Bedtime battles!

As usual, both girls are growing by leaps and bounds everyday. Ava is so darn smart! She is really testing me though! She calls me on things all the time. Lucy has stopped teething for the time being, so she is much more pleasant, but as stubborn as ever! She simply loves to be outside! She takes my hand and pulls me to the back door. She just can't get enough if the fresh air. She loves the park and wagon rides. Ava prefers to be inside and playing talk them or coloring. Such different girls!
Bedtime has revealed a new battle with Ava. She refuses to let me leave the room after stories, prayers, and lullabies. She has a screaming fit! I have tried many things: toys, books, a tent on her bed...nothing seems to work. She wants endless snuggies. I know in my heart that I need to enjoy them while I can because the day will come when she won't want mommy snuggies anymore. But it can be frustrating when I'm hungry and tired and should probably spend more than 10 minutes with Jeremy without the kids. Lucy on the other hand, has been doing fabulously in her big girl bed! She goes right down. Sweet girl! She I'd even reclaiming her naps, praise God! However, I did feel bad for her tonight when I poked in to check on her and witnessed her fall out of bed, fuss for a minute, then resolutely climb back in in her "stink bug" posture. What a cutie! Ahhh, I love my girls so much!!

Thanksgiving week at home (published late!)

It seems that Ava and Lucy grow by leaps and bounds almost daily. Ava is really into playing a game where I am the sun and she is a puppy on Christmas morning. So funny! I have to hold up a yellow hula hoop to represent the sun. She also has decided what I want for christmas. She said I want a "Christmas lotion". She knows I like bath and body works, so she put two and two together and thought that would be the perfect gift for me! So thoughtful! By the way, she said all se wants is "the pet shop guys airplane." thats all she says she wants. We even wrote a short letter to santa askng for it. Btw, shr definitely writes her name now. Over and over. She makes the "v" in the middle first then carefully writes an "a" on either side. Lucky her nsme only has two different letters and is a palindrome!
Yesterday we were in the Disney store and she saw this tiny Cinderella set with a doll and backdrop and she said, "I just want it so badly!!" then when I still said no and that she could ask Santa for it, she reluctantly bent down and put it back on the shelf and looked so terribly sad! But I was so proud of her. I gave her some water and she was shaking when she drank it, she was so upset snd overcome with longing for this Cinderella set. I tried to hug her but she wouldn't have it. She takes things so to heart, but I love her for that and was proud she put it back without throwing a fit. She is a big girl!
Lucy is so crazy! She now says "hi" and I have the best time getting her to say it over and over again. She is obsessed with the sid the science kid books and we read them over and over and over and over....always singing the "rug time" song. She just loves it!! She even ripped her book to shreds just like Ava ripped her "happy and you know it" book to shreds at that age because she loved it so much!
Ava and Lucy are actually playing better together lately. Ava still gets really mad at Lucy when she destroys things Ava is doing (which is fairly regularly) but at the same time, Ava has been hugging her and playing tag with her and telling me what Lucy "says". They are too cute in the bath and both love splashing me. I hope they continue to grow closer. Ava does her "Ava dance" and whenever she does it, Lucy dances too. I love that!
We are going a tad stir crazy this week since it is nearly impossible to take Lucy anywhere without her throwing a fit. She is one strong willed girl! She wants to walk, but in her own direction, not where we need her to go. I am happy she wants to walk and is energetic and independent, but good god is she a challenge!
More later, thanksgiving tomorrow!

Under the weather

Jeepers! Both girls are under the weather lately. Ava has an ear infection and Lucy is an absolute snot factory! Both of them went down at 5:30 tonight! That's unheard of for Ava, although since Lucy is giving up her naps already (mama mia! ) she falls asleep really early.Poor cranky kids. Not much else to do but wait it out. All of Ava's little friends are sick too, probably all got the same bug. Here's to a better tomorrow!!

What a day!

Phew! Today we overall had a fun day, we went on a picnic, went to the park, played...but then, Lucy discovered she could climb out of the playpen...so I tried her in her crib. Sure enough, she climbed right out. So, that was that. I disassembled the crib and now Lucy has a mattress on the floor until we get her a toddler bed. At 18 months old, she is finished with her crib. I disassembled it so fast, I didn't have time to be nostalgic or take a picture. But this is a milestone to be sure. We are a crib-less family. Wow.
Something fun that happened today was when I was giving Lucy and Ava a bath together. Ava started splashing and kicking in the water and then Lucy started laughing hysterically and doing it too. They were laughing and playing together. For the first time. They were almost mischevious together and Lucy was in heaven to be playing with her sister instead of fighting with her. So cute!!! I hope it is the first of lots of fun times for them playing together.
Also, Lucy now says "up".

Hopefully tonight will be smooth with Lucy on the floor, but we'll see...
Phew!!!

Good morning!

I woke up this morning to Ava Lucy and Jeremy running all over the house to sugarland's stuck like glue. So funny. Ava was chasing Jeremy and Lucy was chasing Ava. I was sorry I slept in, but happy that Jeremy got to have that time with them.

Ongoing observations

I plan on recording little things that happen throughout the day. They may or may not be in any particular order, but I think it is the little everyday things that can be the most important, and the things I want to remember most. Also, I might find the motivation to write more often this way!

Fall Fun!

Lucy and Mommy at the zoo

at La Jolla Shores after the aquarium with Nonna

sweet giggling Lucy

Ava & Mommy at Sea World

Ava & Nonna at our afternoon picnic

Ava's clownfish talking to the real clownfish

Ava & Lucy playing at the aquarium

Ava & daddy on a "big girl ride" at Sea World

Sea World with the girls' favorite Sesame guys!

Lucy at Sea World in the toddler jumpy area

Lucy on her first ride at Sea World!

Ava always loves the flying Elmo

Lucy enjoying lunch

At Disney on Ice

Ava's first glimpse of the flying Tinker Bell at Disney on Ice

Ava takes milkshakes very seriously! Corvettes after the Disney show

Sea World petting the starfish on Halloween celebration day

Nonna, Ava & Gramps at Sea World

Nonna as Tink

Mommy & Lucy with the fishes at Sea World

Ok, so admittedly, I am not good at blogging regularly. I just have to talk about how much Lucy and Ava are growing lately! Lucy waves obsessively at everything! It is too cute. She first waved on 4/23, crazy I haven't blogged since March!  I haven't written all summer and now it is mid fall, so yes, they are very different! I have to get on the ball! First of all, Ava is completely obsessed with Halloween! She loves everything about it! We have Halloween books, stickers, decorations, etc. I wonder if she likes to be a little scared. It is very unexpected that she likes this holiday so much! The spookiness, the spiders, skeletons, black cats, webs, pumpkins and everything else Halloween all make her giggle with excitement. She has changed her Halloween costume several times. She wanted to be a dog, then a spider, then a butterfly (this is the costume we have for her), then a black cat. She likes to pretend to be a black cat and I pretend to be a magical fairy. She meows all the time and wants me to pet her like a cat. So funny. She is just the most amazing little girl. Now that I am home full time, I can fully appreciate her unique, clever little ways. Every morning I go into her room and say "good morning, beautiful girl!" and she says "good morning..." followed by exactly what she is thinking at that moment. It could be anything from "I went pee pee in my diaper" to "mommy I dropped my tiny guinea pig can you get him please?!" Then she gives me a tackle huggie and we get ready for the day. This is my favorite time of day with her. She is so incredibly smart. She says the most amazing things and sometimes I can't help but laugh and she says, "mommy, don't laugh!". But I can't help it. She is also getting much better at being nice to Lucy. She gives Lucy hugs and plays tag with her, during which she inevitably knocks Lucy down then gives her a hug. Ava has come a long way from shouting "stop crying Lucy!" (Lucy would actually stop crying!) to talking for Lucy and saying what Lucy wants. Ava also says that everything happens "eight years ago", even if it is yesterday or last week. She doesn't understand that she wasn't alive 8 years ago!
For Lucy's part, she has really come into her own lately. First of all, she absolutely loves Ava! She always wants to go into Ava's room in the morning and help get Ava dressed. Lucy is also a Daddy's girl. Daddy is the only one she cuddles with and puts her little head down on. Her first day at the beach was on her birthday, that was fun! Except she kept eating sand. She is running now. She is now nodding and shaking her head to express what she wants along with strong "huuuuuhhh" for "yes". She isn't speaking yet except for Momma, Dadda, and Nonna. I am a little worried about her because at this age Ava was saying "banana" and "Abby Caddaby" but Lucy will move at her own pace I think. Lucy is very strong willed and knows what she wants! She loves to read anything that has a Sesame character in it and she likes to read over and over and over again. She also likes Sid books and likes it when I sing "rugtime" over and over and over again. She loves to dance! She bobs up and down and smiles and laughs like crazy when I bring out my computer because she knows I will play some music. So cute! She is quite a handful though because she knows her mind! Overall a good trait, though admittedly frustrating because she can't talk yet so I don't always know what she wants. I am loving staying home with my girls and watching them grow and change everyday. They are incredible little girls! I am so lucky to have my sweet babies!

A Banner Day!

Lucy wants a hug from Ava...not likely!

My sister made me dress like this!

Mommy and Lucy

Sharing a water cup

I want a Big Girl cup!

Ava reading to Lucy

Lucy on the go with her crab crawl

Lucy loves Ava!!

Lucy hit quite a few milestones today! She can now stand like a little elevator without holding on to anything, she just kind of wobbles in mid-air looking around, and she took her first baby step! Twice!  I am so glad I was home to see it and I didn't miss it. Nonna was there too and we had such a great afternoon playing with Lucy. She was grabbing the bottle and feeding herself too. So much fun! I feel like Lucy never gets one on one time with me because Ava is always there wanting attention. I am happy to play with Ava too, of course, but I get a little sad for Lucy. Ava had such special time with me when she was Lucy's age since she was the only one, but Lucy doesn't have that experience. I guess Lucy has the wonderful experience of growing up with a sister. She just loves Ava so much and wants to be with her all the time. She chases Ava all over the house and Ava has been so much better lately about playing with Lucy. Ava crawls after her all the time and they crawl together on the floor chasing each other. Ava has also been in this "I'm a baby" phase. She wears a bib and wants to be like Lucy too. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em I guess. While I was playing with Lucy, Ava was at the park with Jeanette, she had a wonderful time, of course. Lucy is also getting her top left tooth coming in through her gums, no wonder she has been cranky at bedtime! Jeanette spotted it. Lucy also initiated a peek-a-boo game with Jeanette today where she picked up a towel and put it on her head and smiled and giggled. Sooooo cute!!
Ava is just getting smarter and smarter by the minute. Her new favorite thing to say is, "you're full of drama, Mama!" Yesterday she asked me what slugs dreamed about. Wow. She also loves playing with the computer games on PBSKids.org. She sits right next to me and plays the games. She does really well with the letter/sound games and is getting better at identifying shapes. She needs to start to work on numbers, but I don't want her to not like it. Right now learning is so fun for her. Tonight when I was tucking her in she said, "I'm a little bit sad, I want some more attention." Oh, brother!! That little girl gets buckets of attention. What a ham! She also went to the Airbands show at school last night and had an absolute blast! She was dancing and singing and at one point she said, "I want to go and dance with the kids on teh stage!" and she ran towards teh stage full speed. Jeremy had to intercept her. She kept saying, "one more song!!" She was dancing all over the place and clapping like crazy! I love it. I have to get her in a dance class ASAP. Ava has also been having a wonderful month playing with friends. She always talks about playing with Nala. She and Nala just run like crazy and dress up in princess costumes and have a marvelous time together in their own little world. Last time Nala was over, they grabbed a flashlight and called Shalyse and me into Ava's room and performed for us. It was the most adorable thing ever! Ava had a great time at Nala's party playing with Kennedy too. Finally it seems like those two are getting in sync. They ran around teh yard singing and dancing and Ava even let Kennedy hold her hands and they danced in a circle. Adorable. Ava also had fun with her friend Aron. they were playing "check-up", tag, and watering plants together in the yard in Ava's "garden" (really a bunch of weeds growing by the fence). They were just too cute together. I am so happy that Ava is becoming more social and enjoying playing with other kids. It is amazing to watch her development.
I am so lucky to have my two gorgeous girls, I hope they don't grow up too fast!

Yikes it has been a long time!

Wow, I am so bad at keeping up with this. I'll try to update as concisely as possible. Ava is a talker! She has blossomed so much in the past couple of months: she is asking questions like crazy, she is descriptive about what she wants, she barely has accidents anymore (except at friends' houses, grrr...) and she is becoming like my little friend. Lucy is developing at lightning speed. She is crawling like a little crab all over the house. Since she doesn't crawl on her knees, she uses her feet and her hands and looks like a little mollusk. So cute!! She wants to play with and be with Ava more than anyone else and won't tolerate being held for long, she just wants to be down and crawling and playing. Lucy is now in a hard plastic harness. Her right hip is at 25 degrees and is good, but her left isn't getting into place quite as easily. She has to wear it at night and nap and we aren't suppose to let her stand up, but that is really hard. Hopefully at her next appointment at the end of March, she will be all better and we can ditch the brace. We will see.
Despite our struggles and sleep deprivation (Lucy is still routinely waking up at 1 or 2 in the morning to eat) I am so thankful and grateful for my two beautiful daughters. Ava has been more interested in playing with Lucy lately and while she still doesn't like it that Lucy takes time away from her, she does give Lucy toys to play with and even said today, "I want to play with Lucy". I was so happy! Yesterday, Ava wanted to feed Lucy, so I let her. It was the most adorable thing ever! Ava actually did it and Lucy opened her mouth for the spoon. It was such a fun moment! Also a big deal for Ava, she actually played with Nala the other day. They were playing princesses and Ava let Nala put a necklace on her and they were running all over the house together playing hide and seek and talking up a storm. I was so happy to see her playing with another kid and not hiding! It took a load off of my mind that Ava doesn't have some sort of emotional issue, but she is just shy and apparently Nala knew how to get her out of her shell. Phew!
While Lucy was sleeping yesterday, Ava and Nonna and I had a grand old time. Ava got some paint on her hands and started painting the glass on the front doors, and we let her. She was so excited and creative and Nonna was laughing so hard! It was a fun afternoon. Nonna and Ava were dancing around the house like crazy together. Those two are two peas in a pod. They are so alike. Mom was telling me stories about how she was actually quite naughty in school and defiant and that she sees a lot of herself in Ava's behavior. Great. I am not excited about the teen years! Nonna also got a felt board for Ava and we set it up. Ava really liked it. There were some felt dinosaurs and Ava knew almost all of their names. I was amazed! She even knew Perisaourlophus. Amazing. Lately Ava keeps saying "I miss you" "I want you to play with me" "I want you to be with me". It just breaks my heart when she says that! I don't know if she knows what she is saying, but it just kills me every time! She really likes saying it as I am putting her to bed and when I leave for work. That is the worst. I know one day I'll long for the time that she wants to be with me and I will be competing for her attention. I am not excited about not being the center of her world anymore, but I know it will happen and there is nothing I can do about it. I am treasuring this time with her and with Lucy.
I just love my two girls. I could not be happier being their mom!

Sitting, standing, pretending, and more...

an artsy Lucy pic

Nonna and Ava reading after Ava's bath

Lucy in her Christmas dress

Nonna, Ava and Mommy at LegoLand!

Right before Lucy got her two bottom front teeth...smile!

Well, well, well...so it has been over a month since my last entry. I can only blame laziness. But despite my lack of updates, much has been happening with my two little princesses. Christmas was absolutely wonderful. We had a magical time with Nonna and Gramps and Aunt Adrienne and Uncle Joey. Lucy and ava got more presents than we could bring home (literally) and Nonna went way overboard! But we spent some quality time with everyone and relaxed together as a family, which was the most important part of course.

Lucy is sitting more than steady and she pulled up to standing on 1/15! I was so proud of her! She rolls in her crib, even with the harness and the funniest (but saddest) thing about her right now is that she gets stuck sitting up in her crib. She just can't figure out how to lay back down when she sits up. Poor baby! Lucy is starting to figure out how to crawl, but she still mostly scoots backward. She is a bit slower at developing physically than Ava was, but she is in that harness most of the day so that impedes her I think. She has also recently discovered gravity. She gets a kick out of dropping her toys and looking for them and waiting for me to pick them up. Ava likes to pick them up for her too, she thinks it is a game, which is nice for me so I don't always have to be reaching down to do it.  Lucy is still so sweet and wonderful with the most contageous smile and giggle. She is so cuddly! But she has been more adventurous lately and loves to be on the floor to crawl and explore. Everything goes in teh mouth of course. She also got her two front teeth on the bottom a couple of weeks ago. Now she likes to chew on things with her little teeth. All she wants is to be with Ava. She loves her sister, I can see it in her face, but Ava wants to do her own thing most of the time. Although, Ava has been slightly more interested in Lucy lately. She brings her toys and calls her "my little sister monkey". Ava has intellectually been exploding. She is asking questions and her new favorite thing to say is "Is that ok?" SO CUTE!! She is just learning about voice inflection and how to end a question with an upward vocal inflection. The other day she jumped out of her bed and ran to the back door yelling "its a beautiful day, come on mommy! come on!!" She then ran out the back door and started dancing. Such a joyful child! She also has been giving tanti bacci, and licking my face because that is how Lucy gives bacci, then saying that I am gross because she licked me. Ava loves to dance! She does her "circle dance"and runs around picking up her feet and jumping. We took her to a ballet class and mom got her ballet shoes, they are so cute! She liked watching the class, but she was scared to participate with the other little girls. She does like to do ballet with me though, which I am ecstatic about, since I want her to be a little ballerina. Last week, poor Lucy had to be taken to Childrens for an ear infection (she is ok now) and in the meantime, I took Ava to the park. We had a fabulous time! She didn't even want to go on the play structures at all. She wanted to go down to the stage and dance! There were some other older little girls dancing on the stage and she loved watching them. She got up on the stage with them and just watched, awestruck. It was adorable! We played in the "fairy princess house"which is a woody area of the park and had magic wands. This past weekend, we went to the park again, just Ava and me. This time, Ava said she was Abby Caddaby and I was Gonigin. She kept calling me Gonigin and made me call her Abby. We went exploring the "jungle" and the fairy princess house again and she kept giving me new wands. She learned how to roll down a hill and we explored the canyon. The whole time she was Abby. She was in absolute heaven! I was amazed by her creativity and ability to pretend and create fantasy worlds on her own. She reminded me of me when I was little and all I needed was a stick and a cape and I was in worlds of my own imagination for hours. That is so healthy for her. Just to play and be creative, developing her sense of self. She is the most incredible little person I have ever met.