Preschool

Abby's year of preschool ended a few weeks ago, at the end of May.  Here is a picture of Abby with her favorite teacher, Miss Britt:

And with Lisa, her class's para:

We were fortunate to be able to carpool with our friends, the Guse's, this year.  The car rides with Abby and her buddy Alex were always entertaining.

Her preschool wasn't a traditional one--it met one evening each week--but it was a nice option for us since we couldn't get Abby to a daytime preschool with work.  The first Tuesday of each month was a parent night, where one of us went along with Abby and spent the first 45 minutes with her, then the last part in a special parent time.  For the May parent night, they had a pizza picnic at a local park.  Abby and Norah had a lot of fun, especially at circle time.  Mary, the parent ed teacher and also Norah's ECFE teacher, commented that she had never seen Norah sit still for so long.  She was mesmerized by all of the big kids and the songs.

Abby was sad to say goodbye to Miss Britt, since she's been her teacher for 3 years now.  Luckily, she'll be Norah's teacher next year at ECFE and Abby will be ready for bigger and better things in kindergarten!

Tubes

Norah has struggled with chronic ear infections since just after Christmas, when we took her to the doctor and found out she had a double ear infection.  Since then, she's had off and on terrible ear infections, several antibiotics, including a last resort antibiotic shot.  After an awful double ear infection that wouldn't go away at the end of March, we were able to get a referral to an ENT specialist.  I took Norah to him in April, and we definitely felt like ear tubes was a good choice for Norah.  We scheduled the appointment for mid-May, and though it made me nervous, we went ahead with it.  She couldn't eat the morning of her surgery, but luckily, it was scheduled for early in the morning.  We got all checked in, and she got to run around the outpatient surgery area in her cute little (big) hospital gown).  She was being her typical happy, social self until it was time to go back to surgery.  They let her take her blanket, robot, and pacifier, but I had to leave her at the door of the operation room.  That was definitely tough, but they brought her back to me crying just 15 minutes later--it didn't take long at all, and the anesthesia wore off quickly.  She was in pretty rough shape for about an hour, but after a short morning nap, she was ready to eat and was back to her normal self.  They said she probably wouldn't have much of an appetite, but not our hungry girl!  We're happy to report that she has been ear-infection-free since her surgery, and at her re-check with Dr. Rhodes last week, he said everything looks good.

American Girl

Abby had a big surprise a couple of weeks ago...Dave's sister, Tracy, who is teaching in South Korea for her second year, sent some money for Abby's birthday to buy an American Girl doll.  This has been a big wish for Abby for awhile now, and she had been saving up some of her own money to hopefully eventually have enough.  She had no idea where we were headed when Dave's mom came up and we got in the car...even when we pulled up to the Mall of America.

Once we got into the store, she still had no clue that she was going to be buying an American Girl doll--she just walked around, admiring all of the dolls and accessories with Dave's mom.  Imagine her surprise when Dave's mom sat her down and said that she could pick out her very own doll--she was SO excited!  She knew right away that she wanted Julie, a doll that her friend Avery also had.  We had a little talk about not just doing something because your friend has, but she swore that it was the one she really wanted.  As part of her birthday gift from Dave's mom and dad, she also got to pick out an outfit.  Abby loves her new doll, Julie!

15 months

Life with a 15-month-old has been pretty busy so far!  Norah is always on the go, chasing after Sadie (her best buddy) or trying to keep up with Abby.  She started walking just before 13 months, and hasn't let anything slow her down since!  She is extremely social and loves to entertain others.  Definitely an extrovert! She is also a big talker--it's hard to keep up with all of her new words and phrases.  Some favorites:  "more" (referring to food), "down", "Sadie good girl", "ball", "thank you", "no", "papa" (grandpa), "ssss" (when you ask her what a snake says), "woof woof woof" or "Sadie" (when referring to any dog she sees), "cheese" (when posing for a picture), and many others...she tries to repeat anything we say.  She's also good at following directions, like when we tell her it's time to brush her teeth or put on her shoes.  She likes routine and organization--loves to put things back exactly the way she thinks they should go.  She still LOVES to eat, but we have found a few things she's not so fond of, like rice.  She's adventurous when we're outside--heads for the biggest slide at the park, heads for the road or up the hill when we're at home.  As busy as she is, she is still a sweetheart, and we love the moments where she'll come plop down in our laps or lean her head on our shoulder when she's tired.  She loves her "bobot" (robot lovey), "bankie", and "nigh-night" (pacifier)--it's hard to pry her away from those when she's sad or tired.  After waiting forever for those first two teeth to come in, she's now added four more top teeth that have been painful for her.  At her 15- month check-up a couple of weeks ago, she weighed in at 18 pounds, 2 ounces (10th percentile) and was 29 1/2 inches long (15th percentile).  Here are some cute pics of our favorite 15-month-old:

Norah is having a hard time growing hair (like her daddy did at that age), but we managed to put in a bow for her "Crazy Hair Day" at daycare in May.

Norah loves her new water table that she got for her birthday!

Entertainment comes easy for a 15-month-old...putting rocks into an old dog dish

Brushing teeth is a favorite way to spend her time!

Playing catch up

Summer is finally in full swing here, so it's time to play catch up!  I hadn't realized that two months had gone by without a post, so I'm going to do my best to fill in the gaps with what's been happening around here.  We've been thoroughly enjoying our first week and a half of summer so far--we've had some appointments here and there, a playdate, t-ball started, a quick trip to Rochester, and otherwise just finding fun/getting things crossed off the to-do list around home.  Here is some of what we've been up to:

Going for wagon rides

I made a quick project that I've been wanting to make for Abby--a pillowcase mattress.  Happy to know that I still knew how to work the sewing machine--now need to start planning some more summer sewing projects!

Playing outside with Sadie--she's finally starting to get a little easier to wear out.  We've hardly had any "hot" weather yet, but she feels the need to cool down in the landscaping, a patch of shade, or our kiddie pool.

A couple of picture perfect days--we haven't had the best weather, but these days make up for the rest.

Lots of walks/Chariot rides

Popsicles!  Abby is not a fan of her bike, so I had to pull out a bribe.  Ride your bike to the stop sign and back, and we'll get popsicles.  I'll have to try to increase the distance each time :)

Norah's first popsicle!  She was a little surprised the first time she bit off a piece and got brain freeze, but otherwise loved it!

A trip to Barnes and Noble to get Abby's free book for the summer reading program--the girls loved playing with the train set!

I started up the Couch to 5K program again this summer--starting week 3 tonight.  Abby doesn't like that I go without her, so one night, she and I went on a special "run".

First bonfire of summer--a few raindrops, but it was still fun!

Graham cracker thief--someone can't sit still for a bonfire, though...

Abby won this sprinkler at our town's Easter egg hunt, and finally got a chance to use it--she loves it!

Norah doesn't like it...

T-ball is in June this year--a little chilly the first night, nice but buggy the second.  Abby is having fun with it, though!

We went to the eagle program at Daddy's park.  Not recommended for busy one-year-olds, but Abby said she loved it, and the weather was perfect for being outside.

Five-year interview with Abby

Last year, we started the tradition of interviewing Abby on her birthday...here are this year's responses:

Favorite food:  pizza

Favorite color:  pink and purple

Least favorite color:  yellow

Favorite toy:  dollhouse

Favorite fruit:  apples

Favorite TV show:  3rd and Bird

Favorite movie:  Tangled

Favorite lunch:  Lunchables

Favorite thing to wear:  princess dresses

Favorite game:  Memory

Favorite snack:  Cheetos

Favorite zoo animal:  giraffes

Favorite song:  that princess one in the car

Favorite book:  Pinocchio

Best friend:  Olivia

Favorite cereal:  Lucky Charms

Favorite thing to do outside:  play on my swingset (which she hasn't been able to do much this spring, so I guess this is one good thing about all of the snow in MN this month--our swingset blew over on an extremely crazy windy night a week and a half ago--I told Dave we needed to secure it into the ground, but it didn't happen last year...he'll be doing that as soon as he can level the ground a little more and get a couple of friends over to help him fix a couple of boards that need to be replaced now.  Luckily, it wasn't damaged too much!)

Favorite drink:  apple juice

Favorite holiday:  Easter

What I want to be when I grow up:  a princess

Favorite thing to do with Mommy:  lay in bed or play dollhouse

Favorite thing to do with Daddy:  lay in bed or play the teddy bear game (something new she and Dave made up where they act like teddy bears, I guess?)

Favorite store:  the grocery store

What makes me happy:  when Norah gives stuff to me

What makes me sad:  when I'm in my bedroom by myself

What I like about Daddy:  when he plays video games with me (?  Apparently, she was referring to playing the Disneyland game on Xbox kinect with Dave and my cousin Connor last summer...)

What I like about Mommy:  when she watches movies with me

What I like about Norah:  when she's playing in the bedroom with me

What I like about Sadie:  when she plays outside with me

What I'm excited about now that I'm 5:  going to kindergarten

Five

Abby turned 5 on April 2nd--I meant to write this post sooner, but it seems like it's been a crazy couple of weeks!  It seems like we've been celebrating for awhile, since we had our joint birthday party in March...  We decided to celebrate as a family over my spring break, since I'd have to work on Abby's actual birthday and she'd have preschool.  We went out to Chuck E. Cheese for lunch, where Abby (and Norah) had a blast playing games and going on the kiddie rides.  During Norah's afternoon nap, Abby and Dave went to see "The Croods".

On Friday of my spring break, we had a couple of Abby's friends over for a playdate.  Abby has been asking for lemonade cupcakes for the longest time for her birthday, so I was excited to find a pink lemonade cupcake mix with pink lemonade frosting.  We made them for her playdate, and they turned out pretty good--not too bad for lemonade cupcakes!

On Easter Sunday, my parents and Dave's parents came up to go to church and have Easter dinner with us while Dave worked.  We had an Easter egg hunt when Dave got home, and my parents spent the night so they could spend a special day with Abby to celebrate her birthday.

On Abby's actual birthday (April 2nd), Dave kept Abby home from daycare and they had a special "Abby" day--she planned out their day at home (lots of dollhouse, crafts, etc.).  It was parent night at preschool, so I got to go along with Abby to that.  She was excited to bring bags of goldfish to her friends with her buddies who share a birthday with her.

A couple of days later, Abby had her 5-year check-up with Dr. Mark.  We also set up a follow-up appointment for Norah at that time...she had developed RSV and a double ear infection over my spring break and was not bouncing back very well after 10 days of antibiotics...thankfully, a strong antibiotic shot seemed to do the trick, and we have an appointment set up with an ENT specialist to talk about ear tubes.

Anyway, while Norah was crying/being difficult at the doctor, the nurse took Abby away to do her hearing/vision testing, weigh her, take her temperature, etc.  She happened to be running a fever, and then also didn't pass a portion of her hearing test.  The nurse thought maybe it was an ear infection or something, but Dr. Mark said she didn't have one.  He wasn't too concerned about the hearing test, but it's something we'll keep an eye on.  Abby was very cooperative, but was REALLY anxious about her shots.  She had 4--2 in each arm.  So, after about 45 minutes of crying from Norah, Abby was crying about her shots, so Norah started sympathy crying.  Then the nurse gave Norah her big antibiotic shot, so she started crying harder, then Abby started sympathy crying...  I'm sure the other people at the clinic were so happy to see us leave!  Abby weighed in around 35 pounds (15th percentile) and was around 42 inches tall (25th percentile).  I wish I had written down the exact measurements, but it's as close as I can get with the growth charts I got.

After the doctor, we went to Chameleon Coffee for some ice cream--Abby's reward for her shots.  Abby chose "Superman" ice cream--red, yellow, and blue fruit punch flavored ice cream.  Cranky/sick Norah made for a short visit--she wanted ice cream, too, but I had no bib and she was not content with me feeding her spoonfuls--she wanted to do it herself!  Abby ended up taking her ice cream home in the car, but she was good about it.

So, five has come and gone--it's crazy to think that she's already that old!  Now that the shots are done, she is excited about being five and going to kindergarten next year.  Thankfully, we still have almost 5 months left until that!