I know that I constantly talk about the passage of time, but seriously? 5 years? How is it possible that Lexi is alreay FIVE? She even looks like a five year old and she definitely talks like a five year old. She seems to have shot up a bit in recent weeks. She measures in at 108cm (42.5") and 18kg (~40pounds). She has developed a bit of sass since we got home from the States. I don't know where this back-talk is coming from, but it's not nice. I hope it goes over quickly. We celebrated her birthday with Tim's family on Sunday and a kids birthday party on Monday. She invited her friends from barnehage (mostly). So, we had twelve 4-5 year olds running around here last night from 5-7pm at her princess themed Rapunzel party.Here is our princess modelling her new Sleeping Beauty costume. Thank you, thank you...Grammy and Pops!
Here is Lajla with her grandkids - this is the first ever pic of her with all four! (Or should I say 5 since Harley was in the pic???)
Handsome Samuel turned 7 months old on Sunday.
Princess Lexi (she chose which dress and tiara she wanted to wear) with the gifts from the family.
Samuel is keeping Linn busy as he likes to stand and try and use his legs. (Bring back any memories, Jen?)
Opening her gifts...
A new silver broach for her bunad dress.
Lexi got a "mini-cake" on Sunday as the masterpiece was coming on Monday :)
The girls received matching Princess dresses from Linn, Luna, Samuel and Abel. We just didn't manage a good pic of the two of them together.
Lillian was beside herself
THE Princess Barbie Cake (yes, I probably should have inverted the colors in view of the Rapunzel theme, but I just didn't think about that in advance...)
All ready and waiting for the party to begin
As many of you know - they celebrate birthdays at barnehage with a crown. Lexi chose pink this year (last year was purple) and was super proud to wear it with the number 5 on it!
Lexi loved the cake
Why oh why do they rotate? Anyway, here is our best family pic - pre-party. (Yes Kristy, I bought Lillian the same outfit as Kate at Carter's :) )
Lajla and Lillian are watching the Pass the Parcel game
Eating cake, ice cream and muffins
After they got their goodie bags, some of the girls enjoyed their suckers while playing in Lexi's room.
Sniff, sniff...my time at home is drawing to a close. Where did the past 14 months go? Where did my baby girl go? Lillian turned 14 months old on January 10th and is becoming more and more proficient at walking. By that, I mean she walks sturdier, walks faster and can navigate over some 'obstacles' without having to hold onto something. She is definitely all Tim - she is fearless. She thinks that she can walk down stairs. She gets the concept, but she definitely needs the helping hands. The problem is that she won't wait. She walks to the first step and sticks her foot out to take the first step down. I don't know how many times my heart has been in my chest as I am literally a second behind her. Needless to say, we make good use of our baby gates on the stairs! She gets many more bumps and bruises than Lexi ever did. That is another sure sign of Tim's genes. She loves the outdoors - all except for being bundled up like an eskimo in her winter snowsuit. She is our noise maker. She squeals a lot. She talks (gibberish) all the time. She is really good at communicating via pointing. She knows that she wants and how to get it. I am constantly amazed at how much she understands. She can follow so many commands and requests. "Where is Baby Jilly? Can you find her and put her in the stroller? Have you given her milk? Can you help me with tidy-up time - can you get your balls and put them back in the bag?" This is also where both girls inherited genes from me - they both possess some of my "everything has to be in its place" compulsion. Despite that the fact that Lillian has grown very little (slightly higher and no weight gain) in the past three months, she is still our eater. She loves food and mooches off everyone else. Yes, we talked to the doctor about her lack of weight gain, but she is so active, so healthy and eats too well that we decided to just continue to monitor her growth. That said, she isn't that different in height and weight than Lexi was at this age.Here she is last Monday. We bundled up in our rain gear to go pick up big sister from barnehage. It didn't take her long to find a stick to hold and to poke into the puddles.
Here she is on one of her first days of barnehage. She started her transition last Tuesday. It is a three day process that exposes her to the different aspects of the barnehage day and allows her to get used to Mamma leaving. No tears the first couple of days, but she was definitely sad to see me leave on Day 3 and Day 4. However, they said she quickly recovered and joined in the fun. She eats well and naps well at barnehage. She is definitely ready for me when I pick her up. I don't think I can get her shoes and coat on fast enough. So, we started week 2 this week. She walked in Monday morning without a backwards glance at me - literally. Today was a bit more tearfull. This is the one downside of being home so long with a baby as the attachments are much stronger. She just has to get used to the routine as I start back to work this next Monday, Jan 30th.
She had some sort of an accident with a slide on Day 2 :) - See the nose. Oh yes, and we had a bit of snow last Thursday that has turned into an icy mess on the roads and sidewalks.
Lexi posing with the snowman that they built at barnehage.
Lillian still LOVES her morning cheerios and insists on feeding them to herself. Our spoon practice is going slow, but going well.
Here is Lajla with her grandkids - this is the first ever pic of her with all four! (Or should I say 5 since Harley was in the pic???)
Handsome Samuel turned 7 months old on Sunday.
Princess Lexi (she chose which dress and tiara she wanted to wear) with the gifts from the family.
Samuel is keeping Linn busy as he likes to stand and try and use his legs. (Bring back any memories, Jen?)
Opening her gifts...
A new silver broach for her bunad dress.
Lexi got a "mini-cake" on Sunday as the masterpiece was coming on Monday :)
The girls received matching Princess dresses from Linn, Luna, Samuel and Abel. We just didn't manage a good pic of the two of them together.
Lillian was beside herself
THE Princess Barbie Cake (yes, I probably should have inverted the colors in view of the Rapunzel theme, but I just didn't think about that in advance...)
All ready and waiting for the party to begin
As many of you know - they celebrate birthdays at barnehage with a crown. Lexi chose pink this year (last year was purple) and was super proud to wear it with the number 5 on it!
Lexi loved the cake
Why oh why do they rotate? Anyway, here is our best family pic - pre-party. (Yes Kristy, I bought Lillian the same outfit as Kate at Carter's :) )
Lajla and Lillian are watching the Pass the Parcel game
Eating cake, ice cream and muffins
After they got their goodie bags, some of the girls enjoyed their suckers while playing in Lexi's room.
We hardly made a dent in the cake.
The lovely gifts. (American girl baby was from last year, but Lexi had her out playing with her; so, she was on display too :) )
Thank you to everyone for the lovely and thoughtful gifts and cards. We have one very happy and proud five year old!
