Successful family picnic!

This time we managed to secure a spot in the shade, and I actually remembered diapers!

And imagine Paige's delight when we ran into Ellery, her dolls namesake! We were eating our food when we heard a man call "Ellery!" and we all looked! I couldn't see from where we were sitting if it was really her, and I had never seen her dad, so Mike and Paige went to check it out. Paige was too shy to say if it was her or not, but after Mike asked, indeed it was!

First Movie Theatre Experience!

Mike took Paige to see Toy Story 3 on a whim yesterday afternoon. It was a nice father daughter outing, and it definitely made Paige feel special. He said she was talking quite a bit at the beginning, asking why the lights were out, etc. before he explained to her that you had to be quiet. There were a few scary parts, but he said that other kids were talking, crying, etc. so it was ok. Apparently she alternated between the seat and sitting on his lap. She was so tired out at the end of it that she fell asleep in the car at 6:15, was transferred into her bed and continued to sleep until I woke her up at 7:30. She was still too tired to eat dinner, and went back to sleep for the night. I guess the long movie and the overwhelming environment really tired her out.

I would have liked to be there for her first theatre experience, but I usually get to take her to all of her firsts. Nice for Daddy to have a turn. I'll take Rose to her first movie.

Dentist visit.

Paige and I went to the dentist today to get our teeth cleaned (Rose came along for the ride of course). This was Paige's second teeth cleaning. The hygenist started to clean my teeth with Paige in my lap, and Rose started to act up. We decided to shuffle things around and Paige would go first. She wanted me to hold her hand so I held Rose in one hand, and Paige's hand with the other. She was soo sooo good. She let the hygenist do everything she needed to do. Apparently her teeth are in good shape and we've been doing a good job. After the appointment she got to pick a sticker and a prize from a basket. She chose a car sticker and a shimmery snap bracelet.

All in all a good visit, as when it was my turn Rose sat nicely in her car seat and drifted off to sleep. I also got to thank the receptionist for telling me about the "Chinese food induction" when I was pregnant (remember the 2 ladies there swore that chinese food causes you to go into labour, and then I actually went into labour after eating chinese food!!??).

I forgot I needed a filling, so we'll be back there next week again.

fun with cushions...

I took the cover off the chair in her room to wash it. Well, this was endless fun. She did some jumping and stacking, and made a Wonder Pets flyboat. She was mad when I had to put the cushions back in the chair at the end of the day.

New responsibilites...

Paige has taken on her first responsibility. It is her job now to feed the fish. She gets to take a couple of pinches and dump it in the tank. I hope this doesn't lead to her attempting to do it on her own. I can just envision a tank full of food.

New backyard fun!

" Making mud pies" by Little Tikes. You pour water into it which you can pump out the faucet. Then you just need sand from the sandbox and you can mix it all up with the mixer!!

Trying new things...

Paige has been a little challenging lately. A lot of whining, not listening, etc. Sometimes complete defiance. I have decided to take advantage of Rose's long afternoon nap to really spend a lot of quality time with Paige. It is good for both of us to spend the one on one time together like we used to. It is obvious that Paige loves that she is the center of attention for those few hours, and since Rose is away for about 3 hours our time isn't interupted by diaper changes, feeding, etc. I have to do any house work, laundry, etc. outside of that time. Although today we did a lot of playing before lunch as well, so she is watching a tv show while I blog. We usually go out in the morning, so the chores I do are usually early morning, or later afternoon.

I also decided to do the following things:

1. Change into daytime clothes right after breakfast. That way when we go out, all we need to do is brush her teeth and it isn't a big long process to get out the door.
2. Pyjamas on after dinner (if she has a bath we won't do this obviously, but she doesn't have one every night, and sometimes i have been giving her a bath before dinner if we are eating later).
3. Lunch earlier between 12 and 12:30
4. More time out front of our house where it is shady in the morning. The main toys are out back, but we can still do sidewalk chalk, bubbles, tricycle, etc. out front.
5. Backyard time before dinner where it is shady. Shade is key as it has been soo sooo sooo hot lately, and paige hates the heat. And I can't bring Rose out when it's like that.

I think having a bit more of a routine, and trying to do lots of different activities, combined with spending a lot of time together will really help.

Paige is still really in Rose's face all of the time, so I decided to get out some baby toys (even though she can't play with them yet) and I get Paige to show them to Rose as part of Rose's "awake play time" on her mat so that she can feel involved without resorting to acting crazy around her. Paige says "She likes it! She's looking at it!" So cute.

Sleeping through the night, and a thumb sucking montage!

We have a thumb sucker!! In some ways I am not happy about this as I know it can cause dental problems, and you can't take it away. We only had to deal with a few bad days when we took away Paige's soother. A thumb sucker now could be a thumb sucker for the next 6 years! On the plus side, she can't lose her thumb. She has woken up from a nap crying a couple of times in the past week. I go in to check on her only to discover that she is asleep again with her thumb in her mouth. The thumb only works when she has already been sleeping. If she is trying to get to sleep she needs her soother.

Also new this week.... she started to sleep through the night! On Sunday night she slept from 9-8, On Monday from 8:30-5:30, and last night from 8:30-5:45 (On Tuesday she woke up at 3:45 to eat). On the days she has woken up past 5:30 she is up for the day. A bit rough for me to get up so early for the day, but Rose and I catch up on shows for an hour until she has her first nap. Then I have my shower before Paige gets up. So it actually works quite well. And with this newfound night time routine came a long afternoon nap. She goes to sleep at around 12:30, and has been waking up between 3:30 and 4:00.

She has been such an easy baby (knock on wood...everyone!) Predictable naps, the ability to drift off to sleep without constant rocking or motion, very portable, few freakouts, pleasant and happy. Such a nice 2nd baby to have. I don't take any minute for granted, that's for sure. She loves sitting up with someone holding her, or being held in the standing position. The bouncy chair is falling out of favour lately. She doesn't like lounging around like that anymore. It'll be great when she can sit in the bumbo seat with a couple of toys on the tray.

Birthday party with the family...

As is tradition, we had a family dinner at our house to celebrate as well. As is tradition, Amanda baked the cake, which was soo soooo yummy!! We had a BBQ, and tons of chips and appetizers. Paige had fun showing off her new play dough sets to everyone. She was very polite while opening gift, saying thank you and giving out hugs. She remembered to open the cards first. After opening gifts she would yell out "Woohoo!!" when she saw what it was.

Thanks for coming everyone!

Friend Party!

On the morning of the 10th, we met 2 of Paige's friends (Clara and Amy) down at the waterfront in Downtown Burlington for some fun in the splash pad and park. The girls wanted to go in the water instantly. That was short lived for Paige who got cold pretty quickly and wanted a snack and to go on the regular park. We secured the best location in the park, under a nice shaded tree with a picnic table. We also had purchased our own beach umbrella and set that up too for additional shade. We packed a picnic lunch for everyone along with some cupcakes. Note to self--always bring extra cupcakes. Paige's cupcake fell on the ground and we gave her a new one. If we didn't have that it would have been game over!!

Aftern lunch there was more fun in the water and then it was gift time.

Great party and great weather!! Rose slept for pretty much the entire time.