Elise's First Visit From the Tooth Fairy

Elise's 1st visit from The Tooth Fairy - $10 sparkly dollars

Elise was very excited when she discovered her first loose tooth a few months ago. We expected it to fall out within a month, but despite all her wiggling it didn't quite happen that way. Instead, her adult tooth started growing in behind her baby tooth, so the dentist recommended that she get the baby tooth pulled since it was unlikely to fall out on its own. Elise did well at the dentist, there were definitely some tears, but overall she was very excited once her tooth was out and the dentist placed it in a special tiny treasure box for her to bring home.

Later that evening before bed, we read a story about Tooth Fairies and how they love to collect teeth to build their castles in the sky and how they always leave a very special gift behind as a thank you. Elise was so excited that she had a difficult time falling asleep that night. She carefully placed her tiny tooth in her special lost tooth pillow, and drifted off to dreamland. She was thrilled to wake up in the morning and find that a Tooth Fairy came to take her tooth and left a sparkly $10 dollar bill in its place along with a special thank you note. She now has a second loose tooth and is determined to wiggle it as much as can be, so the Tooth Fairy will come visit once again.

Preschool Winter Concert 2013 - Santa has Arrived!

The cuties performing at their preschool winter concert

Alina was so excited to greet Santa, she ran to his lap

Sweet moment with Santa, she asked for "Minnie Mouse toys"

The girls had their annual preschool winter show last Friday, and we were really taken aback by how much they have grown and matured over the past two years. They both performed great in their winter concert and dance routines. Elise was up first and she sang, dance and caroled on cue, all the while flashing big smiles and plenty of proud giggles. When little Alina's toddler class took the stage, we weren't quite sure what to expect. Alina did amazing; in fact, she was the star of the show. All the other kids in her class were in tears or froze up on stage, while she followed all the moves and melted like the perfect little snowflake. Watching our sweet little star shine on stage was certainly a very proud parent moment for us. Her dance teacher even commented, "she was my only performer; she did fantastic!". I can't praise these two enough (it's my job after all), but at the same time they make it pretty easy by doing so well. 

After the performances, the next big highlight of the day was meeting Santa Claus himself! In years past, the girls haven't exactly had the best track record with Santa. In their past meetings with Santa there has always been a bit of uncertainty and hesitation. This year, they embraced the opportunity to meet Santa. Alina ran right up to Santa eager to hop on his lap, and express her wishes for, "Minnie Mouse toys". She flashed some of the sweetest and most adoring expressions toward Santa. Expressions that had my heart melting, because I saw the genuine sparkle in her eyes and once again felt the pure magic of the holiday season. When it was Elise's turn to site on Santa's lap, she ran up told him she wanted, "a Disney princess castle" and had the biggest grin the entire time. She had been talking about meeting Santa for weeks, and even wrote out her very own Christmas list, which she mailed directly to Santa. The girls left school that day feeling fulfilled; Christmas is right around the corner and they both are officially basking in the spirit of the season.

Story time with Santa and their Christmas book exchange

Elise was thrilled to meet Santa, look at that huge grin

Watching the Little Red Riding Hood puppet show

Happy 4th Birthday Elise!

Sweet Elise at 4-years-old
Photo by: Memories By Michelle
 

 

Today, we celebrate our first born baby girl's fourth birthday. It's hard to believe that four years have passed since we first welcomed you into our world. From the day I found out I was pregnant, you changed the person I was. At that moment, my life became enveloped with dreams of making your little life amazing, and nothing less. Looking back on these first four years, I can see that so many of our dreams for you have already come true. The most important being your happiness and childhood development, which is right on track...if not clearly above the standard :) We couldn't be more grateful for all the moments of pure joy and love we have had the pleasure of sharing with you. Elise, you are our first born and will pave the way for our family in future generations. It is a big title to carry, but you little lady, are doing it well!

 

You are quite excited to be four, and have set big goals like learning to read and write sentences. You also wants to ride your bike with no training wheels, swim underwater, and "climb a mountain" (your words exactly heheh). We are so proud of the little lady you are becoming. You are incredibly smart and extremely driven to succeed. You continually finds new ways to challenge yourself, and refuse to give up on a task until you master it. One of your biggest joys is having mommy and daddy read to you before bed. You love books, and laugh and giggle uncontrollably through every fun story. You are so eager to learn to read, and already recognize and point out many words in your books.

 

As for your interests, right now you are the ultimate girly girl. You love princesses, dolls, and playing dress up. In fact, you have declared that you will only wear dresses or skirts (the fancier the better). You love to have your nails painted, wear lip gloss and flowers or bows in your hair, (which you intend to grow out to Rapunzel-like length). You can pull together a highly styled outfit in less than a couple minutes, and are great at coordinating and accessorizing. 

 

At four-years-old, you are full of childhood dreams and wonder. You tell me on a weekly basis the things you want to go see, do and achieve. As you grow remember these dreams and know that you can accomplish anything. Our goal as parents is to encourage you to pursue your dreams and help you reach your goals. We are your biggest supporters and dreaming those same big dreams right along with you. We love you so much, and are as proud as ever to be your parents. Happy 4th Birthday Elise!!

 

 

The playful birthday girl, all smiles and having fun
Photos by: Memories By Michelle
 

October Festivities 2012

 

The girls field trip to The Pumpkin Farm in Citrus Heights

Cute little Alina guarding our pumpkins

Alina was only 2-1/2-months-old last October, so this was
her first real pumpkin patch experience; she loved it!

Alina feed the goats, cuddled nana, and traversed the corn maze
Elise made friends with this sweet little pony

More pumpkin patch fun, haunted house and slides!!

October is a very busy time of year for our family. We have three major family birthdays, celebrating three special October babies - mommy, nana and Cousin Jacob, not to mention numerous close friends and their kids. To top that all off it's Halloween time, so if it isn't a birthday it's a weekend filled with plenty of fall festivities. We have already been to the pumpkin patch twice this year. The photos here are from the girls school field trip to the Pumpkin Farm in Citrus Heights, and all of us October babies together at Cousin Jacob's 2nd birthday party. There are plenty more fall photos to come. Despite being on-the-go 24/7, October is still my most favorite time of year. I love experiencing the girls excitement whether we're at the pumpkin patch, a birthday party, trying on their Halloween costumes, partaking in fun fall arts and craft projects, reading Halloween books together (because that's all cute little Elise wants to read this time of year), or just playing at home on weekday after work/school. Happy October fun and festivities to all!

Nana and Elise sporting their 
festive Halloween shirts - love this!
 

Having fun at Cousin Jacob's 2nd birthday party.
Look at his cute monster cupcakes :}

More birthday party fun; the girls enjoy cousin time

Alina with Mommy, who celebrated her birthday
October 3rd...Hooray for October babies!

21-Month Update - Toddler Reality Check

Don't let the sweet face fool you!



The impending signs of the terrible twos are now a bit too close for comfort. The words/phrases, "no", "stop", "don't", "I don't like", "mine", "I want ______" (insert specific item name here - no substitutions) and so on, have taken hold and Elise can be quite the little tyrant at times. If she asks to wear her Tinkerbell pyjamas - she means business, if she wants her sparkly light-up tennis shoes - absolutely no others will suffice, if she's eating dinner and asks for her princess fork - it had better be clean. At first we found it cute that she was exerting her independence, but not so much anymore as she often resorts to tantrums if she's met with opposition. Nobody else usually sees this behavior, she primarily saves it just for mommy and daddy :| We had to start putting her on time-outs, which usually stem from her throwing a tantrum when she's not getting her way and refusing to eat what we give her for dinner. Whenever she throws a tantrum, we turn her high chair to the corner or walk out of the room and let her have her moment and it usually ends up with her apologizing and saying, "sorry momma", "sorry dadda", "I be a good girl".

The past few months have certainly been more challenging than any we've faced yet. However, I will give Elise the benefit of the doubt, as she has been sick off and on over the past few months, which has further fueled her unhappy mood. I know her outbursts are completely normal for her age, but it often has us wondering where our perfectly sweet and content little baby disappeared to? While she does have her feisty toddler moments, I have to say when she is being sweet it is absolutely adorable and totally makes up for the cranky times. We do our best to reward her good behavior and teach her manners; she is great about saying "please" and "thank you". In fact, her new phrase is "thank you, you're welcome", so all bases are covered.

Also, I should mention that Elise just started at a new daycare last month. Being around such a large group of kids, has been a bit of an adjustment for her, and of course she came home sick her very first week. Overall she is doing very well; her first day she barely cried and was playing and doing baby yoga with the rest of the kids. She's already surpassing most of her classmates in being able to count past five (she now counts to twenty), reciting the full alphabet and in knowing all her shapes, colors and animals. We do think that being around so many other fiesty toddlers has had a bit of an effect on Elise's recent outbursts, because she's been on her worst behavior since she started her new daycare. However, the upside of her new daycare is that she's become more social and independent - in fact maybe just a bit too independent. The other day she gave me the hand and said, "stop momma, I said stop. Elise do it, she big girl"! I was so caught off guard and had a good chuckle, but at the same time it made me think that she is growing up way too fast!

Just a few of her My Little Pony collection

One new development is in the activites she now enjoys in her play time routine. She's no longer into the typical toddler age appropriate toys. She now prefers dolls and make believe play. She loves Barbies, her princess dolls, anything Tinkerbell related (which goes without saying), her Disney character figurines, and her My Little Ponies.

The most fun thing that she enjoys lately is story time! We usually read her 3-4 different books before bedtime and she loves her story time. She repeats back all the words and sentences and will often pull the books from our hands and say "Elise turn, Elise read", which entails her pointing out all the pictures and describing them to us. She is talking up a storm and repeats new words and phrases quicker than I can finish them. Her vocabulary is massive and she strings together very coherent sentences. It is pretty incredible to think that in a span of 6 months she has gone from saying only 10-15 words to now speaking in semi-complete sentences. The kiddo has a great memory too and retains almost everything. I still get surprised whenever she identify difficult objects that I had no idea she even knew the name of.

Her eating habits are another story altogether. Only a few short months ago, she ate pretty much any and all food we put on her plate. Now, she protests nearly everything and her appetite fluctuates on a daily basis. She's decided that vegetables are her enemy and will even turn her nose up to certain fresh fruits. She still loves her carbs though; bread, pastas, french toast, waffles, soups with noodles she will almost never refuse to eat. Some other big news is that Elise is now drinking from a big girl cup. She still uses sippy cups when on-the-go, but during the day she drinks from her big girl glass like a little pro.

Thanksgiving from Elise's Perspective

Elise and her ride

Finding the nearest book to read

Having fun with her cousin

We don't have any photos of Elise eating at the dinner table this Thanksgiving because she was all too busy playing with her cousin and other relatives. She was far more interested in getting into toys and riding around the house on her mini car than sitting still long enough to eat. When she finally decided she was hungry we made her up a plate of turkey and she ate every bite. She loves turkey and has certainly helped us out at home with all the leftovers. Elise enjoyed spending time with all her relatives, and this Thanksgiving was even more special as she met her great grandpa for the very first time.

Little cuties

Elise holding her littlest cousin - baby Jacob

  

Elise laughing with daddy, papa and great-grandpa

Elise's holiday art

 

15-month growth update

Silly little Elise at 15-months-old

Playing around and learning to pose for photos

Bringing us her books to read

Elise had her 15-month checkup yesterday. She is growing so fast, that it's become difficult to remember the time before she could walk or communicate. We re-watched some of her baby videos and were just astounded by how much she has changed. It's amazing to see videos of her before she was able to sit up, crawl or walk. It just seems so natural that she now runs, jumps, climbs, dances, skips, sings and talks up a storm! We are so proud of how much she's progressed, yet also grateful to have tons of wonderful video, photos and memories of that very fleeting baby stage.

Weight - 23 lbs 9oz (50 - 75th percentile)

Height - 33 inches (Above 95th percentile) Still super tall and lean :)

Her pediatrician mentioned that she should be saying about 6-10 words regularly. She was impressed to hear that Elise is well beyond that. If I had to estimate, I would say she uses about 50+ different words and phrases on a regular basis. Daddy calls her his little parrot, because she repeats back everything now! She says her words very clearly and in the sweetest little baby voice. This is the point where you have to really watch what you say. Mommy learned that well when she let a bad word slip, Elise immediately repeated it back, clear and proud, and sounded so darn cute saying it. Lesson learned, I won't be saying that again!

Story time before bed

Elise naming all the pictures in her book

She is now able to name almost all the items we point out in her picture books. She knows all her basic animals and the noises they make, she can identify nearly all her body parts, and her baby sign language skills are very impressive. She can already say all the words, but still uses her baby signs to make it even more clear as to what she wants.

Messy little eater with her new uneven haircut, she doesn't like to sit still; EVER!

As far as food goes, Elise is a very unfussy eater. She is open to trying new foods and loves her fruits and vegetables. Her recent favorites are squash, avocado, yellow bell peppers, potatoes, cauliflower, tomatoes, pears, kiwis and pomegranate. I thought for sure, she would spit out the pomegranate seeds, but she ate the entire seed and absolutely loved them. While her appetite is certainly subject to variation, thankfully there are very few foods that she will refuse. She has even enjoyed some of mommy and daddy's more spicy dishes.

In related teething news, Elise now has a total of 16 teeth. She got in all her upper and lower cuspids and molars from 13 - 14 1/2 months, it's no wonder why she was so cranky for those two months! At this point, all she has left is her two upper and two lower second molars. Yay Elise you're almost there!

Smiling for daddy as usual

One last funny tidbit about Elise at 15-months-old, is that she gets extremely upset when mommy hugs, kisses, or lays too close to HER daddy. She used to just cry when it happened, now she has resorted to pushing mommy's hand away from daddy. She even said, very matter of fact, "my daddy". Yep, she definitely has daddy wrapped around her finger, and we both can't stop laughing at her possessive antics around her daddy.

And the first word is...

Yep, I'm a daddy's girl!

Elise has been babbling up a storm for the past few months, leaving us eagerly wondering when she would say her first word. Well, the time has come and her first word is "dada". Daddy is very proud, and has enjoyed teasing mommy saying, "she said dada first!". Of course, daddy has been training her since two months to say dada. He would sit with her in his arms and repeat, "dada dada dada" over and over. She would widen her eyes and smile each time he did this. It now appears that his hard work has paid off as she says dada all the time. She started out by referring to everything as "da" and has now progressed to "dada".

It's still debatable whether she knows that daddy is "dada". Daddy swears she knows, but she pretty much refers to everything as "dada". When I make her a bottle, I call her by saying "baba". No matter where she is, she will immediately crawl out to the kitchen to fetch her baba. When she grabs for her bottle, she excitedly says "dada dada". It is so cute!

Our future chatterbox

Another adorable thing Elise started doing, is babbling and pointing while we read to her. When we read aloud and emphasize words to her, she babbles back and tries to repeat what we say. Of course, it usually comes out as "dada", her most favorite word. However, every now and then she will repeat the word very closely. It is so exciting knowing she is on the verge of speaking!  

Her babbling gets cuter by the day, and she now often reaches up to touch our faces while she babbles. It is almost as if she is speaking directly to us now. She will smile, reach up, uncurl her palm and softly touch my face while she babbles in her own little language. It is so precious and I just love the feeling of her soft little hand caressing my face. When I look down at her smiling face, I’m satisfied in knowing that she is feeling the same intense love and joy that I experience with her!

Elise now points and babbles during storytime :)

Peek-a-boo baby

Happy and playful Elise

This past week alone, we’ve seen huge changes in Elise. She has become extremely playful. She smiles and laughs all the time and continues to test her voice and creeping skills. Playing peek-a-boo and reading to her have become my favorite activities. When I peek out from behind my hands, she laughs and shrieks hysterically and I’m convinced it’s the best sound in existence. Her signature noise is a darling little mellow squeal. She now makes this noise all the time when she gets excited. I love working to get laughs out of her. Each day it becomes less work and much more rewarding, as she is developing a very precious little personality.

More recently, I've started to read her a couple books each day. While I know she is still a bit young to fully understand, I enjoy watching her eyes light up when I read the words aloud and let her touch the pages. I mainly read her board books, with touch and feel pictures. She loves to touch all the pictures and hear mom make silly animal noises. This past week as I read to her, she started babbling along with me. It was the cutest thing imaginable. I can’t wait to hear what her first word will be.