Thursday, March 01, 2012

February and California

I just love her silliness, the games of chase, and this smile…

We were playing chase around her jumperoo the day I was to give it away.  She loved playing in that toy and under it, around it, and so forth.  We had one last “big jump” before passing it on to a friend for her son.  Here’s the video of her last jump.

We went to southern California to visit my sister and a girlfriend in early February.  Aaaah, the ocean.  Aaaah, warm air.  Aaaah, to be with friends and family.  I would love to say it was relaxing, but I don’t think that with a toddler, life can ever be referred to that way!  But we had a wonderful time.

Elizabeth definitely likes the beach.  We took her pants off so she could splash around in the tidal pools.  She must’ve looked like King Kong to those poor little fish and crabs.

She loves to poke…

She could spend all day, I think, just digging in the sand…even without any toys.

One day we went to a petting zoo with Karen and Craig, and my friends Jen & Aquiles and their son Alex.  He’s 21 months and this was my first time meeting the little dude.  He was awesome.  I was so surprised, though, that even Elizabeth gave him a BIG hug when she met him.  She must’ve sensed all of our excitement of seeing each other for the first time in years.  But it was one of the sweetest things I’ve witnessed.

Andy and Alex enjoyed each other at the petting zoo with a good ole fashioned hay fight.

Both Alex and Elizabeth had their very first pony ride…I’m hoping Alex has recovered from his experience.

Elizabeth was scared at first, but by the second round she had loosened up, was smiling and waving, and then even leaned over to pet her pony, Trigger.

Elizabeth is such a BIG girl!  She’s been doing the “sooo big” game ever since MomMom gave her an Elmo book with a pop-up Elmo.  But I thought it was funny that she played along while sitting on the horse.

She enjoyed petting most of the animals. 

Afterward we walked around San Juan Capistrano and then stopped at the playground for some swings.  I don’t think she’ll ever outgrow her joy of swinging.

This was another favorite moment.  Looking out the kitchen window I spied Andy and Elizabeth having a picnic in the sunny spot of the yard.

My sister and brother-in-law were so kind to have my friends (read: two toddlers) over for dinner Saturday night.  It was wonderful.  It’s just too difficult to do a dinner out with schedules and bedtime and actually have a conversation.  I can’t thank them enough for hosting the dinner party.

Alex and Eliz got along so well.  This looks like a premature engagement, however.

At one point during the evening Jen and I were singing the ABC’s to the two wee ones when all of a sudden I had one of those flashes.  This one said “Wow, this is really weird to be singing baby songs with Jen.  Who knew I’d ever be a Mom?”  I just started laughing.  Jen and I are friends from way back in college…boy have times changed!

On Sunday we hung out at Baby Beach with Jen, Aqulies and Alex.

Alex and Aquiles had no problem with going into the water.

Elizabeth, however, has our thin blood and decided that she’d rather stay on the warm sand and play.  She put her toes in the water once and then rejected every other attempt to get her to touch the water.

Even though I had toys in the trunk of the car, we hadn’t expected to end up at the beach after a walk so we were grateful for the kindness of strangers who gifted her shovels and buckets to play with.

On Monday we re-visited Baby Beach, but with my sister and Craig.  Somehow our day got away from us and we didn’t have much time for the beach.  It’s amazing how that can happen with a little one.

Karen & Craig gave us the gift we are loving more and more – time off.  So Andy and I had a true date-night.  We went out for a drink at an ocean-side bar with this view of the sunset…

…and then we had dinner out.  So peaceful…

The funny thing was was that Karen texted me to tell me that Eliz was fast asleep and we could stay out as long as we like.  We were in the driveway when the text came through.  Then we walked into the house to hear Elizabeth calling for us.  Ha!  So much for “fast asleep”!

Elizabeth and Andy definitely enjoyed the hot tub!  K&C – you better keep that heater working for our next visit!

Elizabeth fell in love with “Rabbit”.  This little statue wandered around the back yard keeping Elizabeth entertained.  She loved going outside in the morning hours to visit with her friend.

By the end of our trip Elizabeth had added about 20 new words to her vocabulary for the month (that was only 7 days).  I couldn’t believe the language spurt that occurred.

Before boarding the plane, we always try to find a quiet part of the airport terminal to let Elizabeth run around and burn off some energy.  It’s hard keeping up with her, that’s for sure!

After we returned, Elizabeth rejected her crib for a couple of nights so we brought up the temporary bed for us to use to sleep with her.  Here she was napping one day…such a big girl in the big bed.

Elizabeth is very much aware of what “potty” means and that Mommy and Daddy use the toilet and so forth.  But one day I had to laugh when she started pulling toilet paper off of the roll, tearing it up into small pieces, and one by one lifted the lid and threw a piece in and then closed the lid.  After she had thrown all of her pieces in, however, she reached into the bowl to take them back out!  Aaack!  Ok, maybe she doesn’t quite get the full concept of what happens in the toilet!!  I’m thinking, though, that she might be ready for early potty-training.

One Saturday in the middle of the month, we went to the mall to walk around and “get out” of the house.  We had Eliz in her PJs and thought we’d walk til she fell asleep, but we ended up putting her on some rides – her first time on these types of rides.  One of those coin-operated “boat” rides and then a Merry Go Round.  It’s a very pretty Merry Go Round at the mall with beautifully painted horses and sea horses.  But I think she was more thrilled seeing it than riding on it.  Partway through she started signing “all done”.  But she was a big girl and hung in there for the rest of the ride without getting upset.  I think she might’ve gotten a little dizzy…I know I did!

Well, the weaning is definitely happening.  It’s been something that has been slowly happening since around Christmas, but now is more so.  One day after daycare Elizabeth asked for milk and our routine has always been to go to the bedroom for nursing, but that day she walked to the fridge and tried to open it (to get her sippy cup).  Several other times she has asked for her sippy cup immediately after nursing, so she obviously isn’t getting enough anymore.  I’m thankful for the time we have had nursing and that I was so fortunate to have been able to do it for so long.  Part of me is ready and sighing some relief, but part of me still wants to cling to this very special bonding time and I’m sad to see it coming to an end.  My plan is to let Elizabeth make the decisions as to how and when the nursing will finally end.  That’s what feels most natural to me.

On a cold winter day we decided to warm up with a trip to Butterfly Pavilion.  We especially loved the warm and humid aviary.

I was enjoying the butterflies and the flowers…Elizabeth enjoyed going back and forth and back and forth over the little wooden bridges.

On another day we took her back to the Zoo.  Getting a membership has paid for itself with just a few visits.  We picked a good morning to go – it was light on the crowds until we were ready to leave so we almost had the zoo to ourselves.

Hard to explain to Elizabeth that the hyena sleeping on the rock wasn’t a “dog” to go pet.

She enjoys walking around and exploring on her own.

One warm afternoon we took a walk down to our local playground.  It was so funny to watch Elizabeth avoid the snow.  She’d only walk where there was a clear path, otherwise I’d have to pick her up and carry her over the snow piles.  Not sure if she really didn’t like the snow or she was just afraid to ruin her new shoes (which she picked out herself and doesn’t want to take off!)

February 28th – a date to be remembered.  Elizabeth signed “potty” and walked to the bathroom.  Say what??  I thought I was going to have at least another month before we started any kind of potty training.  Yes, I did buy a book and a potty chair and we’ve been talking about it with her and letting her play with her chair…but I thought 18 months would be the time to start – she’s not even 17 months old yet!  Ok, so I followed her into the bathroom, undressed her, took off the poopy diaper and sat her down on her new chair.  Then we watched her stand up, walk to the toilet and pee on the bath mat.  This is going to be fun, isn’t it?  In the ensuing couple of days, we continued to play the games.  She’s not liking the potty chair too much so I don’t think I’m going to push it yet…not to mention that I don’t feel like I have a clue of what I’m supposed to do!  But if she wants this now I guess I better figure out how to help her.

As usual, lots more pictures on our February WebAlbums.

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