Phoenix

Daddy's firm's retreat was in Phoenix last weekend, so we got to tag along. We had a nice hotel room with a huge balcony, and Sabine loved exploring OUR room, including the big girl bed.





There was also a cactus garden, which was very intriguing. We stopped to examine the "cactus-es" many times.



Even at night!



We went to the pool each morning, before the heat reached triple digits, and Sabine was quite the belle of the poolside ball in her cute ladybug bathing suit.



Back at the cactus garden.





Admiring the fountains in the lobby.



And watching the airplanes at the airport before it was our turn to get on a plane. Sabine's becoming a good little traveler, she uses the bathroom at the airport and watches movies on the airplane and is careful not to kick the seat in front of her. We're excited for more trips to come!

Happy Mother's Day!

Me and my special girl. One of the rare chances I'm not behind the camera!

We had a wonderful Mother's Day at our house today.

Aunt Dani, Nana Lin, and cousin E came out to celebrate the day with us, along with Grandmom and Grandpa.

   

The grandparents got in some good cuddle time with the kiddos, particularly the grandmothers.





We had a nice brunch together, explored the new basement (it's almost done, hooray!), the youngest set took a quick nap, and then everyone was off for the evening.

All in all, a great day. Lots of love to all the mommies out there!

Dance Party

Sorry we've been slacking on posting, we've been busy! But here's a quick peek of a typical evening in our home these days:



Oh, to harness that energy.

Speaking of videos, I've also added two to the Easter post; you can scroll down or just click this link HERE to jump to it.

Happy early Mother's Day to all you other mommies out there!

30 Months, or, Two and a Half Years

(and a day)

Sabine is officially two and a half, as of yesterday. She is suddenly such a big girl. All of her molars are in. She is going to sleep at night without crying, mostly on her own, in her big girl bed. We went to Target a few days ago to buy more pull-ups, which we were still using when we were out of the house, and she informed me that she didn't need them anymore. Ever since, she's been in big girl underwear, except to sleep. And even today, she told me she didn't need a diaper for her nap. So we let her nap in underwear, and sure enough, she woke up dry. This girl can be astonishingly self-aware.

Sabine is also becoming more and more imaginative. She makes up songs all the time, and she likes to tell me I'm a boy or a penguin and then laugh at the ridiculousness of such an idea. Her stuffed animals or dolls often express fear on her behalf. In this picture, she's pretending to climb her "magical tower," as she calls it. (I assume like Rapunzel.)

She's good with a fork, she mostly drinks out of big girl glasses (though a sippy cup with a straw still comes to bed), and she has started to use scissors. Painting is still a favorite pastime, and blue is still her fundamental palette.

Sabine sleeps with an entourage of animals and dolls, and all have to be accounted for before she's able to rest. She's able to put on her pajamas all by herself now (the kind with the feet that zips all the way up), and she likes to help me put away the silverware in the drawers once it's clean. Sabine can almost count to twenty, although 14 and 16 often get skipped. She likes to wear stickers on her hands, and she tells Tatum (our cat) he's her special kitty. She still eats mac & cheese for dinner about half the time, but she also eats a lot of fruits and vegetables, including spinach that she picks at the farm and brings home on Mondays. She prefers balsamic dressing on her salad, thank you very much.

This is a wonderful age. We are having so much fun, and love this not-so-little girl so incredibly much. She's smart and kind and opinionated as ever. It's a thrill to watch more and more of her personality unfold.

And now I present to you, the most darling spaghetti face ever:

Big Girl Bed

Last weekend had more excitement, but I decided not to overload the Easter post. Sabine has graduated to a big girl bed! Our friends came over to visit on Saturday, so we took advantage of their kindness (and handy skills) and forced Jay to help daddy convert the crib into a toddler bed. Sabine supervised, atop a mountain of stuffed animals and dolls who typically live in her bed.

Supervising can be hard work.

Testing out the new digs:

Status: Approved!

The first night was a little rough, but that may have been more due to over-exhaustion and three new molars pushing through. (We are happy to report the molars are now IN and we should be done with teething for a while. Huzzah.) Sabine has slept really well in her big girl bed, otherwise, all week.

In other news of firsts, we also painted Sabine's toenails. It's been on her to-do list for a while, and mommy kept stalling, but she found the color of her dreams at the supermarket, so we went for it. She's been resisting shoes ever since, and will proudly show off her PAINTED TOES! to anyone who comes within earshot.

Easter (Only a Week Late)

Sorry for the delay, things got a little dusty around here with the basement project, but we've unearthed the computer and will make up for our absence with a ridiculous amount of pictures!

The season really kicked off right with the first annual neighborhood Easter egg hunt. There are a lot of young kids in our neighborhood, and one of the moms sent out an email to a couple friend/neighbors on Wednesday night, suggesting a small egg hunt. By Friday afternoon, almost everyone under the age of six in a one mile radius was able to out.

We all had a blast! Two of the older brothers hid all the eggs, and then the chocolate crazed herd of pastel-clad toddlers ran all over, gathering eggs.

(That's Sabine on the far left with the yellow dress and, what else, red ladybug hat.)

There were plenty of eggs to go around, and Sabine had fun putting them in her basket.

When we got home, she was quick to sample the loot, but it turns out she's not very keen on most candy, especially if it's not chocolate. (Mama's girl.)

Then we changed into play clothes and got down to some serious business.

This was the first year Sabine attempted dying eggs. It was a huge success! She had a great time, and did really well balancing the eggs on the little wire dipper.

The hat lasted about as long as it took to take this picture, but it sure was cute!

The final result.

Easter morning, Grandpa and Grandmom joined us early, and Sabine woke up ready to play with them. She had forgotten that the Easter Bunny was supposed to have come, until she walked into the living room.

My eggs!

Stickers! She hunted and found a few small eggs, and then:

And a ridiculously huge egg. (Sabine saw that in a store last year and desperately wanted it. Mommy said no, but that the Easter Bunny might come through. Fortunately, I think she is too young to remember that the Easter Bunny got to the store too late last year, and there were no more huge eggs to be had. The Easter Bunny did NOT make that mistake this year.)

Big eggs contain big presents.

Time out for the consumption of copious amounts of chocolate.

A medium-sized egg contained a little bunny, a smaller, pink version of Sabine's very favorite stuffed animal. She immediately ran the new bunny to the bedroom and tossed it in the crib, I guess to be with the big bunny. She seemed to forget about it, and we weren't sure if it had made much of an impression, but the little bunny has become #2 in the stuffed animal pecking order, in the last week. Sabine sleeps with both bunnies, and often carries at least one of them around.

A new book from Grandpa and Grandmom--The Little Engine that Could.

Then Nana Lin, Aunt Dani, and cousin Ethan showed up. We got a bunch of cute pictures of the cousins:

And sat down to a nice brunch.

After a quick nap by both kiddos, Aunt Diane and Uncle Nat showed up to keep the party going.

Sabine showed off her new Thomas chair from Nana Lin:

And played with all her eggs. Daddy got reprimanded for not holding them still.

Overall, it was a great day, and a very happy Easter.



Quick addendum, two videos!

 It was funny, Sabine recognized M&Ms right away, but forgot that they were edible until we reminded her. She quickly made up for lost time by opening all the ones she had collected so far.
 

Spring Is in the Air

We cleaned the windows just in time for what I think was the season's last snow. (We're back to 70 degrees, already.) The weather's been very sporadic, but that's spring in Colorado. Fortunately, I've got a little helper now.

And just because she's so stinkin' cute: