Holiday Vacation, Day Three

We spent yesterday afternoon playing with Christmas toys and watching Madagascar, a new movie that Elizabeth received as a gift. The Thomas the Tank Engine trains, Hooked on Phonics hand-held learning stick, and Puppy Bingo game are all HUGE hits so far. Elizabeth loves Linda's toys, Linda loves Elizabeth's toys, and so far everyone has been very good about sharing.

Today is New Years Eve and Superwife is home for the day. She came up with a great idea for the girls: Lindissimo and I go to the movies, and she and Elizabee got to the Please Touch Museum to renew our yearly membership. After checking the movie schedule, we quickly rushed out the door to see The Tale Of Despereaux. This was Linda's first time ever in a movie theater. I think she would have been perfectly happy eating popcorn and watching previews for two hours. When the lights dimmed and the movie started, she was absolutely giddy. "Daddy, why is it dark? Daddy, why is the curtain opening, Daddy, why is it so loud?" The questions just kept coming as the movie started. Despereaux is very good fairy tale about a hero mouse who saves a princess, but I think it was a bit to intense for Linda. About 15 minutes in, she asked if she could sit on my lap because she was scared. Terry and Elizabeth picked us up after the movie and we all went home to feed the girls some YoBaby and fish sticks.

I was pretty happy that Terry decided to renew our membership at the Please Touch Museum. It's one of the better kid friendly places in the city and recently moved from it's downtown location to Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park.

Dinner Tonight: Potato pancakes (regular and sweet potato.)

Holiday Vacation, Day Two

We had a slight hiccup this morning. After a quick trip in our new red Radio Flyer to the tailer, we got in the car and headed to Tunnels of Fun, an indoor playground a few blocks from our house, has apparently shut down. We made a quick drive-by to see if they were open yet and instead saw a big LEASE sign in the window instead. I hyped it up to Linda the day before and she was very excited to "go to the place with the tree in the middle with the phone in it and the nets." That description makes perfect sense if you've ever been to Tunnels of Fun. I made a quick change of plans and took them to the Smith Playhouse instead. Tantrum averted. The girls had a great time and it's days like these that I am thrilled that we live in the city. There is always so much to do.

Dinner Tonight: Breaded pork cutlets, roasted potatoes, salad

Holiday Vacation, Day One

Superwife, Lindissimo, Elizabee and I spent this past weekend in Boston visiting our family. We got off to a very late start on Friday because the girls decided that they didn't want to sleep on Christmas night. we wanted to be on the road by 5:00, but I don't think we all got to bed until 3:30. We left around 8:30 and got into Danvers around 3:30. The girls did very well in the car and were very excited to see everyone. Uncle Jeff was there with his dog so there was lots of squealing from Elizabeth when we arrived and she saw two doggies. Except for the drive home, everything went well. It was great to see everyone and all of us got some very cool gifts. (Thanks for the headphones. I love them.)

I have the girls by myself all week so I'm a little nervous about how things are going to go. I'm taking them to the Zoo today and an indoor playground called Tunnels Of Fun tomorrow. Both places are always a big hit so I know they'll have fun.

Dinner Tonight: Home made Gnocci with an arugula salad with goat cheese, tomato, and craisins.

Merry Christmas Everybody

Terry and I planned the present wrapping pretty well this year. Rather than leaving it all to the last possible minute, like last year, we did a little each night and were able to get to bed at a normal time on Christmas Eve. The girls woke up at the usual time, around 6:30, without much fuss. It took Linda a few minutes before she blurted out "did Santa Claus come?!" We followed our usual tooth brushing, face washing routine before we went downstairs. Linda's face lit up as soon as she saw the goodies. I think Elizabeth was excited just because she saw how happy the rest of us were. The first thing they saw was a sink and washing machine for their Rose Petal Cottage playhouse. Linda tucked it away in the playhouse and moved on to the next present, but Elizabeth dragged it out of the house and wanted to play with it. The rest of the morning went well as they tore through gift after gift. Christmas 08 was much more fun than last years vomit fest. Thank you to everyone who sent the girls a gift. We are very lucky to have such a generous family.

We leave early tomorrow morning to for Boston for a nice long weekend visit. Merry Christmas.

Ho Ho Ho

Grammie Linda, Papa Nick, and Auntie Amy came by this weekend to help us pick out and decorate our Christmas tree. There are some new pictures posted on the Flickr account of the selection, the walk home, and the decorating party that followed.

Arizona

Happy belated birthday Nanny. Linda, Elizabeth, Superwife and I flew out to AZ last week to visit Nanny, Grandpa, Jenn, Matt, and Cee-Dub. The girls got along fantastically with their cousin. I owe a few posts to explain all fun we had but for now, click over to the Flickr account and have a look at the photos.

Gift Idea

I have a link to the jewelry store where Linda and Elizabeth are each registered for a pearl necklace that you can purchase individual pearls for. (See "ADD A PEARL" at right.) The store is having a 20% off sale from 15 Nov through 30 Nov. I don't have the exact figures, but each pearl should be about $30 when bought during the sale.

Grammie Linda and Papa Nick started each of them off with a necklace and a pearl Last year. If you're looking for a very cool gift to give the girls during the holiday's, this might be it.

Vistors

We had our first round of Holiday Visitors this weekend. Grammie Linda and Papa Nick were here this weekend for some fun. The came into town Thursday evening and had the girls to themselves all day on Friday while Superwife and I went to work. Linda and Elizabeth had a fantastic time at the Smith Playhouse in the morning and the playground in the afternoon.

I posted the pictures from Grammie and Papa's camera on the Flickr page. Go on over and have a look.

Picture Post

Lot's of new photos from Halloween posted to the Flickr account. Click on over and have a look.

Things Kids Say

I spent the weekend without shaving. When Monday came around I had a little bit of a growth so I decided to keep a goatee. When I arrived at Linda's school on Monday afternoon it was the first time that she saw it. Her teachers pointed out my new look and were joking about it. I asked Linda what she thought of my beard:

"I don't like it. You should have shaved it before anyone else woke up."

Daddy gets attacked!

Elizabeth and Linda attack Daddy!

More new movies on my YouTube page. Click the badge to the right to see.

Happy Halloween!

Moments before I was about to leave the house this morning I heard the distinct pitter patter of Linda's footsteps on the hardwood floors. She had woken up early and was making her way from her bedroom to the bathroom for an early morning tinkle. I snuck out of my bedroom just in time to see my 3 year old buck naked with her arms spread in the "pick me up" pose. After a few "what happened to you pajamas" type questions I realized that she couldn't figure out how pee without taking her one piece footie pajamas off.

After we were done in the bathroom, I wished her a Happy Halloween. She went from a mopey 1/2 asleep zombie to a full on tweaking junkie in about .5 seconds. "CANDY, HALLOWEEN, TRICK OR TREATING..." She almost didn't even have time to finish the first word as the next was ready to jump out of her mouth.

This should prove to be a fun day. The Phillies victory parade is today so there should be about a million and a half extra people in the city in a few hours. I am going to try and leave work early to see some of the celebration and then pick Linda up a bit early. Terry and Elizabeth promised to be home a bit early also so that we can enjoy the Trick or Treating a bit.

LOTS of new pictures to see on the Flickr page.

Black Eye

Monday was Elizabeth's first day in her new class. I guess those Gummy Bears can be pretty rough because she came home with a pretty nasty scratch under her eye. She is pretty physical when she plays; Linda Terry and I have all been tackled and jumped on, so I'm sure she can handle herself. Those older kids better watch out.

Things Kids Say

Sunday Morning while Linda was going to the bathroom after waking up:

Steve: Linda, hurry up and finish so we can wash your hands, go downstairs and have breakfast.
Linda: I just had breakfast, right out of my nose.

And yes, she was chewing on a booger.

Photos

Something is happening with the photos. They don't seem to be displaying correctly. I'll see if I can figure out what's going on.

Halloween Costumes

Superwife answers the question, "What are the girls going to be for Halloween?"

Elizabeth is going to be Princess Leia since our trip to Puerto Rico really limited the use Linda was able to get out of it. Of course we haven't found it yet (I think it's in the back bedroom closet) or tried it on. But Henry and Ellie are having their annual Halloween party, so we've got to get it together by Saturday afternoon. I'm thinking of picking up some Yoda ears and brining Elizabeth to my office as my prop for our costume contest on Halloween. I bet she'd love to hold Steve's toy light saber.

Linda has requested a brown puppy costume with a purple leash. I've purchased the fabric (a nice chocolate velvet as I couldn't find any brown felt with much tooth in my 20 minutes on fabric row), but I'm still waiting for the patter to arrive (actually the pattern is for a leopard, cat, bunny, and bear, but I figure I can just adjust the bunny ears to be more rounded and use the cat/leopard tail). I guess if it's not here by tomorrow, I'm going to have to use some of Steve's trace paper and make my own pattern. Good help Linda! She wants Steve or I to be a "dog catcher" (now keep in mind she has no idea what a dog catcher actually does) and walk her on Halloween night. She better not crawl around on the sidewalk in that velvet costume if I ever get it made.

We'll take pictures on Saturday and post them (hopefully).

Why Can't Us?

The Jack Girls is a proud supporter of poor grammar, South Philadelphia linguistics, and viral marketing. In support of the Phillies first World Series appearance since 1993 we proudly proclaim WHY CAN'T US?!

(Why Can't Us) started with a Phils fan from Delaware calling in to a baseball radio show and asking a simple question. If other teams have done it, why can't us?

Click here for all your official Why Can't Us merchandise.
http://www.cafepress.com/609design/6082920

Birthday Party Photos

I just posted some of the photos from Elizabeth's birthday weekend to the Flickr page, go on over and have a look.

Elizabeth's Birthday Party Photos

I just got an email from MFMIL letting Superwife and I know we haven't posted anything to the blog in a while. Sometime I forget that people actually read this. I will upload the photos from Elizabeth's first birthday party sometime this weekend.

My apologies.

New / Old Pictures

I posted some "new" pictures to my Flickr page of Linda's first Halloween party. Click on over and have a look at Linda and her friends all dressed up.

Elizabeth Kisses Mommy

One Year Old

Happy birthday dear Elizabeth, happy birthday to you.

Things Kids Say

Yesterday Linda and I went to the playground. She was playing happily on the swings when something caught her eye:

"Yook Daddy Yook! Somebody yeft a yellow ball on the yeeves. Why would somebody yeeve their ball on the yeeves?"

New/Old Photos

I was browsing through some old photos last night and decided to add a few of them to the Flickr page. There is no logic behind the order or photos that I chose, just some snapshots I thought were cute. Click on over and have a look.

Linda and Elizabeth in the cave

I uploaded some new movies of Linda and Elizabeth playing on our bed to my YouTube account.. Linda likes to pull the covers over her head and pretend she's in a cave. apparently Elizabeth loves it to.

Elizabeth's 'Camp' Picture

How cute is our little Elizabeth with her purple headband and spaced out infant teeth??!! The kids had camp pictures taken on August 7th out on the play deck. The teachers had me “cut in line” and take her out myself because they were convinced I could make her smile. It’s a lot harder to do from 10 feet away than you’d think. I’m just surprised she kept her feet crossed and hand on the slide where the photographer positioned them.

I’ve got half of what was supposed to be a nine month review (two months ago) written, so I’ll try to post that tonight with her growth stats.

Elizabeth Gets Kisses

I'm sorry this one doesn't have sound. There were lot's of laughs while I was kissing her chubby neck. I think the video is still cute even without the sound.

Happy Birthday Stevie!

Wow, I wish getting a cute new quarterback could be a birthday gift, but he's freaking older than you! Ha ha. Seriously, all your girls wish you the best day. You're an amazing "fahthorh" and an even more amazing husband. We're lucky to have you (thanks to everyone who made Steve's birth possible). And I'm looking forward to bacon burger birthday dinn-extravaganza. Happy Birthday smooches and left over cupcakes to you.

Linda's Cupcake Party

Click below to see the kids decorating their own cupcakes at Linda's birthday party.

Things Kids Say

She gets smarter and smarter every day. You can see her little three year old brain working and trying to formulate her argument.

Linda: Daddy what are you making for dinoh?
Steve: I am making tuna burgers on the barbeque, couscous, and asparagus.
Linda: I don't want that. That's good for your tummy but not for my tummy.
Steve: (Suprised) Oh really? What would you like to have?
Linda: I want cheese and bread and maybe a piece of cake but I don't want to finish my cheese and bread. (She was shaking her index finger back and forth at me in a "tsk-tsk" kind of motion for the latter part of the sentence.)

Linda Opens A Present

Here's some video of Linda opening a birthday present. Some new photos on the Flickr page also.

Happy Birthday Linda

Happy Third Birthday to our beautiful little girl. Three years seems like both a lifetime and a blink of an eye all at the same time.

Terry and Elizabeth are leaving work early and throwing Linda an iced cream party at her school. I'm also leaving a bit early so that we can all spend some time together tonight celebrating.

Three Layers Of Chub

Have a look at that neck. It's very zerbertable but there are at least three levels of chub you have to lift in order to get to the neck.

Birthday Month

Every month is birthday Month when you have as many Aunts and Uncles as the Jack Girls but for some reason August seems to be a biggie. Yesterday, 29 July, was Aunt Jen's birthday. Linda is the 4th and then Uncle Greg, Steve, Uncle Matt (MA), Uncle Jeff... It just keeps going. Happy birthday in advance to everyone.

Birthdays:
Auntie Margaret - July 20
Auntie Jen - 29 July
Linda - August 4
Uncle Matt- August 7
Uncle Greg - 10 August
Me - 11 August
Uncle Jeff - August 18

Happy Birthday Aunt Jen

In the tradition of Aunt Alisha's Friday Haiku, The Jack Girls offer up the following in honor of Aunt Jen's birthday:

Happy day Aunt Jen.
Is San Diego sunny now?
Cupcakes for everyone.

Drive

This past weekend we drove up to Boston so that Terry and I could attend Perry and Sean's wedding reception. They were married in Ireland a few weeks ago but had a very cool backyard reception at Sean's parents house in Yarmouth, MA. We left Philadelphia at about 8:30 Friday night when the girls were all ready for bed and drove back early Saturday morning (6:00am) before they woke up. Papa and Maemae took care of the babysitting duties while we drove to the Cape for the party. It may look close on the map, but Yarmouth is about 97 hours by car from Boston. Terry and I have not had a chance to spend that much time alone together in three years. Shortly after arriving at the reception I got a little nervous and made Terry call to check and see how the kiddies were doing while we were enjoying ourselves. Papa and Maemae had taken them to the zoo. Linda was having so much fun that she was to busy to talk to Terry. I guess I shouldn't worry so much. We spent more time in the car than we did visiting, but it was nice to see everyone.

Worry About Yourself

Steve: So Linda what did you eat for lunch today at school?
Linda: Don't worry about me, worry about yourself.

Elizabeth In The Sand.

Terry writes in the sand.

My Feet Are Killing Me

Linda throwing rocks in the surf in Humarock.

Weekend At The Beach

Elizabeth enjoying herself on the beach in Maine. New photos on the Flickr page also.

Linda Says:

"Daddy my legs are sweating, so is my head, and my bum. You need to put on the air condississor."

Locomotion

We've got a crawling Baby! Elizabeth started crawling for real today. She kind of drags one leg behind her like a dog who's had a stroke, but she is scooting around rather well. I suppose it's time to plug teh outlets and put up the child gates.

Play Ball

Elizabeth plays ball with Grammie.

Horseradish

Linda and I were enjoying our dinner of grilled smoked sausage, potatoes, and broccoli last night when she served up another verbal home run. Our plates were identical except for the dollop of beet flavored horseradish on my plate. Linda was very curious about why I had some purple food and she didn't. I put a little on on my fork and offered some up for her to smell. She took one big whiff, scowled and said "that does NOT taste delicious."

Birthday News From Superwife

Both the girls' birthdays this year fall on Monday and, since a few of you have been asking, we've decided to have Linda's 3rd birthday party on Saturday, August 9th. We don't have anything actually planned (although Linda keeps asking about her flamingo birthday cake, so we may be having the same theme as last year), but this weekend is going to work out better for us than the one before. We haven't made any decisions about Elizabeth's 1st birthday party yet. Just wanted to give all you potentially traveling relatives as much of a heads up as possible.

Seven Minutes Past Three

Guess who's pooping right now?

New Photos

Grammie and Papa came by for a visit this weekend and took lots of pictures. I've posted a bunch of them on the Flickr account. Go on over and have a look.

Two Minutes Past Three

Guess who? Guess when? I think her sleep habits are getting worse.

Elizabeth's First Report Card

Click the image for a larger view.

Spoiled

You know your kids are spoiled (not by me) when you get comments like the one below. This morning, as I was strapping Linda into her car seat, she asked me to hand her a toy. I reached over and grabbed Baby Hudson from the seat between the girls. As I brought it up, Elizabeth reached out (as far a she could get while all strapped in) and kind of snagged the doll's hand. Linda quickly snatched the doll from me (she's gotten increasingly protective of her baby dolls as Elizabeth has taken a real fascination with them) and said, very sincerely,

"This is my baby, Elizabeth. Don't worry, your grandmothers and grandfathers, like Grammy and Papa, will get you lots of baby dolls too."

Of course they will, because that's how you get baby dolls, right??!! Who needs to share? Well Elizabeth seemed pacified by the comment (for now).

Strep Throat!

Ahhhh, my throat is killing me. Who gets strep throat in the end of May. I think all my work stress and average of three hours of non-continuous sleep is finally biting me in the ass. And to make it worse I drove 45 minutes to some MinuteClinic in a CVS in Northeast Philly because my friggin insurance won't pay for my PCP to do a throat culture because the lab (and the doctor) are in a hospital. Elizabeth is crying- I'm off for round two of the night.

"I'm a one man show."

Linda debuted this gem last week: "I'm a one man show." Where does she get this stuff? There's a scene in one of her movies, Cars, where the main character tells his pit crew that he's a one man show. I'm assuming that's where it came from. Lately it's all she's saying. When you ask her to do something every now and again the answer is "No. I'm a one man show." Yesterday she even told me that she let all her school friends know that she's a one man show.

One Twenty Three

1:23am and El Nino won't go to sleep. She is teething and has a stuffy nose.

Linda's School Picture

Well I owe a whole lot of updates, which you're not going to get now, but I wanted to put these photos up. This is probably the best professional picture of Linda we've ever gotten. They caught her for real smile (not the "cheese" photo smile)! But, whoa, the class picture??!! I don't know what they said to these kids, but they all look pretty freaked out and not one smile.

Are we sisters or what??!!

Linda at 3 months (left) & Elizabeth at 3 1/2 months (right)

Four Fifty Two

4:22 Elizabeth wet her diaper
4:40 Elizabeth pooped in her diaper
4:52 Elizabeth would not fall back asleep

Naked

Somehow Linda got it in her head that anyone that is missing even one piece of clothing is "naked." If I walk around the house on a warm day in shorts but no shirt on Linda will repeatedly ask "why is Daddy naked?"

Yesterday was the Broad Street Run, a 10 mile run down Broad Street, the main N/S street through the city. Our friend Branon was running and asked if we'd come out to cheer him on. Linda and I walked to Broad St. at about 9:30 and there were hundreds of people running by already. Linda was very excited to see all the people but was a bit confused as to why they were running. (I kind of was also.) Linda and I kept walking up the block and then running down the sidewalk in the same direction of the runners. Linda felt like she was part of the race and was really enjoying herself. At one point she stopped mid-stride as a shirtless man ran by. "Daddy, that man is naked" she said out loud. Once she realized that about one in every 10 men that ran by was shirtless, Linda felt it was her job to point it out. She stood on the sidewalk pointing and broadcasting to anyone that would listen "than man is naked and that man is naked and that man is naked and that man..." We got some very strange looks.

Linda

Holy smokes. Sometimes I forget how big Linda was.

4:02AM

4:02AM and Elizabeth won't go to sleep.

Can you say lollipop?

God help Elizabeth with her impending speech impediments if Linda continues to be such a great big sister and teach her all the things she knows! This morning I ran upstairs to get my shoes before the girls and I headed off to school and work and I left Linda eating breakfast in the living room with Elizabeth seated beside her in the Bumbo seat with a few toys. While I was in the hallway I over heard Linda say to Elizabeth:

“I have a yawyeepop- a rainbow yawyeepop. Do you see it, Eeyizabet? Can you say yawyeepop, honey? Say it- YAW (pause for response), YEE (pause), POP (clapping for assumed participation). Just like that!”

I was dying laughing upstairs. It's so ironic that my girl named Linda can’t say her L’s. I hope Elizabeth eventually learns English.

Cave

When Linda is laying down to go to sleep sometimes she likes to put her head under her covers and pretend that she and her stuffed animals are in a cave.

Linda (with authority): Daddy, come in the cave with me.
Steve (firm but calm): Linda, It's time for bed. No more playing in the cave.
Linda (angrily): Mommy comes in the cave. Do it like Mommy.

Linda And Elizabeth Paint

Elizabeth paints with a little help from Linda and Mommy.

Tooth

Guess what small, chubby infant just cut her first tooth? E was nibbling on my finger at about 3:00am when I discovered it. Bottom front; It's barely poking through but you can certainly feel it.

Four Ten

4:10am and Superwife has not slept yet.

Four Twenty Eight

4:28am and Elizabeth just threw up on Mommy. She's still really cute though.

Linda Sings

Linda singing is always pretty cute. She has started improvising her own lyrics to the melodies she knows and is usually pretty spot on with the songs she sings. Here's a video of Linda singing to her sister before bedtime.

Linda Bowls!

Yesterday afternoon we took Linda bowling for the first time ever. She took to it very quickly and didn't want any help from Terry or I. After she got a few balls stuck on the lane we discovered a metal ramp that the alley had to make the game a little easier for kids. Not only did Linda love it, but she bowled an 86! Not bad for a 30lb first timer. Take a look at the movie below to see Linda picking up the spare.

New photos on the Flickr page also.

Elizabeth Eats Peas

New photos on the Flickr page too.

Organic Jewel Yam

Thanks to everyone who voted in the "What should Elizabeth Eat Next" poll. Instead of sweet potatoes, Superwife made some "organic jewel yam." I'm not sure what that is but it is sure to be messy. Terry is heading over to Elizabeth's school today and will feed her the yams for lunch.

Picture

Elizabeth with wet hair, 7:04PM.

New Pictures

Some new photos on the Flickr page. Check out the lazy look on Elizabeth in the hood and high chair pictures.

Elizabeth Bounces

Elizabeth got this cool bouncy saucer for Christmas. We put it together and it was just a little to big for her back then. Now it's a perfect fit and is one of her favorite toys.

Elizabeth's 1st School Picture

I owe a lot of updates, but I wanted everyone to see this cute picture of the baby.

Home From School

Elizabeth and Daddy, 7:45pm.

Cereal

Elizabeth enjoyed her first bit of solid food ever tonight. We even broadcasted it across the internet to Nanny and Grandpa so that they could watch the fun. Elizabeth was a bit tentative, but gobbled up her rice cereal like she'd been doing it for years. We promised Big Sister Linda that she could choose the next food that Elizabeth tries, but we'd like to put the vote out to our loyal readers for the meal after that. Take a look to the right at the poll I set up; what should Elizabeth eat next?

Abiyoyo

Linda brings home lots of different things that she learns at school. She's been talking a lot about "Abiyoyo" lately. She sings it, she says the word randomly, calls Terry and I Abiyoyo, and generally works it into conversation whenever she can. Terry and figured it was a story or something that they read at school and started looking into buying her a copy since she likes it so much. Is it ever a story. I found an Abiyoyo website today and a video of Pete Seeger singing it on YouTube. (See Above, but beware- it's about 5 minutes long.)

Last night Linda was playing and started making Terry and I sheep pasta and cow pasta. A little strange but pasta is one of her favorite foods so I didn't think it was anything to out of the ordinary. Wouldn't you know that as I was reading the Abiyoyo story today there's a part where Abiyoyo walks through a sheep pasture and a cow pasture. She must think Abiyoyo walks through the twon eating sheep pasta and cow pasta. I love her and her near command of the English language.

New Pictures

I just posted a bunch of new photos to my Flickr page. Go on over and have a look. You'll see: Aunt Jeanne's visit, Linda coloring Easter eggs, Easter morning.

Brown Alligator

Linda: "Daddy that poopy came out of my bum and scared me like a brown alligator."

Two Twenty Four

2:24am- Terry just fell asleep for the first time tonight.



2:25am- A 5 month olds will is stronger than a 36 year olds.



2:26am

Wedding Necklace

Three down, seventy seven more to go. Grammie Linda and Papa Nick gave Elizabeth a very pretty three pearl necklace for her Christening. They are strung on a thin gold chain that is set up to be easily added to. Elizabeth and the beginnings of her pearl necklace are registered at Desjardins Jewelers in Beverly, MA. Anyone can call up at any time and buy a single pearl to be added to Elizabeth's necklace. The pearls can be shipped anywhere or they can be picked up by Grammie Linda.

If you're ever in search of something to buy Elizabeth for a birthday or holiday, how about a pearl? I will have a permanent link to this store's website in the links section on the right.

Desjardins Jewelers
47 Enon Street
Beverly, MA 01915
978 922 2149

Original Sin

I added some photos from today's party to my Flickr page. Go on over and have a look.

3:00AM

Last night at about 3:15am I was awake at my desk holding Elizabeth and editing ID3 tags. I figured if I was going to be awake I might as well do something productive, if you can consider editing ID3 tags productive. Elizabeth's motor skills are developing very nicely. She reaches for things, has no problems picking them up, and usually gets them in her mouth on the first try. Last night as I was typing away with one hand and holding her with the other, she reached up, grabbed the pacifier out of her mouth with one hand and started hammering my shoulder with it in perfect rhythm all while grinning happily at her accomplishment. Bam, Bam, Bam. I laughed, then she laughed out loud at my laughter and never missed a beat with the pacifier. It almost made being awake at 3 in the morning enjoyable.

What I did Today

Every day when I pick Lindissimo up from school I get a daily Progress Report. Here is yesterday's P.R. (Click the image to open a larger version.)

Elizabeth Eats Her Ball

Linda Sings To Elizabeth and Piper

Here's a video of Linda singing to Elizabeth and Piper (her new balloon) this morning.

Linda FAQ

Linda names her babydolls and ballons after her friends.
Ballon Sanders (DuJuan Sanders)
Piper (Piper Jost)
Hudson (Hudson Poe)
Abigail (Abigail ???)
Pabacin (made up Linda name)

Linda has started using the diminutive with her babydoll nicknames.
Paby for Pabacin
Tendy for Tender Heart Bear

Linda's favorite TV shows are:
Thomas The Tank Engine
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Piggly Winks
The Berenstein Bears
Little Einsteins

New Photos

There are some new images of the girls on the Flickr page. Go on over and have a look.

Snow

After teasing us all winter, Jack Frost finally gave us a snowfall with some accumulation. After dinner last night Linda and I went outside to play in the 3 inches or so that we got earlier that day. Linda was a little reluctant at first, but after I made and threw a snowball at a stop sign she was hooked."I want a snowball daddy!" For the next 20 minutes Linda and I threw snowballs at everything on the block. Trees, walls, stop signs, each other. I've never seen someone so happy to get hit with a snowball as she was. She was yelling "DO IT AGAIN DADDY" every time I lofted a pile of snow at her.

Before heading in we made a snowman. It's more like a snow elf, but she loved doing it. It had some sticks for arms and mouth and two rocks for eyes. After we took some pictures with the snowman she very fiendishly picked it up, walked it over to the steps and threw it. I guess Mr Snowman wasn't smashed enough for Linda's liking because then she jumped up and down on top of him.

Lot's of winter fun.

The Rebirth Of Cool

Sick

I love seeing how Linda's 2 year old mind takes the information she gains from others, processes it, and spits it back out where she thinks it belongs. Yesterday on our walk home I was pushing Linda's stroller a little to fast for her liking and she blurted out "stop it Daddy, I'm SICK of this!" She said it again when I was asking her what she wanted for dinner. I offered up some grilled chicken and peapods and she told me that she was sick of that also. I guess I need to pay closer attention to the things I say to her when I'm angry.

Nice

Picking Linda up from school is usually the highlight of my day. When she see's me, she usually drops what she's doing, yells Daddy!Daddy!Daddy!, and goes absolutely bonkers. Last night when I picked her up her teacher asked me if Terry and I were from Philly. I said "no, why?" She said that Linda doesn't talk like she's from Philly. She speaks to "nice."

That makes me happy.

Almost Famous

Every month Play & Learn (Elizabeth's School) posts some new photo's of the kids at play. This month a picture of Elizabeth made it to the page. Click the following link, then click "CLICK HERE!" under photo album. Elizabeth's picture is #15.

http://www.playandlearn.com/it.html

Funny Things Linda Says

Linda really dislikes going to bed. She'll do anything she can to stall bedtime for even a few minutes. Lately, after we go through the whole bedtime routine, she climbs into bed and then says "I have to make poopy." She did it again last night and I was not to happy about it. Linda got out of bed, sat on the toilet and said:

"Daddy, I'm frustrated with you."

Happy Birthday Cousin Izzy

Happy Birthday! We're sorry we couldn't be there to wish you a happy birthday in person. Have the best 2nd birthday ever.

Linda Plays, Elizabeth Laughs

Elizabeth adores her big sister. The crazier and louder Linda is, the more Elizabeth likes it. Last night we shot some video of Linda bouncing around the room and Elizabeth laughing out loud at her antics.

Birthday Video

Growth Chart

After last weeks visit to the doctor Superwife plugged all the data into a spreadsheet so everyone following along at home can keep track. (Clicking on the image will open a larger version in a new window.)

New Pictures

There are some new images on the Flickr account from Grammie Linda and Papa Nick's visit last weekend.

Happy Birthday Mommy

Because of a little hiccup with our mechanic, Linda, Terry, Elizabeth and I all stayed home to celebrate Terry's birthday. Our car (and car seats) were locked in the shop till Monday morning so we couldn't make the trip over to Jeff and Julia's house for our annual Superbowl get together/Terry birthday extravaganza. When the girls went down for their afternoon nap, Superwife and I sprung to life and made up a batch of fresh salsa, bruschetta, and a chocolate birthday cake. We were all a little disappointed that we didn't get to see our friends but it was very nice to spend Superwife's birthday together.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

We're all happy to hear that everything went well on Friday. Happy birthday and we hope to see you soon. (Linda filling out Grandpa's birthday card.)

Funny Things Linda Says

Linda: Daddy, can I take off my shoes.
Steve: Yes you can, but I want you to take off your socks also.
Linda: OK, but not my toenails.

Elizabeth- the best alarm clock

This morning when I put Elizabeth next to Linda in bed to wake her up, Linda just smiled and put her arm around Elizabeth, kissed her cheek, and went back to sleep. It took a good couple of minutes to get Linda awake and the first thing she said was, "I love you Elizabeth because we're friends." And the cutie chub bucket was of course all smiles as long as she could see Linda's face.

New Camera

we snapped a few shots with the new camera last night. They're posted over at the Flickr account.

New Photos

Superwife took a very sleepy Elizabeth to the photo studio this past weekend to have some professional pictures taken. Somehow the photographer and Terry were able to get some fantastic images taken between Elizabeth's protests. That is one adorable baby.

Terry Email

Terry usually gives me an email when she gets in to let me know how the morning went. Every now and again she puts together a gem that needs to be seen by more eyes than just hers and mine. Take a look at the highlight from this mornings message:

We were all ready to go this morning, I was just going to give Elizabeth 5 minutes to nurse while Linda finished up her cereal when (after about 90 seconds of nursing), Elizabeth had a watery poop that shot out the back all over her and onto my pants. So we both had to get changed and as I carried her downstairs the second time she spit up down my shirt. I just wiped it off, but now there's a stain, so I think the spit up had some of her vitamin D oil in it.

Brilliant stuff from Superwife.

Consumer Electronics

This weekend Superwife used some money we got for Christmas (thank you everybody) to purchase a new Nikon L11 digital camera. This will replace our original Nikon digital that Linda threw out and will compliment the Nikon N70 SLR that we also own. (I like Nikons.) It shows up at my office this Wednesday and I am thrilled. You can all expect a Linda and Elizabeth picture extravaganza later on this week.

Night Terrors

Linda gave Terry the scare of her life last night.

Elizabeth has been having some trouble sleeping lately because of a very stuffy nose. She woke up sniffing and snorting and in need of a late nite snack at about 3:45. Terry and I usually try to calm her down as quick as possible when she wakes up because we don't want her cries to wake Linda up. Terry brought Elizabeth into our bed and was laying down feeding her when, unbeknownst to us, Linda heard the commotion and tiptoed into our room to investigate. We didn't hear her get out of bed on the baby monitor, and she's so light that floorboards didn't even creak when she walked over them. I was laying down and facing Terry when Linda came up behind her and put her hand on Terry's waist. She's so tiny that I didn't even see her behind Terry's silhouette. The terror on Terry's face and the yelp she let out made me jump.

Boy Crazy

We're in trouble. Elizabeth is following in her sister's footsteps. Linda always seemed to pick the boys to be her bestest friends, even in the infant room (Harry, Christian, Connor, Hudson). She likes to play with the girls, but she's always talking about the boys in her class (and the older ones too). So I was burping Elizabeth on my lap and she started staring at James, who was playing in a bouncy exersaucer type seat across from us. He started smiling and Elizabeth just burst out with giggles, coos, spit bubbles, and smiles. She even did that mouth smacking thing that sounds like she's trying to suck her lips in (or maybe she's blowing kisses??). The whole time their eyes were locked. I couldn't even get her to look at me. When I put her down on the play mat she got so aggravated bending over backwards to look at him that I had to sit her in the Bumbo seat with a toy next to James so she could occasionally look away from the flashing lights at his snotty face. That's not said to be mean- all the boys in Elizabeth's class have running noses, hacking coughs and are receiving albuterol treatments through nebulizers. So they're all snotty. But I digress.

Come to think of it, Linda also this morning told me all the boys names in the room- TJ, Tyreece, Michael, Naseem- and didn't bother to introduce me to Diana, Andrea or Piper. But she did want to sit next to Piper and eat the same kind of muffin (she pushed a blueberry one away so she could have a "brown' (bran) one).

Elizabeth's Christening

I have been meaning to send an email out, but I keep forgetting. Elizabeth still needs to get rid of her original sin and we'd love to have you all here in Philly to witness it. With everyone being out of town (some more so than others), we wanted to give as much notice to anyone that wanted to and was able to travel for the Christening. We have a bit more flexibility with this baptism as there are no sick great-grandmothers, but I'd like to have it done before Elizabeth, Amazonian that she is, grows out of the beautiful Irish Christening gown we have. So we're thinking sometime in February or early March. We spoke to a priest at our new church and he seemed pretty willing to have the christening during a Saturday evening mass like we did with Linda at our old church (to make it easier for traveling). Are there any dates/weekends that would work best (or ones that are absolute no-go's) for those of you planning on coming to the Christening? The priest said we'd need to give him at least two weeks notice. Hopefully there won't be another national medical conference that books up every hotel in the city of Philadelphia this time around (damned urologists) and we can find something reasonable for everyone. Let me know if you have any opinions on the date. And please pass this request along to anyone without email who may want to come (like Great-Grammie or Nanamay).

Breaking News!

I just checked in on Elizabeth at school and...She drank her whole 4 oz. bottle, wait it gets better, in Ms. Robin's arms (not the bouncy seat), and it only took her, can you believe it, 30 minutes. I think she's getting the hang of this. "So they only give me this bottle thing when I'm hungry? Maybe I should drink the milk in the bottle." What a concept.

New Photos

I just uploaded another set of pictures to the Flickr account. These were taken during the Christmas break. Go on over and have a look.

Chef Linda

Twice last week Linda helped me prepare dinner. She loves standing on the step stool with her hands on the counter right in the middle of the action. On Tuesday Linda helped me make a salad. I chopped the ingredients and she took the individual pieces of vegetable and threw them in the salad bowl. Last night, Linda helped me salt a pot of boiling water, put the potatoes into the water, and then season the potatoes when they were finished. Maybe all these domestic toys we've been getting for her (vacuum cleaner, pots and pans, toy oven) have been rubbing off.

From the mouths of babes...more Linda quotes

"You are all my favorite girl in the whole world!"
"You did a beautiful job, Mommy."
"That was an AWESOME poopy!"
"Carry me. It will be quicker."
"Your poopy is dig-usting, Eeyizabef."
"Mmm, this broccoli is very good." (with the tone of a food critic and tilted head)
"I'm naked and a half!"

My little rays of sunshine

While the setting was less than desirable, this is one of the cutest things ever and the best reason to have more than one child.

This morning Linda woke up while I was still nursing Elizabeth. She yelled for me to come into her room and I went because I thought something must be wrong (she usually will come in to my room if I tell her that I'm feeding Elizabeth). She just wanted to say good morning. So now that we were all up and mobile, we ventured into the bathroom for a morning pee. While on the toilet, Linda leaned over to Elizabeth, who was sitting on my lap as I perched on the edge of the bathtub trying to resume nursing, and pinched her cheek and said, "How you doing, my little sweetie-pie, my little sunshine?" Suddenly a spark went off in Linda's eyes and she started to sing. "You are my sunshine, my little sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You know dear, I must love you. Don't take my sunshine away!", all the while leaning over about two inches from Elizabeth's face, stroking her cheek. Elizabeth loved it and was smiling wildly. She even leaned in and "kissed" Linda's forehead when the song was over. Linda giggled ecstatically Auntie Kristen style with her teeth clenched. All I could do was grin ear to ear and hug my little sunshines. They are so freaking cute and they love each other! Then Linda broke up the sappiness with the exclamation, "Big ploppers, Mommy!" as she finished up her morning pee with a little poo!

No, let ME do it!

If the nature of their births didn’t give us enough warning of the stubbornness of my two girls- here’s some more anecdotal proof. Elizabeth has spent 5 days at school (daycare) so far and drank a TOTAL of 21 ounces of milk from a bottle. We’re talking like 2 to 3 ounces in a 9 hour period (when it should be more like 9 to 14 ounces). Luckily for her, I go over at lunch and nurse her (no worries as she’s still got two chins, dripping cheeks and multiple rolls on her thighs). We’ve been trying for months to “teach” her to drink from a bottle- different people giving her the bottle, different bottles/nipples, different times of day, different positions, etc. Really the works. I think I’ve thrown out more pumped milk in the last 8 weeks than I ever did in 19 months of nursing Linda. So last night I had her teacher warm a bottle for when I picked her up because I was just not going to be able to nurse her in the car in the 20 degree windy weather. Elizabeth was asleep when I got there and was quite miffed that I woke her up to put her in her snow suit, so, half jokingly, I said to her, “Oh, you must want a bottle” and put the nipple to her lips. She sucked that thing in, slurped down the 3 oz. in 10 minutes and wouldn’t even let me pull it out to burp her. Son of a gun! Not that it does any good that she’ll drink a bottle for the only person on earth that doesn’t need to give her a bottle. So this morning I armed her teachers with the exact same bottle with the same 3 oz. and a receiving blanket that I wore around my torso all night so that whoever fed her would “smell like Mommy”. They tried it for 30 minutes this morning- no go. So they switched to another type of bottle. Nothing. With other infants now requiring attention at this point, the teacher put Elizabeth in a bouncy seat next to her chair (she was going to feed two kids at once) and as she placed the bottle near her face, Elizabeth grabbed the bottom of the bottle and pushed the nipple into her mouth. A little surprised, Ms. Robin let go of the bottle and looked at her- ferociously sucking back the milk and holding the bottle on her own. Ms. Robin bent over again to provide some support of the bottle for my stubborn super-child, but Elizabeth stopped drinking, looked at her and screamed. Ms. Robin let go and Elizabeth resumed drinking. She drank the whole bottle (grunting if anyone else touched it) by herself. The one thing we didn’t try- let the 3-mo old feed herself the bottle! We’ll have to wait and see if this actually solves the bottle-feeding issues.

Deck the halls (& the toilet, the carpet, the bed sheets, &...)

So you kind of expect to have fond memories of your baby’s first Christmas, with them struggling to figure out wrapping paper and wearing a little red suit or Santa bib. Elizabeth’s first Christmas was unfortunately defined, at least for me, by vomit. It started with Steve around noon and by mid afternoon his vomiting was so frequent, violent and loud that even Linda in her present-toy-cookie induced self absorbed state asked why Daddy was ‘yelling’ in the bathroom and if his tummy was going to be all better soon. Needless to say there were minimal pictures taken as I struggled to take care of the girls and keep them at a safe distance from their father. And Christmas dinner never happened. The girls went to bed seemingly unaffected and Steve continued to get sick until about ten o’clock that night. At eleven, Steve called from his bed on the couch, “Terry, what’s that noise?” He walked upstairs into Linda’s room and started hollering for help. I rushed up to find a bewildered Linda covered head to toe in a vomit coating of broccoli and chocolate sauce. I bet you can all smell the holiday cheer right through the computer. I took Linda into the bathroom for a scrub down while Steve resisted the dry heaves as he gathered up the bedding and wiped down the race car. Linda, who thankfully has only had one other throw-up event in her life and it was well over a year ago, kept asking, “What I do all over my blue blanket?” She was in relatively good spirits as we got her back into bed and moved Steve into her room on the air mattress. The sickies were going to sleep together and watch out for each other. I was pretty sure I was in the "well room" until Elizabeth started projectile vomiting after nursing at about 2 AM. I just stood on a pile of dirty laundry in my bedroom and let the regurgitated milk splash off of me and drip down as I wasn’t going to be able to make it down the hallway to the bathroom and the thought of more cleaning at that hour was just too much. Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas to Mommy. It took a few days, but all the dirty clothes/bedding/floors/bodies got cleaned and Linda opened up all of our presents. At least I didn’t have to take care of everyone while throwing up myself. Santa, next year can you leave the viruses outside?