October 2010 Archives

Trick-or-Treat

Anna ended up getting sick just after the kids got their skunk costumes on and Henry really didn't like my witch costume. Craig stayed home with Anna & Henry and I took Sarah around for her first American trick-or-treating experience. I had to really coax her into going to each house. We went to maybe 10 houses and she still got a ton of candy. I think she was a little creeped out by being out in the "dark" and was feeling bad that Anna wasn't with us (they give each other confidence). Hopefully next year all three kids will make it out!

Birthday Party

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One of the boys in Anna's class had a birthday party at the park today and the girls loved hanging out in their skunk costumes. I got to meet one of Anna's friend's mom and we talked about setting up a playdate with the girls. And that same friend has an older brother who was having a bit too much fun chasing Anna the Skunk around on the playground. Anna was having fun, too, but I could see Craig's mind fast-forwarding to the teenage years!

Popcorn

I finally bought an air popper and I love it. The kids love watching the popcorn pop and we all love the popcorn (I spray it with olive oil and sprinkle salt on top).

Fall Festival

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Sarah's friend, Emma.


She was still nervous/hesitant to participate in the games.


Sarah with her teacher. She had previously agreed to get the photo but then got nervous when it came time to actually do it.

Sarah's school had a fall festival this afternoon. We brought some pumpkin cookies to share and I volunteered to help clean up. Sarah was thrilled that Craig came to her school party and he took the kids home when it was time for me to help clean it up!

Costumes

Kindergarten Field Trip


All of the kindergartners.


Anna's class and teacher.

The kindergartners at Anna's school had their first field trip today. I had a sitter come for Sarah & Henry (Sarah was so excited about that!) and got to enjoy the morning with Anna and the little group she was in. Anna had the most fun on the zip line and we sat next to her teacher at lunch so Anna got to tell her teacher a few things through me and her teacher got to hear Anna talking to me, too.

Pumpkin Bread

Anna & I have really loved that I have been able to volunteer in her classroom and join her for lunch each week. Today I brought in some pumpkin bread for the kids since they are talking about pumpkins this week.

Signs

Henry added bear, dog, and airplane to his list of signs this past week. He still really isn't talking all that much (he is making noises but his list of spoken words is smaller than I think the girls was at this age) but he can definitely hear. When I tell the girls it's time to get their shoes, Henry will go sit on the bottom step and wait for me to bring his shoes to put on him! He will also toss his pacifier in his bed when I ask him to and go to his high chair when I ask him to do that. He is such a good little listener right now (so different from the girls who seem to have tuned out my voice entirely!).

Spoken Words: Anna, bird, elephant, Dada, car, balloon, ball

Signed Words: waves goodbye, cat, drink, fan, light, all-done, car, phone, bird, elephant, more, train, book, eat, monkey, hot, bear, dog, airplane

Three of Three


Henry loves the pumpkins!


Henry's pumpkin. Carved by me; template chosen by Sarah.

Anna's pumpkin already has a bit of mold growing in it.

Dancing Skunk

Costumes were allowed at ballet today so Anna wore her skunk costume. She was pretty cute and it didn't seem to bother her that she was the only non-princess there.

Two of Three


They were super excited!


Sarah's. Carved by me with her instructions.


Anna's. Carved by Craig with her instructions.

Craig tried to be thrifty and not buy Henry's pumpkin at the patch (that one with the awesome handle!). I ended up paying 50 cents more at the grocery store for his tonight and it wasn't as nice as the one Henry had picked earlier. I'll post a picture of that one after I carve it tomorrow. Anyway, the girls could not wait to carve their pumpkins this afternoon. I hope they make it through the week!

Airport


Lunch. Henry was just as interested in the fuel truck as the airplanes. The girls were all about the planes.


Signing "airplane."


She just did this naturally after she sat next to him. She is so sweet.


I guess this is what she thinks I'm after when I take her picture!


Nice pant legs, Sarah!

The kids had a ton of fun at the airport this afternoon. It was just down the street from the pumpkin patch so we thought we try out the restaurant there (the sign says it is "worth landing for"). The food was fine but the airplanes were better! All of the kids definitely want to go back again.

Pumpkin Patch

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I love this one. And Anna has super skinny legs!


The thing is that Sarah thinks it is funny when Henry does stuff like this.


Henry was enthralled with the pumpkins.


Anna chose this all-orange outfit so she would be "a big pumpkin."


Sarah fell on the way to the bus stop on Friday and scraped her philtrum.


Riding the "train."


One day he is going to have a major tongue injury with as much as he stick it out!


He often starts out crawling.


I set him up walking and now you can see how he goes with the following set of photos.


She had no idea how heavy they were until it was time to pick one out. She tried really hard to lift it!


Henry wanted a nice one with a long stem.

The kids had a blast at the pumpkin patch this morning. Thank goodness we went right when they opened because we were all getting much too warm by the time we left! It is still getting into the 90s which is very unfortunate.

Wildflower Festival

I took the girls to the wildflower festival this afternoon. We got our seed packets and then hit the bouncy rooms & slides!

Typists

Sarah has been asking to type on my computer lately so I let her type her friends names (and a lot of "Greg"s—both girls are still obsessed with my cousin Greg from this summer!) in Evernote. Anna wanted to get in on the action today, too. I don't know what Craig was doing.

Playdate

Anna had a playdate at Ela's house today. On the way there Anna said she might be brave enough to talk to Ela but that didn't end up happening. The girls did have a very good time and we plan to have Ela come over here next time. Anna & Ela played in Ela's room and I got to visit with Ela's mom which was a nice change of pace for me (Craig took Sarah & Henry to the golf tournament near our house). I am very hopeful that Anna will talk to one of her friends this school year (if only outside of school, it's still an improvement!) and from what I see so far, the girls that she likes most from her class are a very good fit for her.

Morning Tea

It turns out there is a group of expat wives from Craig's company that get together each month for morning tea. I know two of the moms from Sarah's preschool so they invited me along today even though I'm not an expat here. Sarah was overwhelmed by the social aspect of it and Henry had too little sleep since we were at the storybook parade longer than he would have liked. Other than that, I had a good time getting to know some new people (people that I have a good chance of running into in other parts of the world someday).

Storybook Parade


Sleeping Beauty waiting for the bus in the morning.


He was starting to get tired here but also kind of wanted to stand on his head.

Anna is so sweet. I think she wanted to be Sleeping Beauty for the parade today was because her hanbok is pink and we didn't need to buy anything for the costume. Her favorite Disney Princess is actually Jasmine but she "doesn't like her outfit." Anyway I wasn't sure if she would fall asleep last night she was so excited that when she got on the bus everyone would see "a princess getting on the bus!" Sarah & Henry had fun watching the parade although Henry kept walking over to the little girls on either side of us to check out the food/toys that they brought along. I was so excited for him to be walking and happy that he never tried to venture off too far (or actually try to swipe someone else's stuff, for that matter!).

On a related topic, Anna calls the girls that have Disney Princess backpacks, "The Disney Girls."

Reading & Doorman

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Please note the start of drool here.


Please note the major drool here.

Henry loves to play with the half-doors from the kitchen to the dining room. I knock on one side and say "who's there?" (I realize this doesn't make sense but it's how this game works) and then Henry opens the door all excited. Then shuts it really fast and starts over. The girls couldn't resist joining in when they heard how much fun we were having.

Sitter Success!

Henry really wants to join in the art-fun with Anna & Sarah so I let him check out the crayons today.

Also this morning I was able to volunteer in Anna's classroom because I think I've finally found someone to watch Henry each week! She is a former preschool teacher and is reliable. What more could I want? Henry seems to like her, too! He didn't want me to hand him to her but when we all sat down together he happily started chatting with Kerry and didn't seem bothered when I left and he was still happy when I came home!

It was so fun to go to Anna's class today. I noticed that she is mouthing words when the group is responding to the teacher. Every kid has a partner for their' "writer's workshop" so I sat with Anna & her partner when it was Anna's turn to share. She shared her story with me but I'm not sure her partner heard her. Next week I'll try to position myself so Makenna can hear her, too.

Several of Anna's friends came up to me and said that Anna doesn't talk at school. I responded by just telling them that she isn't ready yet but maybe she will later in the year. I hope she does but it's up to her entirely. She will talk to me (quietly) in front of the other kids but not to them or specifically so they will hear. I went to lunch with her, too, so I got to chat with her and the other kids then a bit more. Anna said a few things through me to the other kids at lunch. I'm super excited that I'll be able to go each week.

Anna also has a playdate set up for Saturday which we're hoping to do with a few of the girls from her class on a one-on-one basis to try to get her more comfortable with them individually in the hopes that she'll start talking to them outside of school and then maybe at school, too.

Shopping Cart

Henry has finally discovered the fun of walking with this shopping cart. He does best when I load it down with a few books but I guess he decided here that there were too many in his cart and they were slowing him down. It is so fun to finally see him working on this walking thing!

Two or Three

Henry was taking two and three steps at a time today. Go Henry!! It's fun to see how proud Sarah & Anna are of their little brother.

One Step

Henry has been taking one step between things a lot today! He knows he is doing it and I think this is the beginning of him learning to walk!

Three Skunk

The girls wanted to get their costumes on right away wen they spotted Skunky outside. (Although Sarah, apparently, didn't have time to put her pants on!)

Softball & Bike Ride

Craig played softball for charity today with his work. Sarah, Henry, & I went down for the first game (the only one Craig's team won). When the kids & I got home I decided to bike them over to the bagel shop for lunch which went well except that some of the trails around here aren't marked well so I had to consult a really old map that I had in my bike bag several times. Henry was tired (he fell asleep in the trailer on the way there but sleep didn't come as easily for him in the way home) so he cried which caused Sarah to join in the fun. You can imagine me riding my bike through the trees with two crying kids in the back. It was somewhat comical and I did ride faster because of it! I took Craig's GPS watch so I know I went 14.4km round trip.

Two Skunks

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Nice, awkward smile, Sarah!


Anna didn't want me to get a picture of her in her costume so I distracted them with Halloween grow-capsules.

The girls love their skunk costumes! I finished putting the ears on tonight. I am debating whether I should make one for Henry, too, since it was pretty easy and I have a ton of fur left. However, I did buy him a garden gnome costume from Target that he'd look pretty cute in. I also got him a pacifier that makes him look like he has vampire teeth. Maybe a vampire garden gnome??

Cute

For a long time I thought Henry looked a lot like my cousin Joel. This summer he started looking like my cousin Brian. Now all I see is my cousin Jeff (Joel's brother). At any rate, I think he looks a lot like mom's side of the family! (And yes, he did get his hair cut on Monday and he would not sit still.)

Focus

I love that both girls can get so wrapped up in something for extended periods of time. I hope that Henry learns this skill, too!

Dada and Car


I have to keep the colander/tupperware cupboard locked so it still has some mystique when it's time to start preparing a meal.

Henry added "dada" to his list of words today. He has also been saying "ar" when he signs "car" the past week or so. Henry gives me a high-five after he drops his pacifiers in the crib after his nap, too.

Spoken Words: Anna, bird, elephant, Dada, car

Signed Words: waves goodbye, cat, drink, fan, light, all-done, car, phone, bird, elephant, more, train, book, eat, monkey, hot

Croquet


This is the kind of photography you get when you're trying to keep Henry out of the way of swinging croquet mallets.


And there he goes face-first off of the porch. He is a major goofball.

It has finally cooled off enough that we can attempt some lawn games with the kids. Our backyard is not really configured for an official game of croquet but we had fun anyway!

Next Birthday Party

Sarah was invited to a friend from school's party today. Francesca is "one of Sarah's best friends" according to Sarah although I don't really know what that means. Another girl at the party (Suzette) told me that Sarah is her best friend. I was glad I left Henry home with Craig as he would have gotten trampled and wouldn't have made it the whole two hours anyway! The girls had a ton of fun on the slides and obstacle course. I don't think Sarah really remembers going to a similar place with Jake & Sam last year (she wasn't even two yet) but she claims so does.

Birthday Party

We went to Eleanor's third birthday party today and all of the kids had fun. Henry was even spotted transitioning from one spot to another without resorting to crawling. The girls had a ton of fun and both of them got up in front of the group and tried the pinata (Anna did it at Bryan & Allie's party but this was Sarah's first time somewhere other than our house).

Playdate

Sarah had her first friend over today. She has said that she likes a particular little girl at school, Emma, so for a few weeks now we've been talking about having her over. We finally got something set up with Emma & her mom but Sarah was very nervous about it. I was nervous, too, because all other playdates I have set up have been for Anna and they all tend to be awkward because Anna doesn't talk to her friend. So, we haven't set up many playdates! Emma brought cookies along and after a little while, Sarah & Emma went off on their own and were talking and checking everything out together. I was so relieved! Sarah had fun and we found out that Emma was born in the same hospital in Qatar as Sarah was just seven months after Sarah. Emma's family was in Qatar at the same time as us but we didn't know each other there. Emma's mom knows two of the people I stay in touch with from Qatar as well. All-in-all, I think Sarah did an excellent job picking her first friend!

Walk to School Day

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Anna's school had a walk-to-school day today. We live almost exactly one mile from the school so it was no problem for Anna (Sarah opted to stroll with Henry although I think she could do it, too). It was kind of like being a parade there were so many people! Anna says she wants to do it again next week and she has started talking more about being a bike-rider next year. This morning I took Sarah & Henry to the playground on the way home, next week I think we'll stop on the way with Anna, too.

Library & Trolley

In order to help us out of our funk about the sitter not showing, I took Sarah & Henry to the library and then we took the trolley to lunch. We haven't been on the trolley since Rachel & Mat were here and Henry was definitely into it this time.

Frustrated

I was supposed to volunteer at Anna's school this morning but the babysitter didn't show up. Sarah was really disappointed, too, because she really liked this sitter. She was supposed to come every-other-Thursday but it looks like I'm now looking for a new daytime sitter or possibly sending Henry to a one-day-a-week Mother's Day Out program if I can find one! Anna was also disappointed but Henry was probably glad that it was me that came to get him from his nap and not the sitter.

Adjusting

Henry is taking a morning nap every-other-day right now and on the days he does take it, it can only be for one hour or it messes up his afternoon nap and then he's up for way too long at one stretch. We are both trying to adjust to it and some days are better than others. I felt really bad waking him up from his little cat-nap in the car but I had to get him inside so we could eat lunch and then pick up Sarah from school in the bike trailer.

Firetruck

Sarah & Henry had fun checking out the firetruck that Corrine & Scott brought down this summer (handed down from Owen & Raisa, it was a gift from Opa).

Flowers for the Classroom

I totally forgot to take a picture of Sarah with the flowers for her classroom but she was so excited that she was bringing them in this week. Each child in the class has a framed family photo in the classroom and each week someone brings in a bouquet of flowers. Then the kids get to arrange the flowers in vases all week.

Skunky Skunkerton

We've had this skunk living under our porch for the past few weeks. He's really not bothering us and although I could smell him (faintly) the first week or so, I don't any more. I have often though he left us but here he was tonight. I tried putting mothballs by his entry-point but that didn't get him to leave. Next I'll try used cat litter. However, I wonder if he's helping me out in the yard by eating some undesired bugs? (Skunks are omnivores.) I'll keep trying to gently nudge him away but tonight Sarah decided she wants to be a skunk for Halloween. Anna says she wants to be a princess "because a unicorn would be too hard to make." (I told her that I'd figure it out if she wants to be a unicorn but apparently she just doesn't believe it could be done.)

Supper Club?

We got together tonight with the founding members of our old supper club. It was fun! When we started the club Nicole & Colby just had one child and no one else had any. Tonight there were seven.

My Sweethearts

Friday afternoon snack-time is a favorite time around here because it means the start of the weekend! Sarah helped me decorate for Halloween this morning and what used to fully decorate the apartment in Korea barely makes a dent at this new house. We will surely add some fun Halloween crafts to our decor over the course of the month.

Sarah says she wants to be a ghost (but she seems a bit wishy-washy on that) and Anna says she wants to be a unicorn. I have a pacifier that will make Henry look like he has vampire teeth. I will try to get the girls to commit to their costume idea by the end of the weekend so I can make or find their costumes in time.

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This page is an archive of entries from October 2010 listed from newest to oldest.

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