Baybay & Baybee: Week 98 (6/19-6/25)

98 weeks old!

This week, Ella learned how to bug her sister. Pretty much all she had to do was touch her. This is how it goes: Ella will reach her hand over, ever so slowly, and barely touch her sister's hair, shoulder, nose, anything - doesn't really matter. Cue Maya's immediate turn away, accompanied by a very whiny sounding, "No thanks!" Cue Ella's smirk. Repeat.

They may bother one another sometimes, but Maya and Ella really are best friends.

Another new thing this week is the girls have started walking up and down the back steps without holding on to the railing! They are getting really good at it, but my heart still skips a beat when I watch them do it. Maya also picked out and put on her shirt all by herself when we were getting ready for bed on Friday.  They have known how to get pants on for a while now, but I think this was one of the first fully unassisted shirt accomplishments.

We did a lot this week. I also took a lot of pictures!

 

Starting the week of right - I picked strawberries again!

We had some beautiful days outside.

Here is Ella giving our plants some water.

Of course, Maya did some watering, too.

On Thursday afternoon, while Brett was busy, the girls and I went to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Leyden. 

After playing on the slides for a long time, we took a walk down to the river. I love this photo of Ella with her Grandpa Craig.

It was lots of fun to dig in the sand and make "soup".

Grandparents with grandkids.

On Tuesday, while Brett was doing his Pedal People route, Maya, Ella and I went together to vote in the election.

After the voting, we went to visit the animals at the farm. There happened to be some other little kids we knew there!

Watching the sheep.

There were some great playground times this week. We discovered that the Safety Village playground in Florence has a great play structure. The slides are fast, but not so much that the girls fall off at the end, and there are also swings there!

Maya, about to go down the tube slide!

So happy!

Ella's turn!

Down another slide.

Playgrounds are the best.

On Saturday, we went to Look Park to meet up with the group of kids who are all around the same age as Maya and Ella, for the annual picnic. Look Park is large and we didn't end up in the right spot, so we never actually met up with the group. But, we had some fun anyway. There were so many people at the park, and so many other children on the play structures, so I had a hard time not being too overwhelmed trying to keep track of both girls. Brett was helpful, but busy playgrounds still just make me nervous.

Walking over a bridge at Look Park, in search of the picnic spot.

We ended up at the slides instead.

Maya climbed up really high.

Taking a break.

After the playground, we walked over to the splash pad.

A sweet picture of the girls with their Dada. There were too many kids running around for Maya and Ella to feel comfortable on their own in the splash pad. They were also pretty nervous about the water fountains.

On Sunday, Spartan, Hannah and Max came for a visit!

We went swimming. Spartan took pictures.

This is a ridiculous photo, but I love it.

Brett took the girls on a couple adventures without me this week. I am always thankful to have the time to be by myself for a little bit. And I love hearing about when they did when everyone comes home.

My cool thrift store find this week. 

Maya, trying to convince Ella to share some of her snack, while at the park with Dada.

Helping cut up potatoes for breakfast.

Maya's turn.

And here are a couple extra cute pictures to enjoy!

Playing a game together.

Ella, wearing her Uncles Guy's hat and looking adorable.

This one loves her pacifiers.

Ella with her necklace and scraped knee, going for a ride on the tractor.

Fun with hair ties.

Maya with Pinky Dog and pacifier, standing on boxes and signing 'nurse'.

Ah, asleep.

Something was funny.

Learning that you can't always get your sister to eat your food when you want her to.

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.