Graduation Day

I can't believe my first born has graduated from her first year of preschool. She seems so grown up! The year went by so quickly; it feels like just yesterday we were anticipating the first day.
Annabelle had a great first year at school. She had a fantastic class and made loads of new friends. Not once was there a day where she didn't want to go to school. I only hope next year goes just as smoothly!

Walking into the auditorium for the ceremony.

Pony ride!

Making a necklace, which we forgot to take with us.

Painty face.

Hamming it up with her birthday buddy.

Posing with the girls. Who's that little guy in the background?

Taking time out from all the activity to have a slush with her brother.

Hanging with Daddy.

The boys.

Sad to be leaving.

Party Planning

Annabelle is currently busy planning her Care Bear birthday party for NEXT FEBRUARY. She is sitting at the dining room table making invitations as I type. I can hear her trying to work out what [she thinks] she is writing:

Dear my friends,
Come to my party. You are invited.

Dear my friends,
You have to come to my party. It's February 5Th. Ask your
moms.

Dear my friends,

I'm having a birthday party. You have to come. Tell your
moms.

Jack has just asked if he is also invited to the Care Bear party. Her response: "you can come Jack, but don't mess up my cake, OK."

And now, apparently we are supposed to walk to the mail box to send these off, "before it gets dark." No names. No addresses. No stamps.

Memorial Weekend

We had a very lazy weekend at home- Did a bit of gardening, filled the inflatable pool for the kids, ate and drank tons, and just basically lounged around... Much like I do every day :).

Happy Memorial Day!

Like Pulling Teeth

Sometimes I wonder about Annabelle. Sometimes she just doesn't seem to be "all there." She is very smart, her teacher said so, but sometimes she just seems so... Blond.

Yesterday I picked her up from school and as we were driving home she announced to me that she, "got in to trouble three times at school." When I asked what she had done, the conversation went something like this:

Me: You got in trouble? What happened?

Annabelle: Oh, you know.

Me: I don't know. What did you do?

Annabelle: I just, um, hey Mommy, are we driving?

Me: Huh?

Annabelle: Are we driving?

Me: Yes Annabelle, we are driving. What did you do to get into trouble?

Annabelle: I, well, I was, is that light red?

Me: Annabelle, what happened at school?

Annabelle: I was being mean.

Me: Who were you being mean to?

Annabelle: Oh, just my teacher.

Me: WHAT??? How were you being mean to your teacher?

Annabelle: I, well, can we go to the park?

Me: Uh, NO. How were you mean to your teacher?

Annabelle: Can we go to the toy store?

Me: Why were you being mean to your teacher?

Annabelle: But I really want to go to the toy store.

Me: We are not going to the toy store. What happened at school?

Annabelle: Then can we go to the park? I really want to go to the park.

Me: WHAT HAPPENED AT SCHOOL!!!!!!!

This exchange went on for, what seemed like, AGES. Eventually, what I got out of the conversation was that the class was practicing for their graduation performance and Annabelle didn't feel like doing part of it, so she decided that she would run around the auditorium. When her teacher asked her to stop playing up she refused and was sent off to another room.

Diagnosis... Sick

Well, we made it in to see the Doctor... As I suspected, she has an ear infection (both ears), and a cough, AND conjunctivitis! -I knew she must have had a touch of the pink eye because, A) there was a ton of goop coming out of her eyes and, B) one of her little school friend's was rumored to be absent because of it.

No worries though... Miss madness was given plenty of medication for both ears and eyes, and should be back to normal in no time. In the meantime; I will be enjoying the quiet as the lack of sleep has finally caught up with her!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Last night Annabelle woke up crying several times during the night, complaining of an earache. I got up with her once and gave her some Motrin, anticipating a long night ahead. Lucky for me, Nick remembered that today is Mother's Day, took pity on me and dealt with the rest of the night crying... ALSO, as an added bonus-let me sleep in this morning!

By the time I got up Annabelle seemed fine, or at least claimed she was fine, so we attended her soccer game as planned.

Jack wins the prize for best facial expressions!! (click to enlarge)

After the game we headed back to our house for a bbq. She still seemed fine to me; in fact, Jack was the one I was worried about, as he has had a nasty cough for the past few days that seemed to have gotten worse after the game. But, as karma would have it, just after we put the kids to bed and I was settling in to watch the season finale of Survivor, little Miss Annabelle started complaining of pains again.

The next morning...

Last night was an extremely looooong one. Annabelle was up all night coughing and crying. I ended up staying in bed with her and neither of us got much sleep. Miraculously, she seems unaffected by this lack of sleep and is being her cheeky little self... Only super snotty, and coughing still. I'm going to see if I can get her in to see the Quack this morning. Hopefully we can get her sorted out so we do NOT have a repeat performance of the past two nights!

Sad Puppy

Annabelle has become somewhat of a quick-change artist lately; sometimes she'll disappear into her room for two seconds and return wearing something completely different from what she had originally been wearing. There is no rhyme or reason to her clothing choices; one day she is sporting a winter vest (over her pajamas) and flip-flops, another, a bathing suite and snow boots. Other days, she emerges from her room in full on costume... Yesterday was one of the "other days."

Yesterday Annabelle was a puppy.

Puppy was standing at the window, watching her friends play outside. Puppy wanted to go out and play with her friends. Mean Mommy made puppy wait until her brother woke up from his nap. This made puppy very sad. Puppy didn't want to wait.

Eventually mean Mommy caved and woke sad puppy's brother. This made sad puppy very happy... And mean Mommy no longer mean.

Soccer

Annabelle had her very first soccer game on Sunday! She was so excited; she practically slept in her uniform the night before. The game was pretty adorable. Half of the kids didn't know what to do once they got the ball, and the ones that did, were running in the wrong direction most of the time!!

These pictures are from the pre-game practice:

Here they are in a post game huddle:

Poor Nick was volunteered (by his evil wife) to be the assistant soccer coach. Only, he keeps calling it football and insisting that Jaguars (the name of their team) be pronounced, Jag-U-ars... Way to confuse a bunch of 4 year olds, Nick!

Little Faerie

The Monkeys' Granny and Uncle Graham arrived from England yesterday! They came bearing lots of gifts, including a faerie costume for Annabelle! Last night when she tried her new costume on, Annabelle ran around pretending to give everyone coins- I think she was pretending to be the tooth fairy because she said she left some coins under Jack's pillow. First thing this morning, Annabelle put the costume back on and started flying around the yard! She has been wearing it out and about all day... and receiving lots and lots of compliments, smiles, and giggles!!

Driving

Before and After

The back porch used to be a very scary place!

Today, it looks like this. However, I fear it will return to it's previous state at any moment.

Sign of the times...

by Jack-
"Mommy, you table is dirty. It's got milk on it. You need to get a new one... at Target."

Jackie's New Haircut

"Mommy, you get you camera and take a picture of Jackie's new haircut?"
"I sit here."

Stranger Things Have Happened

We had an incredibly good morning. Almost perfect. It was... Strange.

The kids woke up, went downstairs, and immediately started playing. There was no whining, no fighting, and no television. Most importantly, no one bugged me for anything while I was trying to make coffee. They both came running when I announced that breakfast was ready, they both sat at the table and ate their breakfast. When finished, they both asked to be excused. Huh?

Then they played some more. Together. And I got to shower. Uninterrupted. And they did not destroy the house, or each other, in my absence.

They each got dressed in the outfits that I chose for them. Without a single complaint. Even when I made them change out of their shorts.

When I asked them to pick up some of their toys, they did.

When it was time to leave the house, they put coats on without an argument.

After searching our backyard, and our neighbors', for Annabelle's stuffed Lion (which we found on our neighbor's swing set), they both climbed into the car without even asking to play outside.

They sang happily in the car, all the way to the haircut place.

When we arrived, they stood next to me while I checked in. When I asked them to go sit down, they did. They both sat next to me while I read. For TWENTY MINUTES. Until it started to get crowded. And other kids were running around. Then they started to play with the toy display. But when I asked them to stop, they did.

When Jack's name was called, he looked at me with sad eyes and said, "I don't want to have my hair cut", but he did not cry. Or scream. Which he usually does. He sat in the chair. Without trying to fight off the hairdresser. He was sad, and he cried a little, but HE LET HER CUT HIS HAIR! He listened when she asked him to turn his head. And even smiled a little when the buzzer tickled his neck.

Meanwhile, Annabelle SAT, semi-QUIETLY eating lollipops. When I told her she had had enough lollipops, she did not try any stunts to obtain more.

When we were leaving the haircut place, and they asked if they could get toys, they did not whine when I said no.

When I took them to the mall to grab lunch, they both sat happily and ate. They did not ask for anything. Or whine.

When we went into Stride Rite, Jack played quietly while Annabelle tried on shoes. He did not try to escape. He even let the woman measure his foot. Without a struggle. When I asked him to climb back into his stroller, he did. Although, he did try to run into the stock room once.

When we were leaving the mall, Jack did not fight me when I tried to put his coat on him. Annabelle held the doors open for us.

She chatted happily all the way home. He fell asleep.

He is still asleep.

She is asleep as well.

I am wondering whose children I have had all morning... And if I will still have them when they wake from their naps!!

Still crazy after all these years...

April 8, 2001

PEEr Pressure

Well, it looks like all of the pressure Annabelle has been putting on Jack to use the potty has paid off... He has been going steady since Friday!

On Friday, before the kids went in for bed, I did my usual and asked Jack if he wanted to use the potty and he said, OK! Normally he says, NOOOOO! I thought it might have been a one time thing but apparently, even when he stayed over night at my parent's house on Saturday, every time after Annabelle finished with the potty, Jack would say, "it's my turn now", and then go himself!

I'm not expecting miracles but, so far so good!

Fly On The Wall

Annabelle & Jack were sat at the dining room table, having dinner. I overheard from the kitchen:

Annabelle: Jack, you gotta start using the potty.

*silence*

Annabelle: When are you gonna start using the potty?

Jack: Why?

Annabelle: *sigh of frustration*

Birthday Weekend

I had planned to take Jack to either the Children's Museum or an indoor play space on his birthday but he was feeling a bit under the weather, so we ended up staying home and playing "trampoline" on Annabelle's bed! Later
on that evening, we took Jack out to dinner. We were all feeling the effects of this cold/cough thing that has been lingering, and dinner ended up being a bit of a chore... In retrospect, I'm thinking Jack would have much rather preferred to stay home and open presents!

The next day we had a party at the house with all of Jack's little friends. Once again, Nick was The. Games. Master. He did his best to keep those kids wrangled during the games, especially while playing pass the parcel; it was like mini kiddie boot camp! He did a good job though, and Jack had a blast, which is all that matters...

The following day was Easter Sunday. We went to my parent's house for Easter and also had another party for Jack. I made mini car cakes for the Easter family birthday party, which Nick helped to decorate. I think they came out pretty decent... They look much better than my first "trial run" cakes, which stuck to the pan and were decorated by the kids!

Happy Birthday Jack!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!!!!!!

I can't believe THREE has come so quickly. Weren't you just born?

At three years of age Jack is the sweetest, and at the same time, most mischievous, child I have ever encountered.


He still loves his Teddy and Other Teddy, he takes them everywhere and can not sleep without them. Recently he has added Bear to his entourage. Bear was originally Annabelle's Care Bear, called Bedtime Bear, which she was kind enough to relinquish to Jack.

Jack is still a fanatic about cars. He has thousands of cars, all types and sizes, and he plays with them almost every day. It is rare to see him without a car in his hand... Even when he is doing something like playing with play doh, there is usually a car within reach!

He has been toting cars around in his orange trick-or-treat pumkin for months. He calls his pumpkin, his "pumpkin patch." Much like he says things like, "it's in my tummy ache" (rather than just tummy). Or, how he calls his floaty raft, his "swimming lesson."

Jack has a crazy fascination with letters and numbers. He can identify all the letters of the alphabet and count past 20. Sometimes he skips out number 16 though, I think he's been learning from his sister!

Number 2 is his favorite number. Whenever we are at any type of store he always asks to go to check out number 2. He gets very disappointed when register number 2 is closed.

Jack has become very particular about his clothing! He is very much a creature of habit, as he likes to wear the same few things over and over. I once made the mistake of indulging a sweatpants faze, which I thought would only last a couple of days, but ended up being about a 2 month stint. Even still, if given the option of clothing, he will usually choose his red sweatpants & red letter shirt!

Jack has also started to voice his opinion more, which is hard to do when you have an older sister who loves attention and talks NONSTOP.

He has started coming out with cute sayings like; that's ter-wible, or it's de-wicious, or too scare-wee (scary). I love the way he pronounces water- wah-der, and there- dere.

He is extremely silly. He loves to laugh and play goofy little games. One of his favorite games is; run away from mommy and laugh hysterically. He also likes to hide.

Jack is a very sweet little boy. Rarely do I see him push, or take toys away from other children... Except Annabelle- and she usually deserves it!

When it's bed time, he sometimes tries to keep me in his room by telling me there is a monster in his bed. He then waves around his little spinning light thing that he got at an Elmo show, a year ago, and says, "I get you monster!"... and then I am allowed to leave.

When he wakes in the mornings he never cries. He plays happily in his bed until lazy Mommy comes around to collect him.

Jack loves the water. If we are out and there is any sort of water area, bird bath, or puddle, within sight, he's headed for it. Thankfully he no longer feels the need to sit in puddles!

For some reason, he has a little fascination with the teletubbies, or as he would say, the tele-bye-byes. He's not too keen on the scary baby sun face though, he calls it "the crazy sun."

Jack hates to have his haircut. He freaks out every time we go near the haircut place. He thinks haircuts are scare-wee.

He loves to be outside but he hates the cold weather. He doesn't like to wear coats. He went the whole winter without wearing a hat or mittens. I could probably count the number of times he's worn his snow boots. He has been asking to go to the beach for months.

He gets along with his sister really well (except when they both want the same toy). They have started playing together more and having little conversations, it's adorable (except when they both want the same toy).

To be continued...

*He had his 3 year check up on April 4th- he passed all his tests, except that when she asked what color something yellow was, he said, "I don't know." He is 38 inches tall and weighs 38 lbs., which puts him in the 50th-75th percentile.