bad momma

Avery comes home from school with many many many pictures, drawings and art projects. On top of the ones she does at home I can’t possibly keep them all. I make a point to make a fuss and ask questions about them and about half end up on the fridge or on her bulletin board in her playroom but the other half end up on the counter until I throw them away. Monday she came home with 2 pictures. Each was a single color scribbled on a small part of the paper. It didn’t at all look like she had taken any time on them. The artwork she is starting to bring home lately usually has more than just scribbles on it. She told me they were drawings of fall leaves. They sat on the counter and while making dinner I was going through and getting rid of lots of stuff. The drawings ended up not making the cut and into the garbage they went. Nothing different than I had done a 100 other times with other pictures. Well those must have meant something to her. She came in later and asked where her pictures were? I must have looked like a deer in headlights and I quickly said they must be on her little table. She went to look (had her back to me) while I fished them from the garbage. I said, “oh here Av, I found them.” She turned and looked at me and said “momma threw my pictures in the garbage.” I have no idea how she knew, she just did. I was horrified and felt sooooooooooooooo bad. I will NEVER do that again. All new pictures will be in the house for at least a week before they make it to the trash. John was home at the time and had his head hiding in the fridge while he laughed and listened to me dance my way out of that one.

music

I just realized that I have not written about the music class I take Camille to every Friday. She LOVES it. I took Avery to it too when she was little. Camille is a little more vocal about her love for it than Av ever was. It is so cute. We sit in a circle and start with a hello song, which includes each child’s name. They love hearing their names. We sing, dance, play rhythm instruments and just act silly! We move and interact to stimulate both the vestibular system (coordination and balance) and visceral development (gut and heart). Camille’s favorite parts of music are the towel ride (she sits on the edge of a towel and I pull her around (it strengths the core muscles)) the hammock swing and walking to the beat of the drum (we walk fast or slow and stop as the beat goes). She just laughs her head off.

Hippotherapy

Avery is going to start hippotherapy. No it has nothing to do with hippos. Hippotherapy is basically therapy on a horse.

Here is what their website says about hippotherapy:
Hippotherapy We specialize in hippotherapy because we believe in the healing power of the horse. When a child receives therapy on horseback, they are exposed to more than 3,000 repetitions per half hour created by the rhythmic movements of the horse. The sensory input is key to helping kids improve neuromotor function, strength, flexibility, balance, posture, coordination and speech. Children who come to Green Hill for therapeutic services spend 30 minutes on the horse and 30 minutes in the clinic.

I am really excited about this. Although Avery has never been on a horse she loves them. I really hope this bonds her to horses and is fun for her instead of being therapy like. To Avery we are just going to ride the horses and have fun with them. She will go on Thursdays at 1:30. Since she also has speech on Thursdays Camille will head to school. It’s not really fair to Camille for me to be lugging her around all day to Avery’s stuff plus school is good for her. Why not? So I will have them both on Tuesdays, Av on Thursdays and Camille on Fridays (Camille attends a music class on Fridays, it is so cute!). It will just be during the school year and then all summer long I will keep them both together with me again on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That time is our time and I don’t want to miss out on it.

http://www.greenhilltherapy.com/

manners

We have taught Avery when asking for something to say, "may I please have....?"  To hear her saying it is pretty cute.  Now when she wants something she says, "may I please have some milk please?"  She knows please is the magic word so I guess she wants to make sure she got that in there.  She eats dry cereal a lot and can get it herself but this morning she wanted me to get it for her and she was whining it.  I said, "how do you ask nicely for that?"  She said, "may I please have momma get me some cereal please?"  hehehehhehe

School

Camille has really started to like school.  She gets excited about going there and when her favorite teacher Miss Juana goes to grab her from me Camille kicks her legs in excitement.  She is starting to know and understand the routine of our life.  She realizes on the mornings when mommy is running around like crazy she is going to school that day.  So today I brought her downstairs all dressed and ready to go.  I set her down and moved onto doing something else. Next thing I knew Camille was standing under me with her shoes.  She was ready for me to put them on her and go.   She is a smart one!

Halloween girls

beautiful day

Yesterday was so pretty. Just a perfect day. It was warm and sunny but the air still had a fall crisp to it. Lately it seems like the high temp. of the day is not until like 3 or 4 in the afternoon so it makes going to the park before nap time (2ish) hard and chilly. Yesterday though was not like that. It was warm and perfect fall park weather. We got to the park at 11 and stayed until 2. The kids ran and played and had a great time. We even brought blankets and lunch and ate in the sun. John was traveling for work yesterday and usually when he is gone the day is just very long for me. Yesterday was so nice though and perfect because we were able to be outside for most of it. I wish we could have weather like that year round.

bad morning

This morning was very bad. Although it should have been nice since both girls slept in. I actually had to wake them both for school. Av didn’t want to get out of bed. She loves school and wanted to go but kept saying she was still tired. I felt like saying get used to it but I gave her a little more pity than that. When I walked into Camille’s room if I didn’t have this cold and could smell I am sure I would have been hit right away with the stench of vomit. Poor little thing had blown chunks sometime in the middle of the night. I felt so bad for her having to sleep in it. I had no idea. I think she must have just coughed pretty hard and it made vomit come up because she was otherwise totally fine. I didn’t have time to clean her bed so that will be fun to come home to. She needed a quick bath though. I finally got Av up but she wanted me to carry her downstairs. I did but at the bottom of the steps as I tried to put the gate back up it slipped and landed on my toes. Boy did that hurt and made them bleed. From there I got the girls dressed and feed without incident. But as we were leaving the house and I was carrying my lunch, Av’s lunch, Camille’s school bag, Camille and my coffee it spilled all over Camille and I. Hot sticky coffee. Fun times. Then when I got to Av’s school I realized it was picture day. Not that big of a deal other than the fact she was in her Halloween outfit. I guess that is fine but can you imagine if she was a second grader and that picture was going in the yearbook. Not really the outfit I would have picked for school pictures. Then to top it all off I was actually glad to be at work. To sit and have a minute to myself. Well the lights for some reason went off and they can’t get them back on so I am sitting in the dark trying to work. Not fun!!!

walker

Camille is officially a walker. She is still very unsteady on her feet and falls many many many many times a day but she is up more than she is down now. She can also get herself to standing just using the ground. It is cute to watch. I can’t imagine falling as many times as she does a day. I would be exhausted exerting that much energy to just stay on my feet. She even walked at the park yesterday. It is pretty cute. I think everything she does is cute though.  She also likes to walk around carrying something.  I guess just because she can but she always picks something kind of heavy or awkward.  

sleep

Sleep has been good in my house lately. Camille is finally starting to sleep later in the morning. Sometimes as late at 8 o’clock. It is nice. Avery has always slept till at least 8 until lately. While in her crib she would sleep late. Now that she in her BGB she gets up when she hears Camille. So the later Camille sleeps the later Av does. Camille is now sleeping 12 hours consistently though. She has dropped her morning nap and just takes her afternoon nap. Dare I say she is a good sleeper too? Can I be that lucky?

Camille is a PIG

She will eat anything anywhere anytime. She eats her breakfast in the morning but then wants mine too. This morning she had her usual fruit and oatmeal and then threw a fit when Av was eating her oatmeal and we would not give her any. So we put her back in her highchair and gave her some bagel. After she was done with that she got out and Grandma was trying to get her dressed for school. Before G could though she went up and stole the rest of the bagel Av was eating. G had to chase Camille around the house and had to tell her to “give Avery’s bagel back to her.” Just silly that G was talking to Camille not Jack. Last night we went to a hibachi grill restaurant and Camille ate half of John’s dinner. I somehow got seated on the other side of the grill with Av and boy was I glad. John spent the entire dinner feeding Camille rice with chopsticks. Hehehehhe

Color Fest

This past weekend G&PP came in again. It was so nice to see them again. I still was not feeling great so they came to help. I just love them so much. Anyway on Sunday we took the girls to Color Fest. It is a festival at Bernheim Forest that I have always wanted to go to. Again it was a beautiful fall day and the forest was so pretty. They had face painting, pumpkin painting, arts and crafts and wooden instruments for the kids to play with. Everyone had a great time.

Boo at the Zoo

Thursday was our annual trip to “Boo at the Zoo” with all our friends. We always try to do it the first Thursday that it starts. Not as crowded during the week and tends to be a little warmer. This year the turn out of our friends was not as big as usual but we still had a great time. The zoo does a great job with this event. It really has nothing to do with the animals they are mostly inside but they turn the zoo into a trick or treating place with many themed areas. Emerald City, Alice in Wonderland and Princeses are just a few of them. Just as planned Av was Charlie Brown and Camille was Snoopy. We bought Av’s Charlie Brown shirt and then I had found some boy brown shorts to go with it. It was cold so she needed to wear pants and a long sleeve top. She looked so cute though. For Camille I had taken a white fleece warm up suit that was a hand me down from someone else and tried to glue black felt ears, tail and a big spot on it. The glue was not sticking so I started panicking. As usual John stepped in and saved the day. “Let’s staple them” was his solution. (Why didn’t I sew them you are asking? I don’t sew you all should know that!!! No Susie homemaker here!) So on the way to the zoo we stopped by Kinko’s (we don’t own a stapler) and John ran in to staple her costume. Hehehhehee That’s how the Hoekstras roll!!! Av still was not feeling all that great so this years trip was not as fun as last years. Last year she walked the entire zoo and was so excited that Marci said that Av “was on Halloween crack.” It was cute hopefully our energetic Av will be back soon.

under the weather

Ugh we have not been a healthy family as of late. Let me see if I can remember how this all went. So I posted about Av being sick that one day after school and I took her to the Dr and then how the next few days Camille had a fever and was kind of sick. Then when we got back from our weekend away Av was not feeling so well. On Monday her and I stayed home all day together. Although we were both sick (very bad cold for me) it was one of the best days ever. She had a low grade fever most of the day, which made her want to sit still longer then 2 minutes. We cuddled on the couch all day long. It was a perfect day. We slept, we hung out, we read books and watched TV. But mostly we just cuddled. I felt awful and although I would never want her to feel awful too it was nice to have the company. Av and I spend most of the week just not feeling great. I think finally we are both on the mend. I hope. So far Camille and John seem fine. I hope it stays that way.

MSU

Last weekend John and I got to get away for a few days. It was very fun. We went to the MSU vs. IL game in Champaign IL. It is about a 3-hour drive from us. We went with our neighbors Marci and Brent who went to IL. It was a trip we have been planning for the 4 years we have known them and finally got to go this year. The grandparents had the kids for us and we got an adult weekend. We have only known Marci and Brent since we have had kids so it was nice to have a kidless weekend with them. We get babysitters all the time with them but it is still hard to let go and be free like you were before you had kids because you still know you have to get up with them the next day. It was fun to get some time together carefree. Friday we took off about 6 pm and started driving. We stopped half way and had dinner then continued on. We got to Champaign about 9 pm. We dropped the car off at the hotel (we didn’t even go in), called a cab and off we went to bar hop and see all the Shuman’s favorite hangouts. We had a blast and even got to see Marci’s old sorority house. A ‘Burrito As Big As Your Head’ finished off the night perfectly. We had decided we would share a hotel room because we knew we would crash late on Friday and get up early to tailgate on Saturday so we knew we would not spend much time there. Plus the only place that had rooms left was a Best Western (ick) so I really didn’t want to spend much time there. The BW was kind of sort of newly renovated but still how nice can a BW be? It was one of those old hotels where each room had a door to the outside. It was fine though, the sheets were clean and the pillows were nice. Once back at the hotel on Friday night the Shumans went into the bathroom to change and John and I changed in the main room. I pulled out a pair of PJ’s and the first words out of John’s mouth were “new PJ’s?!?!?!” As I tried to justify them we heard Brent in the bathroom say “new PJ’s?!?!?” That part alone was pretty funny to a bunch of kidless parents who had been out all night without a care in the world but then when Brent walked out and saw that I had on the same PJ’s as Marci that really made them laugh. Brent and John are always teasing Marci and I because usually we have on similar outfits. Not planned we just have similar tastes plus we see each other so much living right next door. On any random day we are outside with the kids hanging out without ever making plans with each other. The PJ’s were planned though. We went out a few weeks prior and bought them to get a laugh out of the guys. What we had not planned on was how much crap we would get for just buying the PJ’s. hehhehe Talking and laughing for a while then all the sudden we were quiet and then asleep. It was fun. Saturday we got up and had planned on calling a cab to take us to the campus. It was going to take an hour though so we ended up grabbing a ride with this married couple and his parents. They were very nice though and we got there in plenty of time. We tailgated a bit with some of the Shuman’s college friends and then went into the game. State won and it was a beautiful fall sunny day so it was perfect. Afterwards we tailgated some more and then walked the campus and saw Brent’s frat. It was seriously dirty and gross but it could have been a beautiful house. We partied some more that night and then headed home to see the kids the next day. It was a great weekend and one we were very sad to see end.

feather girl

A good friend watched Av for us the other day when she didn't have school.  This is what she made while she was there.  She was so excited about it.  

1-year stats

Big Girl! Camille weights 18.10 lbs and is 29 inches long. She is right under the 50th percentile for height and right above the 10th percentile for weight. Her weight percentile dropped off from around the 25th but the Dr said that is just fine now that she is mobile. Her head size has stayed right along the 50th percentile curve. She will be rear facing in the car for awhile yet (she would have been either way).

so over sickness and it is not even Nov yet

So last Wednesday Avery came home from school looking bad. So bad that I didn’t even want to take her into Camille’s school so I left Av in the car right where I could see her and asked the director to go get Camille for me. (I never went into the building or let Av out of my sight.) She was very tired (which is not unusually not that she is in the non-napper class) and she had a slight fever. I gave her some Tylenol and she took a quick catnap. After that she ate ALL of her dinner and was back to normal. The next day though she was really tired and had the fever back. Normally I would not take her to the Dr. for something like this but with this swine flu going around I was in panic mode. Plus everything I heard was that if you catch it within 48 hours they can give you meds to make it not so bad. Even at the Dr. he said if she tested positive for the flu he would give her meds and Camille meds to make sure neither got it too bad. The flu test came back negative so she was pretty much fine. All weekend she was a little off but Tylenol seemed to help a lot. Well then yesterday Camille had a slight fever. We were at the Dr anyway for her well checkup. The Dr didn’t see anything unusual but we decided to wait to give her, her vaccines. This morning when I got her out of her crib she was covered in blood. Her nose was bleeding mixed with snotty mucus. I called the Dr. and he said that really was not concerning but to keep an eye on her. The worst part about it all though is that Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease is going around Avery’s school. Apparently it is very contagious and this morning I heard that Avery’s best friend and the girl that was at our house yesterday has it. UGH!!! You should see the blisters on this girl’s tongue. Looks so painful. I really really hope my girls don’t come down with it. It is going to be a very bad winter for all of this I am guessing. No fun.

parent teacher conferences

We just had Avery’s parent teacher conference. It went very well. She is coming right a long. The most important goal we will be working on is getting her to answer the teacher when asked a question with her own thoughts or ideas without mimicking a classmate like she has been doing. Example, she was asked her favorite color. A classmate answered purple so then Av did. I asked Av the same question when I heard that and she told me orange (which is what I thought her fav was). She just hates to be put on the spot (so much like me) but I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that she loves sharing (show and tell) time. Apparently she gets right up in the sharing chair and proudly shows her item. The first time she brought in her sea shells from the beach and the following week she brought in a favorite Halloween book. So I think this is definitely something we can work on so she will not have anxiety about being called on her whole life like I did. Her teachers showed me a self-portrait Av had drawn. It was pretty darn good. It had a head, eyes, nose, mouth, hair and a body. Not all totally in the right spots or clearly drawn but she had the idea down. Again I was impressed. One of my concerns has been her fine motor skills, just because I know kids with low tone have issues there but her teachers says she is doing great and loves to work on mazes on a dry erase board. Who would have known?? Her teachers said a few times that the dramatic play area was Avery’s favorite but she does explore all areas of the classroom and has her favorite group of friends but is starting to initiate play with others as well. They gave us handouts on things we can do at home to work on things so all and all it was a great meeting. I am very very very very very proud of her.

look what I can do!!!

life is not always fun with a preschooler (I can’t believe she is not a toddler anymore)

Av was bad this weekend. Not herself at all. Not sure what in the world was going on. Jealously? Not feeling great? Tired? All of the above! She was sooooooooo whiny. She didn’t talk she whined. Everything she said was in a whiny tone. On Saturday she was tired and we were having the party that night so I wanted her to nap. She said she would if we put her PJ’s on. So I helped her put on her PJs with a pull up. I put her in bed with her books and went to vacuum the basement so football could be on down there while the party was going on. When I was done vacuuming I heard Camille screaming (she had been sleeping). I went upstairs to see what was going on. Av was completely naked in their bathroom brushing her teeth. Now you see the need for the tape on her diaper. She knows not to use that bathroom while Camille was sleeping. I got mad at her so she started screaming which really got Camille going. So frustrating when all you want your kids to do is nap so they will have a good time at the party you are throwing for them. I brought Av to the basement and left her there for a time out. Few minutes later she was sound asleep. Thankfully Camille went back to sleep too. On Sunday the whining continued. At Hubers when we got to the pumpkin patch our neighbors wanted to take some pictures of their kids so I wanted Av to give them a few minutes together as a family. She of course didn’t really understand but she would not come be with us. She threw a tantrum in the middle of the pumpkin patch which included biting me. Not usual Avery behavior. I picked her up and told her if she didn’t knock it off her and I were going home and leaving everyone else to have fun without her. She said fine. I could not believe it. Then I had to talk her into staying. Not at all how punishment is supposed to go. It really hurt my feelings though. I know she does not know any better but here we were trying to have fun as a family doing something that meant a lot to me and all she wanted to do was go home. John thankfully came over and took over with her. I was at about my wits end. Once back from the pumpkin patch we had a long talk with her and the rest of the day at Hubers was fun but it all started up again when we got home. She stood right in the middle of the kitchen and had an accident on purpose and then threw a fit when I would not go get clean clothes for her. Then after asking her several times to pick up her toys they ended up in the garbage. She didn’t even care until Mickey went in. Then she lost it. Yes we got them back out for her and yes they were in a clean garbage. Needless to say I was glad I had to work today.

first steps

All the sudden on Sunday Camille starting taking her first steps. First thing in the morning she was trying it out. I was the one up with her and I saw her try and fall once. A half hour later daddy got up and the minute I walked away was of course when she did it and was successful!!! She did it about 3 times for John before I could get there (helping Av get up and get her diaper off (we still have to tape it on) and underpants on). She proudly showed Av and I though when we did get there. She did it all day long even outside. She still is very unsteady and at most can only take like 6 steps without falling but the look on her face when she does is just priceless! So proud of herself. This morning while making Av’s breakfast I heard Camille clapping. I looked up and she was standing with nothing around her clapping. She must have taken a few steps and then stopped to celebrate. It was about the cutest thing I had ever seen.

steer

Finally on Saturday Camille learned to steer her walker!!!

Hubers

Sunday we took the girls to Hubers. It is an apple cider/pumpkin patch/apple picking place with many more fun things to do there. Going to an apple orchid every fall is one of my favorite memories from when I was growing up. I hope to carry on the tradition with the girls. We went with our neighbors and had a great time. The weather again was perfect. We ate lunch on an outdoor patio listening to a band and watching the kids dance. It was very cute. After lunch we took a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. The girls picked out a perfect pumpkin. Then it was another tractor ride to the apple trees. It turned out that the area of apple trees they were letting people pick from that day were right behind where the tractor picked us up. The kids didn’t notice but it was funny to us. Camille picked an apple right up and starting eating it. Right before leaving we went to see the ducks. While hanging out with the ducks and trying to keep Camille from the water we noticed these big orange things in the water by this dock type thing. After making our way to the dock we realized they were the BIGGEST coy fish I had ever seen. They looked like big orange ugly catfish. They were under the dock fighting for the food you could buy for a quarter. I wish I had taken a picture of them. I had never seen anything like them. Very gross. The day was perfect and topped off with a warm cinnamon sugar (not powder sugar) donut that John found for me just like I had when I was a kid!!

Camille’s Party - take 2

On Saturday we threw a BBQ birthday bash for Camille. We invited over 8 families, fired up the grill and got a pony keg (hey it was a Sat. night BBQ). It was a perfect sunny fall day. State had beat that other school in MI and after that I was ready to party. I ditched the cute leggings outfit I had planned to wear in favor of a beautiful green MSU shirt. Again Camille didn't ravage her cake like I was expecting. She kind of stuck her fingers in it and licked. I even got a spoon and tired to feed it to her. Once she got ahold of the spoon though she had a great time playing in it. Everyone really seemed to have a great time and it was nice having all our favorite (local) friends together!

“Why does Camille get another party?”

That was Av’s question to me on Saturday morning. Valid question I suppose from an almost 4 year old after her sis got to open presents twice already before the party in question. She apparently does not know the Welsh (my mom’s maiden name) way yet. Birthdays last for 2 weeks in the Welsh family. She got gifts from AA last weekend, gifts on her b-day, gifts on Sunday after the BBQ, and she will get a few more this coming weekend when G&PP come to visit her. Poor Av but she will be loving it when it is her turn!

Camille’s Party - take 1

Camille turned 1 on Thursday and we of course wanted to hold a little party for her on the day of. We invited John’s family over for dinner and cake. As always it was nice to see them and the girls ate up the extra attention. I made an ice cream cake and we sung to Camille and opened presents. She didn't seem to totally love her cake. Maybe becasue to her it was this cold blob sitting on her tray. I don't know but she didn't dig in like I thought she would.