Thanksgiving 2013

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We had a wonderful Thanksgiving at Melissa, Jordan and Kian's this year. Like last year, Gabe left early to start cooking the turkey.


Penny and I watched some of the parade on TV. Here she is dancing along with the Sesame Street float, featuring Jimmy Fallon and the Roots :)


Then we met Daddy in the afternoon and the kids enjoyed some bubbles outside while he continued to cook.

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Once dinner was ready we sat down for a delicious meal.


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It was so fun to see Penny try some Thanksgiving deliciousness. We had hoped she would dive into everything, but the sweet potato casserole was the clear favorite.

It was a lovely holiday and we are very thankful for our food, friends and family.

Friday Hi

I must confess I almost forgot it was Friday today. And I must confess these photos were taken yesterday, but I couldn't resist because they are so great. So great in fact - there are 2.


Someone was a excited for Thanksgiving.

On the Third Night of Hanukkah…

My parents gave to me…



A book called Alphablock, about "A" through "Z".

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On the Second Night of Hanukkah…

My parents gave to me…







A sweater and a wind-up bunny (it was in the hood!)





We also had turkey because it was Thanksgivikkah. Won't happen for another 70,000 years so I figure it was worth mentioning, plus it rhymes ('parents gave to me'… 'turkey'. You see what I did there).

Happy 2nd Night of Hanukkah & Happy Thanksgiving!

New Thanksgiving Day Tradition

We wanted to start showing Penny what the true spirit of Thanksgiving is by sharing our good fortune with others. So we decided that each year, on Thanksgiving, we will sponsor a child through Save the Children.

We wanted Penny to help pick our child so I printed out 10 photos of boys in the U.S. (we decided to go domestic this year, and thought a boy would be nice) and had her pick out which one she liked the best.



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It turned out to not be very conclusive so Gabe and I picked Jakevious, an 8 year old boy, because, well, his name is just awesome!

We hope this continued tradition will help Penny (as well as Gabe and I) remember to be grateful for all we have and to share with someone who might not be as fortunate as we.

On the First Night of Hanukkah…

My parents gave to me…



A Weebles Turn n' Tumble Home. It says "weee!".


We chose Weebles because I used to play with them when I was little. And this one plays music, which we know Miss Penny loves. She was a little skittish with opening the gift, so Mommy helped. I'm sure by night 8 she'll be tearing into that paper.





Happy First Night of Hanukkah!

Moments Like This...

Recently Penny will sit on my lap while she has her nighttime bottle. We watch Sprout on TV and will hold my finger or absentmindedly rubs her fingers over my nails. It's very sweet and I want to remember that feeling. And I am reminded that I could get a manicure :).

Double Drinker

I guess 2 are better than one.

Mommy's Little Helper

She's very good :)…


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And very excited:

Food Trucks & Frozen Yogurt

Makes for a yummy Sunday.

Sunday Morning Baba

While watching Sprout.

At the Playground

From our visit to the playground last Monday. It was the first time Penny went into the sandbox. She liked it, but we had to move on to something else when she started throwing the sand. That's ok, the wood climbing 'ship' is fun too.

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Friday Hi

Penny with her bear we have fondly named Heart Butt (because he has a heart sewn on his butt). I bought him off of Etsy where half the proceeds went to Typhoon Hiayan (Yolanda) Relief for the Philippines. We are very lucky that our loved ones are safe. We count our blessing... and give kisses.


Sorry, Miss Penelope is still waking up.

Penny at the Door

"Dada?" "Dada?" So cute at his bathroom door.

And multitasking by eating a cracker.

What's the Kitty Say?

Patti Visits

We had a special visit from our doula Patti on Monday evening. She had a birth at CPMC across the street and stopped by afterwards to say hello and see Penny. We think it's about a year since  we last saw her, so needless to say she was blown away at how amazing Miss P is. We had fun catching up while Penny had dinner. I think Penny knew that Patti holds a special place for us. She took to her right away and even gave her hugs before she left. Thanks for the visit Patti, so good to see you!

Pigtails

Had to share the cuteness that is Penny in pigtails.

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And the outfit is pretty sweet too.

Just Because... it's Boo

I found this so sweet. She left Boo sitting at the stairs. Facing out, placed so nicely. Adorable.

All Better Baby

Today is Penny's last day of antibiotics for her ear infection.


She has been great with taking the medicine. We've been giving it to her in the syringe-like dosing thingy that came with her baby Tylenol so it's easier and less messy. Plus I think the bubble gum flavor didn't hurt.



After 10 days, 2 times a day, tonight is our last one. YAY!

Yum Yogurt

Wednesday night Penny had yogurt for desert. She really got into it.


She seemed to be enjoying herself too much for me to stop her (I'm usually not a fan of a mess). You'll notice I did stop the camera when she turned the container upside down.

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Friday Hi

Just hanging with my Dada, having a baba and playing with his keys.

16 Months Old

Penelope Sue is 16 months old today!

• Penny repeats "mmmmmm" among other things - she is a parrot. She will also giggle with you, if you pretend to laugh she mimics. We do this a lot on our rides to and from daycare/work.

• She says "hi", "bye", "hiya". "Hi Dada".

• She points to certain things in her book when asked -- where are the shoes? Keys? Pants?

• Penny knows and says "puppy".

• Some of her other random 'words':

- Da ba dee

- Ay yiy ya

- Daba Daba dibby doo

- Nyummy nyummy

- Bobby

- Mi ma, mi ma

I'm sure they all mean something but we aren't sure what yet :).

• She stands at the closed-door of Gabe's bathroom and yells "Dada". Very cute.

• When we snort (what the piggy says) she breathes in and out if her nose very quickly.

• She got her first "little kid" bruise on her knee (not sure from what).

• Penny's canines, both top and bottom are in. Just have the back molars and then she has all her baby teeth. I'll start saving for the tooth fairy now.

• Wipes her hair out of her face as If exasperated - barrettes and hair bands are pretty much a must these days.

• She will hand me a book and then scoots in between my legs while sitting to read. She wants to read the same book over and over and over, back to back to back.

• Some of her favorites right now are Penelope the Princess, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and the nursery rhyme book. She also likes her Pantone Colors book, New York Baby and I Love You Through and Through.

• She claps during "when your happy and you know it" in the nursery rhyme book.

• Penny started turning herself around in circles while dancing, and then she gets dizzy and wobbly.

• She has started being what I call "a faker and bellyacher". When she doesn't get what she wants (like the iPhone, for instance) she whines and pretends to cry a bit, sits down and puts head down to the ground, like she's starting a tantrum. Silly girl.

• Gabe has taught her to blow her nose.

• Penelope has started running. I predict having to chase this kiddo a number of times in the near future :).

Miss Penny, we love you. Happy 16 Months to our beauty baby girl.

Sickie Update 2

Last night Penny's temperature, according to our thermometer, was 103. We decided to call the After Hours advice line again and made an appointment for this morning to bring Penny in, just in case it was anything more serious.

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Her temp at the office was 99.8, where we were getting 101 at home, so we suspect ours might be a little off. But we are glad the high read last night prompted the visit... turns out she has an ear infection, poor girl.



So she's now on antibiotics for 10 days and we've switched to Motrin, which helps with inflammation and the fever.



She seems in good spirits today and her fever has leveled off at just over 99 for now so we hope by Tuesday she'll be good to go back to daycare. Until then, we are lying low at home, of course with a lot of hugs and snuggles.

Sickie Update

Last night we spoke with the pediatric advice line and they suspect Penny has a virus that is going around. She said to keep doing what we were doing, and have lots of cold liquids - maybe some sorbet or ice pops. So Gabe sat with Penny and a cool cloth on her head while I ran to get some cold goodies.


She had strawberry sorbet for dessert (after eating a full meal, a good sign) and thought it was yummy.


Before bed her temp was down to normal. She slept well, although did wake up a bit earlier than usual. She was coughing a lot this morning. We took her temp and it was back up to over 100 again :(. So more Tylenol. But she cooled off again and ate a good breakfast.


We'll most likely have this up and down for the weekend, as the advice line suspected and hope by Monday her temperature will remain normal.