jolly days

Viola pulled herself up to sitting! She was so proud of herself the first time she did it. And now she is doing it all the time. I just think about her journey through gross motor skills development and it is so much funnier than Zola, who was just happy to sit in one place until someone brought her something to eat. Viola on the other hand has been constantly a wandering soul, whatever it takes. As soon as she figured out how to roll front to back and back to front, she was looking over her shoulder at what she wanted and starting to roll to it. And like those robot vacuums and remote control cars, she would get jammed between chair legs and walls, or ram something she didn't see too hard and it would end badly. But that never stopped her. Then she figured out that the push-up inched her backward a little. So, she'd look back behind herself to orient and start chugging off backward. As soon as she could add the toe-push and go forward like an army man under razor wire, she was unstoppable. Like a snake, she could edge along head-on. Just in the last couple of weeks, she has mastered her leg movement and is doing a lot of yoga now... downward facing dog and cat pose. Pretty soon, she is going to figure out the stepping motions for utility and the rug-burned calluses on her knees and elbows might reduce. But, it hardly matters. I clocked her crossing the room in 5 seconds yesterday.

She and Zola have figured out how to interact. They like to lay on the floor and climb on one another. Viola gets up on Zola's tummy (with a spotter) and they tickle each other. They play patty cake, hand each other toys, and sometimes Zola plays "mommy" and takes care of Viola... or lets mom &/or dad know if baby needs a diaper.

Zola's language skills are through the roof and everyday she surprises us with what she knows and can repeat. She can do three syllable words. Her favorite things are elephants, kisses, going to the gym childcare (she knows the building so we have to avoid that street when we aren't going there or she will cry), swinging, cooking (helping mom make dinner or pretending in her new play kitchen), books, and pushing carts/strollers. Her favorite foods are milk, cheese, eggs, and meat (deli slices, pepperoni, but not chunks of chicken or beef unless it is chopped up fine and has taco seasoning.) She loves chips with salsa and spicy food. She can drink from a glass, although she still wants her milk in a sippy cup when she is tired. And she can feed herself with a spoon and fork (but prefers to eat with her fingers for convenience.) She's not a messy eater and gets very upset when food gets on her. She doesn't like her stuff to be put away. She wants everything out at once. She loves her tutu and boots and wants to wear them every day. She still hasn't shown any interest in potty training, and we aren't going to push it.

For the holiday, I was off for a 4-day weekend. Mostly I cooked and baked and cleaned the kitchen.

For Christmas Eve, we had a Mexican food feast. Since you can't really find good mexican food here in Cleveland, I learned how to make tortillas and used a mock Filibertos rice and beans recipe to make everything from scratch. We also had queso, ground beef taco bar, and tacquitos (from a box.)

For Christmas morning, I prepared (in advance) homemade cinnamon rolls with lemon cream cheese frosting. (MMMMM!)

For the afternoon feast on Christmas Day, I prepared a half-ham in a peach and brown sugar glaze, a cheesy broccoli rice casserole (a family favorite from Aunt Viola), and homemade focaccia rolls. The rolls were a little hard, so I made a second batch of bread later in the day so that we could enjoy fluffy rolls. The second batch turned out perfect and I realized my mistake. Whenever you half a recipe, always re-write the amounts so you aren't just doing the math in your head. I always forget and use the full amount the recipe calls for with at least one dang item and spoil it.

On Monday, since I didn't have to work, we had a family day. We took the kids to the zoo, tried out another (sadly disappointing) mexican food restaurant, and then looked at houses. We only have a couple of restaurants left... and so far, there is only one type of south of the border food here. It's bland, not spicy at all, all the stuff on the plate is either runny or covered in a runny sauce and touching and the meat is always stewed and shredded. I miss the nuances of El Salvador, Cuba, and the baja coast of Mexico and their limes and grills, when chipotle was a spicy pepper in adobo sauce that could burn your eyeballs out, and the fresh corn and black bean goodness of Tex-Mex, and burritos that you put in your fist. You would think I could open a restaurant and make a killing, but the sad truth is that people here cannot palate the flavors. Things on the menu here that are marked "spicy" can compete with Taco Bell's mild sauce. Things are bland here for a reason.

I have tons and tons of video of the kids right now. But for some reason, we've been negligent about taking pictures. I need to beat myself up about that. What's a scrapbooker going to do? I'll post some visuals soon.

13 months

I kind of skipped a few months because life happens.

But, Zola has changed so much lately that I just have to blog about her. She's so inquisitive and industrious at this age... Here is a short list of new things she can do:

- kneel without sitting on her ankles and very well all while she bobs to music, plays with toys, etc.
- open a lid, place something inside, and close the lid - then reverse that.
- put the rings on the pole toy, clap for herself.
- say "ahhhhh!" when she wants you to shovel another bite into her mouth
- walk while holding her wheeled cart-walker toy without falling down (much)
- fall down, get up, go back to whatever it was without crying
- press a button with one finger (or thumb if it takes more torque to press.)
- say "dada" for dad, "mama" for mom, and mimic single syllable sounds you make.
- make a crawling run for it whenever the hall door gets accidentally left open. She really wants to eat the cat litter and can get there in less than 20 seconds.
- fall asleep without her pacifier (but she can't STAY asleep w/out it. She always wakes up a few hours in and cries until you give it to her.)
- pull herself to standing using unstable items without toppling (she just needs something to touch for balance, not pull on.)
- turn the lights on/off, turn the TV on/off/channel, etc.
- pick up all her spilled cheerios and put them back in the bowl by herself, because she wants to.
- on command "where's the baby?" she covers her eyes, then quickly removes them so you'll say "Peek-A-Boo" or "There she is."
- tells you why she is crying. If it's a diaper, she grabs her diaper. If she's hungry, she grabs her tummy. If she's teething, she grabs her mouth. If she's tired, she collapses dramatically (especially if she doesn't want to sleep) and rubs her eyes. If she's frustrated because she can't do something, she hits herself on the head (which never fails to crack me up).

We got some fruit popcycles and gave her one and it might have been the best day of her life. She's still very open to eating whatever we give her and the only things she doesn't care for is plain mashed peas (who can blame her.)

light and dark

Roger and Aubri were here to drop off Chana for a few days last week and we filled our days with Yogurtland, Six Flags, the beach, and walks in the city. As usual, it was a blast to see them. Chana came with us to Arizona to drop off Stephanie and enjoy a laid back 4th of July. Our traditions are nothing compared to the Moroni 4th.



We've just been grillin' and chillin' and enjoying family. We talked Stephanie into getting her pictures taken with Zola by suggesting a punk rock / Twilight theme.

But we also had a few "cute" ones taken in normal clothes.

lights

Stephanie's picture of Zoe from our trip to AZ makes me realize how amazing things are with a baby. Time feels like it literally freezes and simultaneously whizzes by -- and is tracked not by the clock, but by the little things zoe learns each day.

All babies love lights, and Zoe is no exception -- the Christmas tree drew this to our attention. So we took her to the Mesa LDS Temple to see the display one night, and the Phoenix Zoo-Lights display another. It was so fun to watch her captivated by the stuff. A few days after we returned to LA, at her 2 month doctors appt, her dr noticed that her neck was stiff and that she did not like to turn her face to the right... so when I got home, I dug out a strand of Christmas lights and hung them to the right of her swing. Sure enough, she looks right when they are plugged in.

She and I have been going on LONG walks every other day in the evening. She loves to see the street lights and car lights and it wears her out until she drifts off for a nap in my sling. I walk about 2 miles. I just Google-Mapped my distance. I thought it would be more :(

I hope to keep it up. I start back at work on Monday.

Oh, and me and my Legendary Husband are going out on a date Monday night with Scott to see Do-Make-Say-Think and have a sitter. Woot!