Beebop-a-Lula

I could just squeeze her to death!

It’s a rare treat around here for the girls to actually have lollipops. Not for any other reason except that I never think to buy any. But last week we had a couple kicking around and I wanted to see how Rosie would do with one. Lulu typically never finishes her lollipop and I find it stuck to a pillow but she didn’t waste hers this time around.

Rosie did about as I expected. She was a sticky mess with fuzz and cat fur all over her hands, the stick, some of the candy and her face. But she was having a blast. I didn’t care as long as she didn’t jam the thing down her throat or in her eye. She didn’t do either but she was such a mess that I had to sneak it away from her after a certain point because the stick was all bent and destroyed. This kid’s not known for her gentle touch.

The Sickness appears to be tapering off finally. Lulu was really bamboozled by it this time. She has been recuperating all week long, very tired. Yesterday she asked for her pajamas at 3:30 in the afternoon. And then there’s all the snot. She’s been blowing huge amounts of it out of her face. If there was a good use for baby snot, I could supply it in droves…

not happy.

Rosie’s nose is just as snotty, but she’s taking everything in stride. I noticed that she’s got two more teeth coming in (her fangs!) so that could be the culprit. She’s been sleeping her little head off all week long. Except last night. Last night was a battle. Could be her teeth bothering her. I noticed she was digging at her ear (hope it’s not an ear infection). Around one in the morning when the Tylenol finally kicked in, I was falling asleep and she was having a grand time chatting with herself.

In between all the snot and sickness, we’ve been doing our usual things. Lots of coloring, playing with stickers, dolls, building castles and dressing up. I got Lulu some new butterfly wings, a purple tutu, crown and wand. She loves them! She walks around saying she’s a “pretty fairy” and has a “magic star”. She is turning into such a little girl.

I attempted to sit with Rosie so she could color with crayons, too. She scribbled a few times, tried to eat one and then just started to throw them around. I have a feeling she’s not going to be the type to sit quietly and learn things like her sister. She’s an action packed kind of girl, happiest when being hung upside down by her ankles.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve been taking the girls to music classes since the beginning of the year. I signed us up after Christmas because I figured they like music and it would get us out of the house at least one day a week in the middle of the winter.

Well, the first couple of weeks were a complete nightmare. Luckily the toy store the classes are held at are literally steps from our front door so schlepping them both there wasn’t too difficult. But Lulu was less than thrilled with being there. The first couple of weeks she just clung to me with a big sourpuss on her face and would use any excuse to go home (hungry, tired, poopie-pants…). And she would try to escape the class any chance that she got.

But last week (5th week in) there was a definitely change in her attitude. Every now and then she’d have a scowl on her face, but this time she was actually smiling, talking in class and dancing around without clinging to my leg. And yesterday in class she was singing along with the songs. Rose always had a great time in class. She’s not afraid to venture around the room, go up close to the teacher, grab instruments, bounce with the music and clap in the appropriate places.

I think it was a good experiment signing them up for the class, but I honestly don’t think I’d do it again. It’s pretty expensive and for what we actually do, not worth it. It’s getting us through this horrendous winter, but next year Lulu will be in preschool and the days that she isn’t, both girls will be older and we can actually find things to do outside of the house.

I’m beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel now that February is almost over. Until spring gets here, Lulu will continue to care for her quadruplets, hug the kitty, scream in his face and then yell “come back here, kitty!” when he runs away. I will continue to try to get Rosie walking (she still refuses sometimes, but is getting more receptive to the idea) and try to keep her hands out of the cat’s water dish…C’mon Spring!

As one can plainly see in this video, it’s obvious who the more aggressive sibling is. While it’s all cute and good-natured right now, this is good foreshadowing of the future in our household. This does not bode well for Lucille. I don’t want to say that she’s a push over, but she lets a lot of stuff roll off her back. Rosie will surely use this to her advantage at some point.

But it’s still cute to see them rolling around on the floor. Perhaps there is some MMA or wrestling in her future?

(Video may take a moment to load because I am too lazy to compress it further. If you cannot view it you will need the QuickTime video player)

I don’t even know where to start when it comes to all the changes that Rosie has been going through lately. She is starting to look different, slimming out and getting taller. Her face has changed with the addition of all the teeth in her mouth. Her hair is getting a little longer. And she has those big, beautiful brown eyes and long lashes. She gets prettier by the day.

She isn’t quite walking yet but we’ve been trying to encourage some walking drills with her daily. She’s just so damned fast crawling that she prefers that mode of travel. Occasionally we’ll catch her standing up without holding on to anything and even take a step on her own.

Her personality is starting to come out. She’s kind of a silly, little goof ball, but she has a fiery temper (wonder where she gets that from…?). She is a far more adventurous eater than her sister is. Funny enough, Rose typically doesn’t like any of the food that her sister is willing to eat, but she will test and eat any food that we are eating. During the football game the other night she shared in some chicken wings and drummies with us!

What I find really hilarious about Rose is that she really likes to mimic people. She always has. When we’d make a noise she would make the same noise back. Lately we go through vicious circles of saying “Hi!” The longer the cycle, the funnier she thinks it is.

uh-oh!

nose!

Other words she’s saying lately: no, no, no…, hi, mumma, da-da, nose, eyes, uh-oh.

And lastly, big game lately is peek-a-boo. She plays it All. The. Time. In her crib she’ll put her blanket over her head and plays peek-a-boo.

where's Rosie?

there she is!

She’ll randomly put her hands over her eyes and plays peek-a-boo. Sometimes she even pulls her shirt over her head and plays peek-a-boo. And she’s so very proud of herself every time. Nothing makes her happier than playing peek-a-boo!

Rosebud in the tub!

weight: 24 lbs.
height: 32″

Rose had her one year checkup last Monday. Since her last appointment she has grown 1.25″ and gained 1.25 lbs! That puts her in the 95th percentile for height and 85th percentile for weight. Compared to Lulu at this age, Rose is 1.25″ taller and 5.25 lbs heavier.

1 yr. old!

As soon as she had her birthday we ditched the bottles and formula. After the fiasco of trying to switch Lulu over to whole milk (she had to drink soy milk for a while and then we built up a tolerance to regular milk), I started mixing whole milk in with her formula a month before her birthday. By the time she was 12 months she was pretty much entirely drinking real milk and at the same time I started cutting out the bottles. When I cut out the last bottle of the day she seemed to miss that a bit.

smiley

And for the past 2 months or so she has been getting her molars in, meaning lots of middle of the night visits. She almost always goes back to bed 5-10 minutes after I get her, but still, I’ll look forward to sleeping full nights again. At least Lulu sleeps right through it.

hi mumma

Rosie eats pretty much anything that I put in front of her. It’s a nice change to have a kid that actually eats without a battle. She is still cruising and standing up while holding on to things but she hasn’t tried to do much walking on her own. She gets a bit lazy when I hold her hands and get her to walk around. She’ll take a few steps and then plop down so she can crawl to her destination.

birthday girl

And she is saying a few words, “mama”, “dada”, “hi” (with accompanying wave) and she says something that sounds like “hi kitty.” She and Lulu are occasionally playing together, but it’s more like Rosie grabs something that her sister wants (a lot of times just to be playful) and then a lot of whining occurs. She does think that Lulu is a riot sometimes and Lulu is a really nice older sister (for now).

This past year flew by in a wink. I love to watch Rose grow and learn and become a little more independent, but I sometimes miss that sweet lil lump that she used to be!

lil cutie

Happy Birthday Rosie!

Sorry about the lack of updates, but this lil sweetie pie has been keeping me up at night for the past month while her molars came in.

We had her birthday party on Sunday. Thank you to our wonderful family and friends for being so incredibly caring and giving. Both my girls are lucky to be so loved.