Day Forty Four and Counting...

The girls were very happy to have a visit with Grandma today!  Grace was nearly beside herself with glee!  And Olivia was wobbling all over, giggling!
Olivia has gotten really comfortable with walking, and nearly never crawls at home anymore!  Her big thing now is to walk with something in her hands - usually something in both!
Grandma walks with a cane (to help with her bad back) and Olivia decided that she wanted to try out walking with a cane herself!

 

  

She looked like a little warrior with a sword or staff that was just a few sizes too big!

Jeremy buys me some terrific yogurt from a small business called Devizes Cheese Factory, and some locally made jam to add to it.  So, I fed Olivia some for dessert at dinner and Grace asked for some.  She liked the first few bites...

But soon wasn't so sure!  (It is plain yogurt after all!)

Day Forty Three and Counting...

Yay!  Friday!  And a long weekend to boot!  Hooray!
We had our Valentine's Day celebration a few days early, and Grace was thrilled!  She got to wear her new 'Valentine princess dress' from great grandma Fairbanks!  Livie has a matching one, but its still a little too big!  She will get to wear hers in the spring/summer.  (And you can bet that I will have photos of the two of them together!)

I think the girls were picking up on my happiness of it being the beginning of the weekend... and they were feeling a little silly, themselves!
Grace gave me a series of moods to take pictures of, after I started snapping shots of Livie 'being cute'.  She just had to get in on it, don't you know?!

 

Grace 'being cute'!

 Grace 'being angry'! (Very intimidating, no?)

 

Grace 'being sad'!  (Awww... check out that lower lip!)

Grace 'being silly'! (How this is any different from usual is beyond me!)

Grace's kissy face!

So, pretty much since Olivia was about six months old, she has played a silly little game where she cocks her head to the side, and grins.  We called it 'being cute', and to encourage her to do it we would say, "Aww, be cute, Livie!"  and she would do it over and over again.  And Grace picked up on it too.  She would (and does!) do it, and it was really the first 'game' that the girls played.  It disappeared for a while, and then they were suddenly at it again tonight, and it was just hilarious!  (As per the above shots of Grace!)

 

'Being cute' and singing "Ahhh!" at the same time!

She is giggling at me and Grace doing our 'be cute'!

 

(sigh.) What a beautiful smile!  Definitely cute!

Day Forty Two and Counting...

Grace has really been working hard on her drawing of faces and people.  She is very big on getting the details right.  And her latest muse?  Grammy Kelly!

 

(I inverted the colours to show her details!)

In the middle, you can see her eyes and nose... and the space where Grammy's mouth is?  That is Grammy wearing her pretty lipstick!  Grace shared some of Grammy Kelly's lipstick while they were visiting, and she is still talking about it!

Grace and Olivia are still nuts for their new musical toys, too.  Grace cannot walk past Olivia's Lil' Superstar without pushing a button to play music to dance to!

 

And Olivia found a little recipe card before school... and it was like finding a special treasure!

 

She found the card!  Check out the little tippy-toes!

A satisfied smile, for sure!

Day Forty One and Counting...

Wow.  We barely survived the day.  That is to say, Grace barely survived the day!  The poor kid was so tired!  She farted around all through lunch, and then through nap time too.  She was exhausted!  It was just one meltdown after another through the afternoon.  It was a relief to take her home.  And she was just so pleased to see Daddy.  Maybe a daddy-fix, and some quiet time with just one playmate was just what she needed.

 

A little duet on Grace's new keyboard..!

We be jammin'!

Day Forty and Counting...

There was a wonderful surprise waiting for us girls when we got home today!  Olivia's birthday package from Aunt Jenn and Uncle Josh arrived!  It is always an event when we get packages in the mail, and we all wanted to 'help' open Olivia's!

Grace was very pleased to see this on the outside packaging - just for her:

Olivia is an old hand at unwrapping gifts now, and couldn't wait to get a hold on her package...!

 

  

  

(Note the lady like pinkie finger...!)

  

I found my card, Mommy!

Her adorable birthday card!

 

Grace helped Olivia 'read' her card!

  

Hey, I found pants in here!

There was a LOT of stuff in that little bag... hey, where did the bag go?

Anything else in here?  Aunt Jenn?  Uncle Josh? Halloooo?

 

Just cutie me!

There really is nothing like getting 'happy mail'!  And getting such a great gift for my little one year old really is fantastic happy mail!  Those adorable outfits (as well as the others she received!) will surely have a starring role in later posts, I have no doubt!  (Thanks Aunt Jenn and Uncle Josh!)

Day Thirty Nine and Counting...

The whole day just oozed 'Monday', but my girls were just happy little people after school!  It's never fun to bring home cranky kids, so it was just such a relief to bring home contented and pleased-to-be-here kids! 

While chef Mommy was hard at work, the girls were busily playing!

 

Here, Livie is poking at her new dolly... it has a crazy sounding giggle!  She really isn't too sure what to do with it!
 

Drawing a picture of Daddy!
 

Not the best photo, but its a picture of Mommy!

After dinner, it was off to play with their new musical toys... time to dance, and waddle around!

Dancing... in her new shoes!

 

Livie was 'running' away, giggling as I called to her to stop for a picture!

She finally stops, and gives me a 'look'!  Too cute!

Day Thirty Eight and Counting...

Our visit with Pop C. and Grammy Kelly, and Aunt Natalie and Uncle Rob continued today!  The girls were very happy to see them again this morning!
The girls were more relaxed and comfortable with everyone, and showed much more of their personalities.  It was so nice to watch them interacting with their grandparents.

 

Pop C. and Grace sharing a story!
 

Pop C. was trying to get Olivia to look at the camera, but she was busy watching Grammy Kelly with her camera!

The Cramer men... slouching.

Grace wanted in on the slouching, too!

Then it was time for everyone to go home again.  Grace doesn't do goodbyes very well, and she was tired.  She had a meltdown just as the family was departing.  She was sad to see everyone leave, but she is looking forward to going to Florida to see her grandparents in July.