3rd bday interview

3 years of Liberty!

 

Some rambling about 3 year old Libby: Something funny about Libby is that she often speaks in an English accent. She is getting pretty good too. (she is mimicking Angelina Ballerina). Everyday she decides she is a character from one of her shows and wants me to refer to her only using that name (top picks are Angelina and Jessie). She often gives me new names too and will only call me "Alice" or "Bullseye" or whatever goes with her character. If one of us uses the wrong name, she has to correct it. We dance around for a good portion of each day. All the pre-set songs on our piano have nicknames Libby has given them: "bumblebee song", "ballet song", "bad guy song", etc. She is VERY particular about which songs we listen to, she is a Pandora Nazi and gets super mad if she doesn't like the songs they play. She usually wears just underwear for at least 1/2 of the day. She is getting a little better about keeping clothes on, but a lot of times she'll use the bathroom and come back without her clothes.  Also, if her clothes are not pink, it is a battle getting her to wear them. (so stubborn sometimes! I have no idea where she got that from....) Her biggest accomplishment this year was being totally potty trained- night and day! She is in the making up stories and songs phase which is pretty entertaining for me. I love when she sings everything she is thinking about. She unfortunately hates it when I sing and yells at me to stop. So bossy! she doesn't appreciate me laughing at her demands or continuing to sing to Elliot!

 

Party Pictures! video coming soon :)

Libby requested an Angelina Ballerina Birthday Party this year. Since we haven't done anything fancy for either of her other bday's I decided we would make it pretty awesome. I made a bunch of decorations which she thought were fantastic and made a special pink cake and yummy pink sherbet punch (best part of the party). Unfortunately the flu was going around the week of her party and a couple kids couldn't come because of that and then a couple kids couldn't come because there was a big snow storm that morning (like crazy sideways snow). Luckily Libby's 2nd cousin Paisley and little Zach were able to still make it and that was plenty of fun for Libby (and less work for me). I have a bday interview video of Libby, but it'll be it's own post b/c it still has an hour to finish uploading and I am too impatient.
 

The food table/Decorations for Libby's party

Awesome cake I made

Libby practicing her dance moves before the party in the new tutu I made her. It's reversible and extremely awesome :)

One of Libby's bday presents was a Jessie costume I made for her. She LOVES it. She's worn it the last 2 days

More dance moves

Zach showing off his dance moves at the party

Blowing out candles

Libs and Paisley dancing

And doing stickers

Can't forget this handsome guy hanging out with me at the party

Opening some presents on her actual bday

wearing some of her bday clothes

Playing with the new toys from the grandparents before bed

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from these little cuties!

Barf the Ball

Today I was sitting on the 1 couch cushion left on the couch while Libby lined the rest of them up across the living room. She then jumped from cushion to cushion and yelled "hey mom! I'm playing barf the ball". Confused, I asked her to repeat it and again "barf the ball," followed by "do you wanna play mom?" We've tried to get her to explain why she calls her game that, but she doesn't quite understand what "why" means. To be clear, there are no balls and no barf in this game, but it is indeed called barf the ball.... We have a very special, creative child. This is her new favorite game and I hope she plays it forever b/c it makes me laugh every time she says "barf the ball"

Elliot 15 Months

Warning: this is long and probably only grandparents care about all this, but it will help me remember all the things I love about this age.

I can't believe Elliot is 15 months! He is still our baby. Richard forgot that he was even 1 and got all worried when I gave Elliot honey a couple days ago. It's funny how different Elliot is from Libby at this age. I love how different they are, they are both so awesome and I'm so happy to be their mom.

Weight: 21 lbs 10 oz (12%)  Height: 31 in (47%)

Elliot loves:
-to climb. He is really good at it. Up and down all day long. He even climbs on and off our bed (which is pretty tall). He can climb onto the piano bench and then onto the piano all by himself. He also loves to climb over people if they are in his way...
-to snuggle. I love how snuggly he is. Libby was never a snuggler, unless she was sick. This kid loves it, sometimes a little too much. Every morning around 7 he comes in the bed with us and goes back to sleep, usually snuggled up to my face, making it impossible to move. It's adorable, even if it is inconvenient sometimes.
-to smile! All you have to do is say hi to him and he will smile the most infectious smile at you. He charms everyone who meets him. He flirts all the time! I always thought Libby was a happy baby, but in comparison to Elliot she was a grump (well maybe not a grump, but def. not this happy).
- to show off. He looks so proud of himself every time he stands up by himself or takes a few steps. It's so funny. Usually he is so proud of himself it makes him trip. He takes one step and falls to the ground. He is getting so close to walking. He took 6 steps the other day, but most of the time it's 1 or 2 and back to crawling.
-Pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals...basically anything soft. He will tackle it and nuzzle his face into it
-Buttons. His favorite buttons are the sewing machine, printer and t.v.
-Milk. Seriously this kid can drink!

standing up like it's no big deal

Elliot is now sleeping from around 8pm to 7 am which is wonderful. While we were in Washington he was waking up in the night and sleeping with me and I am glad to be done with that. I feel so rested this week. He also takes 1 nap during the day which is wonderful.

Sorry it's hard to see, but it was funny. Elliot will go back to sleep for a little bit in my bed after I give him a bottle in the morning. Usually he snuggles my face. A couple days ago he had his head half under the pillow stretched over most of the bed and slept till 9:20. (Also you can see our pretty bedspread we got for Christmas. I like it a lot)

Elliot is the funniest eater. To get him to try anything (even if he's eaten it 100x), you pretty much have to hold his hands down and shove it into his mouth. He then will realize it's delicious and eat the rest of whatever you are feeding him. If you try to give him another bite too soon, he will shake his head till he's ready and yell/say "more" at that time if you are too slow. He will start throwing food to let me know he is done.

Elliot can say: Momma, Up, Ball, More, Cheese, Cracker, Cole, Bottle (baba), bye bye & nose. I know, he's pretty much a genius. :)  I was feeling a little bummed that another kid in our ward has been walking for months and he's younger than Elliot, but he doesn't say any words so then I realized I'd rather have Elliot talk than walk. He's getting there on walking, I'm sure it'll happen soon. He also will do a gorilla and lion/dino roar.

Side Note: I'll be doing an all about Libby post soon since her bday is this month! We're having an "Angelina ballerina" party for her. She is soooooo excited. It will be awesome and the first bday party with friends for her (we were kinda slackers on the last 2 bdays, but now that she has been to bday parties, she knows if we try to skip it)

Washington!

For my sister's Christmas present, my brother in law flew me and the kids up to visit her! Best present ever! It was awesome. I was a bit terrified taking 2 kids 2 and under on 2 airplanes each way by myself, but it worked out fine. I took my double stroller so I could run if I needed to and get out of holding 2 kids and carry-ons. On the way home though, security tried to take away most of the snacks I brought for the kids...I was not going for that. We were already a little late and I needed my kids to have snacks (applesauce, toddler formula drink, juice) so they could be plesant. They told me they would have to open every single snack and test them, throw them away, or consent to a pat down. I went with the pat down. It was so worth it. Elliot ate 3 of the 4 applesauce packets, the formula, and part of a juice box and Libby drank the other juice. Elliot apparently was starving on the way home, he ate lots of snacks. He was a good baby and slept most of the last leg of the trip though. Libby fell asleep on the 30 minute leg from Seattle to Bellingham and would not wake up. I had to have a stewardess help me carry Elliot so I could carry her. She was out!
While we were there, the kids were either playing nicely or fighting over a toy. Elliot and Cole were best buds even though Cole is 4 years older. Cole was a lifesaver when it came to entertaining Elliot for us. (especially when the girls got into paint, I don't know what would've happened if Elliot was wanting me at that time).  Elliot mastered the stairs while we were there, which was good since he doesn't really get much chance to practice here and ends up falling down the stairs whenever we go visit Julie. Won't have to worry about that anymore!
Pics of things we did

Dance parties were had

Blue ice cream was eaten (by the kids). Sarah and I had the most delicious Caramel Apple Crisp ice cream.

 The kids and I spent a day in Seattle! The kids were so happy to see their Grandma and Frauntie Jessica. Jessica & I took the kids to the aquarium and then the kids rode the ferry with Grandma. Afterward we went to the Rainforest Café for dinner! It was a lot of fun. The kids loved it and fell right to sleep on the way back up to Sarah's house.

We found Nemo!

Peek a boo!

Elliot loved the octopus

Libby had fun playing with some girl at the aquarium

Kissing the octopus

Frauntie Jessica!

Grandma!

Elliot loved looking at all the animals at Rainforest Café. Libby was terrified when they started moving and refused to leave her seat.

Elliot's favorite spot at Aunt Sarah's house. He'd climb up there and push the buttons to make the cars go around the track. So fun!

Cole and I made all the numbers out of legos together

Elliot mastered the stairs

He was so happy to follow his best bud Cole around.

Paint.....

Playdough dress up dolls were a big hit (when they weren't fighting over who got which princess)

 Sarah and I did some crafting while I was there. Mostly we hung out and chatted and caught up on some much needed sister time. It was lovely.


Tutu Valance we made for Laila's room. Super cute!

Outfit we made for the girls