Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving spent with family! We went to my parents house. My brother and family were also there. Of course, the girls had a great time playing together...even Amber tried to get involved!

As we were leaving Aunt Tiffanie asked Leah what she was thankful for...her response "swimming." Well, I am thankful for my wonderful family!

Leah's school picture, Kindergarten

Leah looses first tooth

For weeks now, Leah has been wiggling her loose tooth. She was so excited to have her first loose tooth, but has been anxious to know when it would finally come out. Well, ironically, this morning, we had to play "tooth fairy" where one of use would be sleeping with a ring under the pillow and the other would be the tooth fairy. Later in the morning, I was talking to Aunt Vicky on the phone, when Leah states "Mommy, it's getting looser." So, I said "should we have Daddy pull it out." To which she sort of laughed giving me the look, and wondering if I was kidding. She replied "No" just to be sure. Then a few minutes later I heard a scream/squeal and Leah came running to me with tooth in hand and fear on her face. I got off of the phone, gave her a cold water paper towel. As soon as the bleeding stopped, she was as happy as could be to show off her new smile. She is also excited to be able to write on the paper at school which, apparently, is for those who have lost a tooth.

So, now it is official- I have one baby loosing her teeth while one baby is getting her teeth!!

Amber is 9 months!

Our baby is growing up! She is such a delightful baby. Almost always happy. Loves to be entertained by big sister. As we found out last week- DOES NOT like to be left out of play when it involves Daddy and big sister (she screamed until she was included). Since Leah has already claimed the Drama Queen title, I have decided that Amber gets the Drama Princess title! I am so lucky to have two beautiful, fun, and spirited girls. Here is what Amber has been up to in the last month....

• Sleeps on tummy, back and side
• Typically 2 naps a day, sometimes 1
• Sleeps 11 to 12 hours at night
• Outgrew Cranio Cap – stopped wearing it 10/21/ 10, her head looks great! So glad we did this.
• Teeth: 10/21, 10/28, 10/30, 11/5
• Rolling with ease
• Moves to sitting from lying down
• Crawling
• Pulls to tall kneel
• Pulls to stand at a low object
• Climb up the stairs (about 2-3 steps)
• Zoo Boo – 10/24/10
• First Halloween
• Plays peek-a-boo A LOT
• Claps for herself when she does something exciting/new!
• Some new foods – yogurt, banana crackers, graham crackers, cheerios. Oh, and let's not forget the small piece of garlic cheese toast she gobbled up the other night!
• Dances
• Gives open mouth kisses
• Loves to take baths
• Holds bottle
  

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween "season."

We went to Zoo Boo at Como Zoo on 10/24. We went with Leah's buddy, Michael and his parents (our friends), Sara and Mike. The kids had a great time. Leah had no difficulty with the people in costume. She even gave out hi-fives to a few of them. She did not once try to get away or start to cry because of a costume. Progress made!

Leah and Amber both had Halloween parties. Leah at school and Amber at daycare. Amber brought home cookies- and, yes, I did let her have one. She seemed to enjoy it! Leah had a great time at her party. She brought home a bag of loot as well as a few Halloween projects. They had a parade through the school and sang songs. Sounded like fun.

Saturday, 10/30, we went to my parent's house for a Halloween "party." It was my brother's family and ours. My mom wanted to have the girls over to trick-or-treat in their costumes. It was a fun time. Leah was a lucky girl and got to spend the night at Nonna and Grandpa's house.

I picked Leah up on Sunday and we went to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins (just a little last minute). We carved them Sunday afternoon. Leah wanted a kitty. We had a pattern, so I did my best to help her. She cleaned the pumpkin out herself. I just needed to help with the finishing touches. She also helped me carve the kitty in the less delicate areas. She was much more into carving this year than she has been in past years. Joe, of course, did much better and more elaborate pumpkin- he is far more talented than I am!

Leah and I headed out trick-or-treating with Sara and Michael. Joe and Amber stayed back to pass out candy. Leah and Michael were out for about 1.5 hours trick-or-treating from door to door through the neighborhood, and they walked the entire way. I was shocked at the number of people who were driving their kids. It was really a nice evening (for MN anyway). By the end of trick-or-treating both little ones were tired and ready to be done. This was okay because I know Leah can't eat that much candy, and I don't really want to be helping her!

Leah: Pretty as a princess
Amber: Cute as can BEE