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.