*la segunda

We are both feeling more and more in love with Eden every day. I know they say dads don't bond as much until a little later - today Ben said he really felt like she was his little girl [obviously he's loved her since the beginning, but I totally understand these moments of realization of just how much you love them]. I was holding her for a minute in his office and it was so stinkin cute - he was making little silly noises and she laughed at every single thing. I'll have to get a video of it. Really, all she has to do it catch his eye and will smile or let out a little "ooohh!"

These pictures have nothing to do with that... Really she just looked so cute in this kimono that my sister made for Vera that I couldn't resist taking pictures! She's probably a couple weeks away from sitting up well on her own, but it's fun to prop her up and help her learn her balance.

*oops!*

I mean seriously, I could look at this little face all day long.

*

.:today:.

Every time we go to the park, Vera is on the lookout for a new friend. The innocence in this little emerging social being is so sweet, it makes my heart ache a little. Sometimes she'll go right up to a little girl and ask, "will you play with me?" Other times she kind of just 'flirts' for lack of a better word: she'll try to show she's having a lot of fun, like yelling an emphatic woohoo! down the slide. A little while ago (maybe last summer), Ben said she did the cutest little twirl in front of some older girls trying to get their attention. Today there were some girls chasing each other down the slide, laughing real hard - Vera watched and then let out an audible breath of air [like whew I'm tired too!], totally trying to get their attention. Sometimes they reciprocate and she'll have a little 15 minute friend, other times her efforts go totally unnoticed and once or twice they've been older and look at her like, you don't just ask someone to play!

It's just so cute and so innocent and adorable - seriously it makes my heart hurt! I guess I can just foresee the day when she understands that she is hurt or embarrassed by someone not wanting to play. It's like I already want to protect her from it - which obviously I know you shouldn't do. Anyway she's still a little oblivious and I love it, makes me want to give my little girl a big HUG and kiss.

On another note, Edie is starting to have fun watching the kids play at the park. She was super cute and innocent today too - someone would come down the slide and after a long pause she would 'get it' and laugh and kick her little legs.

*primavera

One of my very favorite times of year is the day I put up my fake forsythia wreath. I have both a Winter and a Fall wreath too that I love, but the Spring is my favorite. It's like a little victory against wintery weather and just makes me feel sunny and happy. We may have had a couple of inches of snow this morning and continuous snowfall and hail all day, but I know Spring will win and the snow can't stay!

This picture was actually from a couple weeks ago. Notice also my dead orchid - doesn't really go with my statement of Spring/new life/growth etc. :)

*mr. mom

Ben's been able to go skiing several times in the last weeks and so I was due for a full "personal day." It was so nice to get some things done without having to get kids in and out of carseats and race home for naps and feedings. Ben and the girls had a nice day too going to Red Butte Gardens, Einsteins and then of course, Edie took a 2.5 hour nap for him! Anyway this is just what Ben looked like when I walked in the door this afternoon - I love it!

for old times sake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=solr1W5idNY - thank you Jessie!

*salta salta

Edie finally figured out how to bounce a little in her jumper:



Here's Vera about the same age:




*I wouldn't actually recommend this particular jumper - it's too hard for the baby to stay level!

*preciosa

*el cuarto de las niñas

From the moment I knew I was pregnant I couldn't stop wondering how we were going to have them share a room.... I was really scared, to be honest! How are we going to do it?? Especially being so freaked out about Vera's sleep when she was a baby - we wouldn't talk above a whisper if we were upstairs. Well it's done, and I just wanted to record how we did it and how it has gone. Since like I've said previously, none of my siblings ever remember how these things went!

I should tell that first, while we were in California I started putting her down awake at bedtime. I had thought everything needed to be "perfect" when we initiated real "sleep training," but really I learned that it would work out and I needn't obsess over it so much. Her whole little life I had been kind of sleep training anyway in that I would always try to put her down awake for naps - it worked pretty well until she got a little bigger and more aware [and more overtired from her short little naps]. Anyway, the first night she fussed about 10 minutes, then slept for her usual 25 minute "nap" and then cried for 45 minutes :( It took several nights of figuring things out, though she never cried as much as the first night. Ever since though she will fuss a little when I put her down and usually sleep past that 30 minute mark [ok I am realizing mid-sentence that these are boring details....sorry!] or once in a while let out a little cry for a minute or two. If she does wake up before it's been 3-4 hours I let her go back to sleep on her own. Unless it really seems like she is upset, then I'll go in to feed her. I also used that time to 'wean' her out of being swaddled. She was sleeping so poorly, I figured it couldn't get any worse. I'd swaddle her at bedtime so she knew it was bedtime, but then she obviously broke out of it in her fussing and I just wouldn't re-swaddle in the middle of the night. SO all that was fairly settled when we got home.

While we were gone she had grown out of the bassinette, so we had to do something. I figured it was as good a time as any to have them start sharing. That first night I put her down in their room and then would go get her when she woke, bring her to the rocking chair in our room to nurse and then take her back. It seemed kind of silly to walk back and forth, so I just moved the rocking chair in there. Seriously, it is all working so well! I don't know if you caught through all my complaining how TIREd I was. In CA she would wake up like 8 times a night!! After the 2-3am feeding, I would bring her to sleep next to me because I just couldn't get up anymore. I knew I was making it worse because every time she'd wake up - every 45 minutes - I would

nurse her back to sleep. Neither of us slept well at all and I felt like I was drunk all day long from being tired. It has been so good for both of us to sleep separately! She's only waking 2-3x a night now. If she wakes up and it's been just a short time since feeding her, I try to let her fuss back to sleep which usually works really well. If she starts seriously crying I go feed her, though that doesn't really happen. I do sometimes bring her into our bed around 5am to nurse her back to sleep. I'm just not ready to risk her AND Vera waking up at 5:00 :) It's pretty amazing though, Vera always sleeps right through everything and we don't even have a good white noise machine just a humidifier. Edie usually goes down an hour or more before Vera does which helps too. I will also add that Vera has only woken up in the night to call us since they've been in the same room! I think she must subconsciously know she needs to be quiet 'for the baby' - or maybe she just feels secure knowing she's sharing a room with her sister.

It is definitely my goal to have her sleep in her crib until morning, but in the meantime I will savor these sweet little moments sleeping with her! What a little sweetie. I took this picture this morning before I left for work. Can't wait to tell you all about my new job!

*los piecitos

I really really love the toe-grabbing stage:

*fotobooth

A few weeks ago I showed Vera photobooth on the laptop. I didn't show her how to get there or how to use the mousepad thing. Yet an hour or so later walked in the room and found her on my computer, having found the application and taking pictures of herself and Bunny. She even knew how to change to different effects! This was her first time ever on a computer - I cannot believe how she figured it out on her own. I'm sure 'grownups' like us say this all the time about kids and technology.

Anyway, here they are. The first few are from that first time. I love love this first one:

*vida cotidiana

..::::an assortment of pictures that were on the camera just now::::..

ay, the outfits this girl chooses sometimes:

Edie will finally fall asleep in the stroller [funny because Vera used to only fall asleep in the stroller/sling] and so we went on our first walk to Coffee Garden/the park with liz:

I did a bad bad thing today. I went to the mall to buy some pants since nothing fits still. I was good and bought some really-on-sale pants at jcrew and then walked into anthropologie to just look around - saw these shoes, tried them on and bought them. OOPS! I never ever try shoes on. I really like them and we really can't afford them. I may let my conscience get the best of me and take them back, or not. I took this picture to send to my sister, kind of hard to see:

I love this Montana hoodie we bought when Vera was on the way:

My two most recent favorite things about Edie. 1) her new sputtering/blowing bubbles trick and 2) her adorable, little, chubby, tan tummy:

It's hard to not take pictures of babies after their bath:

*esquis

My parents and sister were here for a long ski weekend. Friday I met everyone up at Alta for a couple hours so Vera could ski for the first time! She did so well and had a lot of fun. Ben says every time she fell, she'd get up and say, "well let's try again!" Ben had a really really sweet time teaching his little girl to ski.

Here she goes. I love her little backward turn near the end:

I just hiked around in my boots and drank a latte in the lodge with Edie, but I admit that I secretly wished I got to ski too [I wrote about my feelings on skiing the last time I skied in 2008].

in the lodge:

*la nieta

I love these pictures! I have a similar one of Vera and Lola, and one of my own grandma giving me a bath in the sink when I was a babe. Again, if I didn't have soo much to do, I'd go find and scan it. Really blogging should be the last on my list of things to do! Like maybe I should pay some bills first or something...

*risitas

This makes me smile, one of her best laughs yet:

*en casa

We're home after nearly a month away and I have so many things to do/organize, I hardly know where to start! There is so much I can tell about our trip - this is going to be a long, unorganized post. I will say we had a really great time simply spending time with Ben's family, seeing so many friends and enjoying the warmth and sunshine.

The girls traveled really well. I want to note that this was the first roadtrip that was actually easy with Vera [who called it a "tripride"] - I didn't have to constantly feed her activities, fun snacks and videos - she just hung out in her seat and kept herself entertained for the most part with what she hadin her backpack. She also did really well with all the outings and meeting new people. Our very first playdate was almost a disaster with her throwing a screaming fit the first 30 minutes. Thankfully it didn't happen again and she had tons of fun with each new friend she met. She seems to especially love boys that are her age or even a year younger.... not sure what that means - she does love to run and race around and be loud and silly as much as she loves princesses and dressing up.

I had intentions to take pictures of Vera with every one of her little friends that we met up with, but didn't end up getting very many. We got to spend time with the Bletschers, the Johnsons, Megan and Eden, Nieves and Catalina, the Delgados, the Abbys, the Kochs, Tio, Heather, Marie, Kristy, the Geantils, ... I'm probably missing someone. We drove a lot, but it was totally worth it. Seeing old friends is like medicine to my soul :)

Always so wonderful to see Robyn! For those of you who don't know my life story - I made the move to San Diego after college to housesit for them for a few months. I worked Wednesdays lunch [yes, just 3 hours a week] at Luna Notte - where I first met Ben Cater ♥

Nieves [I lived with her in Argentina] and her adorable little Catalina:

I have a picture of Vera and Eden right in this same spot last year. If I wasn't so tired, I would look up the link.

Eden and Edie on the Eden chair - Vera, Megan and I in the reflection:

Vera and Grant were so cute making waffles just before I took this:

Edie and Cale:

Marie is one of my oldest friends - I have a memory of our moms on the phone discussing whether we'd got the same kindergarten class. It's crazy now having a preschooler - I hope she still keeps in contact with her first friends!

The Kochs - friends from Montana who now live in the Central Valley. Vera was enamoured with the two older girls - and they made her feel quite the princess. She even had her first sleepover on their 3rd story bunk bed!

*edie bo beadie

Edie's first time in a high chair... there's something about their first time doing anything, so adorable and wonderful seeing them become a little person.

*yo amo la playa

ahhh, doesn't that look so lovely?

We're still here in California: the sunshine and warmth and visits with family and friends doing us a whole lot of good. Well - they think it's cold this week, but we know it to be 30 and snowing at home!

Vera has enjoyed the beach more than any other trip. She literally dances and jumps for joy, running back and forth to the water, digging, finding *treasures* and building castles and shouting YAY HooRAY!

So much fun jumping off the wall here with Eva's cousins:

*cinderella

*

Overheard in the car today:

Vera: Bunny, you can't come into the library - you have to stay in the car.

Bunny: Why?

V: Because we don't want you to get lost!

B: Oh, ok.

V: You're pretend.

B: I am? I thought I was not.

V: You are.

B: Oh.