andninamakesthree

[andninamakesthree]

Empire Beach Photos

[andninamakesthree]

Newsletter: 2 Years

Dear Nina, 

We kept you alive for 2 whole years!  We did it!  Your birthday celebration was spread out over a few days.  We stuck to your normal routine but added in cake and cupcakes.  With a number of surprise gifts from relatives and friends and Easter being so close to your birthday, you had a solid week of presents.

We realized it may have been too many days of presents when you you asked “Where’s presents?” at breakfast the morning after Easter.

By your third birthday celebration of the week, you were underwhelmed and just wanted to know when the singing would end and you could eat a cupcake.

One of your early birthday presents was a little trampoline - this toy was actually recommended by the doctor to strengthen your ankles.  Besides being great for your little ankles, this toy has also opened up new ways for you to get rid or some extra energy and take your dancing and jumping to literally new heights.

I know every parent says that their child grows fast, but your father and I are amazed at how quickly you’ve learned to talk in more complex phrases and complete sentences in the last few months.

Your father (usually referred to as “DAAAAH-da”) has been your north star for the past few months, driving you to child friendly activities and parks all over town.

And your Dada makes sure you spend a great deal of time outside, rain or shine.  You have put your rain suit and rain boot combo to the test - you managed to stay warm and dry until you sat down in a puddle for several minutes with your legs extended in front of you.  

When it comes to the dogs, it would be an understatement to say that you like them.  At night when we say goodnight to you, we’ve been coaching you to say, “I love you mama” or “I love you dada” - when asked if you love mama or dada, you usually giggle and say “I love...Max, Kacie and Cleo.” 

We caught you snuggling with Cleo on her dog bed, you constantly ask about the dogs, and one day you even followed the dogs into their kennel.

Cleo seems to put up with almost any toddler abuse and Kacie is happy either licking you or barreling directly into you.  Max is the most curmudgeon-y of the bunch and ironically he is the one you ask about the most.

You choose to show your love for the dogs by putting rocks in their water, offering them some of your food, feeding the leaves, petting/hitting them, and charming them with your siren calls of, “Cleeeeeooooo, where are youuuuuuuuuuu?”

Your dada has developed a solid routine for you that includes many lunch outings - the two of you are regulars at Bud’s in Interlochen.  This was the month of the kid’s meal burger - filling bellies of children everywhere.  You continue to be a good restaurant companion and are happy to draw with crayons when available.  You are mostly shy out in public, but if you take a shine to a new person, you show it by being very chatty right away.

This was also the month of your first bike.  You’ve enjoyed riding on a seat on the back of your father’s bike and you enjoy pointing out “bicycles!” when we are out and about.  You first tried riding a balance bike at a kid expo event.  You are taking baby steps with the bike - we are still working on getting you to sit on the seat when you “ride” it.  

You and dada have taken advantage of some nicer weather to take a few bike rides.  You will point out all the interesting things along the way, remind dada to be “careful” of cars and campaign for stops at available swings or play structures.  Your dada says appreciates the little pats you give him during the ride, especially on uphill climbs.

This time you’ve gotten to spend one-on-on with your dada has been invaluable.  The two of you are quite the pair and your bond is very strong.  In fact, your father’s biggest worry is not how he will handle his new fancy Comcast job but how the two of you will cope without each other during the day. 

After working dresses into your sartorial choices last month, you started to show more of an interest in accessories and playing with costumes.  You like to point out that the dogs are wearing necklaces, I’ve caught you trying to steal my wedding rings off my hand, and you’ve started to “wear” many items such as dishtowels, your parent’s clothes, and scraps of fabric.  

Recently when you saw your parents dressed up in a suit and dress, you called the outfits our “costumes” - this may have more to do with the fact that your parents dress like hermits who rarely leave the house or hang out in any kind of group situation that doesn’t involve toddlers.  Maybe that is because we are adults who rarely leave our forest abode unless it is to attend events where the guests are mainly toddlers. 

Along with increased communication skills and improved climbing and jumping, your play has also become more complex - you’ve had a dollhouse for a while, but this is the first time you’ve started playing with all the parts together.  We’ve caught you putting the dolls to sleep and singing the ABCs to them.  Until recently, you were only interested in identifying the different dolls (mama, dada, baby) or examining the individual pieces of furniture.  

You are also starting to call out individual numbers and letters - recently I was reading you a book and you said, “OOOOO, a NUMBER 5!!!”  We’ve spent time identifying different numbers and letters. In looking at numbers and letters through your eyes, I’ve realized that a number 4 does look quite a bit like the letter A.

We’ve started to talk up Colorado - we’ve talked about all the new and exciting things that you will get to experience.  The reality of the move hasn’t quite sunk in yet and we are very sad to leave our home in the woods but long term, it is a great opportunity (plus we can finally get some decent Indian and Mexican food on the reg).

The best part of 2 years old is getting to see you develop from a baby into an actual little person with a wide range of interests from music to women’s basketball to fishing to drawing.  So far 2 years old is a grand time!

Love, 

Your Mama and Dada

[andninamakesthree]

2 Year Birthday Celebrations

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Annual Tradition: Birthday Confetti Photo Shoot

Let’s take a little trip down memory lane and take a quick look at last year’s confetti photos:

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First Beach Day 2017

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Official 23 Month Portraits

These photos were brought to you by Mint Oreo cookies.

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Official 22 Month Portraits

Now that Nina is action-y she is much harder to catch on film.  

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Official 20 and 21 Month Portraits!

Super belated!  Momma got a new job!  The camera flash ran out of batteries!

[andninamakesthree]

Newsletter: 21 Months

Dear Nina, 

This month was a bit rough.  You experienced your first stomach bug, your first dogsled ride (more on that in another post), and your first nights away from momma (to be honest that last one was probably rougher on me than you). 

This was also the month that your dada took charge and made the decision that it was finally time for you to wean from breastfeeding - this was after you threw some major tantrums when “mean momma” wouldn’t let you nurse.  Weaning is still a work in progress.

As your vocabulary continues to grow exponentially, you’ve started to string together multiple words and speak in short sentences.  Although a passerby may not understand what you are saying, we do...and so does Cleo.  Here is a video of you telling Cleo to “Come here!” before you shut her in the laundry room:

You have developed a solid grasp of colors - your favorites seem to be blue, green, orange and purple.  Yellow is still hard to say and from time to time you deliberate whether a color is pink or red.  

Since colors were such a success, we’ve moved onto shapes.  You definitely know circles, hearts, and starts.

We’ve had consistent snow so you’ve gotten a lot of exposure to hiking, snowshowing, dogsledding, ice fishing, sledding, and other winter activities.

You were a champ during an afternoon of ice fishing on Long Lake in Benzie County.  I think the snacks and stately sled rides kept you going for several hours.

But the true champ of winter activities has been your introduction to live hockey.  You’d watched it on tv with your dada but nothing prepared you for the real thing - you are a hockey addict and your dada feeds your addiction with weekend hockey games and snacks.  You received a blue puck at your last game from the game mascot and it is currently your most treasured possession - you will stop several times each day and reference your “blue puck.”

Seriously, I took you on a sleigh ride behind a pony - A PONY - and you were unimpressed.  We got home and you asked for hockey. You were more excited by the dog that came with the pony and the sleigh than the actual pony.

How could you not enjoy this pony ride?  Granted the video didn’t capture the moment where the pony made a giant poop, but I hope that wasn’t the reason you didn’t want a second pony ride:

Through all our hikes and snowshoe outings, your dad has carried you - you are a lot heavier than last winter so sometimes we stop and take breaks (or really we stop and give dada a break).

Here you are in the throes of your first stomach bug.  We came home after a pleasant hike and you seemed a bit cranky.  While sitting on the couch on my lap, you had your first projectile vomit experience and immediately started to cry.  The horrible thing about being sick when you are little is that you have no idea what is happening with your body and that it is normal and will pass.

You had a rough two days of throwing up on both your parents but still managed to sleep the entire night both nights.  You spent a solid amount of time napping in your momma’s arms.  You were able to rally before we drove to the Upper Peninsula to celebrate your dada’s birthday with two snowshoe hikes (one lit by lanterns) and a 10 mile sled dog adventure.  Strangely, you did not sleep at all the first night we were in the U.P.

The stomach bug made you regress back to constant nursing and tantrums if you weren’t allowed to nurse.  Your dada sent me away for three nights to reset your routine and develop some new habits - although it was hard for me to be away, the two of you had a grand time filled with hockey, VASA races, and lots and lots of blueberries and donuts.

This picture is NOT an accurate representation about how you feel about your dada and outdoor activities - it’s just really funny:

With Love, 

Your Mom

[andninamakesthree]

Don’s Birthday Trip 2017

For Don’s birthday (or Dada as he is often referred to around these parts), we took a weekend trip to the Upper Peninsula near Tequanomen Falls.  We did two snowshoe hikes include a night hike that was lit by lanterns and split driving duties for a 10 mile sled dog ride.   Nina did not drive the sled this year, but she did manage to take a decent nap on the sled.

[andninamakesthree]

Newsletter: 20 Months

Dear Nonnie (aka Nina),

Month 20 was the month of “NO!”, naked baby, and “NOW!” - the good news is that toddlers are still cute even when yelling "No!” and "Now!” while naked.

This month you got the hang of the concept of possessive proper nouns - a typical conversation with you goes something like this:

Nina: Boots! Nonnee boots! Dada boots! Mama boots!

Sometimes the dogs even get to be part of the fun:

Nina: Cleo eyes! Mama eyes! Dada eyes! BABY EYES!

Unfortunately this is also the month of the tantrum.  Your father has shown enormous patience with your tantrums, especially when they start due to be overtired or the fact that your “mean mama” won’t let you nurse.  

You are your father’s child in many ways (height, love of breakfast sausage) and on of the most striking similarities is you love for hockey.  The love affair started when you saw televised hockey while hanging out with your dad before your bath - once you saw your first live hockey game the infatuation grew. We attended a girls’ hockey tournament at the Traverse City Civic Arena.

In hindsight, small town sporting events are tailor made for toddlers - there are snacks, music, shouting, places to run around, and often a costumed mascot.

This month was also your first live show - this photo is misleading as it is outside Joe Louis Arena.  We were NOT attending a hockey game; we were seeing Ovo, the Cirque du Soleil show.  You was a trooper and seemed to enjoy the show - you did require a constant stream of snacks, jumping between each parent’s lap, and a little bit of snuggling.  We weren’t able to take photos during the show because your mama is stickler for the no photos in the theater rule.

You had a jam packed Christmas - after your Christmas Eve Cirque show, you powered through several hours of an Amboyer/Barnwell family dinner, followed by a full day of opening presents at Grandma and Grandpa Amboyer’s and with Grandma Diane, Uncle Willie, Uncle Adam, and Aunt Shannon.

You understood the concept of opening presents but lost interest quickly once the wrapping paper was destroyed.  At one point, you were very excited about a group of presents because Santa was pictured on the paper, however they were not your presents.

You are starting to develop very specific tastes and obsessions.  For instance, you love these boots and often refuse to take them off (or put them on the wrong feet).  I think your love of these boots also jumpstarted a new set of fine motor skills.  In fact, these boots are probably the reason we end up with a naked baby.  

Speaking of mornings and evenings, they work best when you stick to a routine.  In the morning, when you wake up, you expect to nurse, then ask use to take off your sleep sack by saying, “Sack OFF!”, then run around briefly in the dark before asking for the light to be turned on, and then removing your pajamas, sitting on the potty for under 5 seconds, before we get you dressed and lure you downstairs with the promise of sausages and getting to see Cleo the dog.

At night, your routine is potty, bath, children’s ibuprofen (if you are teething), teeth brushing, pajamas, sack, books, nursing, and nap.  We have been spending bath time going over numbers, colors, listing your different relatives, and when needed - discussing the order your bath time routine. For about a week, you insisted upon going through the list of all the things that you would be doing after your bath.

Your play routines have become more complex.  You’ve added coloring and drawing with crayons to your daily routine as well as playing in your tent aka “Nonee’s house.”  You spend time with your dolly and your very chatty Elmo - one afternoon you set up the scene captured in the above photo.  You told use that Elmo and dolly were taking a nap - we were concerned there had been some toy on toy crime that ended tragically.

Books are still the champion of all the toys.  You received a lot of toys for Christmas - puzzles, balls, clothes, a set of chunky wood screws and screwdriver, a set of wood food that velcros together so you can “cut” it apart with a wooden knife, sewing cards, a rocking horse, fabric tent, and many, many books.

You have taken several hikes this winter while riding in a hiking pack on your father’s back.  We celebrated 2017 with a New Year’s Day hike.  You are the least enthused member of the hiking party - it’s highly possible you were napping.

As you can see, you are always well prepared for the weather.  You have an impressive array of baby cold weather gear.

You continue to have an eagle eye for swings.  You let out a baby banshee wail when you spot swings over a block away, even in freezing cold weather.  We’ve learned the hard way that swings are often put away for the winter in Northern Michigan so our new rule is that we never promise swings ahead of time.

Don’t worry kid, only four more months of winter.

Love, 

Your Mom

[andninamakesthree]

Belated 2016 Santa Photos

Nina’s visit to Santa this year was at the Woodmere Public Library.  This year was a much better visit than last year as there was no screaming, just general suspicion.  Although the photos don’t reflect this, Nina was obsessed with Santa after this visit and the accompanying story time session.  Any man over 40 with a decent beard (and usually a hat) is now referred to as Santa.

[andninamakesthree]

Nina’s First Haircut

Nina’s first haircut was at the Verve Salon in Traverse City.  She didn’t want to sit on the booster seat so she ended up sitting on my lap and watching Sesame Street on an iPad (which allowed me to snap a few pictures):

As soon as the haircut was done, she wanted to leave and kept saying “All done, all done!”  The stylist was very patient and kind - Nina just wasn’t in the mood so early in the morning for any kind of socializing.

Since Nina wasn’t a fan of the blowdryer, we haven’t styled her hair since - but she is willing to get a little bit of styling product added to her hair now.

[andninamakesthree]

Newsletter: 19 Months

Dear Nina or Non-neee,

First things first, sometimes you will write up a whole letter and then your computer will freeze and then several days will pass before you can muster up the stamina to open Tumblr again.

Also, sometimes your toddler will decide to change their name without telling you.  For months, your father and I have been asking you to say your name - for months you would only say that you are the “baby.”  A few weeks ago, you stated to say “Non-neeeee” after we told you that your name was Nina.  It took a few tries before we realized that you were actually saying your name.  Now you even correct use now and then.  

This was also the month you decided you love pasta - in fact, I’m embarrassed to admit how many meals this month consisted of pasta.  The good news is you still like to eat other things as long as they are preceded by an appetizer of buttered pasta.

This was also the month that Nina and Cleo celebrated their growing love through the sharing of food.

Your 19th month took us to Covington, KY and Cincinnati, OH to visit your Aunt Shannon and Uncle Adam for Thanksgiving.  Although you generally do ok on long drives, it was nice to have some entertainment back up in the form of Grandma Diane on the drive through Ohio.  

You are in a bit of a clingy phase so it took you a while to warm up to everyone, although it seems some follow-up Facetime sessions are helping keep the “uncle” and “auntie” enthusiasm alive.  You did have a grand time playing hide-and-seek with Jane (Shannon’s mom) in the living room.  

These were also the last days of your favorite blue boots.  A few days later I hid them from you because you refused to take them off, even during several naps and they had gone from almost too small to “really, really too small.”  You would start to cry when you saw them being donated to a consignment shop later that week. 

Although you insisted on waking up around 5 AM every morning, you managed to take a solid two naps every day and only had one major tantrum.  Your 5 AM fashion sense was on point - may I present “pants as hat”:

When mystery curls appeared on the back of your head around a year old, I held out hope that they would hang around even as your hair got longer.  Sadly, it appears you are destined to have mostly straight hair with a little wave when it gets wet.  We’ve avoided real haircuts thus far, but frankly, I’m not the best at trimming bangs on a wiggly toddler and your patience for hair accoutrements lasts about 45 minutes.  This photo is basically a shooting star:

As you can see, the curls gave up and decided to blend in with everyone else.  Your curls had the self confidence of a middle school girl. 

You are definitely more excited about the holidays and decorations this year but I don’t think you understand why anything is happening.  When we picked our Christmas tree, you were more interested in the opportunity to escape.  If you look far in the background of the photo, you can see a couple walking - they had two dogs so once they showed up, you were like, “peace out parents!”

The first snow revealed that your snowsuit from last year no longer fit (even though we purchased it on the large side) - as a result you are now the proud owner of a Cabela’s pink camo snowsuit, on sale for $49.95.  We love you but we don’t love you enough to get suckered into spending $150 again for a one season snowsuit. Alas, this was the the only appearance the pretty NorthFace snowsuit would make this winter:

Your dad is very focused on getting you exposed to the outdoors early (partially so you don’t end up a pansy like your mom) so we took advantage of the early December snow to do a snowshoe hike.  Being small, you still get to ride in the pack:

This is what I get to see while hiking since your dad has a very long stride:

I may make jokes about the outdoor adventuring but as you can see, snowy Northern Michigan is beautiful and we are looking forward to the day when you will remember some of these activities.

Next month’s letter - Christmas.  I know you can’t handle the suspense.  

Love from, 

Mama and Dada (and grandmas, and grandpa, and auntie and uncles...)

[andninamakesthree]

Official 19 Month Portraits

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18 Month Pediatrician Visit

10/31/16

Height: 35″ - back to being off the charts again

Weight: 22 lbs 6 oz - 43rd percentile

Nina was visited by the doctor and a nursing student dressed as Snow White.  She cried through her fluoride treatment and shots but spent the rest of the appointment walking around the room talking about doggies and showing how she could point to her different body parts.

[andninamakesthree]

Official 18 Month Portraits