Bakefest 2011

Mommy and Amelia take the ferry over to the Island for our 6th annual Bakefest with Jody and Lori at Lori's house. Amelia enjoyed the trip...she had a nice long sleep on mommy's lap (only briefly interrupted by annoyingly loud intermittent messages from the ferry gift shop and the sound of cans falling in the nearby vending machine).

Jody and Lori give Amelia Sophie the Giraffe to keep her occupied while be bake...

...but she is much happier with a wooden spoon in her hand. Maybe she'll be a baker just like mommy!!

After a long day of making treats, Amelia and Lori take a little snuggle break.

The next morning Amelia is ready to get right back at 'er again!

"More shortbread Mommy, lets make more shortbread!"

"Or maybe some more caramel nut pretzels!!"

"I don't think we made enough."

Amelia is sad that Bakefest is over and it's time to go home....

...but happy to think that we'll be able to do it all again next year. There will be lots more babies in the group, so it will be even more fun!!! We are so looking forward to meeting Jody's and Lori's little pumpkins.

After a long weekend of making goodies, Amelia has a nice long rest (again in Mommy's lap) on the ferry home. It was a hugely successful event!

The Girls Go to See Santa Claus

Mommy & Daddy pick Lily up from daycare early one afternoon so we can go to the German Christmas village downtown. Amelia is very interested in what's going on and wrings her hands in anticipation.

"Mmmmm...can I have a bratwurst?" Heineken?

"Oh hi, Lily! I'm fine, don't worry."

Lily surveys the landscape. She is concerned that Daddy is going to make her sit on the lap of the "Scary Santa" (her words exactly).

Before going to see Santa, we go and look at the carousel.

Lily wants to go on it, but has a hard time choosing which horsey to ride...

She finally picks a blue one, and convinces Daddy to go with her. Mommy & Daddy have to flip a coin to decide who will brave it....just watching it makes both of us nauseous.

We all sit in the red sleigh and when the photographer is ready, Santa sneaks in behind us and poses for the picture without either child knowing he is even there. Perfect!!

Lily Discovers the Christmas Decorations

Lily comes home from daycare one day and discovers that Christmas decorations have filled the house. One of the first things she notices in Christmas teddy, and gives him a hug.

She is mesmerized by the tree...

...and spends several minutes just staring at it....

...and then gently touches the ornaments. She has a good understanding of the concept of gentle, thank goodness!!

After checking everything out, she decides to take Christmas teddy and snowman to bed. They were since repatriated to the living room.

Potty Training!

Lily loves her princess potty seat.

She loves it so much that sometimes she just sits on it for half an hour and reads. We think she inherited that from Daddy.

Eeyore keeps her company by hanging out on his little potty. Lily donated it to him when she decided she was "too big" for it.

Lily likes to read Eeyore to keep him entertained. She still has her pants on, so this is just a little dry run I guess, even though she is now wearing big girl pull ups and consistently using the potty. Yaaay!!!

She points things out to him in her book, but he seems to be preoccupied with other things....

Baby Gone Wild Nov, 2011

Little Miss Sunshine in her new bouncy chair!! Do you think she likes it?

I dunno...it's hard to tell...

" Yo, yo, yo!"

Yep, definitely think she's enjoying herself :)

Costume change!!

Meelie shows off her cutest baby-gone-wild look!

" Psst - over here," she says...

"Look out world, these dimples are impossible to resist!"

The Girls - Oct, 2011

Lily gets down on the floor with her sister to see things from her viewpoint.

She gives Amelia a little pat on the back like mommy does when she burps her...

...and then decides it would be good to check her diaper like mommy does...

...to see if it needs to be changed. She is very helpful!

She wants to share some of her apple with baby, but mommy explains that Amelia only drinks milk right now, so she gives her a little snuggle instead.

One day Lily decides she wants to go for a workout like mommy does...

...so she puts mommy's runners on (the wrong feet, but that's OK), grabs Eeyore and her octapus and announces that she is going to the gym.

Lily is very interested in encouraging Amelia's literacy, so she brings her book over to baby in the swing.

Realizing the Amelia might have trouble with some of the words, Lily begins to read to her...Amelia is thrilled with this.

Seeing how happy Amelia is, and liking to make her sister happy, Lily also brings her friend Eeyore for her to play with.

Because Lily rocked her bouncy chair into disrepair, mommy & daddy buy a new one for Amelia.

She is a little bit unsure of the stuffed monkey hanging from the bar above her...

...but she loooves to bounce...just like her big sister!