Granny and Grandad Time

On Sunday, Granny showed Ellen how to bake Fruit Soda Bread.  Ellen loves to help in the kitchen, so baking with Granny was extra special.

Fruit Soda Bread

475g Soda Bread Flour (or plain flour with 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda)

65g Sugar

1tsp. Salt

1 medium Egg, lightly beaten

450ml Buttermilk (we used 300ml thick buttermilk with 150ml milk)

110g Sultanas or Raisins

1. Preheat oven to 160C

2. Grease a 2lb loaf tin

3. Combine the flour, sugar, dried fruit and salt. Blend the egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to     the flour mixture.

4. Pour into the prepared bread tin.

5 Cut a slice half way through the dough as this will help the bread to rise evenly and flour the top of the            dough.

6. Bake for approximately one hour or until a skewer inserted into the bread comes out clean. (Ours took 90     minutes).

7. The base of the loaf should sound hollow when you tap it. Turn on to a wire rack to cool. 

Ellen and Grandad spent some time painting on Monday.  Ellen's picture is for Daddy.

My sleeping princesses

Helping Granny

Granny and Grandad Bolton have already been here a week to help me with the girls while Jeff is in Saudi Arabia for work. The girls have been proving their helpfulness, too.

Dr. Ellen is making sure Granny is fit and healthy, but her finger needs a plaster/Band-Aid.  Of course, a surgeon's mask is required to put on a plaster!

Brenna wanted to "help" Granny unload the dishwasher.  She loves to move the bottom rack back and forth.

 

 "Look Granny, I've helped to take this spoon out!  I'll just drop it on the floor like the other one."

Brenna is 11 Months Old

Brenna is 11 months old.  As you can tell by her smile, she is such a cheeky monkey.  Her personality is really shining through now.  She loves to make us laugh, joins along when we sing and is very determined.  I took a total of four pictures before she was off towards the camera and there was no way to convince her to stay in place to take any more.  Oh, yes, she is an expert crawler now, too... and into everything.  And, boy, are the stairs interesting!  She's crawled up the first step a couple of times before I have swiftly removed her... I really must get the stair gates up.  She stood up on her own for the first time the other evening... in the bath of all places!  Now she can stand up anywhere she wants: in her bed, on the play kitchen, on the shower door.... the world is her oyster!  I predict Brenna will walk unaided over the next month. She can walk quite steadily only grasping on to a single finger for support.

Now that she's able to crawl, she can entertain herself by getting out the toys she wants to play with. She simply crawls over to the toy shelf and pulls out the baskets her toys are in.  She squeals with delight when Ellen plays with her, too. Ellen enjoys playing choo-choo train and hide-and-seek with Brenna now that she is mobile.  However, the downside of Brenna being able to crawl, is that she is also able to bother Ellen whenever she wants.

Granny and Grandad are visiting to help me look after the girls and to keep me company while Jeff is away on business in Saudi Arabia for 12 days.  I'm really loving watching the interaction between the girls and their grandparents.  Ellen enjoys cuddling with Grandad and taking his hand on walks, and Brenna squeals when Granny walks in the room.

 .Distracted by Grandad

 My gorgeous almost-three-year-old

Such a big girl

Two Performances - "Let It Go"

Ellen was beautifully singing Frozen's "Let It Go" Friday morning as we were finishing breakfast, and luckily she was willing to sing her rendition again for the camera. Brenna was on the kitchen floor occupying herself with containers from the recycling bin during Ellen's performance, when she crawled for real for the first time! I couldn't believe I got it on camera!  Now, two days later, she's crawling around the room, making little stops to sit every few feet.

Brenna is 10 Months Old

Brenna turned 10 months old a couple of days ago.  It's hard to believe that she'll be one year old in just a couple of months, but watching her it's no surprise.  Brenna is on the verge of crawling... but prefers to walk!  For the past few weeks we've been walking her any chance she can get.  (I'll try to write a separate blog about this soon.)  The look on her face when she is walking around is priceless. She is so proud of herself and so happy to be discovering her surroundings.  A third tooth has made its appearance and a fourth will break through any day now.

Brenna babbles loads and loves to say "whoa whoa...." when she's excited to see something.  She's been saying "mum mum" for a couple months, referring to me (I think), but usually only when she wants fed.  She's also starting to make animal sounds, like mooing and baa-ing, and enjoys playing with our noisy Little People Barn and animals for longer than 2 minutes!

Take a look at her three teeth! You can also just make out the fourth just below the gums.

The scene I walked in on when I came home from work today.  By the way, Jeff does amazingly well with the girls the evenings and Saturday mornings I work.

Brenna is 9 Months Old!

Brenna turned 9 months old today!

Although no new teeth have emerged over the past month, this girl is on the move.  Brenna prefers to stand rather than sit and can stand without being held up both holding onto the couch or her play table, and just today, without holding onto anything for about 5 seconds.  She can also roll back and forth from her back to her tummy in both directions.  In just the past few days, she confidently crawls onto her tummy from sitting and can spin on her tummy to reach things around her.  Also just a couple days ago, she can walk holding on to both of our hands.  It won't be long until we have a walker!  

You know, I haven't talked about naps in many months, may be because there's not much to say, but Brenna takes 2 naps a day for about 20-40 minutes each.  Brenna's bedtime is about 7:30pm but she still wakes at least a couple times a night, usually 11:00pm - it's amazing how she wakes up just about the same time EVERY night - and probably a couple more times during the night. She wakes between 7:00-7:30am, but at least it's not earlier than that!  

She's also enjoying eating real food, her favorite being pizza - but before you gasp at a baby eating pizza, it's nothing more than a pizza crust with a bit of tomato sauce and a scattering of shredded mozzarella cheese.  She also loves most fruit, especially pears - you'll never see a pear disappear so fast! Grapes cut into fourths are another favorite.  Her pincer grip (thumb and index finger) is also improving, and she loves using it every morning on her Cheerios.  

Brenna waves her arms A LOT to communicate, sometimes it means she's excited, other times, it means she is frustrated and wants my attention.  If she's in her highchair and waves her arms, it means she wants out and wants nursed instead of real food.

Such a cutie.

(I wish this picture was better focused.)

Ellen at Rhythm Time

Ellen has participated in Rhythm Time weekly since she was 5 months old. Brenna began this term, too, and loves it. Ellen is now in the highest level, the preschool level, and is learning the basics about music for the first time.

In Ellen's class, the children are asked to conduct in front of the class to increase confidence, not necessarily to make them wave the baton to the beat of the music. Ellen didn't volunteer to conduct until a few weeks ago, and now every time the children are asked who wants to come to the front of the class, she jumps up for her turn.  I love to see the look on her face while she conducts... the tongue helps, too!

The past few classes the children have gone to the front to sing a verse of "Old McDonald" according to the puppet they've picked out.  Ellen has a sheep puppet on her hand this time.  Frank, the teacher, is impressed with the clarity of the words when she sings and how on key she is.  I'm very impressed, too!