babies bongorno

The Bongornos in 2011 - A Royal Year in Review

2012-01-25T21:53:00.003-05:00

Wondering what we've been up to since May? You may want to check out this hot new book that arrived at our door step this evening!

Click on the image if you haven't already... it should take you to a Shutterfly viewing page.

Memphis Kiddie Park!

2011-05-29T22:01:00.000-04:00

I don't recall if I'd ever been to Memphis Kiddie Park, but I've heard about it for years and we figured it was about time that we went. It was the perfect size for Nora and you couldn't convince Elise that she wasn't big enough for every ride in the park!

We started on the train that goes around the park to get a look at the offerings.

Then, the first go on the carousel

Nora did some on her own

But the best ones were the ones they could ride together

Nora took me and Naomi on the roller coaster. I made her hold my hand...

Mama's turn

A much needed break for funnel cake

I was amazed that this didn't freak them out

The final go 'round on the carousel... bye bye Memphis Kiddie Park!

Sweet Spring Visit from Grandpa Rex

2011-05-21T21:32:00.001-04:00

Grandpa Rex was in town for a couple days and the weather was beautiful. Nora decided to take her tricycle for a spin to a destination she though Grandpa might want to know about...

Sweet Moses Treat Shop! Or, as Nora has come to know it, "Hot Moses."

Back in the yard...

Snack time

Slip 'n' slide!

Out and about with friends...plus indoor sister fun

2011-05-16T21:16:00.002-04:00

A lovely trip to the Lake County Farm Park..

Mather & Alta showed Elise how to climb for a better look

And some quiet fun at home. The girls have been enjoying sister time at the little table lately. Too cute.

Max cat got some love

Dressing up

Enjoying a rain storm from the safety of a window seat

Mother's Day

2011-05-08T21:14:00.002-04:00

There were 2 things I wanted this Mother's Day, and I got them both! 1) to go on a date with my big girl (we went to an acrobat show at Playhouse Sq...I loved it, but Nora thought it was a bit scary...followed by some fun Int'l Children's Festival activities with Papa and Elise)

and 2) a few hours at home alone to tackle some cleaning that's been eluding me and driving me crazy. True story - I cleaned for Mother's Day, and loved it! I blasted girly music and sang along loudly and vacuumed and cleaned counters and threw away clutter. It felt good. I take pride in almost always choosing to play rather than clean during the days with my girls, but sometimes even I need to clean house.

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Mama's out there! My own mother is out tackling S. America and having a blast - we miss you Mom/Mimi!

Walk Against Hunger

2011-05-06T20:38:00.008-04:00

Nora raised $200 from friends and family for the first annual Walk for Hunger in University Circle (benefiting several NE OH foodbanks)! Chris explained to her what the Walk was about, but wasn't really sure she got it. The next day she declared to me that she wanted to give her Easter money to "hungry people". Ah, our lovely lady.

The day of the Walk was a beautiful Spring day and we headed out to Wade Oval early to run around. Nora was being super cute while Elise napped in the stroller.

My little free spirit. She, of course, picked out the whole ensemble.

And then the little one woke up!

Reunions are so sweet!

Finding a good spot for our snack.

These are the faces I got when I requested a "smile for the camera!".

Then Papa showed up!

Then we walked...2 miles, or 8 laps around the oval. Nora walked for almost 1 lap on her own, but had just run around in the grass for about 45 minutes, so we carried her happily. :)

After the walking, Nora danced a bit while drumming with her sticks.

After the Walk we talked Chris into coming over to the Botanical Gardens for a quick visit.

Our quick visit was interrupted by rain and we hid out in the treehouse.

Nora reading in the treehouse.

All in all, a very good day!

Chicago with the Mattesons

2011-05-04T23:04:00.000-04:00

The turn of April-May brought us to Chicago for a girly celebration with our friend Norma. It was also a great opportunity to visit the Mattesons. We took over their apartment in Ravenswood and stormed the playground across Ashland. The North Side would never be the same! The guys took the kids to the Lincoln Park Zoo while the girls went shopping on the Magnificent Mile. The next day, we stayed more local, hitting up Lakeview School Park for some kite flying and messing about on the playground

Walking to the park with their kites

Run!
Fly!Play!
Swing!Slide!
Nighty night

We love you, Spring!

2011-04-21T21:10:00.006-04:00

The weather is finally heating up (to like 50 degrees, but still) and we're already busy busy busy. On April 12th, the Taseff's had their 3rd baby - Case William. We made them some chocolate muffins to celebrate, and Elise and Nora enjoyed "cleaning" the spoons. :)

Nora is still loving her Waldorf Mondays. And Elise and I love our one-on-one time. We play, we take naps, we run errands, we play some more. It's good stuff all around.

She's a busy girl!

Showing her baby leopard some love. She's very generous with the love these days, for stuffed animals and humans alike.

I think this one looks just like her Papa!

It's amazing to see how quickly all our moods have improved with just a little bit of outdoor time each day. It feels like the clouds of winter are passing and I'm REALLY looking forward to this spring and summer. Elise would spend every second outside if she could, and Nora is already talking about our garden. Nora wouldn't let me take pictures of her, so the following sunny shots are all of Elise. Maybe next time, right Nora?

Sportin' the gangsta lean...

We've also been thoroughly enjoying the library these days. I love seeing my girls develop a love of reading and they love going through stacks of new books and running around the kids section. And there's nothing like coming home and getting comfy with a new book:

Nora set up the pillows all on her own - Mama was impressed.

Wednesday was rainy, but luck smiled down on us and sent two new princess dresses in the mail! Oh, the cuteness.

Miss Elise

2011-04-04T22:09:00.009-04:00

Elise is now 14 months old. That makes me the Mama of two toddlers! Yowza! She's growing and learning and cracking us all up so regularly these days that it's really tough to keep up.

Pillow fort!

Some highlights (other than being ridiculously adorable):

- She's full on walking now, although she still likes a finger to hold on to. She can stand up on her own (without using an object to pull herself up) and can maneuver the small step between the dining room and kitchen, which is a well known toddler trip up.
- She knows the signs for 'bath', 'all done', 'thank you', 'food', 'more', 'fish', and has a few signs that she's made up herself. The other day she made the sign for fish and then the sign for food and beamed when I gave her the goldfish cracker she desired. So smart!
- She says 'mama', 'papa/dada', 'sister' (sistauw), 'sadie', 'no', 'sit', 'hello' (hewo), 'uh oh', 'sorry' (sawee), 'turtle' (dirtul), and can repeat phenetically just about anything you say to her.
- She makes the animal sounds for dog, cat, cow, owl, and her favorite, duck. Today in the car she kept quacking to a piece they were doing on Huck Finn. Get it? Huck? Duck? Too cute.
- She is a dance machine, just like her big sister, and throws out some seriously killer moves that make us all laugh, but deep down we're just wishing we were as cool as she is.
- She understands simple commands, like "put X in the bucket", or "bring Mama the X". Smarty pants.
- She loves books, which makes me super happy. Her favorites right now are In the Night Kitchen, Olivia, Big Sister Little Sister, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, Skippyjon Jones, and anything her sister is reading.

We had to rearrange the furniture so that she could have full access to the windows in the living room - she is definitely an outdoorsy little thing.

I'm already seeing little bits of Elise's sassy toddler personality. She wants what she wants and doesn't back down easily, much to Nora's chagrin. And when she's pissed she screeches and swats or sometimes melts to the ground in a dramatic sob that passes as quickly as it came and she's back to her happy busy self.

Climbing...always climbing.

She makes me smile so many times every day I can't even begin to count. The heart swelling that comes from watching that little 4-toothed smile frankenstein-walk over to me for a hug is unbelievable.

And, in Sisterland: Nora seems to have taken the commonly heard "she's so cute I could eat her up"'s and "i just want to pinch those cheeks"'s to heart and often says "She's so cute, I just want to squeeze her!", which is adorable except for the fact that she actually does squeeze her, causing one of the aforementioned dramatic floor meltings. Ah, sisters. But mostly, there is much love and lots of laughs.

And sometimes, when Nora is especially good and shares her iPod, Elise politely thanks her by passing out and leaving her big sis to play in peace. :)

I'm impressed you read all the way to the bottom! As a reward, a video:

Growing up

2011-04-03T17:12:00.017-04:00

It's been a month of self reflection around here, and there's still much to be done. 3 seems to be an age of change, or it is for our Nora anyway. And, in response I've found it to be a necessary time of change for me as a Mama. It's hard - and wonderful. I'm getting to know Nora as her own person and getting to know myself as mother to a person separate from myself. Not that she hasn't been her own person since the beginning, but we were so connected for so long that I had almost come to think of us as one. Now I'm seeing us as two and realizing that us as two can be both wonderfully fulfilling and fun and a little bit frustrating at times.

My biggest lessons of the past month or so have been: 1) let kids be kids...it's messy and time consuming and inconvenient, at times, but it's the way to go; 2) always apologize when I mess up; and 3) when I feel like lecturing, I should ask questions instead.

Nora, showing Maxy Cat some love. They have a lovely relationship blooming these days, which makes me happy.

Mostly, I'm learning that Nora is not one of those people who can hold in her disgust when being treated unfairly. That, and I'm really stubborn. I had gotten into a bad cycle of getting frustrated when her desires became inconvenient for me (which is a pretty regular occurence, really) and had started to use bribery and general bossiness to get my way. Basically, I was acting like a 3 year old but getting mad at her for acting like a 3 year old. Real mature, huh? So, I'm trying to choose my battles wisely and taking lots of deep breaths so I can let her be the 3 year old. So far so good.

Nora is a wonderful artist, but the Boy Monster drawing below is definitely one of her best masterpieces. It's a monster...who's a boy...whose name is Nora. A psychoanalyst would go wild with this one!

One of the rules we decided to throw out the window this past month was the no jumping on the couch rule. Nora's LOVING it!

She also enjoys team couch jumping at times...

Our Nora is a complicated, lovely, funny, independent, sweet, sensitive, growing girl. And she's damn good at silly faces...

Be happy folks.

St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T17:04:00.000-04:00

For the 3rd year in a row we walked in the parade with UCI, and for the 3rd year in a row it was a beautiful day.

Nora got to meet a real cheerleader!

Is there anything sweeter than a little girl running to her Papa?!

Nora, pretending a stick is a deer antler.

Sweet sweet faces.

Holding Lincoln...

A nice run on the pier a cute duck spotting rounded out the day nicely.

Happy St Paddy's Day!

Snowwoman

2011-03-02T16:21:00.001-05:00

It took until March for us to get a dose of good snowman making snow. Nora was so excited all winter, but with every snow we'd test it and it was always too fluffy or too sparse or too icy. So, when we got a nice bit of sticky snow Nora and I quickly bundled up to go make her first snowman. Turns out, making a snowman is pretty hard! I didn't remember it being so tiring and I don't have the stamina to make one as big as I did as a kid. So, we settled on a kid-sized one. I don't think Nora minded.

Showing some good ball-rolling technique

Showing off our lady!

As much as I was/am sick of the snow, it always warms my heart to Nora out really enjoying it. Pretty special.

These don't have anything to do with snowpeople, but they're very cute (thank you very much) and Lisi's eyes have a bit of an ice blue hue, yes?

Little teeth get me every time!

I often carry Elise on my back while cooking, but one night Nora was needing a little extra Mama-time so up she went. She loved it and I'm always (well, usually) happy to have a bit more baby time with my big girl who is so quickly morphing into a lovely little lady. What a lucky Mama I am.

And, the little one - she is charming everyone she comes into contact with. What a little ray of sunshine. This month has seen Elise going from taking a few steps on her own, to walking from object to object. She's funny, though, b/c when she needs to walk anywhere more than 4-5 steps away she requires a finger to hold onto - I think it's mostly b/c she refuses to slow down and can't yet run on her own. Whatever the reason, it's pretty cute and incredibly endearing. Here she is during a solo trip:

In closing, I am REALLY glad that the snow season is coming to an end. This winter has just about pushed me over the edge. I think the government should subsidize a mass exodus of people w/ young kids to a warmer climate during the last 2 months of winter. The Floridians can come stay in our houses and get some fun in the snow! A girl can dream, right?

Winter with the Girls

2011-02-13T12:59:00.015-05:00

While spending an early Sunday afternoon with our rapidly maturing 1-year-old (Naomi & Nora were off at a fancy tea party!), Elise began throwing new skills at me so quickly that I had to get out a pen and paper to start jotting things down. It will invariably lead to a looong post here... It started after we woke up from a nice snooze in the sun, when she deftly peed in her potty. I said "yay!" and she followed with her own "yay!" Minutes later, after I told Sadie in a stern voice while pointing my finger, "Sadie, sit!" Elise again echoed me, shaking her finger at Sadie and saying "sit!" at least three times. Sadie knew better than to disobey!

Elise also knows how to praise her pup - she spent about 10 minutes showering a submissive Sadie with a variety of hugs and kisses (soft head butts) and gentle pets. She loves Sadie and tries to love the kittens, but the old grumps just don't have the patience for her. Max, sometimes. Molly, hardly ever. Elise has even developed her own "meeowww" in an attempt to better communicate with them! It's adorable.

More from Elise - She's now up to about 8 steps on her own when she feels like it. Some days, she chooses the easy route - speed crawling. Others, she's taking steps that make us think her crawling days are behind her. It's clear that she's decided to take her sweet time with this, which is fine by us! On the other hand, she'll climb up on anything in the blink of an eye - a book (just sits on it), a chair, a pet, steps, and recently, Nora's step stool. She hasn't had a big spill yet (knock on wood) and she shows no fear!

Elise, caught in the act of trying to sneak upstairs!

February also marks the first time we've heard her say "apple" and her sign language is developing just as quickly. She has consistently signed "food," "all done," "bath," and has even created her own signs for "bonk" (when she bumps her head). She can accurately point to her nose, mouth and feet. She has trouble with ears, but they are kinda hard to find without a mirror. She still loves to dance at the drop of a beat, whether its the Drums on my iPod or an NPR interlude. This past week, she's even started to sing her own little melodies!

Elise will eat just about anything you put in front of her these days, but still doesn't really care for a bottle or baby food from a jar. I'd name favorites, but she's really not all that selective. If I had to pick one, it would have to be these "all fruit" strips from Trader Joe's. Yeah, she's a little obsessive about those!

Last note on Elise - she's finally into bedtime books, which she didn't used to have the patience for. Her favorites are "Say Goodnight" and "Barnyard Dance." The former because of the page that says "bumpity, bumpity, hold on tight!" (we bounce around on that one) and the latter because Naomi does a little dance-along as we read!

And these are certainly heady times for Nora as well! She's smarter than ever, using words that she obviously picks up from our adult conversations: "Actually, Papa, you're not a prince, you're just my papa. I was just pretending." "My cousin's last name is Cleveland, just like the town we live in!" She's brilliant. And I'm not just saying that because she's my big girl!

More importantly, she's a super endearing and loving to everyone around her. This is especially true with Elise and her family, from mama and papa, to her grandparents, aunts and uncles. Sometimes, when I least expect it, she'll throw her arms around me and say, "I love you SO much papa!" It melts me, as I'm sure you would imagine. A little while back, after completing one of her princess puzzles, she told me to "make them talk." I did, saying, "Nora, you are going to be a beautiful princess someday!" She replied, "No, I just want to be like my mama." Last weekend, she called me when I was at a Cavs game to tell me that she was worried that I was going to get hit with the ball. She's clearly grown to believe that the Cavs are so bad these days that they'll be haphazardly chucking balls into the second deck. I assured her that I would be extra careful.

Nora loves her some Elise:

Nora is in her second "school" now, which is a Waldorf class at her friend Big Nora's house. They do a nature walk every day, no matter what the weather, and they come back to bake bread (which they eat as part of a healthy shared lunch), do creative play activities, sing, and what not. She loves this once-a-week exercise and it makes us very optimistic about her future outlook on school. Perhaps most notable, however, Nora has just completed her second week of dance classes! She LOVES these, which was virtually guaranteed. She gets all dressed up in pink tights, black leotard, headband, and tutu and runs into the Beck Center classroom with her little friends for about an hour every Saturday morning. The only thing that would make it more adorable would be an "open door" policy or a two-way viewing mirror. But alas, parents are relegated to the hallway!

Trying out the new outfit!

Getting acquainted on Day 1:

Last note on Nora - someone (you know who you are) got Nora an iPod touch for Christmas. You know kids and new techno gadgets... I loved my Nintendo and GameBoy when I was a lad, and Nora loves her iPod! As you might suspect, though, she can get a little too attached to it. She's got some pretty sweet games on it and knows how to do everything but add more cash to her iTunes account. But, just as we've had to do with TV, we've had to set some pretty serious limits. She has adapted, knowing that if she doesn't follow the rules, she won't see Rapunzel or Angry Birds for a few days. One of her most common cries these days is a desperate, "I want mine iPod! I really want mine iPod!" Yes, Nora, we know...

In other news, I've had the pleasure of spending a couple days with my girls at the museums in University Circle in recent months. This is a pleasant side effect of figuring out how to have two working parents on a weekly basis. Nora has chosen the Botanical Garden each of the past two times, which is a damn fine choice, I'll admit. She's becoming quite the bird and butterfly scout and has started to impart her knowledge on her little sister. I love it!

Elise in her caravan and Nora with her field guide:

The mirror room where you have to check to make sure you're not carrying any fugitive butterflies with you as you leave:

Last story - The Bongornos met up with the Boyds a couple weekends ago for a hike and some sledding in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It was one of those outings that made me think that another 3 months of winter wouldn't be all that bad! We met up at Wallace Lake and pulled our girls (Nora, Elise, Sofia, and Fiona) on sleds through the wooded hills, around the frozen lake, to a wonderful sledding hill, where Nora had her first frosty trips down a powdery hill in the big orange sled that I used when I was a kid. I don't know who had more fun, her or me!

Nora & Elise were not thrilled about getting plucked from the car while sleeping, even though they got to share this kick-ass sled!

The sled ride through the woods cheered Nora up. Here, sharing a giggle with Fiona:

Naomi & our little pink burrito:

This one's a keeper:

One!

2011-01-23T20:35:00.007-05:00

Our Elise is one today! Unbelievable. We had a great weekend full of celebration (my Bday was on Friday) and I am happy and tired at the end of it. This post will be short on words - I'll just cut to the pictures. I can't believe my sweet baby is one!

Here are Elise and Nora, enjoying their new beanbag chairs from Mimi:

It sure is hard to take a picture of our family where everyone looks ok. Believe it or not, this is the best one of the lot!

Vegan cupcakes for my baby!

Not quite sure what to do with this...

There you go...

She at the whole thing!

You can always tell which is the toddler table by their tell-tale cupcake eating strategy (notice only the icing is gone?)...

And, some present opening pictures...

Sharing with Grandma B...

Crawling through her new door...

Great Gma and Gpa Sikes...

Lovin' on her new phone from Beth and Marc...too cute!

My sweet Lisi: I love you more than words can possibly describe. You bring us such immense joy and pride. I can't wait to see what amazing things you do in your second year! Love, Mama

Cutes, treats and projects

2011-01-16T20:54:00.005-05:00

I can't believe my smallest girl is going to be 1 in a week. She's becoming quite the little personality (well, not so much "becoming" as evolving b/c she's always made her presence known!). She is a lover but she already knows how to stand up for herself. She's into EVERYTHING and is getting very close to walking. I'm pretty sure she's going to be a fearless toddler - she doesn't seem very phased by gravity and definitely wants to keep up with her big sis. I love her with all my heart. Watch out world.

Here she is cooking up a mess...

And just being cute...

Getting into trouble (she loves to try to stick her hand in the VCR...yes, we still have a VCR)...

Crawling like the wind. She is fast. Seriously fast...

So far, 2011 has been a very good year for sisterly love. Maybe due somewhat to my improved mood, Nora seems to have settled into a pretty steady good-sharing, lots-of-loving big sister mode. She obviously still has her moments, but for the most part she and Elise are getting along really well. Their favorite new "game" consists of endless unintelligible Knock Knock jokes. Example:
Nora: Knock Knock
Mama: Who's there?
N: ploopabootaplatoo
M: ploopabootaplatoo who?
N: blapapoot mwababa
Laughter ensues...
Or, my favorite:
Elise: blapa bwa
Nora: Who's there?
E: mamama ba!
N: mamama ba who?
E: da
Nora cracks up laughing and Elise looks amused but confused.
Repeat dozens of times...
It warms my heart. Big time.

Here they are sharing a show on Nora's iPod...

Nothing says love like sharing your popsicle...

And, my Nora. Oh my Nora. My emotional state during a typical day with Nora jumps from absolute delight, to amazing pride, to extreme frustration, to exhaustion, to hilarity, to love love love. She is amazing.

Here she is carrying her doggie in a self-made sling (moments after this picture she had a mini-meltdown b/c she couldn't get it off)...

And, here she is setting the table for dinner. She does amazingly well - she puts down napkins, forks, spoons, and always adds a little of her own sparkle. On this night we each got a bowl with a whole apple (stickers removed) and approximately 6 raisins. Too cute.

Last but not least, I finally got Chris to agree to turning the mudroom/Sadie's room into a playroom. I should clarify that by "agree" I should say that I just did it and he didn't care enough to stop me. Hopefully he's happy with the end result.

Here it is before...

And, after...

I have more work planned, but I think it's not half bad for one afternoon's worth of work! Now we just need to find a new spot for Sadie's bed...

That's it for now! Happy MLK Day!

Resolutions

2011-01-12T21:21:00.005-05:00

So sorry for the pitiful blog-ending to 2010! Luckily our real-life December was fun and full of gifts, family and friends. One of my resolutions for 2011 is to be better about at least getting pictures up here, even if the words need to wait a bit.

I'm just going to jump right in with some recent pictures and will go back and put up Christmas pictures later. :)

I'll have to scan in some of Nora's recent artwork. She's become quite the portrait artist with these funny smiley face people (the one above is holding a balloon). They started as just the circle with eyes, nose, mouth, hair, arms and legs and have evolved to have hands and legs, fingers and toes, eyebrows, dee dee's (belly buttons), and if they're lucky......wait for it......a nice little V for a vagina and a line clear down to the feet for a penis. Lovely.

Miss Elise is getting funnier and smarter by the second. She dances when you say "dance", waves when you say "bye bye" or "hi", claps when you say "yay", and has recently started to hit her head with her little hand to let us know she bonked her head on something. She has also done the ASL signs for 'bath' and 'all done', although she only did them each a few times. She's crawling all over the place, zooming up stairs if given the chance, and standing unassisted until she notices she's doing it at which time she falls gracefully. She gives fabulous hugs and big wet kisses (or, more frequently she just offers her cheek or forehead for you to kiss). She is an absolute joy and cracks me up regularly. She cracks Nora up too, which melts my heart.

Dress up!

Elise's first tea party - not so sure how much she's enjoying it here.

Elise and Mama all dressed up in sunny yellow (and a goofy sweat band).

And to close, nothing says Merry Christmas like enjoying a candy cane with your sister (don't worry, Elise's was still covered but she watched how Nora ate it and sucked/licked it like it was delicious).

Little musicians

2010-11-15T21:49:00.004-05:00

Let's just say this music session looks a whole lot more beautiful/adorable than it sounded! Cute cute girls. And, check out Elise's new(ish) standing skills! She's crawling all over the place and pulling up on anything she can reach. Look out world.

After their keyboard duet, Nora decided to take on the guitar.

And, yes - they also sing! Below is from a rousing rendition of Row Row Row Your Boat. Good stuff.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T21:51:00.002-04:00

Last year, Nora knew for months that she wanted to be a flamingo, which gave me time to put together an awesome homemade costume. This year, however, her genetic predisposition toward waffling seems to have taken hold and she had a different answer every time we asked her what she was going to be (answers included princess, butterfly, flaminco dancer, chair, refrigerator, bear, pony, lion, tiger, and other random things that crossed her mind). So, we waited until the morning of Halloween to choose a costume (minus a slight hiccup where I spent like 3 hours sewing a lion hat only to have her change her mind the next day). Luckily, we have a fast growing dress-up box, so she settled on an adorable flaminco dress brought back from Mimi's travels to Spain. I was the tooth fairy, Chris was a dental hygenist and Elise recycled Nora's cow costume.

Here we are about to head out trick or treating. Check out Nora's hilarious pose...I have no idea where she got this one!

The OC/DS cute kid crew!

Celia, Mae and Nora take a breather in their wagons...

To My Girls - Love, Papa

2010-10-31T06:39:00.011-04:00

What better time than 2 hours before sunrise on a Sunday morning to submit my reflections on 3 years of my Big Girl Nora and my little Baby Elise? This, as Elise has just brought tears to my eyes by staring at me with a gradual change of facial expressions that may have been gas (or worse), but to me, just looked like recognition and a sweet smile, meant to melt my heart. And it worked! As Naomi has mentioned here and elsewhere, these early early pre-dawn hours can be the sweetest times. Coffee, quiet, and a few uninterrupted moments with one or two well-rested children. Sure, it's never easy being the one to take that call and get up before the clock ticks 6:00, but these two have a way of making it worth your while. And in typical fashion, just as I try to steal a few moments to catch up on this blog, Nora is at the top of the stairs yelling, "Papa! I'm ready to get dressed and come downstairs!" Good girl, letting Mama sleep in...

Last night, Nora had one of her brief spats of frustration where she did a little hitting, kicking and intentional spilling, landing herself in "quiet time" in her reading nook before dinner. A few minutes later, I went over to check on her and she had scribbled two notes, one for me and one for Naomi. I asked her what mine said and she replied, "It says, 'I love you papa and I'm lonely and I miss you when you are gone at work.'" Well, just break my heart, why don't you??? I miss you when I'm at work, too, Nora and I absolutely adore it when you call me and we talk on the phone during the day! And I love it when I come home and you knock me over with your welcoming hugs. Although, sometimes you protest my return by hiding from me and screaming when I try to hug you. I get it, you want me to know how it felt when I left. You can be stubborn and difficult (I hear you get this from me), but you are also an expert at expressing how you feel in a very direct way (you didn't get that from me). No matter what, though, you always recover with loving words and embraces. For several months now, I've been guilty of falling asleep in your big girl bed long before you do while you read me books as part of our nightly routine! The other night, we fell asleep nose to nose and when you woke up in the morning, you came and fetched me to come back to your bed for cuddles. Your story telling, make believe play, dance routines, and conversation (and now, potty skills) have become so "grown up." It's all happening SO FAST, but you're still my little baby girl!

Elise, you don't say much, but you have so much to say! Your screeches have evolved from little raptor squeaks to full on exclamations that clearly say "hands off!" or "feed me!" or "pick me up!" When you aren't vocalizing your feelings at high volumes, you're beaming at us with your two-toothed, full body "starfish" smiles or squeezing us with your super strong, super tiny fingers. You went from just plain sitting up, to pulling yourself up to a stand, and from 360 seated spins, to kick-stand crawling halfway across the living room, all in a matter of weeks. You continue to amaze us with your early potty instincts and impress us with your copious 9-month peach fuzz and jelly rolls. Your love of apples is rivaled only by that of your big sister and you've started to show a taste for veggies as well, but you believe firmly that nothing (I repeat, NOTHING) beats mums from the tap! As I mentioned before, you can melt a groggy daddy heart through the haze of a 6 AM Sunday morning wake-up call, but you're still tough enough to hold your own when your big sister wants you to do something you're not ready for!

The two of you are already showing each other (and us) so much love and I'm sure that the battles and tears (good and bad) will only grow. And if the first 3 years of Nora and the first 9 months of seeing you both together are any indication, Naomi and I are going to have our hands full, but are guaranteed some amazing times!

I love you Nora. I love you Elise.

PS: I love you too Naomi!

Slam dunk!

2010-10-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

Nora got her first basketball hoop as a Bday present from Gpa Rex. She didn't waste any time taking it to the hole! But, first she had to get past some solid defense - foul, anyone? - from Papa...

Her first slam dunk, with some help...

And, all on her own!

Nora's biggest fans look on from the sidelines...

Nora is tall for her age, so maybe we have a basketball star on our hands!

9 months

2010-10-25T20:01:00.007-04:00

Not to be outdone by her 3 yr old sister, Elise also had a milestone over the weekend - her 9 month Birthday! Amazing that it's already been 9 months.

She is as cute as ever and has a wonderful happy spirit (with a healthy dose of sass). She is VERY close to crawling - getting up on all fours and moving her arms forward. I think we'll have another mobile girl within weeks.

She's doing so many things, I think a list is in order. So, Elise, at 9 months of age you:

1. laugh easily and have a heart meltingly beautiful smile, which you share generously with just about anyone
2. refuse to take a bottle (I had my first full day away from her yesterday and she went 9 hours without eating!), but is getting less gaggy with mushed up food and LOVE gnawing on whole apples
3. have your two bottom middle teeth (got those over a month ago) and seem to be working on some more
4. are awesome on the potty and could definitely stay clean/dry all day if I was able to really focus on it (but who the heck has the time?!)
5. have as much hair at 9 mo as Nora did at about 16 mo!
6. are probably about 20 lbs - we'll see at your next appt in a week or so
7. can pull up to your knees on your own and to standing with a little help
8. are very chatty - bababa, dadada, mamama, datdatdat, deydeydey, aaaaaa, and lot of raspberries, tongue clicks and growling
9. sleep for 12 hours a night, usually from 6-6 or 6:30-6:30...you're an early riser and, although I am not, I still very much enjoy our early mornings together, just you and me and coffee, before the rest of the house starts buzzing
10. are a complete joy to be around - your happy soul fills my cup on even the toughest days

Creative pacifier use...

Potty!

Chillin' with her big sis...

Bath time with Sylvie!

We love you!!!

Miss Nora, the 3 year old girl

2010-10-23T10:57:00.000-04:00

Dear Nora,

You are 3 today and my heart swells every time I look at you and think about how much you've grown (not to mention how much I've grown!) in your 3 short years. You are such a fascinating person and I am thankful every day (even the tough days) that you are my daughter. You are strong-willed, very funny, theatrical, extremely creative, independent, prone to silliness, careful, loyal, and loving. You possess many qualities that I've always wished I had more of, such as your immunity (seemingly) to peer pressure (you could care less when all your friends were potty training-which, by the way, you are doing great at now-you never felt rushed to go down slides or climb higher than your comfort level, even when your friends were doing it and you don't feel at all self-conscious about sitting on the sidelines and observing until you're ready to dive in)...you travel your own path and others tend to be drawn to follow you because you seem so sure of yourself. I love that about you.

Painting face...she also does this face when applying make up

You ask a lot of questions ("Is he/she nice?...to us?", "What's that?", "Why?", and "Make him/she talk!"...the last one isn't so much a question as an order) and your games are more imaginative by the day. You love playing dress up and are into all things princess, but you have a healthy balance and also love trucks and blocks and balls. You love to act out scenes from movies or books and have an amazing memory, often acting out long scenes word for word. You amaze me every day.

You are a wonderful big sister and Elise still loves to watch you sing and dance-luckily, you do both things often. I love watching the two of you together and look forward to witnessing your wonderful relationship grow and change. You inspire me and I know you will be an inspiration to Elise too as the two of you grow up together.

We had a wonderful Birthday party yesterday with an apple theme-you've said all year you wanted an "apple party", so an apple party you got! It was small-just the way you like it-and full of love. Grandpa Rex and Hilary and Sylvie came in for the weekend, which was wonderful. I just love watching you with your friends - you and Alta immediately dressed up like princesses, you and Will held hands and shared lots of hugs (and a topple off the couch that ended in some tears), and you and Fiona and Mae ran in circles like crazy girls and played a mean game of "store." I think it was a wonderful start to a fabulous 4th year.

My dear Nora, I love you more than I can express in words. I hope you always know that. You are growing up to be a beautiful, interesting and hilarious little lady and I feel so lucky to have you in my life. You will forever be the person who gave me the greatest gift of my life - being a Mama.

Bikes, chalk, dancing, pillow forts, and football, oh my!

2010-09-21T09:39:00.000-04:00

Most of you who know me know that I'm big on bikes... and baseball. So, when a local group of sustainable transportation advocates decided to host an event at Progressive Field to bring attention to the importance of complete streets, I knew the Bongornos simply had to represent! Nora & I hooked up the bike hitch and rode over the bridge to the party. Naomi & Elise (still too young for a helmet, alas) drove down and met us there.

The girls (Nora, Sofia & Fiona) loved running around in the stands - I think we had more people there for this event than the actual baseball team was drawing this season!

Nora, looking very much the big girl, checking out the hundreds of bikes in the bike corral and Bob Feller (don't worry, that's not her beer):

She loved the music and wasn't afraid to show it!

Too cool for school:

That same weekend, we went down to Yellow Springs to meet up with Eden, Eli & Violet and on to Cincinnati to meet baby Vera (congrats Rick & Les!). Sunday morning in Cincinnati, Jake was playing down in Clifton at the StreetScapes chalk festival, so we all went and Nora got to add her touch to a big piece right on Telford Avenue!

Caroline (with Julian), Les (with Vera), Sarah (with Finn), Jake, & Me (with Elise):

Moving indoors, Nora built an awesome pillow fort (ok, Naomi helped) and showed Elise the way through:

Mimi came back from Spain (and Portugal and Ireland) with lots of gifts, including this amazing flamenco dress! Nora was enjoying a "mimosa" to complete the scene:

Back to being a mommy:

Nora & Elise had some friends over (Will, Mae & Joel) for the Browns game.

They were much more into building a "hotel" than watching the game!

Let's fly a kite

2010-09-12T08:35:00.006-04:00

This Saturday was a sunny windy fall day - perfect weather for some kite flying! So, we headed down to Edgewater in the afternoon to enjoy the Kite Festival. Nora got to make her own kite and it took off fast and strong into the air with the hundreds of other kites there. It was a wonderful afternoon.

Pointing at her kite. She looks underwhelmed, but she really did have fun!

A little more animated, playing wolf attack with Papa...

Chicago and Minnesota

2010-09-08T13:55:00.008-04:00

We had a lovely long weekend full of driving, friends, love, more driving, and good food. First, we drove to Chicago and stayed in the Matteson's new digs and got to meet Violet for the first time (and they got to meet Elise)!

Nora and Eli warmed up to eachother quickly, or maybe Eli was ready to get cozy a bit sooner. :)

Violet is a cutie pie!

Nora agrees...

Elise and Violet got to know eachother better...

Then we drove to MN for Simone and John's wedding! It was a wonderful love-filled weekend. Simone had a group of her ladies (including me and Nora!) dressed in bright colors with parasols (idyllic, yeah?) "give her away", which was beautiful. And, to top it off the processional song was Beirut's "Scenic World" - Chris and my wedding song! Just wonderful.

The B sisters hamming it up in our cabin...

Then, back we drove to Chicago for some fun on the playground and more couch cuddles.

Nora seems to have conquered her fear of slides! Check out that electric hair!

Cute smiles...

Silly faces!

And, back home, Elise was so worn out she allowed me to lay her down while asleep in the Ergo, and she stayed in that exact position for almost an hour! Too cute.

7 months

2010-08-23T06:47:00.002-04:00

Miss Elise is 7 months old already! Yikes! She is so much fun these days...lots of smiling and laughing and rasberries and drool and blah blah blahing. She's a pretty solid sitter-with the occasional topple-and can roll both ways, but prefers to yell for one of us if she can't reach something or wants to move. We've been holding out on solids b/c of her sensitivies to dairy, soy and eggs (through breastmilk...yep, that means I've been dairy/soy/egg free for 4 months now) but we let her suck on random fruits and veggies and she LOVES it (see apple sucking, below). This love of fruit suckage led us to try giving her mashed banana the other day, but it ended horribly with a whole lot of puke on my lap and the floor. Gag reflex, anyone?

She's obviously not wasting away (18 1/4 lbs according to the bulk food scale!), so I'm prepared to wait until her little gagger calms down. Plus, she's becoming a "big girl" in other ways, such as sitting on the potty! Potty talk is rampant in our house these days (Nora is taking her sweet time and digging in her sweet heals when it comes to potty "training") so we started sitting Elise after naps and other random times during the day and she both loves it (great view, comfy seat, lots of praise...what's not to love?!) and has done great (usually about 2 to 4 pees a day and the random poo). Now, I know she can't physically hold her pee for a while now, but feel free to read up on Elimination Communication if you're curious.

Other than those fun milestones, Elise has been working diligently at being absolutely adorable and worming her way into the hearts of everyone she meets. Seriously, I dare you to not fall in love with this face!

Watery fun

2010-08-09T22:31:00.008-04:00

August has brought hot days and lots of watery fun for the Bongornos.

Nora loves swimming in lakes and we were lucky enough to be able to visit Matt and Corrie and Tiger up at Matt's family's Michigan lakehouse for a night. It took approximately 2 minutes for Matt to get us from the car to the jet ski where we enjoyed some good tubing and skiing. Nora liked wading, swimming in the innertube, playing with Tiger (surprisingly they settled on Nora being the mama and Tiger the baby for most of their games), and jumping from the dock best - Elise mostly sat on laps, enjoyed the view, and got in some good quality Aunt Corrie and Uncle Matt time.

Nora also enjoyed a paddle boat ride and some good old fashioned silly time with Tiger.

And, nothing says vacation like a waffle ice cream sandwich with a friend!

Back home, we inaugurated the slip n slide with much more jumping and splashing than slipping or sliding. Good times.

Celebrations!

2010-07-10T16:03:00.001-04:00

July started off with a bang (get it? bang? b/c of the fireworks generally associated with early July? yeah, I still got it...) with Chris's 32nd Birthday and a trip to YS for the 4th.

For the momentous event on the 1st we went out for pizza and ice cream in Tremont, which is always a good time.

Then we went to YS for the weekend, where we enjoyed visiting with family and seeing lots of old friends and their beautiful families at my 15th high school reunion! The picnic (see picture, below) started off lovely, then Nora burned her hand on the grill and had a complete meltdown, which is why she's not in the picture (actually, all of us with 2 kids only managed to get 1 of them into the picture...you do what you can, right?). Despite the burn (which, post-meltdown, Nora dealt with like a champ and allowed it to heal without picking at it once), it was a lot of fun to see everyone and meet their wonderful spouses and adorable kiddos.

Back home, we enjoyed some time in the pool to beat the July heat.

Elise isn't a fan of the cold water just yet, but she loves to hang out in the shade!

Elise has been getting better and better at sitting up and Nora loves to bring her toys now that she's a little more interactive. She loves this game so much, in fact, that little Elise is practically buried in toys by the end of it!

Nora's imaginative play has been amazing lately and she loves to tell elaborate stories and direct me in playing my part. Case in point, we had a lovely horse wedding in our living room the other day...she set this up all on her own...mohawk horse is the groom and the zebra is officiating. Unfortunately, the horses called the wedding off just before the "I do's" and the groom ran away with the giraffe (not pictured, for obvious reasons). It was a drama filled day.

While we love big celebrations, we also enjoy a good naked day at home!

And we love dressing up in matching head scarves and making silly faces. :)

Favorites

2010-06-25T22:57:00.007-04:00

We have so many cute pictures from the past month that I just haven't had a chance to post. So, here goes:

Nora, as "thinking princess", "curtsy princess" and "happy princess":

Nora is really into Play-doh lately and almost exclusively wants me to make birdies while she makes them nests (nestesses). Here, she's lining them all up for Elise to see:

Bathtime fun! I can't wait until Elise is big enough for them to really be able to splash around together, but here's their first ever dual bath. Good times.

Nora is quite the green thumb. She loves watering the gardens and weeding and regularly samples the greens (adorable - before picking she holds her hand on the leaf and looks up with a shy smile and a "please?"). Here she is helping me plant our 2nd round of carrots:

My super sweet girls...

Nora made herself and Elise matching crowns.

While sporting her crown (she always wears it a bit cocked to one side), Nora shows off 1st and 2nd positions:

The crew, at Parade the Circle:

She carried her baby all the way to the coffee shop and back. Such a good mama.

Turn around for one second and the girl's painted a 1/2 sleeve!

Nora's been working on potty training for a few weeks and Elise is very proud of her...here's some proof:

5 months

2010-06-23T23:58:00.004-04:00

Our Elise is 5 months old. Woah. I cannot imagine our family without her. She is hilarious these days...hilarious and soulful, at the same time. She and Nora share those old soul eyes that seem like they're looking through you.

At 5 months Elise has rolled over front to back and back to front, although she seems happy to have tackled the milestone and somewhat uninterested in repeating it. She's a happy happy little lady and smiles easily at new people. She's also happy to be passed around to various friends and admirers, which is something her big sister was never a fan of. She has a teensy bit of fuzz on her noggin and more than one chub roll on her thighs. :) She's amazing.

My dear Elise, you are a joy. We love you very much.

Here she is each month since birth:

Born!

1 month

2 months!

3 months

4 months

And, 5 months...what a cutie!

And, these I just couldn't pass up...from a few days after her official 5 month mark:

The Entertainer

2010-06-22T22:18:00.001-04:00

Nora has always had a flair for performance - she loves to sing and dance - but her love of the stage has greatly expanded since the birth of her #1 fan. Elise LOVES IT when Nora sings and dances...really, she loves it when Nora does just about anything but especially the singing and dancing. When Nora becomes a Broadway star (or prima ballerina) I think she'll have Elise to thank for solidifying her love of all things theatric. Too cute.

Here she is giving us a show on the front porch. Check out Elise's little face:

Waaaay down low:

Full on belly laugh:

And, live action:

Happy Father's Day...again!

2010-06-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

And, some pictures from the Goodtime...

And, walking back to the cars after the boat ride...

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T22:28:00.008-04:00

We had such a busy Father's Day (breakfast, fun, and yard work followed by a trip on the Goodtime and dinner at Johnny Mango), so I didn't get a chance to post this. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Chris and his girls over the last 2 1/2 years:

I feel so incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful Papa for my amazing girls. Chris is full of love for his children and tells them all the time how special they are to him - it melts me each time I hear/see it.

I was lucky to grow up with a Dad who is generous with his love, always honest (even when we didn't want to hear it!), open minded, and accepting of his kids as individuals. I know that Nora and Elise will be just as lucky to know that their Papa will always be there for them and loves them for who they are - not who he wants them to be. That is a gift.

We love you Chris! Happy Father's Day to my Dad and Chris's Dad as well - we're so lucky to have you!

Happy Birthday Gpa Rex (Dad)!!!

2010-06-10T09:13:00.003-04:00

Too cute to post just one...

We love you!!!

Unintentional choreography

2010-06-05T16:16:00.002-04:00

Funny girls making nearly identical faces unintentionally (or is it?). Oh, and Elise is big/strong enough for her exersaucer, which she loves!

Ok, this one doesn't really fit the pattern, but Nora's face is so hilarious I had to include it.

YS - Cincinnati

2010-05-30T10:26:00.008-04:00

Last weekend we had our first post-Elise trip to Yellow Springs and even hopped down to Cincinnati to visit the Peirsons and celebrate Julian's 1st Birthday. It was a great trip - both girls were fabulous with all the driving and had fun seeing everyone.

On the way down we got stuck in a horrible traffic jam, turning the normally 3-hour drive into 5-hours. N & E were so good, so we stopped at the Corner Cone (I still call it the Tastee Freeze) when we got into town to get celebratory cones and slushies. Good stuff.

Nora had to get in a quick work out to burn off all that ice cream (you can see some of the left overs on her shirt)...

The next morning, Nora and Mimi treated us to a little duet...

We then headed down to Cincinnati, where Elise got to get some cuddles with Aunt Hilary...

And, meeting Miss Sylvie!

Chris juggling two cuties...

We get to borrow the Bumbo for a bit! Elise loves it...

Funny girls...

Then, on to Julian's party. Here, Caroline mans the gift station and Nora sits next to her new big girl friend...that girl sure does love "big girls" (anyone over the age of 4 will do)...

Chatty Cathy...

Birthday boy!

And, back in YS, me and Elise heading up for bed...

Elise Evelyn spending some quality time w/ the original Evelyn...

Old blue eyes and young blue eyes...

Nora loves her some Uncle Deets...

Back home, Nora found success with her newly learned hand-as-visor trick to spot an airplane...

And, she ran ran ran...

Summertime

2010-05-27T12:07:00.006-04:00

First of all, today is 3 years since Chris and I got married. What a busy 3 years its been! Busy and wonderful and challenging and fun and hilarious and surprising. I can't wait to see what the next 3 years bring...and the next 3...and the next...etc. I love you.

The days of sweat and sunscreen have begun and I'm loving sitting in the backyard with my girls while Nora makes up endless games in her pool and waters all the plants to excess (tasting all the edible ones as she goes after asking "Mama, please can I eat this? With a cherry on top?") and Elise lays on a blanket being adorable.

I'm really looking forward to this summer. Nora's hair is bleaching out blond and those killer blue eyes against her sunkissed cheeks are to die for. She's as creative as ever and says some of the most hilarious and smart things - like this morning when she called Elise a "little pooper" in her cute adult high baby-talk voice; or the other day when she told Chris and I "Don't worry. It's all a part of life" as we were bickering about something silly in the car; and just listening to her pronounce swimming pool - fwimmin poo - cracks me up. And I can't even imagine all the new things to come in Elise-land over the next few months...this is the time when they learn a new amazing feat just about daily. She's already fully discovered her hands and the joy of grabbing things and bringing them to her little mouth. She's very close to rolling over and just as close to sitting up on her own. She talks a lot and loudly and really enjoys spitting and making raspberries. So fun.

We seem to have found our zone this month and I'm really having fun as a mom of 2. Watching their relationship develop is so amazing...I cry happy tears daily just looking at them. Of course we have our challenging moments, but all in all life is really good!

Now, on to the pictures...

Elise's little toes are painted pink...Nora insisted.

Talkin', droolin', smilin', and spittin'...

Pool day!

Nora's arabesque (check out the pointed toes!)...

Papa B's Spring 2010 Update

2010-05-16T09:38:00.014-04:00

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:

Cutie pies

2010-05-13T11:44:00.003-04:00

My little ladies - same age, same shirt, same bald head, but different in just about every other way!

Happy Mother's Day!

2010-05-09T21:09:00.001-04:00

We had a lovely Mother's Day weekend with my Mom (Mimi) and Grandparents. It's cold and rainy again in Cleveland, which will just make us appreciate the summer weather all the more when it returns. For Mother's Day I got to sleep in (by myself! laying in whatever position I wanted w/out having to worry about the other little bodies in the bed!), had delicious Chris-made pancakes, did a good bit of gardening (got all our veggies in their beds), and didn't have to change one diaper. Ahhhh...

Getting a "haircut" from my biggest little...

Miss Elise was getting a ride from Papa, so she didn't get in this shot:

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Bday Grandma Mimi!

2010-04-27T20:47:00.006-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend in Mohican State Park to celebrate Mimi's Bday (the big 6-0!). Also in attendance were Gma and Gpa Sikes, Deets, Bull and Heather, and Becky (from Seattle) and Debby (from Florida). This was our first overnight trip w/ Elise and we had a great time. The girls were absolutely wonderful.

I have so much to catch up on, so expect some back-dated posts soon. :) April was a big month! Thanks for being patient with us.

I have no idea what happened just prior to this picture, but it looks like it might have been stinky!

On our Saturday hike. Nora was AWESOME and walked about 1/2 of the steep .5 mile portion.

Elise was also amazing and happily looked around and listened to the birds the whole walk.

Ah, nothing like some private time in nature...

12 weeks and 2 1/2 years

2010-04-17T17:15:00.000-04:00

Our little sweetie is already 12 weeks old! And, our bigger sweetie celebrates her half Bday on the 23rd. What a month.

Elise is smiling a lot, and still crying a good deal. Evenings seem to be the hardest, but she's happy as a clam in the morning. Nice to have at least one morning person in the family. :) She LOVES watching Nora play and will sit happily in my lap watching her sister dance or make up stories with her toys. She's still an enthusiastic spitter upper, but is gaining weight like a champ, so all agree it's just a laundry issue at this point. She's enjoys any one-on-one attention and is a pro at repeating certain noises, such as gurgles and goos and decending aaahhh's...so adorable. I gave up dairy, soy and eggs and switched soaps and her rash has gone away. Now we'll start slowly adding some back in one by one to find the true culprit/s. She definitely keeps me on my toes!

This past month with Elise has definitely tipped the scale of bliss v. stress much more toward bliss. Her smiles and early laughs are like a magnet...I just can't look away and want to sit all day and kiss those little rose petal lips. I'm definitely addicted.

Our Nora has continued her beautiful balance of heart melting sweetness and infuriating stubborness just like any self-respecting 2 1/2 year old. When that girl digs her heals in we have to pull out every trick in the book (pretending to be animals who [fill in the blank with random self-care measures such as baths or brushing teeth], bribing with candy, having her toys "talk" to ask for things, and lots of counting and singing songs) to get her to do what we want. It's exhausting, but oh so rewarding when you suddenly break through the wall and see that shy smile followed by a helpful girl. Other times I just end up washing the hands of a thrashing toddler ending up with a wet and soapy bathroom. Ahhhhh.

On the heart melting sweetness side of things, she is very generous with her I love you's and randomly comes out with a "You're a good Mama/Papa" or even "You're the best Mama/Papa in. the. world". Last month Nora told Chris: "Papa, I'll always be your buddy. I'll always be your cantaloupe." Hah! She's amazingly sweet with Elise during car trips and now that Elise can look over and see Nora, it actually does help. She sings (recently coming out with this little medly: "hush a by, don't you cry, mama will buy you a bird in the treetop") and she often tells Elise "it's ok, we're here" and sometimes she's exasperated just like us - a few weeks ago she dramatically begged "Elise, would you puh-lease be quiet?! I need you to be quiet!". Too cute. And, just one more, I promise...a few weeks ago at the dinner table she was resting her head in her hand so I asked her if she was tired, she said in a dreamy breathy voice "No. I'm just thinking about the day" and proceeded to explain that she was just thinking "about dressing up". So, now we all go around the table at dinner with an I'm thinking about the day moment. A nice tradition, I think.

She cracks me up on a daily basis and gives the most adorable smile when she knows she's done something funny. The other day she asked me, "Mama, do I make you happy?" (ok, I guess that was the last one). The answer, obviously, is a resounding YES!

Nothing like some chocolate milk and a banana on a chilly day!

cuties

2010-04-09T11:42:00.002-04:00

Just a quick post with some recent pictures I wanted to get in.

Sorry this one's a bit dark, but it was too cute to pass up:

Elise loves to sit up on the couch and watch all the action. What a big girl!

This is Nora's artistic rendering of our trip to the Lake County Farm Park earlier in the day. There are cows, pigs, goats, elephants (?), and lots of rain (although it didn't rain when we were there, she explained the rain is for the animals to drink...so smart).

So kissable! She really loves to look at herself in the mirror these days.

CBG

2010-04-08T09:26:00.003-04:00

The girls and I took a nice trip to see the orchids at the Botanical Gardens. Nora had her "museum face" on the whole time (a mix of seriousness, fear, timidity, and a bit of intelligent appreciation) but she let out some smiles w/ her new bumble bee toy during lunch. Elise slept.

Getting warmer

2010-04-05T11:23:00.002-04:00

We had a nice burst of warm weather this week and took advantage of it by being outside as much as possible.

First, the girls and I spent the day outside. Nora decided she wanted to try going bare bum and peeing/pooping in her potty, so I obliged and ended up with one pee in the potty, one on the porch and a poop on the driveway! Baby steps... That evening, we met up with friends at Fairview Park for some dinner and playtime. Nora chased Will W around the whole time and he later declared he was going to marry her. Adorable.

Sisters

2010-03-28T19:48:00.006-04:00

It's REALLY hard to keep up with the blog lately! So sorry. Elise is getting cuter and cuter - smiling a lot and making adorable noises (including some early laughs). She also has a pretty bad case of baby acne or eczema - just like her sister. But, she's still cute as can be! Here are some pics of our girls...

Elise had sneezed, so Nora was burping her. Too cute.

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-18T22:29:00.002-04:00

As usual, we walked with UCI in the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Nora loved seeing the horses and dogs and dancers and floats. This year, she walked almost the whole way, which was especially impressive b/c they rushed us through so fast she had to run for at least a couple blocks! Elise and I road on the bus for a bit at the beginning so she could nurse, but we finished strong. Too bad her cute outfit was all covered up by sling and blanket.

Live action!

2010-03-02T11:31:00.003-05:00

You want some live action footage of the babies bongorno? You got it!

Here's Nora, Mimi, Papa and Elise dancin' away to some Barry White:

And, Elise looking cute and chunky:

5 weeks

2010-02-27T21:54:00.008-05:00

Our little Elise weighed in at 10 lbs at her Dr.'s appt this past Thursday (2 days before 5 weeks)! She nurses round the clock, so I guess it's not such a surprise, but I still couldn't quite believe she'd gained that much weight that fast. She's also started smiling more often (especially on the changing table) and making adorable cooing and gaga noises. Too cute.

We had a good week. More later. For now, here are some cute pictures!

Nora, on the left, and Elise, on the right, both at 4 weeks - they measured the same size (20.5 inches), but I think we may have inadvertently given Elise an extra 1/2 inch or so. These pictures say a lot about their personalities - when experiencing something new Nora tends to be shy and look away while Elise lets everyone know how she's feeling!

And, some adorable faces of Elise, from this afternoon. What a cutie!

And, a picture of Nora at the same age b/c it's too hard not to compare them!

4 weeks

2010-02-22T14:04:00.007-05:00

Well, I've been writing the 3 week post for the past week and now it's time for the 4 week post. We've been busy...having fun, changing diapers, dealing with melt downs, getting to know our new daughter and the new sides of our not so new daughter, and trying to enjoy and appreciate as much of it as we can.

Needless to say, it's been much more challenging w/out live-in help, but I feel like we're getting into the swing of things. Elise doesn't yet have any kind of predictable schedule, which is hard, and she cries a lot more than Nora did, which is harder, but Nora has definitely been the more challenging of the two. She's been MUCH more sensitive lately, which is equal parts annoying and heartbreaking and has been testing her limits much more than usual, which is mostly just annoying (although completely understandable). We've completely given up on potty training and actually decided to not even mention the potty for a week or so to give her back control over one thing. We've also stopped saying "you need to ____" after we noticed her repeating "I don't need to...I don't need to" when she was upset. Poor thing. As difficult as this has been for her, however, she doesn't ever take it out on Elise - every morning she says "I need to see baby Elise" and tells her she loves her; she holds her little hand to cheer her up during diaper changes; she talks about how cute/pretty Elise is; and she's (almost) always very gentle. I try to tell her every day how proud I am of her and that I know it's hard sometimes. These little ladies are very lucky to have such wonderful sisters.

So much to say, so little time...I'll just jump right to the pictures.

Cute little 4 week old girl...

Strong strong neck...

With Gma and Gpa B...

She's getting chunkier by the day!

Pretty girl...

Nora got all fancied up...

Nora's been very good at playing by herself while Elise nurses. She even makes her dolls and stuffed animals talk back and forth to each other. So cute.

The key to our days is getting Nora to nap and, so far, a walk in the stroller is the least stressful way to do that (even if it's cold and slushy out). The results from our first weekday walk...success!

On Saturday we spent the morning at the Zoo - Elise slept through most of it...

Nora loved the monkeys...

...especially this mama giving her baby mums. Zoos can be so fun, but so sad.

Watching a sleeping otter...

And, having some lunch before heading home Elise woke up and was mesmerized by the ceiling...

Sleepy Bongorno family...

Later that afternoon Elise finally got to meet her Great Gma!

3 weeks

2010-02-14T13:57:00.009-05:00

Once again, this past week has flown by while Nora and Elise continue to amaze us and make us laugh (and yawn).

Nora's highlights:

I think she's gained about a pound (up to 27ish lbs) since the reintroduction of breastmilk into her diet.
We recently discovered the true extent to which she's memorized her favorite books by allowing her to complete sentences while we're reading - she's a pro.
She says "like just ___" instead of "just like ___"...really cute
She completes about 60% of her sentences with "all around the town!" whether it's appropriate to the story or not, such as: "I want peanut butter sandwiches for lunch all around the town!"...it's 10x more adorable when paired w/ her excited voice and expressive arms.
She LOVES puppets! If we can't get her to do something (ie, feeding her food, picking out her clothes, cleaning up messes, you name it!) there's about an 80% chance that one of her puppets can convince her. It's a handy trick!
If left to her own devices, I think she would watch the movie "Happy Feet" all day every day for the next year or so.

Elise's highlights:

We've dubbed her the "baby velociraptor" b/c of the hilarious noise she makes when sleepy stretching - it sounds exactly like the velociraptors from Jurassic Park...
According to our scale she's a little over 8 lbs!
She still spits up more than Nora did, but has the occasional one outfit day here and there.
She's a good nighttime sleeper - she's been getting up one to three times most nights and usually just nurses and goes right back to sleep.
Daytime sleeping is still up in the air - she's been known to sleep most of the day, being up in the evening, but she likes to mix it up sometimes by staying awake all day (w/ some catnaps) and falling asleep right before Chris gets home. I, obviously, prefer the former, but when did my opinion ever matter?
She grew out of her first outfit! Big girl.

All in all, we're doing well although I must admit that parenting 2 kiddos is a little more difficult than I'd expected! Plenty of love to go around, but I wish I had more arms and another lap!

Day 19 of "The Girls"

2010-02-11T12:06:00.006-05:00

It's been a wild 2 1/2 weeks so far. Elise is getting more alert during waking time and has settled into somewhat of a loose schedule (awake in the morning, sleepy all afternoon, awake in the evening, and nighttime is anyone's guess) this past week. She's adorable and Nora continues to be amazing. She's a wonderful helper and has been very patient and adaptable. When Elise cries she often goes to her and holds her hand and tells her "it's ok, we're all here". So cute. Elise is getting chunkier by the day and her eyes are slowly becoming a lighter shade of beautiful blue. She's also been gracing us with at least a couple heartmelting smiles each day - who knows if they're gas or "real smiles", but they sure do make me smile for real!

My dad is here this week, so next week will be my first full week alone with "the girls"! Yikes. I'm actually somewhat looking forward to it - we're going to have to figure it all out sooner or later, so it might as well be sooner, right?

Sisters...

Nora, making sure we do it right and Elise giving a hint of a smile...

Silly faces from the dollhouse...

Wha?!

Sleepytime...

Nora in "the outhouse"...she sits in there for a LONG time telling stories and singing...

Can you tell which is which?

One week!

2010-01-29T13:44:00.008-05:00

Miss Elise is one week old today. Wow. It's been a wonderful week - I (as well as Nora) will really miss having Chris home when he goes back to work next week. Luckily, I'll have my mom and then my dad here for extended stays and Chris's mom around to help, so it will still be a couple weeks before I'm truly home alone w/ the two munchkins. I can't really imagine it.

Elise is a joy. She sleeps a lot, but not nearly as much as Nora did. So far, she has a few awake/alert stages each day that last anywhere from one to three hours during which she mostly wants to nurse. Unfortunately, she's a bit of a spitter upper so all that cluster nursing generally leads to many costume changes and clean ups. Hopefully as she gets bigger and as my milk supply evens out (it's haywire right now, with both girls nursing and the inevitable immediate postpartum over supply) she'll be able to keep the good stuff down. Until then, we're going to have to invest in some more bibs.

She's also been a good night sleeper, so far. She had a few nights of longer 5 to 6 hour sleep stretches, but she seems to have settled into a two to three wakings every two to three hour schedule. Fine by me. Nora doesn't seem at all confused about why Elise can nurse at night when she has to wait until the morning - hopefully that will last.

Nora has been great. She's definitely testing her limits a bit, but has been very gentle with Elise and very patient when she wants something from me and needs to wait a bit for it. She's such a sweetheart. I've had a handful of hormonal cries just looking at Nora and realizing that she's not my little baby anymore (tearing up right now just typing it).

I should post this before one of the angels wakes up. :)

So, some pictures:

Nora, reading...with crazy post-nap hair:

Such a good big sister:

Uncle Deets came to visit Monday and Tuesday - Nora was very excited.

Elise was also excited, but she has a better game face so it's hard to tell.

So tiny...

Elise has dimples, just like her big sis!

Funny hat...

Touchdown!

Sleeping with one eye open. You can never be too careful...

Girl's got style...

Elise, with Aunt Jen...

Nora, all geared up to go out in the cold...so cute.

Grandpa Rex, Uncle Bull and Heather are visiting this weekend - hopefully we'll post pictures soon!

Elise Evelyn Bongorno

2010-01-25T12:00:00.008-05:00

Miss Elise made her grand entrance on Saturday, Jan 23rd at 8:30am. Like her sister, she was born at home, but she made quite sure that her birth was uniquely hers! After 3 hours of fast and intense labor (3 3/4 hours after my water broke) our wonderful midwife caught her (literally...I was standing/squatting next to our bed with Chris holding me up and Elise shot right out!) before we could get the birth pool set up and before my mom or our doula (Melissa) could get there (they both arrived within an hour)! Phew. Elise was 6 pounds10 ounces, 19 and 1/2 inches long. She was pink with a touch of dark hair and she nursed like a champ from the start!

Big sister Nora slept through the first 2.5 hours and woke up just as Grandma B arrived to play with her. Nora was a good little doula herself, helping with a few contractions before Grandma B made it upstairs. I could hear her giggling and reading in the bathroom, which was a wonderful thing to focus on as the contractions got stronger.

Moments after birth, Chris brought Nora upstairs to meet the baby. This photo was taken by Grandma B 5 minutes after Elise was born:

We opened the curtains to let the sun in and Melissa captured a few great shots:

Nora was very eager to hold Baby Elise and she was immediately a natural, gentle big Sister:

Grandma B held Elise while Nora got her first mums as a big sister:

Elise was calm and alert from the start:

She is clearly a genius
Nora made red velvet birthday cupcakes downstairs with Grandma B & Mimi:

Nora checking Elise's umbilical cord:

Downstairs for the first time: