Baybay & Baybee: Week 97 (6/12-6/18)

97 weeks old!

We started this week off by getting sick. Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is another illness we can now check off the, "already had" list. We took Ella to the doctor on Wednesday evening because she had been crying whenever she ate anything and was telling us that her mouth hurt. She didn't even want strawberries because she would burst into tears when she took a bite and said that they "hurt" her mouth. Sure enough, as soon as the doctor looked at her throat, she knew what Ella had and said it was no wonder it was painful for her to eat! She had little sores all over her throat.

The next couple of days were pretty miserable. Maya got the fever and then the sore throat and then Brett started to feel sick. Maya and Ella never got the blisters on their hands and feet, but both had the sore throat and fevers for a few days. Brett said it was one of the worst sore throats he's ever had and he pretty much never left the couch all day on Thursday. I waited until later in the week, once everyone else was feeling better, to get sick.

My poor sick ones.

I went out to pick up some miso soup and this is what I came home to find. Everyone just fell asleep.

Close-up of Maya and Ella all snuggled up together.

Poor Brett. He was so miserable.


Feeling a little bit better, eating cheese and watching a video.

So the sickness was the dark part of the week, but one of the brightest spots happened one day while the girls were in their beds and I was singing to them to sleep for a nap.  Ella was playing with her toes, quietly talking to herself.  She was playing "this little piggy" to herself, over and over! It was the most adorable thing.

Despite everyone not feeling totally well, we decided to still go to the Clearwater Festival for the weekend. Brett and I packed everything into the car on Friday and we made it to Croton-on-Hudson around 8pm that evening, only slightly later than we'd hoped for, but already an hour later than the girls' usual bedtime. We set up the tent and were all in bed by 9pm.

Ella was so happy to get out of her car seat and climbed right into the driver's seat once we arrived.

Maya and the doggies helped set up the tent. 

  
So exciting!

Asleep.

Our camp the next morning.

Eating some breakfast.

We tried to go back to the tent for naps. It was difficult to keep cool enough, though. This nap only lasted about half an hour because it just got too warm and the girls woke up.

I didn't do much juggling this weekend. Brett got to do some, but not quite as much as he'd wanted. We took turns with the girls while the other spent time at the juggling area, and a few times we were all there together playing. It was very wet at the festival this year, especially where the juggling area was set up, so it wasn't the greatest place to hang out with Maya and Ella. There was a lot of mud all around and pushing the stroller was a lot of work. We had fun at the playground fairly close to the juggling area, we had a few good meals and a few not so good ones, listened to a little music, and, for the most part, had a good time.

We had fun at the beach for a while on Sunday. I tried to watch them there on my own, but ended up calling Brett to join us because it was too difficult to keep them safe. Ella kept running into the water on her own while Maya really wanted me to stay and dig in the sand with her. 

This is Ella signing "more". She really wanted to run into the water more, but I told her she had to wait until Dada got there. It was a long ten minutes.  

Once Brett got to the beach, things were more fun. I got to swim with Ella, and Maya showed off her balancing skills.

Our family at the festival.

How wet was it? It was so wet that the ducks were swimming in the grass...

Happy Dada Day!

Their naps in the tent were shorter than usual, so there was some napping in the stroller.

I really should have gotten two strawberry popsicles. Oh well, live and learn.

Brett in the blue shirt holding both girls while they listen to Bill Staines' "River".

Watching Pete Seeger sing.

In the food tent, our fellow juggler Nate the Great tries to entertain two very tired children. It was a tough crowd.

They did enjoy the pretzels, though.

Pretzel-boo?

This photo of Ella pretty much sums up how tired we all were by the end of the weekend.

Sound asleep at the juggling area for nap-time on Sunday.

The amazing Pete Seeger.  This song is one of our go-to songs that Maya and Ella love, so it was extra sweet to see Pete sing it. 

Maya and Ella both slept well Saturday night and again all night Sunday when we were back home in our own beds. Even though we were exhausted from our weekend adventure, we hosted two bike travelers Monday night through Warm Showers. They were near the start of a cross-country trip, and we were happy to help in what way we could.  Brett and the girls made strawberry pancakes for breakfast.

Maya and Ella watch our guests leave on their bikes.

Baybay & Baybee: Week 96 (6/5-6/11)

96 weeks old!

I'm happy to report that nighttime sleep continues to go smoothly! Both girls have been sleeping well, though we still have wake-ups a couple times a week. Maya has also been talking in her sleep occasionally. When this happens, she mostly says, "Ella".

The majority of the wake-ups this week have been from Ella. When this happens, one of us will just walk her back to bed and she usually goes right back to sleep. Other wake-ups from the girls are often a result of a lost doggie. A repetitive and very sleepy pleading of, "Doggie? Doggie?!" occurs until one of us goes into their room and finds whoever's doggie is lost under the pillow or blanket and tucks them back to sleep. Not really so bad, all in all.

I know I've posted a lot of videos of the girls on slides recently. Here is one more. They've just been enjoying them so much!

After playing a few times recently at the YMCA playground, I decided to do a trial membership to see if Maya and Ella might enjoy playing in the child-watch while I do some exercise inside. We went in the mornings on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I only left the girls for short times, the longest being about 40 minutes one day. Though they did cling to me as I was saying good-bye, there wasn't any crying for me to stay and I think the whole experience was harder on me than it was for them. The third day, when I came back to get them, Maya was pretty sad. I didn't like that and it made me question the whole thing. She just looked as though she was about to burst into tears. According to the Childwatch staff, she had been hovering near her sister for a while before I came to get them. I'm pretty sure she had some sort of need but didn't feel comfortable or know how to communicate it.

By the end of the week, the girls were getting sick so we didn't go the last day of our trial membership. Honestly, as good of an idea as it seemed, I didn't enjoy it very much.

We randomly met a dad with his twin boys at the YMCA playground one of the days of the trial membership. Maya spontaneously hugged with the boy in the pink shirt!

Trying out the climbing area inside the YMCA.

On Saturday, we went to Lydia's 3rd birthday party. We all had a lot of fun! There was a train to ride on, which was very exciting (mostly for Ella), yummy snacks to eat and lot of toys to play with. It was also fun for us to have a chance to catch up with Dan and Darleen!

The girls gravitated to the slide as soon as we arrived.

Ella playing catch with Dan.

Three different heights.

Water table fun.

Eating some snacks.

A ride on the train with Dada.

I think Maya and Ella's favorite part of the party was riding on Lydia's trikes! They can almost pedal by themselves.

Cupcake!

The frosting is the best part.

Finger-licking good.

Maya's turn.

She didn't enjoy how the frosting got on her fingers.

Just sitting together eating cupcakes.

That same afternoon, we went to our neighborhood's potluck block-party. I made a delicious massaged kale, strawberry, and avocado salad. It was a long day with the two parties, but they were both a lot of fun. We were all worn out by the evening.

We brought some juggling toys along with the salad to the potluck.

Ella helps/watches Dada show some kids how to juggle.

Maya and Ella loved the chance to spend time with Chloe.

A new thing for the girls has been flipping through books on their own. They will pick out a book, sit down with it and then flip through all of the pages as if they are actually reading it.

On Tuesday Ella had a fever and she slept most of the day. Grandma Kathy came down to visit and took Maya to the park. When they came back I got to go do a little gardening while both girls played inside with Grandma. There has been lots of rain, so it was good to do a little catching up out there.

Brett and I had a date on Friday night for Restaurant Week in town! Selena came and stayed at our house while the girls slept.  I wore a pretty dress and we went out to a restaurant we wouldn't otherwise eat at, and although we tried not to we mostly talked about the girls and the new house (that we closed on last week!!!).

Maya and Ella have not been listening very well. This is a new behavior and it was especially noticeable on Thursday. It was such a challenging day. They were purposefully challenging everything we asked them to do or not to do.  We have no real consequences in place for inappropriate behavior because up until this week, it hasn't been an issue. We're not sure what we're going to do about it, and we have been talking about how we want to respond to their pushing.

Maya after her second-ever hair trim.

Ella!

Eating cereal at their little table in the morning.

Wearing Grandma's shoes.

This is what Ella did while Grandma and Maya were at the park.

Reading stories and eating popcorn with Grandma, while I got to do some gardening.

This is what happens when both girls pick out the same pair of shoes to wear.

Food at Cup and Top.

More food another day.

Playing a game together.

I made this strawberry jam!

Sleepy.