Final Entry-- Day 365

This last post will be a letter to my angel...

Dear Penelope,

Baby girl, being your Mommy has been the most exciting, fun, scary (at times!), and amazing thing to happen to me-- and it's only been 15 months!!! Your Daddy and I loved each other very much before you came along, but somehow you magically made that love multiply, you are something special. :) When we are all home together, we love spending all our time together, watching you mostly! You keep us laughing with your cute faces, your dancing (you hear ANY music and you can't help but move!), and your sweet personality. When Papa is at work, and it's just us girls at home, you are such a good little girl-- as young as you are, you help me with Luciana by being so patient, letting me care for her while you watch, play on your own, or nap so well. You are any mother's dream, how well behaved you are, and I'm not just saying all these things, you're really that great! I have so much fun being your Mommy, and I love teaching you things, and watching you grow. Just today, I saw you wave and say "baa", meaning "bye", and it was so cool the way it just clicked! You realized you could say goodbye now, and went and said it to everyone we passed in the supermarket and parking lot. You made lots of people smile today, toots! Another thing, and it may sound petty, but my GOODNESS, you are so beautiful! I am amazed how you just keep getting cuter and cuter. I know that'll change one day to pretty, and then just plain old gorgeous... You are so beautiful to me, baby! 

Today, your Daddy and I found us a new house! We're about to have ourselves an exciting new adventure, and since this blog of your first year (kind of) is done, I'll continue writing to you now and then to an email address I created. I hope you read this and those letters and know how loved you are, and have been ever since you were just an itty bitty thing in my belly. Daddy has also loved you since then, and the two of you are so close. When he comes home from work, you clap your hands if you're in your high chair eating breakfast, or run to him if you aren't. The two of you got even more close when I had to be with Luciana a whole lot when she was first born, and you two still spend lots of time together, and at times it seems you guys almost have your own secret language... He loves you so much, Penelope. :) 

I hope you've enjoyed reading about your firsts, as much as I've enjoyed writing them.... You are so much fun, but even in the tough times, I love you more than you can imagine. :) Kisses.

Mommy

Day 364

(This post is for yesterday-- somebody fell asleep before posting.) :/

Penelope had her fifteen month physical! She has always been okay with the nurses and Dr. Lau checking her out, but this time she was NOT okay with it! The nurse weighing her got her going, and she was wary of everyone after! We had lots of waiting between the nurse's business, the doctor's physical, and then the nurses giving immunizations-- Penelope waited with no problem!! My sweet girl waited patiently, reading books, dancing while Mama sang, and just playing. I was so proud of her, my big girl!! :) But the shots... Man. She pretty much lost it, and broke my heart with the bewildered looks she gave me, seeming to say "Why are you letting them poke me, Ma?!" Wow... Mama was almost in tears right with her!! :/ Good thing she calmed down quickly! She was good and exhausted after her appointment, and fell asleep in the car while she played with the prize the nurse gave her for being so sweet. Baby girl had her lunch, when we got home, and napped for two hours! :) It was a long day for us all, and we rested well come evening. 

Penelope has grown so much in the last few months, and has surpassed all ours and Dr. Lau's expectations, as far as milestones are concerned! She is as smart as a whip, Dr. Lau said, and was very impressed by the fact that she has adjusted to her baby sister being in her life. She is more than adjusted, she loves her sister, she has learned how to give her kisses, and pats her with such care, I know she does! :) 

I took some pics of P while she was eating.... Look how cute! Also, check out what Dr. Lau wrote. :)

Day 363

Playing with the kitty cat toy before her bath :) 

Day 362

Penelope stayed at home with Mana today while the rest of us went to find a new home. Turns out today was a success-- we put in an offer on a gorgeous place in Orange! We'll cross our fingers and hope it's the one. :) 

P is such a sweetheart. Here's the new things she's learned & doing: blowing kisses (holds her hand to her mouth, then puts it out saying, "mmm- maa!", when someone sneezes she says "ee-she", which I take as "bless you" and it really sounds like she's trying to say that!! Also, she's kissing her sister, which melts my heart, and when I hand her a dirty diaper and ask her to throw it away, she does it! I know there's more that I'm not remembering, this is just a few things. She's so cute, and sooo sweet, I just stare at her sometimes and shake my head. :) Oh! One more thing-- she is usually in the room while I'm getting dressed, and she always has to touch Mama's belly button. It's funny, I can tell it is so intriguing to her! 

Here's a few pics we took tonight... Goodnight. (I hope... Luciana is giving Mama a run for the money tonight!!) :/

Day 361

Today Penelope & Mommy went out shoe shopping (for Penelope:)). Baby girl has a few pair of sneakers that fit, but no sandals. Lately the weather has been very warm, so I thought it was time. :) We ended up with some pink Sesame Street sandals with Velcro. Super cute! She's currently a size 4, in baby sizes, of course. It was nice to shop just the two of us, while Luciana stayed at home with Mana. We actually hit 4 places with no problem-- something difficult to do with both babies, normally. 

Later, before dinner, we went outside and played awhile, walked around and visited the chickens. She loves our backyard. We sure will miss this beautiful house.... 

I made up an email address for Penelope-- a place where I (and anyone else) can write her little notes, longer letters, telling her about the things we did, and just stories about her growing up. It's: Peneloperindge@gmail.com -- Daddy and I will have the password, and will be sure to send in photos as well. Hopefully it's something we can keep up so P can have lots of fun stuff to read later.

That's all for today... It's around 10pm, and I am about to call it a day, but before I do, I'll do what I do every night: go in and check on P, make sure she's covered and give one more kiss... She is so cute when she's asleep :) Goodnight!

P.S. That cute green outfit she's wearing is a birthday gift from Aunt Sandy... It fits her now, so cute! :)

Day 360

Penelope has a little purse now-- I found the tiniest purse and gave it to her. She put it right on her shoulder and walked around all cute and sassy. :)

We all had a long day... Papa's at

Work & we miss him lots... Goodnight!

Day 359

Our baby looked super cute today:

We were on our way out to check out a house. No go on the house, but this outfit was a total success!! ;)

Penelope has fun when she gets to come looking at houses. We usually don't take her because its just too hard for us to look and chase after her, but since we only had one house today, she was there. She went running from room to room, picking up various staged items (a vase, stones from fireplace, etc.) and just had a good time.  Later we took a walk around the neighborhood, then all had a chicken nugget dinner. P was in her bed and (I'm pretty sure) she was asleep by 7pm, no later. :) We have such a good sleeper, I am just so grateful for that! 

That's all folks-- goodnight.

Day 358

Memory lane time, real quick, look at Penelope-- she used to sleep in a Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit! It's a thick suit that muffles the Moro reflex in babies. Once she was able to bust out of her Miracle Blanket (another very cool invention), the suit was a very easy solution. 

She was so itty bitty! I cannot believe how fast it's gone already, that my baby Penelope is already almost a year and a half! P is learning things at lightening speed now. Just today I taught her how to say banana! It's not totally clear, and I'm sure it's not totally stuck there in her little head yet, but she said it!! :) (ok, she said "na-na") We ask her where her belly, hair, footsies, legs and hands are, and she points to each. She's so smart, we are amazed by how much she understands already. 

Today P was a happy camper, but she's definitely a handful! I'm constantly chasing after her, as she's into everything, and I have to make sure she's not getting into trouble. It's a little more interesting with a 2-month old, but we're doing pretty well so far!

It's after midnight (Luciana woke me to nurse) and before I go back to sleep, I'll creep into P's room to check on her and cover her up again. Goodnight. :)

Day 357

Out sweet girl stayed at home with Mana today while the rest of us (and our friend & realtor John Leffler) went out looking for a new home. She and Luciana woke up this morning at the same moment, both crying... Ha! I was stumped, had to make a plan quick before running to start the morning. Penelope is a good girl, and lets me tend to Luciana quickly before I get her. Here's how our mornings start now: I get P a cup of milk, and since it's been cold, I'll warm it up a bit. I'll get her out of her crib, but not before she hands me her binkies! (She uses two binkies-- one for the mouth, one for the hand. Daddy's plan of a "backup binkie" sorta backfired & now she wants one to hold onto as well... What are ya gonna do?) Anyway, she'll drink her milk while I change her diaper, and then we'll either go back into Mama & Daddy's bed (if Daddy's at work & Luciana is okay in her Moses basket), or we'll head into the living room and get some coffee, news, Cheerios and toys going! :) Today we did a little bed time, and then decided to just get up after both girls decided to cry, and just generally not cooperate! :/ Soon, Daddy was home and we all had a big breakfast together. Penelope played with Papa and I until nap time, and then cried almost the whole time... Slept maybe 30 minutes. I'm afraid her morning naps are just kind of on their way out. We'll fight it, we aren't ready for that yet!!!

Later Mana came and we left. I hear they had fun, and that Penelope was a good girl. :) As I realize I only have about a week left of this blog, I want to really show Penelope (when you're older, baby girl!!) what her life was like, how she spent her days, and the funny and cute things she did. I hope she realizes through this blog how much fun it's been for us, her parents, to see her grow and learn, and become more beautiful each day. :)

Well, our angel is asleep in her crib now, and we are just beat from the house search. No dice yet, we are waiting for that perfect house, the place we can see our girls in... Soon, it's going to happen!!

Goodnight. Oh! Since I didn't take any pics of my baby today (darn!) here's a pic Aunt Holly took a week or so ago. 

Day 356

Oh my goodness, out little Penelope got her first piggy tails today! :) I've been sort of looking at her longer hair lately, just thinking.... I decided it was time to try. She HATES it when I mess with her hair, so I didn't think she'd let me, but she did! They were crooked, uneven and she had to have barrettes holding her bangs out of her eyes, but OH MY GOODNESS, her cuteness went to alarming levels!!! She really could've gotten away with murder lookin' like that! ;) I'll have to do a real job with her hair tomorrow and see if she can tolerate it all day. Hee hee, I love it, her hair is so cute! (Ok, onto other things, I'm feeling silly I just wrote a whole paragraph on piggy tails)

Baby girl is still pushing those molars out; I put my finger in her mouth, and she's pretty much got all four, just a different stages. I'm noticing she can chew better, which is great for toast and crackers and things like that. She's drooling a good deal, and is visibly in pain here and there, but handling it pretty well. 

We are taking Luciana out to look at houses tomorrow, and Penelope will stay home with Mana. I know she'll have a fun day. :) I only hope we can find something we love very soon, as our house is officially SOLD! :/ Yikes! Our next home is out there, we just have to find it. Good luck to us!

Goodnight. (Pics are the best I could get-- P now hates to pose for pics.)

Day 355

I have to admit-- I have no pics of my angel for today. We were busy choosing the new owner of our home! We got five offers, and after careful consideration, we settled on someone who seems perfect to take it over. :) Then we did Costco, and that just takes everything out of you! ;) Penelope wasn't in the best of moods today. I think her teeth were bothering her, she was whiny all day and didn't nap well at all. Thankfully, she went to sleep easily; after playing with Daddy, I didn't think she'd wanna sleep! 

Well, it's almost 10pm, and we are beat. Time for sleep... Goodnight. :)

Day 354

Just pics today... :)

She makes my heart melt, love my baby girl too much!! :)

Night. 

Day 353

We went to visit Auntie Anita & Bell today, since we had to be away for our open house. By the way, we heard many people came-- yay! :) We stayed in LA most of the day, and when we got home,  we put on pjs and took these pics:

Long day... Goodnight!!

Day 352

Penelope had another house-hunting day today, and despite the fact she totally missed her morning nap, she hung in there pretty well. :) We started at 9am, and didn't make it home until 2ish--we hit  6 houses, and P got to practice her climbing-stairs-skills in almost all of them! After seeing our favorite house again (and the place we've put in an offer on), we headed home. Here's P on the drive:

All tuckered out! Here's she & I during the house hunt... We stopped for a little selfie action ;)

That's all for today... I should mention that Penelope went down at bedtime without a peep. I think it's a miracle considering she's suffering through those molars working themselves out still. Thank goodness for Tylenol. Goodnight!

Day 351

Today we had to leave our spotless, empty house by 11:30 so our realtor (and good friend John) could show it off for us! :) We decided to drive down to Mission Viejo, where we're looking at places, and check it out on foot. We chose a very hilly area, oy. And it was hot! After playing at a park, we grabbed lunch at a great panini place and then headed home. All three ladies were passed out in the car in the drive home! :/ 

Penelope had fun with Papa at the park, and she even napped well when we got home. What a sweetheart.... :) 

Here are a few photos I took at the park. Night!!

Day 350

Wow. Almost at 365 days... I may have to extend Baby P's blog, I've become so used to writing about my sweet little girl! Today Penelope hung around while Mommy, Daddy & Mana cleaned the house and got it ready for our first (broker's) open house. Eek! I can't believe we're doing it! :) I'm sure we'll get offers straight away-- I mean, it's a great house!

Penelope's room is so cute, I'll be sad to leave it, when we do, but she'll definitely be getting another super. cute room in our new house. 

One new thing P did today: I asked her, "Where's your belly?" And she patted her round little potbelly and smiled at me big. :) That's our smart girl!!

No pic today, sorry! Goodnight. 

Day 349

Penelope is definitely a two/three molar child now! :) Teething isn't fun, but at least it's moving along. 

P got a bath tonight, look how cute! 

Goodnight!

Day 348

This post is for yesterday... I guess I forgot! :/

New Year's Eve was a HOT one!! We all woke up early, ate, dressed & packed up the car and went to see the house we're super interested in, in Mission Viejo. Daddy's at work, so us three girls, Mana, Granddaddy, Holly & Lily all went. The idea is to get some objective opinions on this place, because we are just so in love with it!! Everyone liked it very much, I think, including Penelope! She climbed up the stairs in no time flat!! Lily helped her down the stairs, but she got upstairs all on her own! :) She liked the big back yard, as well-- what kid wouldn't? It's huge, and there is just so much room to run and tumble around. The trip was fun, but we had to be sort of quick because Penelope was tired, and needed her nap. She ended up sleeping when we got home, but since it was later than what she's used to, it pretty much eliminated her second nap. :/ It was a long evening!! Good thing Luciana was asleep most of the evening, or Mama would've lost her mind!! It was a good day, all around, and come evening we girls all ate dinner (well, me & P did), then snuggled on the couch until bedtime. I can't wait for the day we can all sit up together and tell "happy new year!!" at midnight, together. Until then, it's a regular night at Casa Rindge. :) 

Here's a few pics I took of P today-- she was playing with the baby crayons Aunt Holly & Lily gave her for Christmas! :) Until tonight!