Preschool Day 2

Claire didn't want to go to preschool this morning so I just told her we were going bye-bye (haha!!!) and then when we pulled into the parking lot I acted all excited that they would get to play outside today and prayed to God that they would actually do so...lol! And they did so my "plan" worked out! But she got out of the car and didn't look back again today! They come to the car and get them out as well as bring them back out. NIIIIIIIICE! :) No having to go in and out with Alexander!

So I asked her what they did today. She said they read a book about the littlest duck, but it wasn't the same duck book as last time. Then they went outside to play! They have a big slide and a tunnel and lots of steps. A boy held the gate open for them that was "very nice" of him! She said they played outside and she got all hot and sweaty! Then she said that she gets sweaty when she goes swimming. I said, no, you get wet. Sweaty is like being wet. LOL! That was really cute. Then she said they sang some songs but she couldn't tell me what. Then later she was singing "Happy and You know it" and I asked if she sang that. She goes, "YES!!!!! And Patty-Cake!!!!" Then she was singing "SSC--SUPER SUMMER CAMP" and doing some hand motions so that's cool she's picked up a new song only from 2 days.

She said she went potty and nobody helped her and she didn't go potty last time because she didn't have to go. Then she washed her hands and they had step stools in the bathroom! Then they had a snack and she sat by the same boy who stepped on her foot last time, but he didn't step on her foot today! They had pretzels and apple juice from an open cup! (I'm using lots of !!!!!!!!!!!!! because she talks loud when excited!) They they had a puppet show. They went back outside and planted sunflower seeds in glass jars that they decorated with stickers. They also made butterflies out of tissue paper with a popsicle stick body and pipe cleaner feelers. She also colored a picture of an octopus.

I'm not sure about the order of this because time is still something she is learning but when Miss TT buckeled her in the car it looked like she had been crying (red) and she said she didn't cry as much as last time. The teacher said it would get less each time and she's doing good. I'd really like to talk to the teacher for more than 30 seconds when she straps Claire in, but I pump Claire for more info throughout the day. I asked if she learned a new friend name, and she said MADISON! So that's cool that she knows both her teachers and 1 classmates name already.

And I'm glad she's having fun while I have time to run errands with just sleepy Alexander. I'm really going to like the fall when she has it 3 days/week. :) I'm sure I won't give you such detailed updates in the future, but her excitement rubbed off on me.

Preschool Girl!

Claire made this "princess crown" at Preschool. She wanted to wear it to Tumbling...which was fine, but didn't work so well with the forward rolls! You can see Alexander in the background wearing a much too small 3-6 month outfit. ;)
This outfit fits a little better! He is having a "picnic" with Claire. You can see the teapot next to him.

He loves to smile and laugh! He is such a happy and laid back boy. I love this outfit because it says "BABY BUDDIES" and I call him my baby buddy!

You can see the ultra-healthy picnic feast of ice cream and Melissa and Doug cookies! Alex says yummy!

Her shirt says "What happens in Preschool stays in Preschool!" which she wore on her first day of summer camp.

Claire had her first day of "Super Summer Camp" yesterday! It's a lot of fun play stuff! She didn't even look back when I dropped her off so I made a quick exit! :) When I picked her up the teacher said that she decided to cry about halfway through. I asked her why and she said that a boy stepped on her foot! :( So I'm glad that she didn't miss me! She goes 2 days/week on Tues/Thurs through the end of July. It will be a great warm-up for her and she will go 3 days/week in the fall. I hope she has the same teachers. I'll have to ask.

I asked her what they did. She said that they read a book about ducks, made something with toothpicks and marshmallows, and had a snack. For snack she had one Oreo cookie and one brown cookie. (PS: I WILL BE THE MOM THAT BRINGS SOME CARROTS WHEN IT'S OUR SNACK DAY! SHE LOVES CARROTS!) And they had orange juice that wasn't orange....lol...whatever that means? Pineapple? Then she said they played basketball and Ring-around-the-Rosies in the big gym since it rained yesterday. They colored pictures and made Princess Crowns. They went potty and sang some songs but she couldn't remember what they were. I'm not sure if they did something else or what order that was in but she wanted to go again today, so that was a good sign!

Miss Smiles

Little Miss Claire loving her car!

Mr. Smiles

Who loves boobies? THIS GUY!
Little Mr. Alex is now 8 weeks already!

EXCUSE THE THIEF

I've been trying to teach Claire to say "excuse me" when she wants to tell someone something instead of interrupting. So she likes to say "EXCUSE ME!" before she says something now. Claire said "Excuse me!" to Josh when he got home from work today. Then she said: "I LOVE YOU."


It was raining out. She wanted to wear her sunglasses. I asked her why. Her reply? "So rain stays out of my eyes." I told her they were for when it was sunny out. She goes, "OH! So your eyes no get sunburn!" Kind of!


We have a little thief. I saw her playing with a white silky scarf I didn't recognize. Uh-oh. I asked her where she got it. "I got it at the garage sale!" Um? I didn't pay for one? So I asked her which one! She says, "The Sleeping Beauty garage sale!" Great! So she jacked it. So do I take it back...or offer her (the lady whose house we got it from) a buck for it? Now I know how parents don't notice things...oops.

Little Lion

Alex doing his best Lion impression. GRR! I'm a tough baby!

Muffin Tin Snacks

Muffin Tin Snacks are basically a variety of snacks presented in a muffin tin. Ideally, you can let them sit out all day and your child can graze as he/she wants to! I remember first seeing this in a parenting magazine before I even had kids. It's such an awesome idea!

My sweet Claire-Bear!

I am not trying to wean Claire overnight, but I'm also trying to cut her way back since if I let her, she would nurse more often and longer than the newborn...even at night. Sigh. SO I am trying to load her up on her favorite foods and snacks! Here is her mid-morning snack...which is also her "snacks" for the day. She was down to pretty much just nursing before sleep/at night, but then tada...lots of milk and she was going nursing crazy. I'm over it now. I NEED to cut her back or I am going to go crazy. I was thinking I would like to have her weaned by Christmas, but definitely by the time Alex turns one...I don't know how to though! It's so hard! Thoughts? My reasoning is today, she pushed his head off my nummie and latched on. I was on the phone and dropped it so as to catch Alex. NOT ACCEPTABLE CLAIRE!

Carrots, cheddar bunnies, purple grapes, banana, honey roasted peanuts, and oranges are all a favorite!

Rock Stars

Yesterday we went to the Rock Stars Cars Guitars display at The Childrens Museum. It was pretty cool. Of course they had things for the kids that were hands on. The really cool thing was that they had Ryan White's mom and sister there and I got to say hi to them and get a picture with them with Josh's phone. We didn't bring the camera yesterday so no other pictures. What? Trying to keep tabs on 2 kids is enough without trying to hang on to a camera that you don't want to leave in the stroller someplace.

Some cute things Claire has said lately:

"Alex looks like a caterpillar baby!" when he's on the floor during tummy time.

"Wipe my other face!" when she wanted me to wipe her other cheek!

And we've started letting her go on the ponies at the Museum that move on the carousel since she going to be 3 soon and they don't check IDs ;) They are supposed to be three. Haha. She calls them "Up and Down Ponies" and loves to pick which one she wants to ride on.

This is why I LOVE garage sales!

Garage Sale 1:
Care Bears Seek and Find Hardback
Carebears ABC flashcards NIP (new in package)
Pooh Number match flashcards NIP
Pooh's Go-Together Game NIP
19 Berenstain Bear Books (I think that may be nearly the whole series!)
Wooden World Atlas puzzle with all the Continents! NIP.
all from the same sale for...$1.50 total! WOW

Garage Sale 2:
Hello Kitty Paperback Ballerina book .25
Pirates of the Caribbean 63 piece cardboard puzzle NIP .25
Usborne Fairy Cooking book .25
Harback Fairyopolis lift the flap book .25
Apples to Apples Game $1
Pink/White Nikes $1
Tinkerbell fleece lined Clogs $1
Brown Mary Janes $1
Ariel Lunch box .50
Purple/Black sparkle Leotard for tumbling 1.00
Black Leotard .50
Black tutu skirt .50
Princess Baby Doll Sleeping Beauty - Free :) I told Claire no. The lady working there apparently wanted to get rid of it. She said, "Take it!" So we did.

Garage Sale 3:
Bright Starts Circle Teether NIP .25
Classic Pooh Pacifier attacher NIP .25
Huggies Disposable Changing pads NIP .25
Princess Birthday invites/thank yous NIP .25

Garage Sale 4:
Grover "I Have to Go" potty for Alex .25
Wicker Picnic Basket play set with settings for 4 "tea set" NIP 1.00
Princess Baby Doll Cinderella .25

Garage Sale 5:
Insulated Thomas the Train Lunch bag .50 and it looks new
4 Thomas Trains, wooden assorted cars (I don't know their names!) $2

Not bad, not bad. There are more sales tomorrow, but I think I got my "fix" for a few weeks. :) LOL! That and it's too hot!!! Luckily, there was lots of shade and I had Gatorade with for Claire and I. These were all within walking distance of my house. We were gone only about an hour and we scored really big, I think! Little Alex slept in the stroller the whole time!

7 week Weigh-in!

Today I took the kiddies to the Hancock Breastfeeding Group. Alex weighed 14 lbs and 2 oz. YAY! Way to grow baby boy! I wasn't concerned about his weight as he is a great nurser and I could tell he was filling out nicely. He has some nice little leg rolls going on now in his diaper/upper thigh area. He has been in size 2 diapers for about 2 weeks as well since those start at 12 lbs. I had to post a bath picture of him and Claire. Kitchen sink baths are much easier btw. This kills my back.
And here you can see him in the bath! He is wearing 6 month sized sleepers since they also start at 12 lbs. He is also VERY long and has a very long torso!

Today I was supposed to have my 6 week pp check. They called and cancelled it. ARGH! Apparently the dr. had a family emergency. Well anyways, since I had a sitter lined up for Claire, I took Alex and got my hair cut instead! I also got my eyebrows done. WOOT! There was an Asian lady there that guessed Alex was 5 months. LOL!

Little Slugger!

Whenever I try to take pictures of Alexander, Claire likes to get in on the action. So, just for the record, I have many photos like this one:
Oh, this is what I was actually aiming for! Alexander still gets little newborn mittens on his hands, but he is now able to work them off, so we'll probably stop putting them on. I actually sat until he was in a deep sleep with him on my lap and trimmed all his nails for the first time! The problem before was that Claire would somehow manage to wake him up if I didn't move him to his crib/pack and play or bouncy seat high up on the counter...argh. If I had a buck for each time she has woken him up, I would have myself a nice collection of singles for garage sales ;) I hate sports and baseball in general, but you have to admit, this is a cute outfit! Ok, I don't hate sports, I just don't have the time or interest to follow them!

Aww...what a cutie pie!

Claire's First ER Trip

No, she did not bite her foot off. This photo is merely for your own amusement. She still prefers to sit in the highchair. I checked the weight. It's good for 50 lbs. I don't know how much longer her legs will fit comfortably under that tray though!
And the ER trip...which was about 3 weeks ago...but as we know, I'm behind on everything, including sleep and laundry. So she smacked her head on our bedframe, which we are totally throwing away if we ever move again. It has a hard shelf basically as the headboard. She wasn't even jumping on the bed or anything. She merely went to lay back and flopped down. The force of her head hitting the shelf broke the skin. It bled a lot and there was a huge knot right away. We took her to the ER for stitches. They now use a glue quite commonly on skin wounds...even on C-Sections and heart surgeries!!! But it's about time they came up with something better. It seems pretty primitive to have to give a shot to numb the area, then stick more little needle holes in it to sew it up! So here it was about a week later, healing nicely. It sure looks pretty small, but apparently scalp wounds bleed a lot!

More Smashing Good Times!

I told you I was a klutz. I dropped this bowl of Shepard's Pie. Oops. I wasn't even holding a kid at the time. My hands were wet though. That's what I get for being lazy and not drying them off. SPLAT! There goes another bowl from my set!

Success!

I declare today a success! I went with my neighbor Jessie and her kids to the museum today. We got there right when they opened. We recently got a Children's Museum membership. Alex has already been 5 times. :) Yup...it's a great place to go! No bugs. No sunscreen. No heat! AND! There are tons of places to sit and nurse Alex while Claire plays! I even went solo one day and that was a huge success too!

Claire had a big meltdown right before lunch, but I attribute that to me letting her get overly hungry since she only had 1 bite of banana for breakfast...anyways, once she started eating, she was fine! (PS...she did not nurse all day...just before bed. That is like a first since Alex has been born and she wants to nurse when he does! But not at the museum! Too much fun stuffs!)

Then from there, we had to head back to Greenfield for tumbling at 4:30. Alex slept great in his sling that my friend Patty made. I've been forcing myself to wear it and it finally feels comfy. ;) It is like a new pair of shoes...a bit odd and awkward at first, but before long, a new sling will be like a nicely broken in pair of shoes. It's pouch, and I really love it! (THANKS PATTY!)

So since we had brought our lunch to the museum, I decided to treat Claire and I to Culver's for dinner since we'd been gone all day and Josh is going to a concert tonight. ;) I loves me some Culver's!

And by the time Claire was done with her chicken tenders, I decided it was bathtime for both of them...then bed. Plus she needed a bath since she dumped half her milkshake down her front and into her lap. Early to bed for them...that way I could get my Internet fix. Alex sleeps great! He will sleep a 5 to 6 hour stretch before waking to nurse. Problem has been that Claire has been waking up. We also finally got her a bunk bed in her room...pictures of that to come. So how about transition to new bed and having a new baby brother! FAIL! Actually, she's had her own "Princess Bed" with her pink bedding set and mattress in the corner of our room, but now it's finally in her room on a nice wooden frame!

I've been slacking off on the blog. I promise I've been taking lots of photos and videos in the meantime. I promise you will be inundated soon enough! And today was TV-free! Not that there is anything wrong with TV/movies. We enjoy them just as much as anyone, but you need those once in awhile. Oh wait. I lied. We saw a 15 minute show in the Planetarium. See...it is impossible to go TV free. They even have TVs at the church nursery! Oh well...we are all addicted to our screen-time!

Night all!

Smashing Good Times

I shut the back hatch of my SUV on my phone. Now the screen looks like this:

SOOOOOOOO good times...the only phone I've had that would have had any resale value. Amazingly, it still lights up, but not enough to be able to use it!!! My plan was up in a few days anyway. MEANWHILE...if you need to get ahold of me...use Facebook or email me. BLARGH! They say you're more likely to be accident prone if you're tired. SO TRUE!