November 21

Have I mentioned that Caleb is obsessed with Cinderella? Because he is. He asks anyone he can find if they will dance with him, he loves wearing pretend ball gowns, and his favorite game right now is pretending to be Cinderella and asking you to rip his dress. I love his pretend play and absolutely want to encourage it, but it's hard that he wants so desperately to dress up like a... princess. 

Now. I have no problem with him wearing princess dresses for dress-up occasionally. In fact, Chris took us out to breakfast this morning and Caleb wore Lightning McQueen slippers and a pink hair bow. But I am not going to go out and purchase sparkly dress-up costumes just for him. I can't make myself do it. I was lamenting this to Amber the other day, and she had a brilliant suggestion: sparkly prince outfits.

Caleb ate all of his dinner tonight, and his reward was a "Prince Charming crown", hand made by Mommy. As an added bonus, we re-discovered his butterfly wings from our friend Mary's birthday party this summer.

Caleb Prince Charming was beyond pleased.

Also, he informed me that this is his "Stepmother Face". You know, like the mean stepmother in Cinderella?

(image from here)

I think he does a pretty good impersonation!

There's my happy boy, checking out his ensemble in the mirror.

November 19

We didn't leave the house today, and I stayed in my jammies all day. It was good for my soul, but left me feeling just as exhausted as if we'd been running around all day.

The highlight of Caleb's day was helping me wash dishes. (I know. We're exciting.)

Also, Daisy said her first sentence today. Actually, she said several sentences today, but this was the first time she clearly expressed a complete thought all by herself. I was changing her diaper when she said, "Bears  sit chairs." Clearly, she was referring to the book Goodnight, Moon, which we didn't read at all today. She was just thinking about how there were three little bears sitting on chairs, and she wanted to talk about it. Funny girl!

November 17

Chris and I needed some uninterrupted time to install our new dishwasher today, so we did the unthinkable:

We plopped our kids in front of the TV and put a movie on.

Do I need to explain how rare this is for us? Because it's pretty rare. It was one of the first times we've ever really let Daisy watch a movie. Our movie of choice? Cinderella. (Thank you to the lady who was selling VHS tapes of Disney classics for fifty cents a pop at her garage sale!) Caleb loves it, especially the mice. Daisy lasted about twenty minutes, and then she was antsy. She climbed all over the couch, played with the curtains, played with Caleb's hair, but remarkably, she stayed on the couch the whole time. Just what we needed.

As Chris and I were struggling in the kitchen, I heard Daisy say, "Hold you! Lap! Holdyou lap!" I looked out and saw that she had climbed into Caleb's lap, and he had wrapped his arms around her.

Sadly, by the time I got my camera, arranged my settings, and took my photo, she was almost done. This was the only shot I got. But still, it's my darlings snuggling and watching Cinderella, and I love it.

I also love our new dishwasher, which is finally installed, thanks to our fabulous neighbor.

November 16

Chris and I stayed up late last night, removing our old dishwasher. The kids and I waited all morning for the delivery man to come with the new dishwasher, but he was late. Daisy missed the delivery, and I was just getting ready to put Caleb down for his nap when the dishwasher finally showed up. Hopefully we'll get this bad boy installed sometime tonight or tomorrow!

In the meantime, this is a video of Caleb and Daisy sitting on the counter (above where that new dishwasher will go!), attempting to sing "Life is a Highway". Usually they sing it a lot better (especially Daisy), but they got a little bit camera-shy.

We actually had a pretty musical day. Here's Caleb multi-tasking: snack time and drum time.

It was beautiful out this afternoon, so we spent most of it outside. It's so sad that the sun has already set when Chris gets home from work!

Caleb whizzed down the hill on his bike.

Daisy wouldn't set her cup of milk down long enough to ride her bike. The poor girl is just like her mama - she wants everything, and she wants it NOW!

Caleb practiced bubble-blowing in the sunshine,

and Daisy gave her bike a tune-up as the sun's rays faded.

November 14

This is what mornings look like at our house:

Also, this:

(Looking out the kitchen window to see some birds taking a bath in the back yard.)

November 13

These pictures are pretty much the only time Daisy was happy today.

She's sick. 

Again.

She hadn't even fully recovered from her last (two-week-long) cold when her nose started running with a new one. Girl is miserable, and it showed. I put her down for a nap at 9:30 this morning because 1. She was exhausted and 2. At her 18-month checkup the doctor said Daisy was probably sleep-deprived and that I should go back to two naps a day for her. So I tried it.

She woke up from her morning nap just in time for me to put Caleb down for his nap. (This is why I hate two naps a day for her.) We did get some quality time in, though, and she had lots of fun coloring and playing with Play-doh.

But that second nap?

Yeah. It definitely didn't happen.

Mama who got no break today + whiny, fussy, tired toddler = bad afternoon.

Let's pray that she sleeps well tonight.

November 11

 It was my turn to go to church with Caleb today, so Chris stayed home with Daisy. 

(Side note: We are getting so sick of this arrangement, but if it keeps Daisy that much healthier, we'll ride it out. I think that once we're through the winter - perhaps March or April - I'll feel comfortable taking her to church again. For now, we're following the immunologist's advice, as annoying as it is.)

I came home to find these photos on my camera:

At first, I thought the chef's outfit was Daisy's idea.

Upon closer inspection, it may have been Daddy's idea.

It turns out that the outfit was Daisy's idea, but the pictures were Daddy's. Daisy loves looking at her picture on the camera, but doesn't yet understand that she has to hold still and look at the camera in order to see her picture. This was her "I don't want to hold still, Daddy!" face.

Still, she's a cute chef, even if she's an unhappy one!

(Maggie, this outfit has gotten so much play - what a great gift it was! We miss you!)

November 10

When the forecast said today was supposed to be sunny and 75, I knew that we needed to spend as much of the day outside as possible. Our first stop? The farmers market, where Chris purchased five pounds of beef liver. Really. He has discovered how nutrient-rich it is, and he is obsessed. Honestly, I've never even tasted liver, but we're going to give it a go. We also got to see our friends Amber and Michael and their darling children, so it was a good first stop.

After that, we headed to the Museum of Transportation. I bought a Groupon for it a few months ago, and figured it would be wise to visit while it was still warm. All in all, a very good choice.

My favorite part was the miniature train ride. Daisy loved it, too. Every time the train tooted its whistle, she replied, "Choo choo!"

None of these pictures are particularly good - sorry.

My cool kid, rocking his shades and tie-dyed shirt. He insisted on wearing it today.

I'm not sure who is supposed to sit on this chair in the caboose, but Caleb pretended to be the engineer. His favorite trains were the ones he could go inside; everything else was uninteresting to him.

Daisy did lots of walking. What a big girl!

Caleb did lots of running. Except when he insisted on riding on my back in the Ergo. Note to self: just because he can doesn't mean he should. That was hard work!

Steering the caboose?

Poor boy has no idea how trains work, and I don't want to shatter his illusions.

See? Can't get on that train, therefore uninteresting.

On a train, interesting.

My overall impression of the Museum of Transportation? Eh. Maybe I missed something, and maybe the enthusiasm of a small child would help, but it wasn't interactive enough for us. I'm glad we didn't pay full price for the tickets!

November 9

Sunshine makes my heart happy.

It also makes my children happy.

Win win.

Completely out of the blue today, Caleb asked to wear his wig. 

Why not?

I'm sure the neighbors thought we were crazy as he ran around the front yard and up and down the sidewalk with his shiny blue mullet, but he was so happy!

After naps, we played in the backyard. (It was much too beautiful today to waste any non-sleeping time inside!)

This was right after he took a flying ninja-leap into the butterfly garden.

Then he found this rock. Apparently it was quite heavy; hence the look of concern/strain on his face.

Meanwhile, Daisy sat in a chair and perused the Buy Buy Baby ad that came in the mail. She was particularly fond of the Sesame Street toys and a baby girl model who looked like her friend Hannah.

Oh. Caleb also spent quite a bit of time cavorting about in his Superman cape. He has recently discovered superheroes, due to the library displaying Spider and Superman "My First Reader" books right at his eye level. He told me today that I should make him a Superman shirt. Yesterday, he told me I should buy him a Spiderman mask and a Spiderman outfit.

This sweet girl has knocked her head six or seven times in the past two days. Poor thing. Before I made dinner tonight, I unloaded the dishwasher. Daisy was desperate to help. She ended up putting all of the kids' plates and cups away, and handing me each piece of silverware. What a sweet child she is!

And him. He's been asking me to sing him Christmas songs before bedtime lately. His favorite is "Drummer Boy". I kind of love him.

November 8

Today marks one month since we started the GAPS diet. It was also Daisy's 18-month check up with her doctor.

Exactly one month ago, my bathroom scale said Daisy weighed 18.6 pounds. Today, it said she weighed 19.4 pounds. That means that in our first month of GAPS, Daisy gained nearly a pound! That's huge, friends! I knew this before we went to the doctor, but I was still worried. What if that still wasn't enough? What if my scale was off? What if the doctor didn't approve of our crazy diet? But I took a deep breath, looked over some scriptures Chris chose for me, and gave myself permission not to worry. And then I worried and uttered a swift prayer. 

I had no reason to worry. Daisy rocked her appointment. Her official weight was 19 pounds, 10.6 ounces. People, she is back on the growth charts! The American growth charts, nonetheless! Yes, she's just in the 1st percentile, but still. She has been off the charts for so long now, and I'm really excited about what I hope is an upward trend.

She also clocked in at 31.5 inches tall, which is the 43rd percentile, and had a head circumference of 18.9 inches, which is the 89th percentile. Clearly, the girl is growing in every way possible. She also aced all of her developmental milestones - the only one she fell short on was running. Since the girl just started really walking last month, I think it's fair that she isn't quite at running yet. But it's not for not trying; she tries to run every day, but it just ends up being a quick lumber. Funny girl.

In other checkup news, Daisy has her first ear infection (not surprising since she's on day 12 of this cold). Luckily, it's not severe enough to warrant antibiotics yet, so we're waiting to see if her body can heal itself (with the help of a little garlic oil in her ear).

She fell asleep on her way home from the checkup, but when she and Caleb woke up, we enjoyed a beautiful fall afternoon outside.

We originally intended to swing in the back yard, but we walked through the garage and the girl found this ball. After that, there was no going in the backyard. All she wanted to do was walk around with this ball. 

What ear infection? Apparently it only bothers her at night, when she's supposed to be sleeping. Go figure.

Daisy ended up holding that ball and walking all the way down the sidewalk, past the neighbor's house, before I realized that the girl wasn't going to stop and I needed to go after her. She is just like her mama.

While Daisy played ball, I grabbed the rake. As I raked away, Caleb went into the garage, grabbed his own rake, and joined me. What a good boy. Soon, we had a pile big enough for hiding in. 

All in all, a good day!