January 2016

January has been incredibly busy! Work for both Matt and I has been crazy and I feel like we have barely been keeping our heads above water trying to get everything done at home. In the spirit of a new year, Matt and I rearranged the living room furniture which led to a desire to paint and our first ever hiring of actual painters instead of doing the job ourselves. Brilliant idea! Our new paint is beautiful, our house looks so much cozier, and it was so amazing to leave for work and get back home to perfectly painted rooms!

Madeline decided to take some time off from dance and both girls have been going to gymnastics on Saturday mornings. They are both enjoying the classes, but Ella is having a hard time making it through the whole class without asking to snuggle and take a nap.
We had parent teacher conferences for both girls this month. It is awesome to hear about the activities the kids are doing at school and their relationships with their friends. Eleanor's teacher says that she is doing wonderfully with puzzles, learning colors, and matching shapes. Ella needs to work on helping clean up and using her big girl words instead of crying. Madeline's teacher says that she is great with numbers, paying attention, and beginning site words. Madi needs to work on how to deal with her friends with they upset her.

Matt made it through my work trip to Claremont, but Ella was in a terrible mood the whole time I was gone and the following week. She is working on molars and just can't sleep through the night (which means I am not sleeping either). Matt and I keep telling each other that once we get through these teeth we will be on the road to good sleeping and better mornings.

Visiting Baby Samantha Johnson - Madi loves babies!

Madi was so excited to hold Baby Samantha. "she is so cute and little"

Zoo trip!

Wren, Eleanor, Madeline - We are trying to take this picture every year, next year Wren's little sister will be included too!

Hitting up the zoo again . . Yay for passes!

Ella playing Uno for the first time! So looking forward to family game nights!

Horse from Grandma T. Ella loves this thing! (By the way, Madeline is wearing my old romper that Abu made)

Dinner out means ice cream too

A floor full of sleeping babies that must be patted

Pouty Madi

Eleanor is 2!

Oh my goodness Ella is 2!!! How is that even possible?
We celebrated Ella on her actual birthday with cupcakes at home. She was so excited and Matt got the most awesome video that truly illustrates Ella's personality!

At two, Eleanor is super talkative. She dances (with surprisingly good rhythm), sings, repeats everything she hears. Ella loves to watch tv and is very specific about which shows she wants to watch. She is learning to share, to take turns, and to help do little activities around the house. At home and at school, Eleanor tries as hard as possible to stand in the middle of any room that is being cleaned and only put one thing away. Ella still doesn't go to sleep easily. Her current favorite bedtime routine involves staying with Madi and whichever parent for books and songs, then sneaking out of the bedroom to sit on the couch until she falls asleep around 9. It sucks. Ella loves watching Matt play video games during these evenings. Ella's new favorite activity is pretending to drive the car. She and Madi can spend hours sitting in the front seat steering, moving the mirror, asking "where you wanna go?" while I sit in the backseat with a book. This has morphed into Ella yelling at me from the backseat "Mama stop, I drive the car not you" whenever we go places. If she is this impatient to drive already, the next 14 years are going to be very painful for her.

Science Museum with Dad

Dinosaurs from Aunt Wendi!

"Yep, I'm adorable!"

"where you wanna go?"

Sisters in rainboots!

When you can't drive the car, just be a car

Stretching with Dad

Sister selfie!

Eleanor has slowed way down with her growth in the past few months. Her two year old stats are: Weight 29.6 pounds (81st percentile), Height 34 3/4 inches (76th percentile and also happens to be exactly Madi's height when she was 2), Head 19 3/4 inches (98th percentile, still huge).
The Sunday after her birthday, we had friends over to celebrate Eleanor and watch football. We set up the tv outside, ate cupcakes, and grilled pollo and carne asada. The kids had a great time running wild and Matt and I ate leftovers for a week. It was a great day and put us all in a good mood before we had to get back into the work/school routine.