Merry Christmas!

Wow - it's Christmas! The activities have officially begun. Amazing.

What a buzy month it's been. Lots to do for Christmas. And we had fun - parties and parties and some more fun. We had fun making reindeer cookies although it's not fun yelling at Justin all day to stop eating cookies. lol

And then there was the advent calendar for Justin. I got him a playmobile one. The first few days were torture as he wanted to open all the boxes right away. And even now, 23 days later, he still wants to open one in the morning and one after his nap. So funny. But, finally, tomorrow morning we open the last box. Wow!



Tonight was the night Santa comes around town on the firetruck. Emily & Ian, Grammy & Grampy came down to do the Santa thing with us. The kids had fun playing of course. And all the kids went to Santa. Justin was actually excited and not scared at all. Last year we couldn't even get him to go oustide. This year he sat on Santa's lap and talked and talked and talked. I brought Sarah up to Santa and she cried and cried. Oh well. At least she went up to Santa and sat on him for a split second. lol

Tomorrow morning Lori, Phil and the kids are coming down, as well as Grampy and Grammy to exchange gifts and have breakfast. Then the kids nap. Then off to Grammy & Grampy's for our Christmas Eve get-together.



Christmas morning will be just us opening and opening and opening. lol
Then naps again. Yeah naps! If Justin's good we'll let him stay up and watch Cars b/c I know he's going to want to watch it as soon as he opens it in the morning. After nap we will have Grammy, Grampy, Grandma & Aunt Rosemary over for dinner.

I hope we are healthy this day. I am so tired of having sick people on holidays. lol

I hope everyone else has a great holiday!

Some pictures to make me smile

We went to see the lights in the park last night and had balloon hats made for the kids:

What is the real deal?

Ever wonder what your child really does when you aren't around? I have been wondering this ever since sending Justin to preschool. I have always been around Justin until this. So, what is Justin like at school? Hmmm...

I have come to realize that he has 2 girls in his class that he talks about all the time. They are the kids that he is excited to see and that he says he plays with. These girls are also the girls that he says get in trouble every day. I guess that shouldn't be a surprise. As my mom said "Do you expect Justin to play with the quiet kids?" She's right. When I had to describe Justin for an application for the other preschool, I said "He's easily excitable, very talkative, and extremely energetic." So, of course he'll hang out with the "fun" kids.

So, anyways, today I had a talk with one of the moms. Ends up Justin is not only playing with these 2 girls. Ends up he plays with all of the kids and doesn't play with the 2 girls nearly as much as he says. She said that he is adjusting great and he behaves great in school and he's hanging with all of the kids.

Hmmmm...who knew?

I am glad to be a grade mom. I love being able to be at the parties and to be able to observe him in action. I will really be paying attention at the Christmas party.

Waiting for a post?

Sorry!

I haven't had much to say lately. I am living in the land of the crazies!

Justin is 3 an dhas many 3 yr old moments. Likes to whine. Like to cry. Likes to complain. And then turns on a dime and says or does the cutest thing ever! It can drive you batty!

Sarah is 18 months old and acts it. This age is hard for me. She is very clingy. She is very vocal about her complaints. She is a complete and utter danger to herself at all times. She keeps me on my toes.

Last Sunday we brought the kids to Anthony's Christening. Yeah, it didn't take us long to know we are correct in not bringing the kids to church while they are this little. They really like to talk. And they really like to explore. Sitting still and not talking is not a possibility for them. We did manage to keep them acting ok, but it wasn't like we listened to anything that was happening for the Christening. Justin laid down on the pew a lot and pretended to nap, complete with the snoring. And Sarah managed to be completely entertained by the missilette. She flipped through it for about a half hour. Good thing she likes books. Then, when Sarah was being completely quiet, Justin leaned towards her "Sarah, shhh...you have to be quiet!" He kept saying it, which resulted in her yelling "SHHHH!" back at him. Cute, funny, but glad we don't go to church often.

I think he's onto something

I am shopping online right now trying to find a Christmas present for the hubbie. Justin wanted to look for stuff for himself. The rest went like this:

Me: But Justin, I need to shop for Daddy. We need to have something under the Christmas tree for Daddy, don't we?
Justin: A cooking glove. I think that would be plenty.

Elmo TMX Elmo

The new top secret 10th anniversary Elmo T.M.X. Elmo that was released September 19th 2006...High quality videoshowing all sequences in action!

Words, words and more words

Sarah is really amazing me with her vocabulary. A couple weeks ago I sat down and made a list in her journal of all her words. In 10 minutes, I was up to almost 90 words. Then I remembered some more. And since then she has learned at least 20 new words. Amazing.

Her favorites right now - Hold me!, Apple, Binky (said usually as Binky! Binky! Binky!), Blankie (also said in the Blankie, Blankie, Blankie way), Justy, Up, Milk, Water, Show, Calliou, George (we say - "Sarah, say Curious." Sarah says "George!" lol) and of course Mommy!

She is now finally calling Grammy "Mimi" and Grammy is very happy about this.

She will sit in her thinking chair now and call out "show!" just like Justin. Ugh!

As soon as she hears the bath water running, she will run to the bathroom yelling "Bath!" and try to lift her shirt over her head.

I love that she has so many, many food words. I love knowing that she wants something, especially b/c she is so darn picky and lets you know it. Give her something she doesn't want and you will be yelled at "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" So, I am glad she can now ask for : banana, grape, apple, egg, cracker, popcorn, pizza, corn, pea, etc. Not so happy she can say : cake, cookie. LOL

Sometimes I love when she runs to my leg and says "Hold you!" like she did to me at music class this week. Not so happy when she runs to my legs and says "Hold you" when I am trying to cook or write something. lol

This has nothing to do with words, but my favorite part of music class is when it is quiet time. The moms have to not say anything during an instrumental song. During this time, I lay down on my stomach and often put my head in my arms to rest. Sarah always looks at me weird and then ends up laying down on my back. I love it! I love when she does that! She will usually get on my back and then off my back about 10 different times during the song.

Back to the words - of course, some of my favorites are her phrases:
I Love you, I love you Justy, Up Above the World, How I wonder, (both from Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, of course), I love you XXX (She says I love you and gives 3 kisses like her dolly does)

Trying again

Ok, so baseball didn't go so well. Today we had our Mom's Club outing at a local Fitness place. I asked about sibling classes. I loved bringing Jutsin to My Gym, but I hate always worrying about finding a babysitter for Sarah. A sibling class at My Gym is only offered during nap time. No good.
Well, the other Fitness place had makeshift sibling class I could bring them too. It is geared towards the 3-4 year old, but Sarah could go too and do whatever she wants to do. So, she can participate or just play with whatever. Yeah!
I hope this goes well. It was pricey, but I really wanted to try it. Justin benefited so much from his time at My Gym and I know Sarah would too. So this seemed worth trying too.
Hope it goes much better than baseball!

Just because...

3 year olds and secrets

Did you ever notice that a 3 year old has no concept of what a secret is? They can't keep a secret, nor do they want to.

I did some Christmas shopping with Sarah today while Justin was in school. Justin saw the bags in the back of the van. I told him it was a surprise for Christmas and that I couldn't show him what it was. He kept begging and complaining. I told him it was something for Sarah. To shut him up, I finally told him that I would show him what I bought Sarah after Daddy got home. Sure enough, as soon as Daddy got home, he came running to see Sarah's surprise.

We go downstairs. I show him the Elmo I bought for Sarah. He wanted to play with it. I let him and told him that he could come upstairs when he was done. I went upstairs. Within 3 minutes, Justin was calling Sarah from the bottom of the stairs. "Sarah! Want to see your surprise?" Sarah ran to the stairs "Okay! Elmo!" So Justin brought it upstairs and let Sarah play with it. Needless to say Sarah loved it. And Justin loved telling Sarah "this is your Christmas present Sarah!"

LMAO

Sarah - music - Class 4

Wow! Get this - Sarah actually handed her bells over to Ms Vici without crying. Yeah Sarah! She is getting the hang of it. I am so proud. She really seems to like music class. She just doesn't like any dancing where I am not holding her very tight. That makes her way too nervous. She grabs onto me for dear life. This week she actually wanted down during one of the dancing songs. Usually as soon as I stand up, she grabs for me and yells "up" until I pick her up. She still did that this week. But during one of the songs, she wiggled her way out of my arms and stood on her own for a little while before she wanted back up.

Baseball

Not what I thought it would be. Maybe if he wasn't in class with his friend it would go better. Not sure. But the one week that Sam wasn't in the class was the only week that Justin really behaved well. The rest of the time he is always wanting to play with Sam instead of listening to the coach. And at this point I feel that the Coach really isn't liking Justin too much. So it's not much fun. None of the kids behave great. I spend the whole time on eggshells waiting for Justin to get yelled at. So not fun. So we are done. There is only one more class but we are not going. Justin is not ready for it yet. He likes it, but not enough to behave well, so we are done. We'll try something else later. Mayeb swimming sometime. If I can stomach asking for a babysitter again I can take him back to My Gym for a while. We'll see. But baseball wasn't the answer for now.

Hee Hee Hee...

Heard in our van today:

Justin: Drive slow mommy! You know you have 2 kids in the car.
Me: LMAO

I love these kids..

Poor Sarah

Today Justin asked to watch the Winnie the Pooh Halloween video that we have. Since he is going to be Tigger and Sarah will be Piglet, I said sure! The kids never watch Pooh shows. I am still shocked that they really know anything about Pooh, other than what he looks like. So, I turned on the video and came into the kitchen to check my mom's board. A friend called so I talked to her. Within 2 minutes, Sarah I heard Sarah crying as if she was really injured. I went to check on her. She was in her thinking chair, just looking at me and crying and crying. Scared much? OMG! I felt so bad. Not sure what scared her, but I had to stop the video. Then Justin cried and cried. I had to convince him that he would still get to watch it, but that he had to wait until Sarah went down for her nap. Dear God, my girl was really scared! Sorry Sarah!

Grade Parent

Yup, that's me! I am so excited! I did not originally sign up for anything at Justin's school b/c I knew I had Sarah and didn't want to make my mom watch her just to help out with Justin. But when the newsletter came home last week, it mentioned that the class was still looking for a couple of grade moms. I had emailed Ms Carrie asking her about it, but never heard back from her. Today I asked Mrs D. Ends up the classroom mom was right there and was so excited that I was interested. I am basically going to be helping out with the class parties. Yeah! I can now be at every party. A lot of moms will want to go to the parties, but only 2 or 3 will be allowed at each one. So, while I, along with the grade mom, will be at every party, the other moms will only get to go to 1 party. I am so excited!! I am allowed to bring Sarah, but I am not sure about that part yet. I think I will have my mom bring her to music during the Halloween party and then have her bring Sarah to school after music. That will give me a chance to see during a short time span how Sarah will behave. Also she will get to be dressed up in her costume!

Sarah - music - class 3

Sarah is really enjoying music this semester.
Today for the massage part, she doesn't enjoy the massage, but was singing parts of "Twinkle Twinkle" and clapping a lot.
During the welcome song, we clapped to people and then she wanted to keep clapping for a while.
I am often amazed at how often Sarah wants to mimic the motions or songs, as Justin and most kids, seem not to do that at this age.
I still find that one part Sarah does not enjoy (and never did at music) is the dancing where I move her a lot. She wants me to hold her very close. She doesn't want to be swayed around, or held horizontal. She doesn't like the Zooming up and down. She grabs on to me for dear life.
She is so funny during the relaxation song. Each week so far, I have laid down on my belly. She spend her time walking in front of me to laugh at me and then goes around and climbs on my back to sit on me. Today she also laid down on me. She does this over and over throughout the song. So cute.
Sarah is very verbal in the class. No surprise there.
The first 2 classes she really did not want to hand the instruments back to Ms Vici. Today she did. But as soon as Ms Vici walked away Sarah got an awful look on her face and just kept telling me "No! No! No!" LOL I thought she was going to chase after Ms Vici, but she never did.

A conversation worth remembering

As told to Grammy today....

I help Sarah with her boo-boos. When I was a baby, Sarah was a boy and she helped me with my boo-boos.

LMAO

More random thoughts..

Sarah and her music
We went to Kindermusic again this week. She loved it. She was off my lao the whole time. She still cried whenever I stood up though. She insists that I hold her. She doesn't want to stand on her own when I am standing. She cried anytime she had to give the instruments back to Ms Vici. During her summer class, Sr Patty let her kept something to hold during the class. She gets very mad when she has to give things back to Ms Vici. Each time, she would yell "No, No!" and turn and hug me tight, holding onto the instruments very tightly. Very funny. She is very cute to watch during class. Even in the first class, and again this week, she would clap along or sing along with everyone. Very comfortable and participates a lot.

Justin and school
I still can't believe how much he has adjusted to school. He is very comfortable each time we drop him off. He seems to really enjoy being there. On Tuesday , however, as they discussed friends during circle time, he told the class that he doesn't want them as friends because he already has other friends! LMAO Can you believe that? So funny. It seems that Mr Justin is very comfortable with himself and very content with his life.

Justin and the potty
Still very surprised, but other than pooping, he uses the potty all the time. He has only had one accident at school so far and that was at the playground where there was no potty. We still often put him in a pull-up when we go out, but he continues to tell us when he has to go potty and he keeps the pull-up dry. Strange how quickly he picked this up. It has been a long time since he pooped in the potty though. He often goes in his pull-up during nap time or in his diaper at bedtime or in the morning. Oh well....at least he's getting the hang of things. And his rebellious streak of peeing all over the house was only a 2 or 3 day thing. Thank God!

Justin and Baseball
Justin had his 3rd baseball class today. Week 1 was pure hell. Sarah screamed bloody murder the whole time and Justin didn't want to listen to Coach Perry very often. I couldn't watch anything.
Week 2 I left Sarah with Grammy, as I refuse to take her there again. Justin did great. Sam was home sick. Justin was sad about that, but he got over it and had fun, while listening much better. In fact, when he did misbehave, he only did so after watching the other kids misbehave for several minutes before he decided to join them.
Week 3 was not so good. Way too much misbehaving. He even refused to listen at one point and got kicked out and had to sit with me. Ugh! Way too much acting up and copying when the other kids acted out. It is so hard to watch him act like this. Thank goodness I am not there to see what he does wrong at preschool.

More Sarah
What else can I say? She has been sleeping very bad for a few weeks now. I am exhausted. She wants to sleep on me in the recliner. Ugh! I do love the snuggle time though.
She is so talkative. So, so many words. And she talks so much and so loudly.
Her temperment is a very strong one. She is very strong willed and has a big temper. When she gets mad, she gets very mad. She will not easily take no for an answer. She wants to continue to try to do something instead of giving up. She is very tough.

Just because

Sarah's music and some more...

As I said I would keep a record of Sarah's music -
Today was her first day of Kindermusic with Ms Vici. I was thrilled when in the hall before class she gave Ms Vici a huge "cheese" grin! Good start. When we got to the room, Sarah was right off my lap to play. It was so much fun to see her having fun. She had a very good class. From the hello song, she mimiced a lot of the hand gestures and also hummed and sang along at times. It was so cute. She really enjoyed herself.
Sarah seems to really love music. We still sing to her whenever she is upset and she will stop crying (well, usually.) She still sings parts of "Twinkle Twinkle" with us. And she sings the "Boom Pa Pa, Boom Pa Pa, Tango Cha Cha" song with me. I actually use that one a lot now when she cries. She loves it.
She will also ask to dance to lot, saying "dance" over and over I am so happy that she is able to do Kindermusic.

Words, words, and more words
Great holy word explosion! Sarah has about 5 new words a day lately. Crazy. This morning I was "Mommy" all morning. I wanted to cry that I was no longer mama. But she had heard Justin call me Mommy, so she decided to say it about 50 times this morning. Then she went back to Mama!!! Yeah!
I never posted this, but last week, in her sleep, as I was holding her arount 4 am, she sighed "mama"! I was so happy. Don't tell her this - but I would have bought her anything at that point!
Back to her words - so many, many words. Some of her current Favs - "Justy", "bread", "nana" for banana, "peach", "highchair", and "bathtub". Even more amazing is how many words she can say that she comprehends nows. It's getting so much easier to communicate with her now.

School, school, school-
After all the hell involved in trying to decide where to send Justin, he seems very happy at St Mary's. He seems to like Ms Carrie and Mrs D a lot. He plays them at home now. When we get there, he never seems sad that I am leaving him. And when we pick him up, he comes out happy to show me what he made, but never runs to hug me. He seems to be a very confident and happy little boy. Yeah! And, in 4 days there without me, he only had one accident and that was while they were at the playground. So, he seems to be doing very well. Today he told me how he took a toy away from Patrick though. Ugh! And he was all sad that Ms Carrie gave Patrick her Clifford to take home. He wasn't understanding that each kid will get a night at home with Clifford. Ugh!

Potty and marshmallows-
Justin had a bad couple days the weekend before last. He was peeing all over the house on purpose for 2 days. Now he has been great at the potty. I really think he was mad at me for sending him to preschool and he was getting even with us. So, he's better now. I really hope he stays that way b/c I couldn't take it before.

Why won't she sleep???
Last Friday night my mom took the kids and wanted to keep them overnight to help us. Well, she ended up feeding Sarah pizza with cheese. OMG! WTH? So, the past 4 nights she has been up at 3 am. She makes me hold her on the recliner. After about 20 minutes, I bring her back to her room and she screams hysterically when she realizes I am putting her back in her crib. I don't know what to do. She is getting better b/c I am putting her back and making her cio, but I am so tired. I want her to sleep. I want to sleep. I love her so much and love to snuggle her like that, but the fighting when I put her back in her crib is exhausting.

Preschool - Day 2

Well, after Justin's day of pee pee accidents on Saturday, of course I was nervous to send him to school today. Also, he asked a lot about why I don't stay with him.

So - We get to school today. I brought him potty before it started again. Then we went in, hung up his bag and he went right to the play-doh table. He couldn't have cared less if I had walked right out. I stopped to kiss him and told him I'd be back soon. Nothing. Played. Great. Sarah didn't even cry this time. Yeah us!

So Sarah and I went shopping and then went to the Mom's Club meeting. I kept wondering how he was doing.

At 11:25, he came out and I asked how he was. She said great and then whispered that he had had an accident. She came over to me and laughed "We were shocked though b/c he had gone potty 4 times already." LOL Then I asked her how he was in class and if he ever asked for me or anything. She seemed embarressed to tell me "no, not at all." and laughed. lol So awesome. I knew he kept asking me about leaving him but I guess he's fine about it at school. Yeah!

I asked Justin about his accident. After several minutes, I got the whole scoop. They had gone to the playground and that was were he had his accident. He went over and told Ms D. I asked him if he would have asked to go potty had he been in the room and he said yes. So - we'll see. Lol

That was Day 2!

Some facts and favorites

Justin - age 38 months:
Personality:
very talkative and loud talker, easily excitable, charmer
Strengths:
strong verbal skills, great memory
Favorite foods:
french toast sticks, fruit, raisins, (his answer for school was graham crackers), cheese sticks, cookies
Favorite shows:
Sesame Street, Little Bear, Franklin, Bob the Builder, Clifford, Curious George, Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora, Go Diego Go
Favorite Toys:
tools, thomas trains, legos, ride on cars

Sarah - age 16 months:
Personality:
very strong willed, quick temper, big flirt, loves to talk and talk loudly
Strengths:
growing verbal skills, good memory, pretty good physical skills
Favorite foods:
grapes, melon, and all other fruits, cookies, pizza (very picky eater right now. Will sometimes love sometime and other times looks offended at you for offering that same food.)
Favorite shows:
Sesame Street (loves Elmo), Bob the Builder, Oobi, Dora
Favorite Toys:
Justin's tools, thomas trains, fridge magnets, anything with Elmo
Favorite words:
Elmo, Up, Highchair, All Done, Justin, Mama, Dada

First Day has come and gone

Well, today was the day. Justin was going to his first day of preschool, alone, from 9-11:30. And I'd say it was a success.

We got to school a few minutes early so I asked Justin if he needed to go potty. He was excited and said a quick yes! So, holding Sarah, I took Justin to the potty. It had a 2 step step-stool for the sink. Becuase Justin uses a stool at home, he insisted on using the stool for the potty too. But he climbed to the top to go potty. His feet were almost at the height of the potty. I tried to hard to hold him around his waist so he didn't fall, while holding Sarah. But he went! I figured that would help him to know the he is to use the potty at school.

While we waited in the hall outside Ms Carrie's room, he talked non-stop. He asked a million questions while the couple of other kids said nothing. LOL Shocker! One kid was outside crying on her mommy's lap. Of course Justin noticed and asked why. He was ok with my answer that she had a boo-boo. Thank goodness!

When we went in the classroom, I brought him in and introduced him to Mrs D, the helper. I wanted him to know he should tell her when he needed to go potty or when he needed to blow his nose. (He has had a horrible cold and a very runny nose for the past week.) Then I brought Justin in and hung up his bookbag. I brought him to the table and he started playing with playdough. He asked me if I was staying. I told him “no, but I will be right back.” He asked if Sarah was staying. I said “No, she’s too little to stay.” I gave him a kiss and when we got up to leave, Sarah cried and cried. She wanted to stay. She wanted to play with the toys too. Justin said to her “It’s ok Sarah.” LOL So he gave Sarah another kiss, she cried again and he played.

I felt such mixed emotions when I put Sarah back in the van. It was so strange to be without Justin. Sure we have been without Justin before, but never like this. And this is just the beginning. Very strange. I wanted to cry but I didn't want to cry.

Sarah and I went to the post office first. Since I only had her, I held her instead of using the stroller. We had a 5 minute wait and she rested her cheek against my cheek the whole time. It was amazing to snuggle like that. We rarely get that. She is normally in a stroller with Justin. It was very special to me ti have that time with Sarah. Then we did a little shopping, spent some time at home and briefly stopped at grammy's house before going back to school.

When we got to school, I saw Justin in the window as I was walking into school. He saw me through the window, smiled big and we waved to each other.

Sarah & I waited in the hall for a few minutes. After Ms Carrie called his name to release him, I asked the her if he had any accidents. She said “No. If fact, every time someone else had to go potty, he wanted to go.” Then she proceeded to tell me that he was one of the funniest things she’s ever seen. Him climbing to the top of the stool, hanging onto the back of the toilet, and sticking his tushy way out behind him was so funny to her!

When Justin came out, he was happy but didn't even come for a hug. He had artwork! And, when we left, Sarah screamed again. Ugh! She really wants to play there. The other moms were laughing at her.

On the way to the van and then home, I was asking Justin all sorts of questions. I found out they had pudding and some cookies for snack. He didn't drink the juice, he asked for water instead. Then he told me "I didn't tell anyone when I needed to blow my nose." I was shocked. "Justin, why not?" Oh boy. I got Sarah into the van and then when I put Justin in, I looked at his face. Oh dear God! What a mess he was. He apparently smeared his boogers everywhere instead of asking for a tissue. Time to vomit! He was covered in dried up snot. Only Justin! I asked him a lot more things, but he wouldn't answer me. He did his typical "I can't tell you - it's a surprise." He said that for everything. Ugh! I will never find out anything this year.

As the day went on, I was able to get some actual answers here and there. It sounded like he had fun. He was so excited to tell me about the clean up bell and that he helped to clean up. (How does Ms Carrie do it?)

I am happy. Day 1 - he was happy and he kept his pants dry!!!!!

I will hate bringing him everday though if Sarah is gonna cry everytime we leave.

Later tonight we was complaining that he wanted me to stay though. So I know that he will cry at some point. And so will I! My baby boy is growing up. And I am letting him be with strangers all day. It really does help me that I feel like I know Ms Carrie and that I like her. I feel like she will watch out for Justin b/c she likes him. I hope that's true.

Growing up ... and having to let go

He's 3. Why do I have to let go of him already? As a SAHM, I have been the main influence on him for 3 years. And, even more importantly, I could pretty much could control his other influences.

Well, it is time to let go. It is time to let him be under someone's control and be able to be influenced by many.

Monday afternoon he started "Imagine That", the older Kindermusic class. He is now in the class without mommy. So sad. He happily went with Ms Vici when she gathered the kids to go to the classroom. He did turn around to see me though. And I told him to have fun and that I'd come join them soon. Then, in classic Justin fashion, as he was turned and was talking to me, he continued to walk. As I was telling him "Justin, don't walk into the wall," he did! Yup! That's my Justin! The great news he seemed to have a great time and seemed to be well behaved. Go Justin! It was so strange though to have him in an activity that doesn't involve Mommy. That had never happened before and it was sad. He really is growing up.

And then this morning....

He woke up and knew it was preschool day. He kept asking to leave. It was a long wait, since he woke up at 7 and the orientation didn't start until 10. Well, we left for school and he was so cute. We got there and he was just very cute. Quiet. Cute. Observing everything. Classic Justin - taking it all in. When we went into the room, each kid had a pile of paperwork with a star on top. The star was for him to wear around his neck. So cute! He played right away and played a lot. He was so happy when he found the workbench and he brought the goggles over for me to put on him. He went back to the workbench, so happy to be wearing goggles. Then I watched as a kid took them right off his face. He looked so sad and came over to tell me what happened. Ahhh...such a tough thing. It is so hard to know I can't protect him anymore. I had to tell him that he should tell the kid that he was wearing those and that he should ask for them back. After the kid dropped them on the ground, Justin put them on again. And then...the kid came right over and took them off again. My poor kid. But there was nothing I could do. This isn't playgroup anymore. I can't potect him and fight for him. It was funny though that later, totally unintentionally, Justin stepped on the kid's hand and then the kid walked into some wood blocks that Justin was carrying. Both times, the kid cried and cried. Kinda funny. Justin realized it all too and told me about it hours later.

Well, today was a start. I had to start letting go. Thursday I will be letting him go even more. I am so sad already. It will be so hard to drop off Justin and leave him at school. Wish me luck.

What the hell will I do when he goes to kindergarten? Or high school? Or college? This letting go thing sucks.

I love you Justin! I really, really love you!

Loveys...

I am so glad my kids have loveys!

Communication

I love the new communication I have with Sarah.

She know has been telling us when she is hungry. The first time was the other day. I was in the kitchen doing something. She went to the drawer, pulled out a bib, and looked up at me "highchair." I was leaving the room to bring something into her room. She followed me, trying to put the bib over her head, looking at me saying "highchair!" When we went back to the kitchen, she went to her highchair, still trying to get the bib over her head, now yelling at me "Highchair!" Guess she was hungry!

She did it again today when we were ready to leave the house. She wanted lunch early. Who knew? Sarah did - "Highchair!"

As for Justin:
Tonight I had put Justin to bed. About 20 minutes later he called for me. Yeah, yeah, same old, same old. I took my time. When I finally got to his room, he was standing by his door and peaked his head around. He whispered “mommy, I am ready to go pee pee.” As I lifted him to his changing table to take off his nighttime diaper, he was all sad “mommy, it is hard to be little.” Ahhhhh.....

More pictures...Just because

These are Isabella's birthday party yesterday:

Some sleep changes

Strange, but Sarah completely changed her sleep pattern about 9 days ago. I usually got her up around 7:30, she'd eat and play and then nap. Well, for 3 days in a row, when I got her up and tried to feed her, she just screamed at me. She cried and cried, so I put her back to bed. She napped immediately and didn't get out of her crib until about 9:30. Since then I let her stay in her crib until she yells for me. If she stirs early, I ignore it. Everyday she's stayed in her room late and had thus skipped the morning nap. So, so strange. She didn't really drop the morning nap b/c she's still sleeping. So strange. This will help things when Justin starts school next week and we need to leave the house earlier though.

I have also decided I need to change the nap routines a little. Justin no longer wants to go to bed at night. His bedtime had gotten way too late for our liking. So, I have started putting Sarah down for her nap first while Justin still plays for a while. Then I put him down at least 45 minutes later. If he plays in his room, great. If he naps, fine. But it should help to shorten his nap. I hope! I am tired of the late bedtime.

Well, Mick starts back to work tomorrow. Summer vacation was nice while it lasted. We are so darn lucky to have so much time with him throughout the year. He looked at his calendar. Before next summer vacation, he will have 5 weeks off. Yippee! This time means so much to our kids! We are just so lucky! But, for now, I am bummed he's going back to work. I fear that my days will be long.

Sleepy Thoughts

It's 11:15 on a Tuesday night. I am sitting on the couch searching on Ebay for a duplicate of Justin's lovey. Mick is sitting on the chair watching tv.

"Mommy!" is the cry we hear from Justin's room. I go to him.
"Yes Justin?"
"Mommy, I need my Maisy!"
"You're what?" (Thinking - he doesn't really like Maisy.)
I hear Mick walk in behind me.
"I need my Maisy"
Mick and I are both totally confused.
"Justin we don't know what you mean."
"My maisy...you know...it fell and I really need..."
As Justin put the binky in his mouth, he fell onto his pillow, closed his eyes and fell back asleep.
Mick & I held back our laughter while I covered Justin with his blankey and we left the room.

I would not have believed it if I had not seen it.

Photo time

Just sharing some photos now that it seems to be working again.

A walking fit!

Yeah! She can even walk while throwing a fit!

Gotta give my boy some props!

He's starting to get it! Something is finally clicking with him!
I will not allow myself to get too excited, as I will be expecting the set-backs. But--- today was day 2 of not peeing at all in his pull-up. He had one small accident in the kitchen while in undies. But I blame Mick for that. Justin had been playing with water and was making puddles everywhere. Mick complained and said "we won't even know if he pees now." Within 30 seconds, Justin peed a little on the floor and yelled at Sarah not to step in his pee. Then he finished in the potty. Think he did it just to see if his dad was right.
I am rejoicing. It's starting to work!

A big day for Justin and Sarah

Justin has been doing so much better on the potty training lately. He was dry all day today except for his morning diaper and his naptime pull-up. He went potty the rest of the day when he needed to. We even went out to eat and shopping and then had a long drive home. When we pulled into the driveway, he yelled "I have pee pee coming" and ran to the potty. His pull up that he was wearing for 3 hours was dry! Way to go Justin! I am so proud! Letting him being naked a lot has really helped him to get into the habit of going potty.

Today was also a big day for Sarah. Today was the first day I didn't see her crawl at all. She walked all day. I asked Mick and my mom if they saw her crawl. My mom said she only saw her crawl about 4 steps while she was outside. So she is a walker now. And I can let her wear more dresses!

Sarah has found her feet

and they work well!

She is walking lots and lots now. She can walk far and often now. It is still so cute to see her walking. And she has such good posture. As usual, the little girly girl!

Today I spotted her standing up on her own a couple times. I am so proud.

Oh, and her new favorite word - UP! She has said the word for a long time now, but it is the definite favorite right now. Pick me UP! I want to go UP in that swing! I want daddy and he is taller, so lift me UP! I want to see UP there! Pick me UP over this gate! Cute, annoying, all rolled into one.

My boy is growing up!

We went to his preschool Open House tonight! OMG! My baby is growing up too fast!

School? Already?

I have to go lunch box shopping!
I need to pack him a snack every school day!
I have to pack him a backpack everyday!
He will have his own cubby!

Good news is that he really liked the place. He had tons of fun playing and would never have noticed if we had left. Even Sarah just played and played. I think Justin will love it. And Sam and Tommy are going to be in his class. He can make new friends, while having his old friends to fall back on. I am so excited for him. He is so ready for this! (Except for the potty training part. LOL) I still can't believe that I found this school just as they were opening new spots for the morning classes. Amazing!

My boy is growing up! The first day of class is Sept 12th, but it will only be for an hour and I will stay with him the whole time. Then, on the 14th, he will have his first real class day. Wow! I know I will cry at some point. I think it will be when I buy his lunch box. I am corny like that.

Potty training - Good news and bad news

Well, we started letting Justin run around the house with no pants on. And he has made it to the potty on time every time. Not even close to having an accident. And I have learned that he can go a very long time between trips to the bathroom.

And - our big news - the other night he pooped on the potty! We made a huge deal of it. We called Grammy, Grandma and Aunt Rosemary. Then the next night we went to Toys R Us and let him pick out a toy. We were so excited! And he was so happy.

Today he did great all morning while naked. Then when his friend showed up, I put him in underwear and pants. A little while later he told me he had to pee. While in there, he said he might have to poop. So we sat him down and he pooped!!! Yeah! I went to my bucket of garage sale match box cars and let him pick one out. He choose a fire truck with a ladder.

Later, when he was watching Sam leave, he peed in his undies and made a puddle on the floor. I cleaned it up. Then he wanted to help, so I let him. Big mistake! Later, he peed on the floor so he could clean it up. So, not sure what tomorrow will bring on that front.

We are doing better with him being in the regular undies though. The training undies were no discomfort to him at all. He doesn't like the wet legs with these undies though. So we are going in the right direction.

Also, the other night, at 5 am, he called me to bring him pee pee. He went and then fell back asleep. Awesome job Justin!

Sarah at 15 months

Sarah's 15 month appt was Tues. She was 23 lbs, 14 oz.

So, here is Sarah at 15 months:
- She is starting to walk. Better and better everyday.
- What she says now: Mama, Dada, Baba, No, Justin, Go Go, Boat, Ball, Up, Clap,Yeah, Yes, Duck, Quack Quack, Highchair, Hi, Bye bye, Cheese, cracker, apple
- Sings "Up above" and "How I wonder"
- She says "cheese" and smiles whenever she sees the camera
- She is pretty much refusing to eat anything other than fruit and crackers.
- Tonight she ate her squash, but only by dipping her fingers in it and then licking her fingers. She refused to eat from the spoon I was trying to use.
- She LOVES Justin. Loves him to death.
- She loves to walk around the house pushing Justin's cars and his truck. Has a blast doing so. She also loves to push them when Justin is in them. She will do so for a half hour.
- She loves climbing into Justin's car, but can only go backwards once she is in it. She has not figured out how to move forward yet.
- Her favorite foods are mush melon, watermelon, peaches, popcorn, bread, crackers
- Has only been given milk and water to drink. She's always wanting to steal someone's juice though.
- She is really starting to get a temper. She screams when I pick her up for a diaper change or for nap time.

Holy crap!

I still can't believe it! Justin pooped on the potty! EECCCKKKK!!!!!

Don't know when he will do it again. But at least now he know he can do it!!

Update - Justin is doing awesome when he is naked. He has not had a single drop of an accident while wearing no pants. But with underpants....that's another story. Yesterday we tried the thin underpants, instead of the training pants and he was upset when he wet his pants and legs. So, we will be trying them again but we are sticking mostly with the naked thing right now. (And pull-ups when we go out.) Our new plan is to do this for a while, then try the thin undies a lot. If he can make progress with the undies and he shows that he hates being wet, then we can forward from there. We'll see...I am still going to take this a little slow.

Conversations with Justin

Me: Justin, you have a new baby cousin Anthony. Aunt Rose had a baby. Should we go meet baby Anthony when we comes home from the hospital?
Justin: No, I don't like baby Anthony. I like Carol's Anthony better.

I almost peed in my pants. I love this kid. He is too funny. I still can't believe he remembers Carol's Anthony as he only met him a couple of times.

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Me: Justin, watch out. Don't let your car hit the van. Justin, it just hit the van.
Justin (leaning over and rubbing the van): Sorry van. Are you ok?
Van (in Justin's voice, only even more high pitched): Yes, I'm ok now.
Justin: Mommy, did you hear that? The van is ok now!

Once again, I just love him to pieces!

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Daddy: Justin, don't drink the bath water because Sarah probably went pee pee in the water.
Justin: I just went pee pee in the water too. Sarah and I went pee pee in the water together.

Sarah and her music

Sarah started taking Kindermusic classes this summer. It was so much fun to watch her in these classes. Sr. Patty asked us to journal the babies progress over the fall. So I figured I would just add things to my blog.

When Sarah started the classes in the beginning of July, she loved the first class. She laughed when we danced, she got off my lap and explored the room, she talked a lot and she smiled a lot.
The following week everything changed. For 4 weeks she wouldn't get off of my lap. She would cry everytime I left her on the floor while I stood up. She'd cry if I went to put a toy away. She was very unsure of things and it showed.
By nature Sarah is very timid and cautious. She seems to be very happy and fun and talkative, but only when she is comfortable. Sr Patty thinks that she might have done something or said something to scare Sarah after the first class. Sarah still seems timid of her, but definitely more comfortable by the 5th class. She actually got off of my lap, played with some instruments, laughed and talked and explored.
Today was the 6th and last class. She again was very happy to be there and fine about getting off of my lap. It was so fun to see her changing and enjoying it so much.
We will be taking classes in the fall with Ms Vici and I am very curious to see how Sarah will be. Ms Vici's personality is very different from Sr Patty's so I am very curious to see if Sarah will be shy and timid again or happy and outgoing.

Right now we (Mick & I) know that Sarah loves music. For at least the last 7 months, anytime Sarah cries, Mick, Justin or I will sing Itsy Bitsy Spider to her and she stops crying. I love that she responds that way to it. Justin will actually tell us to sign to her if she starts crying. So cute.
Justin signs Twinkle Twinkle Little Star a lot. About a month ago, Sarah started to sing along. She can't pronounciate the words, but you can tell that is what she is singing. She'll sing the "How I wonder" and "Up above the world" parts. So cute. Now she is just starting to sing "Up above" over and over. She really likes those words. And they are starting to be pronounciated correctly.
Justin's favorite singer is Laurie Berkner. Unfortunately he broke his dvd a few months ago. After getting a new one for his birthday, Mick put it on the other day. Sarah went crazy. She whined for Mick to pick her up. And then he had to carry her and dance with her the whole time. She couldn't stop smiling. It even seemed like she was starting to sing "it says" each time at the correct time. (during "I'm Gonna Catch you.") But she really enjoyed the songs a lot! We will have to play it more often.
There is also a song that Mick sings a lot that goes "Uhhhhhhh...Na na na na.." Now everytime Mick says "Uhhhh..." Sarah will sing "na na na na" and smile.
That's all I can think of for now.
And just for my own interest I should add that I love how much Justin loves music. There are so many songs that he knows the words to and I love that. He really loves music and it is a very big part of his life.

Potty Training...Take 5....

So, Justin's My Gym class is over. Now we are going to try the underwear thing again. Ugh! I am scared to death. Every time I try this he rebels big time. My gentle boy kicks and hits and screams when we try to bring him potty too often. He never does that. Except during pt time. So I am dreading this. But he will try again in the morning.
Why I dread it:
- He has yet to care when his undies are wet
- He fights us so bad when he is wet and needs to be changed
- Every time we try this I want to cry by 8 am.

Justin and preschool

I can't believe it but it looks like Justin's preschool situation is all going to work.
I had signed Justin up for the only preschool I even considered sending him to. But, they don't allow pull-ups. Guess what? Justin doesn't want to wear underwear. He tells us this all the time. "I don't want to be a big boy, I don't want to wear underwear." And when we've tried underwear, it has failed big time. He never cares when we is wet. So, no preschool.
So I signed him up for a preschool that allows pull-ups - but since I was so late, he could only get into the afternoon class. So, ok, it was better than not going. But, it is still a big problem. I wanted him to go in the morning so Sarah and I could go to music class and then playgroup. Also the afternoon doesn't work well because it means no nap for Justin and short naps for Sarah 2 days a week. So, I was still feeling very stressed!
Well ends up Sue found us a preschool that just opened up some new spots. They have morning openings and they allow pull-ups! OMG! I am so shocked. I just hope he really is in. They said they saved a spot for him. They better not be lying. I am just so happy!

Sarah's climbing - update

The second day, Sarah fell off Justin's bed onto her head. But I guess she learned her lesson. The next time she climbed up, she got out by going down feet first. Quick learner!

Also, when we went to Massachusetts, she spent a lot of time climbing up Alisa's stairs. But, when she got to the top, she knew to come down feet first. Wow! I am shocked by how fast she is learning this. I shouldn't be. But - based on how slow Justin learned these things, I am very impressed by Sarah.

Justin's Birthday Party ... Take 2

We finally were able to have Justin's Birthday Party yesterday!

The weather was ok. We had time to play outside for a while before the rain. And then we were able to get back outside later for the Pinata. All in all, Justin had a great day.

Here are some photos, including the cake I made for him.

Grampy and Justin

Justin has always been a very excitable, very enthusiastic kid. But few things get him more excited than when he gets to help Grampy. When he sees Grampy here, he runs around excited, wanting to help Grampy mow the law or fix something. Tonight Grampy came down to hang our new shades for me. Justin loved it. He got out his toy screw gun and had to finish tightening everything Grampy screwed in. He loved it. As they worked Grampy tonight told Justin "I hope you remember this. I hope you remember me." I hope Justin does too. It would be so sad if he didn't remember. I hope Grampy is around long enough for Justin to remember lots of fun times with him.

Sarah's latest trick

Oh crap! Our lives really just got more difficult. Sarah can now easily climb up the slide in our basement. Crap! The top of the slide unit has 3 places she can fall off of - the slide, the lower rock wall and the stairs.

We used to put Justin and Sarah in the room to play by themselves for a long time. Now we will have to watch her every second she is in the room. Ugh! And the worst part is - she is now obsessed with being up there and doesn't want to play with any of the other toys. Such a pain in the ass.

But - I am proud of her. She is really good at climbing the slide!

Oh, and in other Sarah news - she is really starting to take steps. She doesn't get too far - only 1 or 2 steps, but she is trying often. Go Sarah!

Justin in the newspaper!

We went to the Open House at the Saratoga Race Track on Sunday. It was just a wonderful, wonderful morning! Mick even got Justin to go on a pony ride! Yes, Justin, our Justin who is scared of everything. We were so proud of him.

Here is Justin on Whiskers:


Of course he stopped dead in his tracks when he and Mick started walking towards the bouncey bounces. He wouldn't go anywhere near them. Someday...maybe...oh who am I kidding?

We found a great kid's section that had a wooden horse to brush and sit on, jockey gear to dress up in, and more. When I put Justin on the horse to take his picture, a guy asked if he could take one too. He was from the Saratogian. Sure. Well, sure enough, Justin made the paper! And, I guess the Saratogian and the Troy Record are sister companies b/c he was also in the Troy Record. Yeah Justin! Proud mama that I am, I had to order an 8x10 of the photo. Hey, it was a good photo! And it's not everyday you get such a big picture in the paper.









Afetr the track, we went back to the camp where the kids napped. Then after dinner we had another boat ride. Boy Sarah really enjoys the boat. And Justin is far from scared of the boat the way he was last year. Although he is now scared of the wooden owl that grampy has by the boat to ward off the gulls. LMAO