Just a quick wrap up before the big day!  All the shopping is done, most of the presents are wrapped under the tree and now we are just waiting for the big guy.

We are all so excited.  The older the girls get the more exciting it is all becoming.

Maisy and I have been baking up a storm and we are now done with that as well.  Maisy was a very good helper.  She was the master counter of scoops, pourer and egg cracker.  

All of our baking needs set out and we are ready to bake!

Maren hanging out and happily drinking a yogurt smoothie.

Maren had her 16 month well baby visit and is perfectly healthy.  She is able to walk and will sometimes.  She walked all the way down the hall at the doctor's office toward her vaccines.  She is now 21 pounds and 4.7 ounces and is 31 and 1/4 inches tall.  She is saying lots of words! Some of her favorite words are "raspberry and blueberry".  She says them quite clearly.

Maren holding up her stats.

Maren stepping down the hall.

We made our annual trip with our friends down to Thompson St. in Alameda to see all of the pretty lights. 

Maisy blending in with the lawn decorations.

The walk was cold, but dry and fun.  Santa was even there!

Maisy was super excited to visit Santa this year. Maren, on the other hand, immediately signed "all done" the second I perched her on Santa's lap.  She kept her eyes glued to this strange man the whole time we were visiting with him.

The only thing I heard Maisy ask for was a beard like Santa's but pink.

So, I found this cut out on Pinterest, that I cut out and let her color.  She seemed quite happy with it.

"Ho, Ho, Ho to no one's house."

Maisy's really into jokes that usually are not jokes at all, but she loves telling them and having us laugh at them.

We are on a 2 week break from school and are looking forward to relaxing around the house with nowhere in particular to go.  The girls have kindly started sleeping in until 8.  It's been lovely!

Merry Christmas!!!

Love, 

Todd, Becky, Maisy and Maren

 

 

We got our tree last weekend, the inside of the house is all decked out.  I'm lagging a bit on the outside lights, but we'll get there.  The point is- that we are in the holiday spirit!  Our newly adopted elf, Mo, arrived yesterday.  We love our Elf on the Shelf!  Maren named him Mo. I think she actually just wanted to see "more" of him, but it sounded like she was calling him Mo, so Mo it is!  After reading our Elf on the Shelf story and getting our elf comfortable on our windowsill, Daddy and Maisy decided to make a card for Santa that Mo could take to him on his nightly reporting to the North Pole.  This is what Maisy came up with at 3 and a half years old.

"Dear Santa"

"Merry Christmas"

She drew many presents below.  Most of them are for Maisy, a couple are for Mom and one is for Maren.  Dad doesn't get any.  Poor dad.

Instead of writing out the words to her wishlist, Maisy drew pictures.  The items are:

1.  Pink headband

2.  Necklace

3.  Pink beard.  Todd actually found one on Etsy. We are having a difference of opinion on whether we should make this happen.  Not really sure why she wants a beard, but it's pretty funny.

4.  Sparkly dress

5.  A really really big big big bathing suit with big arms and legs so nothing can bite her.

She allowed the elf to borrow the card to show Santa, but she wants to keep the card in her possession.  So, Mo showed Santa last night and this is where we found Mo after his first expedition back to the North Pole.

Mo suggling up.

Maisy investigating the Elf on the Shelf.  

He ended up in a shoe box Maisy decorated the other day into a nice winter scene with cotton balls, tissue paper, odds and ends and, of course, Santa.  I guess Mo missed the North Pole. Super excited to see where our Elf on the Shelf, Mo, will end up each morning!

Hope your holidays are off to a jolly start!

 

Maisy often asks to do activities.  There are so many kids activites on Pinterest I've been eyeing, that I was happy to try a few of them out.  Most of these activites below are my version of other people's fancy crafts.  

1.  Christmas Button Tree

I had some green felt that was already cut out in circles.  I just drew  the outline of a tree and glued some ribbon to the outline and had Maisy fill in the middle with buttons.  

She really liked this activity.  When it was all dry, I stuck it in a frame from Target.  Now we will have a piece of Maisy art for years to come.  It will be fun to bring out each year.

2.  Make your own Snow Globe

I used a cleaned out small little mustard jar.  

I hot glued a plastic little zebra to the top and Maisy filled the globe with glitter, fuzzy balls and water.  Maren goes crazy watching the glitter settle.

3.  Make an Airplane out of popsicle sticks and a clothes pin

Maisy painted all the parts and we sprinkled glitter on them.  

Then I hot glued it together.  

We decided it was missing a pilot, so we glued a giraffe to the top.

4.  An I-spy water bottle

I had a clear 1 liter bottle.  I found a bunch of items that could fit in the bottle and put them out on a plate for Maisy to put into the bottle.  Maisy put in lots of things, feathers, a straw, sequins, beads, fuzzy balls, rubber bands, a penny, a clothes pin etc.

Maisy fit those all in the bottle and poured in the glitter.  

We added water and I super glued the top on.  Both Maisy and Maren LOVE looking and playing with this. 

5.  Gel Sensory Bag

I got a cheap bottle of hair gel.  Maisy and I sqeezed the gel into a large ziplock bag.  We added some glitter and a few drops of red food coloring to the blue hair gel.  Maisy then got to see the colors mix as she played with the gel.  I took clear packing tape and taped all edges of the bag to reinforce it a bit.  

Both Maren and Maisy really enjoy playing with this.  I had them play with it on a white background so they could see the imprints their hands make when they stamp or make lines in the gel.  We are going to play with this with flashlights when the girls wake up from their nap.  

On a side note, we did an interesting study with UC Berkeley, where a researcher came to our house to video us for 3 hrs.  They wanted to watch second children in their second year of life, with their siblings in their normal environment.  It was a bit difficult at first to act normally, but then after a while, we just got into our thing and forgot the researcher was there.  They want to do a follow up taping about three months from now.  I'm very curious to ask the researcher more infomration about what they hope to learn after our next session.

Just a quick update on Maren at 15 mos, she's still not walking but has taken as many as 8 steps several times, she's just not ready to go for it yet!

A pretty picture I took of Maren yesterday at the park.  Just too sweet not to share.

More later!

Todd, Becky, Maisy and Maren