2-3-4 Success!

I don't want to jinx anything, but after a week I think it is safe to say that we are finally there!  We are officially on the 2-3-4 schedule!  Woo hoo!

Logan has been starting to wake up consistently around 7 AM.  He goes down for nap(in his bed!) about two hours after waking up.  He actually naps for at least an hour and a half, as opposed to his previous 30 to 45 minutes.

Once he gets up, he is up for about three hours.  Then he goes back down (in his bed!) for his afternoon nap. He once again sleep for at least an hour and a half.  Once he wakes up, he is up for roughly four hours before it is time for his 7 o'clock bedtime.

He has also gotten use to sleeping on his stomach, so once he rolls over he can put himself to sleep.  He still wakes up in the middle of the night upset about it sometimes, but it is not nearly as bad as it was when he first started rolling over.

The next step is to get him to stop waking up for that middle of the night feeding, and then we are golden.  Olivia gave it up on her own around 7 1/2 months.  He seems to be doing a few things earlier than her, so I'm hoping this is one of them.  Maybe in a few weeks when he starts solids? 

Eyebrows, Take 2

If you've been a reader for a few years, then you may remember the post I did about eyebrows.

If not, here is a quick recap: I took these pictures of Michael and Olivia. I commented on how they looked so much alike.  He took a picture of her and I and asked if I thought she looked like me at all. I said that I didn't see it. Michael made a comment about how she had my eyebrows.  The whole thing just made me laugh.  My eyebrows?  Then he said, "Well, your eyebrow spacing" which is even more funny.

Fast forward 3 years and we are revisiting the eyebrow comment.  Only this time we aren't talking about mine!

Despite having  brown hair, Michael has always had really light eyebrows.  (Which is funny, because I have always been a blond with dark eyebrows!)  He gets these crazy white eyebrows that stick out all funny.  He usually trims his eyebrows down some.  But ever since we were dating I teased him about his wayward eyebrows.  (He also gets the crazy hairs in his goatee, too.)

Guess who has a crazy white eyebrow?!?!

Is that not the craziest thing!!!  It may not be as funny to all of you, but I laughed so hard the first time I saw it.  I eventually had to pluck it because it was seriously hanging down into his eye.  I imagine I will be plucking them every time they grow back.

Cakes and Captured!

We didn't go an any exciting adventure this weekend.  I worked a little more than normal, and then we just did a bunch of stuff around the house.  We are slowly trying to get our basement (the unfinished/storage part) organized.

I usually work at Gigi's on Friday and Saturday nights.  That is when the store is open the latest, so it makes it worth it for me to drive there.  I can get some hours in and I don't miss much at home since the kids go to bed at 7 and then 8.  This week I also worked on Sunday morning.  I am learning how to decorate cakes, and that is the time that I could go in and get some practice.

We make the cakes for the local American Girl store.  On Sunday we made 16 of these little guys and then 6 big ones.  I am told that my first attempts looked way better than most.  Although I still have a lot to learn.  Practice makes perfect.  Now that I know how to do it, I will be able to stay later during some of my shifts and work on these.  Again, getting me more hours without missing out on family time.

But since I closed on Saturday night and went in at 6 AM on Sunday morning, I wasn't really in the mood to go anywhere or do anything.  Olivia actually didn't mind.  She got lots of one on one time with Michael, and they even got to watch a storm together one of the nights.  Plus, she got a date night with Michael last night, and I had already promised her that we'd go on a girls date soon.  She's already talking about the Princess aisle....

And speaking of Gigi's--here is a follow up on the girl that held me up at gunpoint.

Making Progress

Olivia has really been into coloring the past week or so.  I got out all of our coloring books and coloring supplies and they are taking up residence in our dining room.  Olivia will just sit and color for hours while I do things around the house.  Just a few short weeks ago her coloring consisted of scribbling one color all over the entire page.

Now, she still scribbles, but she uses multiple different colors and stays within the lines of the pictures.  I'm not sure if you can even tell, because the coloring is pretty light on this one, but even Rainbow fishes scales are multiple different colors.  The leaves are green, the rocks are black, the shell is red, and all of the other fish are blue.

Dory even got colored two different colors!

Her painting is getting better too.

My mom bought her a painting pack from the dollar section at Target.  This is how she painted it shortly after her birthday (so a month ago).

She liked it so much that a few weeks ago we bought her the princess pack.  This time, each princess was painted the proper color.

It didn't come with purple paint, so Rapunzel got a pink dress.  But her face is peach, her hair is yellow, the trees are green, and the buildings are brown.

Even her drawings are changing.  We are moving past scribbling the same spot over and over.

Drawing circles is coming soon... I just know it! :)

O-L-I-V-I-A!

Wordless Wednesday--Good Morning Snuggles!

Indoor Water Fun

Through our many cooking/baking/helping activities, we have learned that Olivia can just lean over and wash her hands in the kitchen sink pretty easily.  This has come in handy when she gets egg or something else on her.

 

The last time we made popsicles, Olivia figured out that she could also play in the water.  She decided to give Ariel a bath.  I plugged up the smaller portion of the sink and she stood there and played for a good twenty minutes before it was time to eat lunch.

Fast forward a week and I saw this cute dish set at the toy store we were checking out.  I didn't want to pay $20 for it, but I definitely stole the idea!

So one morning last week I set up a little station at the sink for Olivia to play with.

I bought a 4 pack of sponges from Target for $1.50.  I gave her 2 of the sponges, a plate, two of her bowls, two of her cups, and her set of dollar store measuring cups from our learning closet.  (Yep.  I have a "learning closet".  Ha!)  I also gave her a little caddy to put the clean dishes.

She started out by just playing in the water while the sink filled up.

This was her first time playing with sponges, so she had a little lesson on how they work.  She got to pick the 2 colors she wanted to use.  She couldn't wait to use them from the moment we bought them!

Ariel joined us for the fun as well.

She got a bath just like Olivia does. ;)

After playing with Ariel for a good bit, she moved on to the cups.

She had a few math lessons along the way without even knowing it.  Like what happens when you put an object in a cup full of water... the object takes up space, so the water is going to overflow.

She practiced her pouring

She also had a lesson/learned about what happens when you pour something from a bigger cup into a smaller cup.

Having so much fun!  She played for over an hour.

 She ended up using everything I gave her to play with except for the plate.

After I drained the water she insisted on stacking everything back up.  She put it all as pictured and then said, "There.  Now it's perfect."  Gah!  I love my little perfectionist and her orderly stacking ways!!! :)

Creekside Fun and National Ice Cream Day

With me working some evenings and Michael leaving in the morning before the kids even get up, our family time is pretty limited.  We try to make a  conscious effort to do something fun (in Olivia's eyes) and family related at least one day over the weekend.  This past weekend we headed to Creekside in Gahanna, which is about ten minutes from our house.

The first thing Olivia noticed when we walked out of the parking garage were the fountains.  She wanted to jump right in.  Of course, there is no swimming or wading in the fountains.

But she did get to play in the water on the wall features.

Which was perfect for her.

Then we headed to the paddle boat ride!  Poor Logan.  Doesn't he look thrilled? :)  He had just finished eating and had fallen asleep.  We thought for sure that he wasn't going to be able to go, so just Michael and Olivia were going to do it.  But then the lady said they had infant life jackets, so we went for it.

Ha ha!  Between his cheeks and my boobs and two life jackets, we were a mess for about the first five minutes of the ride! :)

Michael had to do all the work because there was no way I could hold a baby on my lap and peddle.

It costs $5 for the boat rental (not per person) and you can be out for a half hour.

Of course Olivia loved it.  She loved that Logan was on the ride with her as well.

She kept going on and on about it was such a special treat and she couldn't believe she was on a boat ride and it was so fun....  Totally worth the $5!!

Once I sat Logan up, I think he enjoyed the ride as well.

After our ride we walked down to the waterfall area and fed the ducks.

This was Olivia's first time feeding ducks, and she thought it was neat.

Then we went for a walk along the path.

Or a run for some. ;)

After our walk we had a few pieces of bread left, so we found a little clearing where a lot of ducks were sitting on the bank and fed them.

 We spent a little time back at the fountains getting wet before it was time for us to leave.

It was National Ice Cream Day, and Graeter's (a local favorite) was having single scoop ice cream for $1.44 since they have been open 144 years.  We took advantage and ended our day out with a special treat.  Even after sampling a few flavors, our girl chose vanilla.