Our Fun Weekend!

Well, it's Wednesday, and I'm finally catching up from the weekend!

First of all, Daphne is the most expert sitter of all sitters. Except when she topples. But while she's upright, she makes sitting look gooooood! And isn't this outfit too much? I love baby overalls!

We had a really fun trip to the California Science Center this weekend. We try to go once a month or so, and Violet is really learning her way around. She knows which exhibits she wants to visit, and enjoys calling herself a scientist. It makes Erik and me very proud because we believe that especially at Violet's age fostering a love of learning is more important than the learning itself. In this picture she's learning all about brine shrimp. I doubt she'll be able to recall one fact about these little creatures in a week (though you never know, she might!), but she will remember the feeling she had standing there using a magnifying glass, listening to an expert, and discovering something new. Our hope is that she will love that feeling as much as we do. It's so fun to watch her being curious, confidently asking questions, and finding new ways to understand the world around her.We want her to know that she's a learner!

Of course we can't forget our other budding scientist, Daphne! Does it look like she's making the sign for fish? I think so too (haha). But she did laugh hysterically when I repeatedly showed her the sign for fish while we were watching them in the aquarium. I think that's a positive sign.

Daddy thought it would be fun to see the 3D IMAX movie, Born to Be Wild, and it was! It was about orphaned orangutans (<-- no spell check! Whoop!) in Indonesia, and orphaned elephants in Kenya (cared for by a woman named Daphne!). Violet kept her glasses on for most of the movie. It was 45 minutes long, which was really a perfect length for the Lima family.

Violet and Daddy learning about how sound waves travel (aka "yelling at each other through a big tube"):

Learning about sound wave isolation (maybe just learning that some day she will learn about sound wave isolation... for now the different sounds are super cool.).

Finally, while I'm here, we just got back from the last West L.A. Neighborhood Council summer concert of the summer. Tonight was Dixieland Jazz, and it was just fantastic! There wasn't a great turnout, so Violet pretty much comprised the dance floor. We won a $5 gift card to Starbucks in the raffle, and that's not a bad way to end the season.

The Week in West L.A.

...or at least our little corner of it.

Violet dressed herself completely, from head to toe. She chose every piece herself, and emerged from her room a fully-dressed fashion statement (kudos for finding and squeezing into last year's socks, kiddo). I can't remember her ever assembling her own outfit and getting all the way into it without any help before. No surprise that she's wearing her "princess shirt." She would wear it every day if I could keep up with the laundry. I'm reasonably sure she pulled it out of the hamper.

8/18

We found a caterpillar at Staples. Actually, Violet found a caterpillar, on our ream of paper, IN our stroller, at Staples. It wasn't until her repetition of "Mommy, there's a bug on the book. MOMMY there's a BUG on the BOOK!" reached a fever pitch that I pulled myself away from the clearance table to try to understand what she was talking about. After I overreacted in a rather embarrassing way, we took her (the caterpillar) outside and put her in the bushes so she could go turn into a butterfly.

8/22

Daphne's first celery teether. She LOVED it. I can tell she's ready for solid food, though I am NOT ready for her to be ready for solid food. She has that quizzical look that babies her age get when they watch the rest of the family eat. She sometimes opens her mouth as I raise my spoon to eat when she's sitting in my lap. Cutie Pie.
8/22

Doesn't she make this look fun?

8/22

Afternoon walk to Staples to get our free 300 labels (Woot coupons!). Violet walked there, then (because I was in a hurry) reluctantly rode back while I wore Daphne. I don't think I'll do that again.

8/24

5 Months

Sweet little Daphne: Happy 5 Month Birthday! You are our joy, child, and we are so very glad that you are ours. You are sweet, and you charm everyone you meet with your ready smile and gorgeous, bright blue eyes. We love you to bits and pieces. -Mommy, Daddy, and your bestie, Violet

NAPS!

Oh, how we abhor Violet's naps. I didn't take an afternoon walk today, because Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this week Miss Violet has fallen asleep AFTER quiet time! She's still catching up from last week's vacation, and it's been a doozy of late nights, late mornings, and just a generally messed up schedule all week. I deprived her of a nap today, so I hope she's back on schedule! Here's photographic proof of her crazy naps this week:

Monday (fell asleep in the car after visiting the Science Center, then transferred from car to stroller for this ridiculous picture, then stroller to bed where she slept for over 3 hours):

Tuesday (fell asleep after a late-afternoon walk to the store then the park, stayed asleep in the stroller in the entryway for two hours, waking up just in time for Daddy to come home! love how wee Daphne is wide awake here): Wednesday (fell asleep on the way to Trader Joe's, woke up when we got to Daddy's work, about an hour... you can see the nap trend ending...):

The Limas Go Green/Get Green

The Limas collectively covered a lot of ground today without ever starting a car, and we are $50 richer for it! You see, the girls and I had planned a bus trip to the park and Souplantation (because the bus is awesome, that's why!) so we left a little early, before Erik. As we were bumping along on the bus I got this text from my honey, "Locked myself out of house." Whoops. "Did you try [the manager]?" Then, "Not home, getting on bus." Bummer. Follow me along the rest of our day full of AWESOME! in pictures:

Well, the girls and I managed to have a fabulous morning. At the bus stop, Violet and I played "I spy" on a quarter and Violet got a little history about our first president, George Washington. Remember that. At Souplantation Daphne sat in a highchair for the first time, and Violet ate a rainbow (she reeeeeeealy likes beets):

We got home, and it was time for Violet to have a little rest in her room. She decided to rest on her beanbag so she would have better access to all of her books. Well, somewhere amongst the piles of books at her disposal, she found a calendar with a full sheet of date stickers at the end. She was so excited about this discovery when I came in to get her! Very proud of the stickers all over her, you know. But that's not all. She had saved one for me, still on the sheet. As we were about to leave her room she says (in a conversational, adult, "I almost forgot" tone), "Oh, and look Mommy! It's the America man!" as she hands me the President's Day sticker with, you guessed it, George Washington. It was mine to wear for the rest of the day. After some painting and circle time, it was time for both girls to take a bath. Fun for them. No extra hands for pictures for me.

So then we had to figure out how Erik was going to get home from work. Our cars are tandem parked, and Violet only has a car seat in my car. That makes switching cars very difficult for one person to do alone. So I magnanimously offered to walk to Erik's work... and walk home with him. He wasn't too impressed, but I guess it beat the bus so he agreed. I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way (brought my own bag oh yes I did!), but I didn't have any company (I love how Violet is sleeping with her leg crossed):


Erik didn't know my secret plan was actually to walk back up to Santa Monica Blvd. to attend the West L.A. Neighborhood Council free summer concert series: 80s night! He agreed, we walked, we danced, it was so very fun. We met our council member, Bill Rosendahl, and his assistant took our picture with him (wholesome little family that we are) and immediately posted it to his facebook profile. HA! (See my fb wall.) As we were about to walk home at intermission, I took Violet to the potty. While we were gone, Erik learned that the band was being paid with $ from a raffle. He used the $1 he had in his pocket to buy a ticket, figuring he'd give it to a kid when we left. Well, they did that raffle right then and there at intermission, and what do you know? Erik's ticket was the first one they called! And, they gave out the grand prize first! So now we have a $50 gift card for a trendy little bistro/wine bar just down the street. Anyone want to babysit? Here's a picture of 80s night/the end of our super cool day:

I love summer. I love my little (accidentally) green family.

Sitting Pretty

There will be many more pictures to come, but here it is... the first ever picture of Daphne sitting up! She did it today for the first time, and there's no going back. Now, to conquer the topple...

Vacation Roundup

Now that we are home and have begun to quell the tide of vacation laundry, here are a few highlights from our trip to Northern California. Violet and Daphne enjoyed the trip immensely! We thought we'd brave at least one daytime trip, but after discovering that our sweet ride came equipped with XM radio, we felt brave enough to tackle the night on both legs of our trip.

Mimi and Violet enjoy the Ferris wheel at Small World Park:Violet experiencing the carefree childhood summer rite-of-passage that is the carousel:

Daphne takes her first extended ride in the Baby Hawk:

All Aboard! Las Limas bringing up the caboose on the train (We forgot a hat for Daphne. She is wearing a napkin.):
Violet caught a crawdad
(She was more upset about the catch than said crawdad,
who cheerily scuttled back into the water with his pork fat.):

Roasting marshmallows and giving mama a heart-attack/second:

Cooling off in the reservoir:

Happy Summer!

Mini-Van Madness!

Beep Beep! The Limas are on vacation! Watch out, I-5...

We had an uneventful trip up to Pittsburg. We planned on leaving Tuesday morning, but as we were able to get the MINI-VAN early on Monday afternoon we decided to make a night trip to avoid complaints from the back seat(s). I drove the whole way without even stopping for a potty break, so we made it in about 5 hours. Now Violet and Daphne are enjoying all that Mimi and Papa's playground has to offer!

THE MINI-VAN! (I want one!)

Building a birdhouse with Mimi and Papa:

Playing a picture scavenger hunt in Mimi's garden (such a cute game!):

LOVE these girls!

(love these girls, too.)

Sri Lanka Day Festival!

Super fun Saturday in Santa Monica! We met Rushika (Nandhi) and her family at the Santa Monica Promenade to celebrate Sri Lanka day. I think Sri Lanka will be the first stop on our culinary tour of the world once the girls are old enough to participate in and benefit from "Meals of the World" night at the Lima home...

Movie Time=Family Time

THIS is what I always hoped it would be like to have my own little family. Movie-on-the-lawn night at the local park, caught off guard by an evening chill in August, bundled in sun-hats and emergency gear from the car. (Erik ran home for more blankets!) Eating out of a picnic basket, watching The Little Mermaid (for the first time!), chatting with friends, loving summer, loving each other. What a great family night.

A Good Summer Day

A Good Summer Day Has...

A best buddy

A Slurpee

and

Delerious laughter.