Day 341 - December 6

Here it is, December 9th, and I'm finally back-tracking to the 6th. I'm glad I've been taking the pictures, but getting them posted is a whole other story.

So now I can't even remember what happened on Thursday...

I think I just hung out at the house with the girls. Oh yeah. I had big plans to go to the post office and then it never happened. And then I took Cate to the doctor for her 4 month check up (a couple weeks late).

She was up to 14lbs, 9 oz., and 24.5 inches long. She's tracking right along on her own growth curve (right in the 50th-ish percentile), is meeting all her milestones, and has been referred out to see an ophthalmologist because her bottom eyelashes on her left eye seem to want to grow up and into her eye instead of out. We'll see how that plays out.

Meanwhile, she's recently come to really enjoy her playmate and has figured out how to chew on stuff, kick the big whale pillow on it, and also make noise by kicking toys, too. That lasts about 10 minutes and then she's ready to do something else, usually. Seems familiar!

Day 340 - December 5

Wanna know how well my brain works these days? I had to look back two whole days to see if I had mentioned our Elf on a Shelf, Lulu. I'm in rough shape.

Anywho.

So far we haven't been overly creative with Lulu. She spent yesterday sitting on the light over the kitchen table and today sitting in Michaela's stocking.

So for tomorrow, Michaela will find her having a tea party with Barbie and Stacie. And now I need to find some time to actually look at the links I pinned on Pinterest to get some better ideas.

Day 339 - December 4

It was a big day for little Cate. Well, not really. But it was another slap in the face for me in realizing how fast she's growing.

She doesn't use a stroller much (I usually just wear her in my Beco, or we use the Snap N Go with her carseat if we want wheels), but when she has, she's been laying down in the infant part of the Phil & Ted double.

Tonight, Jason thought he'd take her with him on his nightly walk with Fred and had planned to wear the Beco, but it's all nicely adjusted for me. So we decided to try out the ol' Bob stroller and see how she managed that.

She apparently loved it... right up to the part where she got to tired to stay awake. She was super happy to see what was going on around her, though, and fit well in it. So now we have another option for baby transportation!

And thankfully she looks all tiny in there in comparison to how Michaela fits in it, so that makes me a little happy that she's not getting too too big, too too fast.

Day 338 - December 3

The Dorval household was joined by a very special seasonal friend today.

Sometime while I was out picking Michaela up from school, a small Elf made an appearance. Word on the street is that she (yes, she) will be sticking around until Christmas Eve.

My hope is that Lulu inspires some better behavior around here, and that the behavior becomes a habit after trying to be good for so long!!

It wasn't very lady-like of Lulu to hang from the trampoline in a skirt like this, so hopefully she'll try to be a little more modest in the future. But Michaela was pretty excited to find her... and then not touch her!

Day 337 - December 2

Michaela's new favorite pastime is playing in her room. For some reason, she's recently figured out that she can be in there and doesn't have to drag everything out to the living room instead.

And one of her favorite things to do in her room is to turn on her karaoke machine and dance crazy to the Fresh Beat Band (yes, we downloaded the Fresh Beat Band album from iTunes.... ah, parenthood).

Of course, if you're putting on a dance show, you need to have an audience. And what better audience than a bunch of stuffed animals?

Day 336 - December 1

It's DECEMBER!!! I've kept up. I've taken a picture almost every single day again this year (there are a couple cheater posts with recycled pictures). I have a month left only! It seriously seems like yesterday that I was looking at how to get the first year of the blog printed (still haven't done that yet), and trying to decide if I wanted to keep up with this for another year. And here I am... last month!

In keeping with the over-arching theme of my days, I have pictures of the kids today. There's no real explanation for them. Michaela asked to go "chalk" after her nap, so Jason took both kids outside and I eventually joined him, camera in hand.

I was trying to get a good picture of the sun over Michaela's shoulder and now I'm looking forward to the photography workshop I'll be going to in February to get even better at this kind of shot. And since I took a picture of Michaela, I had to take one of the Bug, too.

(I can't decide between the two of Michaela, so I'm posting both.)

Day 335 - November 30

Sometimes it's really weird how much Michaela is like me.

A favorite thing to talk about in my family has always been my reaction to gifts as a small child. No matter the gift, I apparently went through a phase where everything was "just what I always wanted!!!"

It seems like Michaela may have inherited that enthusiasm. In the mail today, she got a set of mini-baking supplies - cookie cutters, a silicone pan, a rolling pin, and a spoon. You would've thought she'd gotten a pony judging by her reaction.

Grandma was pretty excited to know it takes so little to make her happy!