Trip to NoCal

on the big girl swing with papa pushing

Amelia and I took a trip to Northern California two weeks ago. It was a long week, but well worth the effort! We stayed for two nights with Grammy and Papa Carney, then to Auntie Lara's house (amazing views to be had there), and finally, in Sonoma at the Westerbeke ranch. Each stop was fun for us, though I was really worn out by the end and needed a few days to recover.

The trip to Sonoma was the impetus for the trip because for cousin Jeremy's wedding. It was so beautiful and I think Amelia had a nice time at the ranch.

Our first two days were spent hanging with grammy and papa, going to grammy's office, and to the park. The park near her new office had a carousel as well as a little train we could ride on. Amelia loved the carousel and riding the horses. We each took a turn riding it with her.

Next, our stay with Lara had us first visiting friends in Novato, Violet, Yvonne and Kristen then in Petaluma, Summer, Tyler, Ava and Annika. Amelia loved hanging with the kids, especially the Tyler! I'm in for a world of hurt come 12-13 years... Our last night with Lara, an old friend from college and her family came over. Her son, Liam, who is 6, was a true sport playing with Amelia and humoring her when she would say, "boy, sit down here!" Again, cute now, now so cute in 13 years.

Amelia and Tyler looking suspiciously at the camera woman...

kids playing with stuff

Summer and Amelia are only 2 weeks apart!

and what is this an ad for?

playing with chalk

Our final stop in this whirlwind trip was Sonoma. Westerbeke Ranch was so magical--I loved walking the grounds and discovering new things each day. Friday morning I met my parents at the ranch and dropped Amelia off while my BFF, John, and I along with 20 or so of Jeremy's friends, went on 2 winery tours. It was awesome. I had been waiting and dreaming of the day for months!

Eric flew in to Oakland Friday night, though he didn't get in until late so missed wine tasting and dinner. Saturday morning, after breakfast, we explored the property and found fruit trees, a fun fountain for Amelia to play in, and yummy blackberry bushes. We all ate handfuls of berries and had stained smiles by the end.

Saturday evening was the wedding. Amelia was supposed to be one of the flower girls, but ended up being carried, by me, down the isle. She hadn't been sleeping well (shocker!) and wanted boobie (in a totally inopportune time!) I didn't even got to see the ceremony. However, my parents helped out and I got to eat dinner and have a glass of wine.

the wedding party

a fine family picture.. too bad Amelia wasn't smiling!

riding the wooden horsies

Wheels on the bus

I kind of gave up on the blog. Will try to revive.

In the car, while singing wheels on the bus, Amelia took her doll and
started doing the hand gestures for the song. It was soooo adorable!

Everday there is at least one amazing new thing that happens, most of
which I'll never remember!

Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Changing of the guards

What a big weekend! Amelia's Grammy and Papa (Eric's parents) were in
town for the holiday. It was great for her and for us! My parents
often come on Sunday to spend the afternoon with her so this was an
added bonus--both sets of grandparents at our disposal!!!

Swimventure and the popscicle

First day of swimming class was a total bust! We only stayed a short
time in the pool. These pictures were before on the car ride. We again on Saturday only this time Eric went with her into the pool--a little more success, but still a scary experience for her. I think it's just going to take some time.

Later in the day, we went to Hannah's house for some playtime. It was there Amelia had her first fudgcicle. It was white chocolate which made cleanup of Rachel's furniture and rugs much, much easier!

Amelia did great and was eating from both sides. I had to take at away at the very end because it had turned into a sloppy mess!!! But she loved it.

Time flies

I feel like I'm writing to my diary. Dear Diary, it's been 5 weeks since my last entry...

So Amelia is now 19 months. She is talking like crazy. The other morning she put three words together--something like, more book daddy, or all done daddy--I was a little sleepy and can't remember what she said!

Little things are harder and harder to remember. It seems like she's doing so many fun new tricks all the time! One day while playing in the apartment, tiny particles of dust floated in beams of sunlight; she said, "bubbles!" with delight. It was such a sweet little moment I wish could have been captured on film. The wonder of everyday events; the joy of seeing water trickle out of a broken sprinkler; being able to say a new word (over and over and over again); those are the moments I don't want to forget!

One of her favorite things is to come home and put on "daddy's shoes" out on the landing. Amelia also loves to sit in the front seat of the car and honk the horn. And if we have the infant car seat in (just in case we have a visiting kid who fits) she loves to get in and out and in and out and in and out! then do the buckle a million times.

Summer is approaching and we have signed up for several activities. Next week we start a music class on Monday and a swimming class at the Y on Thursdays. On Saturdays will be gym and swim. This is 1/2 hour gym class and 1/2 hour swim. This way Eric and I can both get in a little bit of a workout while Amelia spends time with each.

We have no summer plans yet. Hoping to get away for a mini vacation. Disappointed that we're not moving to England, but happy that we could spend the summer her. Now we've decided to look for a bigger place to live. Hopefully it won't take all summer because Sundays are exhausting! We did 13 open houses last weekend!!! Thank goodness my parents can hang with Amelia while Eric and I drive around LA. It's much easier and we can see many more places on our own.

Pictures should be coming soon. I just got a new hard drive and need to switch everything over. It's going to be a pain in the neck, but all of our photos from the last year and a half are scattered across various hard drives and it's not easy to keep track of. I'm hoping with one drive, it will be easier to start "working" on all the pictures again.

We have a talker!

It's now May 9th. Amelia turned 1 1/2 today and she has quite a vocabulary going. She can *almost* repeat everything you say to her, but not quite.

Her newest words are: hat, shoes, socks, head, teeth, push, arf, moo, baa and meow! It seems like she is just on the verge of complete sentences!! Actually, she's putting two words together more and more. For instance:
Daddy teeth
Daddy push
Daddy pee

You get the idea. Everything is daddy. And if it's not daddy, then it's poppy--that's grandpa to you and I. She loves her some poppy!

Easter Egg Hunt

Santa Monica Mom's Club hosted an "Easter egg hunt" on the lawn at a local park last week. It was so cute to watch all the kids go after the eggs. Amelia picked up two and then got distracted by the dogs.

The gals

Amelia loves get friend Hannah and Hannah's mom Rachel. It's so cute!








Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

New shoes

It looks like Amelia is taking after me... she already has my big feet!

After a trip to the shoe store it turns out she's grown out of the baby shoes which go up to 5.5 or 18-24 months. Granda Glenda bought her two pairs in size 6!






Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Too cute for words!

So many cute things have happened in the last few weeks. I wish I could remember them all! The other day, my friend Rachel was blowing bubbles outside with her daughter when I drove by. I saw this, stopped and Amelia saw her daughter Hannah and got sooooo excited! Amelia and Hannah ran up to each other and gave a little hug, or as "Nannah" says it, huggieee!

Other cute things recently also involve Hannah. One morning we ran into Hannah and Rachel at Peet's. While I was inside to get coffee, the girls were tooling around in Hannah's cool car. Amelia sat on Nannah's lap and Rachel pushed. This worked out quite well because A could then honk the horn, which she loves to do and H could point to A and say "Me, Me" her name for Amelia.

This afternoon we came upon another cute event. Grandma Glenda was here and, after a long day of being out and about, drank her bottled water and let out a big, refreshing, "AH!" Of course, Amelia, with her little bottle of water, took a swing and gave out her own cry of refreshment! After that, after every sip came and "Ah!" I wish I had the video camera on that one!

The cold park

Winter is felt at Reed Park! Even bundled up I was freezing! Should have worn a scarf.

Amelia's friend Bellalina had it right--sweater, scarf and hat! The warmest spot was inside the tunnel.

Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Wild ride

This is not the first night Eric has gotten Amelia to sleep using the stroller. Many middle of the nights have been spent rocking her back and forth until she goes to sleep.

However, last night and tonight she actually wanted Eric to push her. Last night she walked up to the stroller and began tapping it. Tonight, the stroller was outside and started to cry when I tried to hold her. She wanted Eric and she wanted to be rocked.

We got the bugaboo and sure enough, she ran over to it and tried to get in. That was about 8:30. It's 10:15 and she is still sleeping in it. Probably not for long, but longer than some nights!

Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Uh-oh!

Amelia has started her foray into words and a few weeks ago started to say uh-oh! Sooooo cute!

Maccaroni face

Turns out, Amelia does like to eat sometimes. She couldn't get enough of the mac and cheese at my friend's house. After eating a bowl full, and then playing for 20 minutes or so, she actually came back for more!

Baby is thirsty!

Jami's house: Controlled chaos!

I have been lucky enough to become friends with some really awesome women with kids all around Amelia's age. Some of us formed a little dinner/cooking club where we will get together once a week and make enough of one dish for all of us to take home for dinner. Ok, we've only done this a few times, but it has worked and it's yummy!

The first set of pictures is from Jami's house where we made awesome cookies! We started meeting because of the rain (can you believe it, rain in LA?) and have kept meeting because it is both fun and a good way to make a meal.

Caught watching the other kids play.

Everyone wants to play with the same toy.

One day, while making cookies and salad at Rachel's (I know, a bit contradictory, but cookies are important!) Amelia NEEDED to give her friend Eden a bottle. This bottle belongs to another girl, Hannah, but it made the rounds to all the kids. Hannah's pack-n-play has been turned into an awesome ball depot, which Amelia insists on getting into the instant we get there. Usually, at least two kids clamoring to get in. Luckily, I had my camera and got a picture of Amelia feeding Eden with the bottle.

Rachel's house: Amelia feeding Eden the baby bottle full of water.

The ball dept on the pack-n-play.

Stroller madness!

For some odd reason, Amelia likes to be pushed around our apartment in the morning. It's pretty tiny for those who haven't visited before so we usually make many many trips from the bedroom to the kitchen until she is done with that activity.

Amelia is happy in her stroller!

When I say we, it's usually Eric who does this at, oh, 6:30 in the morning! It's a crazy little quirk Amelia has. Another thing about the stroller is we end up putting her in it at night. Not every night, but many nights when she can't fall back to sleep. Eric is very patient and will push her back and forth in the stroller until she falls asleep. Most of the time, it doesn't take very long. Some nights, however, it doesn't work. We are not sure what the difference is. We do know, however, that, although the Bugaboo is an expensive stroller (and probably worth more than my car at this point!) it was worth every penny! What would we do without it? Some nights she will reach out for the stroller--like she knows that might be her only chance for some shut eye. I wish kids came with translators!

Lounging happily in the Bugaboo.

Diaper Change

Amelia is obsessed with diapering all of her stuffed animals and her dolly. So cute!

The case of the missing shoe

Yesterday we all went for a walk. Amelia had on her red and black shoes and a pair of red socks. Once home, only one shoe and one sock remained, though I didn't realize it yesterday.

This morning, we went out again. Before leaving I tried to find that red and black shoe. We looked all over, but to no avail. I figured it was lost forever.



Found: one red and black shoe.

However, this morning, we found the red and black shoe on a brick wall near our apartment. Someone had obviously picked it up and set it there I'm case the owner (or rather, parents of the owner) should cross paths again.

We also found one purple and black sock (looks like a little Mary Jane.) Still missing: one solid red sock and one red and black Mary Jane sock. Have you seen them?

Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Shower flop

I decided to take a shower yesterday (oooh, luxury!) but Amelia woke up before I got in so I decided to take her with me.

Big mistake!!! She was so unhappy and cried the entire time. She's almost too big for her Ikea bath but way too small for the regular tub. Not sure where to go next...


Posted by Allyson from my iLifesaver.

Swings... again!

Amelia loves the swings, so much so that it's one of the three signs she makes: milk, done and swings! We try and go a few times a week, though it was impossible during the rainy season (luckily that only lasts one week!)