sunny bunny

i think sylvi may one day live in the tropics. or atleast somewhere with a good, warm beach. unlike her sister, who is quite the snow queen, sylvi seems to love the sun. i might go so far as to say that it's her favorite thing to do everyday-- to sprawl out in the full sun, birthday suit and all. she is more content there than anywhere else and proceeds to kick and coo and smile until she just can't take it anymore, and then she passes out for a good nap. ah, the good life.

toddler art

we're quite pleased to have a toddler art class to attend here in town! it's taught by our friend stacy, who also happens to be isa's sitter twice a week, and is attended by lots of friends. today was butterfly day, which entailed painting coffee filters with watercolors and then using pipe cleaners to form them. of course there were butterfly books to read and alot of running around flapping imaginary wings too. good times, good times.

dancing queens

little miss personality

this has to be one of the best times in babydom-- when you see their little personality come out, when they start to smile, and make noise and generally interact with the world around them. of course it's nearly impossible to catch those fleeting smiles on camera, but i sure tried! here is some video of miss sylvi movin' and shakin' and trying to make herself heard. this will likely be an uneventful video for all but the grandparents, but that's ok, we still love it! enjoy...

tent city

it's monday and the sitter is out of town, which means no work for mommy. it's also -4F outside. so that means we have to get creative! hence the tent city in isa's room. not only does it keep her entertained for a few minutes, but it also keeps the house (relatively) quiet enough for sylvi to get a much needed morning nap. good stuff all around.

'anything you can do...'

chinese new year party!

today was the Chinese New Year celebration at the local children's museum! and since the weather has turned cold and gray, and we have a membership to the museum, it sounded like the perfect saturday morning activity. charlotte came along as well, which meant even more fun for everyone! they made paper dragons, ate lots of play chinese food, practiced their calligraphy, tasted some authentic chinese cuisine (not of the plastic variety!) and had a generally grand time. as you can see from the pictures, isa even had a dress to wear. that was a chinatown purchase from new york last summer and had been sadly neglected in isa's closet until now. being that isa isn't really the pinky pink kind of girl, i didn't know if she'd want to wear it or not... geez, was i ever wrong! now the trick will be to actually get her to take it off before bed!

conversations with isa

it never ceases to amaze me, the things that come out of toddlers' mouths. here are a few from isa:

"I so happy! So very, very happy!" as overheard while she played in her room during naptime.

And last night during her bath she asked, "Where did Daddy go? Work? I better go get him! I need him mama! I need him!"

flashback and happy eight weeks...

it's a double flashback this friday! isa at five months, sylvi at three weeks. twice the flaskback, twice the cuteness.

it also happens to be Sylvi's eight week birthday! HAPPY EIGHT WEEKS SYLVI!

New Animalia Organic Dress

ohhhh, there's a new favorite in the shop! the Animalia Organic Reversible Jumper, new for spring! it's no surprise that we like animals around here, so this one was a no brainer. doesn't hurt that the back is a brown and white print made out of organic bamboo fabric either. there is another super cute dress in the works as well, from some limited edition fabric that i just happened to stumble upon. it's traveling across the world to get here so rest assured it will get a blog debut as soon as it's ready!

haircut? what haircut?

i guess it was just not meant to be. isa absolutely refused to go through with her haircut today. no amount of talking-up beforehand, yummy suckers, begging, or pleading could get her to sit in that seat! that's right, she threw one heckavu fit, so we packed up and went home sans cute new hairdo. i wasn't too disappointed with the whole ordeal, as toddlers will be toddlers, until it occured to me that not getting a haircut meant that the tanglefest would continue. oy.

sisters

isa is lavishing in her new role as the big sister these days. she wants sylvi to do everything she does, including going to the babysitter. she always wants to hold sylvi and give her a pacifier. she is quite proud to share her blocks or her books and sometimes even her parents' attention. sylvi doesn't quite share this enthusiam yet and mostly looks at her with a worried look, but we are guessing she'll get on the little sister bandwagon soon!

the monday rundown

so, it's monday. the weekend was nice, a little chaotic but also relaxing.

sylvi is starting to smile (though she wouldn't for this little photo shoot).

isa only had one 'accident' with the potty business this weekend.

she gets her first hair cut tomorrow.

there you have it, the monday rundown.

Happy Birthday Papa Bubba!

Isa and her Bub at three days old.

Isa and her Bub testing out the Thanksgiving Turkey of 2008.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAPA BUBBA, WE LOVE YOU!
love, isa and sylvi

take a good look!

take a good look at those beautiful blonde curls... because they won't be that way for much longer. *sigh* the time has come to finally cut isa's hair. i know, i know. but anyone who has tried to comb that mop recently can tell you that it's beyond high maintenance. isa is actually pretty patient for a two year old with a head full of tangles (er, dreadlocks?) but even so, it's a fulltime job to deal with her hair being so long. and truth be told, these pictures don't tell the whole story... as her hair is hardly ever so well-kept! after a midday bath and about 45 minutes of detangling, i finally broke down and made the hair appointment. *sniff sniff* but don't worry, it's just getting a well needed trim, that will hopefully aid in the daily taming! that is, if i don't get cold feet in the meantime!

an apple a day...

sylvi had her well baby visit this morning (a week late, at seven weeks, but who's counting?) and all went well. it was a well-timed visit, as she still has this stinking cold. so it was nice to get suggestions on other things we can do to help her breathe easy, literally. it was also a followup on the reflux meds and dietary changes. we are really pleased with how well they've worked... she is back to her old, mellow self and not showing any signs of pain like she used to. the spitting up has also been held to a minimum, as long as she remains upright after eating. and now that i've been dairy-free for nearly a month, the gas is almost completely gone as well! what a relief! i have even been able to reintroduce other often problematic foods with no problems-- onions, broccoli, soy and a few others.

so, she passed with flying colors! all is well. she weighs 8lbs 14oz and is 21inches long. for those who like numbers, that's about the 20th percentile for weight and the 50th for length.

dialogue

isa: sylbi, dats one funny lookin' paci!

sylvi: *stunned silence*

workskis?

i've had alot of people ask about the fate of Mountain Aven Baby, post-sylvi and in the midst of this new law absurdity. so i thought i'd do a little post to get folks up to speed. truthfully, it's pretty mysterious as to how much work i will be doing in the near future. small business enterprising has been fun and a welcome boost to the bank account, but being a 'sweatshop of one' might be hard to pull off after having another kiddo. as alot of you have heard, there is a real shortage of quality childcare around here, as well as quality preschools (which falls into the childcare catergory when it comes to me working). so even if i definately did want to keep the shop running at full speed, finding the time to do it may be the real challenge. honestly, i have really enjoyed it so far and while it's certainly not my life's calling, running the business has been a nice bridge between stay-at-home mothering and the outside world. i love etsy and have enjoyed interacting with customers in that type of venue. the money is good enough and it's a great creative outlet. so, assuming i can manage this two kid thing, continue to feel good about my childcare options in the meantime, and don't get shut down by a good law gone bad, then Mountain Aven Baby will hopefully live on! stay tuned!

and we have a winner.

a winner in the pacifier contest, that is. just like her sister did at this age, sylvi has an immense need to be suckling away day and night. she's been this way since day one. problem is, she only wants to be sucking on a pinky finger (assuming she's not nursing, but that goes without saying). anyone's pinky would do really, but it usually ended up being mine. not that i would normally be bothered by this, except that it meant that i rarely had one hand free. even if she was snuggled away in the sling or the mei tei or in bed, she still needed that pinky. and being that it's germ season and sometimes i need two hands, we needed to find a solution pronto.

we tried lots of pacifiers, only to be shot down time and time again. each time we thought she had fallen for one, she would start spitting them at us and demanding the pinky. until the soothie. oh the soothie. as i was browsing the isles of the store today it occured to me if i could find a pacifier that remotely resembled a pinky finger (in shape) then she might take it. and take it she did! success! this is the picture of contenment here, as she lay on the sheepy rug, soothie in mouth, for what seemed like a very long time. it was enough contentment to get isa and i through dinner and the witching hour. for the sake of my poor pinky, let's hope this sticks. unfortunately, in her discriminating taste, she chose the most hideous and obtrusive pacifier on the market. and one that i have drive 30 miles to actually find in a store, but if this little piece of silicon goodness will salvage my pinky... i'll take it!

potty party

ok, it's really not so party like, but it sounded like a good title. the picture is amusing too. but in general, there is very little potty partying going on around here. there have been a few successes, but the persistant sickies, the return to the sitter two mornings a week, and general life craziness has meant that potty training has been distracted at best. and isa can't quite seem to decide whether she's up for it or not anyway. some days she throws fits for big girl panties, other days it's diapers or death (or so you'd think by the size of the tantrum). oh well. i seriously doubt she'll still be in diapers by the time she's a teenager right? so i suppose we'll get around to it eventually ;-)

yep, still here.

isa, sylvi, and i all have colds. so we're laying low. and phil is traveling some this week. look for better blogging when we're well m'kay.

the floor!

is DONE. more on that later, but for now... some pictures of the nearly finished kitchen :-)

slices of saturday

ah, saturdays. gotta love 'em. here are a few snapshots from our day. it was a mellow one that included alot of hanging out and not much else. we got out for a walk, played for a while, watched some netflix, cooked some dinner, and that was about it. isa is nursing a cold and phil and i are just getting over a stomach virus, so being low key was definately in order. while the sickies are no fun, it sure is nice have an excuse to take it easy. happy saturday!

sylvi in action

does falling asleep count as 'in action'? i don't know, but there you have it, sylvi's video debut.

on another note, phil is traveling, isa is teething, sylvi has a tummyache. yep, that pretty much sums it up. good thing we had this video on hand, as blogging might be slim in the coming days.

big girl style

guess who used the potty for real today? that'd be isa. must have been the mismatched babylegs that did the trick. or the new sea animal underwear. either way, she was one proud little girl. she ran around for the rest of the morning saying, "i DID it! i DID it!" and then proceeded to ask for more m&m's (her reward for going). ah, potty training.

yum.

look who found their thumb. i think we definately have a thumb sucker on our hands here, which is a relief since she apparently has a very strong sucking reflex and isn't so keen on a pacifier. sylvi is just getting the hang of the whole thing and will hopefully be able to find her thumb on her own very soon. now she only goes to town on it if it magically lands in her mouth or if it's directed that way by yours truly. the pictures don't show it, but it's rather amusing to watch, as usually her hand is positioned in a way that looks like her hand is attacking her face. can you picture it? i swear it's funny! the whole house can attest to that. as for the face she is making in the top photo? that's the sylvi skeptical look, furrowed brow and all. very serious business indeed.

busy, busy, busy.

phil tiled the kitchen this weekend! yay! all is done but the grout at this point, so there will be finished pictures soon. in addition, it's been a blur of organizing and cleaning and cleaning and organizing around here. gotta take advantage of having the extra set of hands around here while we can! back to regular blogging soon!

Scarves for sale!

as it turns out, these scarves are rather addictive! i had alot of local requests after Art in the Afternoon for more of them (they sold out fast that morning) so i made another batch over the holidays. and now that the locals have had their pick, i figured i might as well put the word out there in blogland just in case anyone else in interested. here is what i have left for sale.

for those of you who haven't seen or felt them, well, i will do my best to describe just how soft they are. each scarf is backed in ivory colored minky fabric (remember the blanket? right!). they really are soft beyond words-- you'll just have to trust me on this one! they measure approximately 6 inches wide by 72 inches long.

so, have a look at the album if you're interested. there are only a few left and who knows how long they'll stick around. i'll do my best to update the album as they sell. if you'd like to purchase one, send me an email at mountainavenbaby@gmail.com.

bits and pieces: part two