It's spring and life is in full swing at Bongorno Ranch. We've got flowers, vegetables and plenty of weeds growing in our yard. Nora picked out some strawberry plants, catnip, and basil yesterday to plant in her own special garden bed that Grandpa Rex just built for her. We've got arugula, brussel sprouts, kale, tomatoes, carrots, and more growing in ours. We're excited for a more productive growing season and I'm just as excited to have less lawn to mow, since we dug up a bunch of our backyard for the new beds! I also dug up the tree lawn and planted a bunch of Lily of the Valley, Black-eyed Susans, and Lamb's Ear. One day, we may even get that rain garden going!
Nora is a big girl extraordinaire. As can be expected at 2 1/2, she's parts helpful and parts frustrating, but she's always loving and adorable. Case in point - yesterday, she was such a trooper, running errands with me and helping out in the yard while we (Naomi, Rex, & me) got stuff done. She'd pretty much skipped her nap, so we knew we were on thin ice. She made a run for the street at one point and Grandpa Rex told her "no," which is one way to touch off a tantrum. Well, she didn't lose her cool - she walked over to the steps, sat down, buried her chin in her chest and took several deep breaths while blinking very slowly and deliberately. When we asked her if she was upset, she kept quiet, but after a few minutes, told Grandpa that indeed she was upset. We got over it, but a few minutes later, she took a spill and broke down. She curled into my lap and fell asleep for about a half hour. She hasn't done that in a loooong time! I laid her down on a blanket in the shade and she kept on sleeping.
Speaking of sleeping, don't tell her I told you ('cause I don't want to jinx it), but she's been sleeping in her "big girl bed!" She's hating on baths and showers these days, but she's been great at choosing her bed and falling asleep in it. The past three nights, she's slept until the early morning without waking up or calling to us. I went in and slept with her at 5:30 on Friday morning. Naomi did on Saturday. And this morning, she came running in around 6:00 and climbed into our bed without calling for us once. Not bad! This is all very important, of course, because Elise is getting to the point where we want to put her down upstairs at some point before our bedtime. I'm struggling to imagine what that will be like - two kids upstairs & two adults downstairs - will we actually be able to get a full length movie in? Looking forward to it!
Elise is showing so much progress with her movements and expressions. She reached out and touched Naomi's face for the first time last night during dinner and did the same with Nora this morning in bed. Nora just leaned into it and giggled a little bit. As I'm sure you would imagine, it was adorable! She's grabbing things more and is able to hold and bring any object you give her into her mouth for further examination. Nora has been sharing a lot with her, which is a good sign, bringing her toys to chew on and instructing her to "make them talk" and us to "make Elise talk." Nora seems to understand that Elise is too young for certain things (like food), but she does encourage her to play, which we are very excited to see happen for real as they get older.
Anyway, enough chit chat. Here are some more recent pictures.
From the bed-building day...
Dave digging the fence posts, with Rex, Steve & Chris digging the first bed:
Every scoop helps!
Nora is surely daring Grandpa B to jump down the hole he just dug:
Naomi & Nora drill the walls together:
Success!
Nora put her hand on Deets's knee to protect him from falling in; Deets responded in kind:
Papa & Elise taking a break:
Nora explains the intricacies of soil chemistry to Uncle Deets:
Nora's on her way to water the new beds:
Two beds in and loaded!
And a host of random shots from the past month...
Naomi & Elise:
Nora's first go at watercolors!
Mama & the girls:
Chillin:
Nora had a boo boo that caused her lots of trouble if she didn't keep her hand on it:
But it didn't stop her from playing with her sister!
Painted toenails after Mama & Nora's first date since Elise was born!
Mama & Elise eating a healthy dinner:
Picnicking at Lincoln Park for the first Tremont Farmers Market of the year:
Chunker!
Sleeping in the shade:
Such great posture!
Elise & Grandma B:
Reading together:
Nora & I went for a bike ride to the West Side Market:
Some shopping, popcorn, and a banana/Nutella crepe later:
Nora and her bear tried on some costumes Gma and Gpa B brought over for Elise:
All set to help Mama bake cookies!
With Grandpa Rex:
Newly installed old swing:
Rainy day...
Rainy day solution!
Never had a hair cut:
Until now!
[sigh]
I'll close with one of the cutest in recent history:
