Monday, August 6, 2007

Just Abel



Abel is a toddler! This hit me the other day when I realized that Able full on runs, uses small sentences/phrases, understand what we say to him and has quite the potential to be ornery. And he gets to go to nursery in 2 Sunday’s (hooray!) a definite toddler milestone.

We have a little walk from our parking spot to our front door. I usually try to carry Abel because if I don’t he constantly veers onto rocks, behind bushed, up other houses sidewalks and up any curb or step he can find…and then runs away from me when I come to fetch him. His favorite game is “Get Goo” otherwise known as get you or chase. He says the words and off he runs looking back over his shoulder for me or Afton or Patrick to come after him with tickling hands. The only time Abel doesn’t want to run is when we walk to a park, or around the our neighborhood. He can sense what the walk is and 50 feet outside our fence, come sup to my legs, arms up and begging “Hold you!” until I pick him up (if I encourage him to walk or run, he will for a second, then usually plops himself down or comes back to beg again).

A few sentences or phrases that Abel is saying”

I uh you (I love you)
Eeee Fooot (eat food)
He go (here you go)

Other cute words:

Sahee (sorry)
Hekaka (helicopter)
Woowa (sometimes for ruler, sometimes for something he sees out the window which I cannot yet recognize)
Hello, Yellow, (said correctly. Abel is really into pronouncing his “L” sound now)

Abel is also understanding most everything we ask/tell him. He will successfully retrieve both shoes when I ask him too. He puts any stray binkies in his crib because they are only for bedtime. And he is working hard to remember not to throw (food, cups, toys, shoes) and hand the object to me, or place it softly somewhere appropriate.

The ornery bit…I’m still trying to figure out how Abel ticks with his moods. After sleeping, most days, he wants me to hold him for a bit of time. I seem to read the wrong most days though. Abel is a professional head thrower backer. He has whacked himself on walks, crib railings, and furniture because he insists on throwing himself backwards with full force to communicate his feelings. He no longer gets soothing from me, instead is greeted with the raised eyebrow and so will hopefully soon discard this behavior. Abel saves his screaming frustrations for moments when he wants down and cannot be down (escaping at church, grocery shopping, carseat riding and diaper changes). His kicking skills are getting quite good from practicing his disappointment. Good thing he is super cute and I don’t take it personally when one of his feet connect. And all these moments give him practive with his “saaeee” manners.

Other fun things:

Abel says “cus me” when he burps (courtesy of big sister teaching)
Abel blows raspberries on other people whenever bare flesh is at mouth level (also courtesy of big sister)
Today Abel said “ticko, ticko” and wiggles his fingers in the air.

I love this photo because it shows off the explorer side of Abel. He is constantly walking/running about to check things out.

Just Afton



What an outgoing child Afton is! Each time we visit a park, or anywhere with other kids, she is quick to spot someone about her age then runs up to them and asks, “Do you want to play with me?” Afton is happiest when a play date is planned for her day. She’ll settle for a movie and even some Mommy-Afton time but really prefers to be playing with friends. Lately, she has been able to see her Colorado cousins quite a bit which has made her world very happy.

Afton has definitely entered into a more grown up phase. She is using words like “hilarious” and “serious” to describe emotions. She likes to have time alone to play in her room. She is recognizing my attempts to read her “short” or “baby” books and songs before bedtime and now choose her bedtime songs to ensure the routine lasts the longest possible.

Afton is a fantastic big sister. She plays with Abel in his crib every morning until she gets bored then starts hollering for me. She loves to calm and reassure Abel after he gets an owie or is sad. She is usually happy to share bites of her food with her baby brother too.

Of course, Afton still needs a few cuddle sessions each day, which is so nice. I hope she never outgrows that. Recently, she started noticing that need in her and would say “Mommy, I haven’t had any cuddle time today!”

This is my favorite picture from last week. Afton loves to play her ukulele every day and create her own songs. Many times during the day, I am summoned to her her newest masterpiece and laugh or clap-whichever she has told me to do!

Friday, August 3, 2007

fun with baylie

Our oldest Maravilla cousin, Baylie, came to spend a few days with us. Afton and Abel were constantly vying for her attention (Afton tried to wake her up using salad tongs the first morning she was here...but was unsuccessful so turned to eating chocolate frosting under the table).

Today we went to the Boulder County Fair, lucky us it is just around the corner from our new home. Fairs are much cooler when you are a kid, or maybe this fair was just on the lame side. Even the milkshakes were blah. But the kids had a good time checking out animals, seeing a pig talent show (the things adults have to sit through for kid entertainment!) and eating cotton candy.


Afton trying her hand at fishing. No luck!


Enjoying milkshake for lunch.



Abel chasing the piglet in the petting zoo.

Baylie and Afton petting the baby camel.


Baylie's candy handcart. We tried to eat as much junk food as possible in the 3 days Baylie spent with us. What else does an 11 year old want to do on vacation?!


I enjoyed having Baylie here during a really busy streak for Patrick at work. She and I watched movies together every night. She helped pick up the house and make some meals. And she entertained the kids all day every day of her trip.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

mid week photos

this weekend we went to several parks to run,


and swing



and swing even more

eat rocks

slide

practice the monkey bars


get rocket boosters from daddy


and have fun being together as a family!


and we took a little drive into the mountains.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

weekend update

So sorry all you faithful blog checkers have been met with the same update for 2 weeks. I'm getting back on track!

PATRICK is busy busy and happy so. Somehow the stars aligned and he has two entire weekend days off! He turned 30 last weekend, which was celebrated with a relaxing family play day in our yard and a less than good meal at Outback. I am happy to report that my gift to Patrick got the highest marks.



I, LIZ, have been unpacking, organizing closets and tackling my first design project (happily so) by night and enjoying a new walkable park, yard, pool, and toy room by day. The kids and I ventured to Estes Park, a resort town inside the mountains. So pretty and so much cooler!

AFTON has been loving getting reacquainted with her toys that were packed away. She has been having quiet play time in her room or on my bed with her polly pockets or bob guys. Her reading skills are increasing and she is recognizing several words now by sight. Patrick brought her home a set of High School Musical Barbie dolls from work yesterday which she has been spending most of her time playing with. The dolls sing songs and she almost has the words memorized...which means Abel is also starting to sing a few of the words. Afton's favorite phrase of late is"HOLY SMOKES COW!!" makes me laugh every time!



ABEL is officially a toddler. He is all about exploring new stuff. Most recently this has been feeding himself with a spoon. Not my favorite exploratory stage but still cute to watch him put a spoon in a bowl and with great effort extract one small bite that makes him quite happy. His favorite activity is looking out the window for airplanes and shouting "Oh cool...airplane!" (which sounds more like "ah coo arpane"). He has added "shoo" (parachute), cereal, undies (taught by Afton) I love you to his vocab lately.





Whoa! That was a long update! come back soon. I promise more pictures tomorrow and throughout the week.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

What a fun week! The kids and I made a visit to the Denver Zoo, had multiple play dates with new friends, tried out some new craft projects and enjoyed the last full week of lavish living. I am officially grossed out at the buffet breakfast here at the RI. Although Afton and Abel are still loving the donuts and waffles. Each day we count down the days left until we move into our new house. 3 MORE DAYS!!!

Here are some highlights of our week:
Patrick worked his first all nighter this week. He came home just as Abel woke up for the day.
Liz successfully watched the 29 episode second season of Gray's Anatomy in 4 days. It was McAwesome!
Afton picked garden veggies and ate them (well she gave the jalapeƱo to me). She also taught herself to swim!
Abel learned how to blow raspberry on other people's legs, arms and cheeks. And he says I love you. Ahhh!

Here are some photos...
Abel showing off his foil art crown.

Afton showing off her swirly stones are project.


Abel loves eating with his own utensils. I don't like the mess and don't let him to this very often. He was awfully happy when I got a hold of the yogurt spoon!

Quick! Get a picture of Abel at the zoo before he runs off!

Afton at the zoo.

Afton getting ready to dig into our teddy bear picnic. She adopted the uber pink sparkly bear from a thrift store earlier that day.

Abel sleeping on a pillow for the first time.


Afton sleeping like.... well like Afton. Funny even when she is asleep!

Sunday, July 8, 2007

Family Update





Patrick is a very busy man. We all knew this was coming and I'm almost used to it. He is working hard on some cool stuff for ask.com and nike. He's the play machine in the morning with the kids. And sometimes he gets home with time to spare before bedtime.



Liz cannot wait to move into the new place. I'm dreaming of paint colors and hoping Target puts all their outdoor play stuff on sale just in time for em to stock up on it next week. I made a friend, a wife of a co-worker of Patrick's who is also in our ward. Hooray!


Afton has really made us laugh this week. Since we are staying at a Marriott, I swiped the free Book of Mormon for her to take to church. She spent all morning looking at the pictures and "reading" her scriptures. She randomly said, "Hey Mom, if I find the liahona, I get bonus points!" The B of M would make a cool video game. Later in the day, Afton got in a bit of trouble for pushing Abel, she stormed up the stairs and yelled "I'm going upstairs to read my scriptures!" How great if she always rebelled this way! Afton also gets Abel laughing with silly songs she makes up and sings over and over and over. I even have the latest one memorized:

(to the tune of baa baa black sheep)
Hey do do what do you hear?
I don't hear anything, anything.
Went to bed and her went Honk Zhoo,
Woke and he put on his ears
Her do do what do you hear?
I don't hear anything, anything.


Abel is a runner. He runs outside to pick up a stick, away from me when I try to change his diaper or get him dressed, and all around the house with Afton all day long. He would be an excellent man vs. wild kinda guy since he had no problem eating crayons, pine cones, rocks, banana peels and more. Abel is talking so much! New words are :animal (amal), hello (hewo) and hi guys. Abel has picked up on our frequent trips to the main lobby to get cookies. As soon as we walk through the door he starts to shout "COOKIE!" even if it's breakfast time.

We made it to our new ward today. It's small and so we were noticed right away. I've never had so many people say hello to me and remember me. A great way to start out in a new ward.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

a family fourth

We had our first visitors on the 4th of July. 4 cousins, grandma, Aaron and Allison came up to swim, visit and eat good food.

3 cousins+polly pockets= hours of fun


two brothers

two cousins, realizing they look alike!

warming up in the hot tub, the hotel pool is really cold

a team effort noodle hose

popsicles!!!

showing off face/nose/arm paint art


the artist and super fun grandma (shes' better than mary poppins!)


even Abel got in on the face paint action, against his will but still cute

and of course, fireworks had a part in the celebration