addie has been in private swim lessons every Saturday morning for 2 1/2 years. She can swim the front crawl and the backstroke. Eliza loves swimming too and is pretty close to being pool safe. We'll probably start up again in the summer. In the meantime, we need to make friends with people who have backyard pools  . . . that are heated, of course. Now there is a new year's resolution.