World cup, here we come

Had to share some pics from Ellie's soccer debut. We signed her up for Little Kickers through the YMCA, which is only marginally "soccer"... but still fun! Ellie was pretty excited heading into the evening, but she did peter out at a certain point. Hopefully she'll learn some and have a good time in the coming weeks.
Here's daddy helping her down the field (while mommy held Katie and the camera!)

 Quick break...

 Below: Which one is Ellie?

Apple orchard

Had some fun this weekend when my mom came to visit. She, Ellie, Katie and I hit up a nearby apple orchard on Saturday. Had a good visit and bought some out-of-state apples... the Indiana crop didn't fare so well with this year's weather. Still yummy, though!

3 little monkeys...

Laughs for your Wednesday

"Skating"

 I decided to take Ellie downtown on Sunday for a "Skating the Square" event being held, where roller skating was offered on the block around the courthouse (and to benefit the local Boys & Girls club). Sounds fun, right? Well, as you can see below, Ellie spent a good portion of the outing on her butt. Turns out deciding to strap wheels onto my toddler's feet wasn't my best-ever plan.

 To her credit, Ellie was excited at the start and seemed to give some effort to the cause. But the fact that the smallest skates they had were 2 sizes too big probably didn't help things. It took us about 45 minutes to make it around the block once. Seriously. And I would not be surprised if Ellie's arms are each a few inches longer, since most of the time was spent with me holding her up by one or both arms.

 Considering I hadn't skated before this in about 10 years, it's amazing that neither of us took a serious dive. Oh well... maybe the next skate outing will be more successful. For now, Ellie has a good story about how "super silly" it was to have her feet slip-sliding in roller skates.

Terrible threes?

Whenever Brian and I would complain about Ellie's behavior in the past year people would readily chime in with "wait till she's 3." I hate to say it, but they were right... at least sort of.
Ellie is the queen of tantrums and back talk in recent weeks. She loves to shout "Nooooooooo!" if we correct her bad behaviour, even though that's never been greeted with any agreement from us. It almost always results in a time out. We have a lot of time outs these days. But we're also trying hard to talk Ellie through problems, and to nip bad behavior in the bud with early warnings and the 1-2-3 counting system. We have varying degrees of success. It largely depends on how tired she is. Our lives often seem to revolve around how much sleep one or both girls have gotten that day... and, sadly, never around our own lack of sleep. Such is life as a parent.
I will say that Ellie's explosion of personality at the age of 3 is a huge plus! We can have real conversations and it is amazing. Just tonight she gave me a laundry list of what she did at school today: was best friends with Olivia, played at the water table with Andy, played babies and puzzles and art. So much fun to be able to recount her day together -- especially when I have to spend so many hours away from her at work. The teachers at school are also working on some of her speech "quirks," one being her inability to say "L's"... which is definitely a handicap considering her name. She now knows how to say "El-thee" by sticking her tongue way out and running it back along her front teeth. El-thee. Pretty cool.
I think we are going to have a love-hate relationship with the age of 3.

7 months

 Cuteness is definitely not lacking in our seven-month-old... Katie is a total doll. In fact, an older gentleman at the Lincolm museum last weekend joked that we better not dress Katie up and take her out because people will mistake her for a doll.
Can't believe our little one is turning 7 months today. But we're also so proud of the talking, sitting, eating and playing Katie is doing! Just like Ellie, she's a smart cookie. Here's her top 10 at 7 months:
1. Loves sitting up, hates lying down. Ever since Katie mastered it a few weeks back, she hates just about anything except sitting up. We love to involve her more in play and meal times, but we still have to be careful with her pukeyness...
2. Eating foods. Katie has graduated from baby cereal to veggies. She's a pig fan of sweet potatoes and peas, so far, and will be trying acorn squash this week. Brian and I are getting back into the swing of making the baby food, which is super easy... but requires some advance planning. I also love that B's got it down to a science. Her single serving of peas just requires "22 seconds on high," as Brian informed me the other night. Perfect temp.
3. Putting everything in her mouth. I guess this goes along with the eating thing, but it cracks me up that Katie quickly examines anything she can get ahold of and them promptly tries to put it in her mouth. It's: grab, look, try to eat.
4. Talking, talking, talking. Katie loves to communicate. And even if she's not making noise, her expression often says it all :)

5. Blowing raspberries. When she's not talking, Katie is usually blowing raspberries... we just have to hope she doesn't have peas or sweet potatoes in her mouth at the time.
6. Jumping. Katie is still a huge fan of the jump-a-roo we have, and she tries to leap skyward in the exersaucer, too, because the one at school is a combo jumper. Love to see her working those legs :)
7. Still chunking up. Katie isn't pint-sized anymore. As I mentioned earlier, she had to visit the doctor this week for some cold/cough isues, and we found out at that appointment she's up to about 18 lbs, 6 oz, which is almost a pound up from her 6-month checkup. She's growing!
8. Smiling! Katie has this huge grin, and she's not afraid to use it. Despite the cold and sister's poking and our delays in getting across the room to her sometimes... Katie is such a happy girl. Everyone who is around her sees it and notes it. We love, love, love her easy-going nature and just hope it continues.
9. Grabbing. Katie will make reins out of hair, grab skin and claw (if her nails aren't well-trimmed). She's feeling her way into the world, that's for sure.
10. Getting ready for more? I can't help but feel that Katie is on the verge of some serious moving and shaking. I want her to get crawling, sure, but I also know enough from Ellie's launch into mobility to also wish for her to stay put a bit longer. But Katie is so curious about the world that I don't think we have much time. That's OK, though. Love to see our little one learning and growing. Happy 7 months, Katie. XOXOXO

Table shots

 Just a couple cute table pics for your holiday weekend :)