She is plugging right along on the triceratops. Anna was super jealous about the dinosaur so I've promised to get her one as well next time I'm at the store. Of course, Sarah is jealous of what Anna brings home from school, too. I really wonder how long that will be the case (each girl wants what the other one has) and when Henry is going to join in the fun.
I picked out a few things for Sarah to do when she is home and Anna is at school. This triceratops from Michaels was a huge hit and it will take her a couple of days to finish it which is even better.
The air conditioning guys came around 10:30 this morning (thank goodness, Henry and I were getting sweaty waiting for them!). The house is cooling down slowly but surely.
We gave up pretty fast this morning and we booked a hotel with early check in this morning. After Henry's morning nap (didn't go well, he was too hot) we packed up, took a little drive until it was time for lunch, and then went to the hotel after lunch. Craig took the girls swimming while Henry took a good nap at the hotel. Is it wrong to now complain that the air in the hotel is too cold?
Our air conditioning went out this afternoon. Craig wants to tough it out at home but I wanted to go to a hotel! The house isn't too hot now but probably because we had one half-day of air conditioning to cool it down. We put a fan in Henry's room and Anna is sleeping on the couch in the game room under a fan. We have to go through a certain company with our home warranty and they are not open on the weekend. I hope they can come early on Monday! At 8 PM the temperature was 89 and the heat index was 97.
I think Henry's first word is "Anna." Occasionally Sarah, Henry, & I will be at the breakfast table waiting for Anna to come down and I've shouted up to her "Anna!" Today, I did that, then Sarah did, then Henry chimed in!
Spoken Words: Anna
New Signs: more
All signed words: waves goodbye, cat, drink, fan, light, all-done, car, phone, bird, elephant
It is interesting to watch Sarah try to figure out how to play with just Henry. She is so used to playing with Anna that she is having to re-think how she does stuff with Henry around. It will be fun to watch these two develop a stronger relationship this year while Anna is at school.
I did take Sarah & Henry to Anna's school this morning for a PTO breakfast. Henry got pretty fussy and Sarah was super clingy but I did learn a few things about the school and met a couple of moms with kids in Anna's class.
"Painting" the butter on the dough before we shake cinnamon and sugar on it.
Sarah helped me make some cinnamon bread today. It was easy and the kids loved it. The recipe is from The Pioneer Woman.
Anna stayed home again today but will go back to school tomorrow.
Anna stayed home sick today. I still made Sarah go to school though, which I think she wasn't expecting (she is still crying at drop-off and today I couldn't stay because I had left sick Anna in the car).
Anna told me today when she came home from school that today she "talked for the first time without someone from her family there." She said her teacher was reading a story and asked why the bus wasn't working and Anna answered, "maybe it broke down." I don't know that her teacher actually heard her or not as it wasn't in her folder that comes home each day but hearing this from Anna give me hope for her to do it again as she gets more comfortable.
It is amazing what you can get done with only one child in tow! This morning Henry and I mailed some packages at the UPS store, filled a prescription, went to Luke's Locker and I got to try on running bras (they have one changing room there that is filled with toys or I doubt Henry would have gone for it!), got his haircut, and went to lunch. We did this all with time to spare to pick up Sarah from her second day of school. He was a good sport about the whole thing and it helps that he likes to get out and about.
There goes my baby girl on the big yellow school bus!
Anna took the bus this morning and will take it every morning to school from now on. She was shocked that there were no seat belts on the bus although I did warn her about that. We thought it was strange that she had to wear a seat belt on the bus from Beverly Hills 1 to OIS in Korea but they don't even have them in the USA! Yes, the "bus" in Korea was actually a van, but the point is that Korean kids don't wear seat belts most of the time there and the foreigners are pretty fanatical about it.
I know he's blurry but he plays with the cars in a way that the girls never did which I find fascinating.
I have to set the bee out far for him each time but he loves to pull the string to make it come close.
One of these days, I swear this kid is going to walk!!
Henry and I didn't really know what to do with each other today without Anna & Sarah! It is so weird to only have one kid around. Tomorrow we might try to run some errands since that will be easier with only one kid for sure!
She didn't want to pick a work tray so I tried to find one that she would like.
She really liked these buttons so I stayed another few minutes (she wanted me to "stay as long as we stayed with Anna.")
"It's so tiny and cute!" (said in her squeaky little voice for tiny things.)
She gave Henry a kiss goodbye.
Sarah was super nervous about me leaving her at school this morning and she did cry when I left her. Although I was expecting it, it didn't really make it any easier walking away from her! She gets served lunch at school but she didn't eat it today. She was really happy when Henry & I showed up at the playground at 12:30 but didn't let me know a whole lot about what she did at school.
I sat her down next to a girl when she wouldn't choose a seat on her own.
Sarah & Henry watched as Anna settled in ad the other kids came to the class.
She was excited that these were Christmas colors.
Anna was pretty nervous for her first day of school but she had no problem with the drop-off.
We navigated the car-line today, too. (Anna will have ballet Monday & Tuesday starting in two weeks so we decided to just do the car line on Mondays & Tuesdays from the start to avoid confusion.) Next time we'll have to bring more activities for Sarah & Henry in the car-line because they (Sarah especially) got a little fussy waiting so long. I also hope that as time goes on less people will be in the car line/it will run more smoothly!
Anna seemed to have a good first day and is looking forward to going back tomorrow!
They are saying, "School!"
I drove Anna to school this morning on her first day and parked the car in between her school and Sarah's preschool so we didn't have to get in and out of the cars. Both girls admit to be a little excited to go to school but also tell me that they are very nervous to be away from me today.
Play-doh volcano.
I asked her why she looked so serious and asked her to look happy.
And that's what I got in response! She is a goofball.
Henry really likes this alligator walker thing. It's hard to steer so we have to do that for him but he can walk really well on the tile and carpet with it. Sarah is going to take over that Broncos shirt for a while, I think—it is just too big for this little guy!
I took the girls to church this morning and then we kind of stuck around home on this last day before school starts. I'm sad that I won't get to see Anna much and I hope that this was the right decision. I know it wouldn't be as hard if Kindergarten were a half-day instead of a full-day.
Lately instead of continuing to throw one of her giant fits when she gets sent to her room for a "time-out," I will come up to her room when the time-out is over and find Sarah reading one of her books in bed. She ends up hanging out in there for a really long time and is much more pleasant when she comes out!
Also, she has been doing better staying in bed at night since the "sleep chart program" ended. We put a ceiling fan in her room and she says it is "magic." I guess that magic helps her stay in bed? She is sleeping with the light on in her room all night and I think that that is what is actually helping. She has a bit of separation anxiety and is a little scared of the dark! She does still come down from time to time but I think I'm actually sleeping through the night more often than not now (yay!).
Craig couldn't get away from work today for Anna's passport application so he had a note notarized saying it is OK for me to get a passport for her on my own. Thankfully the process didn't take long and the kids all behaved pretty well. I was a little stressed out about the whole thing (thinking the kids were going to freak out/I would have forgotten something on the forms/etc. I think it was a little bit that I still feel nervous dealing with "official" people since living overseas when I have to strain to understand their English (always better than my Korean or Arabic!).
This afternoon we had Caroline & Eleanor over to play. Anna, Sarah, & Caroline colored downstairs for a bit and Anna & Caroline went into Anna's room on their own. Anna did not speak to the other girls but did speak in front of them. Overall I will say that the playdates we've had since coming back to the US have been much better than the ones we had while in Korea. Maybe because I've had a chance to explain Anna's situation to the other moms here or Anna's just more comfortable. We'll never know. We still have a long way to go though! I'm hoping Anna will like some of the girls in her class and we can set up some playdates with them individually after they are all settled at school this fall. Sarah needs a lot of work in this area, too, so hopefully she'll meet some nice little kids at preschool, too!
We all went to Anna's "Meet the Teacher" night tonight. Anna & I stayed a little longer and Craig took Sarah & Henry home. Anna & I played with some of the toys in the classroom and then walked around and checked out the rest of the building. She says she is less nervous for Monday now. Here's hoping!
I took the girls over to get ballet slippers and leotards for their new ballet classes starting next month. I brought my little diaper bag camera but the battery was dead. I think it's just time for a new camera there, I bought a new battery and it's not holding the charge, either. Anyway, the girls looked adorable trying their new slippers on in the store and they each chose a leotard with a unicorn on it. Anna is super excited and Sarah is a little excited. They start the week of Labor Day.
She says this means she loves me.
This is the one that ended up being her photo.
Anna's passport expires next month so I made an appointment to get it renewed at the post office tomorrow which means I had to take her picture today! I think she was glad that I told her to NOT smile but just make eye contact and sit still. Sarah wanted to join in the fun a little, too. (I had interrupted their "ballet class.")
Today I finally braved the pool by myself with all three kids. I had my friend Sara there for backup. (I wasn't foolish enough to actually go alone!) Sara recommended a good zero-entry pool and all three of my kids were totally happy there. I wish we had done it earlier, of course!
The one we submerged was kind of lame.
This was too fast to photograph!
Anna drew some volcanoes and sent one to her friend, River, in South Korea, who is currently obsessed with volcanoes.
Today was our last "Science on Wednesday" before school starts next week.
Henry still doesn't really say any words but he is adding more signs! He also makes his toy airplane fly around and makes noises with it although every time we've seen an airplane in the sky he never seems to see it!
New Signs: car, phone, bird, elephant (he also sometimes says "eh" for Elephant but I'm not sure if I'm counting it just yet, he usually makes the trumpeting noise though)
All signed words: cat, drink, fan, light, all-done
Sarah, Henry, & I took Anna over to her new school today to meet her Kindergarten teacher. She seems nice and let us check out the room a bit. I think Anna was glad to have the chance to see a bit inside the building. Sarah was dancing around the room after a bit and got Anna to relax a little, too, and Anna did talk to Sarah some in the classroom. We'll go back on Thursday night for the official "Meet the Teacher" night.
Notice her tongue is sticking out as she concentrates on tracing.
Henry didn't get any workbooks but he had fun playing with his birdhouse!
I have gotten the girls plenty of workbooks over the years. Anna has always enjoyed them and Sarah just wants to hear the instructions so she can not follow them (go opposite the way the instructions say, for example). The past month or so she seems to be more interested in following the instructions though and today she actually wanted to try tracing the letters, too.
The girls love it when I sing to Henry, "Henry, you can drive my car. Yes, you're going to be a star. Henry, you can drive my car. And Henry, I love you. Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah!" It's funny to me how much more interested in cars he is than either of the girls ever was. He plays with them and makes the car noises already.
He was napping during Build-a-Bear but he did get to eat some yummy grilled pineapple later!
Sarah has been working on six weeks of sleep charts since right around her birthday (about 13 weeks!). Her sleep rules have basically been to: STAY IN BED. She has been getting up in the middle of the night since we moved here and I grew tired of it pretty fast! At the end of each week she would get to go to the store and pick out a stuffed animal (Anna did, too, since she was following the sleep rules, too. Henry didn't care.). I told her from the start that at the end of the sixth week we'd go to Build-a-Bear (where she got her beloved Jacques the cat). Sarah & Henry got longhorns and Anna got a purple bear to go with her other purple bear. Let's hope there aren't too many interrupted nights from here on out.
It was so humid out this morning but I have procrastinated long enough for Henry's official one-year portrait and his hanbok portrait (that was really supposed to be done on his birthday!). Poot little Henry and that super hot winter hanbok!! He was a good sport though (although he doesn't want to sit still for portraits any more). Also, the sun is in a different spot than it used to be at this time of day so I might have to do portraits in the afternoon this fall (it was shining directly into the garage so we had to keep shutting it as it snuck in more... so that's why the lighting is a bit funky today). Sarah was wise to refuse to go out for portraits this morning!
Henry has a puzzle with a bee on it and he always picks the bee up and flies it around the room and says, "bzzzzzzzzzzz."
The girls thought it was pretty hilarious that Clementine was using this parasaurolophus as a pillow.
Chopstick.
A beading frenzy has begun in this house!
New shoes and some back-to-school clothes came in these fun boxes.
Craig came back last night (a day early: yay!). After multiple attempts with the front desk at the public school, Anna's teacher finally called me today to set up a time for us to go check out her classroom (Tuesday). The teacher had a child with SM in her class three years ago so she is familiar with Anna's situation which will really help, I think!
I told the girls that if they didn't participate in their gymnastics class today then we wouldn't sign up for the next session. Both girls participated a little bit but also said they don't want to go any more. Anna really wants to go back to ballet and Sarah isn't sure what she wants to do! It's really too bad; I think they would have really enjoyed it if they had given it a fair shot. (They both wanted to just do back flips and cartwheels without working up to that point.)
Just as I was taking the kids to Lesley's for a play date with Caroline & Eleanor, the Super Shuttle pulled up to our house with my mom in it! She was nice enough to stay with Henry at home (he was a bit grumpy) while I took the girls on the play date.
This afternoon I went to an appointment with the therapist for Anna's Selective Mutism (the reason my mom came!). Anna won't meet with the therapist until late next month but it was good to talk to the therapist and let her know what has been going on. She is hopeful that a big part of the problem has been the international setting we were in the past three years and that once Anna is settled in an American school with native English speakers she will start to speak at school. She also suggested that I take Anna to the school and hang out with her there a few times before the Meet the Teacher night (when it is going to be a little crazy). I'll try and arrange that tomorrow.
Hello, Chopstick.
Time to wake up, Henry!
Skype with daddy and painting.
New backpack excitement.
Figuring out the zippers.
Craig went to Amsterdam yesterday so we talked to him on Skype for a bit. Thankfully he won't be gone too long! The girls got their backpacks in the mail and were so excited about it they put all of the school supplies for Anna's class in their backpacks. I think Anna was relieved when I told her that she wouldn't have to carry a ream of paper with her to school every day and that I'd bring it in myself on meet-the-teacher night. (We still don't know who her teacher is and I'm starting to get frustrated since school is only two weeks away!)
The zoo has had a dinosaur exhibit going on since May and it ends early next month. It has been so hot and we have been so busy that we just haven't made it to the exhibit but when I asked the girls what they wanted to do before school starts the zoo was one of the first things mentioned. We were there for less than one hour it was so hot and humid! We saw the dinosaurs (kind of lame and very scary for the girls), we rode the carousel (loved by all), and checked out the elephants. We are looking forward to going back when it is much cooler this fall!
This past weekend Henry was getting really upset during meals and indicated that he would really like a utensil like me. So, I gave him a fork and he was super happy. I have to stab his food for him but he likes being like the rest of us with our utensils!
I've been taking the girls to the local Unitarian Universalist church. The religious education classes don't start until fall but we've been going to the summer classes together (usually a craft and a Dr. Seuss book—he was a Unitarian Universalist). I've been going with the girls to their class but I've told them when the real classes start in the fall they'll go on their own (they'll be split up). I am looking forward to staying to hear the rest of the adult service because the music is so good (especially when the folk choir performs). Once Henry stops napping in the morning we'll bring the boys along, too.
Henry stood on his own without holding onto anything today. I don't think he realized what he was doing but hopefully this is the beginning of something!
Also he started signing fan, light, and all-done. He got a little confused when he was holding onto a fan from the 4th of July parade and I said something about his "fan." He looked up at the ceiling fan and clearly wondered why I was bringing that into the conversation.
New Signs: fan, light, all-done
All signed words: cat, drink, fan, light, all-done
Henry thought it was fun for about four seconds before he tried to eat the smencil.
It smells good in here!
She approved the every-day chocolate cake batter.
I gave the girls some "smencils" (scented colored pencils) and some big coloring sheets today. They loved it as predicted. There was one picture that no one wanted to color so Henry and I worked on it. He thought he was pretty cool getting to color with his sisters but didn't seem too upset when I took the pencil away after he tried to eat it, either.
We also tried the "every-day cake" from smittenkitchen but it wasn't that good so I won't bother with it again (nothing beats Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake!).
This might be one of the last pictures from the little camera for a while so it's always dead when I go to use it. The battery isn't charging any more (hasn't been since last month).
This afternoon we went to the Children's Museum in town. It used to be at the mall when we lived here a few years ago but it was looking for a new location and just re-opened in another part of town not too far away. The new location is smaller and it didn't seem quite as nice. We spent most of our time in the toddler area because the girls didn't like all of the other kids everywhere else and Henry wanted to participate, too. I think this will be an OK place to bring Henry this fall while his sisters are in school.
The girls had a dentist appointment this morning (Sarah's first) and they both did pretty well. Anna didn't want to get in the chair so she sat in my lap. Sarah crawled into the room but did sit in the chair on her own. Henry was content in his stroller for the duration. Everything checked out fine with their teeth!
Craig & I got in this morning around 6 AM and when we got back to the house Corrine, Scott, Owen, & Raisa had to head right out the door to make it back home! We are sad that we weren't able to spend more time with them but happy that they got to know our kids a bit better and vice versa. Thank you all so very much for coming down!!
Our group at the first winery (where Greg & Carl were stationed).
Jeff looks like he's not happy I'm getting between him and the next tasting.
The wine tasting today was such a wonderful and fun idea for the day after the wedding. We were in a fun group with Joel & Anya, Jeff & Libby, and Heather (Joel, Greg, & Jeff's cousin on Bonnie's side). We particularly liked some of the wines at Gundlach Bundschu so we sent some bottles to Corrine & Scott as thank you and made a note to order some for ourselves when we get home, too.
The word from home is that Sarah is ready for us to be home again. She let Corrine & Scott experience one of her signature fits and everything! Lucky for her (and them) we will be back super early tomorrow morning!
