Paci's be gone!

Ellie did it!  (And so did we)  It's been 3 weeks since Ellie's last pull on a pacifier.  We knew that Ellie could manage without one (she did it all the time outside the home).  We used the Utah trip as our week of withdrawal.  We told her that pacifiers weren't allowed in Utah.  The only side effect has been more than normal wakeups in the middle of the night.  But it's a small price to pay to be past the pacifier usage.

We've celebrated with the purchase of a purple giraffe from the Salt Lake City zoo and providing unlimited amounts of gum to chew.

This ends our chapter with pacifiers.  The last time we tried giving one to Eva, she literally spit it out and sent it flying across the room.  I guess it's one of the bittersweet things of watching children grow.  Pacifiers have been such a big thing for Ellie, and therefore us, and now it's just gone, over, finito.

Bye, bye pacifier.

Cactus Love...or not!

We're back from a week's visit to the great state of Utah.  B's family has been skiing there for decades and his parents now have a home in Park City and his brother lives in Salt Lake City.  So it's an amazing opportunity to spend time with family and also see a beautiful part of the country.

The week zoomed by and it was time to pack.  Trying to get some wiggles out, B took Ellie behind the houses for a hike in the hills above.  A game of hide and seek ensued.  Ellie dashed behind some bushes and proceeded to sit down...on a cactus!  Realizing the pain of the little prickers on her butt, she put her hands down to lift her body.  Only to cover her hands in more prickers!!

It was a painful 2 hours for all of us.  Poor Ellie cried in frustration as each little pricker had to be removed with tweezers (they were small, fiberglass like prickers that just so happened to blend with her skin hairs...super fun).  She just kept saying "Bad Cactus!", "Mean Cactus!" because there was nothing else for her to do.

And we were left pinning her little body still so the prickers (trying to miss hair and skin) could be removed.  I don't know who wanted to cry more.

Fortunately, we all survived and were treated to cookies and ice cream afterwards.

The best part was the picture Ellie drew that night.  It depicts the hill they played on and the many cactus that live there.  I bet she always looks where she sits from now on!

Eva's 6 months!

What what!  We've made it to 6 months with our newest peanut.  Little Eva's blossomed this month.  She's sits, reaches, GRABS and has opinions about things.  I love the daytime interactions now that we can "play".  But nighttime is wearing me down.  By this point, Ellie was weened and well into solids.  With Eva, we've had to take solids slower due to an unfortunately timed stomach virus (she had the runs for weeks).  So we're just gearing up to try them again.  As for liquids, she's still 100% nursing.  B and I talked this morning about starting sippy cups (and just skipping bottles all together).  I hope the next month brings more sleep.

She's up to 18lbs, 27.25ins with a head circumference of 17.25ins.  She's catching up to Ellie in size comparatively. Her height broke the 90th percentile this month.  Weight and head are in the 80th percentiles.


Thanks to a very talented Aunt Amber Schiavone, we have amazing pictures to celebrate our milestone.  It was special getting to see Uncle Cortny, Aunt Amber and especially cousin Sophia.  There was instant love between the two of them!

 Cousin Sophia makes an appearance!

We have mastered sitting.

Exec Management Training

Sometimes we feel Ellie is figuring out the world far faster than we can keep pace with.  This morning B and her were talking and he offered a solution to a problem.  Her response "That's a good idea. But I'm looking for a better one."

Seriously...is that preschool teaching reading, writing, and executive management skills or what? 

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