Birthday Week

So Lizzie's birthday was almost two weeks ago and I am finally posting it. We started the week on Sunday with the usual Dittman family dinner. Since she was born on her Aunt Michelle's birthday it was a double birthday dinner. I found a great idea on a friend of a friend's blog about a cake and so I made it (a little different than the original recipe called, but I think it was a hit)



The funniest thing is that I made it a white cake (and just dyed it with food coloring) put whipped cream on top and lots of berries. Unknown to me my sister requested for her birthday cake an angel food cake with whipped cream on top and berries. So they were VERY similar, but everyone thought mine tasted better (we are guessing that it was because it was colored and not white)





On Monday we went to the LA Zoo with Michelle and her friend (I totally forgot his name, it starts with a B)

Lizzie and Aunt Michelle

Lizzie has to buckle everything she sees.

Charlotte at the Zoo

Lizzie and Daddy

Lizzie LOVED the animals. We then went to Porto's in Glendale (a Cuban restaurant) We had tons of fun.



We then chilled out for most of the rest of the week. On Tuesday we went out to eat with some family to celebrate Uncle Brian's (not my brother, but my brother-in-law) birthday.

Jordyn, Lizzie, and Kassidy

On Saturday we had the Crespo family dinner/BBQ. Lizzie had tons of fun playing with her cousins.

Charlotte with Grandpa

Aunt Jessie and Kendall

Kendall and Jackson Dancing to some music at the dinner

Things I have learned this weekend

1. Do not go camping with a three week old. Wait until they have some sort of sleeping and eating routine.
2. If you are traveling from LA to Sacramento Route 99 had TONS more Sonic's on it than Interstate 5!!! Totally worth driving through the armpit of California for!!!!
3. Do not go camping unless you are 100% sure that you can set up camp by yourself, even in the dark. It takes 1-2 adults to watch a newborn and two year old while setting up camp.
4. Its probably best to go camping about only 3-4 hours away from home. Any longer and the traveling gets extremely tiresome for all involved.
5. Never give into peer pressure (or parental pressure) and always go with your first instinct.
6. I don't want a tent trailer. If I ever feel that I am too old to sleep in a sleeping bag in a tent I will just not go anymore. Maybe one day I will be singing a different tune, but it seems to me to be too much effort for a little extra comfort.
7. GPS's are convenient but you might want to check a map (or bring one) just in case. Here are a few funny clips that I thought of while we were on our trip. Cars clip (about 8 minutes into it) The Office - GPS clip
8. MP3 players and earphones are my two year olds best friend. She would only fall asleep with lots a people around if she was listening to her music. This weekend was the first time I rock Lizzie to sleep in well over a year!!!
9. My entire family (Jai, Lizzie, and Charlotte) start sweating at 70 degrees. I think we might do better living in a cooler climate than Southern California!!!

Lizzie did have a great time. She loved to swim in the river, taking showers, squishing ants, and making someone else swat away flies from everything she felt was hers (her baby doll, blankey, food, the seat she wanted to sit in, Charlotte, etc.)
While we were taking down camp she sat in the car and pretend to drive us all around!!! It was really funny!!

Elizabeth Update

Lizzie just had her two year check-up today!!! She is doing great and growing normally. She is now up to 25 lbs (30%) 35 inches tall (65%) and her head is in the 93rd percentile!! The doctors visit was pretty traumatic for her (she cried the entire time) and she received one shot. It looks like we will have to make an appointment with an allergy specialist for her peanut/nut allergy. She had a pretty bad breakout last weekend and we don't even know what exactly she ate that she was allergic to. She loves to sing and request different movies to watch. She talks to mom and dad a whole lot but will be extremely quiet for everyone else. Her favorite thing to do is to use just the first letter of a word instead of the whole word. So B is for Blankie, bacon, bath, etc. You just have to know the context in which she is using the word to understand what she wants. She LOVES baby Charlotte and gives her lots of hugs and kisses. It really is amazing how much bigger she is now that she is a big sister. She has grown up soooo much!!