Day 181: Retreating

I didn't see Sivan at all today, so there is no picture of her for her blog. I am away at a retreat for the board of a national Jewish educators assembly, on which I serve. I'm having a great time networking and discussing our field and its challenges, but I miss the girls. At least the setting is pretty - here is the view from my room. 

Day 180: Cry Me a River

We've had a bit of a regression lately. I want to chalk it up to lackluster napping, but Sivan has been VERY clingy lately. To the point where if I dare leave her side to go get her big sister a refill of lemonade at lunch, this is what I come back to:

So stoic. Putting on a brave, albeit teary, face. 

So sad that trail of tears. 

By the time I snapped this her face had calmed down, but boy does she get blotchy when she's angry. 

You wouldn't like her when she's angry. 

Day 179: Face Time

Josh headed to Chicago for some work meetings, so it was a girls day around the house, mostly filled with last minute errands for our trip out to California. Later we had a chance to FaceTime with Josh.

Now, Sivan's had a few new things lately. One, she's starting to say a version of Daddy/Dada, which is obviously exciting. She's also started to give Josh kisses. And by kisses, I mean she sort of licks his face. So the fact that they kept doing this during their "conversation" amused me greatly. 

Day 178: Sorta Stash Shot

I failed today. I missed all of the many opportunities to take a picture of Sivan. I tried to go into her room to take a picture of her sleeping, but she started to stir and thought I should leave the poor girl alone. 

So I decided to snap a quick pile of diapers outsider her door. I couldn't put them away, so here is a partially stash shot:

I endeavor to do better tomorrow  

Day 177: Sometimes Sharing Isn't Caring

Michal loves to share with her baby sister. She especially loves to share food, and Sivan certainly does not mind this additional snack source.  You can imagine her pleasure when Michal insisted on sharing her lemonade Popsicle. 

Yummmm...  

Except Sivan really doesn't like cold things. Didn't keep Michal from offering (read: attempting to shove into her sister's face) a few more times. 

Day 176: Supergirl

This might be one of my new favorite pictures. Just one of those afternoons, hanging out on the bed, watching tv and getting into stuff. For a bit Sivan wanted to wear my sunglasses so I took some pictures of that. Then she found this mask that Michal got from one of the thousand birthday parties she goes to each month. 

And I caught this picture:

I love this so much. I love Sivan smiling, having so much fun. And Michal is in the background, amused by her baby sister. Just love this. 

Day 175: Sleeping Weird

It was one of those days where I realized too late I hadn't yet taken a picture of Sivan. Luckily I looked over at the monitor and saw this:

It was a new position. Guess she just wanted to get a good grip. 

Day 174: Climbing Monkey

Ohh boy. We have our hands full with this one. 

What am I doing? Oh, nothing. Just hanging out on the stairs...

Making a break for it. This girl can hustle. 

Day 173: Monday Montage

I took a ton of pictures on Monday, just hanging around after we got home. I'll share a few of my favorites.

Don't know what it is about this picture. Just love it. 

Nope. Not an apple. Or a tomato. 

So silly. 

Me and my girls. 

Day 172: Splash Park

It was a friend's birthday at the splashier. Time to get swimsuits on and get wet. 

Sivan is a big water lover. She had a blast. 

Daddy indulges her in a little dunking. She might not look so happy here but she thought this was the greatest. 

Day 171: Blueberry Girl

Saturday morning brought a text invitation to join friends in picking blueberries. The girls loved it, especially Sivan, who smacked her way through the field. It was great picking, and now it's time to decide what to make. Blueberry pancakes might be on the menu. 

Day 170: Friday Funnies

Just your assortment of silly baby pictures on a Friday. 

She is SO my child. 

Uh, sweetie, that's not how you drink that...

Playing with blocks on the window sill. She loves standing at the window in her room. 

And of course, snack time. 

Day 169: Hello?

Sivan loves Marisol, the woman who watches her during the day, and they seem to have so much fun each day.  I love when I pick her up and learn all about her adventures at day care.  Apparently her new favorite thing is the phone - she picks up the handset when Marisol says, "Hola? Hola, hola!" - sometimes even repeating "hola" herself.

Super high tech, this phone. 

Day 168: Matchy Matchy

I've never been one to purchase matching outfits for the girls, but when we were out shopping the other day, Michal decided it would be grand if they had matching jammies.

Done

I took a bunch of pictures of the two of them, but Sivan simply did not want to stay still.  In each, she was trying to get to me, so they all ended up blurring.  This one was the best of the lot, if only because she was standing and hasn't started to walk yet.  

Day 167: Gorgeous Girl

Goodness, this girl cracks me up. She is so happy, so muh of the time, and it is already obvious she has an amazing sense of humor. 

She even lets me do silly things like put my sunglasses on her. 

Just that touch of smile on her eyes. 

Open mouth smile. And those eyes. What a goober. Her big sister must be giving her lessons. 

Day 166: Escape Planning

Let me outta here!!!

Oh, hi, Ima. I'm not doing anything. 

Day 165: Double Party Day

Today was a double birthday party day. Heck, June is chock full with birthdays it seems. We had a lovely time at the first party, which was for one of Michal's classmates. The second was the fourth birthday party for the older daughter of friends. It was so cool, held at an indoor swingset superstore.  I had no idea these places did birthday parties, but it was a fantastic idea, especially on an unbearably hot day. 

Sivan had an amazing time. We let her go down a section of the slide, and she enjoyed it. 

She also got to crawl and explore all over the place. I pretended to chase her, which is great fun. Such a fun day. 

Day 164: Pool!

Today we finally had the chance to go pick up our pool passes and go for a dip. It was Sivan's first time this season, and it looks like it is already time to get a new swimsuit. I didn't take any pictures of her in the pool, seeing as how I was with her and don't have a waterproof iPhone (my primary camera these days), but she had a blast. I wasn't surprised - she loves taking baths and while this was a little cooler in terms of temperature, she just loved it. 

Now to go get the next size up before she outgrows THAT bathing suit as well!

Day 163: Playtime

One of Sivan's new favorite things is to play with the letters from her name found in this puzzle step stool given to her by some of my coworkers. She particularly loves to eat the letter "i."

It just fits perfectly in her little hand. Great for chewing. 

She also LOVES to stand up and look outside. We sometimes do this if neighbors come by to see if her older sister wants to play - if Sivan's had a bath we will just talk from the window instead of traipsing downstairs with a naked baby. Sometimes the friend will regale us by throwing one of his big balls into the air to see if it can get as high as we are. Sivan absolutely loves this and loves waving to her fans below. 

But sometimes she just wants to eat the window. That's normal, right? 

Day 162: Where We're Going...

... we don't need roads...

Day 161: Brain Freeze

I may never tire of her reaction to eating something cold. She is just so expressive. 

Day 160: Food Adoration

She loves spaghetti so much. A bath was required post dinner. 

Day 159: Case of the Mondays

Yep, just one of those nights. Little to no naps at day care is just a bad, bad scene. This was on the four minute drive home. She made it through dinner, just barely. 

Day 158: Standing Tall

Sivan and I hung out this morning, just playing in the living room, nothing crazy going on...

Until she started doing this...

The morning suddenly became the baby standing by herself all the time. I'm not sure who authorized all this growing up so quickly. Not sure I'm ready for it. 

Day 157: Hung Over

After the late night last night having dinner with friends, it wasn't surprising that Sivan slept in. Boy did she sleep in. She is often a light sleeper, but she didn't even move when I came into her room. 

Love that tushy in the air. 

Michal helped wake her up - and she woke up happy and smiling!

Day 156: Shabbat Dinner

We were invited to friends for Shabbat dinner tonight. Not many pictures to share, although Josh did get one. 

I was a little nervous how we would fair with Sivan's recent tendency to want to go to bed early. She hung in there and we had a really nice evening. 

Day 155: Shopping

Today we headed to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. The plan was burritos, and I didn't think we had many cans of black beans at home. Off I went with my two "helpers."

We need two cans, right?

So helpful. She even dropped a can on my toe. And she learned this was a fun game and jettisoned a few things out of the cart. 

I moved them into the bigger portion of the cart. 

Day 154: Early Bird Catches the Worm

Guess who was up bright eyes and bushy tailed this morning?!?!

For a kid who normally sleeps late, she was up very early this meowing. About an hour and a half to two hours earlier than she gets up most mornings. And for this night owl who stayed up too late, as usual, 5:00 was way too early. But she was AWAKE. So we got her up, gave her some milk, and eventually turned on some Mickey before putting her back down for a nap. 

Taking in her favorite mouse, in between attempts to steal my phone and glasses. 

Day 153: Rough Night

Not sure what is going on these days. Perhaps she isn't napping enough. Maybe she got up on the wrong side of the crib. Perhaps she's just a growing baby who gets crabby. Every other night, it seems (sometimes every night), Sivan starts to lose her cool right before dinner.

I will put her in the living room with all of the fun toys so I can grab a few minutes of cooking in the kitchen. That's not what she wants, of course, so she will crawl into the kitchen and attach herself to my leg. So we do this. 

That worked for a short while...

But then this started to happen. Luckily dinner was ready so we sat to eat. It didn't matter how much rice, General Tso's chicken, or broccoli she shoved into her face/tossed to the ground/smoothed all over herself, she was having none of it. So we said adieu to big sis and daddy and headed upstairs for bed. 

At this point, I committed the cardinal sins of changing her diaper and putting on her pajamas. Oh how she carried on. Clearly it was time for bedtime, stat.