See No Evil

The kids were sitting so nicely on the picnic table. I told them I was going to grab the camera and the clown that Ellena is, she covered up her face. So when I came back with the camera, they had their faces covered like See No Evil monkeys.

At least I was able to get one with smiles.

Then Ellena got distracted and didn't want to look at the camera anymore. So I got a good one of just Evan. Can you say "Heartbreaker"?

14 months

Ellena is 14 months old today! She is standing on her own more and more, but still prefers crawling and cruising. I noticed that she will not walk to me - only to Pops. She kinda expects me to just carry her around.

She has made great strides with her separation anxiety. We have been going to the gym almost every weekday and she is fully adjusted there. We have also gone to a couple library storytimes. She tends to be a little apprehensive at first and then warms up towards the end. Next week we start her once a week pre-preschool.

Ellena is starting to say a lot of words now:

"Mama" - when she's really sad and needs her Momma

"Papa" - for Pops; she also calls me this most of the time

"ba" - ball

"bye" - bye. This is one of her favorite words. She loves to say bye and wave.

"browww" - cat. Not sure if she's trying to say "meow" and combined this with "Brown" which is what we call Piko.

"fshhhhh" - fish

Here she is mean-muggin' for the camera. I asked her to make a sour face and she complied:

Here she is signing for "more". Her sign language has really come along. Although she uses the water sign as her universal "I'm thirsty" sign.

New Pics

Ellena and Evan were playing peek-a-boo with jackets. They crack me up... and better yet, they crack each other up!

Here's Ellena trying on her kitty costume for Halloween. When I got it for her, she was a little loony after spending an hour in JoAnn's. Every costume got a big, "NO!" But she really took to being a kitty and she now smiles when she sees this picture. The next time Evan tries his costume on, I will have to take a picture.

She Did It!

Yay! Ellena did it! She took her first steps last night! We're so excited for her!! Yippee!

Something about our bathroom. She likes to practice standing in there and that was where she took her first steps. She was practicing standing and Pops asked her to walk to him. She took a shaky first step and fell into his arms. She then practiced more and did 2 steps in a row. Can't wait for the little girl to walk and run!

Funny thing. Yesterday we were at Costco and a grandmotherly-type stopped and asked how old Ellena was. I told her almost 14 months. She said, "So she's walking?" I told her no, not yet. She looked at El again, who was standing in the big part of the shopping cart, and said, "But she looks so stable!" I replied, "Yup, she is... any day now!" And look at that!

Update - New Pics

Kids are doing well, although both came down with a runny nose. I'll take runny nose colds over diarrhea/vomitting any day. TMI? Oh well.

Yesterday I took Ellena to a story time at the library. She was apprehensive for the first few minutes, but gradually became more engaged and comfortable as the half hour went by. She didn't want to leave and was one of the last kids left! She is also getting used to the child care area at the gym. Huge growth over the last week and a half! Yay! Here she is with her Wizard of Oz Dorothy outfit - Hawaiian/Chinese style. Blue Hawaiian print dress and red China doll shoes. Too cute.

Here's Evan playing with his bud, Emily. Kids had a grand time! Evan is back in school and has started Tumble Gym, which he is loving. We are gearing up for his birthday, coming up in a month! Eeek! Four years fly by!

So Difficult

Yesterday Ellena took a huge "step" towards walking... she stood on her own! She was very proud of her accomplishment and loved showing off her new move. However, she took it to the next level by doing a full squat and then standing back up again. So now, whenever we ask her to stand for us, she has it stuck in her head that she also needs to squat - some advanced stuff! And making it so much more difficult than it really is! Girl's gonna have some strong legs, though!

El did some standing today in the kitchen, but did most of her practicing after her bath... naked and dripping wet. Not a good photo op. She also likes to practice on Evan's bed. Dangerous!

Rice Crispy Cars

Today Evan and I made Rice Crispy Treats. We brought back a car mold from Maui and made the marshmallow blue with food coloring. Here is Evan doing his favorite thing - sprinkles! The kid loads it on!

What To Do When Momma Leaves Me Alone...

Ellena is slowly starting to stretch her wings a little more and enjoy some independence. After getting horribly ill a couple weeks ago, she became really clingy and dependent. At first she only wanted to be carried. Then, she wanted to always be in the same room as me. Today, she liked being on her own and exploring her room. So I left her to climb on her chair while I did some housework in the next room. I would look in on her occasionally, just to be sure she continued to be safe. This is how I found her:

She was sitting in her chair, digging her belly button! When I found her, she just giggled. She thought she was so funny!

Pops, the Public Restroom, and Words to Live By

Pops has a thing against public restrooms. He hates them... with a passion. I can get him to take Evan to pee, at least, cause he won't let Evan touch anything. But when it comes to #2, there is no way, no how that Pops is taking Evan. And that means I'll be on potty duty for Ellena for both #1 and #2 cause she has to sit on the seat. Ugh!

Just some background info to set up my story: This past weekend we met up with our friends, Amy, Isaac and Elyse at Kidz Bounce. The boys had so much fun bouncing around and wrestling (including Pops). Boys! When it was done, I asked Isaac if he wanted to go to the potty with Pops and Evan. Pops and Ev did their business at the urinal but Isaac insisted on taking the stool to the stall. Pops thought he just liked using the stall instead of the urinal. Ok, whatever. Then Isaac dropped the bomb, literally. "I have to poop." That's when Pops sent Evan out to get Amy - "Isaac has to poop!" Amy went over to help her son, but he refused to go with her. He insisted Pops had to help him. Ha! So he does his business and the whole time Pops is thinking, "I don't use a public restroom and I don't even take my own son to a public restroom!" But Isaac left us with some words to live by:

"My mom says if you don't wipe your bottom, it gets itchy."

Classic!

Miss Naughtiness!

Ellena's naughty side is coming through. She now climbs her high chair and gives her "naughty face".

Here are pics of Ellena getting into MORE mischief. She pushed Pops's Ravens gear off the end table and gave me the most self-satisfied grin.

Then I asked her to do her naughty face, and this is what I got. OMG!

Imelda

Growing up, we would call people who loved shoes "Imelda Marcos," in reference to the Philippine president's wife who had a passion for shoes. I'll admit, I used to be an "Imelda." And I believe Ellena will be following in my footsteps...

Because she's not walking yet, I haven't really gone on a shoe binge for her. We were given a pair of shoes that she would wear whenever she played outside. If she wanted to go out to play, she would sit by her shoes and hold them up for us to see.

Her first pair got kinda beat up, so she started wearing some new Stride Rites. They are maybe a week old and still clean and shiny. But when we went to the Nike Outlet, she tried on a pair and we decided to get it for her. At checkout, Ellena started getting all huffy in the stroller and tried to take her "old" shoes off. She insisted on wearing her NEW Nikes out! OMG!

Animals, According to Evan

Evan and I had a conversation about animals today. Again, it's always fun to see how this boy's brain works.

Evan said, "We talked about crocodiles and alligators at school today. Crocodiles have sharp teeth. Alligators sleep with their eyes open."

I told him, "Ooh, so he can see you while he sleeps!"

Evan gave me this look like I'm crazy and said, "No, cause I don't go by the rivers."

We were looking at animal flash cards with fun facts on them and Evan would tell me what they were. When we came to chameleon, he went into this long description: "I know what that is. He changes color on leaves so other animals don't eat him and they need to find another snack."

When we came to humpback whales, I told him when it gets too cold, they go all the way to Maui to visit Grandma Sue cause it's warm there. He said, "But they can't FLY there (cause we told him the only way to get to HI is to fly on the airplane)." True, but they swim. Evan then said, "He's going to be really tired after!"

There was a card about an animal that hunted at night and rested during the day. I asked him what that was (looking for the answer - nocturnal.) Instead, Evan said, "Vampires do that." True.