How could I forget?

We went to Teddy Bear park in Stillwater on Tuesday. I'm sad to say that Trevor has really outgrown the park. Going there, he was looking forward to it, saying he was going to find a friend to play with...as he did in the past. But either the "friends" there weren't what he was looking for, or they were too young, or both. He didn't end up playing directly with anyone. Gwen LOVED the park. So of course she is at a great age for it.

So with that, I am 100% happy with the choice to keep Trevor in programs this summer. I have heard that the time between preschool and Kindergarten is the hardest, and we are seeing it a little already. There are plenty of things he likes to do, but it seems in direct competition with Gwen and what she is able to do. He likes to play board games. But if it is around Gwen, she gets into all the little pieces and doesn't play it the right way.

Gwen is already pushing her one nap later and later, and while I would "get rid" of Trevor's naptime, it really is the only time I can get stuff done. Maybe I'll work something out so that he won't have to nap every day during the week in the summer. We'll have to see how it goes. On the nice days, we can hang out outside while Gwen naps, but on the icky rainy days, I might just need that hour or so by myself.

A new thing for Gwen

The only new news going on here is that yesterday I took Gwen to a place called JW Tumbles. It was an hour long gym-type class where they sang songs, ran around, played on equipment, had bubbles, puzzles, and even have the ability to put up swings for the kids. She seemed to have a great time, and it was nice to have structured playtime with just Gwen. She really enjoyed trying new tricks, like jumping on a trampoline that had a bar across it that she could hang on to while jumping. If she's not hanging onto the bar, she still can't quite jump on her own yet. So I think this class will be really good for her. Hopefully I can find some time that keeps matching up with Trevor's schedule.

We are off to the lake this weekend for the start of our lake season. Thankfully it's not supposed to be freezing, so we might get some time on the boat. Also tomorrow is May...so we are really getting close to summer now!

It's time for Gwen....

She's really starting to "grow up" right before my eyes. Somehow I'm already able to have short conversations with her. It makes me giggle and warms my heart every time she says "Welcome Mama". It's really cute if it is correctly used. Such as when she gives me something or brings me something. My automatic response is, "Thank you Gwennie" so she quickly says "Welcome Mama". Of course if she asks for something, and I give it to her, I get the same response "Welcome Mama". So I'm trying to answer as if she did say Thank you. "Welcome Gwennie".

She's also now able to pull herself onto our couch. Which is not very good since Trevor already runs all over the couch. Whenever someone lifts her onto the couch, she runs all over it like Trevor does. But at least at that point, we controlled when she was on the couch. Now she does it herself, and I'm pretty much having to let her do it. I can't keep pulling her off of it, especially since Trevor is on the couch most of the time he is here.

So I've decided that I need to take her to her own class. When Trevor was her age, he was in ECFE classes, Gymboree classes, and swimming lessons. I did have her in ECFE classes, but they really didn't work with how far away from home and how I had to leave early to go get Trevor from preschool. But I've found a Gymboree-like class that is right in the middle of preschool. I think she's really going to enjoy it. Although I've never been to a class at this place, since it isn't something that I leave her, I know she'll have a lot of fun.

Then yesterday, Trevor went to his first birthday party where the parents drop the kid off at the party. I knew his image of a birthday party was skewed since all of the birthday parties that he knew about involved our families. So my concern was around how much he understood that the party wasn't about him and that things like blowing out the candles and opening presents were not something that he would be "helping" with.

But according to the party coordinator, all went well. He had his usual issues with not wanting to be last, as well as not really feeling comfortable enough to play in the games immediately, but he warmed up to it all. As well as now talking about his party that he gets to invite his friends to. Although he still thinks he wants to invite family and friends. It'll still be a learning process for a little while.

Just short entries for now

Not a whole lot to report in ways of blog entries. I did want to cheer HIP HIP HOORAY for a few things ;-)

First...Tuesday was my first round of golf! YIPPEE!!! Golf season has started for me! And I didn't do that horribly! The weather wasn't as nice as I like it, but I got out and started recording scores.

They other noteworthy news is that at preschool, they had a shark egg that the kids were watching. Well, yesterday during Trevor's class, the egg hatched! The kids were SO pumped to tell us about it when we came to pick them up. They were singing their shark song and all the parents were crowded around the tank looking for the baby pup.

Today is supposed to be a beautiful day so it'll be a lot of outside time today!

Catching up after the weekend

Well, I had a full weekend. Saturday was Trevor's last basketball game. He came away from it with a new medal and still wanting to play again. That is always a good thing. He said that he doesn't like to try to shoot a basket during the game because he needs to have a specific ball. And I'm just happy he got one.

Then Saturday night I spent away from both kids for the first time since Gwen was born. I must say I'm pretty proud of myself for not being anxious about it. I was able to have a fun time with the girls and didn't need too much time to recover.

I was able to overhear that Gwen likes to chatter to herself and can count to ten without any help. The only way I know this was because she was off of her sleep schedule so some of her nighttime before bed was spent jabbering in her crib.

This week, once the weather starts getting warmer, I'm planning on heading outside as much as possible. Trevor has been enjoying a new Lightning McQueen bike. THANKS BUBBA! I'm pretty sure the garage sales are starting soon. So that will be another reason to head out.

This week I loved the weather

I keep trying to forget how yucky it was here last year. It didn't get warm until after the fourth of July. I know we had snow well into April. Easter was really early. So I've really been happily looking forward to weeks like this past one. It started on Tuesday, outside all morning and then a little in the afternoon too. Then after preschool we were able to play outside on their playground for a good half hour. And the kids were able to get to the big park on Thursday c/o Bubba.

Yesterday the temp actually hit 75 which allowed me to actually get some SUN! (Yes I am aware that sun can age my skin) I had thought about going to the tanning booth, but I think I'm going to try my luck with the free stuff. Also, all the while when I was in the backyard, Trevor had fun playing T-ball outside. It is so much fun to see him with so much confidence hitting the ball and running around.

In addition to the happiness of the weather, seems to have come with it, Trevor's big social/emotional development. He seems to have come to realize that playing with Gwen makes for much better things than when he doesn't treat her kindly. I've seen him on more than one occasion trying to play with her, either by teaching her something, or by doing whatever she is doing. Of course most of the time Gwen's reaction is to assume he is trying to attack her, or perhaps part of it is that she doesn't know how to play with him yet. However, she has decided to have a conversation with him on a few occasions, and now that Trevor understands a lot of what she is saying, he will try to talk with her. It really melts my heart.

So with the great weather, comes a great week. Now if we could just duplicate the weather every week....and if it has to rain, make it rain at night ;-) It's going to be a wonderful summer!

I just have to be amazed

We were so lucky yesterday. It was such a beautiful day. I was planning on running an errand and then maybe going on a walk to the nearby park. But "Julie's mom" invited us over to their backyard for a playdate, and we happily accepted. So did a few other of their friends. It was already above 50 degrees when we were over there, so it wasn't chilly in the least. It just got warmer from there.

Trevor is finally at the age where I can expect him to be very well behaved around his friends. There isn't really anything that us moms need to be there for except to solve a little disagreement, but soon after the kids are running around and playing again. And in my case of a boy, REALLY running around.

Their backyard is fenced in, so even Gwen is pretty contained. They have a big swingset that she wants to climb up and slide down, so that's the only thing she really needs supervision with, but there are plenty of other toys for her to play with. They also have a raised sandbox that was a huge hit.

We made it all the way until lunchtime before we had to head home. I was barely able to keep Gwen awake to get home and eat lunch. But she cruised around for a bit before naptime, and then Trevor wanted to head outside again. So we then did some chalk drawings and then Trevor felt like running around the house a few times.

Then after naptimes, it was time for my golf opening dinner. It would have been perfect to play this week, but I'll take at least getting into the spirit from the dinner. It was nice to see all my golf buddies again.

It was just a spectacular day all around. And it seems like the weather is going to continue for another couple of days. It has been nice to see and feel it get warmer, but actually spending all the time outside like we did yesterday, REALLY makes a difference. THANK YOU WEATHER!!!!

Easter and the bunny

I will say Easter is an interesting holiday. While there always is a little hoop-la surrounding the holiday, I think the fact that it always moves around gives it an unsure feeling about how much to get into it. This year, being as it was so late, it felt really good to celebrate given the fact that spring is here, the snow is off the ground, the weather is very nice, so all around, there just are a lot of good feelings going around.

We participated in an egg hunt over at Elizabeth's house on Saturday. Perfect weather, and the kids had a blast. Then yesterday morning, we had our own hunt inside. Gwen picked up a few of her own eggs on Saturday, but preferred to play on Sunday morning. Trevor was more than happy to find all of the stuff on his own.

We headed out to the golf course for brunch with grandma and grandpa. We have been there for I believe the past 3 years. This was the first year they didn't have any kid food. Which really left both kids with only a few food options. They did still have the easter bunny, which was something that Gwen enjoyed tremendously. Trevor was practically jumping for joy to be able to get outside and play some golf. He'll be taking lessons in another two months, but I have a feeling he'll be practicing a lot before that time.

After a little nap from Gwen and a little Masters watching, we headed over to Bubba and Papa's house for dinner. The kids got to play outside again, and we had even a few more chances to find eggs. So I guess you could say it was a little busy, but with the wonderful weather, how can you even complain? And seeing family is always fun for everyone.

Already, the eggs have been emptied, and the baskets just need to be put downstairs. I have to say, that the clean-up for this holiday is also much less involved. That makes for a happy momma.

We missed out this time around

So we went to Gwen's 18 month check-up, even though I suspected an ear infection. She was up screaming a lot last night, and had a 101 temp yesterday afternoon. It was odd that she didn't have any big cold leading up to it though.

I'm pretty sure part of her sad attitude all day was due to the ear infection, and part of it was because of the lack of sleep last night. But we went to the appointment, and as we entered the room she started freaking out. And even if she completely remembered what was going to happen (shots), it was still very out of character for her to flip out this much about it. I couldn't even get two words in to her nurse while she was in the room with us. I tried my best to get her undressed, and onto the scale. But she was squirming and trying to bury her head in my arm. Then when we laid her out on the examining table, she was shaking around and kicking all over the place. So we didn't get a good measurement of her height.

The doctor came in and asked if a physician's assistant could look her over first. I have gotten this most of the time we have been in, so it was fine with me. I mentioned to both of them that while I'm sure they get a lot of upset patients, that it was out of character for her to be this upset of something. Explained her day that she had yesterday and asked if they could check her ears. They checked her temp, and verified that it was normal. The PA decided against doing the exam herself because of how upset she was. That her doctor would have to do it again anyway, and useless to have to put her through it twice.

They did ask the development questions, and she told me that in some respects, she was at a 2 year 10 month aged child. Go Gwen....although part of me wishes she could just be a regular 18 month old. She doesn't HAVE to grow up so fast! I heard her really starting to put small sentences together today. She can tell me what people are doing....Trevor, potty....mommy, mail....I'm guessing it won't be long before she is tattling on her brother. Or maybe she is trying to do it now.

Anyway, so the doctor came in for her exam, and checked her ears, and yep...ear infection in her right ear. He said it wasn't inflamed, but that it was obviously an ear infection. So the PA got to see it too. Her only shot was the Hep A shot, which didn't have any impact on the antibiotics. So she did get one shot, but I was happy not to have to go through the appointment again. They are usually so much more enjoyable than that one was. Thankfully, I didn't really have any questions for him. But she can be a lot of fun to watch when she's not so unhappy.

Oh well....we had great timing. I probably would have taken her to Urgent Care today if we hadn't had the appointment. And she is now on the mend. So she'll be almost back to normal in a few days. Just sleeping and naps will be messed up for a while.

So we are starting the Easter festivities tomorrow! Looking like a beautiful weekend, weather-wise as well!

A small bad mom of the year award goes to me

Gwen has been periodically waking up bright and early, crying out and then going back to sleep. So she did so this morning at 5am. A bit earlier than usual, but she quieted down within a minute. I heard her awake at 7, so I went to go and get her and found out that she got sick in her crib. My guess is at 5am. It was all over her and the PJs, crib and blankets. Ooops.

I gave her a bath this morning, and am washing everything in sight, but I feel pretty bad. I don't remember Trevor ever getting sick until he was in his own room other than spit-up from formula. And she seems fine this morning....a little weak, probably won't eat much food today, but otherwise pretty good. I wonder if the doctor will say he doesn't want to see her until next week. Guess well see!

Children's Museum

This is going to probably be out of order, but I wanted to post about this before it completely left my memory.

Although it was spring break time, I decided to take the kids (with Bubba of course) to the Children's Museum today. Trevor has been over a handful of times, but hasn't been since they added the Clifford exhibit. I was excited to have Gwen have a turn looking around. But I wasn't all that excited to see how busy it was going to be given our timing.

Well, it was actually very decent. I'm guessing because it really is geared towards younger kids. They have the Science Museum up the street which is more for school-aged kids. I had been with my dad and brothers a lot growing up. Anyway....it wasn't dead by any means, but I thought it was just going to be crazy.

Trevor headed with my mom to the "our town" exhibit where you can play in a city bus, become a mailman, run a restaurant, shop or check-out someone in a grocery store, make your own music video, or visit a doctor's office. I took Gwen to the Habitot area which is designed for kids ages 6-48 months. This meant Trevor was too old for the area. I thought Gwen would enjoy it. It is just an enclosed area that has small stairs, some ramps, windows, "caves" but she was simply not interested. She walked up a few stairs then headed for the out area. My theory is that she saw the kids in the room, and knew she didn't want to be there. She wanted to be where the bigger kids were.

So I let her out of the room, and it was right next to the Clifford room. So that's where she headed. She recognized the big red dog, watched some of the music videos that were playing, colored on some pages, and then did a few more of the activities. The only way I could get her to move was to say we were going to see Bubba. So we went to the room that they were in, and again Gwen took right to doing whatever everyone else was doing. She found the grocery store, wanted to play with the cash register, started handing me the fake food....and it never really stopped. Trevor took his turn going up to the Clifford area before Gwen was ready to be done. She continued to check out the mail, the music room, and then back to the grocery store before I could convince her to finish and move on.

Trevor had moved into the earth room where they had things like an ant hill and a water area with plastic fish and frogs and such. Trevor enjoyed playing in the ant hill but I could tell without snacks, the kids were getting hungry. Did a quick McD lunch and then came back to the other room we had not yet been in. This is where Gwen got drenched. I had unfortunately not dressed her in correct sleeved clothing because she couldn't pull her sleeves high enough on her arms. The area the she could not get enough of was where they had water flowing from different tubes or spouts using ping pong balls to sometimes block or simply flow through the tubes.

She did look at the bubbles/soapy area, and the boat racing area, but she just loved the ping pong balls. At this time, she was getting pretty tired though because she had been going full-strength the entire time we had been there. I was at least happy knowing that Trevor had been able to get to all the rooms and do everything he wanted to. As we were leaving, he even got to color on his face.

As we got into the car, I knew Gwen was going to be out like a light even before we made it out of the parking ramp. And while that wasn't totally the case, we weren't even a block away from the parking ramp and she was out. Unfortunately, I couldn't transfer her into her crib before she was up for the day. So no nap for her. Oh well....if that was the worst thing that happened....and it was...I'd say it was a wonderful day.

Some school stuff

Last Thursday was Trevor's preschool conference. It was fairly low key. They are very organized at his preschool. We were able to see his work for his "memory" book and could see the progress he has been making since the beginning of the school year. His teacher shared with us an example of his excellent leadership skills. He was "teaching" the kids about the seasons and stood next to the calendar and asked the class - "Ok...we are in spring. Can anyone tell me which season comes next? James? No, I'm sorry....that's the season after summer. Anyone else know the next season? Oh Doug....yes. That's right. It's summer. Now...which season comes next? James....now is when you want to answer summer." And according to his teacher, he had exact "teacher" inflection. Boy does this kid love to be the center of attention.

The one thing we are going to focus on, is his feeling of HATING being last. So much so he freaks out whenever it happens. They have been really working on it at preschool, in that they are making him be last as much as possible until he realizes that not freaking out gets him the chance to not be last the next time. I can understand that part of it is his development, since I have been warned that this is the time where he is going to think he is the BEST at everything until he gets into Elementary school and realizes that he isn't the biggest.

But really, it was a good chat. It was a perfect fit for him and his needing to develop socially. They were pretty strict, but he SO needed that because it seems he can talk his way out of a lot of situations.

Anyway, we also got his Kindergarten Assessment results. Things are looking good there as well. Soon, we should find out if he is assigned in AM or PM Kindergarten. So things are really moving along!

Yeah....so there's a little difference between 1st and 2nd born

Just a quick story for you. I have been trying to get Gwen to try new foods for dinnertime. And I've realized that if I give her a spoon, and put the food into a bowl, she enjoys it much more. She loves to do it herself and it does make the meal last a while longer. Sometimes a good while longer, but really I don't mind. I'm a slow eater and since we don't have to run anywhere after dinner, it's a great way to let her practice.

So last night I cut up half of a homemade waffle that we were having for dinner. I drizzled a little bit of blueberry syrup so it wasn't as dry, cut it up and put it into a bowl. I gave her both her standard spoon and a plastic fork to try. She was very excited about the new utensil.

In the mean time, I gave Trevor his waffles with strawberry syrup and then was able to eat my own dinner at the same time. It was at that time, that I realized that I have an 18 month old daughter that prefers to eat with utensils, while my almost 5 and a half year old still doesn't.

It's pretty obvious that I wasn't under the kind of "pressure" (I use the term loosely because it's not really pressure) of having to prepare two kids meals for lunch and breakfast when I only had Trevor in the beginning. Plus the fact that Gwen never liked baby food given to her on a spoon. She preferred finger foods from the beginning. But now, she'd much prefer to move to that next level of utensils if she can. So she has Cheerios in milk for breakfast and if I ever do yogurt, she has to be the one to feed herself.

Anyway, sitting at dinner last night, I could only shake my head. Maybe Trevor can learn something from Gwen after all ;-)