9/30/09...peed in car seat

L peed in her car seat today after she refused to go potty at BSF before we left. I was quite irritated with her since it was a less than 5 minute trip from BSF to T@rget and she's only done that like once before and that was at the end of a 17 hr drive.

9/27/09..."tummy farted"

L's stomach growled today (hunger) and she said, "tummy farted." I about died laughing. She is way too cute!

9/25/09...height check

L is now 34.5 inches tall.

9/16/09, 9/21/09 & 9/23/09...swim lessons

So this is Dave writing about her swim classes. The swim classes are the same classes she's taken before, just with a different teacher, but L is getting really good at the "monkey walks". The "monkey walks" are when the "walks" along the wall of the pool with her hands and her feet dangling in the water (It teaches them how to hang off the wall so they don't drown). As long as I am touching her legs she pretty much uses her arms and moves along the wall so that is pretty cool. At the first class, the teacher tried to get her to do a turtle, where you put one hand on top of the other hand and make a diving up & down motion. Elodie tried valiantly, but couldn't do it. During the second class, she got it. She's even practicing her turtle around the house and her monkey walks in the bath tub. She also is getting better with her kicks and she did "scoopers" for the first time today (scoopers are when you make scoop shapes with your hands and move your arms in the freestyle motion). She's also staying on the table in the water. She loves it. All she wants to do is stand on it and jump on it. This is good in the sense that for her to move up to the next class level, she has to be able to stay on the table in the pool so that she doesn't step off and drown. In the next class, there are no parents in the pool...just a teacher and four kids. Other than that she is just doing well and getting more and more comfortable in the water.

Smugmug

I'm trying out the trial version of Smugmug for my photos b/c I'm extremely frustrated w/both Costcophotocenter.com and photobucket.com, plus I'm trying to streamline my posting photos on blogs, facebook, sharing photos, and printing photos so I'm uploading and organizing just once instead of 3 times. If you want to download an entire gallery (album) of photos from my Smugmug account instead of downloading each individual picture, you'll want to install this program on your computer and use it to download the entire gallery. My SmugMug ID is ekangel@hotmail.com.

9/23/09...Another 2 yr old molar

L's back right bottom 2-year-old molar pokes through.

updated blog

i've posted the diary parts on their respective days from our Wisconsin trip with links to slideshows of the pictures.

9/22/09: L can open the fridge...ahhhhh!

L can open the fridge by herself. As D says, "ahhhhhh!!!!!"

9/14-9/21/2009 week update

Click on the dates below for pictures of each day.

2009 09 14 Elodie was sick but we did manage to get my allergy shot and make a return at Verizon. She missed her first night of swim class.

2009 09 15 Elodie still had a slight fever so we missed the opening brunch of my church's women's Bible Study. I was really disappointed but tried to enjoy my time with Elodie instead.

2009 09 16 I came down with Elodie's cold so I had to cancel my allergist appointment and my BSF class. We sat on the couch and watched PBS all day while I felt horrible. No photos today...way too sick! Dave took her to swim class b/c I obviously couldn't. I'm hoping to get him to write about it.

2009 09 17 I had a rough day, but for the most part was feeling a little better. We had Toyoko Joes for dinner and Elodie got sauce all over her face. There's a video below of her giggling at dinner...so funny! Dave took her to her first dance class at the rec center. Here's his scoop on the whole dance class:

One of the things that L likes to do is dance so we put her in a dance class. However, she was very shy today. In the class there are two 4 year olds, one 3 year old, Elodie, and the teacher. When the teacher told the kids what to do, everyone would do it, except L would just stare at the teacher. If the teacher said her name, she would smile and then turn to hug my leg. It was cute but counter productive. :) One thing that L was great at was sitting on her "piece of candy". The teacher set out these mouse pads with pictures of candy on them, had each kid pick one and then told them they had to sit on it when she said. Every time the teacher said to sit back on their pieces of candy, L was very quick to do it. Each time the teacher put on a song for them to dance to, she would have them take out some props from her baskets (like a ball, pompoms, and handkerchiefs). L was the first one off her pad to get the props when she told the kids they could go get something but she would then run back to me and just stare at the kids and teacher as they danced. After the song ended, the teacher asked the kids to put the stuff back and she would very happily run over to the basket, put the stuff in and then run back and say "I help" with a big smile. Towards the end of the class she started to warm up a bit and actually jumped over the imaginary river that the teacher set up to teach them leaps (thats the picture). She was also good at the "popping the balloon" thing. The teacher had them put their arms together to make an "O" which the teacher said was a balloon. Then she had them raise their hands up, up, up until their hands were over their heads and then the "balloon" popped and the teacher would have them move their hands to their sides (sorry for the explanation, its hard to describe in words). A day or so after the class she was asking when she gets to go back and she talks about it a lot; she also keeps doing the balloon thing around the house. Hopefully the next class she will be a little less shy. She was really cute though and did a good job with listening to the teacher.


leaping over the river (cellphone pic by Dave)









2009 09 18 I felt much better today, but still stuffy. Elodie got her first ever hair cut...well really, I just trimmed her bangs b/c they were covering her eyes.

2009 09 19 Much welcomed help from Dave on this Saturday.


Love this outfit of hers. She's such a ham!

2009 09 20 See post from this day.

2009 09 21 I was very sad to see Dave go back to work (and so was he!). It was a very cold end to summer as you can see below. I did my normal Monday laundry but also took the opportunity to go through the remaining long sleeves, jeans, & winter pjs to sort out what still fit and what didn't and get out all her new clothes (bought last winter on clearance) and wash them. Unfortunately, I was out of vinegar so the new dark stuff hasn't gotten washed yet.

Elodie sang the ABC song all the way through, only leaving out "t-u-v." Apparently Dave had been trying to get her to sing it yesterday but she would only say "a-b-c." It's amazing what kids pick up. She's got at least two toys that sing the song too but we've never heard her try before and then poof, she just sings (yes, to the tune) the whole thing. We keep telling her she's so smart! :) She has also started telling us after she's already peed in the toilet again. She did it all the time when she was first potty trained. Then something happened (maybe a couple accidents??) and she started wanting us there before she went. Now she'll go and then tell us, which is nice.

Another first...tonight she ate her first taco, with a taco shell, pulled beef, tomato, and cheese. :)






trying on snow gear to make sure it fits :)

Monday, 9/21/09: moving on up

I called our agency today after I saw on our yahoo group that there might be some movement. Well, we've FINALLY (after 3.5 mos. of NO movement) moved up on the list...we're now #21. We still have a LONG wait ahead! (fyi we'd be #5 if were were on the boys' list.)

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday...

Sunday, 9/20/09...Bronco's game & updates...





Today Dave went to a Bronco's game with his Uncle Dale while I watched Elodie. Dave had a great time and said the weather was perfect. And even though the Broncos didn't play well the first half, they still beat the Browns by a large margin. He didn't bring a camera but I made him take some pics with his phone. :)

Elodie and I hung out at home because it was really windy out because of the storm moving in. We read books, snuggled, and were just plain silly.







Here are things about today:

• I discovered Elodie can climb into her crib but not out (yet). I found her in her crib saying she was hiding when Dave was taking a shower.
• Elodie ate her bowl of peas and corn sitting in her doll's stroller.
• I found Elodie's sunglasses in the silverware drawer.
• Elodie asked, "where David?" when we were watching the Bronco's game that Dave was out. I had showed her that those dots in the stadium were people and daddy was one of them.
• Yesterday, Elodie had raisins for the first time and hasn't stopped asking for or eating them since.
  

9/19/09...Height Predictor

Height Predictor from Babycenter.com says this about L:

Your girl will likely be 5 ft. 7 in. at age 18.

This prediction is a "best guess" but it's still just that -- a guess. Based on the formula we used* there is a 50 percent chance that your girl's full-grown height will be within 0.7 inches (above or below) of this prediction, and a 90 percent chance that it will be within 1.7 inches.

THE FINE PRINT: Parents' heights are a good predictor of a child's adult height, but heredity only accounts for about 70 percent of what goes into deciding how tall someone will be. The other 30 percent comes from environmental factors, like eating habits (poor nutrition can "stunt" a child's growth) and exercise patterns (a competitive gymnast may not grow to her full potential).

Sometimes a child will surprise everyone and turn out much taller or shorter than either parent. This calculator can't account for that possibility. It also won't work well for children who 1) are exceptionally tall, 2) are already taller than both their parents, or 3) have a condition that affects their height, such as growth hormone deficiency.

*Reference:
Predicting Adult Stature Without Using Skeletal Age: The Khamis-Roche Method
by H.J. Khamis and A.F. Roche
Pediatrics, October 1994

our 2-Year-Old: Playing in Tandem

from babycenter.com:
You can't just toss two preschoolers in a room and expect them to behave like third graders — social skills develop slowly. You'll notice your child becoming increasingly interested in other children. Yet 2-year-olds' play tends to take place on parallel tracks — side-by-side but often hardly even interacting. It may look odd, but they are in fact paying subtle attention to each other, and it's an important step on the way to cooperative play.

Your 2-year-old now
You set up the playdate, set the kids loose — and they head off for different toys, completely ignoring one another. Is the playdate a bust? Not at all. Kids this age typically engage in what's called parallel play. It might look strange, but it's completely normal and developmentally useful.

Your preschooler is making important social progress. He's moved up from always playing alone, as he did when he was a baby. Now he's interested in other children. Even when the kids don't interact during their play, they're aware of one another. And it's as different from solo play as sitting in a crowded theater is from sitting home alone watching TV.

Playing with other children, even if it's parallel play, will become increasingly important this year. Kids often use this kind of play to join an activity already under way. Reserved kids may stay longer at this stage, and that's fine. You can boost your child's confidence by keeping playgroups small and familiar. Make a habit of inviting over just one or two children your child already knows. When your child is ready, you'll begin to notice more shared activity, fueled by improving language skills and a growing imagination.

Your life now
If it hasn't happened already, you might soon discover your preschooler catapulting out of her crib. That's your cue to transition to a new, safer sleep arrangement. Some parents put the crib mattress on the floor and disassemble the crib. Others take advantage of the opportunity to move to a big-kid bed. You can make the switch easier by putting your preschooler down for naps on the big bed for a few days before moving her there at night. A guardrail can ease worries about her falling out of bed.

Your 2-Year-Old: Ready for French?‏

from babycenter.com:
Your 2-year-old now
Since your child is picking up English so rapidly, you might wonder if now's also the time to expose him to other languages. There's evidence that children learn languages more easily in the early years because their brains are so feverishly making new neural connections. They can literally hear all the unique sounds of a foreign tongue better than a teenager or an adult. Kids who grow up in a bilingual household have been found to have smaller vocabularies in each language, but the total number of words they know is about the same as English-only speakers, and being bilingual has been shown to have lasting cognitive benefits.

The catch is that the best way for your child to learn a language now is through conversation with a native speaker. Tapes or weekly classes are less effective, because it's the face-to-face observations and repetition that help the brain most. Your child is also far more likely to retain the second language if continuously exposed to it as he grows. Chinese lessons only from ages 2 to 4 will not make your child proficient at 18. Some research, though, shows there may be a brain-connection boost, even if your child never becomes fluent.

If you like the idea of exposing your preschooler to another language, look for translations of popular children's books to read together. If your child's babysitter is bilingual, encourage her to speak her native language with your child.

Your life now
It's not unusual for the parent of a preschooler to wake up one day and realize that even her adult conversations revolve almost exclusively around ... preschoolers. Jump-start your brain by having a "kid-free meal" with girlfriends or your partner — no children present either physically or verbally. Take a class. Or join a book club (though book clubs made up of moms are notorious for veering right back to kid talk after a brief chat about, you know, the book).

9/13/09: L sayings

Some Elodie funnies:

Elodie: "Mommy?"
Daddy: "She's downstairs."
Elodie: "Mommy downstairs in basement checking email."

Elodie: "Mom?"
Mommy: "Yes?"
Elodie: "Mom downstairs watch show.  L-dee here!"

"Stop it L-dee.  Put it back." talking to herself as she takes the dvds off the table.

Day 9: Saturday, 9/12/09: 17ish hour Drive home

We woke up at 4:45am and were on the road by 5:20am. I knew that it was 15 hours straight drive time and I didn’t know how many extra hours stopping for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and all of Elodie’s pee stops would add. We drove through most of Wisconsin in the dark and some fog. I did make us stop at the Wisconsin River as the sun was rising to get some pictures. The last four hours or so (it started in NE) of the drive, it was raining and then dark and not that fun to drive in. We got home around 9pm so it ended up taking us a little under 17 hours.  And Elodie didn't have any accidents during the 17 hour drive!

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from our car trip home.

Day 8: Friday, 9/11/09: Lake & dinner out

Friday morning we went back to Devil’s Lake since we had such a good time there on Wednesday. We checked out South Shore first since I thought maybe I could get a better picture of the lake from there. After we determined that the water was warmer and it was shallower at North Shore, we drove up to North Shore to spend our morning there. We hung out on the other side of the chateau this time so that I could lay on the beach while Dave and Elodie played in the water. We had lunch with Dad and Jan, who brought us fixins for sandwichs.

After naptime, we joined Dad, Jan, Aunt Ann, Uncle John, Jim and Diane for dinner at House of Embers in Wisconsin Dells, famous for its barbeque and Friday night Fish Fry. Elodie was a bit of a handful. In retrospect, taking your kid out to dinner, where she’s confined for the entire night the night before you put her in a car seat for 17 hours isn’t the wisest idea. Dave and I both got the 1/3 rack of ribs and I thought they were quite good.

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from today.

Day 7: Thursday, 9/10/09: Visiting a friend, dinner & bowling

Since dad was golfing & Aunt Ann was going into Madison for a quilt fair, we took the opportunity to meet my friend Mandi Vander Galien and 3 of her 5 kids at a park in Montello, about half-way between her house and where we were staying. It was nice to be able to meet some of her kids and catch up a bit. The last time I saw her was the last time I was in Wisconsin nine years ago.

After Elodie’s nap, we headed over to the Tangers Outlet Mall so I could see if they had any deals on anything. I ended up getting some socks for Elodie and some yoga pants for me at the Old Navy Outlet. When we were done, we met dad, Jan, Aunt Ann & Uncle John across the parking lot for dinner. We got free bowling with dinner, so after dinner Dad, Jan, Dave & I bowled. It was so much fun. Dave and I hadn’t bowled since college. Dave was doing pretty well, especially since he let Elodie bowl a couple times, but he choked up during the last couple frames and wasn’t able to get over 100. Dad beat everyone by a ton.

Elodie says "bamboo" for Baraboo.  She knows "river" now, instead of all water being a lake.  And she likes to say "not yet."

Click here for a slideshow of today's events.

Day 6: Wednesday, 9/9/09: Lake, dinner on Wisconsin River

We spent the morning at Devil’s Lake with Aunt Ann, dad, and Jan. Other than the haze from the California fires that’s plagued us since we arrived, it was absolutely beautiful and the weather was perfect. The road into the lake is covered in trees and Elodie calls it a “tree tunnel.” The north shore is very shallow for a ways out so it was perfect for Elodie to run around in. Dad rented a row boat and took Dave out to his childhood swimming rock. Aunt Ann went swimming and Elodie ate some lunch. When the men made it back, we all had lunch on the picnic bench in the shade. Elodie went swimming with daddy one more time before we left.
We tried to put Elodie down for her afternoon nap at the farm but we weren’t very successful…in fact, not at all. Aunt Ann and I looked through one of her mom’s travel photo albums from 1936, when she was only 22 years old along with a photo album she started when she was 16 years old that also has dad and Aunt Ann’s baby pictures in it.

Then we headed over to Uncle John’s brother Jim’s house in Prarie du Sac on the Wisconsin River. We even got to take the Merrimac Ferry on the way to their house. It was a great dinner with fun company. The highlight of the evening for Elodie was Jim’s restored player piano. She loved dancing to the piano as Jim obliged by picking out different songs. I even got to take some decent sunset pictures of the Wisconsin River from their boat dock.

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from Day 6.

Day 5: Tuesday, 9/8/09: Storybook Gardens, Wisconsin Dells, dinner

This morning we met my dad & Jan at Storybook Gardens because my dad really wanted to take her there. When we had visited Wisconsin as kids, my parents always took us there. Well the Storybook Gardens of the past is not the same as the present. The years have not been kind: the characters’ paint is pealing; not all of the posts with the stories are there to match the characters; there are no live people dressed in character walking around; and the ponds/lakes are full of scum. Instead, they’ve adding animals so it’s kind of like a zoo. I didn’t see why they can’t keep up the storybook (that is the name afterall) and have animals as well. Dad and Jan had giraffes eating out of their hands and licking them. And there was even a little train that we rode around the park. Elodie did much better on this train ride but she was no where near excited about it until afterwards.

When we were done there, we walked across the parking lot to DQ for a treat for dad & me and lunch for Dave and Jan. Then we walked up to the Army Duck parking lot for Elodie to look inside the Huey helicopter they had there. Elodie was excited to know it was like the ones Uncle Dale flew in Vietnam.

Dad and Jan went off to hunt for wi-fi and we wanted to see downtown Wisconsin Dells. We stopped at the dam so I could take a picture and then drove through the little downtown that is not at all quant and very overly touristy. Then we drove back around looking for a spot for me to take a picture of the river. Let me tell you that the Wisconsin River is not very accessible for picture taking unless you’re on a boat and we didn’t think Elodie would last for a 2-4 hour tour on a boat.

After naptime, we had Aunt Ann’s ribs for dinner. They were very good and Dave thinks he’s in heaven getting fed good, free food every night. Elodie spent a lot of time with Nonna looking at the horses. She really likes Aunt Ann’s horses.

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from Day 5.

Day 4: Monday, 9/7/09: breakfast, zoo, park, train & photos

Monday morning we had breakfast at Aunt Ann’s with Uncle John, my dad, and Jan. We had fun watching sibling rivalry in the best pancake maker. For the record, dad had major trouble getting the pancakes not to stick and Aunt Ann got them off perfectly. While we waited for dad to get showered (why he wasn’t already showered by the time we got there?? Oh, wait…typical dad), Dave blew bubbles, Elodie chased them, and I attempted to capture the moments on “film.”

After everyone was ready, we headed to the Ochsner Zoo in Baraboo. It’s a tiny zoo run by the city, open to the public for free. We saw a bobcat, some goats & deer, two bears, some sort of monkey, and a white wolf. Elodie really enjoyed seeing the animals. Then we walked next door to the park and let Elodie play for a little bit before heading out. Dad took us all up to the Riverside and Great Northern Railway to ride the 15-inch gauge railroad train. Elodie saw the train and started to cry. We had to wait 15 minutes for the train and she cried on and off the whole time. On the train, she’d put her ear on Dave’s chest and place his hand over her other ear. We road the live steam trains along a 3 mile roadbed winding through scenic canyons, beautiful wooded areas, and majestic rock cuts beside the Dells of the Wisconsin River. We saw the locomotive being turned on a hand operated turntable at Western Springs and turned again at the final stop at the Hyde Park depot. We even had little bits of soot all over us from the burning coal. Even though it was a trying experience for Elodie, she talked about riding that train with Opa and Aunt Ann for the rest of the week.

That night, I dragged Dave and Elodie around looking for good spots to photograph the lake and river during sunset. We only really found one decent spot and then Elodie wouldn’t cooperate in having her picture taken. Afterwards, we grabbed takeout at Culvers and went back to our unit.

Elodie knows what the golden arches mean and yells excitedly "McDonalds!" when she sees them.

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from Day 4.

Day 3: Sunday, 9/6/09: Brunch, driving tour & dinner with Aunt Ann

Sunday morning we got ready as fast as we could and drove 30 minutes out to Aunt Ann’s farm for breakfast/brunch. She had made homemade cinnamon rolls (yum!) and an egg casserole dish. Elodie and I both ate a ton of the cinnamon rolls. Aunt Ann and I looked at some old pictures and then we headed out on “an ancestral tour.” Aunt Ann took us by the house her mother was born in in Merrimac, not too far from where the farm is (on DL, just east of Bluff Road). Then we went to Tucker Cemetery and I took pictures of all the graves we thought were relatives, mainly Welks & Weilands from the 1800s. Afterwards, we drove into Baraboo and saw Aunt Ann and dad’s house growing up, Aunt Martha’s house, Aunt Merrill & Uncle John’s house, plus some other notables in Baraboo, like the Ringling family’s house and the old ice packing house on the Baraboo River, where they cut chunks of ice out of the river in the winter and packed it in sawdust so that it would last through the summer. We also had treats (and lunch for Dave) at Culver’s before heading back for naptime. After Elodie & I woke up from our naps, we went back to Aunt Ann’s for a potroast dinner. Elodie had fun seeing the horses with Aunt Ann and yelled "come here" to the horses. I scared them with the sound of my shutter. Aunt Ann said it must sound like the electrified fence. We had to leave right before dad & Jan got in. 

Today, Elodie said "Oh goodness."  She also said "I love you" while hugging daddy.

Click here for a slideshow of PICTURES from Day 3.

Day 2: Saturday, 9/5/09: Des Moines to Wisconsin Dells

Dave & I woke up on our own and started getting ready before Elodie woke up. We all then headed downstairs for the complimentary full serve breakfast. After that, we packed up the car and headed on out. I think we were on the road a little after 9am for our 5 hour and 20 minute drive to the Dells. We saw corn, corn, and more corn. Dave and I said we’d never seen so much corn in our lives. Corn in Nebaska; corn in Iowa; corn in Wisconsin. We stopped just before the Wisconsin border for lunch and another pit stop. Then we crossed over the Mississippi River…quite the site. We also stopped at a vista of the Frank Lloyd Wright house, Taliesin and across from the road to the house to take some pictures. We made it to the Wyndham Tamarask in the Wisconsin Dells before check-in time but luckily our room was already ready for us so we were able to move in. We were really impressed with how clean and new our unit looked, and we had a view of the lake on the property. The two downsides to the unit for me were having no internet in the unit and not having a king size bed in the master. We unpacked, took a trip to Walmart, ate dinner, and then headed out to walk around. We walked around the little lake and I tried unsuccessfully to get pictures of her. Elodie really liked watching the ducks and some people who were out on the paddleboats. Then we headed on over to check out the playground before going back to our unit for our bedtime routine.

At some point today, Elodie said, "go people."  Too funny!

Click here for a PICTURE slideshow of Day 2.

Day 1: Friday, 9/4/09: road trip from to CO to Des Moines

This morning we left around 7:20am for Des Moines. It’s about a 10 hour drive plus stops and there were many stops. After awhile, Elodie figured out that if she said “pee pee potty” that we’d pull over and she’d get out. I think we had at least three false alarm stops, but really I’d rather stop that have her pee in her car seat, even if I did have her sitting on a cloth diaper. She made it the 11 hours with no accidents!  We got in around dinner time. We checked into the Hilton Garden Inn (thank you Hilton points), got Arby’s take out, topped off the gas tank, and came back to the room to eat dinner while watching the tv show Glee. Then we all got ready for bed, put Elodie in her pack-n-play and turned out the lights. She started to cry immediately and not wanting to be bad neighbors in a hotel, I put her in bed with me (Dave & I each got a queen). She was quite the whole time she was in bed with me, but man, was she a wiggle worm. I finally put her back in her pack-n-play and after some more wiggling there, she fell asleep. And then we did.

Click here for a slideshow of the PHOTOS from Day 1.

9/3/09: Oh yeah

Elodie says "Oh yeah" after you tell her something.  Too funny.

9/2/09: L update

I guess Elodie's been watching me because now she uses her elbow to push buttons like I do.  :)  She's got her back left molar poking through.  She also said "number eight" when picking up a finger puzzle piece with the "8" on it and she said "boobs up there hiding" when referring to my chest.  At least she used the word up! ;)

Tuesday, 9/1/09...jumping in the jumperoo

Yes, my 2 yr old is still using the jumperoo. I thought this video of her in there was really cute.

added a post

i added the Sunday 8/23/09 post.