Ready to Rock {Keyboard Style}

Loving her new keyboard from aunt Nadine.

{Musical} Christmas

Luella has left her love of Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba, and Super Why for Fresh Beat Band. It is a show with four people in a band...think "Saved by the Bell" meets "High School Musical" for preschoolers. It is because of this show though, that her love for music has developed. She discovered a recorder at Bunya's house the other day, made herself a stage, set the recorder on the ground, counted, 1-2-3-4, picked up the recorder and played her heart out.

This year Lu asked Santa for presents...kinda vague, but at least he couldn't go wrong. This year Santa brought Luella a drum. She also received maracas, a key board, and Elmo Rock Star with drums, a microphone and a tambourine.

Lu loves to pretend she is in a marching band and will give anyone that will play along an instrument to march with her while she plays her drums.

Christmas {Joy}

Let the Christmas Traditions begin...We are on year two of celebrating Christmas Eve in Long Beach at Tantalum. My mom's (Ya Ya, her version of Grandma) birthday is Christmas Day but to make her day special we try to celebrate on Christmas Eve away from all the hustle and bustle.

We are on year one of my Mom and sisters joining us for Christmas Morning at our house. It was fun to have everyone together to see Lu on Christmas Morning. Luella was soo much fun! She loved both opening her presents and delivering everyone else there goods.

It was a good morning. I am pleased to announce I got a pink snuggie and Luella was so excited that I too had my own "pinky blanket" just like hers and I got a big hug and and a "I love you mom!"

Aaron took Luella to buy me some Christmas presents, this year she picked out two different wallets and a pair of earrings. They were way overpriced and I am sure that it took everything in Aaron to just go with it. He reassured me it was ok to return whatever I wanted and Luella and he would not be upset. Don't tell her I returned the wallet (they were actually falling apart)...I felt bad the next day when she asked..."Mom, you like your wallet?" and I didn't have them anymore. Luckily, she is two and has probably forgotten by now!

Being all together this year, my sisters, mom and I got to wear our traditional matching pajamas!

After Christmas morning we went to Bunya's House (Aaron's Mom) for present and food and returned back to our house where my family had turned the Christmas morning mess into Christmas Dinner for my side of the family. Luella had fun with her family and fell in love with her second cousin Alex. She delivered and help him open his presents in her beautiful princess jacket that she got from Nana (her great grandma) and Don. (I usually have to bride her with candy to get her to put a jacket on, this one she wouldn't take off!!). The next day she asked if the "Family was coming to NuNu's house" because she wanted to "see the boy" (Alex), she also asked to wear her jacket again! It was so nice to be able to celebrate with so many people, to stay home and to most importantly not get sick!

The night ended with LuLu and YaYa playing castle. Luella calls the princesses "fairies" and princes "fairy boys"! very cute.  She is growing up and making Mama less stressed out about these magical moments like Christmas.

A Girl with a Mission (Santa 2011)

It was time to take our traditional trip with the fords to Disneyland to see Santa. Luella being two I was not sure if she would be freaked out or not to see the big man, but I learned something about her this day...if she has a mission she will not let anything get in her way to complete it.

At day care, Lisa prepped her for Santa all day. She told her how she would sit on his lap, and tell him what she wanted for Christmas. I am sure she also told her that if you don't tell Santa want you want then you won't get anything.

As we got tot he park Luella was antsy and we didn't know why. She just needed to accomplish her mission. As soon as Santa was in sight Luella looked at me and said in the most serious voice I have heard yet..."I NEED to talk to Santa." I explained we had to wait our turn and she was patience. Although she did insist that "NuNu was first to see him", before Jacob and Jon Jon.


It was our turn, she ran up to him, said "Presents" and then was ready to be on her way...she caught Santa off guard a little in the fact the he didn't even get ask her what she wanted. He said "yes, yes, presents, good" and scooped her on his lap for a photo. Luella wasn't too keen about the lap part, but not a tear was shed!! She did it! Mission accomplished.

The next day she explained to Lisa, that she didn't want to talk to Santa, but she wanted presents!

Birthday Party {Megan's 5th)

New experiences as a mother are way more fun and/or disappointing then I could have ever imagined. Holidays usually end up with sickness, trips and adventures that are suppose to be fun end up in tears (either Luella's or mine) or we don't ever make it to our destination at all because Luella will refuse to get dresses. So because I was excited for Luella's first birthday party experience, I was also ready for the disappointment of the day turning into a disaster. Especially since the morning started out disastrous with Luella melting all morning long. But the party was fantastic and she is still talking about it. Luella was such a big girl building her bear and waiting her turn. She got into the birthday spirit and I was a proud mama that day!

She picked out a dragon that she named "Giraffe"! Clever...

We got to pick out an outfit and get "Giraffe" dressed.

(Luella's Classic Pirate Smile)

Proof of the good day...smiles!

And to end the party, the best cake Mama ever tasted at Storytellers Cafe. Yum!

Tom Boy {Diva}

 

Lu at 2 and a Trip to Eldorado Park. Luella is quite the Tom Boy. She loves to wrestle, will only wear clothes that are cotton and comfortable, while NEVER put a clip, a rubber band, or even a brush near her hair. She kicks and screams and bites and wants to rip our face off when she is mad. This is something we are working on. She's got aggression and doesn't know where to put it. As of now, we kind of have it under control. She just spits on inanimate objects or pretends to violently grab bites of your face and eat them. Did I say we have is under control...just checking? She is an emotional roller coaster. Happy, sweet, hugging and kissing, clapping with joy that we are going to the park. Happy to hold mom's hand and up for the adventure.

We started our adventure in the Nature Center checking out the giant pine cones with Papa.

Next we attempted a family photo. Lu didn't want to do this, as you can see, and this is were her Diva kicked in...

We started our small walk to find animals and she became, well 2...

Off she goes, happy again, to only turn again for the worse, screaming at imaginary people on the path and refusing to get off the ground. She finally settle for this log, but you can see she is clearly not happy and I am keeping my distance.

 

We finally just gave up and started walking back to the car, she hesitantly followed and while still yelling and kicking something led her to this tree..."Maybe if I bite the tree I will feel better"...it must of worked because after that she was willing to hold my hand again.

After we got to car we were all silent in frustration, then her sweet little voice was heard again...."Sorry Mama, Sorry Papa!" And that is usually how it goes.

Thanksgiving {Sick? No!}

It seems to be a common theme in the Volkoff house, being sick on Holidays. What can I say, we have crappy sinuses and don't handle stress well, I guess. We had great plans of visiting my Nana (Lu's Great Grandma) in Blue Diamond, NV, but instead we had Thanksgiving in our Pajama's at home with just the three of us and Grandpa. Aaron made the most yummy turkey we ever ate. It was mellow, simple and perfect. Here is the only captures of the day...snapping green beans. I love that Lu is my little helper in the kitchen. She loves helping us cook. I forsee many strange concotions in the future that she will want us to try.
Whether the ear infection was getting to her, or the delirium from fighting a nap, Luella invented some strange strainer dance, while singing and pretending to eat and cook.

By the weekend we were all feeling a little bit, and headed to one of Luella's favorite winter spots...the beach to build sand castles.

 

I love this little one!

{Papa} Like Father, Like Daughter

Luella and Papa got a lot of bonding this Fall. With me at school more and tired from baby Grace growing my belly Papa is often the only fun one in the house. They bond over games of "Pinky Blanket", chase, stealing each others food, and just basically anything that involves antagonizing one another. There are the sweet but love to wrestle and have other special games like "Ribbit", "I can't put you down if your legs are like a frog", "Come on Little Buddy" and "Papa Save Me".  I like to call her a Tom Boy Diva...if that is even possible.

Halloween {Oh Yes, Candy is Magical}

The week prior to Halloween the kids at Day Care brought there costumes to wear. Luella yelled at everyone to take theirs off and definitely did not put hers on. It was the softest one I could find, that did not require a hat...a cute little strawberry. Needless to say, my stress over holidays was added to the anticipation of this one with her reaction to 5 for her friends. So instead of the costume, I made a last minute dash to Old Navy. There I was happy to find a hello kitty shirt and cute pumpkin for candy. We got her dressed and off to the traditional Ford Halloween Shindig we went. It was fun and mellow and just the right atmosphere for Lu. When it was time to go trick-or-treating I was prepared to be disappointed and gave myself the pep talked "she is little, it's not a big deal." After the first house (a scary one too), what I realized about Luella is that candy is magical. She went to every house grabbed as much candy as she could and was off to the next. She loved it, and so did mom....success. Moral of the story is...As long as Luella does not have to wear a costume and candy is involved, we were good. 

PUMPKIN PATCH {BLUES}

After a two weeks of a sick baby and 1 week of a very sick Papa...we attempted (I know what were we thinking) to go to the pumpkin patch to get of the house and maybe do something fun. To give you a little bit of background, holidays and fun have not really gone together for Luella (yes, she is only 2 and there hasn't been that many, but still). She has never been well on any holiday or birthday and they have all been frustrating (mostly for mom, but still frustrating). I know going to the pumpkin patch is not a holiday, but still "holidayish." It started out fun. Luella was so excited at first to see all the pumpkins and be there with Brooklyn. 

Luella immediately started organizing all the pumpkins, by filling in all the holes in the pumpkin rows with pumpkins from a big pile. She could have done this for hours, but she was distracted by the thought of going on some rides. 

Now Luella and I know she doesn't like rides, but her friend was doing it and it seems like a good idea. I thought, cool, she is being brave, let's give it a go. So she followed Brookie and climbed on the fire truck. Aaron buckled them up and they were ready to go....but as soon as Aaron was no longer in site, I saw the fear on Luella's face as she looked at me on the other side of the rail and said..."I don't like it, I don't like it." Luckily, we got her out in time and was just fine cheering for Brookie.

She raised her fist in the air and said, "Do it Brookie. Do it." So cute, and Papa helped.

After cheering, Luella said she did and then didn't want to go on more rides, we went through this about 4 more times, and she had reached her limit. She decided to destress by organizing more pumpkins. I mean, there were many empty spots to be filled, and if there was no spot she was good pushing a pumpkin out of the way to make room (or a "home" as she called it) for hers. Below is a typical series of events with "Placing a pumpkin in it's home"...try to pick up pumpkin, drop pumpkin, cry and get frustrated, finally pick up pumpkin again and tell us know "really too heavy",  place pumpkin in  home, tell us "I did it, pumpkin is happy now, it's in it's home", sit of pumpkin for a picture.

After this, it all went down hill. Luella has limits for sure, and melts quick. Outings must be planned, prepped, short and with purpose. It was hot, come to find out later, she had an ear infection, and she was over stimulated and reached her breaking point. She became a kicking and screaming lump of two year on the ground throwing straw everywhere. 

So we scooped her up as she kick and scream all the way to to van where we put on Elf and the air to try to calm her down. The grand plan was to get some cute pictures of our family, and some clever pumpkin and belly picture of baby Grace...but two happened and pictures didn't. Stay tuned for halloween. Luella will attempt to be a Strawberry. Or should I say, Mom bought her a strawberry costume in hopes that she will want to wear it. This is will mostly likely not happen, just like "the-very-cute-halloween-going-to-the-pumpkin-patch-outfit" did not happen. She, in the most polite voice, as if she new this would make me sad and did not want to hurt my feelings, told me "I can't wear this mom," while handing me back the outfit. Until next year. This has been a common them of holiday festivities, until next year. 

SUMMER VACATION {COLORADO}

Early this summer we went to Colorado to visit Aaron's sister's family. I was just finishing my first trimester and still a little nauseous and yucky. That, coupled with the elevation and the fact that the school year had just ended, lead to me not really being able to do much but relax and take lots of naps...My kind of vacation. When we did get out here and there, and since it is Colorado, it was of course, beautiful! We went to the mountains to ride a train (we missed the train and went to dinner instead) but the drive was well worth this cute little town (again the nausea and the altitude has made me forget the name of this town, or really the capability of remembering it in the first place). What I do remember is that the town had an old candy store, which is my favorite part about mountain towns. I feel like desert in the mountains just tastes better. There we had Sour Cream Poppy flavored home made ice cream and extra hot cinnamon candy....yum. Here are some shots of the cousins (Brody, Alex & Lu) where the train would have picked us up!

As you can see, we were all a little cold and tired. But none the less, it is a family picture. I think we have like 5 total of all 3 of us.

Lu (1.5) and her Cousin Brody (3) outside of the Butterfly Pavilion. Unlike the mountains, this day was hot, and the kids weren't that impressed with the butterflies. Instead they had much more fun playing outside in the parking lot...typical.

On this trip is where Luella fell in love with her cousin Brody. She had a blast playing with him and imitating him. They wore necklaces and sunglasses most of the time they were playing inside. Brody said they were Rock Stars; Luella just happy she could put the glasses on herself! This is also where Luella fell in love with jumping. She wanted to jump on the trampoline often. Of course, I was your typical paranoid mother who thought she was going to fly off the edge and tried to be on all four sides as one time....and of course, she was fine.

I was our one trip of the summer and visiting family is always fun, especially when you are welcome with a turkey dinner in the middle of June. Can't wait to go back again...next time there could be 4 of us!

WHERE WE'VE BEEN...

I gave blogger a break, in hopes that I would blog more on a more user friendly phone app, tumblr. Realized it was just me! So we are back...you can check out the last 6 months at http://coravolkoff.tumblr.com/.

A VERY {UNHAPPY=SICK} BIRTHDAY TO YOU

And she is 2...Snotty, sick, frosted and a little bit sad, Yet she still managed to give her best birthday smile. Project "work on opening the eyes while smiling" is still in the works.

This is a glimpse of the future...the blog is back. Standby...

It's a Beautiful Day {Let's Play}

Luella and I were up early today too see Aaron off to a track meet. It was so beautiful outside we had to go for walk followed by some outside reading and water table play. Today was just a glimpse of summer fun to come. I am so excited for beach days, morning walks and fun conversations with my little one while sipping on coffee. This morning I told her she was funny and she replied with, I know!...What 18th month old knows this...I guess mine!

PS - Loving the new camera apps on my new iPhone!