as I write this, you've actually been two for several weeks! your special day concluded our crazy string of birthdays (three birthdays in three weeks!). you are most definitely two, with your rapidly expanding vocabulary, your sense of humor, your strong opinions, and your (thankfully rare) falling on the ground, kicking your feet temper tantrums. you love to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", the ABCs, "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and "The Wheels on the Bus". you are obsessed with Cocomelon and have a few singing Cocomelon toys that are on heavy rotation in the car and diaper bag.
you were thrilled to try on Cece's cheerleading hair bow
updates from daycare... they're continually impressed by how much you love yogurt!
baby in a basket
playing piano with Cece and Daddy
you frequently melt our hearts by telling us "I lush you". you can say the names of everyone in the family including yourself ("Ellie"), Greta ("Gaga"), and Victoria ("Towia" or "Toto" or just "baby"). you get into everything and we've had to put latches on almost every cupboard and drawer downstairs to keep you out of mischief. the salt and pepper shakers can no longer stay on the dining room table, and wallets and phones are no longer safe on the kitchen counters. you have a knack for sneaking completely silently into your sisters' rooms to stick your fingers into Greta's lip gloss and move the dolls around Cece's dollhouse. it's a good thing you're so cute!
I was standing in the kitchen just around the corner and out of sight while you helped yourself to washable paint that was in one of Cece's bags, unbeknownst to me. five minutes later when I checked on you, you held up your hands and said "gloves!" and your feet and said "socks!".
kisses for baby sister
you love playing with baby dolls and frequently parrot phrases you hear all day: "it's okay, baby! shhhh. oh, honey, it's okay. you drop it? oh, goodness. oh goodness gracious. hurry up! oh, you fell down. kaboom! no worries. I wipe your bum. all clean!" and when you're frustrated: "oh, come on!!"
this incredible wool coat set was a hand-me-down from your Auntie Amelia.
you strutted down the street to church
when I knelt to get your picture, you knelt too. if a little Victorian girl had a beatific vision, I'm pretty sure this is what it would look like.
for your birthday dinner, we had chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese, with cupcakes for dessert. you were absolutely thrilled with your new lunchbox and water bottle, with a straw spout just like the big girls have. in typical Murphy's law fashion, you were sporting a brand new black eye for your birthday, the result of falling and hitting your cheek on a wooden chair leg. poor baby!
after dinner, you absconded with a hardboiled egg from the pile I was peeling for the older girls' school lunches
Oh she is so adorable :) And toddlers are just the best!! That was so sweet that she kneeled down like you, they are always watching and listening and you are obviously a very sweet family based on how she acts and what she says :)
it's about time for a good old airing of the grievances. while we have ever so much for which to give thanks, sometimes we need the catharsis of enumerating our woes, big and small. (you can read the 2023 edition here.) _________________________________________ first up, potty training. I buckled down and trained Greta and Cecilia both around age 2 1/2, and it went fairly well (I'm a big fan of waiting until the kid is practically ready to train themselves). Elizabeth turned 2 1/2 near the end of the school year, and logically it seemed like a great time to buckle down -- we wouldn't be driving around to after school sports and activities and we'd have more time at home. I kept waiting for the day when I'd wake up full of excitement and motivation to strip off the diaper and chase a naked toddler around the house. and ... shockingly ... that day never came. then we were preparing for our trip to Seattle in July and it definitely didn't seem like the right time...
1) Color Run. the first annual Color Run for school took place on a Saturday morning in late August and it was so much fun! our school opened in Fall 2020, and I am continually amazed at how much the school community has grown since then. over the last year in particular, there have been an explosion of events for families outside of school (spearheaded by volunteers), and I just love how these programs foster a sense of common purpose and boost school spirit. the Color Run was sponsored by the school's cross-country team, and dovetailed with the Back-to-School Breakfast hosted by the parent volunteer group. Greta had no interest in running the 1-mile course (they had two courses designated, one that went up a hill and along a trail for a bit, and one that was flatter and suitable for strollers or walkers). so she volunteered to help as a color-sprayer! she was stationed at the beginning of the race, and then also was tasked with guarding the water balloons at the end of th...
1) Zoo. we picked a scorcher of a day to go to the zoo with friends! I can't actually remember if we went to the zoo at all last year (when Victoria was a newborn). in any case, Elizabeth was definitely far more interested in pointing out the animals than she had been the last time. striking their best explorer pose Greta is as tall as an adult female black rhino! she was obsessed with the anteater our friends headed home and we decided to circle back to see a few animals we'd missed the first time around. we ended up getting caught in torrential downpours and had to seek shelter by the cheetah enclosure for a while. but I'm glad we came back because we got to see the funniest shenanigans between the baby gorilla and his dad playing chase! another good place to wait out the rain -- hanging out with the sea lions. 2) Around home. Victoria and Elizabeth are having so much fun playing together (well, at some point it devolves into fighting and scratching, but still! they...
Oh she is so adorable :) And toddlers are just the best!! That was so sweet that she kneeled down like you, they are always watching and listening and you are obviously a very sweet family based on how she acts and what she says :)
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