State Fair!

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!

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?

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

The countdown is on...

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

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

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!

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...