Kindergarten Evaluation

All kiddos in our school district need to be evaluated before they start kindergarten.  They look at vision, hearing, development and other academic skills such as number/letter recognition.  The testing process takes about an hour.  Amelia had her testing yesterday and we had a short conference afterwards.


Teacher: Amelia did a great job!  She missed one question and we have no concerns!  Great job mom!

Mom: What did she miss?

Teacher: She was unable to identify where her ankle was.  She did wonderfully with everything else!

Mom: Ok!

Teacher: See ya later!


This is funny because I had myself prepped for something a little more extensive or....difficult. 

A Prisioner

In the car....on the way to somewhere yesterday.....

Amelia: What is a prisoner?
Mama: Whaaaat?
Amelia: What is a prisioner?  Miss L____ (our favorite librarian at the library *) read the book about the spooky prisoner at story time.  What is a prisioner?
Mama: oh.  ah.  Yes.  Hmm... A prisioner is someone who lives in prison.
Amelia: What's prison? (did you see that one coming?)
Mama: Well, prison is where someone goes if they break the law and make a mistake.
Amelia: Like when you went through the red light? (worried voice) Are you going to prison?
Mama: Well, it is wrong to keep driving when there is a red light.  When I started going, the light was green and then turned red.  People who go to prison are people who make big mistakes like taking things that don't belong to people**
Amelia: What do you have to do to go to prison?
Mama: (flustered) Well...prison isn't a nice place.
Amelia: I know!  They have bars on the rooms and BUNK BEDS!
Mama: Yes, they usually do.
Amelia: So.  What do you have to do to go to prison?
Mama: Most of the time people who go to prison are just people who make mistakes by hurting someone else or taking things that don't belong to them.
Amelia: When you go to prison, do you get to stay for a long time?
Mama: (!!!) What?
Amelia: (Slower) When you go to prison, do you get to stay for a long time?
Mama: Most people don't want to stay there.  They don't want to stay for a long time.
Amelia: They don't?  Why not?
Mama: Well, you don't get to see your family or go outside very often.  You have to live with other people and you don't get to pick what you wear or when you get to go places.
Amelia: Oh.  Hmm. So what exactly do you have to do again to go to prison?
Mama: Look!  A big bird!!
Amelia: Really?  Where?
Mama: ((Thank goodness))




* Why yes, I do have a favorite librarian at the library.  I am also on a first name basis with all the staff at the reference desk as well as the lovely people working the check out station.  They know us and greet us by name every week when we get there.  I love the library.

**I'd like to say that the bad guys go to prison and leave it at that, but in my current position, I have come to know more than one person who has done time.  I have found most of the time, these are people.  People who have made mistakes.  It just feels wrong to characterize them as "bad guys".

Bookstore

At the bookstore on Saturday night, I realized I hadn't seen William for a few minutes. Neither had John. After a moment of panic, I spotted him around the corner. He had a big smile on his face with a big pile of books in his lap.

Mama: hey William!
William: hi mom. (Big sigh)
Mama: whatcha thinking about?
William: I just love this store. I could stay here forever. Do they have a restaurant?
Mama: I love it here too...
William: (silence as he turns the page)

Fritz's lunch+crayola

Here is William retrieving our box after the train dropped it off ( the 3 pictures per post is sometimes very limiting).

After Fritz's, we swung by the Crayola store on a tip from a friend. The kids enjoyed poking around here, but we were perilously close to nap time, so we packed up and went back to the hotel.

John held the big kids in the lobby for a few minutes while I settled Gemma. Then, the big kids watched some tv on our laptop and John and I snagged a nap. It was delicious. At times, it is very inconvenient to plan the activities of a whole family around one little person's sleep schedule. Other times, it is nice to be forced to slow down and rest a little.

That evening, we went for dinner and then to the craft store. William has been begging for a rubber band bracelet making kit (more on this later). He has worked hard at home lately to earn a kit and he finally had done it. We were going to pick one up when we got home, but he was so excited about spotting a Mike's craft store, we had to stop (and really, I will never turn down a trip to the craft store. Ever.)

Right next to the craft store was a bookstore. Can you picture a more perfect place? A bookstore and craft store? HEAVEN! John was not persuaded, but I would move to Kansas City just based on this.

After a too brief trip to the book store, we had to return to the hotel for bedtime.

John stayed in the lobby with the big kids checking out the rubber band kit and I put Gemma to bed.

Fritz's for lunch

After Lego-ing ourselves out, it was time for lunch. The options at Legoland were uninspiring (hotdogs, nachos or frozen pizza) and expensive ($60+), so we walked across Crowne Plaza to the food court area. It was PACKED. Runners everywhere. We wandered around until it was clear hunger anger was going to make an unpleasant appearance.

We happened to stop in front of this restaurant with a big train engine in front and 50's decor. Knowing nothing else, we walked in. It was so much fun. You order from the table from a little phone. A person brings you the drinks (although not a high chair). Then a train brings your food packed into a box. It drops it onto a thingee and it lowers down to your table (John could probably explain the mechanics of this better.).

The trains were a delightful distraction for the kids including Gemma. Typically Gemma requires straps to hold her down long enough for 1) me to eat and 2) her to eat. I'll let you decide which option is the most important. In this case, Gemma didn't really eat at all, but she was distracted enough that I could eat. We'll call that a win.

According to the menu, the food selection hasn't changed since 195something when the restaurant first opened. Not exactly the healthy fare our family tries to eat, but it was a very fun experience.

Oops. Outlet, continued

Somehow the send button got pressed before I was done. It might have something to do with the 4 year old, 16 month old and the bonus 6 week old in my care today (long story, helping out a friend).

I could log in and edit the first post. But, that would require work and...work.

Anyway.

Amelia: mom! Mom! Why don't those people have electricity?

Mom: what...?

Amelia: that sign says "no outlet", so none of those houses have outlets for electricity.

Mom:....(cannot compute....) huh. Well..

Amelia: I wonder why they have no electricity.

Mom: ah hah! No outlet means the street doesn't connect to anything else. The street is a dead end.

Amelia: no it doesn't . If that is what it meant, they would write "dead end this way"

Mama: that's a lot of words to put on a sign.

Amelia: oh. Well, what about dead end?

Mama:..... Well.... I have no idea why they don't do that Amelia. Hey! Look at the pretty trees over there!



Sent from my iPhone

Outlets

The kids are tired these days. I've dragged all three out of bed everyday this week (no, I'm not done telling you about Kansas City or pumpkin patch adventures). We dropped William off at school today in just the nick of time. In the way home, Amelia and I had this conversation:

Amelia: no outlet
Mama: (singing to the radio/music, no listening) ((also note Amelia's carseat is at the back of the van and it can be hard to hear her.))

Sent from my iPhone

Legoland

Here is William and Amelia's favorite part- the big ride!

This is William and his new friend. Gemma was too little to ride and Amelia was with mama for her ride.

Legoland

William (and John) played for a long time in this area. They had the materials for building Lego cars and then all kinds of racetrack to test your designs.

Gemma liked it too. More than once she messed up a "super important race" by climbing up and running up and down the track, giggling with glee.

More Legos

Motorcycles are in. Just don't tell Grandma Kim. She'll have a fit if she sees her without her Lego helmet.

Saturday: Legoland

On Saturday, we went to Legoland in Kansas City. I wisely purchased our tickets online the night before to save a little cash, but also to get a guaranteed entry time. timing is everything when you are juggling schedules of little people. Legoland is in the downtown area roughly in the same area as union station. The kids were up super early that morning and we hit the road about half an hour early. That never happens.

When we arrived downtown, we discovered the Kansas City marathon was that morning and the finish line was in or adjacent to Crowne Plaza (legoland location). Parking was a disaster. It was very fortunate that we got such an early start. After 40 minutes, we finally found a spot...in the most stroller unfriendly place imaginable. There were no ramps, tons of stairs, the stroller didn't fit trough the doors, no power assist, no signage or directions to direct to where we needed to go. When we finally exited the ramp (by walking down and under a huge sign that said "do not walk on ramp, use stairs only), we found another problem. With the circling around and endless driving, we knew we were in the right vicinity, but didnt exactly know how to get where we wanted to be. We finally found it after scaling at least 3 giant staircases with not a ramp or sign in place. Totally not accessible which was the clincher to my award of "least stroller friendly place. Ever" award.

When we finally arrived at Legoland, we found the doors shut tight. After a short whole, a staff member Cane out to let us know they were opening late due to the marathon traffic. Their employees couldn't find parking either.

Anyway, the kids all liked legoland. It seemed fluke in most areas there were activities that made all the kids happy. Gemma adored this Lego motorcycle and Amelia and William enjoyed everything. They claim to enjoy "Merlin's Magic Ride" the most.

I can only post 3 pictures at a time from my phone, so look for more to come.

Kansas City Friday:Science City

Science City is a science based children's museum in Union Station. The station itself is worth a visit. It is a beautiful station with a some interesting historical displays. Science City is housed inside the station and has an entire section devoted to the trains, the history, and the station.

The day we were there, the regular entrance was blocked off. The research I did before hand wasn't super helpful as we were unable to locate the free parking and we couldn't find the way in. It was a frustrating start. I suspect we were given discounted admission based on my frazzled state.

At any rate, the museum was fun and had a wide variety of exhibits different from other children's museums we've been to. A lot of it was above the level of our kids, but there was enough stuff that the kids did like. The dinosaurs weren't the big hit as I was expecting. However, we spent a great deal of time in the space station area, the physical science area, and the water table were something all the kids loved. There was also a small area with some animals, including a talking parrot. The parrot would say, "Here kitty, kitty, kitty!" "Hello!" And a very impressive wolf whistle every time someone walked away from it.

There was a tightrope bike I couldn't get anyone to try with me. I meant to go back and give it a go on my own, but it didn't happen.

There was a police helicopter the kids liked crawling over - photos 1&2

Photo 3 was in a house of illusions. The bed and walls were crooked. If you were on the bed, there was supposed to be an illusion you could see. I wasn't able to make it work - maybe because Gemma was crawling all over me?

Sweet cheeks

Sweet baby, sweet dreams. Gemma napped on our way to Kansas City.

Busted

On Sunday morning, Gemma slept in. This was not on our trip agenda. Apparently she did not get the memo that we were getting up and leaving earlyish on Sunday. She finally woke up about 8:30. This is a major sleep event for her with fewer than 5 similar occasions in the last 6 months.

However, the 2 nights spent in the hotel began the same way for everyone else.

6:20 to 6:30 William wakes up. He walks to the bathroom and turns on the light. The bathroom has a combined light/fan system so the light and fan are both on. William does not fully close the door. He finishes and washes his hands (note: Gemma is directly next to the bathroom area as that was the only place to squeeze in the crib.). While washing his hands, he mumbles and talks to himself. He stumbles back to bed and consistently finds a way to climb over Amelia's head.

Once Amelia wakes up, it is all over. Amelia has one volume. Loud. Here is a sample:

Amelia: it's not fair!
Mom (whispering): you need to whisper! Why isn't it fair? William is already ready to go.
Amelia (loudly, not a hint of a whisper): but I want to use your phone to play a game!
Mom: then get dressed. Get dressed quietly and whisper!
Amelia: but why? (Loudly, still) why do I have to whisper?

Usually, Gemma is awake at the first hint of her siblings so it was a true miracle that for close to an hour sunday morning Amelia spoke loudly and did not wake her sister.

Finally, I got the kids dressed, packed up the kids' half of the room and took the big kids down for breakfast, leaving Gemma with John.

Later in the morning, John was packing up the car and William was helping. On his way through the lobby, John grabbed a doughnut from the breakfast area. The trade off for getting to sleep until 8:30 is you don't get a sit down breakfast. When you get up with the kids at 6:15, you do.

William, John, and his doughnut got into the elevator with a group of older women who were traveling together (William met them at breakfast because he is Mr Personality).

Woman 1: oh! Are you bringing your wife a doughnut? How sweet are you?!?
John: ummmm.....I guess
William: (looks incredulously at John) No, Dad! That doughnut is for you!

--the group of women dissolves into laughter--

John: well, it is for me because I didn't have any breakfast yet. So, it is okay. Mama already had breakfast.

William: you didn't have any breakfast because you were sleeping in.

--more laughter--

Busted by a 6 year old.


William

Sent from my iPhone

Kansas City Run Down

We took off for Kansas City this weekend*. I'm just going to quickly run through our stops so I can remember what we did when for future reference. I'll be back later with pictures and stories from our "quick trip"**.

Friday: Kids are up early. We finish packing up and hit the road. I was hoping to hit the road at 9ish. We didn't make it.

It is about 3 and a half hours from where we live to Kansas City. After our driving summer, I was expecting this to be a piece of cake. I was also expecting to make it without stopping because this is a shorter trip than we are used to.

We had to stop once.

When we got to Kansas City, we hit up the Science City attraction in the historic Union Station. Unfortunately, Ann Coulter was at union station that day as well so it was much more difficult to find the entrance and purchase tickets. We wandered around for at least 20 minutes trying to find the entrance while Amelia and William alternately said helpful things like, " Why did you pick the wrong elevator?" "Are we very lost?" "Why don't you just find a map?" "The entrance is right there - why can't you find it?" Frustrating. We all enjoyed the exhibit, although the big dinosaur section wasn't the big hit I was thinking it might be.

After Science City, we checked into our hotel and then went for some local pizza.

Back to at the hotel, we got ready to swim. I was careful to choose a hotel with a pool because it is a good way to burn some of the evening energy off before trying to make 5 people sleep in the same room who are not accustomed to that arrangement. We paraded ourselves down to the pool area....to find it was an outdoor pool. Whoops. Should have read more carefully. The temperature was just about 40 degrees, so no one wanted to even check the pool area out. Everyone was very disappointed. The big kids were finally persuaded it would be just as fun to swim in the bathtub with bubbles up in our room. I'm not actually sure it was more fun than a pool, but it did lessen the disappointment.

Saturday-
We purchased tickets to Legoland. A few of William's school friends have visited Legoland recently and he has been asking to go. They only let a certain number of people into Legoland at a time, so we booked an appointment ahead of time to make sure we could get in. Luckily, William was up at 6:15 and woke Amelia. Amelia woke Gemma shortly after, so we were up for the day. Our appointment was at 0 am, so we needed to leave by 9:30. William had us up so early, we had plenty of time. Which was good, because we didn't realize the Kansas City Marathon finish line was in the same block as Legoland. Our GPS kept telling us to turn and the streets were blocked off. People were everywhere and the traffic was pretty heavy. Parking was terrible and after close to 20 minutes of circling around we finally found a spot close to where we needed to be. Only, we couldn't figure out how to get to the door. It felt like a rerun of the precious day. At this point, I really wanted to rename this city "Unfriendly Stroller Place". There weren't any ramps, the staircases were long and everywhere we went had more and more stairs. We were frustrated. But, we finally found our destination....only to find our Legoland couldn't open yet because their staff couldn't find parking either in the Marathon mess. When the doors finally opened, the kids enjoyed the experience very much. We played and explored for a long time. Legoland was very well set up with lots of different stations and sections appealing to different age levels. It was mostly stroller friendly and had a few things Gemma could actually do. Very few places were problematic. I was worried about it being loud or filled with tiny pieces that it would be totally unsafe for Gemma.

We finished up at Legoland at lunchtime and walked across the street to a food court for lunch ($50+ for a lunch of hot dogs just doesn't do it for me). There were still tons of people roaming around wearing their running gear and I overhead am employee at one of the restaurants comment "In 6 years, I have never seen this many people here...wow!" Kind of by accident, we wandered into what appeared to be a train themed restaurant. It was a hit! It was called Fritz's and had train tracks running all over the ceiling. And the trains DELIVERED the food! Unbelievable! The trains all had little trays carrying food in a box that was dropped off onto at your table. The kids enjoyed it very much and were very entertained.

Back to the hotel for naps (Gemma, mom, dad) and a little downtime watching tv for the big kids.

For dinner we tried a new-to-us place called On the Border. It was pretty good, although we had to laugh because it was right next to our standard favorite, Chilis.

After dinner, we went over to a mall area and went to Michael's. William has been BEGGING for a rubber band bracelet. We picked up a Rainbow Loom and William was thrilled. Next we swung by the bookstore for a little browsing. can you beat that? A craft store and a bookstore in one night? That night while I put Gemma to bed, John helped Amelia and William make their first bracelets in the lobby. They were so happy.

Sunday:

We were supposed to get up early and hit 2 stops before heading home. Interestingly, up until this point, we had not ventured into Kansas. Despite being in KANSAS CITY, we hadn't yet been to Kansas. I spent about an hour furiously researching on Saturday night for something, anything that met the following criteria:
1. Open early on Sunday
2. Child appropriate (which eliminated all the casinos)
3. In Kansas
4. Wouldn't take us more that 30-40 minutes to reach from our current location.

I thought I had come up with a good option on Saturday. John and I discussed it. However, while on our way on Sunday, John revealed it was not actually in Kansas. (He swears he told me this before Sunday morning. I have no recollection of this part of the conversation). So, we drove to Kansas and turned around. John stopped to fill the car with gas when we realized we were across the street from a second location, the TRex Cafe (and adjoining gift shop +BuildA Bear). You can't be that close and not go to the TRex Cafe. So we did (more about this later).

Our last stop was a loving history site called Missouri Town 1855. It is basically a collection of building from 1850 or earlier with people reinacting the historical period. We love this- the kids are able to ask tons of questions and John and I can read/listen/photograph/learn. This was a nice collection of interesting buildings. It was unfortunate that there were only 2 people working. However we all enjoyed the experience.

*William was off of school on Wed, Thurs, Friday. I am always off on Fridays. When we got the school calendars, we (I) made a mental note about a few weekends I thought we be our travel weekends to go visit family or see something new.
**When originally planned, we were going to go to Chicago. We used to go to Chicago AT LEAST once a year to visit John's sister. We haven't been there since I was pregnant with William. Shameful. We love Chicago -museums and edible pizza! We aren't hard to please. However, for the last 2+ years we have been saying that we were going to plan a trip back to Chicago (and meaning it). So, with this short break, we planned on going to Chicago to check out the dinosaurs at the Field Museum and catching up with our Chicago branch. Sadly, when we talked with Joe and Cathy, we found out this is the weekend they had plans. We briefly considered still traveling to Chicago, but without the draw of family at the end of the drive, it felt too far for a short weekend. Kansas City has been on our to-see list for a short while AND we found a good hotel deal, so Kansas City away!



*

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Cartoons

William has been into drawing cartoons as of late. The products are almost always hilarious.

Here is one he constructed using Star Wars stickers. The interesting thing is that to my knowledge, William has never seen Star Wars in any shape or form. He hasn't read any books,
magazines or anything else to reference this story. My guess is this is fueled by sheer playground information. Which is amazing, if you ask me.

You will also find my knowledge on this subject lacking as I attempt to describe what is happening.

The red guy at the top left is swinging his swords and says "Come on boy!"

The letter "H" airplane things can only say "beep!"

The airplaney thing under the H plane is saying vroom.

The golden robot guy is saying "I want candy". (I adore how the words/letters are spread out in separate bubbles)

The white guys below are both saying "no"

Finally the white roundish robot guy isn't saying anything yet.

William was beside himself with laughter as he explained this scenario to me. Apparently it is very, very funny.

*please note, the storytelling is by William. The name descriptors are made up by me.

**I'm certain my Star Wars fan of a husband is going to be horrified at my lack of retention regarding Star Wars information.

2 words

We have 2 new words over the last few days.

1. If you are changing Gemma's diaper, she will carefully watch your face. At the first sign of distaste, she will immediately plug her nose and give an enthusiastic "pee-u". Then she will laugh uproariously. She is hilarious.

2. Uh hoh. This one is still very labored. If Gemma or anyone else drops something, she will say "uh hoh". The effort it takes for her to produce this is hysterical. She concentrates very hard and furrows her brow as she says it. By the time she has it out, it almost seems out of context as several moments have passed.

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Tik it

Look out! If you aren't careful, you might get a tik it too! Not sure what I did right or wrong to earn a tik it. The person issuing the ticket didn't seem to be certain either....

Not the sweet kiss

Gemma very, very rarely gives kisses.  This is a very sad fact, but it is the way it is.  By rarely, I mean she might give either John or I a kiss once a week.  Or less.  So, the ones we get are so, so precious.  Frequently, her actions will start out as a kiss and halfway through it turns into a bite.  I'm counting those in the total, even though they aren't exactly loving.

Earlier this week, Gemma gave me a kiss.  I was SO happy and cheered loudly.  She was delighted by my response, so I asked her for another kiss.  She leaned in and I shut my eyes to enjoy a sweet kiss from my sweet girl.

Which is when she whacked me in the face with the baby doll she was holding in her hand.

Not at all the sweet kiss I was anticipating.

------

Gemma thinks sneezes are hilarious.  The louder the better.

If you sneeze, she will gleefully laugh and then try to imitate you with a loud "BAH!"

Typically, she'll look back and you expectantly to see if she can get you to do it again.  When you don't, she'll wander away to make trouble elsewhere.


------

I don't know where the song came from.  I sing it to the kids, especially Gemma.

It goes "Ohh baby, oh baby, lalalalalalala, (repeat as necessary, change inflection and rhythm as needed.

On Monday morning, I had been singing this to Gemma as she was eating breakfast.

Monday afternoon found us at Costco shopping for groceries.  As I quickly worked my way through the store (being fast is what counts when you have a cart full of kids) when I realized Gemma was singing.  It was soft, but definitely singing "ooo  ba-be"  over and over again.

Sweet, sweet girl.

Conversations v.1398

At dinner, we were talking about our days and (in theory) everyone was taking turns.

William was talking about a colorful necklace someone at school has and how much he wanted one.

Mom: It looked tight when I was up at school.  Do you think it gets caught in his hair?
William: His hair is shorter than mine.
Mom: Exactly.
William: What?
Mom: Your hair is longer, do you think it will get caught in your hair?
William: Is my hair too long?  I don't want a hair cut.
Mom: I think your hair is perfect.
William (preening): You like my hair?
Mom: Yes.  You are very handsome.

Amelia: BUT!!!  Wait! (the look on her face says she is processing as fast as possible and trying to come up with something, ANYTHING to add to this conversation). My hair is very, very long!
Mom/Dad: Yes.
Amelia: But!!  My bamgs* are so short!  They are NOT long like the rest of my hair!  These bamgs are so annoying!


*this is an approximation as to how she said it.  John and I could not agree upon the correct spelling of what she actually said.

----

Later in the meal, Amelia piped up:

Amelia: And then there was a fairy!
Mom: Wait, what?
Amelia: Mooom! There was a fairy!!
Mom: Okay.
Amelia: There was a fairy and one day she just waved her wand and POOP! a little dog appeared.
Mom (looks at dad, both are trying not to giggle): What did the fairy do?
Amelia (exasperated): She went POOP and made the dog appear.
Mom (looking away, trying to contain herself): So she poofed and the dog appeared?
Amelia: No!  She POOPED and made it happen.
Mom: Huh.  I didn't hear it that way.
Amelia: Well, maybe you should listen more Mom.

---

The Sport Authority

We were eating dinner last week and we had another memorable conversation with none other than our Amelia.


Amelia: Okay everyone! (the look on her face is not....natural.  This tells me she is most likely impersonating someone)

The family:...... (silence)

Amelia:  Who knows what happened with the Rams' team?

The family: ..... (silence.  no ones.  Seriously.  If our lives depended on it, we couldn't tell you one single thing other than they play football and are from St Louis.*)

Amelia: (dramatic voice, holds up her hands over her head):  Welllllllllllll, the Rams have won 1 game and lost 3 games (demonstrates by holding up fingers).  Do you think the Rams have won more games or lost more games (dramatic pause)?

The family: Lost?

Amelia: YES!  The Rams are SO sad because they lost more games than they have won!  The Rams have to work really hard to win the next game!

The family: Hmmmm....(John is particular is impressed.  He pulls out his phone to verify this information)

Amelia: Now!  What about the Cardinals team (she is still talking in this false voice, waving her arms when she talks and making odd facial expressions)?

The family: .......

Amelia:  The Cardinals are winning!  They have to win one more game!  It is so exciting!

John: (whispering): Holy cow!  She is right!  (a stricken look comes across his face)  Our 4 year old knows more about current sporting news than we do.....Should we be worried?

Kelly: Nah.  We know where the information is coming from...

* I am not kidding when I saw we don't follow sports.  This fact is incomprehensible to several of our neighbors** and friends, but we literally do not follow sports.  At all.  Ever. 

**Our poor neighbor is super friendly and has been trying for YEARS to engage John in sportstalk.  He talks about all the St Louis teams (baseball, football, hockey, soccer) and when that doesn't spark a conversation, he will easily switch to the Minnesota teams (baseball, football, hockey, basketball).  Every single time he is completely baffled that John and I don't have anything to discuss.  Nope. Didn't catch the game.  Or that one.  Or the other one.  Yeah.  Not that one either.

Hmmm...

William just did this...should be easy, shouldn't it?

16 months old!

Gemma was 16 months old yesterday!

I feel like this month has really produced a toddler child living in our house rather than a baby. I suspect this may have been true for a few months, I just wasn't ready to see it before now.

Gemma is taking and adding new words constantly. She is independent a d prefers to feed herself. She knows what food she wants and she will point to where EXACTLY on her tray she would like you to put it. She'll point to the bag of cheese on the counter, say "cheese" and then point to where she would like it on her tray.

She adores her red shoes more than anything. She will pitch a huge tantrum if you dare to put another pair of shoes on her feet. So, lately she wears just socks to the playground. Once we reach the playground, she still doesn't want tennis shoes, but the excitement of playground! is enough distraction she won't put up a huge fight.

Yesterday, she got up and decided it was time to change her baby's diaper. This required a huge number of wipes (10+) and a diaper. Also, a great deal of concentration.

You'll also notice she had a cute little ponytail yesterday for about 45 minutes before pulling it out.

Gemma feed herself potatoes

Gemma is the earliest of our crew to master the silverware. Maybe it is because the standard is lower and I don't care if she gets super messy? Maybe because she has to fend for herself at mealtimes?

Whatever the reason, she loves to feed herself with a fork and spoon. Right before John started recording, Gemma would feed herself a bite and the point for some more. If the food wasn't immediately forthcoming, she would bang and yell. Somewhere along the line, we gained another spoon and I'd load one spoon while she fed herself with the other. Then we'd switch.

She had already consumed a huge portion of potatoes and she had slowed down considerably at this point. In the background you'll hear William singing Take me out to the ball game.

Baseball!

We went to our first baseball game as a family last night. The son of our friends had a game and with such gorgeous weather, how could we say no to 1.free 2.local 3. A great kid we all love?

The funniest part?

Gemma was totally mesmerized by the game. She sat quietly for most of the game and just took it all in with short pauses to point out where the ball was on the field.

The other two were interested for about 3-4 minutes until they realized it was way more fun to run around chasing each other while screaming.

Gemma loves

...mashed potatoes! She loves to feed them to herself even more.

We love that she loves them because she is currently our only child who does not cry when we put the potatoes on her plate!

She moves like...

At dinner last week, we got to talking about what day of the week William has his "specials" (library, music, art, PE).  For the life of me, I cannot remember what day of the week is what special.  Even if he tells me what he did when he gets home, 15 minutes later I cannot remember.  To combat this, he always wears tennis shoes in case of PE, always has his art shirt with, keeps his library book in his backpack and wears play clothes that can get dirty in either PE or art or at lunch.

On this particular day, Amelia had preschool and her school has PE one day a week while she is there.  As I was asking William if he had PE at school that day (for the 40th time in five minutes), Amelia jumped in.

Amelia:  I had PE today!  I had PE today at school with Coach K_______ (seems unfair to put her name on the internet)!

Daddy: You did?
Amelia: Yes!  Yes I did!
Mama: What did you do in PE today?
Amelia: We listened to music about a silly guy!
Mama: You did? (I'm envisioning Raffi or the Wiggles or other preschool set type music)
Amelia: YEAH!!!   Did you know that Jagger is a funny guy?  He LOVES to dance and so do I*!

(((John and are looking at each other, participating in a silent volleyball game.  I am insisting he handle this one by raising my eyebrows.  He is slightly shaking his head and staying silent. We are also both struggling not to laugh)))

Mama: Really??? (this is all I can manage without laughing.  Laughing or ranting because my 4 year old is listening to music about a man who is.......perhaps not the role model I would want to expose my child to at this moment in her life.  I'm thinking more along the lines of when she is 30.)

Amelia: Yes!  He does lots of kinds of dance moves when he sings!

Mama: (the horror....they've taught my child how to dance like Mick Jagger.  I don't want to ask....) He does?

Amelia: Yes!  He dances like a choo choo train when he dances (circles her arms around).  He also climbs a rope (climbing move with her arms).  Then he walks like a duck (a very authentic duck waddle follows).  He also likes to point at people when he sings (pointing follows).

Mama: ........**
Daddy:......huh!  Wow Amelia!  That is a lot of dancing!


*Likely, similar to this version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb0__W-02oU

**I want to ask about this at school.  I really do.  I just haven't yet because I worked so hard to find the right preschool for her and spent so much time researching and comparing......I cannot find out this kind of information and not feel a little disappointment.....



Which, I have to say I prefer this song over William coming home and singing this one last year:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRsK9VKDoK8

Amelia!

Amelia found me in the bathroom on Friday morning.  I was doing my whirlwind pick up routine that ends up not making a difference in the overall cleanliness of the house.  It goes something like this:


pick up socks on the bathroom floor, bring to laundry room.  Find William's library book, bring it to his room.  Deposit dirty socks into his book box and pick up 13 of the missing spoons and forks from under the bunk bed.  Bring cutlery into the kitchen and put the library book in the dishwasher and check the clock.  28 minutes until we have to leave.  Gemma runs by.  Hmmm...she's poopy.  I need to remember to call the guy about the newspaper, return the email to my boss, pick up favors for the Halloween party next week, sort through the outgrown clothes for my sister's kids and donation to the garage sale next week.  Change Gemma's diaper and discover a fork poking out of my back pocket.  Wash my hands and retrace my steps (or try).  12 minutes until we have to leave. 

I am back in our bathroom, trying put away the new rolls of toilet paper while simultaneously trying to prevent Gemma from emptying the entire cabinet of other bathroom products.  Task accomplished (10 minutes until it is time to go), Amelia and I had the following conversation:

Amelia: MOM!  Guess what?
Mom: What?
Amelia: You are supposed to GUESS mom!!!!
Mom: (the thought of guessing exhuasts me at the moment as I am preventing Gemma from diving head first into the bathtub after a bouncy ball that clearly is a choking hazard).  I don't know Amelia.  Can't you just tell me?
Amelia: (pouts).  Fine.  I'll give you a clue.
Mom: (le sigh) Sure.  Give me a clue.
Amelia: There is something in my nose! (her eyes widen with excitement, my stomach drops with anticipation)
Mom: There is.  Huh!  Well that is exciting news!  Are you ready to get your shoes on?
Amelia: NO!  That wasn't my clue.  The clue is it starts with the letter R and ends with the letter K. (this announcement is made in a very dramatic voice).
Mom: (I quickly run through the list of items one might find in one's nose and cannot find anything matching this description.) Hmmm....that's tricky.  Is it a rake?  Or a Rink?
Amelia: No!!  It isn't!
Mom: Well, good, because I don't think those things should be in your nose anyway.  Let's get ready to go (pull Gemma off the toilet and away from the countertop with the enticingly full roll of toilet paper)
Amelia: Come on mom!  Think of something!  It starts with a "rrrr, rrrr" sound and ends with a "kkk,kkk" sound!  Don't you want to know?
Mom: (I think I don't want to know.) I have no idea, Amelia.  Why don't you just tell me?
Amelia: No.  I don't want to (suddenly she has a very panicked look on her face).
Mom: Is there something really in your nose?
Amelia: Uh huh.
Mom: What is it?
Amelia: I don't know (in that singsonging voice that leaves me unsure as whether to believe her).
Mom: Come on Amelia!  Is there really something in your nose?
Amelia: (looks down) I don't know.
Mom: (sinking feeling) Oh Amelia...
Amelia: (hopefully) Don't you want to know what it is?
Mom: ........sure.
Amelia: Guess!
Mom: I think we are beyond guessing now....
Amelia: It is something from the playground!  It is tiny and brown....
Mom: Wait.  Is this a ROCK?
Amelia: (fist into the air) YES!  You guessed!  Great job mom!!!
Mom: Wait.  This isn't great...
Amelia: What?  Why?

So, the short version of events is that I was horrified to realize Amelia had been trailing behind me and trying to tell me that she pushed a rock from the pea gravel up her nose and couldn't get it out.  I was getting ready to make a call to the dr office when she finally was able to blow it out of her nose on her own.  Then we put on her shoes and I took her happily to preschool.  On the way out of the school, I did ask them to watch her on the playground to make sure more rocks didn't end up where they weren't supposed to be.

What?

This is what I found last night when I realized Williams light was still on a good hour after his bedtime. Apparently, the light was so bright, he needed something to shield his eyes. I'll admit the unexpected eyes staring back at me were a most unsettling discovery...

Amelia

Amelia has been what my grandma would say is "full of the dickens". Which is North Dakotan grandma speak to say she is been in rare form and full of memorable quips. Watch for a number of these to show up here over the next few days.
***
Amelia was in the kitchen working away at a project involving scissors, glue and about 5.9 billion scraps of paper. And she's singing.

"Oats and beans and garlic grow, oh oats and beans and garlic grow. You and I and everyone know how oats and beans and garlic grow."

Sent from my iPhone