Happy spring. I thought I would be able to get this one done on time, but it turned out it was only April 1st. I've also got about 2 months of pictures to get posted...they're scanned now, but you know how it is. There was the March Madness, and the Clone Wars. I had a flat tire. An old friend came in from out of town. I didn't have anything clean to wear. There was a tornado, an earthquake, a terrible flood. You've gotta believe me!!! Let's just move on, shall we?
Phoebe was the girl of the month this time, but she promptly started off her 2nd year of life with an ear infection. It was her first since last year at this time, so that was great! We picked up the antibiotics, and Phoebe dutifully took the medicine. In fact, she requested it after every meal. What a great age. No more holding her down and forcing it in her mouth. Also to mark her passage to 2-year-old-ness, we have officially moved Phoebe to the booster seat and made her a resident at the table. She got her official alphabet and numbers placemat, and Ellen moved around the corner to the opposite end of the table from me. The kitchen feels much bigger already without the highchair in there. Lot's o' milestones this month as Phoebe started really being able to get herself dressed in outfits that she puts together herself (she does better than me sometimes even...other times...not so much). The only thing she can't do is get her own diaper on, but she is peeing in the potty when we have her try, so maybe we can get her out of those soon. (yeah, we can dream). With her newly acquired matching skills, she is also helping with laundry duty. She goes through and finds her clothes and puts them away. She even matches her socks. Talking the whole time she does it. "My 'ock. Ellie 'ock.". We had been waiting for Spring Break when we were both home to have Phoebe start sleeping in her big girl bed, but a week before we started spring break, she decided that she'd like to try. So on that Saturday (March 12, 2005), Phoebe napped for the first time in her big girl bed. She only got out once and came padding into my room where I was trying to nap to see what I was doing. It was funny, but I had to be stern and tell her to stay in bed. She did eventually sleep for a little while. She slept in the crib for night time, but then the next day, she slept the entire nap time in the bed without getting out once. She did naps in the big girl bed Monday and Tuesday, and then that Tuesday night after (3/15/05) she decided that she wanted to sleep in the big girl bed, so sleep in it she did, and she hasn't gone back. Though it's still assembled in her room since we have no where else to store it right now. During these nap times, Phoebe has been showing off her singing abilities just as Ellen did at this age. She sings the ABC song, and she can get to G. She also enjoys singing "Old McDonald". She makes up her own songs too. Finally, (maybe not finally since I'm doing this so late), she really knows her colors well, and can say them. Her first color to name and say was purple. I think the only color I haven't heard her say is yellow. Like I said, it was a busy month.
Ellen had quite a few fun times herself this month. All of her birthday buddies had b-days around this time as well. The final one was her friend Paige's party. She got to wear princess dresses, play outside, and dig in the dirt. It was a rousing success. We also bought a new bed frame for her twin bed. It was actually a bunk bed that we got at a garage sale so that we could eventually move both girls into Ellen's room which is bigger of the two and make Phoebe's current room into the play room. However, our plans were de-railed when we discovered that the bunk bed was made for mattresses without the box springs. So we scrapped the bunk bed plan for now, stored the second frame in the garage, and kept the other frame for Ellen's bedroom. We'll revisit it later. We didn't have anywhere to store a brand new box spring, and we didn't want to get rid of it. We got a whole lot of new outfits for bdays and hand-me-downs for Ellen. She's been doing a good job of matching up her outfits and making new ones all on her own...again, she does it a whole lot better than I do. Ellen's vocabulary is constantly expanding as well. When we read books, she asks about words that she hasn't heard before like "continued." The gorgeous weather continued this month right up until spring break, so Ellen got to ride her bike a lot more. Her dance class ended also, so she does some of her own modern dance moves around the house. She's quite good especially when she thinks we're not watching. Of course, as soon as we start watching with the video camera, she starts acting very silly. Ellen has also benefited from Phoebe's move to the table. Ellen doesn't sit in a booster seat any more, and she has moved up to a bigger sized cup at the table as Phoebe has ended her use of sippy cups at the table.
As for our various family activities this month, again, due to the extended run of unseasonably warm, sunny weather this month, we were able to get the girls out for a ride in the trailer behind the tandem. We all rode to the library for new books and back again. Jada and I got out for a ride on our own also during their nap time while Jada's mom babysat. She's been very nice taking care of that for us while we go out training for our big ride in June. Finally, Spring Break arrived just as the weather returned to normal early spring/late winter weather for Oregon. We decided to go to Sunriver, OR for a few days. It's just South of Bend in Central Oregon. We went with Phoebe's Godmother for vacation. It was a nice 4 days/3 nights. We had good weather the first morning, so we went to the High Desert Museum where we got to see lots of dioramas and native species of the area like otters and birds of prey. The next morning, we woke up to a light dusting of snow! So we all went out to walk around in it. We got to see deer out grazing, and the girls got to wear their new snow bibs and boots. It stopped and melted quickly. By afternoon, it had completely gone, and dried up so we went out on the tandem with the trailer for an 8 mile ride in the cold. We just beat the snow and rain though. By the next morning, it had snowed a lot more (maybe 4 inches). So we all went out and played in it again. Then we got loaded up and headed back to Beaverton. It snowed on us all the way north to the intersection of Highway 26 and 35. Then it was dry up and over Mount Hood. The rest of spring break involved getting a lot of errands done.
The most important errand was getting the girls in for their yearly doctor's appointments. After some initial issues with the girls' measurements (nurse's error, not a growth problem). Both the girls did a great job answering questions and showing off for the doctor. Phoebe was jumping up and down and enjoying wearing her gown. Phoebe is putting together 3 to 4 word sentences now and this actually took us by surprise in the doctor's office We had just said that she was putting together 2 to 3 word sentences, when she asked the doctor to "look at my back" while she was checking Ellen's breathing. Ellen also peed in a cup again this year which impressed the doctor quite a bit. The only sad part were the shots. Both girls got them. Ellen got 1 and Phoebe got 2. Ellen was very brave. She cried, but she was better after a little while. Even Phoebe recovered more quickly after the shots than she did that morning when she screamed because she didn't get what she wanted for breakfast. Ah, the two's have started for her already.
Ellen: weight 35 lbs. 10 oz., height 39 7/8 ", Blood pressure 96/60 (50-75 %)
Phoebe: weight 25 lbs. 11 oz., height 34 ", Head Circumference 18 3/8 " (25-50 %)
Finally, Easter came. The Easter bunny left a basket of hand puppets, coin purses, and stickers in the girl's rooms for when they woke up. They were excited. Phoebe got a duck and Ellen got a lamb. They each got a bunny. That evening, we went to our good friends', the Casey's, house for dinner. It's fun that the girls can play with Julia and Kevin, who are 5 and 7 respectively, so well.
That's the month that was. I will get the pics posted soon.
Journal Entry: April 7, 2005