Vivi on the Table -- October 27

We've been trying to figure out where to put Vivi during meal times, and remembered Granny putting Hazel on the table last summer.  Vivian likes being where she can see everyone else, so she's much happier laying on the table than being in the bouncer.  

Edited to add:

We were looking at pictures of Hazel from 3 months (that's how old Vivian is now), and thought we would share:

We think they look alike.  What do you think?

Reaching -- October 27

 

Vivi was on her mat this morning while Hazel was helping with breakfast (we made an egg frittata) and she reached out to bat at the dirigible for the first time.

Visiting with Nana and Grandad -- October 26

Hazel likes to get the tunnel out and play peek-a-boo with Nana, who is usually smiling at the end of it.  Nana spends a lot of time playing with Hazel on the floor, building with Legos, playing with blocks, turning the toy vacuum cleaner on and off and on and off... 

We visit Nana and Grandad every Thursday, and it's always a nice evening.  

Grandad is quite the baby whisperer, and is amazingly efficient at putting Vivian to sleep when she's tired and keeping her content when she's awake.   He took a break from baby whispering to get help from Hazel cooking ham to go with the oven pancake Nana made for supper.

Hazel has been playing with Duplos that were Andrew's when he was little.  She stacks them some, but she is always asking Nana to "fix it."  She asks for help fixing the Duplo train, the Duplo fence (there are also farm animals), and other structures.  

Threading Beads -- October 26

 

Hazel has been working on threading her giant beads onto skewers.  Once she gets a little better, we'll move to pipe cleaners, and then to the shoelaces that came with the beads.  For now, she is having fun putting the beads on the skewers and talking about the colors.  She can say the names of the colors (the beads are red, orange, yellow, blue, green, and purple), and she seems to know which color is purple and which is green. 

Vivian on the Floor in her Sweater -- October 24

Bean Counting -- October 22

We made a bean and sweet potato stew this week, and Hazel sorted the beans before we cooked them.  She takes this sort of task very seriously.

Beginning Mat Workout -- October 22

Vivian was hanging out on her mat, and Hazel left this helpful DVD for her.  

Sleeping Vivian -- October 21

Vivian is, overall, a great sleeper.  Last night, she went to bed around 7:30 and didn't wake up until 6:00 this morning.  She also naps pretty well, this picture is from her late morning nap.  She seems to like that quilt, which was Grandpa Van's when he was a baby. 

Rolling Over! -- October 21

Vivi rolled over for the first time today, from her tummy to her back.  This is the "after" picture.  

House Guests -- October 20

Our friends Mike and Sherril from Casper came down for the weekend for elk hunting.  They came with their three kids.  I watched Heidi, now almost 3, when we lived in Casper (she was 3-6 months old then).  The boys, twins, are exactly Vivian's age.  They are a few hours younger than she is.

From left to right, this is Nate, Vivi, and James.

This picture has everyone, with Heidi in the far back and Hazel right in front.

Hazel and Heidi had fun together, for the most part.  They ran around the house a bit, played with Noah's Ark, the tea set, and the castle.  

Heidi likes to arrange toys in lines, as you can see here.  She did this with all kinds of things while they were here.  Once she had all of the little kid chairs and stools arranged like this across the living room, and at bedtime she took all the books off of the shelf and did the same thing.  It was fun to watch her work, she takes it pretty seriously.

Reading with Daddy -- October 17

We haven't posted one of these in a while, but these two still read together on the floor all the time.  This is Hazel's current favorite book, Moo, Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton.  The last page talks about it being quiet now, and she's all about being quiet because we try to be quiet when Vivi is sleeping.  Usually this looks like Hazel whispering "quiet" and then getting excited and chirping "Vivi!" pretty loudly.  So she's getting it, but we're still working on being quiet.

Playing in Hazel's Room - October 16

This is Hazel's bookshelf, which she shares with the rest of us.  Note that she is reaching for a long-term favorite, Good Dog, Carl, a collection of stories about Carl the babysitting rottweiler.  

We got out the pretty tin tea set that Grammy Frieda got for Hazel, and played with that for a while.  Hazel found that the box worked nicely for a chair, and liked to move the dishes around and make them clink.

This is Hazel's new silly face.  She has made a game of it, sort of a "Simon Says" game where we make faces back and forth.

Vivian Smiles -- October 15

I know the angle is a bit goofy, but this is a huge smile!

Getting Ready to Go -- October 14

Hazel is always talking these days about going for walks.  She's missing some of the words to make a complete sentence, but "go shoe walk" is a common phrase around here.  She is eager to make sure we get out for our mid morning walk, and she wants to leave the house again when her dad gets home from work. 

Out in the Snow -- October 13

Hugs from Hazel -- October 13

Homecoming -- October 12

We ventured out on a beautiful Saturday morning to watch the homecoming parade.  Homecoming is also "Band Day," when lots of high school bands from around the area come to play in the parade and at the football game.  Hazel liked the bands, the balloons on the floats,  and the horses that we saw.

This is new, and not terribly popular, UW President Bob Sternberg. 

Vivian slept in the stroller through most of the parade, and Hazel hung out with her Mama.

Stylish Scarves -- October 11

Hazel and Grammy Frieda trying on scarves on a happy Friday morning.

Cowgirl Practice -- October 9

Hazel recently started climbing up on the rocking horse all by herself.  Great-Grandma Evelyn sent the rocking horse in the spring, but we've always had to help her with it.  We're not sure if she only just now figured out how, or if she is only now tall enough, but she's been having fun with it.  The horse whinnies and clops along if you press buttons in his ears, and Hazel has a great time with that.  

Hazel Helping -- October 8

Hazel has a great time helping out with the dishes whenever she gets the chance.  We give her a dish of water, a little soap, a sponge, and some things to clean. It makes the time go a little faster, to have a little helper.

Exercise with Emma -- October 7

We've been working on giving Vivian a little more time on her tummy.  Emma was happy to provide encouragement for baby push ups.

Vivian kept working on the floor while the rest of us made lunch.

Snow! - October 4

Today was the first real snow.  We got quite a few inches overnight, and Hazel was delighted with the snow when she looked out the window. We got all dressed up after breakfast to go check it out.  Hazel got to try out her snowpants and boots for the first time, and I got to make use of my winter coat that fits the baby carrier inside of it.  Vivian stayed out of the breezes, and was quite content.

We didn't get as far as we usually do on our walk--it's hard to walk in the snow when you're so short!  Here, Hazel sat down for a rest and chatted for a bit.

When we got home, we made hot chocolate with giant marshmallows.  For the record, Hazel's mug was not actually full. It was a fun treat, and we warmed right up.