More progress!

I'm so excited. Claire drank 4 oz of juice from a sippy today! Not like dribble, dribble but chug, chug! A ray of hope. She is also adding new foods to her menu almost daily! We have added Cheerios, avocados, watermelon, Pringles :0), lunch meat and bread. wahoo!
Thank you all for your prayers and support. I think she might be outgrowing her milk allergy too. The other day I cheated and ate some pizza and she didn't spit up. ? We'll have to see. She'll be tested at about one year old. If I can get her to an allergist in Utah.

Mobility means mess

This is why I don't pack when Claire is awake. However, she didn't get down past the first layer and she did put them back in after awhile.
What did I do?

On one of our many rainy days lately. I made Ethan a batch of cornstarch and water to play in. (really cool if you've never done it. It's about a 1:1 ratio- I think) And we forgot that Claire can crawl I guess and we left it there and started doing other things. So, she had free reign to make a magnificent mess! At least she had fun doing it.


Needless to say, my spices ARE organized. (this is what I was distracted by)

Last day of first grade

Andrew had team teachers. Mrs Cochran in the morning and Mr. Polstra in the afternoon. Mrs. Cochran was so loving and kind and energetic. Mr. Polstra was just like Mr. Rogers (need I say more).
It was a great year. Andrew really grew in so many ways.

You might wonder why he is wearing a coat on the last day of school.... well, spring came and then it left. It went right back to cold temperatures and rainy days. So it just didn't feel like the last day of school when it was rainy all day. It just didn't feel right. But I've been told that rain also affects me more than most people so it might just be me. Anyway, schools out and we are ready for fun. (and work to get ready for the move).

Fondant cake

Here is my first fondant cake adventure. Lindsay and I were going to make Ali's birthday cake together, but Lindsay got strep so I had do do it by myself (sniffle, sniffle). It was a good learning experience. The best way to learn things is through trial and error! But even with my mistakes I still think it turned out cute. And Ali really liked it which is most important. I'm excited to make Ethan's cake this week. Of course his requests are extravagant and I will have to convince him he wants something more simple. pictures to come...

Shaved Ice

My new favorite thing is Gibson's shaved ice. The ice is so finely shaved and the flavor is so wonderful. You really only understand me if you've had one. I recommend the "ice cream" flavor (especially since I can't have real ice cream right now). But my boys like blueberry, and raspberry.
These pictures were taken after a long Memorial Day. We had a a jam packed day full of fun. We went to the Columbian Park Zoo, the park, had a picnic and watched the parade. Then we went to see "Speed Racer" at the theatre (and Claire slept through the whole thing!!!). Then we came home grilled and topped it all of with some shaved ice!!! It was a great day. One of those I hope my kids will remember.

Ethan's Spring Preschool Program

These are Ethan's preschool teacher's Miss Kris and Miss Kathy. They are so nice. They have been great teachers.
Ethan is "graduating" preschool. He now knows most of his letters and some of their sounds. He has learned alot this year.
As part of their program they sand the song "tootie tot, tootie tot" ("tootie ta ta") It was so funny. He was so into it. I wish I had thought to take a video with my digital camera so I could post it.

Progress

Somebody's prayer worked because Claire now will eat peaches and rice cereal! Yeah we are expanding our menu.
Another new development is that she can pull herself up to standing. And go from crawling to sitting. She is getting so big. I can't believe she is nine months.

Spring is Here (finally)

The Stand-off

So I tried to stop nursing Claire on Monday. I nursed her at 5 am then refused the breast the rest of the day and only offered the bottle (with pumped breastmilk nonetheless). I also fed her some applesauce (which is the one of the few solids she will eat). I continued to offer her a bottle throughout the day. At 8:oo in the night she still had not drunk from the bottle (not one drop!) so I gave in and breastfed her. She went 15 hours with nothing to drink and still refused the bottle! I couldn't believe it. She is such a stong little girl! The other crazy thing is that she was not really fussy. She was only crying if I was shoving the bottle in her face. But other than that she was fine. Go figure. So, I'm not sure what to do to get her to take a bottle. But one thing is for sure, she knows what she wants and it's not a bottle!
(Suggestions are welcome. Yes, I have tried every different nipple on the bottle and several sippy cups, and various liquids in the bottle.)

Look Ma- No training wheels!

Ethan learned how to ride his bike without training wheels yesterday! Honestly I didn't think he would do it. But he did. And with vitually no help. He just kept getting back on after he fell off and kept going farther and farther without falling. I'm so impressed at how well he did.

Here's also a random thing he said I thought was cute. Ethan says, "Mom, I wish my last name was "Be Nimble" so I could be Ethan "Be Nimble." (They talked about Jack Be Nimble in preschool.) :0) I love the cute things they say.