22 months old

Miss Elliette is turning into such a little girl. She is putting two and three words together, singing songs, and making her demands known.

She will repeat any word you're trying to teach her. She especially loves when her big brother plays this game.

She will call me 15 times from across the house: "maaahm! MAAHM!" until I finally answer.... "yes, Elliette?" to which she replies "I love you!" Sweet right? Well, the first 20 times yes. Then it becomes a little... much.

She is saying "thank you" a lot and at the right times. She's also saying "I love you, too" which is pretty adorable. She's wearing 18-24 month clothing, size 4 diapers, and size 5 shoes. We are starting to make some headway with her sleep schedule thanks to a covert operation by her teachers cutting her nap times shorter. She still loves food- especially fruit.

Oh, Elliette Kate. What a sweet face. What a sweet girl. What a sweet life.

Little Patient

Elliette has had a lot of ear infections this last year. So many, in fact, our doctor recommended getting tubes. It was a big deal for Dave and I to make this decision-- the decision to put your child under anesthetic for an elective surgery was difficult. But we decided being on antibiotics as often as she was and feeling so bad so often was not ideal. I was so nervous the morning of but I out on my brave face until they took her back (and OH was that hard!) but it was all very quick and she hasn't been sick once since! These pictures are all before the surgery. It was early morning so we brought her straight over in pjs. 

Curiosity Camp

One of the things I wanted to do this summer with Will was stay busy! It was our first summer without the option of day care for him so we were together 24/7 for 2 months! We were invited by a friend/co-worker to participate in Curiosity Camp. It was presented by the Amazeum which is the science museum that will be opening in 2015. Right now they have a small space that they are using to break into the community. These pictures were all taken by one of the staffers and they gave us a whole flash drive full of pics from the week so that's why I'm in many of these.

The theme was to explore and be curious about different rooms in the house. The first day we explored the kitchen. We made noises with utensils (inside and out), did a color mixing experiment with food coloring, soap, and milk, and used salad spinners to make art.

Here is a picture of my friend Amy and her twins Emma and Elizabeth. Amy teaches science with me and her girls go to school with Will.

The next day was both Will and my favorite day; the garage! We used tools to hammer, sand, screw, and measure.

That day we also used lots of "garage items" (junk?) to create a mask. Will LOVED this activity and did 100% of it himself! (other than me lining up the eyes and ears across from each other).

The 3rd day was the bedroom and we first built a HUGE fort with sheets and clothspins!

After the fort was built we made stories with shadow puppets and also made "constellations" by poking holes in plastic cups.

On the 4th day we explored the yard. We used various tools to "eat" like a variety of birds we learned about.

After that we made binoculars and a bird feeder.

This was such an awesome experience and we both had a blast. I cannot wait to see what fun is in store when the museum opens for real!

Brother and Sister

I have some sweet photos of the kids from the summer that I'm just going to lump in one post for you.