Welcome Home Josh!

It was a very happy day in North Carolina yesterday afternoon because Esme's Uncle Josh finally came home after 7 months in Afghanistan. Hannah, Makena and Capri have been getting ready ever since they left here at the beginning of January. We provided a small distraction for the girls over the holidays but now they can really celebrate with their daddy home! 

Makena's preschool outfit

The girls decorated the house

Homecoming outfits

The family of four, together again!

Josh and his little girls

New Teeth

Esme's been very busy this past week - she got 3 new teeth!  They finally popped through after bulging thru her gums for over a month now.  She got the right lateral incisor last Sunday, then the left lateral incisor on Tuesday and finally the left central incisor this past Friday.  She seems to be doing fine and is finally sleeping through the night again so maybe that was the secret.  Sometimes she likes to grate her teeth against one another now that she has a top and bottom row and it's the worst sound ever.  Hopefully that doesn't last too long.  

She's enjoying some new foods with her teeth and today we tried a scrambled egg for the first time with no sign of a reaction.  Prior to this she's only eaten the egg yolk.  The other allergenic foods that we have yet to try are peanut butter, whole milk and shellfish.  She's also recently had groats, meatloaf, roasted veggies, chili, and chicken tortilla soup.  We've noticed that she really likes beans and any type or soup/chili/stew with rice.  

Esme's been having fun with her friend Mr Hippo lately.  I'll go in her room sometimes and she'll be lying in her crib with her hand reaching out and holding Mr. Hippo.  We've since moved him downstairs so they can hang out more now.  She also likes going for rides in the tv tray on the family room carpet.  As long as Allen and I have the energy she'll do this all evening!  And best of all is the couch tunnel/maze.  She likes to crawl between the ottoman and the couch to see what's on the other side of the little tunnel.  We hide on the other side and it never fails to surprise her and make her laugh :)

               
                                 Hangin with Mr Hippo                                                                                   The sliding tv tray

               
                    Surprise!  Crawling around the couches                                                                       The couch maze

               
                               Signing more during dinner                                                                                      Four top teeth

Year Of The Dragon

Kung hei fat choi!  Esme's daycare is closed today and tomorrow for Chinese New Year so Allen got the first shift today and I'll be home with Esme tomorrow.  Tonight we celebrated the year of the dragon by going out to the local dim sum restaurant near our house.  It's usually packed on the weekends but tonight we were one of two families there.  I guess it was a little early for dinner but we figured there'd be a bigger crowd for the holiday.  Oh well!  Since the servers weren't too busy they spent a lot of time making faces at Esme and she loved the attention.  She also loved all the new foods we let her try.

Walking... Kind Of

We've got a walking and talking bean these days...well, sort of :)  Esme hasn't been too interested in her walker until just this past weekend.  At first we had to hold it while she walked so it didn't get out from under her but then just a few hours later she figured it out and was cruising all over the house with it by herself. 

Saturday @ 9am

Saturday @ 2pm

Winter Storm

We woke up to the snow coming down this morning and it hasn't let up so far.  I decided to take an extra day off to avoid the roads and this way I'd get to spend some more time with Esme even though her daycare was open.  I noticed she picked up my hairbrush this morning and attempted to run it through her hair so when we sat down to breakfast I thought I'd give her a chance with the spoon too.  She sort of went through the motions and then she'd also eat her cream of wheat with her hands.  When that didn't work so well she just dove straight in the bowl :)

Esme's talking a lot more and loves to imitate words and sounds.  So far she does mama, dada, wow, and uh oh.  Even though she says these things I don't feel like they're with real meaning just yet.  She's also started signing the word "more" consistently.  Yesterday we got to hang out with her friend Natalie and she was teaching Esme all sorts of new things with her toys. 


                    
                  Checkin out each other's bunny suit                                    I couldn't get Natalie to smile but Esme couldn't resist

Yikes, check out that face!

                    
                    She's turning into a good water drinker                                                        Look at our back yard!

                    
               Mmmm...breakfast with a spoon                                                                           Forget the spoon!

11 Months Old

All of  a sudden Esme seems like she's changing so rapidly and today marks her 11 month birthday.  She's really enjoying eating more solid foods and especially feeding herself.  If we try to put something in her mouth then she immediately spits it out into her hand, looks at it and then puts it back in her mouth herself.  Then she likes to rub her hands in her hair at the same time.  A lot of food ends up on the floor and I keep having to tell myself that's part of the process and just let it go :)

Esme's latest trick is sucking in her cheeks and we finally caught it on camera.  She thinks this is pretty cool along with blowing raspberries once in awhile.  She also likes to point at things with her pointer finger.  When she's feeling daring, she can stand up without holding on for almost a minute.  However, no steps yet.

This weekend we spent some time with her friend Libby in Crescent Bar which was super cold, about 20-30 degrees, but at least it was sunny and dry.  On the way back home, going over the mountain passes, we encountered the snow storm that's currently hitting the greater Seattle area and we came home to a snow covered house.  Esme thought it was pretty funny to watch the snow come down.  She even grabbed some off a tree branch and ate it. 

She's handling her ear infection well and almost done with her liquid antibiotics.  Most of the time she takes it without difficulty but sometimes we have to distract her to get it all down.  Our other trick involves putting the medicine on a spoon instead of in the syringe and that works too.  Her top right central incisor is still coming down and the other 3 are continuing to bulge.  As long as she lets me put my fingers in her mouth, I try and check everyday but nothing yet.

                        
                        Making a mess                                                                               Feeding time hairdo

                       
                 Hamming it up with Libby                                                                 The latest trick - sucking in her cheeks

                         
                 All bundled in the stroller for a walk                                                              Snow in the driveway

                        
                  Grabbing the snow off the tree                                                                 Trying to spit it out ASAP

Teeth And Ears

Esme's top 4 teeth have been bulging for the past few weeks and this past weekend she got a clear runny nose and then on Sunday the top right central incisor came through.  She was also a little fussy but perked up after some Tylenol and Motrin.  However on Monday as I was getting ready for work she was super fussy so I checked her ears right as we were about to leave and turns out she had another double ear infection :(  I was able to call in a antibiotic, pick it up and give it to her all before daycare but it was still so hard to go to work.  Mother's guilt gets me every time! 

Esme loves to crawl under the kitchen table and sit underneath the chairs or she loves to crawl under the barstools and just play there.  If she's not under the table then she's most likely in the pantry grabbing the jars and banging them together.  You'd think we'd learn to keep it closed but she always beats us to it.  Thankfully nothing has broken yet. 

Happy 1st Birthday to cousin Capri today!  We miss you lots!  They made it safely back to North Carolina and are slowly adjusting to their time zone again. 

Bye-Bye Auntie B & Cousins

With heavy hearts Esme and I dropped Hannah and the girls off at the airport this morning :(  Esme knew something was different and she talked to me the entire ride to daycare which she hasn't done in awhile.  I think she felt like she had to make some noise since it was suddenly so quiet without her cousins.  And this evening she was all over the living room entertaining Allen and I, trying to cheer us up.  She likes to find my elastic hair ties and stick them in her mouth, looped around her two bottom teeth and then suck on it and crawl around the house like that. 

3 carseats for 3 kiddos = tight squeeze!

Esme's new trick

One Last Hoorah!

Hannah's trip is coming to an end and I have to go back to work tomorrow so we had one last hoorah yesterday.  We got up early and drove down to Portland to see all of our family down there.  First we stopped to see great-uncle Richard and Millie and then to our grandmother's house to see everyone else.  The girls tolerated the long car ride and didn't drive us nuts :)  Now today we're cleaning up the house and trying to sort out all our toys and gifts from the holidays.  It's amazing how far the girls track their toys around the house. 

                                            

              Family photo with great-uncle Richard                                                Makena helping fix the computer

                                            

                        Esme and Uncle Chan                                                               Esme found a new friend in Maggie

                                            

                           Hannah and the girls                                                                     Auntie Jo and Makena

                                                                   

              Family photo at Grandma's house                                                           Esme and her twinkle toes

                    
                       

                    Aunt Soonie and Makena                                       Zoë and sleeping Esme, cousin Zoe, Hannah, Capri and Uncle Chan

                                                     

                                                                  Makena helping clean up the toys

Happy New Year

We opted for a weekend of rest after all our adventures last week.  The girls were excited to help with the dishes and the laundry as you can see from the pics below and we were just excited to get them back on their sleep and eating schedules.  Esme is slowly taking to solid foods again but she's also been waking at 3am to nurse for the past few nights.  Ugh!  We made gingerbread houses yesterday and Makena had a blast.  I think more candy went in her mouth than on her house :)  None of us made it up to midnight on New Year's Eve cause we all knew we'd have to be up early the next day with the girls anyways.  Instead we rewarded ourselves with a yummy dinner after the kids went to bed.  Happy 2012 to all our family and friends!