Swimming Update

We did it! Well, mostly. Ella is fairly proficient in swimming. She can even take a breath and continue swimming back to the wall. We still have some work to do, but we are all very proud of her accomplishment this summer. She swam atleast4-5 days a week July and August and it paid off. Quinn still loves the water, blows bubbles, kicks, etc. but is not swimming. Maybe next year.

Manzanita, etc.

Granny and Auntie Gilly came to visit in August and we had a blast! It was one of (what seemed like) the only warm/hot weekends we had all summer and we were lucky enough to escape to the coast for a couple days. We had a great time exploring Manzanita and hanging out together. Gilly also introduced the girls to Pudding Paint...as you can see, they clearly thought it was pretty fantastic.

More pictures of their visit HERE

More Pins

Ella and Daphne (an Olivia doll that we decided is really Daphne, from Toot and Puddle) sewed together today.

Craziness

Yesterday afternoon~ Whew! These two are a handful, and it is a miracle Quinn survives each day, the reckless child!!! But the giggles and squeals and screams make everything worth it.

We Start With Pins

Greg woke up at 4:15 am this morning for work, his first day on the cardiac service. It is 9:55 pm now and he is still not home, and probably won't be until well after midnight. Nice first day, huh? Thankfully I had a quiet evening with the girls, did a good job of cleaning up throughout the day, and found myself with a few hours of alone time. Ah, the joy! I started working on a skirt I bought the pattern for 2 years ago, and the fabric for 2 months ago. Getting into the groove again, I hope. BUT, the main reason for writing this now, and not going to bed, is that Ella is interested in learning to sew! I have no idea how to go about teaching a toddler the ropes, and certainly don't remember being taught. I've always known, right Mom? On our last visit to the fabric store, she chose some "fancy" dressmaker's pins and did a nice job carefully putting each one into the tomato pin cushion. After several rearrangements of all the pins, I decided to just see what happened if I let her pin some fabric. And she did it! Without poking her eye out! Or bleeding! She says, "Pinning is the perfect way for little girls like me to learn to sew like big girls like you." I wish I took a picture of her little scraps she leaves on my sewing table all pinned up. Next step, hand stitching with embroidery floss on a plastic needle, in burlap.

She's Taken

While the big girls have swimming, the little ones play...

...make funny faces...

...and wrestle.

Piggies

The upside of a baby mullet is super cute piggies!

On a side note, we got a flash of Ella as a teenager the other night. Greg asked her to face him while he brushed her teeth, and she replied, "But Dad, then I have to look at your face!"

Little Fish

This summer is (or will be) the Summer-Ella-Learned-to-Swim~ Come hell or high water, that girl is going to swim on her own. Her first Oregon winter caused a major setback in her swimming skills, to the point that she cried everytime she got water in her eyes and clung to us in the water like a leach. Now, after 3 sessions of swim lessons and almost daily swims this month as a family (or atleast we 3 girls), she is finally making great progress! She will jump in the water to us, swim 8 feet or so back to the wall (even once taking a breath), float on her belly, float on her back, bob up and down while blowing nose bubbles, etc. Our next hurdle will be to get her to tolerate water in her eyes. She loves her goggles. I am so glad we tried them~ they have been the perfect tool to get her over the fear, but in order for us to feel like she is "pool safe," she needs to be able to swim without them.

And Quinn, in true Quinny style, loves the water. She has no fear, jumps in, goes under water, holds her breath, blows bubbles. Not a fan of the back float, but her comfort in the water makes teaching Ella so much easier.

Portraits

3 so far has been the year of "It's my prerogative" which also translates to "I will never smile for a camera, in fact, I think I will frown or make the ugliest face I possibly can." However, I caught her in an unusually good mood the other morning and got one halfway decent picture, and another super-cute picture, except for the baby puff between her teeth. I'll take what I can get...

And, in the spirit of striking while the iron is hot, I also lucked into a couple cute ones of Quinn in her adorable little outfit from Sarah:

15 Months

Our baby is not a baby anymore. She is race-walking, talking and playing like a toddler these days. Her time is spent pacing the house with no regard to where I am (even venturing outside on her own!!! scary) looking for trouble. Her favorite activities are playing in the dog bowls, the toilet and cabinets, climbing the stairs and slide, throwing all her pacis out of the crib at 5am forcing herself awake(followed by our routine: "Ella?" Ella's sleeping. "sssssshhhhh. Daddy?" Daddy's at work. "Mammmaaaaaaaa") , swimming both in our kiddie pool and the real pool (jumping in and holding her breath! another water baby in the making), putting objects inside containers, has stopped putting everything in her mouth, more like 50%, enjoys short books, mimics Ella, sings the "oh, oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh's" of Oh My God while bouncing her head in the car, loves her bottle, plays in the toy kitchen, yells "Dadddd-dddeee" when she hears the screen door open in the kitchen and goes running to see him, even if it isn't in fact him, and on and on. I guess she has a lot of favorites!

*Mama*Dada*Ella*More*Down*Doggie*Baby*Bye*Ball*Book*No*Go*Cracker*Shoe*Juice*

*Bottle*Nana*Hello*Paci*Waffle*Gone*Blueberry*Done*Two*Water*Cheese*

Two word strings: "Ella Juice" and "Bottle Gone"