The village people

Yes it was a 70's group but this past weekend it was also Lia's part in her second play. She was in a production of Robin Hood playing a villager and I have to say she was just ADORABLE! She didn't have any major speaking lines this time, but she sang her little heart out whenever she was on stage. Seriously, several other moms came up to me and commented on what a hearty singer she was and how great she sounded out there. And she got to wear her very favorite color, red, for her costume. In fact the director told Lia that she was wearing her very favorite costume of the whole play. It was another terrific play and we felt very proud to be in the audience watching our sweet pea put on such a great performance! I wish all of you could have seen her too : )

Does Stevie Wonder do this?

Ok so I think by now most of you have read about some of the funny things Lia does when she goes to bed. Really I never know quite what to expect when I go in to make sure she's covered up before I go to bed. Anyway, last night I went in and this is what I found. A little backstory here is necessary. Dan and I got out the stroller we always used when Lia was younger to get it all prepped for regular Chloe use. In the process of doing that, we found a pair of sunglassses that we had purchased for Lia when we went to Disney World in May 2007. Well these sunglasses have been in the pocket of the stroller for the past two years and we'd forgotten all about them. So when I found them I gave them back to Lia and she was thrilled because it was like getting a new present all over again. So I don't know why it should have surprised me to go into her room to find her fast asleep in her bed with her sunglasses on. That's just like her to do something like that. Whenever she gets something new or finds something new that she loves, she always wants to take it to bed with her and she plays with it till she falls asleep. Anyway, these pictures were too great to pass up! And yes, she was sound asleep and never even blinked an eye while her momma was snapping pictures of her. She's the exact opposite of little Miss Chloe who is such a light sleeper that I don't dare try to sneak in there and take pictures of her. And I'm sad about that because I love pictures of sleeping babies!!

Belated Chinese New Year

Every year for Chinese New Year we go out to celebrate with our good friends Doug, Sheryl, Hannah and Ava. This year we were a bit behind on our celebration because we had a lot going on. But this Sat. we finally found time to go out for our annual Chinese dinner (this is our fifth one) to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This year was particularly special because Chloe was finally part of the celebration after just being someone who we were waiting for those long three years. So enjoy the pictures of our four beautiful little girls!

Skate till you drop

Well we had so much fun roller skating last weekend that we decided to go again yesterday. A couple of our friends went as well so Lia had a great time! Chloe went along too and rode in the stroller out on the rink with me pushing her. She really seemed to have a great time as well becasue she loves to listen to music and there was lots to watch ! And Lia was the limbo queen - she was the second to last person of about fifty in the limbo contest (on skates). Considering this is only her second time skating she is doing a GREAT job. I'm so proud of her!

My sweet valentines

Well we had a great Valentine's weekend around our house. Saturday afternoon Lia and I went roller skating to celebrate the completion of another Explode the Code workbook for school. We try to do something fun every time we finish a big workbook like that. Lia is starting her fourth Explode the Code workbook this year already! So anyway, the roller skating was very fun and Lia is really getting the hang of her roller blades quite well.

Saturday night Grandma and Grandpa H stayed with the girls and Dan and I went to see a double feature movie. We saw the new James Bond movie which was great if you like Bond. So that was a fun change for us to be able to get out like that for two movies and dinner. And the girls had a blast with G&G and did lots of fun things like coloring, Playdough, reading books, watching a movie, etc. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fun night for all!

And lastly, I just had to include some cute pictures of my girls. I just thought you'd enjoy seeing the latest Chloe walking and climbing escapades. You can almost read the captions in her mind as she was wondering what happened to the thing she usually stands on to look up on the table. And since it wasn't there, she decided to try to climb up without it. Yep, that's our girl!

The picture of Lia feeding Chloe I took tonight when Lia very kindly shared and fed Chloe her strawberry applesauce without even being asked. Lia really is an AWESOME big sister!!! I really couldn't ask for her to be any better. She is just so sweet with Chloe and so generous!

Also the very first picture on here is actually a picture of Lia at the same age wearing the same pj's that Chloe is wearing now. Chloe is finally able to fit in Lia's old clothes so it's like seeing old friends again. So many sweet memories of my little Lia in those outfits. I have to confess I'm going to be quite sad when Chloe outgrows them and I have to find new homes for them.

Just like her momma

Today Lia got a retainer that she will wear for the next 3-6 months that will expand her upper palette and fix her cross bite. For those of you that have no idea what a cross bite is (I was one of you till a month or so ago), it's when your bottom teeth are on the outside and your upper teeth fit in the inside. It should be exactly the opposite way around with the bottom teeth fitting inside the upper teeth. When we went to our wonderful dentist in December he realized Lia had this going on. He recommended we take her to Dr. S, the same dentist who fixed all my TMJ problems about 10 years ago. I had to have the exact same procedure done at that time where I wore an expander to widen my palette as well. So I could tell Lia first hand what to expect and that she would get used to wearing the retainer in a couple of days. Luckily Lia should only need this one retainer while I had to have a second retainer that forced me to keep my teeth together at all times. Try talking all day long with your teeth together - not easy! Dr. S feels pretty confident that once Lia's palette is expanded her teeth will move all on their own and she shouldn't need any more orthodontic work done. Good news for Lia and the budget :)

Walkabouts

Well our little Chloe is really starting to walk around a lot by herself. She's been able to take steps alone for a couple of weeks but she would only take one or two and then fall down and start crawling instead. Now she's able to walk half way across a room and if she falls down she will often get back up and try again.

And as you can see from the pictures she is always interested in whatever is just out of her reach. So she's come up with some creative ways to make herself just a little bit taller like standing on something or standing on her tiptoes. In these pictures she was wanting Lia's drink that is on the table. And she was determined to get it! Chloe's other great love in life is the telephone. She LOVES to push the buttons!!! And she knows if you take the battery out because then the buttons don't make any noise. And no, you can't fool her with play phones either - she knows the difference there too. So often we will call someone we know (like Nana or Auntie Julie) and put the phone on speaker and then let Chloe "talk" to them. She just gets a big smile on her face when she hears a voice she knows. It's adorable!