Maisielicious

Dance class

2012-01-18T16:03:00.001-08:00

The girls are taking a weekly jazz/tap/ballet class at the Y. It's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

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Going for a walk

2012-01-11T05:14:00.000-08:00

Aaron, Ella, and Ella's bunny took advantage of yesterday's unseasonably high temperatures to go for a walk (and send me silly pictures).

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Let it snow?

2012-01-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

Aaron took this picture of the girls a few days ago. They were going to play outside after Maisie was done with school. As you can see, they're both ready for snow... hats, snowpants, boots, and mittens all ready to go! Unfortunately, Mother Nature's not cooperating. I don't know where they found that sad little patch of snow, but it's almost certainly gone by now- it's been in the 40s the last few days.

I'm too much a life-long Minnesotan to enjoy this. Sure, it's nice not to have to worry about snow emergencies and sub-zero temps, but 40s? In January?? It's just not right. If I wanted a rainy, brown winter, I'd move to Portland. As it is, we haven't been able to go sledding once, and the only ice skating we've done was indoors. Outrageous!

Bring on the snow!

Pizza night!

2012-01-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Nobody was up for cooking tonight, so we went to our favorite family-friendly neighborhood pizza place, Jakeeno's.

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Coffee break!

2012-01-05T11:01:00.001-08:00

Aaron had a dentist appointment this morning (no cavities! Good job honey!). Our dentist's office is right across the street from my office, so I got to hang out with Ella while he was at his appointment. We went to the Barnes & Noble for a snack.

It was a really nice break from my workday... I wish I could meet up with her for a coffee every day!

Girl Team!

2012-01-02T20:14:00.001-08:00

The girls refer to themselves & me as the "girl team." Today they requested a girl team adventure. Okay!

We went to the zoo! It was a lot of fun. Nothing really special - just the three of us hanging out and having a good time. We toured the trails, hit the gift shop, and rode the monorail.

it was really, really great. :)

Playing Barbies

2011-12-31T07:05:00.000-08:00

First, I said that the picture-a-day was an aspirational goal, right? I will keep trying...

Second, the girls got a lot of Barbie's for Christmas from Grandma Jo, and a Barbie dollhouse from Santa. They spend a lot of time playing Barbies these days. The dolls' conversation when I took this picture really made me laugh...

"should we all get married to each other? Girls can only marry girls, not boys. Let's go to Texas and get married!"

I think Texas is about the last place for two girls who want to get married are going to go... I wanted to tell them they could just go to Iowa instead!

Getting ready for bed

2011-12-28T16:41:00.001-08:00

The girls are watching Dinosaur Train, their last show of the day before bedtime.

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Reading together

2011-12-27T16:28:00.000-08:00

Aaron and Ella, reading together... a favorite activity.

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I mustache you a question...

2011-12-26T16:24:00.001-08:00

We had a lot of fun over at Auntie Laura's house today, playing with some press-on mustaches we got Dylan for Christmas. It was a hilarious play date!

A picture a day, for a year

2011-12-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

The past few months have brought a lot of changes, including a sadly reduced blog output. To remedy that, I'm going to try to post a picture a day, from this Christmas to next. I enjoy writing, and don't do it often enough; plus, the girls are growing up right before our eyes. They're changing so quickly it's hard to believe.

So, merry Christmas, and welcome to day 1 of a year of pictures!

These pics were taken at brunch today at Common Roots, in uptown, with Gramma Liisa and her friend Joanne.

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Testing

2011-12-25T15:40:00.001-08:00

This is only a test...

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Fall festival

2011-10-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the annual fall festival at Maisie's school, Sunny Hollow Montessori. ("Fall," even though it was 80 degrees out!)

One of Maisie's favorite teachers, Shanna, is an excellent photographer. She took some beautiful pictures of Ella. Enjoy!

Playground day

2011-08-03T12:39:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Aaron had to work, so the girls and I were trying to figure out what to do. We didn't have a ton of time before lunch and nap, so the children's museum was out. But it was beautiful outside, and not disgustingly humid. Playground time!

The girls spent a lot of time climbing on this... climby thing.

I have no idea what to call it! There's one at this one playground, but I've never seen them anywhere else.

Whatever it really is called, Maisie quickly decided that she was a spider, and it was her web.

In this picture, she's lecturing me about how she's going to eat! me! up! if I get any closer to her web. Duly noted! Ella didn't get eaten, though - she was a baby sister spider.

Her climbing wasn't as successful, despite Maisie's encouragement.

When she couldn't get up that one, Ella tried a different tack...

But that wasn't successful either.

So the girls moved on to a structure that they could both enjoy: the pirate ship!
While Ella peeked out through the porthole on the bottom...

...Maisie kept out a sharp eye from the deck. Which is necessary. After all, there's strange animals in these waters....

Maisie's first manicure!

2011-07-15T20:34:00.001-07:00

Okay, not technically a manicure - just a salon color. But still, it was a lot of fun.

A few days ago, I took Ella to the Minnesota Zoo's new penguin exhibit. It was a members-only preview, and I wanted to take Ellie because penguins are her absolute favorite animal, and because I rarely get to do fun things alone with her. We had a blast! But predictably, Maisie wanted to do something just with me. So a few days later, we went to get our nails done.

Maisie seemed a little skeptical when she was choosing her color...

sparkly pink, naturally!

But she loved the end result.

Afterwards we went to Pizza Luce and I tried to get a picture of her nails. First I asked her to hold up her hands in front of her face...

which didn't really get me the results I was after. So I just had her hold them out so you can see the sparkles, as well as the designs on her thumbs.

Lovely, isn't it?

Ella turns 2!

2011-06-26T20:44:00.000-07:00

(or, as my mom said, "How the hell did that happen?")

Ella's actual second birthday was on Monday, and it was a pretty low-key affair. Aaron & I gave her some gifts, there was a candle and a cupcake, and that was about it.

So today, we had an actual party to mark Ella's second birthday. And it was super fun!

We celebrated at Sibley Park, a lovely little park with a wading pool, jungle gym, and sandlot that's not too far from our house. We were joined by a number of awesome individuals: Gramma Liisa; Auntie Laura, Dylan, and Dan; Wally & Mary Jo & their two sons, Jack & Charlie; Rebecca & her daughter Sophia; Nick, Caroline, and their dogs; and Brian Clark and his dogs. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to spend the afternoon with!

So what I love about having a birthday party at a park, indoor playground, or the like, is that I don't have to actually plan anything. As a result, my photos are kind of haphazard - as was the party. I hope this just gives a sense of what an awesome time was had by all!

Dylan, the girls, and the teeter-totter

Ella's lack of a swimsuit isn't going to keep her from enjoying the pool, with Gramma Liisa:

The children kibbutz on proper present-opening technique.

Ella enjoys the slide with Auntie Laura

WOW this is high up!

It's not a complete showing, but it's a good representation, I think. We all had so much fun!

As for Ella, at 2, she's really a wonderful person. Her language is really taking off, and she's regularly coming up with 3- and 4-word sentences. It's so exciting that she can tell us about her observations! I can't wait for her vocabulary to develop further so we can really hear about what's going through her head.

Ella is a sweet, affectionate girl who loves to play, be read to, and to help us out around the house. Whenever anyone's in the kitchen, whether we're cooking or doing dishes, she will be there saying "Ella help you?"

So far our Ella has shown herselve to be a smart, capable, confident, headstrong, loving person. I canot wait to see what the future holds for her!

Sleep!

2011-06-13T08:42:00.000-07:00

Sleep is one of those things that new parents, or parents of young kids, can't stop talking about it. I think it's similar to how hungry people talk obsessively about food... the sleep-deprived are constantly talking about sleep, and their kids. Are they sleeping well? How long? What hours? What's your bedtime routine?

Maisie's always been a very independent sleeper. Even as a tiny baby, she slept best when she had her own space, whether that was in a bassinet, crib, or now her bed. She went through a brief phase when she moved to her big kid bed where she'd crawl into bed with us at night, but it passed quickly.

Ella, on the other hand, has always been a nighttime snuggler.

For the first few weeks of her life, she would only sleep if she was physically on me. I slept sitting up until we managed to get her to at least sleep next to us, not on us. She eventually moved from the bassinet to a crib in her room, and that was fine - until a few months ago.

At about 18 months, we found her trying to climb out of her crib. It wasn't unexpected - Maisie did the same thing - so we went off to Ikea and got them a bunk bed. Now that she's realized she can get out of bed, when she wakes in the night, she comes into bed with us.

There isn't anything inherently wrong with this - we aren't strictly opposed to cosleeping. It'd be just fine, if there were more actual sleeping involved. Instead, Ella's reverting to previous behavior where it's not enough to be next to someone - she wants to fall asleep on someone. And that someone is typically me.

Last night she woke up and instead of coming into our bed, sat in the hallway and screamed "Mama! Mama! Cuddle me! Cuddle me!" until I got out of bed, took her back into her room, and sat with her on my lap until she fell asleep. At that point I tried to go back to my bed, but noooooo... Ella instantly woke up and started yelling "Sleep here mama! Sleep here!" So I did. Not well, but I did sleep.

I know I shouldn't give in, but I'm so tired when it happens, and it just seems like the past of least resistance. Plus, Ella's screams wake Maisie up, who then joins in the scream-fest with "Ella! You're TOO LOUD! I can't sleep!!!" It'd be funny if it weren't 2:30 in the morning.

So anyone with advice on how to get a tired two year old to stay in her bed all night long, without interfering with Maisie's sleep too much - please tell me what to do! Of course, general sympathies and commiseration are welcome too.

Fashion

2011-06-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

I've never been what you'd call a fashionista. In our family, my sister Laura was always the one who was on top of current trends and styles. Me, I'll just wear a t-shirt and jeans, most days.

Unlike me, my girls are turning out to be very opinionated about their clothes! I've posted many pictures of Maisie's unique and creative outfits. It looks like Ella's got that same sense of style. This morning, she chose a blue and white flowered dress to wear. She then said "Silly!," and proceeded to pull on green pajama pants with little pink pigs all over them.

I tried to get a picture of the outfit, but Maisie immediately started clowning around. I was laughing too hard to get a good picture of their outfits, but you get the idea. :)

An Ella Day

2011-06-04T19:05:00.001-07:00

Since the last time we posted there have been some really big changes with our family! The biggest, I think, is that Aaron's gone back to work. So instead of being a single-income family, we now have two incomes (and YAY for that!), but our lives have somehow become 150% more hectic! I'll choose to blame the long posting hiatus on that, instead of my own laziness and the fact that I somehow lost the charger for the camera battery.

ANYWAY, Aaron had to work this morning and Maisie was off to the Flint Hills Children's Festival with Grandma Liisa and Dylan, so that left me and Ella to our own devices!

First we checked how our strawberry patch is doing this year...

They look good, for a few plants we planted on the salty, sandy boulevard! They were planted last year in an attempt to get a ground cover we won't have to mow, and they're really taking off.

We might even get a berry or two, if the bunnies and squirrels don't eat them all!

Ella really needed sandals, so then we were off to the Mall of America. To increase the adventure quotient (and because I didn't feel like driving), we took the BUS!

The bus stop is next to a really fun hill, that kept waiting for the bus from being boring.

Ella fell asleep on the bus, so I guess it wasn't that exciting after all.

Once we got to the mall, she was all business: we were there for shoes! We hit a department store with a great kids' shoe selection, and she made her choice.

I thought maybe she'd want to check out a few other options, but no. It turns out that Ella is a decisive shopper. The lovely and helpful employee who was helping us brought out some other choices, but Ella said "NO!" to all of them. So we bought the sandals she chose, and we were off.

We got lunch at the Rainforest Cafe.

We then decided to check out the aquarium formerly known as Underwater World, f/k/a Underwater Adventures, n/k/a Sea Life Aquarium. For those who've been there before, it's been completely redone and is WAY better than it used to be. Ella was most impressed by the jellyfish, the turtles, and the "scawwy shawks!" She was not super impressed by the photographer who took our picture, however.

(sorry about the lousy camera-phone-picture of a picture!)

After all that, it was time for another bus ride home...

Funny story: one of our neighbors was on the bus, too. When we got off he said to me, "I didn't know if that was you for sure, until I heard her say 'NO!'" Yeah, that's our (almost) two year old! She busted out a four word sentence tonight: "I do it 'self!" Just like her big sister, Ella is turning out to be very independent!

So anyway, when we got home, Ella briefly had a fit about the fact that there were no graham crackers in the house. Shortly thereafter, this happened:

And then I took a nap, too.

The end! (until tomorrow!)

Cell phone photos

2011-03-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

Here are some assorted cell phone photos... enjoy!

Ella is a turkey, playing with her turkey.

Saying "cheese," and showing off teeth!

Sledding at Suomi-koulu's Laskiainen celebration.

Showing off new bangs.

Naptime!

(A tip of the hat to cousin Sully for the blog post idea!)

Ella update!

2011-02-21T19:39:00.000-08:00

I meant to do an update when Ella was 18 months. Due to some technical difficulties, it's taken a little longer... she's now 20 months old. Still, here's your Ella update!
At 20 months, Ella's receptive language is awesome. She can understand almost anything you tell her, or ask her to do. Her spoken language is really taking off, too - she's just getting to two-word sentences. Yesterday she said "Read book!" I almost exploded from pride.

Aaron and Ella do art just about every day. She loves finger painting, and knows almost all her colors: boo, lellow, pup-po, wedd, and geen!

Sometimes we visit a coffee shop not too far from our house that has a toy room, and sells juice boxes, cheese sticks, and other kid-friendly snacks.

We are big, big fans of this place!

Ella's also a big, big fan of Maisie... she really loves her big sister!

(and who can blame her?)

Attempted update...

2011-01-27T20:08:00.000-08:00

I realize that we've been remiss about updating the blog. (Thanks Cathy for the reminder. ;) ) I was going to do an Ella update tonight, but it turns out I can't find the memory card reader so I can move pictures from the camera to the computer. Hopefully we'll track it down soon, and I'll do a big update... there are lots of cute pics on the camera!

In the mean time, here are some photos to tide you over. This year (and last year too), my mom took pictures with her grandchildren at a local photography studio, the Photographer's Guild, for her Christmas cards.

Here are some of my favorite pics of the girls (with Gramma Liisa and Cousin Dylan) from that early December session.

Snowy fun

2010-12-29T12:20:00.000-08:00

The blizzard wasn't our only snow this month. In fact, this has been the snowiest December on record for the Twin Cities! As of the 21st we had received over 38" of snow. The usual snowfall for an entire winter is only 42"!

But don't worry, we don't let something like snow keep us inside.

After all, we are Minnesotans! And you know what they say... there's no such thing as bad weather - just bad clothing!

Blizzard!

2010-12-14T06:37:00.000-08:00

As you may have heard, we got a bit of snow last weekend... 16.5", to be exact, in Minneapolis! Combine that with high winds and below-zero temperatures, and it's a full-on blizzard. Minneapolis is on its second consecutive snow emergency, and both Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools are on their second snow day.

Because of the frigid temps, we don't have any pictures of the girls playing in the snow. Also, it's way too deep for them! The drifts are chest-high on Maisie, and well over Ella's head. But I thought I'd share some pictures so those of you elsewhere can see what we're dealing with.

For perspective, here's a picture of Ella in our front yard in October. See the sign in the background?

Here's how it looks today:

Remember the climber in our backyard?

Here it is, mid-day Saturday, even before all the snow had fallen.

You probably heard that the Metrodome collapsed from the snow... I don't have a "before" picture, but here's my "after," taken with my cell phone on my way to work today. I labeled it because it's hard to see what isn't there.

Happily, not my car.

But unfortunately, this is my office.

Hmmmm... perhaps storm windows would've been a good idea.

Maisie's 4th birthday

2010-12-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

Maisie was a lucky girl: she had two birthday parties this year!

On her actual birthday, we had a party at Auntie Laura, Dan, and Dylan's house. It was pretty low-key, with just Grammy Liisa joining us. We ordered pizza, opened presents, and ate cake. She got several Barbie dolls, a Hello Kitty purse, and a musical princess ballerina dress from her Grandma Jo, which she immediately had to wear.

Grammy Liisa made an amazing cake:

which Maisie LOVED!

Then, of course, we had a pinata. Even Ella took a swing at it:

It's hard to see because the picture is blurry, but trust me: that baby is holding, and swinging, a HUGE stick.

Maisie's birthday fell on a weekday. So on the following Saturday, we had a party with her school friends at Adventure Peak at Edinborough, an indoor play park. We also invited our friends Emi and Liza, who joined us and enjoyed the cupcakes.

Of course, Emi wasn't the only kid who loved the cupcakes...

Ella did some damage to hers, too!

Everyone had fun playing, and Maisie had a great day with her friends.

We're so happy with our sweet, silly, funny, loving, smart, and all-around wonderful Maisie! The past four years with her have been a joy. We can't wait to see what the future holds for her!

4!

2010-11-03T08:51:00.001-07:00

Just 4 short years ago today, Maisie looked like this...

Look how far we've come!

At 4, Maisie is a smart, funny, confident, loving girl. She loves dancing and singing, drawing, coloring, and painting. She has a silly sense of humor and loves to tell jokes. She has an active, curious mind and is always asking questions. She is sweet and affectionate, and always gives hugs and kisses to her friends and family. She loves school, and is learning to read and write. We can't wait to see what the future holds for her!

Happy birthday Maisie!

Practicing for Halloween

2010-10-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

First of all - nearly a month between posts! I have to apologize. We lost our camera for the longest time, but just found it again, so we should be back to our regularly semi-scheduled posts.

Okay. Yesterday we were sitting around when my sister called and asked, "Does Maisie want to go trick-or-treating with me and Dylan?" Are beans green??? Of course she wants to! Fortunately she was already wearing a costume - a ballerina tutu, 'cause that's what she wears at home most of the time. So we pulled some tights on her, found her pumpkin bucket, and off she went!

Dylan was dressed as Darth Vader - no mask for the picture, though.

They went up and down Grand Avenue in St. Paul for an annual event called Boo Bash, sponsored by the Grand Avenue Business Association. The local businesses hand out treats, and there were various activities such as pony rides, face painting, and a costume contest.

A great time was had by all! Thanks Auntie Laura for inviting Maisie along!

Flowers

2010-09-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Without Maisie to chase her around all day, Ella has had to find alternative ways to get out and run around. We take a lot of walks, and even though the weather has started its all too familiar rolling slide back into fall, the sidewalks and boulevards are still lined with flowers. Ella is delighted. She points out each new batch as she sees them. "Flower!" Also every rock, which she calls a "gah!" I say, "rrrooooccckkk" and she says "gah" and hits it and goes to look for more.

Our walks take a while.

Farmer's Market

2010-09-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Maisie, Aaron, Gramma Liisa, and Dylan went bowling at the Bryant-Lake Bowl. Ellie and I thought about going too, but decided that perhaps a tightly crowded restaurant/bowling alley/cabaret theater isn't the best place to take an antsy toddler with more mobility than sense. So instead, she and I decided to go to the Midtown Farmer's Market.

I was planning on picking up apples for making applesauce, so I made sure she was wearing the apple hat her Grandma Jo made. I also wanted tomatoes for canning. But Ella was enamored of these beautiful winter squash called Sunset...

So we had to get one of those first.

We did stop by the awesome local apple orchard table and bought a whole lot of apples, which Ella also got excited about.

Maybe it's just that she really likes applesauce!

After we got over our joy about the apples and squash, we were able to listen to the Danish folk music that was being played, which Ella also really enjoyed.

It was a chilly morning, but very fun.

First day of school!

2010-09-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today was Maisie's first day of her 2nd year at her Montessori preschool.

For comparison - look how much bigger she is than last year!

I can't believe how much she's grown!

Speaking of growing up... Ella is now 14 months old, and becoming a fully formed person. She walks, climbs, and runs, has fantastic receptive language skills, and can communicate! She is very clear about her likes (milk, being read to, balls, Gramma Liisa, the cats, Maisie) and dislikes (diaper changes, bedtime).

She loves to go to the children's museum, and play with water...

and to play in the outdoor sandbox!

As you can see, she has beautiful curly hair, big blue eyes, and an infectious grin.

We are so fortunate to have such wonderful, beautiful girls!

State Fair

2010-08-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, Maisie and I hit the State Fair. It was crazy, and fun, and crazy fun. We saw all kinds of animals, rode the rides, ate delicious junk food, danced to African drummers, and basically had an awesome time. I didn't take as many pictures as I should've, but these will give you a good idea. Enjoy!

We didn't take pictures on the giant slide or on the tilt a whirl, but I think you get the idea. All in all, it was a great day!

Hectically Happy

2010-08-23T13:51:00.000-07:00

The last couple weeks it has been uncomfortably hot and humid. This hasn't stopped the girls from racing from one place to another, with any downtime whatsoever requiring copious amounts of Dora the Explorer (Ella adores Dora, but is terrified of Swiper), graham crackers and a record number of baths (for them, I'm trying to cultivate an exotic aroma and don't want to ruin it with unknown variables like water).

To beat the heat they go to the Children's Museum 2-3 times a week or play and swim at the playground...

...or go the zoo (Maisie at the Bird Show and Ella in the Den of Angry Goats).

There was also a bbq with a bounce house and swimming pool, probably Maisie's favorite event altogether, this summer.

God I'm worn out.

Toes

2010-08-12T20:12:00.001-07:00

I really love this picture.

This is Aaron's and Maisie's feet, at Grandma Liisa's house. I love that Maisie and her daddy are clearly so close, that their feet are right on top of each other's.

I also love that you can see Maisie's webbed second and third toes. That's something that she - and Ella - got from my side of the family. My maternal grandfather, as well as both my mom's brothers, had or have the webbed toes. It's so cool - this recessive trait that both my girls have (Maisie on both feet, Ella on one) that links them back to my grandfather and beyond.

Free Time

2010-07-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

The weather hasn't been ferocious, but it's definitely been warm. We've been nipping at 90 degrees for a couple of weeks, so we've been going to the pool a lot, as well as various air-conditioned venues (Children's Museum, MN Zoo).

Water wheels and gizmos at the Children's Museum.

Playing in the pool at the park (or princess paddling in purple pants)

Both Maisie and Ella tamely submit to their daily sun-blocking, although Ella starts giggling and squirming away once I start lotioning her nose and cheeks.

Maisie after the costume parade at Highland Fest.
"I didn't place daddy! I didn't get a place!" regarding her participation ribbon. I told her to beat up the first place kid and take his ribbon and prize candy. What? She gets the ribbon, I get the candy.
"There he is, sweetie! Get him! Get HIM!"

Happy 4th of July!

2010-07-07T19:15:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July, Maisie and I decided to go see the fireworks at Powderhorn Park, since it's just a few blocks from home. Unfortunately... we had a looooong wait for it to get dark!

We had some time to kill, so Maisie got her first Sno Cone.

It was orange...

as you can tell!

After that treat, we wandered around a bit, and found a group giving away native perennials for people to plant in their yards/gardens. Maisie chose a black-eyed susan.

Still no fireworks! We were starting to get bored...

so I bought Maisie a light-up sword to play with. It reminded me of her cousin Max, because I think it looks like a Star Wars light saber. Here she is, making her 'scary bad guy' face.

At this point she was starting to get bored AND tired, so she took to sitting in the stroller and just pointing the thing at people.

Finally - finally! - it was time for fireworks!

And the whole thing was totally worth it.

Ella's 1st Birthday

2010-07-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights from Ella's 1st birthday.

We had the party over at auntie Laura's.

There were water balloons (not pictured) and the sprinkler!

And a pinata.

And of course CAKE!

Overall, a really good day. Happy birthday, Ellie!

Urban legends

2010-06-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

There's an urban legend that everyone eats a teaspoon, a pound, two bushels, or some other specific amount of dirt of the course of their lives. The amount varies depending on who you ask, but the idea remains the same.

Ella has been making sure that she gets her fair share of dirt.

Not a lot to say today... Ella had her first birthday, which will warrant its own post soon. It was a fun, fun party. But it's late, and I have a busy day tomorrow, so I'm going to stick to pictures.

First a new favorite picture of Ella, from a trip to the Children's Museum yesterday. Doesn't she look like a big girl?

I love it for that reason, but it also is like, wait a minute - where did my BABY go?? She's walking like crazy, and at just 12 months is already SUCH a toddler.

And this picture of Maisie is from a trip to the park today:

That, to me, is just pure joy.

Tiny Trouble's big sister is home for the summer

2010-06-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

Ella can walk everywhere now. This means, in her mind, that she has license to examine and dismantle everything, and will start screaming at the top of her lungs if her investigation is interfered with. She can climb all the of the low-lying furniture without much difficulty, but still gets down half the time by falling off face first. But god forbid you should try to prevent her from climbing up again...she has baby rage issues. Also, forget trying to take away her bottle, even when it's completely empty. She will GET you.

Maisie is trying to find her schedule now that she's home for the summer. We're getting our rhythm, but with plenty of drama along the way. Here's some fun from earlier this week.

Playground at the zoo

2010-06-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we went to the Minnesota Zoo and discovered a new (to us) playground, just off the Grizzly Coast.

Maisie loved everything about it. She even enjoyed this giant horrible mosquito thing.

Ella, on the other hand, gave it her best "what you talkin bout, Willis?" face.

We've had other adventures recently, notably two trips to Iowa to visit the many Dieter cousins! However, we forgot to take pictures while we were there. So as soon as I steal a bunch of pictures from Clare's and Shauna's blogs, I'll post them here. :)

Busy summer Saturday

2010-05-23T17:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a VERY busy day at our house.

Maisie's been taking a dance class through Minneapolis Parks & Rec. Yesterday was her last day of class, which meant recital! I was a little nervous about how my shrinking violet would react to the audience...

but as it turns out, I needn't have worried.

The girls were as synchronized and together as you'd expect a class of 3-5 year olds, performing for their parents, would be.

It was also CRAZY cute.

After the performance, we'd hoped to play on the playground, but the skies were threatening rain. So we went home, Ella and Aaron took a nap, and Maisie and I decided to hop a train to the Mall of America to look for a birthday present for Maya.

Maisie was pretty excited for her first ride on the light rail train!

By the time we got back from the mall, the skies had cleared and it was nice outside, so we all headed out to do some yard work.

Ella, as it turns out, has inherited her grandmas' love of gardening and digging in the dirt.

She also shares her sister's affection for a camera.

Meanwhile, Maisie rode her bike up and down the sidewalk.

It's funny, it wasn't that long ago that she wasn't able to really pedal... she just wasn't coordinated enough. And all of a sudden, she just hopped on and was off to the races!

So anyway, that was our Saturday. Busy, but not atypically so. So if you ever wonder why Aaron and I are often tired... now you know why!

A little talking and a little walking

2010-05-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

Ella has steadily been growing more verbal. Instead of some explosion of ability, I think she's slowly been sneaking up on talking without any of us being much the wiser. She's uttered sounds that are similar to words before, but always preceded or followed by baby talk, so that we were unsure it was what it kind-of-sort-of sounded like. But lately she's started to dial back on the baby talk portion, until today I swear she said "hi" and waved to one of the cats when she saw him. If she had a first word, I have no idea what it was. She's also taken to standing up, looking around, taking a step, and then sitting down. Sneaky, right? Apparently she's not going to really start walking until she can chase down Maisie and pounce on her.

I'll leave you with a few of Maisie's computer drawings.

Caroline & Nick get married!

2010-05-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 1, 2010 was Nick and Caroline's wedding day, and it was beautiful and perfect. Maisie and I were lucky enough to be included in the ceremony - me as co-matron of honor with Caroline's sister Dacia, and Maisie as the flower girl. Gramma Liisa and Aaron were Maisie handlers; Auntie Laura played the important supporting role of Ella's babysitter. :) For those of you familiar with the cities, this was at the Loring Pasta Bar.

We were very excited before the ceremony. We couldn't wait to get started!

We were wearing matching dresses - Maisie's is white on top with a garnet skirt, and Dacia's and my dresses were entirely of the garnet satin. We looked pretty cute if I do say so myself!

Everybody took their seats and it was time for us to walk down the aisle!

Blurry, but you get the idea... she did a great job of throwing the petals. :)

Maisie stood on the stairs with me and Dacia.

Caroline joined us...

Eventually Maisie got tired of standing, and had a seat.

Aaron somehow failed to take pictures of her making faces at him, and then shushing the crowd after I shushed her! But all in all she did a great job!

After that it was time to head to the reception, at the Varsity Theater down the block. Maisie was ready to have a good time!

She danced, made friends with strangers, and took pictures with our good friends Andrew, Howie, and Kari Hay.

All in all, it was a wonderful day and night. We had an amazing time, and are so happy for Nick and Caroline. Such a beautiful wedding. But with this flower girl, how could it be anything other than perfect? :)

Writing!

2010-04-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

Maisie's Montessori school teaches writing before reading, which I never understood before yesterday, when Maisie said she wanted to write the word "hungry" in magnets on our refrigerator.

We sounded out the word - "hungry starts with 'huh.' What letter says 'huh'? Right, H says 'huh'!" We went through each sound in the word, though I had to help her with the vowels...

And at the end, here's what we got:

HUNGRY!

Maisie wrote that. I couldn't be more proud.

Yard sale score!

2010-04-16T20:30:00.001-07:00

I've been looking for some backyard toys for the girls for a while now. I wanted something they could climb and play on... something that they wouldn't outgrow too quickly, but that would still be fun now. I initially figured I'd buy new, but the kind of thing I was looking for ran upwards of $200! Ridiculous!

But then today, driving back to work after lunch, I ran across a yard sale that had a two-level climber with a slide for only $30! I couldn't believe it - what a deal!

Dylan and Gramma came over to help us test it out...

Verdict: it's a hit! Fun for all ages - even 6 year olds. It's versatile - people can slide down the slide on their tummies, backs, or bottoms. And it even lends itself to being a castle or a pirate ship.

All in all, I think it's $30 well spent!

Sunny Sculpture Garden

2010-04-13T20:13:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday was really beautiful... hard to believe it's only April, when the temperature gets up towards 70! So we decided that a picnic lunch at the Sculpture Garden would be a great thing to do.

We found a lovely place to picnic not too far from Spoon Bridge & Cherry. I wanted to get a great picture of the girls with that iconic image in the background. Too bad for me, the girls didn't want to cooperate...

Instead, I got a lot of pictures like this:

And this:

So, not really a success... now I understand why professional photographers earn the fees they do!

Maisie and I set off to explore other sculptures in the Garden,

while Aaron and Ella finished up the picnic in a sculpture's shade.

So although I didn't get the photographs I wanted, we still had a great time. We'll definitely be back, and maybe the girls will cooperate with my "SMILE! SAY CHEESE! LOOK AT THE CAMERA!" commands next time... I can hope!

happy Easter!

2010-04-04T22:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter to all who celebrate! Our Easter Sunday started early.

Ella of course woke up early, so she and I got up and checked out what the Easter bunny brought her. Her basket had, among other things, a rattle that she's really enjoying!

Maisie joined us shortly.

Her basket had a chocolate bunny in it! And just FYI, it turns out that if you let your preschooler eat a chocolate bunny for breakfast, probably your late morning/early afternoon will not be awesome. Lesson learned!

So this morning, the weather here was beautiful - mid 60s and sunny - so we headed down to the Minnesota Zoo in the morning, to check out the Farm Babies!

(For those who aren't familiar, the MN Zoo has a family farm exhibit, with cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and poultry. Every spring, the farm babies are CRAZY popular.)

This farm baby is two days old. TWO! He was born on Friday. Terribly cute.

This farm baby is a little bit older than that, but still also really cute!

On the way back from the farm, Ella got tired of the stroller...

She needed a new perspective.

Funnily enough, some of the real animal superstars of this trip to the zoo were not even zoo animals. There's a little lake chain between the main part of the zoo and the family farm, and at this time of year, there are a ton of Canada geese there.

Everyone loved the geese! LOOK AT THAT BIG BIRD, MAMA! They were a huge hit.

Mini Jered

2010-03-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

This picture was taken just a couple minutes (and a shave) before Shauna's latest...

Sorry bro, but frankly I just don't see the resemblance.

Spring

2010-03-22T19:56:00.000-07:00

We've had some lovely weather recently, highs in the 50s and 60s. Clearly if it's 60 in the middle of March, it's time to play.

Maisie has really come into her own with her scooter.

Ella is getting out and experiencing the neighborhood.

There's so much to see: trees are budding, birds are twittering (tweeting?), the wildlife is all waking up and starting to forage.

Happy Spring!

A quick update

2010-03-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

An update on what we've been up to, since we last posted...

Ella's diet has been expanding. Her latest food, which she loves, is pasta with tomato sauce. Yum!

She likes to keep a finger or two in her mouth while she eats to help keep the food in there. Right now she only has two teeth - bottom front, they appeared together recently, which is ahead of Maisie, who had a single tooth on her first birthday. But pretty soon Ella will have more teeth, and having your fingers in your mouth while you eat won't be an option for her!

On Friday, Maisie's school was closed for parent-teacher conferences. (Maisie, by the way, is doing extremely well at her preschool. Her teachers enjoy her presence in the children's house, and find her bright and capable. Yay!) So I took the day off, and after our conference in the morning, we all went to the zoo.

We rented a double stroller, since Maisie sometimes likes to ride, and Ella gets heavy and squirmy after a bit. It was a great choice! Both the girls really seemed to enjoy riding together. I'm sure that will last, right?

And finally, because nothing's cuter than a sleeping baby...

except a sleeping baby with her butt up in the air!

Story time

2010-02-25T20:21:00.000-08:00

At our house, we all like to read. (Big surprise, eh?)

Last weekend, first Dylan read a story to me and Maisie. Go Dylan!

Then Grandma Liisa read Ella a story...

looks like it was a pretty good one!

Then, Maisie wanted to take a turn. She can't read yet, so we all paid attention while she told us a story.

Maisie was actually so cute in telling her story, that my mom and I kept dissolving into fits of giggles, which Maisie did NOT appreciate. She kept saying "Please be quiet. Please give me your attention. Please listen now. Thank you." I think I know what she hears at school from the guides in her children's house!

Chinese New Year

2010-02-21T17:18:00.000-08:00

On Friday, Maisie and I went to the Chinese New Year Celebration at Midtown Global Market! We decided it was pretty much the best holiday celebration, ever.

The first thing that happened when we got there was that Maisie got a gift:

a little red packet with a lucky coin inside! She was really excited about that.

Then, we saw a whole bunch of kids with balloons, dancing and playing in front of a stage. Maisie had to have a balloon and go join them.

One really fun thing about Maisie is that she makes new friends wherever she goes. She will just go up to some kids, start playing with them, and refer to them as "my new friends." The girl Maisie is playing with in this picture is named Tariah, and she really did become Maisie's friend! Maisie's balloon came untied from her string, and Tariah gave Maisie her balloon. It was incredibly sweet.

I sat by Tariah's grandmother and chatted with her, as the area filled up with lots of people...

They were waiting for the lion dance to begin!

It got full pretty quickly, so much so that the girls couldn't even dance and run around any more. We passed the time taking pictures of each other with my camera. Tariah took this picture of me and Maisie, which I quite like!

So after a while, the music started...

The big drum was really LOUD! It symbolized the lion's heartbeat, and got him up and moving around...

and that lion can really MOVE!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Aaron and I had a date night on Friday night, with babysitting courtesy of Gramma Liisa (thanks Mom!). So today was a family Valentine's Day.

We started with Maisie and I attending our friend Sophia's birthday party - she is 4! (Aaron and Ella stayed home for Ella's naptime.) There were about a zillion kids there. It was fun, if somewhat exhausting, in the way that only a child's birthday party can be.

Maisie really enjoyed the delicious cake! And yes, that's frosting in her hair. She also enjoyed playing dress-up with some of Sophia's dress-up clothes. I enjoyed the delightful company and delicious food. All in all, it was a really good time.

Later this afternoon, after "quiet time" (a.k.a. Mommy needed a nap), we all headed down to the Midtown Global Market for some indoor play time.

Maisie especially loved this little car that ran on a small rollercoaster-like track!

We managed to find dinner there, too - Maisie and I shared egg rolls and Vietnamese noodle salad from Pham's, and Aaron got a falafel pita from Holy Land. So tasty! Then we came home, put Ella to bed, and watched the Olympics with Maisie. The luge was on. Maisie was very impressed by how fast they want and said, "When I grow up, I do that?" I said, "No, why don't you play hockey instead?"

We'll see how those negotiations go.

There's a party in my city!

2010-02-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

Yo Gabba Gabba is touring!

Faithful readers may remember that we got to see them last summer at the Target Children's Book Festival for free...

Tickets to the current tour are expensive. Dang! But, don't lose hope: the blog Minnesota Mama's Must Haves is giving away 4 tickets to the show! If you're interested, details on how to enter are here!

Threat level: Orange as an Oompa Loompa!

2010-02-12T14:47:00.000-08:00

She crawls! And pulls herself up to standing! A triple threat (she's stinky, sometimes)!

Busy busy

2010-02-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Let's see, what have we been up to:

Rock the Cradle: Maisie, mommy and our friends Liza and Emi all decided to attend this annual event, which included dancing, yoga and an instrument petting zoo.

Birthday Party: Maisie and mommy once again ventured out to brave the insanity of Edinborough for our friend Jack's birthday party. Giant maze-like complexes of sweaty obstacles, slides and ladders. A germ incubator, in other words. Also, a gymnasium with scooters, balls of all shapes and sizes and a bouncehouse. And don't forget giving toddlers cake at 9am. That's important.

Being Cute: Ellie boo is cute.

Happy new year!

2010-01-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

From our family to yours...

wishing you health, happiness, and hugs in 2010!

(now pretend that this is printed on some nice cardstock, and you got it in the mail at your house, maybe even up to 3 weeks ago, and it was in a festive envelope, probably either red or green. Isn't that a nice holiday card? We'll totally send out real cards next year when the girls are 1.5 and 4, because life will be less hectic then than it is now with a baby and a 3 year old, and we'll totally have it ALL together. Right? Right?? Riiiiiight.)

New Foods

2010-01-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

Ella has been watching everyone eat like a hawk since Christmas, so we decided it was time to try her out with some finger foods.

A note: diced bananas may seem like a good finger food idea, but apparently their texture is too funky fun, and they are too squishy and slippery to make it into a mouth; after seeing two cups of bananas squished into Ella's clothes, the carpet and, worst of all, me, we have given up on diced 'nanas.

Next: cheerios. Yes!

We love Cheerios! Mmmm, cheerios!

Wait, nooooo!

Ella learns to talk

2009-12-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Jumparoo

2009-12-04T07:09:00.000-08:00

Our friends Bethany and Patrick loaned us their old Jumparoo...

Holidazzle

2009-11-29T21:11:00.000-08:00

In Minneapolis, from Thanksgiving through the New Year, there is a parade every Thursday through Sunday called the Holidazzle. It's short, but it's sparkly.

I'd never been, and neither had Maisie. So last night we went to check it out, and we had a lot of fun!

We got there about half an hour before the parade started. There was a person selling light-up wands, so we had to get one of those while we waited.

A person sitting next to us took this picture, which I thought turned out really well, especially given that Maisie is totally not into posing for pictures.

So anyway, we had a lot of fun!

Holidazzle is all about Christmas-y lights, and all the floats are covered with lights. The city actually turns out the street lights along the route, to better illuminate the floats.

This is the Christmas train. It was like a zoo train - there were children wearing lit-up animal costumes in the cars! It was very cute. Cinderella was the grand marshal, and Santa in his sleigh was the last float in the parade. Maisie was very impressed with both of those, as well as with the Wizard of Oz float in the middle - there was a wicked witch riding a bicycle! Very scary and cool.

All the floats were really sparkly and fun, and the parade was short, so it was over right around the time that Maisie started to get bored with it. We had a really good time, and I think we'll go again!

The next generation of Vikings fans

2009-11-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you can tell, but both Dylan and Maisie are wearing their Vikings jerseys in this picture from last Sunday, when we watched the Vikes beat the Lions!

Ella has Vikings gear too, but she wasn't wearing it.

Skol Vikings!

Thank you

2009-11-16T19:44:00.000-08:00

Maisie and I had a very crafty weekend! I love being able to do these kind of projects with her.

On Saturday, we made thank you cards (somewhat belatedly) for her birthday gifts.

As you can see, this is serious work. Maisie loves doing "stamping work" and really enjoyed the activity - she chose the cards, the stamp, and the stickers.

I think they turned out beautifully.

Her hands, though, were a different matter....

(and yes, that's a big ink splotch on her upper lip!)

We also had a crafty Sunday, but that'll have to wait for the next post.

Right now we need to say WELCOME! to Maisie and Ella's new cousins Sullivan and Ryley!! and yay for their mommies and daddies. We can't wait to meet you two!!

The Ella Report

2009-11-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

I feel like we talk a lot about Maisie here, so I want to take a moment to get you up to date on Ella.

She's now completely recovered from her hospital stay. She's a fully healthy almost five month old baby, smiling and cooing and trying like crazy to be mobile!

Her big sister is one of her favorite people. Here, Maisie was running circles around Ella's bouncy chair singing DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD! DING DONG THE WITCH IS DEAD! Ella was trying so hard to watch Maisie that she almost flipped out of her chair!

Maisie loves to give Ella hugs and kisses, and Ella loves that too. She gets a huge smile on her face every time Maisie gets up near her face to say hi and kiss her!

We love our Ella! And it seems like she's pretty fond of us, too.

Maisie's birthday party

2009-11-05T19:19:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, 10/31, we celebrated Maisie's 3rd birthday with our friends and family!

We held the party at the Minnesota Children's Museum. It was a wonderful Where the Wild Things Are themed party.

First they read the story, then they did a craft activity.

Here's Maisie (a witch) and Dylan (a vampire bat) decorating Wild Thing vests and terrible eyes. Scary!!

After the craft activity, we had a wild rumpus!!

You can see the Narcum family really got into the wild rumpus, which really comes as no surprise to those of us who know them!

After the rumpus and a hide-and-seek game, it was time for cake.

Maisie blew out all the candles!

We really had a great time. It was so fun to celebrate Maisie's birthday with our family and friends!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T17:31:00.000-08:00

Happy Halloween, everyone!

In addition to the normal Halloween festivities, we held Maisie's 3rd birthday party on Saturday. I will write about it later, but tonight, I'm just too tired... apparently my children didn't get the memo about daylight savings time meaning that everyone gets an extra hour of sleep.

Health care

2009-10-29T20:30:00.000-07:00

Normally I try to keep the politics out of the baby blog. But you have to forgive me here. It's just SHOCKING to me that we're still debating whether or not we need health insurance reform, when the costs are so outrageous, and coverage seems so arbitrary. Someone without health insurance for themselves or for their kids - what would you do if you or your kids got sick?? Why should insurance depend upon your employer??

This post, by the way, is prompted by our receipt today of the preliminary statement of what Ella's hospital stay is going to cost.

Yes, that is just over fifteen THOUSAND dollars.

Now, we're fortunate enough that Ella has good insurance. But right now - Aaron is uninsured, because we figured he'd get a job after he finished school, so we didn't add him to my insurance. If it was him with this infection instead of Ella? We would be SO underwater. I don't know what we'd do.

If I didn't have the good job that I do and Ella didn't have insurance, what would we do now, with a fifteen thousand dollar hospital bill? Or would we not have taken her to the hospital at all? Tried to treat her blood infection with baby tylenol?

No easy answers here, I guess. Other than, boy does something need to change.

Photography by Maisie

2009-10-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

One of Maisie's favorite things to do is taking pictures with our digital camera. We usually end up with lots of pictures of her toes and tummy, but recently she seems to have gotten the hang of it. Here's some examples of her recent work.

Home!

2009-10-18T20:22:00.000-07:00

So, our Ella was really, really sick.

She woke up early Tuesday morning with a high fever, so she and I were off to the ER while Aaron stayed home to care for Maisie. Ella had bacteremia, a bacterial blood infection. It was really scary, but she is much better after 2 1/2 days in the hospital receiving IV antibiotics. As you can see, her whole left hand and forearm were all taped up to protect her IV... she kept sucking on her hand and trying to get the tape off.

She had a really high fever, which is gone, and she finally seems like herself again - she wants to play and have fun, whereas when she was sick, she wasn't playful or laughing at all.

We are all so glad that Ella is home!

Finally!

2009-10-16T09:48:00.001-07:00

Ella is HOME!

The Ella Update

2009-10-14T19:58:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Ella was hospitalized on Tuesday morning with what we originally suspected was H1N1... she had a high fever (102.7), cough, and runny nose, and was super cranky.

It turns out that Ella has strep. pneumoniae bacteremia - that is, her blood is infected with the bacteria strep. pneumoniae. She's doing a lot better since we brought her in. She was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday, and is on IV antibiotics which are knocking the strep out like LL Cool J. Mama said knock you out!!

We've been alternating spending time with her at the hospital, me going to work, and someone being home with Maisie... and thank goodness for family - my Mom has picked Maisie up from school and fed her dinner the past 2 days, and I get home from the hospital to find Maisie playing happily with her Auntie Laura at our house. We're also thankful for my understanding employer, and my coworkers who are stepping up to cover my missed court appearances.

So right now we're hoping that Ella will be able to come home tomorrow (Thursday). Obviously we'd rather she were at home, but we want to make sure that everything's under control before we bring her home. The last thing we want to do is have to boomerang back to the Children's Hospital after being discharged!

We'll keep you all posted. And thanks for everyone's love, thoughts, prayers, and support. We truly appreciate it.

Portrait of mommy

2009-10-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Maisie drew this in school the other day.

It's a picture of me! I'm pretty impressed with her drawing skills, for someone not quite 3 years old. She was very proud of it, too. She pointed to the mouth and said, "That your teeth, Mama!"

Fall Festival

2009-10-05T17:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Maisie's new school had its annual Fall Festival. It was so fun!

There was a pumpkin sale - as you can see, they had huge and beautiful pumpkins. There were also some really beautiful heirloom pumpkins - some were white, others were green. So cool! Maisie picked out a small enough pumpkin that she could carry it. Very cute.

You can also see that Maisie got her face painted, too. I loved that the elementary school children were doing the face painting for the younger children.

Gramma, Auntie Laura, and Dylan came to the fall festival too!

Dylan and Maisie had fun playing, getting their faces painted, and generally just enjoying being outside on a crisp fall day. I was glad that Gramma and Auntie Laura got to see Maisie's school, and meet her awesome teacher. They even got to peek into her classroom!

All in all, it was a really fun way to spend the afternoon - playing outside, and getting to know the people in our new school community!

And of course, Ella came along for the ride!

Tomato sauce

2009-09-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

My canning adventures continued today while the girls took their afternoon naps. We'd built up a backlog of tomatoes from the past few weeks' CSA deliveries, so I decided to make and can some tomato sauce.

First I blanched and peeled the tomatoes.

This was kind of gross, because they were somewhat slimy underneath their skins. But also fun, because they were somewhat slimy! And look, naked tomatoes! I was surprised at just how easily the skins came right off. I had considered skipping this step and pureeing them with a food mill, which would keep the skins out, but I'm glad I did it this way... much easier.

Then, I cored, seeded and chopped them.

At this point I started to get a little concerned. I thought I had sooooo many tomatoes when they were rolling around in my fridge. But suddenly, hmmm... not so much.

Next, I threw them in a pot and started cooking.

As they cooked I mashed them up with a potato masher. I also had garlic, onion, and green pepper in there, along with the tomato and spices, even though the recipe in my canning book called for carrot instead of green pepper. This was kind of scary to me, because my canning book warned me that if I deviated from their recipe even one little bit, my lovingly crafted tomato sauce will kill my family with botulism!!!!

So even though the University of Minnesota Extension said I don't have to (because I'm using locally grown tomatoes, and my sauce is at least 3/4 tomato), I added 1 Tbsp of lemon juice to each jar. Just to be on the safe side.

After the filled jars spent 35 minutes in boiling water, the canning was finally done! All that effort yielded me...

TWO PINTS of sauce. You may be thinking to yourself, gosh that seems like a lot of work for just two pints of tomato sauce! And yes, I would have to agree with that. I now get why people do these kind of things in giant batches, and why my recipes tend to call for 10 lbs of tomatoes. I don't think it would've been that much more work to do 5x as much sauce. So, lesson learned... but the two pints do make a nice addition to the growing collection of canned food down in the basement!

Dylan's birthday

2009-09-24T19:31:00.001-07:00

Still catching up on the backlog... I suppose it would help if we posted more than once a week! Well, it turns out that life with two kids is pretty busy, which I suppose is not news to most of you! So, we're doing our best to keep up with the blog. :)

Dylan turned 6 about a week ago! Auntie Laura had a really fun party for his birthday.

Ella, of course, found the whole thing to be a total snoozer.

But don't let Ella's reaction fool you! The rest of us had fun and nobody else fell asleep even once.

It was a beautiful day, so the kids all had fun playing outside... and there were a LOT of kids there!

As it turns out, between family, friends and neighbors, Dylan has a lot of friends. There weren't even any of his school friends there! (He started kindergarten this year, which is kind of unbelieveable to me. KINDERGARTEN. I still remember the first time he peed on me when I was changing his diaper!)

He got a lot of great presents from generous friends and family!

Maisie wanted to help him open them, but he didn't really need her help, as it turns out.

Finally, of course - birthday cake!

At Dylan's request, the cake had one or two of the trick candles that re-light themselves after you blow them out. But he actually got them all the way out the first time, and they didn't relight. He was bummed about it! But only briefly. Because hey, cake!

Yo Gabba Gabba!

2009-09-17T19:40:00.000-07:00

I know I've mentioned one of Maisie's favorite shows, Yo Gabba Gabba, on here a few times. For those who aren't familiar, it's a music-based kids show. Every show teaches a different lesson, such as "making new friends can be scary but is worth it," "being different is what makes us all special," and "don't bite your friends." Each show also has plenty of music, and the main character, DJ Lance Rock, frequently reminds us that "Singing and dancing to music is awesome!"

So, last weekend Yo Gabba Gabba was appearing live at the Target Children's Book Festival! We had to go.

DJ Lance Rock was there!

So was Brobee!

Maisie danced and danced.

Dylan thought the music was too loud!

(He did have fun, and danced a lot too! But I thought this picture was too funny to keep to myself.)

Applesauce

2009-09-14T18:09:00.001-07:00

I've recently become intrigued by canning, of all things. We got an abundance of tomatoes in our CSA delivery, and my friend Anne showed me how to can them. I was hooked! Next I wanted to try applesauce.

So on Sunday, Maisie and I went to the farmers market and found a guy selling apples with a big sign that said "ask me questions - I grow everything I sell." Perfect! So at the farmer's recommendation, we bought a 5 gallon bucket of Cortland apples. He said they were tart and would make great sauce, and a lot of it.

That apple farmer was right!

I used maybe a quarter of the apples - I didn't want to do them all at once as I was short on jars (and time) - and made 4.5 pints of yummy applesauce! I didn't even have to add any sugar - just some cinnamon.

So now we have 4 pints of applesauce sitting in storage in the basement next to the tomatoes I put up with Anne's help, and more apples left to sauce up this week, or weekend, whenever we find the time to peel them all.

And as for that other 1/2 pint - Maisie's already eaten it!

First day of school

2009-09-13T20:48:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday was not only my birthday, it was Maisie's first day of preschool.

She looks a little apprehensive, but she did great. She really loves her teachers and her classmates, and has a lot of fun at school. She went right down the hall without looking back, and certainly with no tears.

I mean, at least no tears on her part... I was another story!

now yer bloggie belong to me

2009-09-08T12:37:00.000-07:00

State Fair!

2009-08-30T19:28:00.001-07:00

This morning, Maisie and I went to the State Fair!

I've only been a handful of times and it wasn't something I ever really loved, but I thought Maisie would enjoy it and it would be fun to see with her. And it was!

The first fun thing we did was to park at the new football stadium, on the U of M campus, for the free park & ride. Maisie thought the bus was great! She was really into the idea of a bus that has a potty in it. (by the way, have I mentioned that Maisie is almost completely potty trained now? Nights and naps are not dry yet, but that's fine. Uh-oh, hope this was not jinxing it.)

Anyway: at the fair, we went on a bunch of rides.

We went on this beautiful carousel twice! We also went down the Giant Slide twice, and through Ye Olde Mill twice, which is this weird tunnel of love-type ride I guess? You get in a little boat together, and ride through this pitch-black tunnel that has like four or five dioramas with painted plywood cutout figures? I have never seen anything like it. It's super weird but people love it, Maisie included!

Maisie has a bee painted on her left cheek here. She got that done at a display by beekeepers. This lovely young woman was painting kids' faces. When Maisie got up to the front of the line, the woman asked her what she wanted on her face. Maisie said, without hesitating, "a spider!!" The woman said, "Oh, I can only do a bee, a butterfly, or a flower." So Maisie went with the bee. The woman looked at me like, a SPIDER?? That's my girl!

One thing people always talk about regarding the State Fair is the food.

Maisie and I didn't have anything crazy - no chocolate covered bacon, deep fried candy bars, or alligator on a stick for us. We stuck with the basics, and had walleye for lunch, followed by a huge strawberry ice cream cone!

We also went through some of the animal barns, and saw horses, rabbits, sheep, poultry, and cows, as well as the new babies in the Miracle of Birth center - we got to pet a one-day-old lamb!

All told, we were at the fair for about three hours. After all that, Maisie was exhausted. When we got back to the car, she said "I'm really sleepy, Mama. I sleep in my carseat!" And she did.

I have two girls.

2009-08-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

These pics are clearly pre-haircut, you can see those long unruly curly locks!

Maisie loves to hold Ella.

She routinely demands, "I want to hold my sister!" It's super cute, and you can see she clearly enjoys it - how could we say no? Although Ella seems a little unsure about the whole business. Don't worry baby, we're closely supervising!

Another thing Maisie likes is to note that "you got two girls, Mama." (although she says "girls" more like "gorls," it's cute.) I do have two gorls! And Daddy has three.

Lucky daddy!

Haircut

2009-08-25T16:28:00.001-07:00

You may have noticed in recent pictures that Maisie's hair has been getting kind of long and unruly. To be honest, it got long enough that it was getting to be a real pain... it would get in her food and in her projects - paint, paper maiche, etc. - and would get horrible tangles that took forever to comb out.

Enough is enough, so on Saturday we went to Kids Hair to get a haircut.

You may be able to tell that Maisie had mixed feelings about the whole experience. She was into it initially, but got really skeptical up on that chair! Fortunately the people there are real pros, and kept Maisie distracted enough through the whole process that she didn't cry once... unlike our friends Chuck and Christy's little boy Clark, who was coincidentally getting a haircut at the same time. Poor Clark howled through his whole haircut! At least they used clippers, so it was fast.

Interestingly, the Highland Park Kids Hair is apparently at the center of my world. Not only did we run into Chuck, Christy and Clark there, but my mom and Dylan saw my car in the lot and stopped in to say hi!

The nine of us went and had lunch at the Chatterbox around the corner, which was great! Then when we were leaving, we ran into my friends Kate and Ry4an with their little girl Sasha, who was also getting a cut. It was kind of ridiculous. But at least now I know where everyone hangs out on Saturday mornings... Kids Hair!

Once again, Ella was bored by the whole process and slept through just about everything. One day it'll be you up on that chair, little girl! Then we'll see who's bored by Kids Hair.

The finished product.
No tears, a good haircut, and she even got a sucker at the end of the process... we'll definitely be back!

And now it's time to dance!

2009-08-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

We realized that not everyone has seen Maisie's lovely dance moves. Still pictures just don't do her justice. So, are you ready... yeah! Let's do it, break it down!

(That's a Yo Gabba Gabba reference for those of you without little kids.)

A wedding!

2009-08-17T19:54:00.001-07:00

This weekend, we went to the wedding of my coworker Jeff and his lovely bride Elisha.

Maisie was very taken by the whole thing. Well, she actually thought the ceremony was a little boring. But she really loved the reception! There were people, there was cake, there were "princesses" (bride and bridesmaids). Elisha let Maisie touch her dress, and showed her all the sparkly beaded parts on the bodice, which Maisie thought was pretty special!

We had a delicious dinner, and then we all got to dance! In case you weren't aware, Maisie loves to dance.

Check out Maisie's beautiful party dress... she picked it out herself! The two of us went shopping together a few weeks ago for our dresses for the wedding. I think she did a pretty good job choosing a beautiful and appropriate dress for the occasion!

These are just a few shots of Maisie's awesome dance moves! She had so much fun dancing with me and her daddy, and everyone else there. She learned to do the Chicken Dance and the Hokey Pokey, so now she's ready for all future wedding dances.

Ella, of course, slept through the majority of the festivities. She woke up a few times, and my baby-loving coworkers were happy to play "pass the baby" so that I could eat my dinner with two hands, while Aaron chased Maisie around!

So after all that, Maisie told us that she wants to get married. I suspect she really just wants to have a wedding, which of course is not the same thing! We told her that when she gets married, she can wear a sparkly white dress and have a special dance with her daddy, too... but not until she's all grown up. There's no hurry!

Home and out

2009-08-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

Now that Maisie's not in daycare it's a challenge trying to find activities to keep her happy and busy and social. We've visited the MN Children's Museum a couple times in the last two weeks.

Maisie painting her face (I'm NOT allowed to help).

Maisie trying on different career clothes (pith helmet and janitor shirt).

How does Ella deal with all of this excitement? The same way she handles all Maisie's and my screaming and racing around at home.

Sleep.

Art Fair

2009-08-09T18:49:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, we went to the Powderhorn Park Art Fair! Friends of ours suggested going to the Uptown Art Fair, but Powderhorn is less crowded, and walking distance from our house. So we said no thanks! to Uptown.

It was a beautiful day for it! The walk was a little long for Maisie, but she got through with the promise of ice cream once we got there. She got strawberry cheesecake ice cream from a vendor who claimed to be the "Midwest Ice Cream Specialist" or some such thing... it was really good ice cream, anyway. We also got some delicious iced jasmine tea and Maisie's first cream cheese wontons from Pham's, a noodle shop at the Midtown Global Market that had a booth at the fair.

We didn't just buy food! Maisie got a handmade mermaid doll, made by a Hmong woman who was selling her work for ridiculously cheap prices.

The walk back was a little far for Maisie, so she rode on her daddy's shoulders most of the way. You can see her mermaid, with her beautiful pink hair hanging down, in Maisie's hand in this picture.

(BTW, you all know that if you click on a picture, it'll come up larger, right? Just making sure... this pic is kind of dark in the small version, but looks much better when enlarged. Just so you know!)

Ella slept through the whole thing... :)

Adventures

2009-08-05T21:04:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot of changes since our last post!

I started back at work on Monday, and Aaron's now a stay-at-home dad. So far it's been going really well for all four of us. I'm happy to be back at work (really!), and Aaron, Maisie, and Ella are enjoying their time together.

Aaron plans things for them to do, so they've been getting out of the house every day on "adventures," even if just to go chase pigeons at the park. This was Monday... Maisie was really disappointed that she wasn't able to catch any of the pigeons.

They've also been keeping busy at home, working on art (and other skills, too). Every day I come home to many beautiful watercolor paintings!

Today they went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art - Maisie was particularly impressed by the statutes. So maybe tomorrow, instead of watercolors, I'll come home to some beautiful play-doh sculpture!

Ella's been keeping up with Aaron and Maisie, or at least has been going along for the (stroller) ride. She's doing great - gaining weight, holding her head up so strong, and smiling an adorable little smile. She already seems so big! It's really astounding, how fast they grow.

Just, you know, watch your fingers around her.

Maisie continues to be a fantastic older sister. She's gotten the hang of giving Ella a bottle, and loves to do so. She's a great helper!

Visiting (great-)grandparents

2009-07-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

I'm almost at the end of my maternity leave. Time goes so fast... So last weekend, we decided to head down to Iowa so that Ella could meet her great-grandparents for the first time.

We went to Ames on Friday and stayed with Grandma Jo. Then we headed out to Vail, IA, where Great Grandma and Grandpa live, on Saturday. They got to meet Ella, and to see Maisie again - it's been a while! We had a really lovely visit with them.

Maisie enjoyed her visit to Vail, too. Aaron's cousin Rob was visiting at the same time with his family, including his daughter Elise, who's just a little older than Maisie is.

Maisie had so much fun playing with Elise at Grandma & Grandpa's house! And we were happy to learn that Rob, Trish, and their family are moving back to the Twin Cities. So, hopefully this was just the first of many play dates for Maisie and Elise!

I love a parade

2009-07-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the Highland Park neighborhood festival. Saturday morning there was a children's parade with a costume contest, so we had to go!

When Grandma Liisa first asked Maisie how she wanted to dress up, she said "a SHARK!!" But Grandma was able to redirect her to "flower princess." She helped Maisie decorate her doll Becky's stroller, and made Becky a princess skirt. Pretty cute, eh?

Maisie wasn't sure about walking in the parade, so I got to walk with her.

Disappointingly, she didn't win a prize in her age category (4 & under)... we were robbed!

Dylan, however, won 3rd prize in the 5 & up group for his excellent rocket.

He was so excited to win! Good job Grandma Liisa! And he shared his prize candy with Maisie, so she got over her loss pretty quickly.

(Ella slept through the whole thing.)

Sisters

2009-07-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

With a little help, Maisie can hold Ella. It's one of her favorite things to do! She asks to hold her "stisser" a couple of times a day. She'll also say, "Look at me, baby Ella!!" as she shows off a new dance step or fancy twirl.

It makes me so happy to see that Maisie has adapted so well to being a big sister! I love watching her interact with Ella, and I look forward to seeing their relationship grow.

Picture post

2009-07-09T16:50:00.000-07:00

I don't really have it together enough right now to write a coherent post, so here are some cute pictures to tide you over, until I get some sleep!

Also: because I am delinquent in writing thank yous - THANK YOU to the Ely J's for the Target card - it has turned into some very useful diapers and wipes. And THANK YOU to Cathy C for the book - I love the Finn family Moomintroll, but we did not have any picture books! It's now in our regular bedtime reading. Maisie really enjoys it. And finally, THANK YOU to my Portland honeys for the beautiful handmade gifts! You are all incredibly thoughtful.

Maisie and Aaron peeking out of a giant tire at the Children's Museum. The display says it's from a tractor, but it reminds me of the tires from the huge mining trucks on the Iron Range. Although, those tires were actually much bigger, now that I think about it!

(Yes, I see the "One person at a time" sign behind the two of them... we noticed it afterwards, in the picture. Oops!)

Laura and Dylan invited us over to their house for supper a few days ago. It was really hot, so we ate in the backyard. Dylan was delighted to help give Ella a bottle! He really enjoyed helping out with Maisie when she was little, and I was happy to see that he still wanted to help take care of the baby, even as a big kid of almost 6.

When Maisie saw Dylan feeding Ella, she wanted to help too, but she doesn't quite have the patience yet. Soon enough, though, I'm sure!

Ella seemed to enjoy the bottle process too, even though it seemed like she got as much of the milk on her as in her. By the time she was done, her onesie was soaked!

Sisters! Or, as Maisie says, "That my baby stisser!"

Carleton... past and future!

2009-06-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

Most readers here probably know that my mom and I are both Carleton alumni. My mom has determined Maisie's and Ella's class years, too (2027 and 2030, respectively)!

I sent this picture to the alumni magazine today, but I figured I'd share it here for those who won't see it... also, so you can see both girls together.

Wow. I just looked at the picture again, and boy do I look tired! Well, it's accurate; I am really tired. I need to get better at the "sleep when the baby sleeps" thing.

Introducing Ella Ann!

2009-06-26T07:43:00.001-07:00

A week later, I've got a minute to do a proper introduction!

This is our new little girl, Ella Ann! As you know from Aaron's previous post, she was born last Saturday, June 20 at 9:45 a.m. weighing 7 lbs 1 oz and 20" long. She was born via scheduled c-section - since I ended up delivering Maisie via c-section after a long, hard labor, this time we opted to skip the "long, hard labor" part and get right to the good part with the baby. We had a great team of docs and nurses at the hospital, and the invaluable presence of my good friend Caroline who was there as our support person during the surgery. I'm recovering much more quickly than I did with Maisie's birth. We've all been home since Monday.

Ella's a little smaller than Maisie was at birth, but she's working on catching up - she eats all the time! She lost a little weight right after birth, which is to be expected, but she's almost back up to her birth weight already, which is great!

She eats whenever she's not sleeping, I should say. I hate to write this in case we jinx it, but she's a pretty good sleeper, too, going up to 3 hours at a time at night. Yay! Isn't she a cute little sleeper?

Ella is also a real cuddlebug. She loves to be held and snuggled all the time, and her favorite place to sleep is on my chest.

Second favorite: sleeping on her grandma.

Ella has blue eyes of course, but we are pretty sure they'll stay that way, since Aaron, Maisie and I all have blue eyes too. She has a fine little head of hair, which appears to be a little darker and maybe curlier than Maisie's was when she was born. And, if you have ever seen Maisie's toes, you know Maisie has these crazy Jalonen toes - the second and third toes are joined by a little web of skin up to the first joint - that both my uncles apparently have. Ella has that too, but only on her left foot!

More later on how we're all adjusting and making the transition from family of 3 to family of 4 (short version: Maisie is awesome and adjusting really well), but for now - kisses from baby Ella!

Ellalicious?

2009-06-20T15:36:00.000-07:00

Ella: born 9:45am, 7lbs 1oz, 20inches

The countdown is on...

2009-06-14T18:53:00.000-07:00

38 weeks and one day down...

six days to go! I don't remember if I updated our delivery (c-section) date here, so now you know: next Saturday, June 20 is the day! I can. not. wait. I couldn't be more excited to meet our new little girl - and, to be honest, not to be pregnant any more!

These last few weeks have been slow for us - Aaron and I have been kind of hunkering down, getting ready for the new baby and not really doing too much or going much of anywhere. Consequently, we don't have a lot of pictures to post, or interesting things to blog about...

Maisie is going through a major princess phase right now, which you may have figured out from her deep love of her princess skirt. Here, she is wearing a beautiful princess hat. Doesn't she make a lovely princess?

Fortunately, other people are doing interesting things for us to write about. Yesterday our friend Emi turned 1! We celebrated with her by swimming and then having cupcakes (which Maisie calls "pupcakes") at Lake Nokomis (or, as Maisie says, "Komis Lake").

Obligatory hilarious first birthday cake picture:

I love this picture because Emi looks SO SERIOUS as she sits in her cake. I also love that she's holding a fork - maybe purely decorative, given that she's clearly been using her hands to eat! Anyway, this picture cracks me up.

We had a good time swimming in the lake, even though the water was pretty cold. It was a beautiful day, and there were lots of people there, including many little kids who stared open-mouthed at my belly, which amused me. Only one child actually asked me "You got a baby in your tummy?" Hee.

Random cute picture of Maisie from this morning:

The way Maisie's speech is developing is so interesting. She has trouble with sounds in compound words that she can say just fine on their own. She can say "cup" and "cake" just fine, but together it's always "pupcake." My favorite though is "swim" and "suit" - no problem separately, but when combined, form "swimpoop." Much hilarity ensues every time we talk about going to the pool. Daddy, you got your swimpoop?

Memorial Day

2009-06-04T21:18:00.000-07:00

Catching up on some pictures here... on Memorial Day, our friends Jason and Rebecca (and their daughter Sophia) hosted a barbecue. At Sophia's insistence, they put up their tent in the backyard for the kids to play in.

It was a huge hit! Maisie, Sophia, and the other kids there had a blast running in, around, and through the tent.

As you can see, Maisie wore her rainbow dress and her princess skirt to the barbecue. It's so cute - when she sees this picture (it's currently the wallpaper on our desktop computer at home) she always says "I love my rainbow dress! I love my princess skirt!" and then asks to go back to "Fia's party" to play in the tent some more.

Conversations with Maisie

2009-05-31T17:52:00.000-07:00

Maisie has become quite the little chatterbox lately. I know it happened gradually, but it seems like all of a sudden, she went from a really basic, small vocabulary to talking about everything! all the time! I don't think she has much in the way of an inner monologue, because she narrates everything - every car trip she spends talking to herself about the cars, the street signs, the trees, the water, the buildings, and the people she sees out the window. Following are a few illustrated examples of some of her recent topics of conversation.

"You help me, Daddy!"
As independent as Maisie is, she can also - usually, sometimes - recognize her limits, especially on playground equipment that is designed for bigger kids. This was at Powderhorn Park on Memorial Day weekend. She tried to make it up the ladder herself, and got most of the way before telling Aaron to help her. It's reassuring that, even as fearless as she is, she knows that she has some limits!

"I need SPACE."
Sometimes Maisie gets overwhelmed and need a little room. She used to push whoever was crowding her and say "You go 'way! Leave me alone!" But this was resulting in some hurt feelings. So instead we taught her to ask for some space, and to walk away when she needs it. Here, she needed some space from Grandma and Dylan. It's pretty effective, and hopefully something that will serve her in the long run... after all, everyone needs some space from time to time.

"I no eat chicken. I only eat french fries."
Somewhat self-explanatory! This is from dinner tonight - it was a long, hot day and we were all tired, so Maisie and I went to get takeout from Holy Land deli at Midtown Global Market. It didn't get taken out too far, though, before Maisie decided she wanted to eat right then, instead of waiting until we got all the way home (12 blocks!). Despite her assertions to the contrary she did eat all the chicken, as well as almost all the fries. She ate such a good supper that she got some ice cream for dessert, which leads us to the next picture...

"My face all dirty!"
"My seat STICKY."
"I like ice cream! I like choc-a-leet!"
Again, fairly self-explanatory... but yeah. Wow. It's kind of amazing, just how big of a mess she can make with a single-scoop ice cream cone. This kid's got talent!

The marker on her arms, by the way, is her "tattoos." The orange that you can see is "a big monster, RAWR!!" There's green on her other arm that isn't visible in this picture, that is stars.

And finally...

"Baby Ella in my mommy tummy!"
36 weeks down, 3 to go! Barring any early arrival - which seems unlikely, given that Maisie hung in there for 41+ weeks, Saturday, June 20 is our c section date. We're all looking forward to it - me most of all!

Afghan!

2009-05-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

One of the fun things for me about visiting Aaron's family in Iowa is that Jo will often give me yarn from her sizable stash that she's not going to use. I have built up quite a stash of my own this way!

The stash was getting a little overwhelming so I decided to multitask, and work through some of it at the same time as making a housewarming gift for my mom, who moved this weekend. So I made my mom an afghan!

It's easily the biggest thing I've ever made, at probably 5'x3'. I'd always been intimidated by big afghan patterns before, but I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try, and I'm so glad that I did. I wasn't quite sure how it'd turn out, what with all the crazy yarn colors and patterns, but I'm pretty happy with the end result. I think my mom is, too! We both liked that it has such bright colors mixed in there. I also like that I was able to use up such a big chunk of my yarn stash. Now I feel better about buying more yarn!

The cats acted less than impressed with the end result, but I think they were just miffed because they really enjoyed playing with all that loose yarn, and it's gone now...

why we are careful to buy non-toxic paints

2009-05-13T18:09:00.000-07:00

Yes, that's green paint all around her mouth.

I really don't feel like this photo needs further explanation, do you?

Daycare picture

2009-05-12T06:56:00.000-07:00

Brief update here! Occasionally our daycare providers will send us pictures taken during the day. Yesterday they sent us this gem.

This was taken in their backyard. Maisie absolutely loves to play outside and run around, and they go outside twice a day to play when the weather permits. They have a huge swingset with slides and a climbing wall, and smaller outside toys for the younger children. What a great picture, and what a happy kid!

Princess skirt!

2009-05-06T06:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was my and Aaron's dating anniversary - 9 years! Mom babysat and we went out to a movie. Before we left, we told her we were coming home after she was asleep, but Maisie was apparently still very forlorn at bedtime. My mom reports that she said "My daddy lost. My mommy gone. My daddy gone. My mommy lost." over and over. How sad! Then this morning, she asked "Where my grandma go?"

When my mom arrived, she had a present she'd made for Maisie: a "princess skirt"! She made it out of sparkly blue net, a big satin ribbon at the waist, and attached all sorts of little sparkly things to the net layers.

Maisie loved it, put it on immediately, and danced around the living room. She also slept snuggled up with it last night. Then when she got up this morning, she did the same thing!

She did eventually stop dancing to play with her blocks, so I managed to get a better picture of her in the skirt - I think you get the idea.

(cell phone pics, excuse the poor quality)