Mimi Time!

We had a busy day yesterday! Not only did we run four loads of laundry and grocery shop, but we cleaned out our cars, cleaned the house, organized our bedroom and closet, and took stuff to Goodwill and back to people from whence it came. I took some time to fix a couple of items that needed to be repaired, print some pictures for some frames that I'd been neglecting and started the paintings of the family tree for Billa's nursery, which I have been putting off for some time. And to top it all off I made sugar cookies! All that activity sure took it's toll on us:

Mama and Billa certainly enjoyed their "mimi" together. Now if only this could happen everyday...

Nighty night,

The Princess and the Pea...er, Ball

I'd sworn up and down before Sybilla was born that I wasn't going to let my kids sleep in bed with me. My sleep was precious and I wasn't going to allow that kind of behaviour. Apparently I'm more of a pushover than I thought! And Sybilla knows it too, because lately she's been showing up on MY side of the bed. I'm usually too tired and too dazed to refuse and there has been more than one occasion where I wake up and marvel at the cleverness of my daughter for crawling into our bed all on her own, only to be told by my husband that I was the one who pulled her in. Sybilla usually doesn't come into our room until about 5:30 or so, which is only an hour before we get up, so it's really not THAT bad, although Michael might disagree with me when he receives a kick in the chest or face from a certain small person's foot.

When she comes to bed to us, she is typically accompanied by her "lovies," those everyday items that lend her comfort. Lately those items are her "bubba," her blankie, and her monkey George and while we always have bubba, we might not always get blankie or George. Last night however, we were not only joined by all three, but we had another guest as well:

Yes, that green and white rubber ball has become one of Sybilla's favorite things to carry around and sometimes she goes to sleep with it. Last night when she came to bed with us, she brought it with her unbeknownst to us. This is how it happened:

[pitter patter pitter patter, pause]
"Mama."
"Mmmf, wha...?"
"Mama!" I see a little figure next to my bedside. I know what she wants.
"Oh, ok." [grunt groan, pull, lift, swing, PLOP, giggle] (the kid weighs thirty two pounds..you try lifting that over your head while you're asleep in bed!)
I fiddle with the covers and get her situated in between us. The husband continues to sleep. [grumble grumble]
"Ba, mama, ba!"
"Huh?"
"Ba! Ba!"
"Shh, Billa, put your coco down, go night night." (Coco is head, short for coconut)
"Ba! BA, MAMA!" Sybilla is insistent. Michael grumbles something not worth repeating in polite company.
"Night night baby." I say firmly, but she doesn't relent.
I roll over onto my back, determined to ignore her. Suddenly I am acutely aware of a sharp pressing sensation in my mid-lower back.
"What the...?"
I pull out the object from underneath me and realize it's her ball and the item in which she has been asking for. I place it in Billa's hand. [happy murmurs. suck suck suck snore]
I sigh. I snooze...

18 Month Wellcheck and PTO

What a day! Today was the first day of school for Austin, it was Billa's 18 month old wellcheck and Mama's day off. One of Michael's coworkers asked to trade days off with him at the last minute, so both of us enjoyed a lovely day of PTO together sans the baby most of the day.

We took Billa to daycare and then Michael and I headed home to have a nice leisurely breakfast of eggs, toast, and coffee. Seeing as how we're avid bibliophiles, we snagged the opportunity to read and just laze about. Then we took Sybilla to her well check and took her back to school, whereupon we then ate lunch, read some more, and then took a two hour nap before picking Sybilla back up from daycare. It was a lovely day off!

Sybilla's well check stats were:
Head: 48 cm - 75th to 90th percentile (big head!)
Height: 33 in - 75th to 90th percentile (she's now 2'9"!)
Weight: 32 lbs - 97th percentile+

And actually, when you look at her growth chart, her weight is actually WAY above the curve, but while that might seem overweight, if you saw how much Billa moves you wouldn't be worried. Which Dr. Patil isn't, thankfully. In fact, Billa showed off all of her tricks, like "jumping", her touchdown arms (football season here we come!) and she also showed what a skilled and clever climber she was, which really impressed the doc. She also showed off some great vocabulary skills and identified some bubbles in a picture and "read" a book, which she then told us "all done" when she closed the cover. Here are some pictures of her at the doctor's office:

Billa's favorite thing to do at the doctor's office: look out the window from the exam room!

Oooh...what's this? Something good to chew on?

Oh wait, you have to do what with it?!

Dr. Patil sure knows how to make us laugh!

One thing is for sure, we are extremely grateful for a healthy and happy baby! We got two shots today, one of them being the flu vaccine. We were told to check back on the pedi office website around October/November, since the current flu vaccine does NOT include the swine flu vaccine. That one isn't available yet and Dr. Patil told us she wasn't even sure if it was going to be formulated yet for kids that young. So if we don't end up getting the swine flu vaccine or have a sick visit, it'll be six more months before we see Dr. Patil again! [sniffle] It reminds us of how much she's grown.

Anyway, it's time for dinner; tune in later this week for Recipe thuRsday and some more Billa videos. We got some good ones of her in a bubble bath the other night :o)

Love,

Happy 18 months Sybilla!

Today Billa is officially 18 months old. Now Daddy can tell people she is "a year and a half old"...because she really is! The last 18 months have seen our little monkey grow tall and smart...and heavy! Just look at all the things she can do:

Jumping Billa


Silly Billa


How can you resist this face?


Mommy sure can’t!


Lookit all this hair…


I can brush it all on my own!


Your turn Mommy!


Say cheese!

Happy 18 months, sweet baby girl! We love you!

Love,