First Step

Lila did it! This afternoon, as we were waiting for T.J. to arrive home, Lila took her first tentative step with no help. Yay!

Bath Time Beauty Shop

No text needed.

Bronwen's First Hair Cut

Bronwen was fairly excited about going for her first hair cut on Wednesday. I had just gotten mine cut considerably shorter and had explained that big girls cut their hair. She was ready, until the lady put her in the very high chair. Then, she kind of freaked out a little.

Luckily this was a kid's salon, so there were animal crackers at the ready, which made things much better.

Then Bronwen noticed the TV. From that point on, she was fine. I only had her trim the ends up slightly. Maybe next time we can go for a little more length.




I didn't even notice this until we were leaving--and even then, it was Bronwen who pointed it out. The picture is blurry, but you get the idea.

My Little Rabbit

I could have also titled this "Post-nap Shenanigans." She is proud of herself for figuring out how to make the rabbit flip, but naturally, I came in with the video at the end of the game. Oh well--you'll get the idea fairly quickly.

Update

Day 8 without T.J., and so far we are doing well. The newness of having Mimi around has faded, and Bronwen isn't as enthusiastic about allowing (demanding) her help. Still, I don't know if I could have done it alone without going a little crazy.

Lila hasn't started walking yet, but has been making amazing strides in her achievements. She invents little games all day long and happily teaches them to me. She has some little wooden stacking rings that she can take off the post and stack back up again. She likes to take the top off of containers and put them back on. She finds it hilarious when I scratch Pepper's back.She also has really mastered standing up on her own without support. Finally, she has enough hair now for some shampoo fun:Mimi and Bronwen embarked on the project of changing out the toilet seat in the bathroom. Bronwen insisted on having her new chair for optimum supervisory purposes:

The girls wear Mimi out by naptime--I'm not sure why her head was covered, but I suspect she didn't enjoy my watching Chopped:

Even More After

After dinner, and after I was home we went back outside because Bronwen wanted to play some more with the birdseed (I am telling you, this was an ingenious idea). Naturally, Bronwen didn't want Lila to participate, and Lila really is too young to understand pouring birdseed. Instead, we distracted Lila by letting her play on the little play center we have outside.

Lila driving:
(she sticks her tongue out like Bronwen)
She is also a supermodel, posing for the camera:

After

After the party, I had to run over to PetSmart for my weekly volunteering, so T.J. was in charge of dinner. Little did I know, that while I was away, he would teach Lila how to use utensils:
(can you spy her tooth?)




She's such a big girl!

During

After the great fun of playing at "the beach," we headed over to cousin Camille's fifth birthday party. The theme was "I Spy," and immediately Lila was happy to spy different toys!

The big girls played the game, where they had clues and needed to spy the items on the shelves. Georgia partnered with Bronwen, to Bronwen's delight, and the two of them found all their items.
Cousins!
After all that hard work, it was time to relax and enjoy some birthday cake. Bronwen is always serious about her cake consumption.
Lila, on the other hand was too busy being on the move...
and silly.
Lila did take time to play with Jay.
She also took a leisurely stroll with her daddy.
Bronwen, preferring speed, went down the slide a few times before we left to go home.
It was a beautiful day and a wonderful party. Everyone had a fabulous time!

Before

This is a great and busy weekend. I am going to do a series of blogs, scheduled to post over this week, to cover all the activities that happened just today. I would go ahead and post them all, but my mom is coming into town tomorrow, and I fear that I will be unable to blog as much as usual. Therefore, I will spread out the joy and the posts for all who check faithfully. Trust me, they will be worth the wait.

Today, Sunday, began as usual, with our getting up early and heading to church. After church, we played a little and gave Lila her second breakfast. We wanted her to nap early, so she would be well rested for the birthday party we had at 1. Lila cooperated beautifully, and went right down by 10:30.

It was a gorgeous day, so Bronwen, T.J., and I ventured into the wilds of our backyard.

Purple martin enjoying the day:
I modified an activity Bronwen enjoyed a couple of months ago, where she explored with a tub of beans. Today, we used a tub of birdseed, and I buried some rubber insects for her to find. Before I knew it, she decided she was at the beach shoveling sand. Fine with me! She called T.J. over and instructed him in the ways of "sand castle construction."



After all this work, which took about an hour and a half, Bronwen asked to dine al fresco. I brought her lunch, and ours, outside, and we enjoyed eating in the shade.

Helping Hands

Bronwen likes to be a helper. With a little direction from Daddy, she industriously helps to prepare the beer-bottling supplies.



All finished. Ready for a cold one?

Preparing to Visit the Tundra

This is mostly self-explanatory, but I will still give you the set up. I was working on the laundry, and Bronwen put a couple of T.J.'s boxers over her head and arms, like she was putting on a shirt. Kind of funny, but she does this all the time. She tells me that she wants to take the rest of his boxers to his bed (where I leave the clothes for him to put away). I told her to wait until I was finished, and then I handed over a stack of them to her, thinking what a big help it was to have her carry the clothes, even if they got unfolded as she placed them on the bed.

About 5 minutes later, she returns:



"All Dressed Up and Ready to Go" is a song Bert and Ernie sing:


Aurgh! Stupid battery died right when she said, "I need earmuffs."

A Day in the Park

Bronwen, Lila, and I went to City Park today to meet up with Bronwen's friends Tommy and Owen (and their moms). It was a perfect day, warm with a cool breeze.

These little seats look innocent enough, but sit on them, and they spin around like crazy!



Lila loved the swing: (Note: The sirens in the background had nothing to do with the park)



Snack time!

Both girls played in the sand pit: (Tommy's mom asked me what it's like to have a child who will sit still and play...Tommy likes to be on the move)



Bronwen had such a wonderful time running around with the boys! It is really great to know she has friends :-)

April 5th

Amid all the excitement of birthday parties and Easter, I managed to catch a cold. Nothing major, just stuffed up and have some chest congestion. Bronwen, too, has the runny nose, but she is a trooper and pushing through it fine. I told her in the morning that I was not feeling well and she said, "Don't worry, Mama. I will cuddle you, and you will feel all better."

In the evening she got her chance, crawling into bed with me and wrapping her little arms around my neck. She said, "There, there, Mama, you feel better now." I totally did. I wonder if there is some way to bottle that sweetness.

Happy Easter!

As you can tell, it was a very busy weekend. We woke up early and opened Easter baskets and then went to Easter mass on Sunday morning; afterwards we took the opportunity to snap a few pictures of the girls at church.

Bronwen enjoyed receiving Dora gardening gloves, spade, and trowel from the Easter bunny.
Lila was overwhelmed with her basket of goodies:
Bronwen "helps" Lila with her new keys:

Family Picture at church:
Lila in the azaleas:
Bronwen at the fountain:
After church, we relaxed at home and played outside. Then we headed over to Aunt T's for the crawfish boil. First the girls received awesome hats and sand pails from BeeBee:
Lila looks all set for her beach vacation:
Then the girls received bubbles from Aunt T:
Bronwen really enjoyed playing with her cousins:
Cousins! All but one...we missed you Maddie!

Birthday party

Saturday was Lila's birthday party, and despite a soggy morning, the rain did clear away and didn't totally ruin the egg hunt I had planned. I only say "totally" because it did bring with it some pretty nasty humidity, and the kiddos weren't able to play outside as much as I had wanted.

The menu: French toast casserole, baked peaches, sausage balls, strawberry spring salad with candied pecans and vanilla vinaigrette, ham and cheese nibbles, and assorted fruit and granola with orange honey yogurt. We also had almond tea and various beverages outside.

The cake:

The cupcakes:
Bronwen and me:
Egg hunt in the back:
Egg hunt in the front:

Post-hunt choas:
Birthday girl!Tentatively tasting the cake:
Neat eater, just like her Aunt Jana:
Present time--Lovely dress from Aunt Kadee and family:
Cell phone and hammer from Miss Michele:
Singing Teapot from Aunt Becky and family:
Daddy and the birthday girl: