The Alvarez Family: February Recap

I'm a little behind on blogging so before I get to February's recap let me include the short visit with Grams from January 23-27. Grams came to spend a week with us and like always, we put her to work sewing. This visit included making pillows for our bed and recovering the bench at the foot of our bed. Not a lot but with a busy toddler in the midst of EVERYTHING even small tasks became huge feats. The rest of the week was spent going to S's gym and music classes and just hanging out at home. Saturday came way too soon and Grams headed back to Texas.

Savannah wanting to help Grams sew

Now on to February......this month has flown by!!

Our Valentine's Day was very low-key. Savannah and I went to my gym and then her gym. Then we bought V-day balloons, baked a pink cake, and had a yummy dinner at home.

wearing her Lilly Valentine's dress at gym class

helping to mix the batter

taste testing

We had a family get-away to Wintergreen Resort in Virginia over President's Day. Since we had never been we only went for one night just to check it out and see if it's worth going again to spend more time. It was such a cute little ski village and so close--only about 3 hours away. It started snowing as soon as we arrived and continued all night. Apparently the resort wasn't prepared because the roads were a mess. People couldn't get on or off the mountain. It took Oscar 2 hours to get our dinner---first he got stuck in the truck going up to the restaurant so he had to slide back down and then walk there, secondly the restaurant staff couldn't get up the mountain to work so preparing the food took longer than expected, and thirdly he had to walk back to our place in the dark. Other than that small catastrophe we had a wonderful time. Savannah loved tromping through the snow and she LOVED tubing until we were told she couldn't ride in my lap and had to do it alone. That she wasn't quite ready for. The resort also had an arcade type place with a huge bounce house. When all else fails, a bounce house will keep her occupied all afternoon.

our room

heading out into snow for the first time

the snow is just beginning to fall

first time going up to tube

warming up in the teepee

using the marshmallow skewers as drum sticks

fun times in the bounce house

learning how to play foosball

attempting the drive back to our room during the "blizzard"

this is our model pose for the North Face catalog

my cute little snow bunny

blazing her own trail

she's stuck!!!

Michael just got stationed at Camp Lejeune on the coast of NC so he and Rachel stopped by for a short visit on their way. They arrived early in the morning on Monday the 27th and stayed until early Wednesday morning. Savannah absolutely LOVED having two additional buddies around the house. Too bad Uncle Michael couldn't instill some of the military discipline on her while he has was around. Thankfully he'll be stopping by more frequently so hope is not yet lost :)

walking back for showing Mike and Rache the horses

sidewalk chalk time

the beginnings of our crime scene

trying to teach Uncle Mike how to hoola hoop

doesn't everyone get hung upside down by the uncle at some point :)

this made her super dizy

bounce house time

the ball hoarder

S trying to put her makeup on Uncle Mike

checking out Rachel's game

maybe just a touch of makeup right there

**Savannah update: She is such a busy body and she's constantly getting into things she shouldn't. She's gotten much better at controlling her aggressiveness around her peers. She's constantly reminding herself "no hit, no push, no kick". I've had to add "no bite" after a couple of random chomps to my leg. Ms. Carolyn from the gym nursery has even noticed Savannah saying these phrases to herself which has led to fewer time outs....hooray! If only she would control herself better at home. I'm really doubting the effectiveness of time outs around the house as evidenced by a recent episode......S was having problems listening and following directions the other day so I told her if she didn't do as she was told then she would have to go sit in time out. She then proceeded to do sit in her time out chair and said she was taking a break. That's not quite the outcome I had intended. That girl definitely keeps things interesting around here.

On a better note, Savannah has improved by leaps and bounds with her talking. She is stringing words along wonderfully and she even says full sentences. I've noticed lately that she has pretend conversations with Grams on her phone. Her one sided dialog cracks me up! Still, her articulation is great but as long as it's improving I'm thrilled. Everyday she shows me what a big girl she is becoming. Unfortunately, potty training isn't improving as rapidly. She goes a couple of times a day but for the most part she's content with using her diaper. Well not really a diaper---it has to be the pink princess pull-ups....go figure :) We're not really to the point where I'm ready to push her and get more serious about it. Maybe by summer we'll both be ready.
Here are a few random Savannah pictures from this month: