BUBBIE & ZAYDIE VISIT!

We are so thankful that Bubbie & Zaydie came for a week long visit this Thanksgiving holiday.A few of the highlights: visiting Zoe's school, two jaunts to the frozen yogurt shop in town (Zoe was very excited to introduce this new Los Altos landmark!), park outing, swim time with the girls, LOTS of playing, and Thanksgiving, of course!

 Two glitches: inflatable bed didn't want to stay inflated and B's back didn't want an inflatable bed! :-(

Lots and lots of pictures! CLICK HERE.

Video as well, of course. ;-) Click below.

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BUBBIE & ZAYDIE, COME QUICK!

The girls are just a little excited to see Bubbie & Zaydie. ;-) Take a little preview of the cuteness and silliness! B & Z -- we're counting down! Only 8 more days...

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FIRSTS, FLUBBER, FLUENCY & THE LETTER "F"

October was the month of just about everything. We had lots of "firsts" -- everything from holding baby chicks to Ruby's first Halloween (while conscious) to Zoe, the Alphabet Queen, sounding out words.

It was a fun month. The girls were buried in giggles, tantrums, silliness and moments of bliss while:

1. Visiting The Children's Discovery Museum*
2. Celebrating friends birthday parties
3. Baking brownies (I think we made 4 batches!)
4. Making new friends*
5. "Girling-out" with manicures and pedicures
6. Riding horses*
7. Dancing at ballet class and "dance parties" in the house
8. Playing with lots of "Flubber" (pic above) and Play Dough
9. Parenting lots of pretend babies (and dance parties with them as well!)
10. Trick-or-treating, of course
11. Pumpkin carving & decorating and cooking pumpkin seeds
12. Performing at a Halloween show (will update post w/video! some pics linked here though)
13. Playing with lots of friends (play date city!)
14. Practicing lots of letters and sounds (Zoe is alphabet-obsessed!)
15. Showing off with words (Ruby's crazy fluent sporting 8-word sentences throughout the day!)
16. Going to the Disney Princesses on Ice show
17. Picking pumpkins and petting/holding baby chicks*

*More on that below

We finally joined The Children's Discovery Museum. I love this place. It's packed with every possible grain of fun you could think of. Bubbles, water play, face painting, gravity... And you get to touch everything. I have a sneaking suspicion we'll be there a lot in the coming year.

Zoe's thriving so much at school and I think (o.k., please don't let this jinx me) we are over the year long "I throw a tantrum every hour" stage! Please G-d! She's doing great with Deily now and my love-bunny is baaaaaack! Fingers crossed. Salt over shoulder.

School is going great for Zoe and she's made a lot of new friends. She says that she is now friends with (from school) Clara, Lauren, Kimi and Amanda and is "getting to know" Gabbie, Bea, and Sophie. ;-) She's such a big girl -- going on drop-off play dates! Children's Center has a strong focus on the kids building friendship/socialization skills which is probably the most important skill to learn right now. And, speaking of learning, it's super fun to see Zoe so excited about school and learning. She loves the alphabet and writing her letters. Each week her class has "Wonderful Wednesdays" where they focus on one letter and the kids bring in a "share item" that starts with that letter. They started with "f." Apparently, new studies show that this is the easiest one to start with. Interesting, right? She's also starting to sound out words and wanting to know how to spell. It's an exciting time for her!

Ruby is also doing fantastic at her school. It's great practice for next year when Mommy doesn't go with her anymore (hard to imagine). And, we've been getting some special Mommy-Ruby time together. She loves all the art projects and learning to ride her bike. She thanks the teacher most days and sometimes gives her a hug. So sweet.

Ruby has inherited my adventurous/dare-devil streak. She's the one jumping off the couch (and trying to jump in the pool) and climbing everything possible. Zoe and I were signed up for a mommy & me horsemanship class but between the smell of the barn and the height of the horse, Zoe was practically running out to hitch a ride home! Deily and Ruby came to our next class 'cause I had a feeling Ruby would jump at the chance to get on that huge horse. She got special permission to ride (the youngest tot they've ever had riding) and would have mounted the horse herself if she had the strength and height. Ms. Rubes was thrilled to be up so high (seriously, this horse was huge for ME!). Her riding helmet was sinking below her eye level at one point and her shoes literally fell off they were so big. Her next lesson we brought her bike helmet and Zoe's old cowboy boots which were still two or three sizes too big but they did the job (it was hilarious to watch her walk in them!). Ruby is simply filled with fun!

We went out to pick our pumpkins and play around in the local Halloween "farm." O.k., it was in a parking lot but there was a lot of hay and animals. And jumpy houses... And a haunted house... We all held baby chicks for the first time (a "first" for all three of us...how cool is that?). I want one except for the fact that they grow up to be big chickens. As Ruby likes to say "I waaaant it! I waaaaant it!"

Halloween was a huge highlight for the kids. This was Ruby's first true Halloween since she didn't understand what was happening last year, I'm sure. It was so fun to see her go up to her very first house (and all the subsequent ones) and say "trick-or-treat." (note: when looking at the pics, the one with Ruby holding a GIANT candy bar and looking happier than someone who just won the lottery is her FIRST house!) And, I'm happy to report that both of my girls said "thank you" this year. Ruby's first year to be able to say it, of course, and Zoe's shyness did NOT overtake her this year (I have a feeling her sweet tooth propelled her). Both of their "thank you's" and "trick-or-treats" were practically inaudible by humans but, that was o.k. One step at a time!

Besides all of the above the only other notable on my end was a raging toe infection that had me popping Advil every few hours (antibiotics did the job). Oh, and I read the Twighlight series. It was gripping! It's been a while since I've gotten so sucked into a book series. I have my calendar marked for the movie (November 20th!). Note to Bubbie & Zaydie -- we are definitely taking you up on babysitting one night so Greg and I can see this movie! ;-)

Greg and I are trying to keep up with our usual schedule plus a sprinkle more. We've taken on an extra project: educating ourselves about the housing market. We've starting looking a bit in hopes of buying something early next year. The amount of remodeling/updating needed for some of these homes is a scary prospect but we think we can find something with solid bones, at the very least. I'm tickled pink at just the IDEA of putting down some roots. More on that saga in the coming months (we hope!).

Here are a bunch of October pictures. If you missed the links throughout, click here for pictures from Disney Princess on Ice, Halloween, and Zoe's Halloween show at school.

Lots of little videos here (all combined in one video below)! Will post Halloween show in another post. Click below and enjoy!

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UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS

I'm calling this entry "unforgettable moments" but the truth is my disk drive (read: brain) is full and there is just no hope of retaining this stuff. It's these little ditties that hug our days and I know they'll be gone forever if I don't preserve them somehow. Here are a few that haven't jumped out of my brain yet (in no particular order):

Ya Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do

During a moment of discipline, I announced to Zoe “if you continue this behavior you’re going to lose more and more of your favorite things” (I had already kidnapped her new favorite stuffed animal Tanis, her stroller and favorite doll, Kit). Her reply to my threat was “ya gotta do what you gotta do!”

Zoe, You Fall Down?

Zoe had a pretty scary fall down the stairs a couple of months back. Within three hours I had banisters installed! Ruby kept asking Zoe about it “Zoe, you fall down?” she’d ask. Zoe kept telling her “Ruby, don’t worry, I fell down the stairs but I’m o.k. now. I cried a lot but Mommy caught me and I’m o.k.”

Boo Boo City

Ruby had her share of bumps and bruises as well. She’s a bit of a maniac. Any chance she sees to take a dive or a jump she goes for it. So we had lots of boo boo packs, falls off the bed, hard hits to her head on the coffee table and much more. “I fall down! I fall down, Mommy” was a constant phrase. And, of course, any time Zoe gets a boo boo, Ruby dances over to proclaim that she too has a boo boo in the same spot and also needs an ice pack.

Butter, Please!

Ruby has had a peanut butter obsession for the last few months. I used to get her from her cribby in the morning and her first pronouncement was “I want Sissy” or “the flies woke me” or “the birds woke me” or “daddy working?” or “I want daddy.” That ended abruptly once she had the taste of peanut butter. When I’d get her in the morning she begged, “I want butter, Mommy! I want butter!” followed by a hint of whimpering. The peanut butter obsession has now calmed down, thank goodness.

Lost: Baby Giraffe!

Ruby’s entourage has grown (see "Our Jewel Flower is 2"). Unlike Jiffy, Baby Giraffe (also known as “Squishy Jiffy”) is not a twin, triplet or quad. This, of course, is frightening given the fact that Baby Giraffe must be available at all times or we hear painful screams of need “I need my Baby Giraffe!,” “Where’s my Baby Giraffe!,” Get my Baby Giraffe!” We found out what happens when Baby Giraffe takes some alone time and disappears for a while. Every night and naptime she’d lay in her bed saying “Baby Giraffe, where are you? Where are you, Baby Giraffe?” It was the cutest and saddest thing ever. Baby Giraffe was uncovered about a week after her disappearance, hiding in my jacket pocket. You’ve never seen such excitement.

Good Morning, Sweetheart!

Zoe has taken to greeting Ruby in the morning before I make it downstairs. I get Ruby’s milk ready (yes, we’re still heating it!) while Zoe dances down the steps to wish Ruby a good morning and let her know that I’m on my way. It’s too cute to hear them on the monitor. Zoe starts off with her good morning wishes to Ruby. It goes something like this: “hi sweetheart. It’s o.k. Don’t worry, Mommy will be down soon…she’s just getting your milky!” That’s followed by lots of silliness (probably Zoe making funny faces to Ruby) and tons of giggling. So sweet!

The Cleaners

Every couple of weeks the cleaners come. We can usually count on Ruby being scared and upset when they come. Ruby is starting to get used to them now. The last time they were here she said hello to everyone and told me “I no scared anymore, Mommy. I talk to the cleaners!”