Ella Pulls to Standing

She's working hard these days- busy crawling around the apartment and exploring her home. On Sunday, she pulled herself to standing for the first time and today I captured her on video. She smiles a bit in this video, too, giving you a good glimpse of the cute dimple in her left cheek.

Easter Festivities

To celebrate Easter this year, we attended a community Egg Hunt on 135th & St. Nicholas- in the shadow of City College (where Matt got his Masters). It was a beautiful day- warmer weather and lots of sunshine. They had a clown who painted faces, a cupcake & cookie decorating station, the egg hunt itself, and an easter bonnet making table. Lexi had a great time. It was a nicely organized community activity.












Later that afternoon, Grandma Susan came over and brought all the things you need to dye easter eggs. She and Lexi had a good time "killing" the easter eggs (in Lexi's words). Lex even thought it would be a good idea to dip her hand in the mug, resulting in a neon pink skin color. We scrubbed it off as best we could, but there were still faint remains of it on Sunday. Good thing it matched her dress.



Speaking of which, I have no photos of the girls from Easter Day. Or any of us, for that matter. But for the first time, Alexis willingly went up and sang with the rest of the primary- and did a great job! Grandma Susan cooked dinner for us and we had about 10 egg hunts in our little apartment as Lexi wanted to hide and seek over and over and over again.

All week we had been practicing this hymn as I suspected we would be singing it in sacrament meeting. Lexi loves to sing, but she really doesn't know any of the hymns, so in an effort to help her participate more in sacrament song singing, we've started learning a hymn each week. Imagine my dismay when they announced that we would indeed be singing that hymn, but in SPANISH! Oh well. Lex still sang the Alleluias.

Daddy's Day Off

One thing we love about Daddy's job is all the holidays he gets off. He can't choose when to take vacations in his line of work- since we get 2 months in the summer, and then several weeks throughout the school year (Christmas, Winter Break, Spring Break, not to mention all the Jewish holidays etc etc). Good Friday is one of his days off. So we headed over to the Bronx Zoo. We are "members" and can get in anytime we want and have access to all the special exhibits there, like the Gorilla Forest, the Children's Zoo, the Butterfly Garden and we can also ride on the Bengali Express, the tram, the sky ride and the Bug Carousel at no extra charge. So imagine how bummed we were that half of these attractions were opening THE NEXT DAY. Seems they had been closed for the winter season. Bummer. We did get to see a tiger feeding, though. Lexi was pretty scared at first. I don't know if she thought the tiger was going to come out and stroll among the zoo guests, but once she realized the tiger would remain in her cage, she was enthralled. The tiger shares her name: Alexis.

Let me just say here, too, how Alexis does not stop. She's like the energizer bunny. She keeps going and going and going. We took the train to the zoo, which I have never done before. We accidentally got off 2 stops later than we needed to and as a result ended up walking at least a half mile just to get to the entrance. Then we walked through the whole zoo a couple of times backtracking and using the same paths as we discovered exhibits were closed, and being diverted around construction. Then we spent time in the Children's Zoo where she energetically participated in every exhibit she could- her favorite being able to run up to the top of a tree house to then slide down a slide (inside the tree) over and over and over. And over. And over again. Then back across the whole zoo. Skipping and jumping. And running. The Whole. Way. Phew! We were exhausted just watching her.

It was a bit cold and windy, but we had a fun day.

Arctic Birds


Butterfly in the Butterfly Garden (a greenhouse where you are surrounded by real, live butterflies)


On the Bug Carousel:


My two little birdies:


Spread your wings and fly!


Sliding inside the tree:


A Prairie Dog watching me quite closely:


Snacks for Alexis the Tiger:


Have you ever heard a swan trumpet?:

St. Patrick's Day

We had to do something for St. Patrick's Day... seeing as we have Irish blood in our veins and all. We didn't make it down to the big parade on 5th Avenue. I went a few years ago, and remembering how crazy it was, I didn't dare venture there on my own with 2 children, even to see our friend Marcus play the tuba as he marched by. Plus, Lexi had to be back uptown for preschool at 1 o'clock. And no. She cannot miss a day. Because I said so.

So, we settled for making little "shamrock sticks" (don't ask me what these were for- no real purpose at all). We also made a pot of gold and a little shamrock garland. For dinner we had Irish stew with a side of Irish Soda Bread- first time that I have made either one of these recipes and they were very delicious. We also dyed our milk green. Just for kicks and giggles.

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Ella is 9 months

Frances

Our next door neighbor recently passed away. We were pretty friendly with her. Matt changed light bulbs for her on a regular basis. We had her over for dinner on Christmas Eve. She loved our girls. She had been living in this building (in the same apartment) since the early 1960s. She once told us that she paid a whopping $263 in rent a month! For her rather large 3 bedroom abode. She was a hoot and always made us laugh (in a good way!) She was a great neighbor, too, as she never played her music too loudly or complained that our kids were too rowdy.

In cleaning out her apartment, her family gave this doll to Alexis. We talked about naming her Frances (after our neighbor) but I think Lexi has come up with some other name since then. Alexis loves this doll so much. When she first got it, she just stared and stared at it and commented on all its features: "I love her eyes. They're green! I love her hair! It's like Rapunzel's! Her dress is so soft!"

I attended her funeral in the heart of Harlem. Did you know they're not called FUNERALS anymore, but HOMEGOINGS? Lots of Hallelujah!s, Amen!s, and Praise God!s. It would have been interesting to have known Frances in her younger days. Seems she was quite an energetic lady who worked hard, loved a good time and was a generous soul. May she rest in peace.

They Might Be Giants

The Might Be Giants

On Saturday we went to see They Might Be Giants at Borders in the Time Warner Center. They were promoting their new kids CD, Here Come the 123s. We have their first CD, Here Come the ABCs, and Lexi loves it to death. So we headed downtown and joined lots and lots of other fans for this free mini-concert. In attendance were even TMBG fans that didn't have children. They sang songs from the ABCs album, as well as some from their new album, and a few "old favorites" like Dr. Worm and Particle Man. During one song, they told everyone to "jump in the air" and as the entire group starting hopping, you could feel the floor move and sway. Kind of scary! I kept thinking we were going to wind up in the stockroom of the Williams-Sonoma beneath us!

I actually really like this kids music. It's something that I can handle Lexi playing over and over, because at least it's by a group that doesn't sound like they are primarily targeting children. They are fun children's songs with a bit of an adult music sound. You know, if you like They Might Be Giants. Their music can be a bit of an *acquired taste*.

They have a FREE fun podcast every Friday night which you can get through the iTunes store.

Butterfly Exhibit

We got some tickets to see the "special" exhibits at the Museum of Natural History. For those of you who don't live in NYC, here's a tip. You technically do not need to pay full price to enter the AMNH. Admission is "by donation" so you can actually "donate" a dollar a peruse the galleries to your heart's content (whether that be an hour or four). However, in order to see any of the IMAX movies, the butterfly exhibit etc, you do have to pay full "price". One of the girls in the singles ward here gave Matt some tickets, so we took the girls and Grandma Susan and enjoyed hanging out with the butterflies for a little while.
We also saw a dinosaur IMAX movie which has turned Lexi on to the idea of being a paleontologist. When I asked her what a paleontologist does, she said, "They dig up dinosaur bones and put them together in a museum!"

Ella had a fun time feeling the huge ball of ice in the Water exhibit.

Creepin' and Crawlin'

When Daddy left for work this morning, Ella was still trying to figure out hand-knee coordination. Over the course of the morning, she has figured it out and is well on her way to speeding around the apartment. Watch out, Lexi! Here comes the little destroyer!

The Cookies

 

Remember when I said I was going to make these? I finally got around to it. Overall, I guess they were good. They were a little more labor intensive than I like in a cookie. I'm a mix-the-dough-together-plop-it-on-the-cookie-sheet kinda girl. Not a huge fan of rolling out dough. Or multi-step cookies. (But I do feel differently about insanely time consuming desserts like Lemon Cheesecake.) However, I thought I'd take one for the team and bake these up. I did things a little differently than the recipe said (like, I didn't roll out the dough. Surprise! Instead, I just rolled the dough into little balls, placed them on the sheet and pressed them down into a round shape.) I also didn't end up "dipping" the cookies in the chocolate- seemed to be easier to me to actually spread the chocolate on the back side. Also, I stuck the finished products in the fridge to harden up the chocolate- it was way too melty melty for eating. In the end, they were kind of messy to eat anyway, and the caramel/coconut topping didn't really adhere to the cookie part (maybe I needed more caramel to the coconut?) But the grand consensus was that they were de-lish. I actually don't know that I'll make them again- kind of worth it to me now to spend the $3.50 on a box (or two or three) once a year. It cost me at least that much in ingredients plus my time and effort. Okay, so they weren't as great as I expected or hoped. But everyone here actually liked them. Go ahead. Try 'em. I'd like to hear what you think.

D is for Doughnut

 

During D week, we attempted homemade doughnuts. They didn't taste quite like the ones you would get at a donut shop, but as Matt pointed out, they're not supposed to taste like a donut shop. We used a whole lot of crisco to fry them (very healthy) and they ended up being a tad bit doughy in the middle, but it wasn't unbearable. And they were ever so delicious. We got the recipe from a massive book I have by the same people that put out Cooks Illustrated and America's Test Kitchen shows.

8 Months Old

 

Here are Lexi & Ella on Ella's 8 month "birthday".

And some footage of Ella clapping.

Christmas- by Ralph Lauren

 

 

Just a shot of the beautiful dresses Grandma Susan bought for the girls this year.

Inferno

Happy Birthday, Matt. We love you to pieces. If I were more eloquent, I'd leave some great tribute to the man I love. But I am a woman of few words. Happy Birthday, Matt. We love you to pieces.

(P.S. We celebrated with the rest of Matt's bishopric & wives over a fabulous dinner followed by a lemon cheesecake, which I only make once a year cuz it pretty much takes all day. But, man, is it worth it.)

Girl Scout Cookies

Oh. My. Gosh. My family knows how much I adore those Girl Scouts Samoa cookies. I crave them year round. I wish I had a big freezer so I could buy a case every year and freeze them to eat whenever I want. Except that I would probably eat them all in one sitting. Making the freezer unnecessary. Good thing they're $3.50 a box which limits my consumption. But NOW I'm in trouble. You seen, I recently came across this recipe. And I am Ecstatic (with a capital E). It's "C" week around here. So you better believe we're gonna make these Cookies! (nevermind that we already made Chocolate Chip Cookies). Oh, yes. It also depends on whether or not I can get caramel at my friendly neighborhood grocery store (aka. C-Town Town).

What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie? Here are some recipes for Do-Si-Dos and Tagalongs

We Thank Thee, O God, For This Prophet

Gordon B. Hinckley has passed away. This was a prophet that affected our lives in many ways. Even before he was officially called as the Prophet & President of the Church, he was a voice to be heard. He was the prophet that called both me & Matt on missions. I briefly met him in person a couple of times. He made my dream of visiting every temple in the United States impossible (which is a GOOD thing- as now there are so many...) And he aided in the effort to bring the church out of obscurity, appearing on 60 Minutes and Larry King Live. And although we will miss him, the spirit he brings, his sense of humor, his kindness and love, we know he is in good hands now.

You can read more here.

2 Front Teeth

Ella cut these 2 teeth over a month ago (right after Thanksgiving), but I have been unable to get a good shot of them up until now. This photo was taken in the park on Jan 8- a day of unseasonably warm weather, hence the reason she's only wearing a sweatshirt in January, in New York. She LOVES the swing!

B is for Bangs

 

 

I've taken a page from Alicia's book and started focusing on a letter of the alphabet each week with Lexi. Last week was A and we did things like make applesauce cookies, read Alphabet books etc. (Truth be told, I had a hard time coming up with A-activities). This week we'll do B- things. So we started today by cutting bangs! I think they look cute. What do you think? I also think they make her look a little younger, which I am actually happy about because much of the time people tend to think Lexi is older than she is (she is really tall and extremely verbal) and therefore expect her to ACT older than a four year old.

She also wore Braids with Bows today. Other activities I have planned: baking bread, blowing bubbles, building with blocks, making our bodies out of butcher paper, bird watching (there are still some around here).... Do you have any good B ideas?

Apron

 

 

I made this crayon apron the other night for Lexi to give as a gift at a birthday party. I saw something similar on the Toys R Us website and thought, "I can make that!" This was one of those projects that you think will take you 30 minutes. 3 hours later I was ready to pull my hair out! Not so much because of the project, but my machine was being so tempermental. I had to take apart the machine and clean out the lint. Then I had to pull the bobbin out a zillion times, re-thread a hundred times more, fix the needle, fiddle with the foot- just problem after problem after problem after... you get the idea. However, I was pleased with the results and so was Lex. We bought a coloring book to go with the apron. Alexis went to The City Quilter with me and chose the fabric. I used 3 fat quarters (1 whole one and parts of 2 others). I was going to do a fancy topstitch, but after having to pull out several seams and all the other issues I had, I ended up just doing a straight stitch. Anyway, it was a fun project- and certainly built my character... right?

Bouncy Girl

Ella is 7.5 months old now. She still has not really rolled over, but I definitely don't think it's because she can't. It's more because she just doesn't really care to. She is a very content little girl and will be happy to sit and play with whatever toy you give her. Now that she can sit up so well, she is also unhappy when lying down (whether it's tummy time or on her back). She just prefers to sit. She can also basically lean ALL THE WAY over (folding herself in half) and reach for something and then sit herself back up again. It is in this sort of position that she has begun to move around. By bouncing. She will put her hands in front of her and bounce her little bottom and move around that way- backwards. She is really getting off the ground now, and I'm afraid she might end in a face plant one day soon.