Daphne waves and signs "fish" all the time, now. She understands that "fish" can be the toys in the bathtub, or her favorite snack. So she signs that a lot. She has her own sign for "more" (slowly clapping her hands together), and lets me know she's done in her high chair by waving her hands in the air, her version of "all done." So cute! She also signs "goodbye" by waving, of course, and it's her favorite thing to do. She's so stinkin' cute; I often tie her on in one sling or another and kind of forget she's there for a few minutes. The past couple of days while she's been in the sling, she's made a point of turning around and waving while saying "ba ba!" whenever we leave a friend, school, the store, etc. She wants to be noticed, and she has something to say! Yesterday we got frozen yogurt with a couple of friends who have 4 month old babies. They were in their carriers, and Daphne made a point to lean in and wave at them. She's such a social little thing. Also, she plays very well by herself. While I'm at home cleaning or something she's very happy to sit in a pile of toys and find mischief. She also loves books and being read to. Love this baby!

She'll ONLY feed herself, thankyouverymuch:

But knows it's naughty (her "ah ah ah!" sign):

Meanwhile, Violet is growing up SO FAST! She is a writer, I tell you. She can write pretty much every letter on her own, so to write cards she just needs help spelling. She MUCH prefers markers over crayons. Messier, brighter, what's not to love? Here's a sample of her best writing to date: it's a birthday card to her cousin Claire.

Cute things Violet still says:

Hop-grasser (grasshopper)

Her went to the store

I don't correct her grammar often. That will come soon enough, and her little girl speak will be gone forever. Sniffle.

A final note: I'm not sure when this blog entry was started, but it's 6:21pm on 2/7 right now. Daphne just did her first poo poo in the potty. Bummer that it was preceded by her first poop in the tub, much to her delight and Violet's absolute HORROR. Here I thought I'd just sit here and get some blogging done while the girls played together in the tub. Instead, everything is wet and I had to clean out the tub. Ah. It was pretty funny, though. Glad I wasn't in there, heehee. So forgive the formatting. I'm just going to hit publish before it gets any crazier here.

Friday 2

Daphne will never know a mother who can't make pancakes, lucky baby.

Friday Morning

Friday mornings are fun when there's no school. I have finally conquered the pancake!

Daphne, 10 Months

Daphne is 10 months old! She had her 10 month appointment on 1/24. She's healthy and developing well, but she's a little small for her age. She's in the 23rd percentile, which is little considering that she was born at 9 lbs. 9 oz. and was in the 50th percentile at previous appointments. But she's crawling a lot, and FAST, so she's probably just burning through meals and milk. We're feeding her peanut butter and whole milk yogurt and pasta along with her fruits and veggies. She's a very funny little baby! At Violet's ballet class yesterday, she turned around and shook her finger with an "Ah ah ah!" (no-no!) at Violet when she wouldn't let go of Daphne's foot. She's starting to be nervous around strangers. Not as sad as some babies, but more than Violet was. Here's a picture from 1/18, little Daphne's 10 month birtdhay. Time to plan a birthday!

Perfect Saturday Morning

Violet: "Daph-a, you are my best friend!"

Daphne: "Zha zha ZHA!"

Our perfect Saturday morning. Except that Erik had to go to work, and just got home. But other than that. Love these girls!

January in West L.A.

Oh, January in West L.A. We are livin' the dream here, folks. We are enjoying every possible minute of our gorgeous, high-70s weather. Here are a few pictures of some fun park days from this week.

1/6/12
Daphne enjoys being the center of attention at the park with friends.

I kid you not, all these kiddos eating lunch lined up on a bench was too cute for words. The picture doesn't do it justice, but you know, kids are wiggly.

1/5/12

Violet enjoyed taking Daphne down the slide. Daphne tolerated it.

Officially, it was a good day.

Violet Jean, Superstar!

My baby smells like hummus.

Really, she almost always smells like hummus. And raisins. Also, raspberries and carrots and cheese.

Happy New Year, 2012!

Happy New Year! New Year's Eve is Erik and my favorite holiday. Games, friends, food... and we get to wear sweats.

Here we are cleaned up, New Year's Day, headed to a Christmas celebration with Erik's extended family.

Last picture of 2011:

Our game group this year. How many New Years have we rung in with these guys? I'll have to go through pictures for an answer. It's been a lot. Since before we were married, but I think we skipped a year or two.

Sometimes, when you work really hard making beautiful matching Christmas skirts for your daughters, and make them wear those skirts 100 times, you still never get a decent picture. Sigh. But, they are cuties, no?