More days in our life

We did our fun plans of heading to the science center on Friday last week (and we became members so we can get in free to a ton of science centers all over the country: bring it on!!)...Nicholas came with us and it was great to have the extra hands and eyes so that the kids could do what they wanted. I think he had an awesome time, too!

And on the way home, Leo crashed for the hour and fifteen minute drive, which is a typical nap for him these days, unfortunately. Nicholas and I instituted earlier bedtimes this week for the kids because Olivia absolutely refuses to sleep for a nap now, and Leo only takes one for an hour to an hour and a half. Instead of 8 o'clock for Leo and 8:30 for Olivia, we backed them up to 7 o'clock and 7:45, and things have been going better. Leo still wakes once or twice a night, but we try not to go in. He usually sleeps until around 6 o'clock and Olivia until about 7, which is about when they were waking anyway.

Saturday our neighbors had a splash party, and the kids had a great time! In addition to this big slide, pool, and bouncy house thing, they had a small dry bouncy house, and a baby pool and slide. Plus, they have a huge play set in the backyard, so the kids had a ball! 

 I love, love, love that the kids are playing together more and more! One day we broke out the princess hut in Olivia's room and Leo and Olivia had a ball!

And Leo loves to play in the hampers. One morning after throwing in a few loads of clothes, I left the kitchen for a moment to get Olivia out of bed, I think, and this is what I came back to!

Another day, after the kids wanted to get into Leo's crib to bounce while I was putting clothes away, Olivia suggested I put a blanket over them so they could have a hide-out!

The bathroom pictures for art still is a project. I haven't quite got the ones I want, but there are several cute ones!

And Olivia had her first day of the Capitol School on Monday! Here is a picture of her that morning. Nicholas took her, and she was super excited and did GREAT! No crying at all! When I came to pick her up she was sitting next to her teacher in a circle singing a song. Tuesday and Wednesday went similarly well. She melted down Wednesday afternoon, though, and said she didn't want to go back, which I think had more to do with the frequency of the meetings since Olivia doesn't like our new summer Monday-Thursday schedule, which just started June 3. The Capitol School camp she is in goes M-F this week and next. I kept her home today, because I know it is a lot. She is three. But tomorrow she is going back at my urging, and I hope it goes well. (Nicholas will drop her off, which I think makes it go a little more smoothly.) We have to make a decision about it by the end of next week as that is when the tuition is due.

Presto!

Thankful

I am really so thankful for all the fun things there are do with Nicholas, Olivia, and Leo this summer, and I am even more grateful that I have the time to do them. I really lead a cherry life working part time and getting to spend the rest of my time with my family. It's not lost on me. Here are a few of our adventures of late:

The University's outdoor pool complex is fantastic! This is the first summer we are members, and here are some pictures from our first excursion, which lasted all of ten minutes because of storms that rolled in.

We drove over to Daddy's office thinking it might blow over and we could go back. Alas, that was not to be. Leo had fun in the rain, anyway!

I realize that I took no pictures on our good camera the past few weeks, so these were in my phone. If Olivia takes a nap in the afternoon, she and I have some special time while Leo starts his nap and then Leo and I have some special time because he wakes before her. Leo and I usually share a snack and then play some games: yogurt and hide-and-seek on this particular day!

We've since been back to the University pool twice now and had a great time! The slide is for people over 48 inches, so the kids haven't done it. But the baby pool has fountains and the big pool has a lazy river! I LOVE that the baby pool has huge canopies over it! Both kids love that pool! (We've been up to the pool in our neighborhood, too, and the kids have fun there, too!)

 

Olivia's best friend at school, Laura Kate, had her birthday party at the gymnastics place we go to and both kids had a great time Saturday. Nicholas went with us and was a huge help to our friends whose two kids are the same ages as our two and they are in the same classes at the Mom's Morning Out where Olivia and Leo go. (Notice the dads and little brothers are sitting at a little table in a corner!)

And Olivia started swim lessons on Monday. It went well for 15 minutes and then was a disaster. One of the other kids started kicking water in her eyes, and she just wanted me. And I am such a hover mom that I sat next to her and got her out. Then she wouldn't get back in. They suggested that she move down to the parent and child class, but that night she started feeling badly and had a pretty bad cold by the next morning. So, we kept her home from school Tuesday and called the swim school and rescheduled her classes until late July. That gives me over a month to stop being a hover mom. Probably not going to happen, but at least we can get Olivia more used to the water!

 This afternoon Leo took only a 45 minute nap and Olivia took none, so at 2:15 I decided we were going to check out this new play area called Tumblebus Station. It is just an air conditioned place to play, but my kiddos had a great time! Then we went to the library for new books and stopped by TCBY for yogurt since I had free coupons from taking them to the doctor a while back! We are all exhausted, and excited for more big days to come: The McWane Center tomorrow and a neighborhood party Saturday!

School days

I just wasn't on my A-game in May with Nicholas recovering from his surgery, so I didn't post about the kids' last day of school on May 24th. They both had a water day at school with sprinklers, a jumpy house, and loads of last-day-of-school fun. It is almost unbelievable that my kiddos went from this on August 24th, 2012:

To this on May 24th, 2013:

Leo had a pizza party with the younger two's class, and he was totally confused about why Nicholas and I came to school. He was looking at us like, "What are you doing here? This is my turf!" TPP has been such a great place for Leo, especially from November to February when he had his hearing/ear problems and the women there held him for hours every day so that he wouldn't cry. Since then he has come into his own there, going from the infant room to the one's class, where he even attends Kindermusik and chapel with the other kids. He is SO loved there!

And to say that Olivia came out of her shell at school this year is an understatement! She used to cry and cling to me every time I dropped her off, but she has grown so independent and so smart thanks to her wonderful teachers and all the wonderful women there who love her. I love to hear her stories about her friends and her reasoning about how the world works! All her teachers adore her, as she does them!

The kids were out of school last week. It was awesome to have our more-than-fantastic babysitter Caroline come at eight AM three mornings so that I could go to work. It was like having a nanny! The kids weren't dressed some days and their lunches weren't fixed, but no problem! Caroline made crafts with Olivia each day. They acted out a book and made Bunny Money like Max and Ruby; they made a princess crown; and they made play dough snakes with intricate designs on the back and Olivia learned about snakes shedding their skin. Leo and Caroline worked on his talking using flash cards, sang songs about rolling balls and did that, and they all played in the backyard lots! So fun!

And now the kids are back in school for summer school. We're trying four mornings a week this summer to possibly transition to five in the fall. We'll see how it goes. I am hesitant about giving them up that much, but I really like my work, too. Today, I received these texts from the director of the preschool from during chapel: (They are poor quality, but you get the gist of it: Leo LOVES to dance!)

And just for fun, here is a little video of Olivia telling a potty joke:

And for the grandparents not on Facebook, here is one more video of Leo dancing the other morning when I was trying to get in 15 minutes of yoga:

Oh, the things we say!!

I've been keeping a little list of the silly (cute, funny--even though I know they aren't quite as cute/silly/funny when they aren't your kids and you aren't there in person) things my kids say for a while now, and although so many never quite made it there because I just KNEW I would remember, here are some that did:

Olivia:

Conversation with Olivia in the car today:

Olivia: What did you say?
Me: I called Grandma Dorothy and left her a message.
Olivia: What did you say?
Me: I asked her to let me know what Grandpop Steve might like for Father' Day.
Olivia: Why?
Me: Because Grandpop Steve is my daddy.
Olivia: Are you sure he isn't Grandma Dorothy's daddy? She lives with him.
Me: No. Grandpop Steve is my daddy. When you grow up, you don't live with your parents anymore.
Olivia: (Face looking like she is going to cry.) I want to live with you. I don't want to leave.
Me: Don't worry, sweetie. You can live with me forever.
Olivia: And when I am a grown up, can I wear make-up out of the house?
Me: Yes, when you are a grown-up, you can wear make-up out of the house.
Olivia: Like when we are going to Chick-fil-a to play?
Me: Yes, of course!

One day when I was losing my patience with the kids because we were trying to get to school and they were not cooperating in brushing their teeth.

Me: Olivia, I am losing my patience. Look at me. Open your mouth.

Olivia: (With her hands up raised.) Here, Mommy, you can have my patience!

One morning before school when she dressed herself, she ran into the kitchen to tell me this:

Olivia: I got dressed all by myself and now I got to style my hair all by myself! (And then she ran to the bathroom and put a clip in the part line of her hair.)

One evening when she was talking to Nicholas about the princesses in her cupcake game:

Nicholas: Who do you like better, Belle or Cinderella?
Olivia: Cinderella is kind of classy. Belle is more fun!

All the time when Leo is being silly:

Olivia: Oh, silly brothers!!

When I am talking to Olivia while she is doing something else, she always has an excuse. Here's one from when she was playing her cupcake game and had some of her princess dolls out:

Olivia: I just can't listen because my princesses are being too loud!

And apparently we both run away with our imaginations:

Olivia: Why can't Leo climb over the couch?
Me: Because it is dangerous.
Olivia: What would happen?
Me: He could fall off the back and hit his head on the floor.
Olivia: And then we would have to go to the hospital and that would be terrible!

Leo:

Leo is saying more all the time. I won't list all his words now as he repeats a lot and has a bunch. He understands even more, of course, and he will go get a bib from his room when I ask him to while I am fixing food for him. His funniest "talking" lately has been:

• Picking up a pretend phone and saying "Hallow!"
• Saying duck, duck, goose while we play.
• Repeating Olivia's temper tantrum screams in his own funny voice.
• Repeating Olivia when she says No.
• Repeating "caboose" from one of his train books.
• In one of his presently favorite books, Corduroy Goes to the Doctor, he takes a deep breath when the doctor asks Corduroy to.
• Saying "Eekaboo" when we play Peekaboo.

My sweet kiddos are growing up, so I like to write down some of these little things that help me remember they are small!