Jump!! Jump!!! Round 2

The Jumperoo has been the perfect place to take pictures of the girls at this early stage. It supports them enough to be able to take their pictures upright vs laying down. Remember this post with pictures of Grace in it?


I got these of Claire in it at about the same age.


Besides the different hair color, Claire's face isn't as round as Grace's was here.

And no photo editing was done on Claire's eyes. They look like marbles!

Tutu Much Fun!

Since Grace was turning 2 and took that ballet class last fall, I thought it'd be fun to go off "Two" and throw a "TwoTwo" party for her 2nd birthday.

Here's her invite that Seven Cupcakes on Etsy.com created for me.

I love arranging flowers and got some bulk pink and green flowers that went with the colors of her party.


I chose cupcakes instead of a cake since Grace loves them. Seven Cupcakes did the adorable cupcake toppers for me too.


Seven Cupcakes also did this adorable banner for us.

I had some girls from a local ballet academy come lead the little ones in a few dance routines. We moved the furniture in the family room either out or pushed it along the walls. Grace, I think, was a little overwhelmed by it all and didn't want to dance at all! But she did take the time away from eating her cupcake to pose.

For entertainment, we blew up a picture of a ballerina and did "Pin the Tutu on the Ballerina". I brought in Grace's picnic table and covered it with white paper. Then I put out baskets of crayons and ballet themed stickers for them to decorate the paper with.


For party favors, I had SugarCoated Cookies also on Etsy.com do Tutu shaped sugar cookies. Seven Cupcakes did labels that said "Thanks for coming to plie' with me"


Since it was at 10 am, I did kid friendly brunch foods - mini muffins, pigs in a blanket, fruit, mini quiche, juice boxes. All stuff I didn't have to worry with cooking that morning.

And no party for Grace would be complete without Sissy. I made her a onesie with ballet shoes.


Can you tell I like planning children's parties???

Happy Valentine's Day...

from this little Valentine,

and this little Valentine.

Grace's 2 Year Stats

Grace is to the point where some moments I want to scream and others I want to laugh.

• She is VERY independent. She has gotten to where she wants to get herself dressed. This requires an unbelievable amount of patience, especially when we are trying to get ready for school. I will look and she'll have both legs down one of the leg holes in her pants. When I try to help her, she screams "MINE!".


• "Mine", by the way, is her new, favorite word.


• She is definitely more of a picky eater than months past. But she'll eat plenty of what she can choose. She'll want to be picked up and brought in the pantry where she can point out what she wants to eat.


• We recently found out she's allergic to wheat, cat, and peanuts. She's never been around cats so that isn't a problem. I've never tried peanuts with her, but these are easy to keep away. But wheat is in everything. Even if it is white flour - that is still bleached, processed wheat. We are supposed to go on an elimination diet for 2 weeks and see how she does.


• She loves puzzles right now. She's really good at the chunky, wood puzzles. And now she's into puzzles on my iphone - Tozzle is her favorite.



• She's really good at identifying the A-B-Cs. She can tell you what letter represents the first initial of her favorite people. M for Marco, L for Levi, C for Claire, etc etc.


• Speaking of "Sissy", she's doing much better being gentle with her. She does still have her moments though. She's perfected her most pitiful "Hold" as soon as she hears Sissy start to cry and will demand my attention before I can get to Sissy.



• Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine calling my daughter "Sissy", but that is what Grace has called Claire from the day we brought her home. Just like "Kiki" (aka her blanket), it has stuck.


• Grace is 36 inches tall (94%) weighs 27 pounds 6 oz (60%) and is still in the 90% with her noggin. No more growth stats for a whole year!


• She is going to school every day from 8:45-3. Since January, I've been letting her stay full day instead of picking her up at 11:15. I thought it would be a good experience for her to eat with her classmates and take a nap in a different setting. Part of that is, I hope, to help with the transition from crib to a bed she can get out of.


• Her vocabulary has really blossomed too. She gets her point across much easier now. She has incorporated a few Spanish words into her vocabulary and never uses the English equivalant - si, agua, leche. We like her saying "si" because we won't have to battle the "yeahs" vs "yes".

Full of Laughs

Claire Bear is full of laughs these days

Happy 2nd Birthday, Grace Elizabeth!!

Our sweet baby is 2 today!!!

February....The Love Month

Since it is February, I thought I'd let you meet Grace's love - Levi.

Grace met Levi when she was 7 months old in music class. He was in both of her infant classes at Mi Casita when she was 8 months and again at 12 months.


And since August, he has been in her class at Mi Casita.


Just like any lovers, these two quarrel. Or that's how Levi's mom and I have justified the period that they went through where they were always swatting at each other.

Here they are at Levi's birthday party, comparing who has the better shirt on :)

Grace devoured her cupcake at Levi's party. She was the last one still sitting as she sat and ate the entire thing. She will love her cupcakes at her party this weekend!