Appa-Tee! Appa-Tee!

Translation: "Apple Tree"

Issac had a day off last week and we took advantage of the beautiful fall weather to take Amelia to Spranger's Apple Orchard just east of Appleton. She spent the days beforehand studying up on apples, how they grow, how they taste, what we do with them, what colors they are and how to cut them in half and use them as stamps to make pictures -- so by the time we arrived, our normally somewhat-shy-with-strangers girl walked right up to the orchard host and said, "Appa-Trees! Appa-Trees!" 

Ingrid came along for the ride as well, sleeping and hanging out with mom the whole time in her wrap:

And we even got a cute family picture, snapped by a perfect stranger who made us stop what we were doing and hand over our camera, telling us that we would absolutely want to remember this moment. What a kind soul! 

 

Strolling..

Amelia has been enjoying the newly paved version of Amendment Drive, as she loves to take her beloved Baby Stella on (short) walks around the subdivision. Some days this walk ends better than others -- alas, today it culminated with Nicole carrying Ingrid (in a sling), Amelia, Baby Stella, and the stroller for the last leg of the journey. 

Sisters!

Amelia and Ingrid are sure to have many sisterly adventures in the months and years to come - we were tickled that Amelia seems to have taken to the idea of a 'sister' very quickly. So quickly, in fact, that while visiting Nicole & Ingrid at the hospital, Amelia broke down in fat crocodile tears when the nurse came in to take Baby Ingrid to the nursery for a routine blood test. Issac and Nicole hope that she will continue to look out for her sister with such empathy and adoration. Below are a few photos from their initial introduction:

Since we have been home, Amelia's interest in her sister has done nothing but grow. "Baby Inn-Gid?" is the first thing she asks for when waking up in the morning or getting up from a nap. When baby cries, Amelia delivers a command to Nicole -- "baby eat" or "change" or "hat on." Added to her list of frequent toddler requests is "Hold too?" (her request to hold her sister).

We will leave you with an early favorite of ours. The photo below is precious -- unprompted, Amelia decides that Ingrid needed a bedtime story:

Much love,
Issac, Nicole, Amelia & Ingrid

Introducing Miss Ingrid

On an early Wednesday morning, we welcomed Miss Ingrid Elizabeth Olson into our family and haven't stopped smiling since. She was born at 12:26am on her due date of September 21, 2011. She weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz and is full of snuggles. She loves to eat, sleep, hitch a ride in mom's sling, and have her sister read her stories.

We think she looks much more like Nicole's baby photos than Issac's
(where Amelia looked more like Issac's baby photos)
What do you think??

Sweet Kicks, Amelia!

Sidewalk Chalk Art

In case you are not a follower of Nicole & Jess's Blog BabyFoodScoops,  we wanted to share some photos of Amelia at Appleton's "Chalk About Town" festival. Click here to read more about the festival, but here are a few photos to share!

Word to the wise: Don't wear black pants when playing with sidewalk chalk

Amelia, the Italian Sidewalk Artist

"Nuff."

At twenty months old, Miss Amelia is enjoying her many summer bike rides with her dad, reading stories to her "babies" & beloved stuffed monkey, and doing "joga" (yoga) from a book she has fallen in love with from the library. She has also been working on her counting and letter recognition (she can count to ten, sometimes higher.. and we guess that she can recognize about half of her letters) and absolutely loves puzzles. She talks (ALL. THE. TIME.) and still sleeps well at night, though her daytime nap has dwindled to a 20-minute rest. Her mom wishes this were a little longer lately, as she is getting more tired as the weeks pass in her pregnancy!

As Amelia's weeks of being an only child are well into the single digits, she has been pulling out all of the stops to ensure that her presence is known. She wants to snuggle with her mom at ALL times, and has even been waking up at 5am daily to come into bed with mom&dad for a few hours of extra cuddling time. This morning, she crawled over to her sleeping mom and laid her cheek down right on top of mom's face and went back to sleep.

If you ask her if mom&dad's baby is a boy or girl, the answer is always "no."

Her latest favorite thing has been cantaloupe. After watching dad cut one a few weeks ago, Amelia started to eat pieces by the handful. As juice from the melon went everywhere and her mouth was overflowing with fruit, she attempted to put another piece in. Mom said, "Amelia. Just one or two pieces at a time. That's enough."

Hearing her loud and clear, she repeated: "Nuff."

She finished what was in her mouth and on her tray, and then said, "More nuff please." :)

The nickname (?) stuck and she loves to pick out a "Nuff" at the grocery store and enjoy it for breakfast or in a smoothie whenever she has the chance!