Baby Natalie's Shower...

Today Ali and Juju went to baby Natalie's shower. Our friends Dan and Laura had their first girl on January 10th. Natalie is such a sweet little baby, she slept peacefully throughout the baby shower. All of a sudden Juliette looks so big compared to 3-week-old Natalie.

Ella calls macaroni, "wackaroni"

So far no luck giving Juliette a bottle... but we will keep trying.

Understanding Ella

Ella is talking a lot these days. Some things she says are easy to understand, while other words or phrases she says can be a little confusing. Here is a mini-guide to understanding what Ella is saying:

go-gos = overalls

shoon = spoon

up here = I want to sit on the counter

my = mine (and this applies to pretty much everything)

oh no fall = either she fell or she dropped something

Moo = our friend Miriam who lives across the street and whom Ella adores

super Ella = she is standing on something and quite impressed with herself

Mama super / Dada super = she would like either Mama or Dada to stand on whatever she is standing on and say "super Mama/ super Dada"

midifier on = turn the humidifier on

jammies ott = take my pyjamas off

oh no, soupy = the floor is slippery

garbage, it's garbage = she is about to put something in the garbage (be sure to examine what she is going to discard because it isn't always garbage)

baby jumpa jumpa = put Juju in the jolly jumper

baby nap = I want all of the attention and Juliette should be napping

Phone Etiquette

Ella has been practicing her phone etiquette. She is seen in this video saying "hello", "goodbye", "how's it going?" and "call back".

New Seating Plan...

In true teacher fashion we've switched up the seating plan at the dinner table. Ella is now in a booster seat and Juju is in the high chair.

Look at this big girl, sitting in a big chair and feeding herself yogurt with a spoon!

Juju is starting to love books... especially ones with lots of contrasting black and white patterns.

Great Grandpa's House

This afternoon we met Grandma at Great Grandpa's house. Ella and Juliette were happy to see them both and we had a nice visit.

Great Grandpa looks quite comfortable... an almost 90-year-old holding an almost 5-month-old.

Ella likes to climb on Juju's legs and say 'horsey, horsey, horsey'.

Nobody can make Juliette smile like Ella does- when Juliette sees Ella doing something funny she giggles and smiles.

19 months

Ella had her 18 month shots this week (even though she is 19 months) and her latest weight is 23.5 pounds...pretty light for her age. Surprising given that she eats almost as much as us for some meals!

Daddy's three beautiful girls!

On Saturday night, grandpa Rob came over for dinner and babysat while we got out for a date night. Here, Juliette is nestled on Grandpa's side and Ella is 'reading' her favorite book as of late - "Where's kitty?" Mom and Dad got out for some intense games of ping pong and some dessert at Moxies. Thanks Grandpa!

4.5 months

Juliette had her four month shots last week and she took them in stride like she does most things. We also had the chance to weigh and measure our littlest one. Her weight is 13 pounds 15 ounces and her height or more likely her length is 25 and 3/4 inches. As a comparison, Ella weighed 14-2 and was 25 1/4 at the same age (they are so close in size!) Juliette is in the 50th percentile for her weight and head size and in the 95th for her length.

Juju is getting better and better at jumping in the Jolly Jumper these days.

Here are Juliette's friends: Oren in the middle and Emily on the left.

Ella May and Juliette Marie...

I absolutely love this picture of Ella. It is so classic- sippy cup in one hand and cracker in the other. I can almost hear her, with her mouth full, asking for "more cracka".

A smiley Juju!

Ella knows that she isn't supposed to touch the keyboard or the mouse. The other day, she took advantage of the fact that she was the only one in the room and snuck on the computer. Spencer came downstairs to find her sitting in the chair with one hand on the mouse and one on the keyboard. When she saw him she said "email".
Juliette has graduated to new toys. She is now playing with Sophie the giraffe...
and she also enjoys the bouncy car!

Ella also has a new toy. Her Uncle Jesse and Auntie Morgan gave her a new bike / car for Christmas. She loves it!

At the end of December we had a nice visit with Uncle Marzi and Auntie Jaynie. Uncle took some awesome pictures of the girls...