Orange Crayon

We ask Olivia to make sure she cleans up her crayons when she's done with them and we try to make sure they all get picked up. I guess we all missed one.


I was on the phone with my Mom and Addie walked up to me with the orange crayon hanging out of her mouth. I guess she was hungry for dinner!

Addie's New Nickname

Some of you may recall that Olivia was a terrible biter at daycare. In the beginning, she was a one bite per day little girl and worked up to 3-4 times per day. I still remember the day she bit a child so hard that she broke the skin. Every day I dreaded going in to pick her up to see how many incident reports I would have to sign. I remember the teachers jokingly calling her "Hannibal".

Well, I heard the familiar nickname again last week but this time the teacher was referring to Addie. Addie has started biting her friends at school. I hate walking in the door and seeing the orange paper hanging behind the daily gram because I know that it most likely means she bit another child. It's terrible but on Friday when I picked her up, there were 2 incident reports. I assumed that meant she bit twice but I was a little excited when the one incident report was from another child hitting her in the head with a baby doll. She only bit one time!

In addition to the biting, she has become a little bit of a bully. Her teachers told me that she has been knocking the other kids down. She will walk up behind them, wrap her arms around them, and then fall backwards, bringing the other child down with her. Needless to say, she's getting familiar with "time out". Hopefully these behaviors will stop soon. We were asked to bring in a sour or bad tasking (edible) liquid (ie: lemon juice, vinegar, etc.) that the teachers can put in her mouth when she bites. Liv didn't mind lemon juice or vinegar so we'll see how that goes. Addie is also moving up to the next room in January so she'll be one of the younger kids in the room. She's big for her age but moving up to the next room will mean she's no longer the biggest (tallest) child in the room.

Frosty the Snowman

Watching the holiday cartoons was a fun tradition when I was growing up. I was excited this year to be able to sit down and watch some of them with Olivia. We didn't get to watch "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" because it was on at 8:30 (past bedtime) on a school night. But, we did get to watch "Frosty the Snowman". It was fun watching the kids make Frosty and see him come to life when they put the magicians hat on his head. We watched them sing songs and dance around. It was even fun to watch Frosty and Karen in their adventure to get Frosty to the north pole. That is until the greenhouse scene. Do you remember what happened to Frosty?

Poor Karen was sooo cold that she was shivering uncontrollably. The camp fire the animals made was extinguished by the Professor Hinkle (the evil magician) in his quest to get his hat back once he realized there was some magic in it. Frosty looked and looked for some place warm for Karen and finally found the greenhouse. He took Karen inside the greenhouse to try and warm her up. Professor Hinkle closed the door so Frosty could not get out and you know what happened.

When they showed the scene where Karen was on her knees with her face in her hands sobbing over a puddle of water (yes, melted Frosty), Olivia fell apart! She started to cry just like Karen because Frosty melted away. Half the fun of watching the kids Christmas specials is seeing Olivia's reaction to them but we didn't expect the reaction we got. Of course we calmed her down and got her to keep watching so she could see Santa make it all better. It's a good thing that Frosty was made of Christmas snow because Christmas snow never really melts away.

"A Kodak Moment"

Last night, I was sitting here at the computer checking email while Bill was putting Addison to bed. Olivia came up beside me and said, "Look Mommy, I put stickers on my face." Here is what I saw.............

Ya gotta love her!

Addie

I feel like I've had a lot to say about Olivia lately so I wanted to add a post about Addison. She has learn how to slide down the steps on her butt. My Dad witnessed out tomboy in action on Thanksgiving Day. Addie will climb on, chase, tackle, or jump on anything or anyone she can. Right now, she slides down one step at a time and stops to giggle. My guess is that in about a week, she will be sliding down all of the steps without stopping and will be screaming and giggling the whole way down. I'm telling you, it will happen!

Addie likes to draw and color (or attempt to, I should say). Sometimes she spends more time trying to eat the crayons but she does manage to get some crayon on the paper.

Her Daddy likes to color too......

Thanksgiving

Olivia had a lot of fun at school learning about Thanksgiving. She made a turkey, a cornucopia, and learned about being thankful. When I picked her up one day she told me that the class talked about the things they are thankful for. I asked what she is thankful for and she said for her sister, Addie. I feel the need to mention this because it is very sweet but also to document it in writing for when she gets older and hates Bill and me for having a second child.

One of the art projects of the week was to make a pilgrim costume. She did a good job. Ok it may not be the best pilgrim costume but how much can you do with a paper bag, some construction paper, and a bingo dabber?

When they make costumes at school, her class goes on parade through the school. So, when she comes home with her costume, she likes to go on parade at home too. Addie loves to follow Liv anywhere so it's not a problem to get her to join in. Bill was lucky enough to get to join in the parade too.
We were able to spend time with my family on Thanksgiving Day and with Bill's family over the weekend. It's fun for the girls (and us) to see their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins but Bill and I are glad when the traveling is done. The girls are really well-behaved and listen well for the most part but you bring them to someone else's house and they can turn into little maniacs. At home the things they can't touch are out of their reach but at other people's houses it is much different. I can't tell you how many times I said the words, "no, no", "don't touch", "put that down", and "yikes" over the past few days. Here's an example. In the bedroom at Billy's parents' house, Addie saw Bill pull the night light out of the outlet. Within seconds, her finger was just outside of the socket. Fortunately, we are still smarter than she is (for now) and we were able to stop her from sticking her finger in the socket.

Anyway, it was great to see everyone over the past few days. Christmas isn't that far away so we'll be doing it all again soon.

Crazy Tooth

Olivia's teeth are an orthodontists dream.....that is if her adult teeth come in looking like her baby teeth - crooked. She has a gap on the top on the left side between her front tooth and the third tooth. The tooth that belongs in between those 2 never came in.......that is until now. Can you believe that at 3 1/2 years old, the missing tooth has popped through her gums?!?!?! Who knows why it took this long but I guess she isn't really missing a tooth!

Head Lice Scare

I picked up Olivia today and she had her nap mat in a large garbage back to bring home and wash. I asked if she spilled something on it but the EDP (after school care) teacher said her teacher sent them all home.

When I looked in her backpack, there it was.........A note from the school nurse saying that she was exposed to lice. NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! The note said the kids were all checked and no additional cases of lice were found but we should and they will check the kids for the next month to make sure no one else has it.

There were 5 kids in my family and none of us ever caught head lice. Thank God. But, I know people who have children who were less fortunate and I know it was not an easy process to get rid of the lice and clean the house. I'm already freaking out about it and she doesn't even have lice. Please pray or cross your fingers or whatever works for you that she doesn't get it.

Backyard Fun

Hateful "Woman"

Ok, so I know I set up this blog so I could give you updates about Olivia and Addison and show you pictures to show how they grow and to show the cute things they do. But, this one time, I want to share a story about last Monday morning with you. It is only related to the girls in that the incident I am about to describe occurred in the parking lot of Olivia's school and Addison was in the car with me.

I'll explain what happened but first let me tell you that the parking lot at Olivia's school is a crazy place. There are many Mercedes, Volvos, and BMWs in the parking lot since many families who send their children to her school are wealthy. I don't have a Mercedes, Volvo, or BMW but do have a very nice and still new Toyota. I was warned about the parking lot and I have witnessed several near accidents in the lot. The closer you get to 8:00 (when school starts), the worse it is. There is nothing special about the lot. I guess there are parents who are so busy or that wealthy that it doesn't matter that there are people walking in the lot, other cars moving through the lot, or, as in my case, a car parked next to yours. Ok, on to my story...........

Last Monday, I dropped Olivia off like I normally do. I pulled into the lot, parked, got the girls out of their car seats and walked Liv into the school. I came back to the car to find that the person who parked on the right side of my car was so close I couldn't get Addie into her car seat. No problem, I put her in Liv's and got in the car to leave. Before I had a chance to back out, the woman (and I use that term loosely) who parked the van so close on my right got into her car, hitting my car door with hers and just continued getting in, putting on her seat belt, and getting ready to leave. I rolled down my window and yelled to her that she hit my door. Silly me, I thought she would say she was sorry but no. Without looking, at the car, she said, "It's fine". Starting to get pissed, I asked how she knew it was fine without looking at it and she again yelled, "It's fine!". That still didn't satisfy me so I told her that I think I should be the judge of whether or not it's fine and rolled up my window to just leave. That's when it happened........

She got out of her car, intentionally slamming her door against mine as hard as she could and started pounding on my window, hard enough that I thought to myself, "This 'woman' is going to break my window". And, I kept seeing Addie in the back seat and I was really trying not to become the lunatic I wanted to be at that point in time. I rolled down my window a little and told her I could call the police to have them come out and determine if "it's fine". She backed off saying she'd sit in her car and wait for the police to come, and got back into her vehicle without hitting my car door. Working for an insurance company, I know the police don't usually respond to minor parking lot accidents. They tell you to exchange insurance information and go on your way. So, I decided instead of getting out of the car, grabbing her by the hair on her head, and smashing her face into her car door like I wanted to, I would just leave. I didn't want to act like a crazy woman in front of Addie and in the parking lot of Olivia's school. I know Addie's only one and wouldn't remember me beating someone up and/or getting arrested. And Liv's only 3 but I don't want her to get labeled as the girl with the crazy mother.

So, as I backed out, I wrote down her license plate figuring if there was damage, I could file a police report at lunchtime and go from there. So, if you see a white Toyota Sienna minivan with PA license plate "ECN 1430", beware! She's nuts.

I checked my car door when I got to Addie's daycare and there was no damage to the door. Billy thinks because she was parked so close to my car that the edge of the door couldn't hit it and the flat outside of the door wasn't able to dent it. Plus, I think she was probably hitting my door handle and not the door itself. Who knows. I'm just glad it wasn't dented.

So, that's the worst of it but not the end.

I didn't see her when I picked up Liv that afternoon but I did see her the next day. Tuesday morning as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw her backed out of a parking space getting ready to drive away toward the exit. I parked somewhere else and as I was walking to Addie's door to get her out, I noticed her drive past my car. Weird because she was on her way to the parking lot exit when I pulled in the lot and she circled around the lot to go past me to then go to the exit. There was no reason for her to drive past me since she was headed to the exit when she backed out of her spot. Without showing you the lot, it's difficult to explain but you enter the lot from one side of the lot and exit at the far other end. She backed out and was heading to the exit. There was no exit near me and she wasn't looking for a parking space because she then left the parking lot after driving by me. Was that supposed to scare me or something? Oh well, it didn't.

Then, when I drove to the school to pick up Olivia that afternoon, I noticed her van in the parking lot. I thought here we go again. I was good and didn't park next to her and went in to get Liv. I didn't see the "woman" in the gallery (lunchroom) where we pick up the kids from the after school care but the kids were in the gym playing. As I signed Liv out in the gallery, I saw the "woman" come in with 2 children. She saw me, I saw her but I just went upstairs to the gym to get Liv. I went up to the gym and got Liv. While I was there I talked to one of her teachers for a few minutes about Liv falling and getting stepped on while playing. We got her coat on and walked down the halls and steps to the exit. When we walked out of the school, she was sitting in her car ready to leave but just sitting there. I put Liv in and got in and started to drive away. As soon as I passed her car, she pulled out of her spot and followed me. She turned out of the parking lot the same way, followed me down the road and into the turn lane I was in. Odd. We were at a red light. When the light turned green, the car heading the opposite way let me make the left turn so I got separated from the woman. Addie's daycare wasn't far up the road and I waited a couple minutes to see her car go by on the main road but never saw it. It's possible she just happens to go home that way but I still found it strange and wondered if she was following me.

It has been a week and I have not seen her since last Tuesday. I drop off and pick up about the same time every day and haven't seen her. I wonder if either her psychiatrist, parole officer, or the mother-ship came to get her.

Random updates

As some of you know, Addison loves to climb on anything and everything she can. Last Friday, she fell as she was climbing on a kitchen chair and smacker her face on the leg of the table. Well, it has been 12 days since she did it and the shiner is almost gone. Yea!!!

Both girls continue to grow like weeds. At Addie's 15 month well child visit we learned she is 25 lbs and 32 7/8 inches tall. She's off the charts for her height. If you look at the growth charts, she is the average height of a 22 month old. I think it's safe to say she will be tall, just like Liv.

Olivia is also growing so tall. She woke up one day and we realized that all of her pants are too short. I don't know how that happened because we just bought a lot of the pants in August for school but somehow, they are all too short. We bought her a new school wardrobe and some new jeans this past weekend. She is officially out of the toddler sizes and into a girls 4 (unless a store carries a 5T but I don't find that size too often).

I was so glad to get her the new clothes and not put her in pants that were too short. On Monday, she was getting dressed in tan pants and a white hooded sweater. It's a light sweater so I thought I should put an undershirt under it. So, I pulled out an undershirt and she noticed the Dora the Explorer undershirts still in the drawer from last year. She wanted to wear it but I noticed it was a 2T/3T......too small. I tried it on her. It was short but not too bad so I let her wear it thinking it would just "disappear" in the laundry. Well, that day when I picked her up from the after-school care (EDP), she was not wearing her sweater. Yep, she was wearing just the undershirt, the too small undershirt, as a shirt. As soon as I saw her from 1/2 way across the room I just about died seeing her in just the undershirt and asked (loudly, probably in a panicky voice) why she was wearing just her undershirt and asked where her sweater was. The EDP teachers laughed but I know they were really wondering why I sent her to school dressed like that.

I sent her teacher a note asking her not to take Olivia's shirt off (or let Liv take her shirt off) if she's wearing just an undershirt underneath....esp if it's one that is too small. :o)
Her teacher said the classroom is very warm and it would be better to dress her in layers, short sleeves with a sweater over top. I guess it's back to the store to hunt for short sleeved blouses or collared shirts and sweater's for over top. It's a good thing we planted that money tree in the backyard!!!!!

Halloween

I waited to add a post showing the girls in their Halloween costumes. My Mom's birthday is on Halloween and we usually go to visit her and Dad one of the weekends around her birthday and dress the girls up in their costumes. I like the costumes to be a surprise. We visited this past weekend so now I can share some pictures of the scariest pirate and meanest witch.......

The proper way to eat a sandwich

For some reason, Olivia has decided there is a correct way to eat a sandwich or burger.....really anything on bread or a roll. Some people bite in the center first. Others start on one side or the other. Either way, it all ends up the same....you eat the part of the sandwich that is on the perimeter. Not Olivia. For Olivia, you take your first bite from the top center and keep going right down the center. Sure, it's a little messy. She usually has peanut butter and jelly or ketchup from ear to ear but if you keep going this way, you end up with 2 sandwiches instead of one! So, for all of you who are eating your sandwiches wrong, let this be your lesson on how to do it right!

Addison's 15 month check-up

Addison went to the doctor for her 15 month check up and shots yesterday. She is 25 lbs and 32 7/8 inches tall. According to the growth charts, she is the height of the average 22 month old. She is very tall!

She loves to climb on anything she can. Thursday night she was climbing onto Olivia's bed and bumped her head on the foot board. That resulted in a lump and bruise in the middle of her forehead. Yesterday evening, she was climbing on the kitchen chairs. She was sitting on one but somehow she fell off and smacked her face on the table leg. To add to the bruise on her forehead, she has a swollen and black and blue right eye. Shortly after recovering from that traumatic incident, she was tired and she was walking through the living room and tripped over her own feet. No lump or bruise from this fall. Instead, she scraped her cheek on a Halloween decoration in the living room. The poor girl is all banged and scraped up on her sweet, little face. We're thinking about putting bubble wrap on everything in the house so she can heal from these bruises before getting any more.

Interesting fact: I looked back at Olivia's baby book and at 15 months, she was 32 1/2 inches (3/8 in shorter than Addie) tall and weighed 25 lbs. Almost identical!

Chi-ca-go!

Last weekend was my brother's wedding in Chicago. We decided to drive instead of flying thinking it would be better to have the long drive but be able to bring the pack-and-play for a crib and toys and snacks, etc for the girls instead of having the convenience of a short trip by plane. Plus, this way we would have a vehicle to drive instead of having to take cabs back and forth, if we wanted.

Well, the drives to and from Chicago were actually pretty good. It took us 12 hrs to get there and 12 1/2 to get back. Not too bad with stopping several times each way. We left at 4 am Thursday and the girls slept for quite a while on the way there. Olivia learned to pee along the side of the road and thought it was fun. Of course when we were passing a rest area she didn't have to go but then we would get 5 miles away and she would need to go, especially when the next rest area was 40-50 miles away. So, sorry Ohio, but Olivia peed on your road! Addie loved stopping at the rest areas and would just run and run and run all around. We brought a portable DVD player and tons of movies and that helped pass the time. The way back was more of the same but no peeing on the side of the road. The last hour or 2 were a little tough. Addie was ready to be home and out of the car but she was a trooper.

Chicago is an amazing city. We all had a great time except for when the van was towed. Words of advice, if you go to a big city and there is a sign that says no parking 4-6 pm, tow away zone, DON'T PARK THERE!!!!........even if it is 5:45. They do have time to ticket and tow you. In fact, they probably have sensors or spies that know exactly when you park your car there so they can get both the ticket writer and the tow truck there immediately. Jamie warned me that we'd probably get a ticket. After searching and searching for parking, I was ok with the thought of getting a ticket but he didn't think there would be enough time to ticket and tow the car. He was right and he was wrong. After we parked, we walked to his condo to see where he and Katie spend their time when they are not at the hospitals working. Space is at a premium in Chicago but they have a great condo with a fantastic view of the city from the 41st floor. We then went out with Jamie for a nice and relaxing dinner. After that we walked back to Ontario Street where we left the van and found out (this is the part where Jamie was wrong) that they did have time to ticket and tow the van. It cost us some time and $160 bucks to get it back (on top of the $60 ticket still on the windshield) but we did get to see how phenomenal the view of the city is from their condo at night time (it was a great view when it was light out but after dark......amazing!). After that, we pretty much left the van in the hotel parking until it was time to head back home.

The wedding was beautiful! Jamie looked handsome and Katie was gorgeous. It was very apparent how much they love each other. Olivia was one of the flower girls and did her part beautifully. This was her second time being a flower girl and was a pro! Last time she walked down the aisle with me so I wasn't really worried about her seeing all of the people looking at her and getting nervous. This time was different. She was walking down the aisle w/ another flower girl but I was nervous she would see all of the guests and freeze. Silly me.....she did great! She looked like a little princess in her dress and sprinkled her flowers like a pro. Jamie said she "boxed out" (b-ball term) the other flower girl at one point but I don't think it's true! ha-ha!

At the reception Olivia owned the coloring table and after dinner, she danced and danced and danced....with anyone and everyone who would dance with her. Addie fell asleep for a while but when she woke up, we put her pjs on her and she hit the dance floor. Liv wasn't the only one with great moves!!!! Addie loves to dance!!!!!

Some other highlights from the trip.....

Olivia loved the "spinny doors" (revolving doors). She had to go through them by herself. She didn't need (want) any help.

Both girls loved the cab rides. Their first cab ride was the trip to the rehearsal dinner and we had a great cab driver. Not only did he not try to kill us with his driving, but he also asked Liv questions about herself (name, age, etc) and really made it a fun trip for her. Addie, I think was just a little puzzled about why we were all cramming into the back of this car without car seats. It was a real treat!

On Friday, all of my family except for Meredith and Michael got together for some real Chicago, deep-dish pizza. Delicious but wow, that's a lot of cheese. Olivia, the girl who could eat cheese as a meal, would not eat pizza so Jamie walked down the block to Harry's Hot Dogs and snuck a hot dog into the pizza place for her. Later, Molly and I did some shopping (mostly browsing) on Michigan Ave and State Street. We walked and walked and walked. Good thing because we needed to walk off the pizza! I don't know why but it's so much fun to go and look at all of the clothes, purses, jewelry, and shoes we cannot afford. I did buy a new coat and Molly bought a purse so we didn't go home empty handed.

On Saturday morning, we went to the Lincoln Park zoo. What a nice zoo. It's free to get in, there are lots of great animals to see and there were no crowds. We had a great time watching the sea lions swim, the penguins waddle and swim, and the huge polar bear try to move a large tree branch. The girls were exhausted by the time we left which was good because they needed naps so they would be ready and in good spirits for the wedding.

It was a fun trip and we look forward to going back to Chicago to do more sight seeing and visit Uncle Jamie and Aunt Katie some more.

(****Thanks to Aunt Tori and Molly for some of the pictures.****)

TGIF

It has been a rough week in our house. Olivia had a terrible cold last week and this week had a cough that wouldn't quit. Late Sunday night, Addie all of a sudden had a terrible cold. She woke up crying and the only way we were able to get her comfortable to sleep was to hold her in just the right position. I held her for what seemed like hours but really wasn't. After a little Tylenol and holding her until she was fast asleep, I was able to get her to sleep in her crib.

Monday, Bill and I were exhausted. I didn't expect Addie to feel well and was ok with the idea of staying home from work since I was so tired but she woke up with a big smile on her face. She had an ok day but still seemed to feel pretty rotten. Fortunately, Monday night was better sleep for all of us.

Tuesday, Bill woke up with the cold. Addie still felt rough. We went to "Soup and Sandwich Night" at Liv's school and on the way home, Addie threw up in the car, all over herself. As if a terrible cold wasn't enough! Tuesday night was another sleep deprived night. Addie stopped throwing up after we got home but just couldn't get comfortable. Watching her move her head to find a comfortable position reminded me so much of Olivia when she had an ear infection so.......

Wednesday, Bill stayed home with Addie and took her to the doctor to have her ears checked. The doctor was on the fence about whether or not the left ear was infected. She said to give it a day or 2 and if she was still showing signs of ear pain, to give her the antibiotic. (They really prefer to not give kids her age any medicine if they can avoid it.) Now I also have the cold. So, Liv is coughing. Addie, Billy, and I have a miserable cold and it's only Wednesday. Are you sure your head can't really explode from sinus pressure??

Thursday, Addie is starting to feel much better. Billy and I are miserable. We thought about putting the girls to bed at 6:30 so we could go to bed too but didn't.

Today, Addie is a lot better. Liv is barely coughing. Billy and I are a little less miserable. Thank God It's Friday!!!!!! Next week has to be better!!!!!

Here are my new favorite pictures of the girls....pre-sickness!

A face only a mother could love - ha-ha

Addie is very silly. She liked to press her face up against the screen door when she is outside and someone else is inside. It's very funny to see her little face squashed up against the screen. She thinks it's hysterical!

A good day

Today was the first day since Addie returned to daycare that I could leave without hearing her cry. Usually she clings to me when I try to put her down at daycare in the morning. Her teacher says it only takes her a couple of minutes to stop crying and then she plays and has a good day. When I pick her up, she used to see me and start to cry, almost as if to say, "Why did you leave me here in this horrible place where I get to play and eat and sleep and have fun?". She was fine until she saw me. Honestly, some days I would get there and watch her play for a minute or 2......but as soon as she would see me, she would again cling to me and would cry a little.

Well, I have seen progress......

Yesterday morning, she walked away from me a little and I actually got about 10 feet from her before she started to cry. Today I was able to get her preoccupied with big, soft blocks and she started playing without needing to be holding onto me. She walked away from me to give her teacher a toy and I quietly tip-toed out the door. I know, a dirty trick to leave when she's not looking and she probably cried when she turned around and realized I wasn't there but it was nice to not hear her crying as I closed the door and walked away from the classroom. This week when I have picked her up she has been smiley and happy. Yesterday she ran towards me and dove at me giggling the whole way. It was very cute!

Other updates:

*Addie can find her nose, my nose, Billy's nose, Olivia's nose, and the nose of anyone who will let her find theirs. You just have to be careful because her thumb/hand is usually a little wet from her sucking her thumb. Boy does that feel nice on your face! Yuk!!

*Olivia continues to love her school. I hear bits and pieces of what she does throughout the day as she talks non-stop on the way home. She loves music class and gym class but was disappointed that she doesn't get to take books out in library. (The 3 year olds go to library to hear a story or watch a video. They don't get to take books out.) She also wants to be the "line leader" every day. I guess this is a very important position in the 3 year old's classroom. Unfortunately for her, they need to take turns. At home when we go upstairs for baths or downstairs after baths, she's usually the line leader up or down the steps. Maybe one day I will get to be the line leader!

*Addie has learned to blow kisses and give kisses. Blown kisses are a little "safer" for the recipient because actual kisses are delivered with a wide open mouth. There's no chance to avoid a little slobber with her smooches.

*Addie and Liv do a great duet of "The Itsy, Bitsy Spider", or as Liv calls it, "The Ipsy, Ipsy Spider". Liv does the singing and hand motions (especially the sun coming out to dry up all the rain....she's a great sun) and Addie does the hand motions for the spider climbing up the water spout. Her spider doesn't get very far but she tries hard.

Olivia: Goodbye daycare!! Hello school!!

Yesterday was Olivia's last day at daycare. She really liked her "old school" but could not wait to go to her "new school".

We (I) picked out her first day of school outfit last night and had it all ready for today. She helped pack up her back pack and really could not wait to go to school. She has been looking forward to this since she went for the "play date" (admissions testing). Her teacher said she had a great first day. When I took her into the school this morning, she walked in so proud with her back pack on. It's almost as big as she is but she wanted to carry it. Here's a few pictures....

The End of Week 1.....

Well, Thursday was Addie's appointment for her one year old pictures. We were worried that she wouldn't do well since she was having serious separation anxiety at daycare this week which also carried over to home. But, despite our concerns, she did great!! She played with the props and smiled for the camera. She had fun with the photographer and her husband who is there to help with Addie while I was behind the photographer trying to get Addie to smile and look towards the camera. I cannot wait to see the proofs!!

Friday, it was back to daycare and another day that I cried. Some of you reading this will think it's silly but it was heartbreaking to give Addie to her teacher and watch try to break free of the teacher's hold, red-faced and screaming, with her arms outstretched. As I walked out of the main door of the daycare, I could still hear her screaming. I just pictured her crying all day like she did on Wednesday. I made it outside but then fell apart. I called to check on her in the morning and they said she was having a better day. She played and participated in activities and was only tearful a little. Hopefully the worst is over. Tomorrow starts week 2.

Back to Day Care & Work

I know it's only Wednesday but I have to say, this has been a rough week for all of us. Bill headed back to work on Monday which meant the girls are both back at daycare. We sent Liv back last week to get her back in the swing of things first. She loves being in the "Bee" room and has fun with her friends but has had a few tough days. This morning I learned that she woke up from her nap pretty grumpy yesterday (which is unusual for her). When a teacher asked her what was wrong, she said she missed her Daddy. She really wasn't herself when I picked her up yesterday and she had a rough evening (not listening, refusing to eat, etc.).

Addie had been at daycare for about 6 months before we pulled her out to be home w/ Bill. When we pulled her out, she was just starting to crawl. Now, she's walking (running) and climbing and is a totally different child. She doesn't remember being at daycare and since she's in a new classroom with new teachers, there really isn't anything familiar to her. She's in with a lot of the same kids but they have also changed a lot.

Monday, she looked at me a little strange when I walked out of her "Chipmunk" room. I was proud of myself for being able to leave her there without crying as I left. I saved the tears for the drive to work. The teachers said she had a pretty good day. She didn't want to sleep on the mat at nap time and cried a few times through out the day. When I got there to pick her up, the teacher was changing another child's diaper. Addie was standing in front of the changing table with her arms up, looking at the teacher and crying. It broke my heart. She looked exhausted and seemed very tired. I hoped she would sleep on the way home but didn't. She was tired at home but was happy and played like normal.

Tuesday wasn't as easy. Addie is a smart little girl. She knew what was going to happen when I put her down. She started to cry as I left. I stood outside the room to make sure the teachers would give her some comfort. I wasn't totally impressed with them but they did seem to get her to stop crying. She was still tearful throughout the day at times but slept better than on Monday. When I picked her up, she was not crying but started to cry and ran to me when she saw me. At home, she again seemed herself.....tired, but still herself.

Today is Wednesday. Third day there...it has to be better, right? Well, Addie would not let me out of arms reach this morning when we got to her classroom. One of the teachers who knows both Liv and Addie very well was in the Chipmunk room in the morning. She took Addie from me when I had to leave and focused her attention on something other than me leaving. She seemed to calm down pretty quickly and I was so hopeful that she would have a better day. Well, I was wrong. When I picked her up today, she was an absolute mess. Her daily sheet said she slept but she looked exhausted. She just cried and clutched onto me. If she wasn't in my arms, like when I put her down to sign her out and get her daily sheet, she would cry. We got in the car and I cried. Again I hoped she would sleep in the car but she didn't. At home, she could not be away from me. If she wasn't touching me or being held by me, she was crying. She wouldn't even go to Billy. She's normally fun loving and easy going and very easy to get to sleep. Tonight, she hardly played and had a really tough time getting to sleep. We started putting her to bed earlier (which was good because we had a tough time getting her to not be crying in her crib) and we hope she gets some good sleep.

Tomorrow we have an appointment to have her pictures taken. I'm not really confident that we will get any pictures taken. I'm hoping that a good night sleep and not being at daycare tomorrow will do her well.

Liv is up and is crying that she can't sleep and she wants her mommy. I'm off to hopefully get her to sleep.

Billy is adjusting to being back at work but is having a difficult time now that he's back to hardly seeing the girls and because they are both wanting me all the time. I know it will get better as they all get used to being where they are but I don't know that I'm going to survive it!

Addie's 1st Birthday Party

Addie turned ONE on July 23rd but we didn't have her birthday party until August 2nd. We were going to have it the weekend right after her birthday but we were afraid the furniture we ordered wouldn't be here in time. For those of you who don't know the story of our furniture trauma, I'll give you the short version......we looked at the dimensions of a ton of couches and measured our space and then went to the store and picked out a couch. We bought it and brought it home and realized that it must have been the only couch the store sold that we didn't measure. So, we (I) was really unhappy with it and we returned it. We found furniture at another store but it had to be ordered. So, for a few weeks we had nothing but a love seat in our living room. Not enough seating for the party so we decided to be on the safe side and push the party back a week. (Yes, that really was the short version of the story.)

Anyway, back to the party. It was a big success!! It was great to get our families together and Addie (and Liv) had a great time at the party. The theme was "the Backyardigans". Addie lights up every time the show comes on and she hears the theme song. It's so great to see....and it doesn't hurt that Liv also loves the Backyardigans. We also learned that Addie's new baby cousin loves the Backyardigans too. She watched a show or 2 with her grandpa and had a great time!

It rained in the morning but it cleared up. I was nervous about the weather but not completely spastic! It ended up being a hot but still very nice day and I think everyone (except the little boy from the neighborhood who threw up) had a great time. I know Addie won't remember her birthday party but celebrating her first birthday and a year of having her in our lives was important for Billy and me (probably more me, I admit). We appreciate everyone traveling as far as they did to celebrate with us.

Usually the big first birthday questions are about the cake. Did she eat it? Did she like it? Did she make a mess? Well, she had her own cake and played with it a little but really wasn't overly thrilled about it. She really isn't a big fan of sweets. She did manage to get herself covered in the cake but played more than she ate. Here are some photos from the day..........

Ok so she didn't love the little tiara. I'm not sure she loved the singing either....

At first she wasn't sure of what to do with the cake.........

But after a little sample, she got the hang of it..........

Oh, and how could I forget, the Backyardigans masks were a big hit with the little and big kids.....