Sister Stuff

I can't say enough what a great big sister Ellia is to Claira. And even though Claira has her moments of completely not even treating Ellia as if she's her elder...Claira continues to want to be wherever her big sister is & do what she's doing.

Vintage! These 2 outfits were saved by Grandma. They're from me and my brother's childhood wardrobe. I'm so thankful she saved them. And it was strange how much both of them saw the outfits and immediately took to them. Ellia made it clear that she really liked the outfit. And I don't know how we got into the headbands, but they tried on each and every one I saved. I wish I had used them more often when they were tiny - but Ellia was bald, like, forever. And Claira was a bit on the wild side.

Here, I love the difference in their poses, stance & choice of placement for the headbands. If you knew them inside & out it says a lot about them.

Tryin' to Feel FALL!

Apple & pumpkin picking, corn mazes, apple cider & pie...go hand in hand with breezy, crisp Autumn weather. Unfortunately, nowadays, you can't plan anything based on the weather, especially if you want chilly Autumn weather.
You can see how little Fall weather we get in Southern California anymore by the distance of time between Oak Glen trips! Above photo is Oct 2007.

Me & the girlies had a great trip to Oak Glen, albeit a bit sweaty, with Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Adam & Auntie Carissa. Ellia helped us navigate our way through this maze. She's really into writing down what she thinks are map directions with lines and she tells me the streets "left on Street St."

ELLIA is 4!

We had an awesome birthday party - Ellia's Big Top Carnival! We had carnival games & food & treats throughout the backyard. And we had Gidget the pony show up for clippity-clop pony rides. It was a fun, fun day & just the right amount of sun and breeze. Can't believe my little birdie is already 4... more photos soon!

Ellia stuff...

Ellia had a great summer. She spent A LOT of time in the water in various places.

This was a game that Ellia and I went to just-the-two-of-us. We had a really great time hanging out together + we had some shaved ice cones & watched our tongues turn different colors. Ellia knows most of the names of the Angel's players, the entire "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" song, loves watching the little kid do the 3rd base race & knows it was a good game if we saw fireworks cuz that means there was a homerun.

Ellia is drawing more & more. I take opportunities to talk creatively with her whenever I can. And when she draws something I write down her exact verbal description of what she drew.

Claira stuff...

I'm dreading the update when I have to say that Claira's squishy double chin is gone. Her big round belly is already starting to fade away...

Here is my chubby girl in a rare moment of stillness and hand-holding. She continues to be super active, super emotional and super giggly.

Ahh, The Claira Bob. Hairstyles will be fun with her because she already loves hair clips. Claira has recently had an amazing burst of independence and determination. I thought she was strong-willed before! She now insists on putting her pants on, buckling her seat belt, putting her shoes on, zipping her jacket... As long as I'm not in a hurry, I sit and let her put both legs through the same leg hole (over & over) She is not stubborn, per se, because she doesn't get frustrated if she can't do it. She gets frustrated if someone tries to do it for her. I say: "Claira do it" a lot nowadays! She also has gone from adorable silent to adorable talking - she has so many new words that I can't keep track of them fast enough!

Little 1sts

I've started to do some fun little things with both the girls. I did a lot of potting plants these last few months. We took lots of trips to the nursery & they helped me pick out the plants Auntie Carissa recommended. Above is the little Tomato Plant Ellia picked out. It's now as tall as Ellia! We have yet to eat 1 tomato from it!

Grandma gave us a Butterfly Hatchery & surprisingly I was able to keep every single one of them alive to meet their metamorphosis! To this day when Ellia sees an orange butterfly she exclaims: "It's one of mine!"

Also, Ellia LOVES to help cook or prepare food & I've started to let her help out in any way I can allow her. It won't be long before snapping peas in half does not quite "make her day".

Knott's Berry Farm

I wish I had written down the way Ellia pronounces Knott's Berry Farm, cuz it sounds nothing like it. We lucked out on the weather & picked the perfect day to go! Ellia got to meet the real Snoopy, which she loved. And both girls got to ride bigger kids rides.