A Very Special Day

Today is Tante Dunie's birthday! Happy birthday to you, our dear Tante/Sister! If you were here, we would take you to Crazy Tokyo for some delicious sushi. Well it's the thought that counts, isn't it? So let's just pretend it happened.

Another reason why it's a special day today... Ella's first real haircut at the hairdresser! We went to Lollicut and Ella chose the pink car chair to sit in while Dora cut her hair. We got a little envelope with a lock of her hair to keep and a certificate commemorating the occasion.

Et voilà! Basically, Dora cut 4 inches off the back and cut some bangs in so that Ella's hair doesn't fall all over her face. And then she pulled the sides up into a ponytail and added a pink curly bow.

Catching Up

Last month I had my 40th birthday on the 31st, and started a two week long party during some much needed vacation time starting the 23rd.

I started a big project xeriscaping my front yard, which means killing the lawn and replacing it with decorative stones and water-wise plants, which will reduce our water use. Seems like a strange way to spend a vacation, since most people want to sit on the beach and drink mai-tai's, but it was pretty fulfilling for me, and that's the kind of thing I enjoy doing.

We went up to northern California for Nicki's Baby Signs conference, and later we visited with a friend I went to middle school and high school with, Jim, and his girlfriend Nancy. We met up in Sonoma, the heart of the wine country, in the park in the middle of town. Felix got his first trip on a swing and his first touch of playground sand.



Later we enjoyed a nice picnic and a bottle of wine (natch), and some good conversation. Felix cooperated by taking a nap, and Ella was the sweet, calm little angel she always is.


Don't ask me how I feel about turning 40. Many have, including my uncle Marshall, who arrived at a party Nicki threw for me the last Saturday of my vacation. He knew me when I was a baby, and when he saw me, he asked, "How does it make you feel to turn 40?" I replied, "How does it make you feel for me to turn 40?"

Happy 10-month birthday, Monkey!

Our little monkeydoodle is 10 months old today. To celebrate, he ate two big servings of pureed peaches and grew two more teeth, only not the top two we were expecting, but one on each side of those, like little fangs.

Ella is a big girl now, she goes on the toilet without a potty seat! Now if only she would take herself to the bathroom at night instead of calling for Dada one or more times at night.

9 months old!

Our little monkey is 9 months old today!

Ella Sleeping and Felix Signing

Last week, Ella came home from school and seemed a little sleepy, so she just leaned her head on the couch and dozed off. She slept there for awhile before we coaxed her into bed.

The other day Ella said she wanted the "Heigh-ho" movie. That puzzled us, but then we figured out that she had had seen "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at school. She told us that Snow White had been woken up from her eternal slumber by the "Heigh-hos".

Felix has been signing more signs - last time I mentioned how he's signing "more", and now he's doing it all the time. He does "more" when he wants more food, "more" when he wants something to happen more (such as Ella jumping on the bed, which makes him laugh hysterically), and "more" cats walking in front of him. He also does more along with blowing a raspberry with his mouth when he wants me to blow raspberries on his stomach. He also does "milk" when he wants to nurse, squeezing his hand like milking a cow. Yesterday he slapped the top of his leg, the sign for "diaper", and sure enough his diaper was wet.

Felix is also starting to say a few words. He says "da da da da" sometimes when he sees me, he "Aaay" for Ella, and says "Kee" when he sees a cat (specifically Toots) for kitty.

Felix can pick up Cheerios with his hand put them in his mouth. We think he's left handed, since he does nearly everything with that hand.

A couple of weeks ago, Felix accompanied Nicki to work because his school was closed, and he was quite popular with the ladies. And his mama, of course.

Felix's Talents

Couple more things to add of what our clever little boy can do. He is now sitting up by himself unassisted for short periods of time. And he plays Peekaboo - takes whatever is handy - a towel, wash cloth, article of clothing and covers his face up with it. Then he pulls it away with a big smile! He also likes it when we cover our faces up and he pulls the item off. He had the giggles in the car today when Ella was making him laugh. Wish I could post the sound of that but I did record it on my cell phone so I can hear it again.

Stretch and Bounce

Ella takes advantage of her small size and toddler's flexiblity to do something like this, which looks painful and probably would be for you and I. For her, it's a way to relax believe it or not. She was doing this while she was lounging in front of the TV.

Ella seems to be learning a lot at her new school. She can count from 1 to 20, but always skips the number 15. We thought it was just unique mistake to her as she masters her numbers, but apparently it's very common for toddlers to skip this number. How did we find this out? On Sesame Street the number of the day was 15, and they had song about "the number 15, don't forget me," so it's common enough that the millions of kids who watch the program can relate. It's very curious, and I've been trying to do some research into why this is, but have so far have had no luck.

Felix is bouncing in his chair he got from his Oma lala. He loves it.



Felix just turned 8 months today. We think he has started to sign a bit - this morning I was holding him and feeding him O's cereal, and when he had finished one he clapped his hands together until I put another one in his mouth, close to the sign for "more". Usually the sign is either pointing one finger to the palm of your hand, or putting the thumb and fingers together on both hands, then touching the ends of the fingers, but he's got it pretty close. We've caught him doing it a few times, especially when he's eating. If he really is signing, that would be pretty advanced. Most kids don't start until between 10 and 14 months.