end of an era

Monkey has lost his status.  It is kind of sad.  For the first time since Camille was born Av didn't take him to school.   She also didn't feel the need for him to sleep with her tonight.  I did talk her into it though.  She is growing up and moving on.  Can't wait to see what is up next.  

WV here we come

Next weekend we will be off to spend a week at G&PP’s house. I can’t wait. I have not told the girls yet but I am sure they are excited too. It will be a nice relaxing week. Even though they don’t still live in the house I grew up in, or ever the state for that matter, I still love going back ‘home.’ Wherever they live will always be home in a weird way. I get such a break from the daily grind. Pretty much like a vacation. It is very nice to get to just enjoy being with my girls without having to worry about everything else that needs done. Plus the added bonus is I get to see and spend time with Suzanne and Matt. John is driving there with us but part of the week he is going on a business trip about 3 hours from where they live and then another part of the week he will be heading rafting on a Bachelor party. The rest of his time there will be spent with us. Suzanne has a very nice pool by her house that has a splash park so I hope the weather is nice so we can enjoy watching Av having fun in the water.

tough cookie

We went to the zoo yesterday with some friends. We go to the zoo a lot. We are members and it is very close to our house. Yesterday was just strictly a trip to the splash park they have there. We didn’t really check out the animals as we had just been there on Sunday. Av LOVES the splash park. She loves the water. She does not have any issues with water at all. She was the first kid soaked yesterday as always. The splash park is nice because there is no standing water like a pool. It is a big pirate ship the squirts water from everywhere. If you are on the blue rubber mat you are going to get wet. It has a couple of slides and she went down those slides about 20 times. All that climbing is so good for Av. As she was going up the steps she was not using the handrails!!!!!!!!! With her low muscle tone steps are harder for her and were impossible without handrails. Not anymore though. She was going right up those steps with no assistance from the handrails. Made me very happy for her and so proud. She is one tough little cookie and she is not letting anything stand in her way.

Summer

Avery goes to preschool. So that means during the summer, winter break and spring break she does not have school. This is always a thorn in my side since I do work while she is at school and we use it as daycare as well. Camille has been on a waiting list for a daycare for 16 months because she is too young to start at the preschool where Av goes. As soon as I hit my second trimester I put her on the list. It was not soon enough but we finally got her spot. It is very bitter sweet because we have grown to love Miss Linda. We cannot give up our spot at the daycare though. This is a top rated daycare/preschool and since I do work part time we want our kids to have the benefit of being with other kids in a daycare/preschool setting. It has worked out well the daycare has a spot for Av for the summer too. So starting the second week in June they will both start “school” together. In the fall Camille will stay where she is and Av will head back to Friends. It will make my life harder dropping them at different spots but we believe it is what is best for each of them. My heart is already breaking anticipating their first day. Camille and I will miss Miss Linda terribly. Dropping Camille off for the first time and leaving Av in a new place is going to be excruciating. Camille is just starting strange anxiety and Av has never done well with transitions. Av has grown to love her school so much, she feels secure there, but she has gone through so much in her little life that new places scare her. Plus she is so much like me so shy and does not like any attention focused on her. I am going to be a mess on June 8th. As much as I know how hard it will be I also know it is best for them. Av needs to be with kids her own age in a school setting a few times a week to continue the speech improvements we see every day. It will just be down right fun for Camille when she gets used to it. It was a hard decision but the right one. Camille will just go on M&W. Av will be there M,W&F like she is used to.

Camille

Camille started a few things this past week. Fake coughing and clapping. Both are pretty cute and funny. Sometimes in her enthusiasm for clapping she misses her hands. It is pretty funny to watch. She also sits great now and she loves it. If she is lying down she is constantly rolling back and forth and trying to perform a sit up in the hopes of getting to the sitting position. She just can’t figure how to make it happen yet. Last night she was sitting in Av’s room fussing and almost shaking looking at this bookshelf of toys. She wanted to get to that bookshelf so badly. I showed her how she could roll to get there and she was immediately content playing and discovering all of sissy’s wonderful treasures. She also took her first bath in the big tub with sissy. She really seemed to like it.

She still loves things over her face/head. Anytime she is lying within arm's reach of a blanket or clothes she pulls them over her head. Also when she is nursing now she puts her arm over her eyes. If I move it, she puts it right back. I guess that is how she comforts herself.

Avery

Avery is still very into her monkey, purses/bags, taking care of her babies, blankets and Snow White. I took her to the mall the other day and no trip to the mall is complete without a visit to the Disney store. Av is always very good while shopping and does not ask for things. She looks, plays and then puts back when I ask her too. While shopping we were looking at sunglasses in the Disney store. There were these cute aviator glasses with princess on them. I noticed they were only $2.99 and asked her if she wanted a pair. She needed a new pair anyway and I thought the kid’s aviators would look so cute on her. They had them with Belle, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid but no Snow White. Since there was no Snow White she picked out some Minnie Mouse ones instead. They are cute but not the aviator style I was hoping for. There was no talking her into the princess ones. Her mind was set on the Minnie Mouse. She is a girl that knows what she wants.

For Christmas a friend got Av a set of princess books. There are 12 little books in a box with a handle. She loves it. Today she picked out the 2 Snow White books in the set put them in a purse and took them to school with her. They stay in her cubby all day so I am not sure why she even bothers taking them with her. I guess she must think my Snow White books are in my purse.

daddy's little shadow

This weekend Av and John spent a lot of time in the yard. They added a slide to her fort, which she loved. She climbed and slid over and over again. Everyone that came to the house had to come see her slide and when she woke up on Sunday the first thing she did was look outside to make sure her slide was still there. They put chicken wire around the garden so the bunnies would not eat her veggies. They cleaned the garage. She helped him bring all of her stuff out of the garage, played with it while he cleaned, then put it all back in again. They also trimmed a tree. When John was dragging the limbs to the curb from behind him he heard Av say, “I will help dada.” He must have dropped a limb because when he turned around she was right behind him carrying one. She loves helping her daddy and spending time with him. I think it makes her feel like such a big girl.

date night

John and I got a date night this weekend. His mom was in town so we took a much needed break together. Since we don’t get many of these anymore we wanted to try a new restaurant with great food and good ambiance. We decided on a restaurant down town (Z Fusion). We had reservations for 8:30 but arrived early for a drink at the bar. During our drink we decided the restaurant was not all we were looking for, the food looked great but the ambiance was very lacking. So after our drink we walked to another restaurant (Proof). The next restaurant had the opposite problem. Lots of charm but there was nothing on the menu that really jumped out at us. Neither of us is picky eaters and like a lot of different foods so it came as a surprise when there was nothing on the menu that sounded good. We had already ordered a bottle of wine so we took it to the bar. After our bottle of wine we decided to try one more time to eat. By this point we were pretty hungry. The 3rd restaurant was Jeff Ruby’s. The food ended up being very good but the restaurant was a little different then we pictured. It was like being in Vegas. It was dark but still had neon lights everywhere, crushed velvet booths, glittery mermaid tacky décor and a very loud band. We should have stayed at the first place. That’s what happens when you think the grass is greener elsewhere. We had lots of fun together though, just what we really needed!

happy mother's day

I had a great Mother’s day. My first being a mom of two wonderful girls. It was a nice quiet relaxing day with my family. I had time to thank my lucky stars that I have such wonderful family. Unfortunately I was not able to be with my mom, I missed her so. We will celebrate soon. I got to sleep in which was the first treat of the day. Around 9 when I did finally get out of bed the first thing I saw was a beautiful new framed pic of my girls for my desk at work. Then Av handed me a home made card. My request for breakfast was bagels and coffee during which I was surprised again with another charm for my bracelet. It is one with a November birthstone on it for Av. After breakfast John worked on making a garden area for us while I lounged in the grass and played with my girls. The weather was beautiful and hanging out with my 3 favorite people made my day. Then it was off to buy some plants. We got red, green and orange peppers, tomatoes, banana peppers, cucumbers and a cantaloupe plant. Hopefully we will have a nice crop. John made dinner. Grilled steak, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries and mushrooms with onions. Yummy.

moms night out

It was a bachelorette party for my good friend’s brother’s fiancé. We started out at her house (Marci’s) with dinner and drinks. The surprise for the bachelorette was a ride to 4th street (bars) in Pool Party Express. It is an old fire truck that is hollowed out and has an empty pool in it. You ride standing in the pool. Very safe. We had a great time riding in ‘style’ to the bar. John and two friends took the kids to dinner. Between the three dads there were six kids. The first time any of the dads had taken both kids anywhere. They survived.

playing with our neighbors

  

They were fixing their lawn mowers with real tools.  Boy were they having fun.

cute girl in a hat-mothers day

Av would not let me take any of her in her hat.

Camille sleeping with the lovie over her head

Sisters

baby snake

John and Av were outside the other night and he saw a worm and picked it up to show Av. He asked her what it was and she said, “baby snake.” Hehehehhe so cute. I guess that was a really good guess.

potty training

It has been a thorn in my side for a while. Yes, Av is almost 3 and 1/2 and should be potty trained. In her/our defense with her low muscle tone it makes it much harder on her then most kids. Everything is a muscle and if her muscles are not as strong as they should be they cannot control when and how they let lose like they should. It is just another one of the many things that will come in time. We just have to be patient and sympathetic to Av. (Yes, she knows she is too old for diapers) Another point I must add is that she is behind in her gross motor as well as speech so it only makes sense that she would be behind on this as well. The positive to all of this is that Av is a fighter. No one is more determined then she is and she has overcome everything else life has thrown at her. She will master this too. It is just going to take a little longer. I am bringing this all up because she is getting there. A sign that kids are almost ready is when they start waking up dry. Av is doing this about 50% of the time. I know this because she is still taking her diapers off. We got kind of lax on taping them and the other day she woke up wet so we started taping again. This morning when I went in there her diaper was off and yes it had been taped. Stinker. It was dry though and so was her bed. She can hold it she just can’t release it when she is thinking about it. Yes, I have tried all the tricks, potty chart, M&M’s, and bag of little treats to reward her with. It is not a matter of her not wanting to it is a matter of her being able to. Someday soon.

girly girl

Avery is still really into her “ejs.” The minute she gets home she wants to put them on. She has acquired some new ones recently and loves them. Another princess nightgown and princess shorts and top are the newest. Even though it has gotten hot and she is a pretty hot temperature wise child she still insists on wearing her footed sleepers as well. The other day we were home all day and she had 4 different sets of pj’s on during the day. Then there are her purses and shoes. Last night we went to a friend’s parent’s house for dinner and she wore her high heal plastic pink feather princess shoes and insisted on bringing her 4 favorite purses. Not sure where her love of purses comes from.

7 months

Well Cami is officially 7 months. Where has the time gone? She is getting bigger by the day. She can sit now. She still gets tired and falls over but she is getting there. I almost always still put the boppy behind her so she does not topple over and hit her head. Or get knocked over by crazy Av and Jack. She is very ready to be on the move too with Av and Jack. She just sits with me and watches them and moves and moves. She can’t wait to play with them. It is funny the stages they go through. She is back to that really fun squealing thing. She is loud. She wants to be known. It is cute at the appropriate times. Not cute at brunch or at 5:45am. Not sure what is fun to her about squealing by herself in her room in the dark but apparently it is great fun. She pivots 360 degrees on a blanket on her belly to play with her toys. She rolls from back to belly and then belly to back over and over again but going in the same direction so as of yet it is not getting her anywhere. She has gone from a baby that just wants to nurse for the rest of her life to not wanting to nurse at all. She is too distracted for it and the rest of the world is much more exciting then cuddling with momma. No matter where in the house we go or how hard I work to get us alone (with Av this is not easy) I cannot count on any feeding really working. As she starts nursing I just sit there holding my breath waiting to see if she just pulls off. A nursing session NEVER lasts more then 4 or 5 minutes other then the bedtime nurse. I am guessing she can get 3 to 4 ounces in that time (at least my pump can). It makes me sad (I know I say that all the time) but I miss my cuddle time with her. Plus I am worried about losing my milk. I hope this is just another fun stage. She eats her baby food really well now. She knows how she wants things; she does not want her morning meal until after her morning nap. If you try before she just will not eat it but if you give her the same food after her nap she eats it right up. Her favs are yellow/orange veggies (carrots, sweet potatoes and squash) but is okay with peas, green beans and spinach. For fruits she has had pears, peaches, bananas, applesauce, mangos and raspberries. I am keeping her on 2 meals a day until 8 months and no meat until 8 months. She has had cheerios, puffs and whole peas. She seemed to like them. She can pick them up but cannot get them in her mouth yet. She is now down to only eating once a night and it is a very quick feed. She is starting to get up earlier and earlier, we are going to have to work on that. She is a good napper. 2 naps a day, about 1 hour in the am and 2 hours in the pm. She has started to babble within the last week. Dadadadada, bababababb and mamamamama so cute. She is a great and easy baby.

another funny Av comment

G, PP and I were all sitting around after getting up on Sunday drinking our tea and coffee and watching Av run from one activity to another. She is very busy. She still had her diaper on that she wore overnight. All the sudden she said “oh no.” I looked down and she was pointing to a puddle on the hardwood floors. I said, “where did that water come from?” (She loves water and spills a lot accidentally and on purpose so I am pretty used to this but neither of us had any water) She said, “my butt.” G and I just lost it. I had not laughed that hard in a really long time. Apparently her diaper had hit its limit and leaked when she peed. She didn’t know how else to express this other then by saying, “my butt.” I am still laughing over this one. She must have learned “butt” at school because as people close to me know I find the word “bum” hilarious and so we refer to our backside as “bum bum” in our house.

thank goodness for G&PP

Well another great weekend has ended. G&PP came into town to watch the girls for us so we could partake in derby festivities. The Oaks on Friday was everything it was supposed to be. We had so much fun the day just flew by. Nobody won big but enough to somewhat break even. The girls as usual were so spoiled by G&PP that they didn’t miss us at all.

Oaks