Laurel, my love.

Holiday Fun

The girls are loving Christmas this year, and we have having a great time right along side them.  Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

 We decorated a Christmas tree - which the girls loved.  You may notice a lack of Christmas tree farm pictures... this year the rain foiled our plans one too many times so we opted for a pre-cut one from a local nursery.  

 Maya got to place the star on top - and in true little sister fashion, Laurel did not want to be left out.

 We decorated gingerbread houses...

And cookies.

 We fed Santa's reindeer...

And played in his sleigh.

Every day they look forward to seeing what surprise or activity they get in their Advent Calendar.  We also received an Advent Calendar on the computer from the Grahams and they love to see what is in store for the new day.

They are counting down until Christmas.  Laurel loves to see "Yanta" everywhere although neither have any interest in actually sitting in his lap (Maya made sure I was well aware of this fact).  Maya wants a new bike and Laurel wants choo-choo trains.  Hopefully Santa read his mail!

Bilingual

Laurel's language skills have really taken off.  All my worrying about speech delays was for nothing... just as her doctor said.

Her vocabulary expands by the day and she is putting together full sentances.  Before we even pick her up out of her crib in the morning she asks, "Maya?"  She asked me if she could have a "vitamin" the other morning.   She is fascinated by christmas lights and spends all of our car rides asking for "lights. lights. more lights. more lights".  She calls herself "Lo-Lo".

Sometimes she gets going and begins to speak full sentances of jibberish, she may know what she is trying to say but none of us can understand her.  Laurel was doing just this in the car when Maya giggled and said to me, "Mom, maybe Laurel is speaking Spanish".  Made me laugh out loud!

I love that they are starting to chat together more and more.  She is becoming such a big girl!

 



Cousins

A Photoshoot

Grandma Jean turned 60 this year and as a surprise we decided to round up the troops and attempt a picture of all the grandkids.  I think it went exactly the way you would expect it to with two 3 year olds, three 1 year olds, a 3 year old helper and a whole lot of rain.  But, we managed a great shot and thanks to a little photoshop action, Laurel's tears and snotty nose disappeared from the printed version! Thank you again, Shauna!!  It was exhausting but certainly worth the effort.

First, a fantastic group shot (there are many versions of this one, rarely are all kids looking in the same direction and often one of them is walking away):

Cousins and best buds:

Beautiful Maya:

Poor Laurel did not enjoy herself one bit (there is not one smiling Laurel picture):

 

I Get It.

It is no big secret that growing up Amy, Jenny and I had moments where we didn't get along. As I am sure is true of siblings in all families. When I think back to the arguments, particularly between Amy and I, a large number of them were because I felt our parents were stricter on me (being the first born) and were much easier on them. Irrational and overblown or not, that was how I felt. And at some point I vowed that when I had kids everything would be fair and exactly equal at all times.

Well, you know what, I have quickly learned that despite best efforts it is just not that simple. As we were leaving the Dr yesterday after flu shots the girls each picked a lollipop as a treat for being brave (no crying!!). It hit me that when Maya was this age, I certainly didn't allow the lollipop treat and just let her pick from the stickers. She was none the wiser. Yet, here I was, letting Laurel pick a lollipop out for herself. Yes, it was going to be a big sticky mess and no, she really doesn't need the sugar, but could I allow one for Maya and turn her down? Nope. I sure could not.

"Fair" has taken on a different meaning. It is not easy to balance the needs of two kids with different ages and do things exactly the same way you did the first time. Life is different, circumstances are different and children are different. The lollipop is certainly not the only thing Laurel has been allowed to do that Maya wasn't at this same age.

Mom and Dad, I am sure you explained this to me many times along the way, but I finally get it.  It is all about balance.  Pick the important things to set age limits and boundries on, keep consistent on the things that matter most and let the rest go. Maya is too young to care about this now, but as she and Laurel grow, I hope to be as successful at this as you were with us.  My biggest hope for my girls is that despite any rough patches, they grow up friends because the support of a sister is an amazing thing. I hope I can help them along the way, but they are already off to a great start.

Winding down together before bed time.

Go huskies!  Laurel was so excited to be wearing the same kitty shirt as Maya, she kept pointing at them both and grinning.



Halloween

The Halloween season was so fun for our family this year.  Maya fully embraced it and loved every minute and every activity.  Here are some pictures from our adventures.

Maya's class took a field trip to Remlinger Farms.  The kids had a blast, the train ride was the definite favorite.

 

After a failed trip to the pumpkin patch with the whole Knowles family, which included cars getting stuck in the mud, we found a break in the rain and made the trip to a local patch with just the four of us.  The girls spent a lot of time wandering around to find the perfect pumpkin (well, Maya did, Laurel just wanted to take them all home) and enjoyed riding in the wheelbarrow.

Carving was not a big hit this year.  The girls spent about 2 minutes helping us and then became much more interested in the birds at our birdfeeder.  They did enjoy looking at them lit up in the dark after we were done though.

 

And they both LOVED trick or treating.  Maya requested a mermaid costume, specifically an Ariel mermaid costume.  Grandma Jean made the perfect mermaid tail and Maya helped pick out the red hair and crown.  She was a bit disappointed to have to wear a shirt since Ariel doesn't, but I was able to convince her that a shell necklace was even better than a shell bra.  She helped make it all, and was kind enough to hand me a picture of Ariel so I was sure to "have the directions".  Laurel had fun in her kitty costume, but she was really more interested in the treat part.  At first she had no idea what was happening, I didn't really plan to have her collect candy, but once she figured out that people would give her things she had no interest in stopping.  She would hold a piece of candy in each hand and wouldn't dare put it in her bucket until another one was handed to her.  Such a fun day!!

Patience

I am pretty sure Meri can teach us all a lesson in patience.  What you see here occurs every day - multiple times a day.  And yes, Laurel starts out by sitting on her.



Sunday mornings

We have started taking the girls to a neighborhood church which we were introduced to by Jenny, Preston and Callie.  The girls look forward to Sunday School, but just as much to the 10  minutes after church that they spend running around in circles chasing each other.

Running...

Running...

Taking a quick break...

 



And they are off again!



18 months!!

She sure has become 'Toddler Laurel" and is quickly leaving babyhood behind.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that if you asked her she would tell you she is a three year old just like her sister.  In her mind she is a big kid.  She refuses to sit in her booster seat at the dinner table and thinks the highchairs in restaurants are for babies.  She carries her dishes to the kitchen to put them in the sink (while leaving behind a trail of food).  Brushing her teeth with her sister is her favorite thing to do right now.  She prefers to drink water out of a real cup instead of her sippy. She wants to use the grown up silverwear and not the small kids version.  She wants to carry her own lunch box to and from school.  Ever since she moved up into the next class at daycare she has developed this new level of independence.  In fact, they moved her up a month early because they couldn't keep her out of the room with the older kids.  The teachers like to joke that they have never before had a one year old make the trasition decision for them!

What do I love about Laurel?  Her sense of humor.  She is such a goofy kid and is always looking for a laugh.  She LOVES music and enthusiastically dances to it in her carset.  You know when she is ready for bed, she walks over to Maya and Daddy/Mommy for kisses, grabs her blanket and walks right into her room for story time.  Although she wasn't a reader in the beginning she is now obsessed with books and puts up a fight when it is time to stop reading bedtime stories.  She is very nurturing and is always covering up her dolls, stuffed animals and the cats with her blanket while patting their backs.  Everytime she makes a sound like a monkey she also uses her arms to imitate a monkey.  She is very reserved in new situations and with new people, but once she warms up she will light up the room.  She is unlike any kid I have met before.

She is weighing in at 20lbs 10oz and is 30" tall (both at 10%).  She isn't much bigger than Maya was at this age... except for her giant head which is still in the 90 percentile!  She is developing perfectly but man was she ticked off about having to get a shot!  Here are some fun Laurel pics:

A new favorite activity is to take all the pillows off the couch and jump on them.

This is a common Laurel look - an "I am not amused by your attempt to make me smile" look.

Art projects!

 

Ferry boat ride - checking out the wa-wa, seals and birds.



Mispronounciations

I am holding tightly to Maya's current mispronunciations... she doesn't have many these days.  I have yet to correct her because I am not quite ready to let go of the toddler she once was.

- Are we going the "reguly" way? (regular)
- I am making a "pattering". (pattern)
- Can I have some "piratcy"? (privacy)

Here she is on the first day of the new school year.  Such a big girl.

Camping!

Despite my extreme hesitation and expectation of worst case scenario, we headed to Lopez Island for a weekend of camping.  And guess what, it was a complete success.  The kids had a great time playing outside for days on end, they enjoyed splashing around at the beach and they even managed to sleep well in the tent!  Thanks to the Joneses and the Wards for a great trip... we survived it with 3 three-year olds and 2 one-year olds, it can only get easier from here.  Dare I say, we even had fun?

The kids table.

Eating fresh caught crab.

A little break from the chaos - stickers.

Conversing.

We headed to the local farmers market and got to check out a rescue helicopter.

Waiting for the helicopter to take off.  Although it doesn't appear so in this picture they were both pretty excited to watch.

Checking out the water.

I am not even sure there are words to describe how awesome she is!

 Notice the girls' attire?  Three moms and not one of us considered bringing beach wear for our walk to the beach.  Not our finest parenting moment.  We were very glad to have Aunt Jenny and Callie join us for the day.

 

The girls were so dirty when we got home that I made them have a pre-bath in the pool outside before allowing them to get into our actual bath tub.