Baylee & Livy's Latest Antics

We have had a very busy last few weeks!  Baylee is having some problems transitioning to preschool.  Part of it may be because she's not emotionally ready, but the 4-hours may be too long of a time for her to "focus."  Last Tuesday, I "visited" her class & she was better.  I stayed through playtime, circle time, & the art project & then told B I had to go get Livy.  Baylee didn't melt down for the rest of preschool, participated in the second circle time, but had a mini fit during snack & lunchtime.  Baby steps...

Livy has been teething like crazy.  She is MISERABLE.  She has 6 teeth in (3 upper & 3 lower) & the other top & bottom teeth are coming in.  She's moving on to our table food too.  Anything we're eating, she wants to try out.  Last week, I gave her some of the Moroccan tagine chicken stew (it had some exotic spices in it) & she liked it!  Today, she ate some pizza so at least I have one good eater.

On the days B doesn't have preschool, we've been keeping busy with playdates.  We're trying to take advantage of the nice fall weather while we can because it will be a L-O-N-G winter.  This past weekend, we had our family photos taken.  Here's a sneak peek:

Baylee sitting on the log

Family pic on the log...hey we're all looking at the camera!

Action shot

Looking at the ducks

Another family shot

Livy on the move

Mommy & her baby girl

Baylee's First Day at Preschool & new Baylee-isms.

Baylee had her first day of preschool yesterday.  Good news is that she walked through the front door & down the stairs to her classroom without me having to carry her kicking & screaming.  Bad news is that she was very upset for 30 minutes afterwards & Miss Rosie said she had a difficult time transitioning between activities.  She also did not eat lunch (sandwiches, carrots, strawberries, & bananas).  Miss Rosie almost called me to come back to reassure B, but thankfully she didn't because I'm pretty sure that would have just made matters worse.  I am allowed to send a lovie for Baylee, so Ellie may tag along.  Baylee hasn't used Ellie as a lovie in a while, but she did bring Ellie with her to ECFE & Block Time, so I'm hoping it gives her the same connotation.

Livy & I ran errands our first day without B.  It is so much easier to get things done with just one!  Hopefully, I'm not spending all my preschool days running errands.  Maybe Livy & I can do something fun too, like story time.  Poor Livy gets free story times while Baylee got Music Together classes.  :P

Last night at dinner, Baylee took her fork & began brushing it through her hair.  Why you might ask?  Because her latest favorite movie is "Little Mermaid" & Ariel does it at dinner with Prince Eric.  Too funny!  Now if they would only make a princess movie on manners...

Preschool Open House

Today, we went to Miss Rosie's Preschool Open House.  Baylee will be attending on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9:15am to 1:00pm.  There will be 8 kids total in Baylee's class.  Baylee will be one of the younger ones, but I think that will be good for her.  Baylee knows half the kids in her class already.  3 are in our mom's group & another was in our ECFE class.  Having her go to preschool will be a nice break for me & I'm sure Livy will enjoy some one on one time with mom.

When we arrived today, Baylee didn't want to go in to Miss Rosie's house.  I'm a little worried about how next Tuesday will go.  I plan on doing a drop like I did at Block Time.  I'm hoping that it will go okay once we get into a routine, but we'll see.  Baylee didn't have a tantrum, but who knows what will happen next week.  We decorated book bags today & Baylee is all over coloring these days, so I think that helped.  I'm sure Miss Rosie will be able to handle Baylee, but I'm hoping she's not a complete nightmare either!

Gale Woods Trip

The Wednesday after Labor Day, we went to Gale Woods Farm with our mom's group.  Gale Woods Farm is a real working farm & they gave our kids a tour of how the farm works.  The kids got to pick fresh raspberries off the bush & sample them, learn about vegetables, & see lots of farm animals (turkeys, chickens, sheep, cows, dogs, & cats).  Because we were touring a real farm, they advised us to wear close-toed shoes & clothing we didn't care about.  Here's Baylee's outfit of choice:

I don't know if you can tell, but this is one of her frilly princess dresses & brand new pink sneakers. :P  At least she didn't insist on wearing Crocs & she managed to avoid the cow patties.  Of course, our friends laughed as soon as we walked up, but clothing choice is a battle I'm choosing not to fight with Baylee these days.

Baylee sampling some fresh farm cantaloupe.

Livy sampling the cantaloupe too.  Not sure if her eyes are closed because she really enjoyed the cantaloupe or if the sun was just in her eyes.  :P

 Baylee & her friend R petting a cow.  Baylee LOVED petting all the animals!  She wasn't afraid of any of them--the turkeys or the chicken.  She even petted a large white dog, & usually dogs scare her.

Baylee being a BIG girl helper!

Here is Baylee being a big girl helper by helping feed her baby sister.  :P

Baylee getting ready to feed Livy

Here you go baby sister

Livy Feeding Herself

Here are some pics of Livy feeding herself a Mum-mum rice cracker.

Love the chubby cheeks!

Got the cracker into my mouth

Labor Day Weekend 2010

My family--Po-po, Ye-ye, Aunt Stephy, Uncle David, & their dog Cori--came to visit us this Labor Day weekend.  Bless Aunt Stephy & Uncle David!  They drove 8 hours from Memphis to Cincinnati & then drove 12 hours from Cincy to Minne the next day.  I suppose they are young so they can handle it.  :P  If I had to make that drive with the girls, I would probably kill myself!  Some days I can't get out of the driveway without one of them melting down.

Anyway, they were here from Friday afternoon to Sunday early evening.  Baylee was so excited to see them!  Another weekend of undivided attention.  It didn't hurt that Po-po won B over with a new singing Cinderella.  :P  How quickly the "old" Cinderella was cast aside.  Po-po spent lots of time coloring with Baylee while Stephy & David assembled paper crafts (princess crowns) for Baylee.  Ye-ye held Livy a lot since baby girl HATES to be set down.  Livy either wants to be held or she wants to be on the move.

On Saturday morning, we went out to Apple Jack Orchards in Delano.  This was our favorite orchard from last year.  Baylee wasn't so much into it last year, but this year she had a blast picking apples, eating raspberries off the bush, walking in the orchard, getting pulled in the wagon by Uncle David, & checking out the petting zoo.  Livy was content being held by Ye-ye.  :P  Aunt Stephy & Uncle David made a delicious apple tart from the apples we picked.  Yum!

Baylee & Livy peeking out of the apple cutout

Baylee testing an apple for quality assurance

One of the reasons Po-po & Ye-ye came down was so Mike & I could go out to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary Saturday evening.  Love free babysitting!  We went to El Meson, a Spanish/Caribbean restaurant in Uptown.  The chef/owner has another restaurant, Cafe Ena, that's a similar concept, but more pricey & in an okay part of town.  Our meal was pretty tasty & didn't break the bank.  We got 2 of everything--appetizers, entrees, glasses of wine, desserts, & coffees.  The paella looked really good, but we opted not to get it.  We've been spoiled by some good paella in Chicago & hate to get disappointed.  We would definitely go back there again some time.

On Sunday, we took the girls to a dim sum buffet.  Baylee is pretty good at a restaurant these days if you remember to bring enough things that she will eat (easy at a buffet) & bring coloring stuff.  Livy is a little eating machine, so she's happy to eat solids while we're eating our meal.  Livy devoured 2 jars of food while we were out!  She's also figured out how to feed herself.  I gave her a Mum-mum (rice cracker) & she can maneuver the cracker to her mouth.  As soon as she masters the pincer grip, we'll start on puffs.  On top of feeding herself, Livy can balance for a good 20 seconds most days, & is already saying "mama" (mostly in times of distress).  I can't believe how quickly she's growing up!

Visiting Niki & Family

The girls went to visit their babysitter, Niki, & her family last Tuesday.  I was a little bit nervous because both girls took really short naps & Baylee always takes a little while to warm up to new environments, but she did pretty good!  Unfortunately, Livy was in a crabby mood.  Poor girl seems to be really bothered by teething.  Livy is constantly munching on her fingers or any object really that comes within a chomping distance of her mouth!

Baylee's current obsession is hearts, so she pointed out all the numerous hearts at Niki's house.  I swear B has eyes like a hawk for hearts & princesses.  Not sure if this is a sign that she'll be extremely detail-oriented later on, or if she just focuses on things she likes.  Niki had to take off early, so B played with Niki's younger sister.  B found a stiletto-shaped telephone holder & tried to put it on her foot!  I wonder where she learned that from because I certainly NEVER wear heels!

We will have to figure out a time to visit Niki & family again soon.  Baylee just LOVES the attention!