Pre-Homecoming

Sadie, Helena and I headed into Hanover this morning to see what was going on before Homecoming Weekend starts tonight. We watched them building the bonfire.

Sadie would have watched indefinitely, but it was cool out, so after a while, we went and got some lunch. I decided to take the girls to the Hop, which was our favorite campus lunch spot back in the day. Nell slept through lunch, but Sadie had a great time eating with the "college teenagers". I let her get chocolate milk as a treat.

After lunch, we went to the Hood Museum. They had a family guide with pictures we needed to find and Sadie had a great time finding all of them. They also had some pencils and paper out to sketch with. Sadie drew "that naked baby with no diaper" (it was a renaissance Madonna and Child, and she was right; baby Jesus was not wearing a diaper).

We went outside to play on the X Delta, a moving sculpture.

And finally, we came back home!

Sister Time

Sadie and Helena love to be together. Although they go to the same daycare, it doesn't seem like they see much of each other during the day. The preschool room is all the way at the other end of the building from the baby room.

Lately, they have been able to play with each other a little bit. Nell is becoming interested in toys and is very interactive with smiles and coos when Sadie talks or sings to her. Sadie especially loves it when we let her cuddle with Nellie before bedtime.



Thanks to Nana for this cute set of matching blanket sleepers!

Good times outdoors

running between the rows
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie and her friend Katie had a wonderful time running around among the trees at Poverty Lane yesterday. The weather was gorgeous and the orchard wasn't too busy. The girls picked apples in the heirloom section of the orchard and Sadie picked quite a variety of different kinds and mixed them in one bag, so I also bought a bag of Macs, just in case her mystery choices weren't delicious.

Another one from the orchard

Looking studious
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

It's important to always have a pen on hand if you're with Sadie because if she notices a desk or table anywhere, she will want to sit down and write.

At Povery Lane Orchard, this litle desk is in the shed where they have the gourds and squashes. Sadie sat at the desk and wrote for a while. This was just a quick candid, but the light and colors came out well and I love Sadie's intent expression.

Cuter by the Minute

Cutie Nellie
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Nell has reached the age in babyhood where she is getting cuter and cuter everyday. She's full of smiles and is trying to laugh. So far, all we get is a little "heh!" but the giggles are on their way. She's reaching for toys and starting to notice her own hands and feet. She loves to "sit up" and stand with support, just like Sadie did when she was a baby. She is eagerly trying to roll over but hasn't managed it yet. If we put her down on her back on her playmat, she tries and tries to roll to her front. Tomorrow, she'll be 3 months old.

Just FYI, although it looks like it in this picture, Nellie does not have gigantic feet. I just bought these furry boots in a larger size so they would last through the winter.

Halloween

halloween portrait
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie is very excited about Halloween this year. She has her costume and loves it. Today, she drew this picture of herself in her costume. Can you guess what she is going to be? My favorite detail is her trick-or-treat bag in her hand!

I asked her to tell me about the picture:
"It's me and my friends trick or treating near a pumpkin patch. The ghosts are my friends. We all have treat bags!"

Over the last few weeks, Sadie has started drawing people with specific facial features or clothes to distinguish them. We've seen drawings of Grandpa with glasses, Santa Claus with a beard, Mommy wearing an apron, Nellie in her Halloween costume, and Daddy at the lab.

Poverty Lane Orchard

Mama, she tipped over!
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie's song about apples, sung to no particular tune while eating a free sample apple and dancing around while I was holding Helena under my arm and trying to pay for our apples, cider and a little gourd.

"I love this apple!
It's juicy.
It tastes like apple juice.
I'm chewing it...it makes apple sauce in my mouth.
My lips taste like apple juice.
Oh apple, apple, apple!
Juicy and yummy, oh apple, apple, apple!"

Happy Birthday Mommy!

A very happy birthday to Ann, who is the best Mommy anyone could hope for!

Baby's First Dartmouth Football

And they lost (of course).

Helena seemed to like the game, at least until she fell asleep.


Sadie preferred her huge rice krispie treat and her balloon D to any of the football action.


But we still had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Riverview Farm

On Sunday morning, Nana came to visit and we went to Riverview Farm to pick apples. We didn't end up picking any apples because Sadie didn't like the mushy apples underfoot and most of the apples were above her reach, but we had a lot of fun with other activities.

Sadie had cider and a donut.


Helena relaxed in the grass.


We all walked through the corn maze and Daddy and Nellie posed in this pumpkin head cut-out. Sadie would not put her head through.


We posed Sadie by the wheelbarrow like we do every year, but she just made goofy faces and wouldn't smile.


Sadie, Nana and Daddy took a horse and wagon ride and we bought cider and apples to bring home. It was a great fall activity!

Do they look alike?

Do they look alike?
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Do Sadie and Helena look alike? We think they do. Their faces are the same shape. Their eyes, eyebrows and mouths are very similar. Their noses are a little different, but Sadie's nose has changed since she was a baby. The big difference in appearance seems to be their coloring. Helena is not as bald as baby Sadie was and her hair is darker. Nell's skin tone is different and we think her eyes may turn out to be blue. They are actually getting more blue and lighter as time goes by.

Souvenir

Photo Strip
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

When we were at the Willows a few weeks ago, I saw a photo booth and immediately brought both girls in for photos. I love these old photo booths. This was a really good one, with black and white real film photographs. Most of the time now, photo booths use digital cameras.

Sadie and I had a lot of fun in the booth. As you can see from her expression, Helena was a little concerned about the whole thing.

Dance Class

Dancing with Scarves
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

This past Saturday, Sadie started dance class at Creative Movement School of Dance. Her class is for 3 and 4 year olds and includes tap, ballet and jazz dance! Sadie had a great time in the class. She was really excited, participated the whole time and loved wearing the dance clothes and shoes.

During the ballet section of the class, they divided the kids into two groups. One group had blue scarves and tried to copy Miss Ellie and the others had red scarves and copied Miss Tammi. Here's Sadie with her blue scarf, following Miss Ellie's movements.

Lots of Stripes

Matching Sisters
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie loves to wear matching clothes with Nell, so she was thrilled by these pajamas, which we got as a gift from Matt and Christine. It's definitely becoming fall here, with colder nights especially, so the footie pajamas are most welcome!

Helena is becoming more and more responsive to Sadie. This morning, she sat in her bumbo for a long time while Sadie read her a story. Sadie was delighted that Baby Nellie was listening to her!

2 months, 1 day

Happy 2 month birthday, Helena! We love you!

Here's Nellie enjoying her two month birthday present...we got her a Bumbo seat! She loves sitting in it and being part of the action.



I know she'll be embarrassed later, but I had to take these pictures in just a diaper because her baby pudge is the cutest!

Visiting the Great-Grandparents

Great-grandparents with the girls
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

On Saturday, Sadie and Helena went to visit their great-grandparents.

Grammy and Grampy are Bob-Bob's parents and Sadie was very interested that they live in the house where Bob-Bob lived when he was a little boy named Bobby and that Grammy and Grampy are his mommy and daddy. Sadie has visited Grammy and Grampy many times before, but I think this was the first time she connected the family relationship.

This was the first time that Grammy and Grampy met Helena and it was a very happy meeting for everyone. The girls were incredibly good, despite the hot and humid weather and the early start to the day.

Blueberry Picking

sweaty with berries
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We went blueberry picking today at Riverview Farm with Katie and Tavyn and their moms and the little sisters. It was HOT out there...much more like July than September.

More pictures.


We had a really good time.

Happy Birthday, friends!

Happy Birthday Isaac! We hope you like being three!
Happy Birthday Sam! We hope you like being two!

Small Friends

Helena's baby friends
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

This is too cute not to share...Helena and all her little friends from the 4th Trimester Mommy/Baby group. Of course, she is the only one not looking at the camera...I was silly enough to stand to the side while another mom took the picture so she is looking at me!

Happy Baby

Sister brings out the biggest smiles
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Nellie has been so smily and fun lately. She likes to be tickled and sung to. She is starting to look at toys and her crib mobile.

She loves Sadie and follows her around the room with her eyes. Sadie got this great smile from her yesterday...you can see Sadie's hand tickling Helena's cheek. It makes Sadie so happy when the baby responds to her.

Vegetable Friend

mr. eggplant
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie made this little guy at school today as part of a unit on vegetables.
"Mama, see the eyes? We made them with black eyed peas. See the black eyes? I made the nose with a black eyed pea! He's a vegetable man."

Good times with a good friend

We got to spend some time over the weekend with one of Sadie's oldest friends, Katie. The girls met (ok, their moms met) at the 4th Trimester Mommy and Baby group when they were tiny: Sadie was two weeks old and Katie was three weeks old. They have been friends ever since. Now, both girls have little sisters!

The girls are really similar in temperament and play well together. It's really interesting to see how developmentally, they see things the same way. When they're together, you can see how a lot of their behavior is just part of being 3.5 years old!

One thing that the moms noticed was that both Sadie and Katie treat their little sisters exactly the same...very affectionate and eager to be involved, yet testing the limits of how they can physically interact with baby. Katie's sister Grace is several months older than Helena and is starting to investigate Katie's things. It's a good preview for us!

Sadie loved being able to explore Billings Farm with someone her own size. There were a few times we noticed the girls talking to each other out of our earshot...they are growing up!

Help from Sadie

bottle time
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Daddy and Sadie gave Helena a bottle this afternoon. Helena has been taking a bottle every now and then for a few weeks. She likes it but she is a sloppy eater, which is why she is wearing a very large bib over her clothes! Sadie had a good time feeding her.

Long legs

backyard
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie looks so grown up and tall in this picture. I took this in our backyard Sunday. This coming weekend, Sadie's teacher is coming to photograph both girls, so I was scouting possible outdoor locations. This background is pretty, but it will all depend on where the light is good when Jennie arrives.

6 weeks old

little smile
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Helena was 6 weeks old yesterday and is starting to give us sweet smiles. They are hard to catch on camera, but I managed to get this one of sort of half smile yesterday.

Happy 6 weeks to our little lovebug!

We're back!

I love you, little sister
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We're back from Maine...we had a great time and pretty good weather. Both girls were terrific travelers and sleepers while we were away, which was wonderful. Sadie swam in the lake a lot and rode in canoes, kayaks and a motorboat. Helena got chubbier and had lots of cute alert moments and the occasional smile. We all liked spending time with Grandma, Grandpa, Jenny and Andy. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the fun week away from home!

"Vacation, all I ever wanted...

Vacation, had to get away..."

We're off to Maine today. Lots of pics and posts upon our return.

Four Cousins

Four Cousins
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

We're leaving for Maine on Friday and today we enjoyed a really fun visit from Nana, Auntie Karen and the cousins. Sadie always has a great time with Sophie and Anabel, and both cousins were excited to meet Helena.

We had lunch at Panera, ordered the flower girl dresses for Auntie Lauren's wedding and went to the Montshire Museum to play. Then, we came home for pizza for dinner. Sadie should sleep well tonight!

Yoga

Sadie told us they were doing yoga at school. She was happy to show us Downward Facing Dog and "Flamingo Pose".




Here's a sleepy picture of Helena. She weighs 9 lbs, 2 oz. today.

Water Girl

Immediately after getting home from school yesterday, Sadie asked if I could put on the sprinkler for her.

She had a great time cooling off after a busy day.

Smooch

Sadie kisses Helena
Originally uploaded by Dan and Ann

Sadie loves to hold, cuddle and kiss Helena. We watch closely, because while Sadie means well, she's so much bigger than Helena and we want to be sure no one gets hurt!

Helena already seems interested in Sadie's antics, or at least in the sound of Sadie's voice. When Helena cries, Sadie often comes over and says, "Sister's here, sister's here" in a soothing voice and Helena turns her face towards her. It is very sweet to see them together.