Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Preschool!

Benjamin started his first year of preschool this past September. I am finally getting around to posting the pictures!

septoct 005

On his orientation day, he asked at first that Mommy not go with him. He just wanted Daddy and Abby. He also requested that Abby wear a dress and a matching bow. He took special care with his outfit, and he was beyond excited to meet his new teachers. I had a meeting that morning for MOPS, so, he was a bit disappointed in the end that I wasn’t going, but he had a great time!

septoct 007septoct 009septoct 010septoct 012septoct 021

Here he is on the actual first day. He wanted to be sure both Jeremy and I would take him, and be there to pick him up. But, there was no hesitation on his part. He just walked right into the classroom, introducing himself to his new friends. I cried the whole way home.

septphone 029

Our goal for Benjamin this year at preschool is that he will learn to share well with the other 10 children in his class, and that he will improve his fine motor skills like cutting, drawing and writing. So far, he is doing great and having a great time. We are so proud of him!

Friday, September 6, 2013

End of summer fun

It has been sad to see the pool close, the leaves start to turn colors and people are already gearing up for Fall. Meanwhile, we are having hot weather, and it just doesn’t feel like summer is over yet.

We have been busy! I am super excited about the moms group my friend and I started at church. We have now had five meetings, and the kids/moms are really having fun. Here is Benjamin sporting our visor craft from August. We also had a splash party.

iphonejuly 009iphonejuly 004

The kids continue to grow and develop. It is fun to see their personalities shine through. I just had to share this Abby photo, because she can make the most awful faces when she is unhappy.

iphonejuly 011

We had a bad stomach flu strike a few weeks ago. Luckily, just the kids got sick, but Jeremy and I still felt a bit under the weather with this one too. It meant a lot of TV time.

iphonejuly 014

We took advantage of the last few days before school by hitting up some of the school playgrounds.

iphonejuly 024iphonejuly 025iphonejuly 028iphonejuly 034

What else have we been up to? Oh so much! We hang out with friends often, so it was a great treat to meet the Chic-Fil-A cow at our last visit. My kids don’t care for the food there, but we go anywhere since it is a nice place to meet people. We also have people at our house a lot, and we LOVE the fenced in backyard. A neighbor gave us their play set, so the kids have been having a blast playing on it.

iphonejuly 093iphonejuly 102

Jeremy took Benjamin to the last regular Kings Island Day, and guess what? Benjamin grew to 40 inches! He was so excited!!! He got to ride a new coaster, and Jeremy purchased the precious picture from the first big hill.

iphonejuly 098

Benjamin is motivated to grow more now. He knows there are more rides awaiting him. Each day, he asks for things like milk and avocado so he can grow bigger. He asks me about all the super foods, because he is willing to eat anything that might help him grow a bit. He is the pickiest eater right now, and he just eats a tiny bit here and there. It makes us crazy. Sometimes we have to beg him to eat. Abby, meanwhile, eats triple the amount of food Benjamin consumes. She is happiest with food in her hands. On a side note, Abby is really good with a spoon…she now insists all food is delivered to her in a bowl and not on her tray.

augustphone 010

She also is into acting like a big girl. She asks me to put her shoes on, and then she waves “dye dye.” Abby also learned recently to say “Abby,” instead of “Abba.” It made me a little sad to grow out of that stage, but it is seriously cute to hear her repeating over and over again, “Abby, Abby, Abby!” while admiring herself in the mirror.

iphonejuly 087iphonejuly 118

We also took a trip to Jump And Jacks on a particularly hot day. Abby insists on sliding all by herself now, even on the biggest slides.

augustphone 015augustphone 016

We went to Findlay this past weekend, and these two became quite the couch/bed potatoes as they watched Disney Junior on Papa’s TV.

augustphone 017

That’s all for now. Benjamin’s first day of preschool is Tuesday, so stay tuned!

Lorain

It has been a few weeks, but I wanted to be sure to post our photos from our trip to Lorain. It was great to see GG, Bob Bob and the Lorain/Vermillion family. It was a long drive, but the kids did really well with their DVD players and naps.

We took the kids to a fair-like amusement park in Cleveland that was designed just for small children. They had so much fun. We also had fun hanging out at their house, grilling pancakes, taking walks and exploring.

iphonejuly 067iphonejuly 068

iphonejuly 07815 months 20515 months 05615 months 048

The kids were so sad to leave. They had a great time, and loved the attention!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Abby is 15 months

Sweet Abby girl is now 15 months, and she is a force to be reckoned with!
15 months 259
Despite a bad cold, and an equally bad temper, I decided to dress her up in a frilly outfit (which almost doesn't fit her anymore now that she has outgrown much of her 12-month attire) and tried to stage a tea party this morning. But, typical Abby fashion, she had other plans.
15 months 25315 months 254
Abby loves to climb everything. She is very good at it, though we have had some bad falls too. The other day, she flipped head first off the side of the couch and landed flat on her back with a loud thud. After crying a minute, she got off my lap and went right back to where she had just climbed.
15 months 26115 months 28215 months 28415 months 265
Abby also loves to play peek a boo. She is constantly hiding her face with something, or peeking from behind an object and shouting “doo!”
15 months 260
15 months 26415 months 263
Forget the dolls, this little girl loves to motor cars, trains, trucks and anything else that she pretends is a vehicle. She makes a humming noise that is her equivalent of “vroom,” sometimes accompanied with a crashing noise.
15 months 292
15 months 274 - Copy
She also loves balls…and throwing them hard… at your head. Happy football season Daddy!
15 months 268
Abby discovered chalk and crayons these past few weeks. Aside from constantly attempting to eat them, she also likes to color. I know this is dangerous, but I have been letting her color on the fence. Hopefully that won’t translate into wall art later.
15 months 30115 months 30315 months 30415 months 32015 months 308
At Abby’s 15-month well visit, she weighed 21 pounds and was 31 inches long. That puts her in the 50th percentile for both. She is quite verbal, and after debating with Jeremy as to how many words she knows, we started to write them down. She is up to 35 now, and there are a few that I especially love. She waves her hands when she passes the TV and shouts, “Xbox!” in an attempt to turn it on. She says, “I want this” or “that” to everything, but on occasion she will use the actual word, (or her word for the object) like “beps” for grapes. She usually follows this up with an enthusiastic “mmmmmmmmmm!”  She says “amen” at the end of prayers," and she calls GG “Doggie.” She also calls most furry animals, “doggie.” She tells me things are pitty (pretty) or ditty (dirty). If she gets tired of you, or thinks we should go somewhere, she will herd you to the door and say, “dye dye.” My absolute favorite is when she sees a photo of herself, or looks in a mirror, and says, “Abba!” It often is accompanied with a pose and a drawn out, “Aaaba".”
15 months 32615 months 327 - Copy15 months 329
Abby likes to read books, and most mornings before Benjamin wakes up, she brings me book after book to read. Her favorites are touch and feel, catchy rhyming books, or books with flaps to lift. She loves these best: “Where’s Spot?,” “The Very Hungry Caterpillar,” “Peek a boo Baby,” and “Hand Hand Fingers Thumb.”
15 months 334
Abby still wears a size 3 shoe, but I think we will be ready for the next size up this winter. I am sure she will have an opinion as to which shoes we buy. She has an opinion about all things fashion related. She picks out her clothes in the morning, and often she likes to pick out everyone else’s clothes too.
15 months 280
Abby still takes two naps a day, because she prefers shorter naps (around 1.5 hours) and because she hates change. Every change around here is a battle. She refuses to drink milk unless it comes from a bottle. We are ignoring popular opinion and allowing her to keep her bottle in the evenings. It guarantees she has at least one serving of milk a day, and it is the only way we can give her medicine. She refuses to let us drop it in her mouth…picture giving a cat a pill.
There is so much I could say about this precious baby girl. She is growing up so quickly, and she certainly knows her mind! She holds her own in a crowd of 3-year-olds, and she can get into a hair-pulling, rumble tumble, screeching scuffle if someone gets in her way. (We are going to have to work on controlling this diva’s temper a bit.) The majority of the time, though, Abby loves to smile, she adores an audience, and she melts our hearts with her personality and antics.
15 months 30615 months 31115 months 317