December 19, 2011 ~ Big Candles!

Ice tunnel

Tonight we got the girls out of day care early and took them to see the Fantasy of Lights.  Well, Teagan.  Ashlin napped most of the time, we think.  It was a big hit!  Yay!

Just before we got there, Teagan said she needed to go potty, so off to the nearest McDonald’s to fulfill her needs.  Success*!  The flush freaked her out a bit, it was loud and echoy, and the hand dryer was a bit scary too – “I scared mama.”  But a little bit of calming, and then, back to the light display.

It was right on the water, and much bigger than I expected.  Very cool.  And the squeals of delight from the back seat made it totally worth it.  We went through three times :o

Two Twinkle Stars!

Dinosaurs!

It wasn't a rock...

Here be dragons

Tree! Reindeer! Tree! Nother tree!

 

* We did have an accident though.  Boo!  Teagan was desperate to go potty, but we were in the middle of the display, no restroom in sight.  We did try to get out quickly, but she ended up having an accident.  I stopped the car, got her out, and we peed on the grass, sheltered behind the car.  A first for both Teagan and I.  I didn’t have a dry pull up (she was in her knickers) and pants to put her in.  I’ll go pick up a portable potty chair for the car for next time.   With Ashlin coming along, we’ll probably need it again.  I’ll also be sure to swap out the too-small diaper with a pull-up and a pair of leggings, for just in case.  Hopefully, we’ll never need them.

December 16, 2011

Hanging ornaments

Wow.  Life has been busy!  I know they say that it zooms by, but this is a bit much.  Ashlin is now eight months old.  Teagan is two and a half.  How did that happen?

Teagan, in the blink of an eye, has become this little person.  With thoughts, and a sense of humor, and memories.  And finally a dream other than twinkle stars.  The past two nights she’s dreamed about birdies, and twinkle stars.  Stars that sing the ABC’s.  Birds that live in a nest, and dance.

Her vocabulary has exploded, her comprehension has deepened.  Her communication, sentence construction, is light years beyond even what they were a month ago.  She remembers things.  For weeks.  She’s not a goldfish any more.

Red, White and Blue Tree

There’s a tree we drive past every night, that’s decorated with red, white and blue Christmas lights.  It looks very cool.  Just over a week ago, I stopped the car and took a picture, meaning to use it in an entry.  Every night since then, as she sees the tree, she’ll earnestly tell Stu, or me, that “Mama took a picture of this tree.  Red, white and blue candles.”   Every single night if the tree is lit up.  And just recently she’s added in “last week” to the sentence.  I had no idea she had any vague concept of time.

We are counting down to Christmas with several advent calendars.  One is just a wooden tree with little ornaments, one – from England! – has chocolates.  We do the ornament one in the morning, the chocolate one after dinner.  She rarely forgets, and always wants to do more than one.

She is getting very excited about Christmas.

Little People Nativity

She likes playing with her little people nativity and three kings.  But the little drummer boy set is her favorite.  It has music!  I have the nativity under the tree now, but the three kings (we have six kings) are still in the play room, along with the drummer boy set.  She’ll go in and start the music up and then march around the floor to the music.  So cute.

Little People Kingy Oasis

Oh, and little baby JeeJee is not here yet.  According to her, he’s hiding.  Waiting for his birthday.

She’s also getting very good at using the potty.  Today was a zero accident day.  She got a lollipop at day care for using the potty all day, and then two marshmallows when she got home.  One for no pee accidents and one for pooping in the potty.  Yay Teagan!  Yay for day care, doing most of the work, though we have a bit of laundry…

Broccoli!

Ashlin, well, now she’s doing great.  LOVES to eat real food.  I haven’t gone in for a weight check with her, so don’t really know, but we’re sure she’s gaining weight.  Her car seat now feels like she’s hiding rocks in her pockets.  She also likes to hide puffs there too.

Unfortunately, she’s still not sleeping, even with all the food she eats.  Every three or four hours and she’s up again.  She usually will go back down after nursing, but it makes for a series of long naps for me.  And she has a cold.  And we think she may be teething.

She’s working on crawling, and loves to clap.

I just wish she’d sleep more.  Longer.

 

~~

Oh, I started a page for Ashlin’s words.  Not that she’s actually using any now, but she does recognize a few signs, and tries to use one or two.

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