Father's Day car show

We spent Father's Day at an Italian-focused car show in Beverly Hills, with Juliana, Daryl and their girls.

At top, we have the dads and their girls, in front of our future family hatchback - a Ferrari FF. Well, when that future includes us winning the lottery - these babies are going for more than $350k.

The second car would be a more doable choice for us.

The Fiat 124 Spider is a classic convertible Stace has been interested in. Not that he's getting another classic in the near future... but he is looking at Craig's List and eBay motors every day!

There were dozens of Ferraris at this car show, including the yellow Dino, another of Stacey's "favorite cars of all time."

Fiat was the focus of this year's Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance car show, as the Italian brand comes back into the U.S. market with the new 500. In the last photo, Cora and Maya pose in front of the original 500.

It was a great day out, and fun to spend it with our good friends.

Happy Father's Day, Stace. You're the best Daddy I could wish for for our girls.
And, a special greeting for my dad and for Gord - we love you both, too.

New kitties!

Just in time for Father's Day, Stace is no longer outnumbered at our house!

Exciting times at our house Saturday, as we brought home two four-month-old brother kittens, Spencer and Sebastian.

We went through Forgotten Angels cat rescue, at the recommendation of our veterinarian.

When I spoke to the rescue guy Monday, he said these two boys sounded like a good fit for us. Young, playful and friendly, they aren't scared of the youthful energy of our girls. And we said we wanted two, and these two are well-bonded litter mates.

That way, when we are gone for a week or two at a time, they'll have each other for company.

We drove up to the Palmdale PetSmart, where the rescue has pet adoptions, to check them out.

It went really well, and here we are! Home, with our two new friends. We are doing a one-week trial, and if all goes great, we'll finalize the adoption in a week or so.

So far, we're thinking we'll keep their current names. Spencer and Sebastian are, at the moment, in Cora's room, and at 10:30 at night, she is nowhere near falling asleep.

Not that I can blame her; I'm just wishing I was back to being a four-year-old with a pair of kittens. Such fun!

Following Violet's wild and crazy Friday night, I think tonight is going to be another long night.

Toddler Violet

Violet is 13 months!
OK, I'm just a couple of weeks late in marking the occasion on the blog.

She's walking everywhere, still in that stiff-legged and cute way. And she's a toddler in more ways than that one - she's having little temper tantrums when she's mad, and she doesn't put up with Cora doing whatever Cora wants when they're playing together.

In these photos, I'm learning and relearning that I can't leave things on the changing table within Violet's reach from her crib. First, it was the toilet paper roll. Then, the diaper drawer was open and she pulled out a lot of diapers to play with.

Now that Violet is walking, I find her often attached to my leg. For several days, she would bite my leg when she was holding on - I had to nip that one in the bud! No biting for the last week or so, thankfully.

This week has been a bit rough for Violet. Monday and Tuesday nights, she was up in the night and wouldn't settle down to sleep.

On Wednesday she had a fever, which lasted for over a day, and then progressed into the cold Cora has also had.

Wednesday and Thursday nights Violet slept fine, but then on Friday night she woke up at 1:30 and didn't fall back to sleep until after 4. Violet's never had a night this bad.

Flipping through the toddler sleep book, it mentions teething, learning to walk and illness as all being reasons to wake up in the night. Hmmm. In addition, I've weaned Violet to nursing only in the morning and evening in the last week or two. So I guess I shouldn't be shocked that all the above is affecting her sleep.

New camp

Another week in...

Cora started a summer camp class through the city this week. It will last four weeks, and her old friend Miss Diane is the teacher. It's two days a week, from 9 to 12:30, so significantly longer than Terrific Tots.

She's enjoying it, and Violet and I are getting the groceries bought and house straightened out during that time.

On Thursday, my college friend Jason called and was going to be in SClarita for work, with his baby Morgan. We had lunch together, and the little ones did great.

Morgan will be 1 next week, and she was born 10 weeks early. It's a blessing to see her so healthy and happy - no repercussions at all from her way-early arrival.

Cora and Violet are continuing to play well together. Friday morning, Cora got a book out and Violet willingly complied with her request to sit in her lap. It was adorable. Almost made me cry!

Sleepy girl

Last week, while we adjusted to California time, Cora was very tired when she went to bed.

One night early in the week, we checked on her and found her sleeping like this.

After I took the book away, her hand stayed in place.

The next night, this is what we found.

Most of the week, Cora woke up very early (by her standards) and played quietly in her room during naptime, rather than catching up on sleep. But by the end of the week, it caught up with her. She had been asking repeatedly when she could come out (naptime ends at 4 if she doesn't fall asleep). At 3:50, I told her she had 10 minutes. At five minutes past 4, this is what I found when I went in to get her up.

Weekend fun

Our weekend started out with a Friday night barbecue, and we invited my parents over to share the steak and show them our England photos.

Saturday, we went to IKEA to stock up on new wine glasses and dry food storage for the pantry.

I've been buying dry goods in bulk at Sprouts, meaning I had lots of plastic produce bags in the pantry. Love my new neat-looking bins; should have bought more. We'll have to go back to get more.

From there, Stace took his girls on a Daddy/Daughters date to the L.A. Zoo! They had a great afternoon and Stace passed that test, of going out on his own on a "big day" with both kiddos. The girls were great, he said, and Violet really loved the seals.

I then went off to my friend Melanie's baby shower. She and David are expecting a little girl in two weeks. She registered for cloth diapers, and I was more than happy to help fulfill her request. It was a lovely tea party shower, and a nice girly break. Can't wait to meet another dear friend's baby girl!

Girls, girls, girls

We went out to Juliana's home on Friday for a lovely playdate.

We hadn't seen each other for a while, as her parents were in town from Brazil for a couple of weeks before we flew to England.

All the girls got on famously, like always, and the older two spent much of the day dressing up. Those are two gorgeous girls, aren't they?

I can't get over the change in Cora over the past few months. Not much tomboy left, most days! She had to bring her new Alice dress, IN her princess backpack, and there was a minor panic when we couldn't find it quickly when we were getting ready to leave our house in the morning.

Violet and Natalia had a nice morning too. Violet especially liked the part when one of the older girls left her bag of Cadbury chocolate buttons out for the taking. She was off in a flash and eating them up before I could grab her.

Violet also used her time to practice her walking.

Friday, June 10, marked the tipping point, when Violet decided she likes walking better than crawling.
Bye, bye, baby. (Sigh.)

Back in SClarita

So, what we've been up to this week, our first week back home? On Sunday, in between unpacking and resting, we took a little trip to Placerita Canyon.

It's a great time of year for nature walks - not too hot, and the wildflowers are blooming. Notice the plastic container (with non-matching lid)? Open the photo big and you'll see who came with us. Yes, it's our favorite orange plastic fish. Nemo had to come along, in his tank. Nemo likes shade, Cora said.

Whenever we're in the car, Cora wants to be coloring. What a wonderful stage! I hope this one lasts a while.
Also this week, Violet practiced her walking, and she and Cora played a lot with their dolls.
Violet is giving the "da da" the dummy. It's so stinkin' cute, I can't help but melt. She and Cora both were taking care of these babies as if they were real. Violet was feeding them, giving them pacifiers and pushing them in the stroller, while Cora was changing doing all the above and also changing their clothes and putting them to bed for naps.
We also made one Stroller Strides class, where Cora impressed everyone - well, at least herself - with her ability to hang upside down.

It was a good week. The girls were up early each day (before 7) until Saturday, when Violet slept until almost 8 and Cora until 8:30. She must have been catching up after so many early mornings.

The sleepy trip home

We are back home now, unpacked and trying to catch up on sleep.

Sleep we missed out from travel, jet lag, and a couple of weeks of sharing a room with our darling Violet Mae.

I shared here last week that she had slept through the night, and she did do that - a few times. Most nights, though, she didn't.

I'm blaming teething, a virus, jet lag, and just the fact that she sleeps so darn lightly. Cora would have a dream and say something, and the next moment, we'd be hearing Violet shouting, "Gia! Gia!"

I had trouble getting Violet to settle back down without nursing her, and I haven't fed this baby much in the night since she was 7 weeks old.

The photo of Stace is from mid-morning Friday, after he took the early morning shift downstairs and let me sleep. And the photo of Violet with Gord is from our dinner date Wednesday with Stace's Nan, when Violet wouldn't sleep in her crib for Sue.

Anyway, with two nights back at home, things are definitely improving. Saturday night, after we got home from LAX, Violet slept until nearly 5 a.m.; with our own jet lag, Stace and I would have been up before long anyway. Sunday night, Violet woke once, but cried herself back to sleep within five minutes. She and Cora were both up Monday at 6 - not bad for our second morning home.

And, as for our trip home, it went off as well as I could ever hope. We had the bassinet fixture for Violet, and Stace had to sit behind us, but all was fine, and he helped out as much as I needed. Violet took an hour nap, and later slept for about three hours. Cora put herself to sleep about five hours into the trip, and I was able to close my eyes for a couple of hours and watch some television. With two small children on an international flight, that is a real treat.

Other than Violet not sleeping well, our time in England was a dream. Cora was so well-behaved, as was Violet.

We had a lot of fun with our family and friends, and even got a few stunningly warm days (like the one pictured here). We look forward to seeing Sue and Gord in two months, and everyone else again at Christmas!

While in England, we caught up with some of our "must see" friends, including Dunc and Lindsey and their girls. Cora had a great time playing with Chelsea and Charlie! She's right in the middle - Chelsea is 5 and Charlie is 3.
Cora and Violet also loved playing with their cousins - here are all of Gord's mum's great-grands. Ben (6) and Chloe (20 months), Euan (17 months) and of course our two girls.
We also spent an evening with our friends Andy and Jen. Here, Andy and Cora take turns scaring each other.
Violet liked ringing the bell.
And both girls liked the monkey puppet. It was great to see so many dear friends! Thanks to all for being so flexible and fitting us in. See you all at Christmas!

Montacute Date

Over the weekend, Nan and Pop took the girls, and Stace and I had most of a day together as a "date day."

We went to Montacute House, an Elizabethan mansion about 10 minutes away. I've been to the grounds a few times, but we've never paid the admission and taken the full tour.

We learned a lot, and got to see an exhibit of centuries' old portraits of kings and queens and other rich and famous people.

And, at this stage in our family, it was great to have the child-free time to enjoy it all. Stace and I both love history but this wouldn't have been the best daytrip for Cora and Violet.

The gardens, in spring bloom, were beautiful.

Then, we had dinner at the Prince of Wales pub on the top of Ham Hill.