A (very) good April

So far, it's been an amazing month. Starting things off with my birthday sort of set the tone for these last few weeks. Granted, we'll had a fussy little girl sick with fever because of the teething, and another one learning the joys (oh the joys) of potty training. So not saying that it's been perfect all these time....But really, its been pretty damn sweet overall.

The girls are getting bigger and bigger, and getting closer and closer to each other. Their favorite thing to do right now is to dress up in their princess dresses - they LOVE to dress up together. Then Olivia sets cups of tea and little (fake) cakes at their little table, they sit down there and play. Mama totally not needed. It's alright - I'm content watching them play together :)

Madeline is growing like nobody's business. She can now very officially walk - I don't give her much time before she can run. She climbs. Everything. She. Can. Find. We turn our backs 5 seconds, and we find her on the table. She figured out how to climb up on her sisters' trip trap chairs. She also started saying her first word, and with that, learned to DEMAND things. Don't be fooled by this sweet little face.


She figured out pretty early that she can use words to get things done the way she wants. She says "op" when she wants to go up (on the bed, couch) or out of her chair. She said This - she brings me the princess dress and says this so I can put it on her, or points at food that she wants on the table. She says "hoppe" (jump in Danish). Sometimes she even says tak. And, very important, she's starting to say mama. I love to hear that word in her mouth.

Olivia's also changing super fast. Like I said, she's been potty training....and she started wearing "big girl" underwear last week. I know that most of you won't care, but I had to mention it anyway. Because to a mama, it's a big thing. My baby isn't a baby anymore.


Easter was super sweet for us this year. I was kind of afraid it wouldn't - after all, Easter is one of these holidays that you are supposed to spend with family, and I was just afraid it would be different. And it was. But in a very good way.

We ate hot cross buns for breakfast, and as soon as we were done we headed to the Bronx Zoo for a day of fun. The weather was just amazing, and we had the best time.


Olivia had so much fun she fell asleep in her daddy's arms the minute we exited the zoo. How I love this little girl. How I love both of these little girls.


And for dinner dessert we dived into the pile of chocolates the girls' grand-mas sent over. The girls were in chocolate heaven - if think it was Madeline's first time ever tasting chocolate. Sweet ending to a very sweet day.


And since then? The weather has been just as amazing and we've been taking advantage of bit of Spring sun - because we know that once comes the "real" summer, it going to be way too hot out there to really enjoy it. We have picnics in the park, we go run around in the grass....

Like I said, so far, it's been a (very) good month of April. And there's 12 days left. Bliss.

(Madeline) 10 things I love about you v.1

My little Madeline,

I guess you're the lucky one, because you are much younger as I am starting this little tradition of writing letters to you and your sister. You're going to be one soon, and I can't believe it's almost been one year since that sunny Sunday morning when you were born. My little smukeline, here are ten things I love about you right now:

1. Every morning when daddy leaves for work, you like to demand to follow him down the hall to the elevator to say goodbye. And you crawl as fast as you can. Oh you are so excited. It's your favorite thing to do.
2. Whenever you get frustrated with something, you throw yourself to the floor (literally), lay there crying for a whole 5 seconds, and get right back up as if nothing happened. Yes, you're quite the drama queen :)
3. After every nap you give me the longest of hugs. For a few minutes you just hold me tight, put your head on my shoulder and look at the world that's waiting for you. And while you do that, I sing "I've got sunshine on a rainy day".
4. You are SO determined. You climb up. You fall down. And you climb back up. And you fall back down. If you have something in mind, you're not going to give up!
5. You're already saying your first words - and you know the power of them too, oh do you want things to get done! Daddy and I think you're going to be the smartest little girl.
6. You like to play picaboo, but sometimes you forget that it's you eyes that you need to cover. So you put your hands on your ears or your hair. Maybe daddy and I weren't so right on the smart thing afterall ;)
7. You bring me your princess dress, say 'This" and nod your head as to say "yes mama, it's a very good idea that I put my princess dress on right now". I smile. And help you into your dress.
8. When the door bell rings, you start hyper-ventilating - because you know it's usually one of your two favorite people arriving: 1) daddy (yes, he rings the bell, don't ask me why), and 2) Esther - your babysitter right now.
9. You like to be up. On the couch. On the bed. In our window nook. On your sister's chair. 90% of your time is spent climbing up on things.
10. You often grab your bottle of milk, and head straight for the little bean bag I made. And you lay there, drinking your bottle. I'm sure you're thinking about the important things in life as you're relaxing over there :)

I love you to pieces little girl.

Hugs,

Mama

(Olivia) 10 things I love about you v.1

My little Olivia,

I've been meaning to do this for a while now, because you keep growing withe very glimpse of an eye. So I thought that, every now I then, I'd write you a little letter to let you know the ten things I love the most about you right now - and believe me, limiting it to 10 is the hardest thing:

1. Every night when you go to bed, you ask me to sing two songs to you: Old McDonald has a farm" and the ABC song. "I-y-a-I-y-a-O, bientot ABC" is how you ask me.

2. When someone is having a birthday, you sing loud and clear and with the biggest smile on your face: "HAPPY TOO YOOUUUUUUUU!"

3. You always remind me what I need to take with me when we go out: my shoes, my jacket, my purse, and my hat. I guess you'd already figured out that you have a rather forgetful mother :)

4. At bath time, you look at your belly button, and every time you ask with your great-grand dad (oldefar) also has a belly button. Every single night.

5. Every Saturday morning, you rush out of bed and come shake daddy out of bed to watch "konge leo" (The Lion King). And you cuddle with daddy the entire time in our little window nook. Then he takes you swimming. You always wear the biggest of smiles on Saturday mornings.

6. You start singing "Now I know my now I know" (your version of the ABC song) every time you see something written in the street.

7. You are so focused when you draw, nobody's to come between you and your crayons. And when you're done, you proudly take your drawing to me, say "Regardes maman!". Then we go and put it up in one of the frame in the art corner.

8. You ask for a story every single night, and we usually rotate between all of your favorites of the moment: Lyle Lyle Crocodile, Blueberries for Sal, Peter Pedal and Martine au Cirque.

9. In the evening, we sit in our window bench, and try to see daddy on his way back from work. We usually spot him after he crosses the bridge, your face lights up instantly and you start jumping up and down and screaming "Lille far komer!".

10. You hug. Everybody. Everything. Your dolls. Your Simba. Your rubber ducks. Madeline. Daddy and me. And you say I love you to us. All the time.

I love you to the moon and back, little girl.

Hugs,

Mama

3.0.

Ready to rock a new decade! Thanks my love for planning this wonderful day full of surprises for me :).

Easter egg hunt

When I said we had a great time visiting our friends in Jersey a couple of weekends ago, I mean it. Proof is, we decided to come back around Easter time so that the girls could do a little Easter egg hunt together.

The only problem is, I gain about 10 pounds every time we go visit Nicole - she always bakes the best cakes for us! But it's a problem I can handle, don't you worry. I'm not one to say no to such delicious cakes. :)