23 Sep
Feliz cumpleaños!
Lori, Alisa and I surprised Melissa by whisking her away to Cancun for the weekend, just in advance of her 40th birthday. We had a fabulous time. And, if this is what 40 looks like, sign me up now.
18 Sep
Hamburger helper
Ava and I made these hamburger cupcakes for Bryan’s company picnic. I should really give most of the credit to Ava–she helped with the baking, and she decorated and assembled almost all of them herself! It was a fast, easy and very kid-friendly project.
17 Sep
Vintage Ava Fix
My mom sent these photos of Ava from when she was a couple of months younger than Olivia is now.
Here’s she’s diapering Night-Night Duck, the stuffed animal I mentioned in the post below.
And, here, she’s sharing her carrots with the Hulk.
I forgot how attentive Ava was to her babies. Interestingly, Olivia has never attempted to diaper anyone, but she will give them a bottle every now and then.
This reminds me of the time Ava lifted her shirt to nurse a toy at McDonald’s. Her poor father almost died of embarrassment.
16 Sep
Overheard
I made chili for dinner tonight and served it with sour cream, cheese and avocados. NOT ONE PERSON groused about it. Everyone sat down and NO ONE WHINED. Here’s what transpired when I commented on this monumental accomplishment:
Ava: Yeah, Mom, I even like this.
Bry: Well, Livie’s only eating the sour cream, so…
I knew it was too good to be true!
15 Sep
Good clean fun
I took a slew of bath shots tonight—I’ll post them throughout the rest of the week. Here’s a preview!
14 Sep
Olivia’s accoutrements
In the past few months, Olivia has amassed items that she collectively refers to as her “night-nights.” An odd choice of words, considering that she carries them with her about 24 hours a day. She left them unattended briefly yesterday, and I snapped a quick photo.
You can see both of her blankets, her teddy bear, Ugli Doll and her lovey (a.k.a Stinky). Only her pacifier and pink teddy bear are missing–my guess is she still had those with her.
Ava didn’t really develop this type of attachment. I tried very hard with with a stuffed duck, hoping that by tucking it in bed with her, she’d feel comfortable on her own (fail). There was also the Incredible Hulk phase, where she adopted one of Bryan’s old action figures for a few weeks. Beyond that, though, she never really had a particular item (or items) that she wanted with her at all times.
I keep waiting for Olivia to move on, but instead, her attachments seem to grow stronger.
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