It really was 5 years ago yesterday....

We spent our Thanksgiving dinner in the hospital. We were very thankful to be doing so. And now 5 years later, his birthday is on Thanksgiving again! I have to admit, the preparation for hosting a Thanksgiving as well as a 5 year old's birthday party is a bit much more than I was expecting. I then thought how difficult it must be for my family to have had to do it on Christmas every year. But then I remembered that they never had to host a houseful of people on Christmas. However, they did have to prepare for a total of 3 kids' Christmases.

Anyway, I do feel like I jipped Trevor a little bit out of a full-fledged party. I meant to pick up some balloons for him as well as some more party decorations. But we probably made up for it in the quantity of gifts he got. LOTS of Star Wars stuff. Some other fun stuff too, but it was a Star Wars theme to a lot of the gifts.

One of the biggest things that I don't know that he'll get for a while is that he does not believe he is a year older until he blows out his candle on the cake. He was born at 8:41 am, and we have a keepsake engraved with that time on it. I tried to explain it saying that he was now 5 years old, but he would not hear of it. It must be a sort of struggle to a boy who is in the midst of learning about growing up and such. I have been talking about all the fun things he is going to be able to do now that he is 5....Kindergarten being the biggest deal. And we even talked about all the fun stuff he did when he was 4....the trips he took, playing T-ball with his friends. So it has been a fun and challenging year for mom and I'd say it was the same for Trevor. He had to deal with a new sibling for the first time as well as his sibling developing into a little girl that can get into his stuff and yet not have the capacity to understand what she is doing.

In the end, the party was a good one, Trevor got a lot of attention by his extended family, and we even got to play a rousing game of dominoes! I almost won...and actually, so did the newbie Amy. But Kevin got the best of us both. Mario will get you next time!!!!

Lots to learn

So we went to visit Kindergarten yesterday. Our family and one other mom were the only ones having the tour that night. So Trevor got the full attention of the principal. It was a very cool site. Although we have been to the school's playground many times, we had yet to actually go into the building.

The school had been through a remodel 6 years ago, so when you walk into the main entrance, it is very bright and well lit, even though we were there after dark. Trevor's comment as we walked in was that he was surprised they had a library. And seeing as how he is loving all our books lately, it won him over immediately.

We saw a Kindergarten classroom, the computer lab, the library, the gym, the cafeteria, a 4th grade classroom, a 2nd grade classroom, and the music classroom. Trevor loved pretty much every new thing he saw. I know it helps him imagine what it would be like when he goes there.

It was interesting to me to compare my experience at my Elementary school from way back when. Now I don't know if I am remembering correctly or not. I guess I could go check my yearbooks. I thought we had close to 30 kids in our classes each year. I want to say around 27 or so. We had 3 classes from 1st through 6th grade. So around 90 kids in each grade. At this elementary school, their average class size is 20 with the exception of kindergarten which is 22. That year their full day class was at capacity of 22 and their morning half day was 19, afternoon was 17.

That was another thing I'm going to have to look into. They do offer full-day K, but I had thought that it might be too much for Trevor. I think going from 3 days a week to 5 will be a big energy change for him. That's another thing, I looked at the district's elementary start times, and this one starts the latest and goes the latest. From 9:00 to 3:20. But half day morning time is the exact same time as preschool. 9:00 to 11:30. I guess my only concern about all day vs. half day is that he'll somehow be behind if he isn't in the full day option.

Another thing that I learned is that they will be doing a K screening in the next spring. So first we have to go to the round-up which is late January, and then the screening. But I now have Trevor talking about it, and getting excited about it, which is the goal. Granted, I think I'm going to have to prepare myself a lot more than I thought I would. Letting him go is going to be a big deal for me next year. I can already tell.

ok ok...I'm finally ready to admit it

Trevor is not a little boy any more. I can really have an almost grown-up conversation with him and not even bat an eye. A few weeks ago, he stayed over at a friend's house while I took Gwen to her ECFE class. Except for preschool where he is watched by his teachers and with a whole group of kids, I haven't left him to play for a long time. So it was really nice to hear (and I guess it shouldn't have surprised me) that he and his friend Elizabeth played really well together.

So I decided today that since we have been cleaning getting ready for Thanksgiving and his birthday on Thursday that it wouldn't be too hard to host a playgroup and invite all his friends (and their moms and siblings) over. I wasn't aware that a lot of the preschools (and actually even the public school district) has school today. But I still invited any of the moms that wanted to come over to come for a chat. So TRUTHFULLY it wasn't just for Trevor. Now there have been instances I'm sure that other kids have gotten together, to help out in a pinch or to babysit or whatever. But it had been a long time - before Gwen had been born - that we all had actually had a playdate at our house.

I was a wreck as was my usual introverted, not good party hosting self. Trevor was on cloud 9 as is his extroverted, life of the party self. I'm really looking forward where he can take on more of the responsibilities of hosting a party. But by the time all the kids were here and their moms, it all just fell into routine. The preschool kids played really well together. And I mean REALLY well. Not one tear was shed. The younger kids were able to play somewhat at least watching the older siblings. But that gave us moms time to chat and get a little caught up. And what is the topic of conversation? KINDERGARTEN. YIKES. Yes I'm looking forward to it (and Trevor is too), but it seems to be starting whole different types of discussions. Where, how long, which time of day.....are they ready for it....it is so nice to have these moms in my life and I hope somehow we are able to keep it together. Even if it is just through email.

I was talking to Gwen (and formerly Trevor's) ECFE teacher Debra last week and she was saying how she felt like she was a great parent when her kids were babies. But she now is a parent of two young teenagers and she feels very out of place. She has a mom's group of teenage boys that email once a week discussing their children. What a great idea! And actually, my group of friends that I know online have been a great source of help for me as a parent. But I think it does help to discuss some local things as well. School and church activities and such.

And one other thing that I think everyone that was there will agree needs to be documented. When we were at dinner last night, Trevor was being his usual self. Something that I haven't really pushed has been using silverware to eat. He uses it for spaghetti, soup, cold cereal, but doesn't for things like waffles (yes with syrup on it), buttered noodles, and cooked broccoli. But when I saw him stuffing his face with a fistful of noodles I decided he needed to start using the silverware. He had obviously learned how to use it so that wouldn't be an excuse.

So he finally was using the fork for the noodles. Then, the remainder of the dinner was meat and lettuce with ranch dressing. For both the meat and the lettuce he started using his hands again, and when Russ asked him again to use his fork. Trevor's reaction was "No dad. The fork has noodle slobber on it." Nice.

Spoons anyone?

Once you try to teach a young child something new, that's the only way of doing things. Gwen has never been a good off-the-spoon eater. The only thing I could get her to eat was yogurt. Baby food was a no-no. Finger foods are still the best choice.

Breakfasts have been quite boring, usually mini pancakes. So a few days ago I decided to do a bowl of milk and cheerios. She has always liked dry cheerios- again as a finger food - but this time wasn't sure what to think about having them on a spoon. Once she had a bite or two she was convinced.

I have learned at this age that if you want your kid to keep eating, you have to let them have their own spoon. It isn't enough to simply hold a different one, you need to let them feed themselves. So a large mess has ensued almost at every mealtime since. Yogurt goes flying into the walls, floor, hair, and face. Milk gets splashed as far as it can. But such is life with a toddler.

I have heard that boys are much more active and interested in running around, climbing and getting into things. Girls can generally focus more on their small motor skills. Gwen fits this bill. She can already feed herself with the spoon although she would much rather use her hands to shove more than a spoon can handle into her mouth.

We now have changed ECFE classes to an older child class. She now has the option to use markers and crayons. And she really wants to use them. That might be due to the fact that Trevor really likes to make little projects as well. Only problem is that she still and will for a while try to eat crayons. Markers, not so much but they are a lot more messy. But I do have washable ones so they do come off and out of anything.

I think I might have damaged Gwen when I had her in class on Wednesday. Not only was it a new class with new people in a new place, but I didn't know that we were going to separate from the kids. And since this was the second class in a series of three a year, half of the class had already been separating for a few weeks. So it wasn't going to be a gradual process. Thankfully we have been putting Gwen in the nursery at church so she knew about me leaving and coming back. Add to it that I had to leave early because it always ends at the same time as Trevor's preschool so it was really disorienting to her to then be pulled out and put into the car before we could sing our good-byes. The next time we go back to class is two weeks so hopefully it will be a bit easier next time.

On the Trevor front, we've been counting down the days. Yesterday, he came down with what I had on Monday I think which was simply a fever and feeling not-so-good. He seems better today already and when I gave him some tylenol during the day he was almost back to his usual self.

Next up, is to make it through this weekend and next week of no school. We have a few things planned to make the week go by, and then Thanksgiving will be here!

I'm sure she thinks we are crazy

So Gwen has been talking for a while, although you have to listen carefully. I've heard her put two words together such as "Hi Baby!" when she sees a picture or herself in the mirror. She also does do a lot of babbling if she is walking around by herself. I think she thinks of it as showing off.

We were getting ready for church yesterday and breakfast was ready. Trevor had put his slacks on backwards so I asked him to turn them around. In the mean time, he decided to tell Gwen about Mater - who happened to be on his underwear.

The conversation went like this - Trevor: "Gwen, who is this?" (Pointing to the picture on his underwear)
Gwen: "Trevor".
Trevor: "That's Mater".
Gwen: "Trevor"
Trevor: "No, it's Mater"

At this point I start giggling because it has only become clear she is saying Trevor within the past month or so. So I have to tell Trevor that she is trying to tell him that he is pointing to himself. I'm sure in her mind she thinks that we are crazy. He is pointing to himself - and we are asking who it is. It's our mistake.

We are also having to become very careful about the words we say to her. She cues into words such as walk, bath, and eating quickly. So unless you are prepared to give her a bath, whenever she hears the word, she heads over to the stairs to go upstairs for her bath.

The rest of the weekend went by pretty smoothly. We are organizing the house for the holidays. And counting down the days until someone's 5th birthday! Only 10 more days!

Event filled week

This week, Trevor was the star at preschool. Gwen got her top two teeth. We went to a local thrift store for their half off sale. The family got a huge chunk of a new wardrobe. We are starting to plan for Thanksgiving, Trevor's birthday, and the following crazy few weeks before Christmas!

Gwen has been waking up earlier each day even after going to bed later than the previous night. I know the trend will reverse soon, but it is hard when you are trying to do a handful of things before going to bed yourself, hoping to get a few extra minutes of sleep in the morning. NOPE.

For Veteran's day, a local thrift store had it's 50% off sale. On top of really low prices, everything was 50% off what was marked. So we got a few books, a larger toy for Gwen, and another floor chair (this one is Thomas) for Trevor. I meant to go look at the clothes, but that area is always packed. But the kids were very happy to see that they each got something new to play with, and if we have to get rid of either of the bigger items, I know they didn't cost much of anything. I walked out paying $9.08.

Yesterday, Old Navy (and its sister companies) had a big sale. We all needed some kind of clothes. So we all got clothes. We got Trevor a few warmer shirts, and as he was trying them on, he liked one so much, he didn't want to take it off. Not only that, but he wanted to wear it to preschool today. I MAYBE could have seen this if it were a character shirt. But this was simply a green and cream striped shirt. It did make me feel good that he liked it. I have to admit.

But that was what I had to do last night. Wash and dry all the new clothes that we got so we could wear them today. Unbeknownst to everyone (until now that is...) we all had on brand new clothes. The shape of the day was stars, the letter of the day was S, and the colors of the day were purple and brown. We had packed the toys that we were going to talk about at class the night before so we were all ready to go today. Of course unpacking the toys led to a few surprises. And then, after explaining all the toys (including a pumpkin light that he had snuck into the bag), it was clear that he didn't want to stop being the center of attention. So he started talking about his shirt. Thankfully, it was "s"triped so at least it appeared as though he wanted to talk about it because it was part of his star sharing.

I stayed to help with the preschool class after we were done. It appeared as though the teachers were surprised but very thankful as I was put to work with a little craft project set-up that they needed help with. I got to use a hot glue gun! Unfortunately, I'm not exactly crafty so although I know how to use one, I'm not very skilled. I burned myself a few times, but I still did the requested task and it took almost the entire time I was there. Sounded like it helped the teachers out a lot. It was also cool to watch Trevor and the other kids interact and run around. They were also practicing their Christmas program songs and poems. They practiced singing loud enough so that I could hear them. I was on the other side of the room and most of the kids thought it was so funny to watch to see if I could tell what they were saying. I gave them a "good job, I could hear you." And most of them were pretty excited.

So here we go....13 days and counting until Thanksgiving! Not to mention another important date. I suppose we should get a turkey huh? I'm usually a bit more ahead of things when it comes to food preparation.

One point for Gwen

Our day was marked by a momentous occasion. Miss Gwen finally popped a top tooth. It looks like the second one is just a few days behind, but I'm happy that she finally can get a good smile for the sibling pictures in a few weeks.

Trevor had the first of his star days at preschool yesterday. He gets to be line leader and sit next to the teacher during story time. I'm sure there are other things, but until we get there on Friday, we don't see a lot of it. He did go to school announcing to everyone that he was the star. I am glad that he has such confidence and hope that he doesn't lose it as he gets older.

I also signed him up for his Kindergarten tour. That's in a little under two weeks. I put it on our calendars and right away he asked me what it was. Of course he might still be a little jumpy about going back to the doctor for his next round of shots.

And last but not least, happy sort-of anniversary Russ. 13 years ago today.....be sure to thank Dylan again for us ;-)

Time with family

We went down to the cabin for the weekend. Gwen is really enjoying ALMOST saying a lot of words and names. I can't remember the exact date, but ever since her "hi" noise that a lot of people swear she was saying hi (and I think it was at 4 months or some weird time) she has said a lot of things clearly, but yet it sounds impossible that she is actually saying the words.

It might be because of the fact where she out of the blue will say the word, and then when you ask her to say it again, she looks at you like you are crazy. I've heard what I thought was "Trevor", but whenever I talk about him, or point to a picture and ask who it is, she never responds by saying his name.

Gwen was in love with Kona the dog. Kevin and Kelsey's dog was at the cabin with everyone and Gwen was enjoying playing with the toys that she had. Specifically her sock. That was entertaining for a good 3-4 minutes of pure belly laugh. Then again, for some reason, while she was eating, and Kona was watching intently, Gwen found out that if she threw her food onto the floor, Kona would eat it and she thought that too was absolutely hilarious.

Ahhh...to be a baby again and to see things for the first time and to get such joy out of it.

Gwen got to spend a little time with her "cousins" Addie and Ellie. Addie is sooo close to walking, but did I mention that when Addie and Gwen get to be just a few years older, I can see that they will have such a good time together. Addison gets picked on by her big sister Ellie the EXACT same way that Trevor picks on Gwen. So I'm guessing they are going to have a lot to talk about and complain about their older siblings.

Coming back home, Gwen was already very tired, but of course didn't fall asleep until the last 15 minutes of the carride. Fortunately, she stayed asleep for another hour at home. She wasn't well rested today, but at least she got some sleep.

Tracy and family came over to visit before Tracy had to head back to Boston. Gwen was able to show everyone her tricks of running and talking up a storm.

And then she crashed earlier than usual this morning. I suppose that means I should turn in early too so that if she wakes up early, I'll be ready for her.

Oh, and in terms of Trevor....I can confidently say he is reading a lot of words now. There were some Sesame Street board books that he was reading to himself where I heard him struggle with a few of the words, but he would get 90% of them correct. And he hadn't memorized them at all. And he's also very interested in math. So Kindergarten, here we come!

A few changes

I know I'm going to be a little sad when it finally happens in 10 months. Yesterday in the mail, we received a notification for Trevor going into Kindergarten class next year. I was SO excited! We have a Kindergarten "round-up" to put on the calendar in January. We have to get his immunizations up-to-date. We get to attend the school as part of a "tour" that they do to any interested families. I'm pretty sure Trevor doesn't get it at this point, but I'm pretty sure he will in a few months.

Yesterday I went to the salon to get foiled and a haircut. I had decided it was time for a haircut. I'm pretty sure that 6 inches or so came off. So not simply a "trim". Everyone saw it before they went to bed last night, but this morning Trevor says to me, "Mommy, when I just looked at you, I thought you were Bubba." (My mom). That always seems to happen. Whenever my hair gets shorter I look more and more like my mom. What can you do?

We are off to the cabin this weekend. Too bad the weather is going to be so chilly. But it will be a short trip. Have a little fun and then back to reality. Time to continue packing!

Guess it is time for a change

Yesterday was pretty busy. Since Trevor was up most of the night, he was not exactly energetic during the day. When we went to the doctor's office, we were put on a longggg wait. Wait to enter our updated insurance information. Wait (for only 2 min) to get the flu shot. Wait to find Trevor's shot information. Wait to get the shot. Trying to keep Trevor off of the play equipment. Then going to the polling place. Lines longer than I had ever seen (granted I haven't seen any there before) and what really confused me is that I thought I remembered it being set up differently than last time. And that there were fewer voting booths than last time. But that doesn't sound right.
We were in and out in about 40 minutes. And of course our alphabetic line to check in was manned by an 80 year old, hard of hearing, generally confused guy. Then we had to go vote which was the long line.
After that was done, Gwen turned to mush. She was tired and hungry. I couldn't keep her awake past noon. That is odd for her. Trevor fell asleep probably as soon as his head hit the pillow at 3. I heard him coughing a little bit, but he did get a pretty good rest.
I stayed up until I found out Barack won. Call me sentimental, but I couldn't help get the chills when they called the election. Even though it had no significance to me personally when he was called the winner, or maybe it was because it has been almost 2 years of campaigning finally ending last night. But I'm really happy that so far no crazy things have happened as a result.
I got a good night's sleep. Trevor didn't wake up other than to cough before I went up to bed.
Unfortunately, it sounds like Gwen is getting the cough. And with it getting colder again (it has been close to 70 these past few days) it's going to be hard to help her kick the cold.
So the day today is going to be catching up on a few errands, hopefully kicking myself back into gear. We are heading to the lake this weekend!

Some nights can be really bad

Oy....I should be counting my lucky stars for the few times that last night has happened throughout Trevor's almost 5 years. Weird thing is, he had a fever on Wednesday night that went away while he slept. The only thing that seemed to stick around was a cough since that time. He slept a lot and wasn't full of energy or very hungry on Thursday, but he was pretty much back to normal on Friday with the exception of a runny nose. He has slept through the night without a noise every night which was confusing because most of the time on the night he gets sick he wakes up a lot. Then yesterday he started to go downhill again. A few more coughs during the day and a really long nap (for him) yesterday. 2 hours!

He got some sudafed before he went to bed so his runny nose didn't keep him unable to breathe. Gwen got her usual dose of Motrin because she has been teething up a storm. Sometimes she will wake up at night and need more motrin to go back to sleep.

So Trevor was up before 3 am complaining that he lost his voice. His coughing has now gone up to almost non-stop. So I first give him Tylenol in case he needed something to get back to sleep. An hour later he was still up coughing....So I gave him some Delsym which is supposed to stop coughs for 12 hours. I will say that with all these medications I gave him, I have talked with his doctor about them and he has ok'd all of them. But now we are at 5am....Trevor is still not asleep, still coughing, and Gwen wakes up. She gets a dose of Motrin and Trevor starts asking when he can get up for the day. UG. He gets out of bed at 6, and I ask him to stay until 6:30. So in the mean time, I try try try to get any rest because I can already feel my muscles screaming for more rest. I can't imagine how Trevor is still awake...and chipper for goodness sake.

So 6:30 comes and he heads downstairs, gets dressed and starts watching playhouse disney. Gwen starts making noise that she wants to get up. So we have to go and get shots today. I'm not sure if a cough disqualifies you from getting a chicken pox vaccination. I think I would be worried if it were something that I was worried would really knock him out like a flu shot or MMR or something. Also, he really "seems" fine other than the cough. And when Gwen went in for her shots at her year appt, she had a bad cold but it wasn't enough for her to not get shots.

On top of that, I'm planning on taking the kids to the voting place. I hope I won't get any horrible stares.

The only thing I'm thankful for today is that I'm not a big caffeine person. If I get coffee from a Starbucks or Caribou, it is always decaf. So on days like today, I don't have to drink a lot for it to have an affect on me. I just wonder how long I'm going to last tonight. I wanted to see some of the returns at least for our state. Oh well. I'd be much happier if the kids were healthy than making myself sick staying up late.

Healthy thoughts to all!

Well, the weekend is over

Friday was average. Trevor brought home a weekly reader talking about the presidential election. He seems to know that Barack Obana (his pronunciation) is running for president. He said he wants to be president so he can ride on Airforce One. He went out for Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood. Came home with some loot that we added to our leftovers from all the candy I bought. On the off chance that we had a truckload of kids come to our house. We had 20 kids. Gwen enjoyed answering the door and saying her favorite phrase of, "BYEEEEEEE."

Saturday, I wasn't paying much attention to the kids because my mom was over and I was able to go outside to help with yardwork. She said the day went well. Perhaps because the weather was nice? So then we went out for dinner with Russ's dad. Again, the kids did pretty well. I think we are training them well on how to sit for a reasonable amount of time, even if we have to distract them with food or books of some kind.

But today....oh today. The fallback part of the day did not transition well for the kids. Trevor was up at 6, Gwen at 6:20. So it was a LONG time until breakfast, church, and then we went to Target. I guess I should have asked how Trevor was in his Sunday School. It was doughnut Sunday. Everyone got a doughnut, a little running around and we were off to Target. Then it all went to pot. We had too many things to buy with a discount card. Plus they are running a deal, buy two Wii games, get one free. BADDDDD idea for us. As if we need any more games. But twist my arm and I'll buy it. Trevor had to be taken out of the cart so we could fit our diapers and other stuff in it. But that is ALWAYS a bad idea because he then wants to run around. I had to chase him down the checkout aisles when we were about to leave.

We got home after lots of screaming and tears from Trevor. But I still could not get him to settle down and get him "in line" so to speak. I guess the time change must have the same effect as a full moon or something. I'm going to have to give him a week or so before he is back to his regular self. And Gwen seems to pull her freak out moments whenever she isn't being paid enough attention. So she doesn't exactly help the situation....

Now if only I could fast forward into the next week when he is well adjusted for the next few days. I need them to pull just one good day for me on Tuesday. And I need a little luck that we don't have a long line.

I should get to bed in case I don't get any sleep from the kids waking up early....