Happy 21 Months Sylvi!

this photo seemed too perfect for sylvi's 21 month update! it's part big girl, stepping out in the world and claiming her territory, and part chubby little baby! that pretty much sums it up for roo these days. she does her best to be a big girl-- and all that hard work is evident to us everyday, but she is still the sweet, snuggly little girl that we want to hold on to forever!

sylvi is all about being a helper these days. it doesn't matter what the task, she wants to "help" and take part. she's particularly interested in cooking and whatever else may be going on in the kitchen. if it's time for something to be done there, she has pulled her little chair up and her hands on the counter before you can turn around. sylvi also loves to help clean up (that's actually really helpful) and often serves as a good example for a certain four year old when cleanup time rolls around. as usual, she wants to be a part of anything that isa does and they are both really enjoying playing together lately. they have been using their imaginations alot (pretending to be mommies or animals, etc) and sylvi is happy to play her part. this afternoon they spent a good chunk of time pretending to be puppies and sylvi was beyond pleased to crawl around on the floor panting and barking and playing fetch with her sister!

as she has for a while now, sylvi continues to make big leaps in her speech. she is stringing together words now and wants to be sure that you know what she is saying. some of her longer phrases are probably hard to other people (except us) to understand, but she is getting all the words right, even if the pronunciation still needs some work. for a few nights now she has gone through her bedtime checklist while we change her into her pajamas. she looks at me and says, "Bobby? Snuggle? Milk? Yep!" and looks really pleased with herself for getting it all right!

there you have it, a roo update. happy 21 months sylvi, we love you!

isa's 4th birthday party!

phew. we did it! isa's 4th birthday party (aka: the fairy princess ballerina dress up party) was a huge success! isa was pretty insistant on a small, all girl's party this year and we were happy to oblige. we kept it low key and had a handful of little girls and their parents. we had snacks and cupcakes and drinks and that was more than enough for everyone. all the little ones came in their favorite costumes and we had all of ours out to share as well. as you can see from the pictures, there were alot of costume changes in the course of a few hours! since we kept it small, we were able to have some fun party favors to send home-- and they were a big hit too. overall it was a really great party and everyone (parents included) seemed to enjoy themselves. for her part, the birthday girl is over the moon and has said, "this is the greatest birthday ever" a few dozen times this evening! enjoy the pics! another Happy Birthday to Isa!

shop update

we interrupt this baby blog for a special announcement! the shop has been updated with lots of new scarves and market totes (10%off!) and girls skirts on super sale! some of you may be scratching your heads thinking about scarves this time of year, but it's never too early to christmas shop, right? and here in wyoming, you never know when the autumn days will roll in for good. so atleast we are prepared :)

home sweet home

i know two little girls who are very happy to home. it doesn't hurt that home is filled with lots of really fun birthday presents too, of course. mommy is really glad to be back as well, especially when they're this content :)

Isa turns FOUR!

we are still wrapping our heads around the fact that we have a FOUR year old in the house! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABEL! and she is such a four year old all the sudden too... from the things she says, to the way she acts, to the little surprises she gives us everyday. it's really amazing to see her change and grow and become this amazing little person. isa at four years old is fearless and extroverted and personable. she never meets a stranger and makes friends with lightening speed. she is thoughtful and kind and aware.

one of the things she enjoys most these days is art-- she especially loves drawing pictures of people and animals and we have an entire tub full of "family portraits" to prove it. in the last month or so, she has started to be really detailed and precise with what she draws. not surprisingly, she can be pretty orderly too. it's not uncommon for her collages and sticker pictures to come out in perfect grids of like things! i think someone inherited an artists and an engineer's brain ;)

these pictures are from her birthday in jackson. she woke up to a few gifts and cards and we had cupcakes in the park later in the day. in true isa form, she made friends with every vendor within 30 yards and they all helped us celebrate her birthday! she was even given a special necklace by our neighbor, which she thinks is the most special gift ever! we'll be having a very small, all girl party on saturday. isa was set on having a "princess fairy ballet dress up party" this year, so that's what we're planning. rest assured there will be alot more photos to come.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISA, WE LOVE YOU!

jackson

phew. we made it home after a long weekend of work and play in jackson. more details to come, but here are pics from some of the weekend's adventures... riding the tram to the top of Rendezvous Peak, some time at the Teton Village splash deck, and playing on the banks of the Snake River. there were birthday celebrations for Miss Isa this weekend too! more on that soon, but in the meantime, here's your photo fix!

a few anecdotes on these photos-- going through the pictures of isa dancing in the fountains was hilarious! phil said that she was "conducting" the sprays and singing to herself while she danced. she was clearly busting a move to the music in her own little head. as for sylvi, she was more excited about all the rocks to play with once they got off the tram. she's quite the little rock hound and makes sure to point them ALL out when she sees them-- whether that be the stone siding on a house or the little embedded rocks in the sidewalk. phil said that she would take a few steps, throw both hands in the air and scream, "Ahh! A rock!" and pick one up and carry it with her until she found another one!

off we go

isa at 15 months

sylvi at 10 months

we're getting packed and ready to head out for the tetons early thursday morning! it's the last of the Art Fair Jackson Hole shows and this time we're all going over. oh boy! it's going to be pretty busy and probably a little crazy, but that's ok, we're make a mini-vacation out of it-- complete with hotel pool, lots of dinners to go, and the whole nine yards. there is no shortage of fun stuff to do around there, so i am sure that phil and the girls will have plenty of things to entertain them.

it's also isa's birthday weekend, so we figured it would be a nice way to celebrate. something tells me there will be presents and cupcakes waiting for her when she wakes up sunday morning :) more on the birthday plans later, but in the meantime, here are two little roadtrip flashback shots to hold you over until we're back next week. peace out!

it takes a village

...and around here it doesn't take long to figure out that there is quite the village of young people and young children! here are some pics from a fabulous bbq we attended today over at baby oliver's house. considering there were nine kids under the age of four in attendance, it was a decidedly mellow and relaxed affair!

if this whole house thing goes through, we will be directly across the alley from emily, latane and baby oliver-- that's about 10 feet from our yard to theirs! we figure we should just put up a zip-line between the two yards, spanning the alley. or maybe one of those little overpasses that they sometimes use for wildlife across highways?

daddy day

with mommy trying to get as much work done as possible this weekend, the girls are getting lots of quality time with daddy. today they headed up to louis lake for some good views and good fun on the beach. given that the temperature was a lovely 55F degrees, they didn't bother with the swimsuits, but were perfectly happy to hang in the sand and get their feet wet once or twice.

flashback!

a chubby baby roo from a little over a year ago. i miss those cheeks!

news from the pool

sorry, no adorable photos to accompany this post-- but the girls have both finished six weeks of swimming lessons and we thought it was worthy of mentioning, pics or no pics. yesterday was their last day and while it was loads of fun and we're all glad we did it, mommy is (admittedly) very happy not to be schlepping them both to and from the pool four days a week! it was well worth it though, as they both made tons of progress and had tons of fun. little roo actually jumped off the diving board on the second to last day... yes, the tiny little not even two year old walked all the way down the plank (with teacher in tow) and willingly and happily went off the end. the other teacher was obviously there to catch her. she was so proud of herself i thought her little cheeks might explode. she gladly sat on the edge of the (deep!) pool and patiently waited for her class when her turn was done. now that is progress, folks.

they're at it again...

i think that's what our neighbors are probably saying to themselves after the for sale sign went up yesterday. and so it is, we embark on another trip into the chaos and madness that is trying to sell one house to buy another. what can i say, we're gluttons for punishment.

isa's swim class

here are a few shots from isa's swim class today. i was hoping they'd jump off the diving board, but we'll try again for those pics next time. as you can see, she loves being in the pool and is really proud of herself for how well she is learning to swim. we've actually noticed alot of improvements in just a few weeks-- she can hold her breath longer, float more comfortably and for longer periods, grab the ring on the pool bottom easier, etc. she is starting to be able to swim a few strokes on her own as well. she is insistent on doing lots of the exercises all by herself-- which probably drives her teacher crazy, as she will repeat it over and over again until the girl finally listens and lets go of her. she likes to show off some of her skills in the baby pool too and will go under, hold her breath, and swim a few strokes underwater before coming up for air!

water works

the girls spent the morning at the annual Water Works festival at the Children's Museum. there weren't too many pictures (daddy was too busy trying to keep up with them) but here are two cute ones. they both had a blast and came home tired and happy. if you enlarge the first picture you can see that isa is writing her name-- she can do it all by herself now!

swim class!

here are some shots from sylvi's preschool swim class. of course the one day i managed to remember the camera, isa's class (which takes place at the same time) spent the whole hour watching a safety video and going over the pool rules! so stay tuned for pictures from isa's class next week!

flashback friday!

what's that... a wee little isa (13 months) in longsleeves and a vest? snuggly. mommy is ready for beautiful autumn weather here in this mountain town, so this picture seemed fitting enough this morning. to be fair, august has been nice to us so far, with awesome afternoon storms and cool breezes. and as much we appreciate that, i am really just ready for september at this point! but we still have alot to do this month before fall arrives-- a big birthday for isa, another MAB show in jackson, and lots of other details too tedious to name. but in the meantime i guess we'll think about longsleeves and vests and look forward to the leaves changing soon enough. happy friday!