A First Birthday & a Well-Check

Ella had a fabulous birthday.  We actually celebrated Wednesday evening (the 27th), instead of on the 26th, because that way my parents were able to come for the celebration and Nate was able to make his regular Tuesday night Elder's Quorum visits.  We had Indian food for dinner from our favorite Indian restaurant, called Punjab Palace.  Ella feasted on Palak Paneer.  That girl has great taste!  She was more interested in climbing on her presents than in actually opening them.

But once we did get them open, she was happy.

Savannah was pretty interested in helping Ella play with her new toys.

For dessert I made a coconut birthday cake, and Nate helped Ella with the duty of blowing out the candle.

Are you curious to see how much of a mess Ella made eating her piece of cake?

She is a ridiculously clean eater.  Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not!  She will just miss out on having that picture that every other kid seems to have of their faces covered in cake on their first birthday.

Yesterday I took her to see her pediatrician for her one year well-check.  As he was looking over her measurements he said, "Well, it looks like she's going to be tall like her mom!" Snort.  She measured in at 18 pounds 11 ounces and 28 inches long with a head circumference of 44.2 centimeters.  The pediatrician said those numbers put her solidly in the 25th percentile on all fronts.  Other than being a tiny little thing, she is totally healthy!  I'm sorry kid, you may be doomed to a life of being short like your mommy.

Happy First Birthday Ella-bug!

I've decided that it should be against the law to age.  It just isn't right that Ella should be turning ONE today.  I mean seriously, it seems like just yesterday that she was born and I held her in my arms for the first time.

I have made a conscious effort during the past year to enjoy the little moments, but even still, I would blink my eyes and she would change.  In the past month and a half she has cut 4 teeth and started walking.  STOP IT!!!

She loves to eat, so she fits well in our family.  If I'm holding her while I'm eating, her little hand will sneak in and grab bits of food out of my hand or off of my plate.

She loves to dig through the kitchen garbage when no one is looking, finding all sorts of "treasures."  She has a penchant for cuddling and soft things that I hope won't change in the near future.  If you throw a bunch of pillows on the ground, she'll go to the nearest one, lay on it, then crawl to the next one and lay on it, etc.  She adores the cats and does an amazing imitation of Neko's meow.  If you're not looking at them, you would be hard pressed to know which of them was meowing.

She is a bright spot in our family and in our lives.  Happy Birthday Ella, we love you!!

Happy Birthday Squirrel!

How is it that Savannah is three years old today?  Actually, she's been three for almost 15 hours already, since she was born at 11:01 am in Tokyo.  We should have been celebrating at 6:01 pm last night--darn!  I'll have to remember that in the future when she's old enough to understand the concept.

I can't believe that the tiny baby who came out in scary shades of blue and purple is now the tall crazy blonde that has learned to like snuggling and still prefers Japanese food to anything else.

 

 

Happy Birthday Squirrel!  We love you!!!

"It's Savvy's turn now."

Yeah, I know, you probably think that I had forgotten about this blog.  Things have been so busy (I  know, excuses, excuses)!  So let's do a little catch up!

Halloween (FINALLY!)

This year Savannah dressed up as a pumpkin. She still loves pumpkins as much as she did last year and her pumpkin costume still fits, so we figured not to let a good thing go to waste and dressed her up as a pumpkin again.

Ella dressed up as a ladybug (she had to be some sort of bug, right?).

We all went out trick-or-treating to about 5 houses and then Nate went back to our house with Ella so that someone would be there to hand out candy, and Savvy and I continued down the street.  The first house we came to Savvy proudly said, "Trick or treating!" Not bad!  The next house she managed to say "Trick or treat!", but it was before the door opened.  After a few houses she got it down and she proudly told a father that was accompanying some kids, "Look! I got trick or treat!"  After we finished our side of the street, I switched with Nate and he took her out to go down the other side of the street.  He told me that she would get up and ring the doorbell and when other kids would start coming up behind her, she would turn around and tell them, "It's Savvy's turn now."  She came home with an Elmo head full of candy and set up camp at the kitchen table to sort through her booty.

The first thing she ate was a Dum Dum and the second thing was a pack of Smarties.  Luckily she had a few things like a pack of fishy crackers (bless the house that handed those out) that weren't so sugar laden that she chose to eat.

I love you Grandma.

My Grandmother Kenison (my mom's mom) passed away this morning.  I've been meaning to post our Halloween post (I know...it's taking long enough, I'm sorry!), but I think that will have to wait another day.  Nate took the following series of photos this past July during one of our visits with Grandma.  Grandma was having a lively discussion with Savannah about how big she had gotten.

 

 

 

 

Then Grandma wanted to know how many teeth Savannah had.  Savannah didn't respond, so then Grandma said, "Show me your teeth!" When Savannah didn't show her teeth, Grandma said, "Look at Grandma's teeth!"  Such a funny moment.

These are the moments I love and cherish.  We will miss her spunk and the love that she had for all of her family.  I love you Grandma!

My other post about Grandma: http://www.lafujimama.com/2009/11/grandma-raiding-larder-of-my-memory.html

The Great Annual Pumpkin Patch Visit

I seem to be using the same line over and over again on here, but wow, "TIME FLIES!"  I can't believe that another Halloween has come and gone.  The weekend before Halloween we went out to Redlands for our annual trip to The Pumpkin Patch. 

I can't believe how much Savannah has grown and changed since our last visit!  She was even more into the experience than the last time. 

Ella was an angel during the visit, enjoying being held.  She is such a snuggler.

 

 

 

 

Savannah thoroughly enjoyed all of the animals,

 

enjoyed searching for the perfect pumpkin,

and was a little dare devil on the big blow up obstacle course and slides.

 

 

My dad managed to make a new friend during our visit.  Sadly, my mom wouldn't let him bring his new friend home.

A perfect day!

Growing Up

Both of the girls seem to have put the pedal to the metal in the growing arena.  Not physical growth, because both Ella and Savannah seem to have hit temporary plateaus, but mental growth.  Ella changes by the minute, adding new tricks to her repertoire and becoming more and more her own little person.  Her new favorite trick is climbing (something that Savannah never really did).  She scares me.  It's strange to have her starting to feed herself fingers foods,

and wearing some of the clothes that we loved to dress Savvy in, like this dress my parents bought for Savannah in Thailand back in 2007.

She is reaching so many stages and milestones that I remember Savvy hitting.  With Savvy I remember thinking it took forever to reach them, but with Ella they seem to rush at us in spades. 

Savannah continues to grow as well.  We enjoy the funny things that she says. 

Her favorite foods are currently vanilla yogurt (which she calls "flower yogurt" because of the flower that sits next to a vanilla bean on the container of the yogurt we buy), edamame, and mushrooms (raw AND cooked).  Yesterday when I picked her up from Nursery, her Nursery leader told me that Savannah had gone up to her at one point and said, "I have to give you a hug!" and then threw her arms around the Nursery leader's legs. 

She has started saying the blessing on the food sometimes at dinner time all by herself.  Last night when she said the blessing, she proceeded to list out every item on the table, including the plates and silverware, before actually blessing the meal.  It was too funny!  I wonder what thought process prompted that list?

Lately I've blinked and a month is gone.  I'm glad that I chose "Live" as my theme word this year.  It helps me remember to live in the moment and appreciate those moments.  I'm not perfect, but I'm definitely trying to worry about things less and enjoy my moments with my family more. 

New Heights

Ella is feeling much better.

It turned out that she didn't have a bladder infection, so who knows what was really going on! She either had a doozey of a viral infection, or an undiagnosed bacterial infection.  She did seem to respond to antibiotic shot, so who knows!  She is obviously feeling better, because she has decided to go to new heights. 

On Sunday she started pulling herself up on the couch, and now is using anything she can get her hands on to boost her up.

Savannah is also working on attaining new heights, but mostly in the block arena.