Sunday, October 26, 2008

ZTA 5K Walk/Run (or stroll)

We participated in the ZTA 5K Race today. Our babysitter Dominique's sorority was putting it on, and it was for a good cause, Breast Cancer Awareness. It turned out to be a beautiful and very windy day, perfect for the race - especially since it'd been raining for the last couple days.

Here we are waiting for the race to start. We got our numbers 76, 76, 77! For whatever reason, Peter was being anti-camera for this shot and Elaine is in the single stroller.

I was overly excited to get my "Think Pink" ribbon pin.


Luckily, Elaine slept through the entire race...all nice and cozy warm in her car seat.

I didn't get to catch Peter crossing the finish line because he'd ran off quicker than I could keep up, but he did get a lot of cheering to finish off the race, just like Natalie's reception to the finish line.

Here's their finish photo with the finish line of balloons behind them. It was sort of cute that each thought they won the race - as we told them, they did win...in their division.

Peter's favorite part was the race. Natalie's favorite part was 'the wind blow [her] hair away'.


It was a nice run and we had a great time doing the race as a family. We got a lot of props from other runners and organizers for bringing out the kids for the run. We felt happy that we did it...and now my legs are SORE!
As promised after the windy day out, we had hot chocolate back at home
...through a straw, nonetheless!

Whatever makes them happy!

Friday, October 24, 2008

Follow the yellow brick road

"We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of OZ!"


(Elaine as the Cowardly Lion, Peter as the Scarecrow, Natalie as Dorothy, and Puppy as Toto)


Iowa City had their Halloween Carnival tonight. The kids were pretty excited to wear their costumes. It helped that we watched the Wizard of Oz recently. Natalie loved being Dorothy! It was perfect that her favorite stuffed doll, Puppy the dog went as her Toto. Peter was so excited to be the Scarecrow - kept asking when his costume was coming in the mail (I won it off of ebay). The costume just fit him right. Elaine stayed nice and warm in her lion costume. I even added a little red ribbon for the Wizard of Oz touch!

I'm so happy that I got these costumes together without paying an arm and a leg for everything! I scored last fall when I found those red ruby shoes on clearance for $3. I'm lucky that I guestimated her shoe size a year in advance! Then, I found the Dorothy costume at a consignment shop - total luck and quite the find for $7. Peter's costume was an ebay find for $15. Elaine's lion costume was also an ebay deal for $5! I'm working on finishing up my Glinda good witch skirt (making from scratch without a pattern) and Sam's Tin Man outfit for next week. I'll post pictures of all of us together - if we manage to get a good one of us five!

At the carnival, the kids had fun with all the activities that included an inflatable castle bouncee, games with prizes, and a haunted hallway. Peter's favorite part was the haunted house and he enjoyed it so much that he wanted to go through it twice. Natalie wanted out halfway through the first time, so she had nothing to do with a second time! Instead, Natalie's favorite part was the castle bouncee.




They played several of the simple kids games. While she enjoyed the games, Natalie didn't really like the little game prizes, which mostly were plastic spider rings. She wouldn't even touch one!


We all had a great time. It was wonderful that the Iowa City Police and Fire department were there. Peter was excited to see Sparky, the fire department mascot for Fire Safety Week, especially since we just did a few things in his Sparky activities book earlier in the day! It's great that our community can put on a fun family free event.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I'm soooo "Audrey Hepburn"

Elaine is just missing the cute "Breakfast at Tiffany's" black dress! She thought my sunglasses were so fun and I had fun taking her picture!



Elaine also has started giggling at the goofy things we do.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Milestone for Elaine!

Elaine has flipped onto her tummy!
I don't think she really meant to. After an hour nap, I found her lying on her tummy and crying. She didn't seem too happy about it.
Nevertheless, another milestone!

On an added note, she also has been working up those neck muscles while on her "scheduled" tummy time. Also, she's been trying to sit up while in her car seat, swing or rocker chair
(like she's doing some baby crunches/abs work). Looks like she's gearing up to be on the move!

All I have to say is these baby stages are going by all too quickly!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Life and sibling connections

Shout out to my blog readers in Nevada...this one is for you!

Elaine is smiling more than ever these days. Oddly, she dishes out the best smiles as soon as I lay her down on her changing table. She's really into her mobiles over her crib and the one over her swing. Here in her swing, she's looking at those butterflies flying above her.


On our walks around the neighborhood, the kids love to (literally) stop and smell the roses. Their favorite (and abundantly available in the yard of a vacant home that's been on the market forever) is the dandelion. Natalie loves to pick the bloomed white ones to 'make a wish' and Peter loves to pick any flower to give to me. Here he had rode ahead of us, picked this dandelion he's spotted, rode quickly back to me and said, "Mommy! I picked this one for you!" Yes, I know. Awwwwww.....

Natalie wins the title of my champion napper. I've worried that Natalie will drop her naps ever since Peter gave up all naps a couple months before his 3rd birthday. Well, Natalie has calmed my worries. One day last week, I had the kids downstairs set to watch one show (probably a Dora or Diego show) and prepared Natalie by telling her that after the show was over, it'd be time for her nap. I was upstairs in the kitchen when the show had ended. I finished up the dishes before I went downstairs to bring up Natalie for her nap. When I got there, I only found Peter. A little panic took over me as I asked where Natalie was. Peter said she'd gone upstairs for her nap. The gate was left open, but I wasn't convinced she'd gone up voluntarily. So, back upstairs I went and just as I got to the top of the stairs, I heard the door to the kids' room close shut. I opened the door to find this:

Natalie had quietly walked upstairs by herself, crawled into bed, got under the covers, and started to read a book...basically, put herself down for a nap! OH! I just love this girl!

If anyone wonders how three kids ages 3 and under get along in our house, here are a couple glimpses into our home to give you an idea. As good big brothers do, Peter is always ready to entertain Elaine in her walker. Both Peter and Natalie love having Elaine sitting up in her walker beause she's right at their level and they can interact with her 'one-on-one'. Peter gets Elaine's attention with a little peek-a-boo play.

I love this picture. It looks like the two sisters are already practicing their vogue poses...gotta love it! Always the snuggler, Natalie also enjoys a little snuggle time with Elaine on our bed. Natalie loves to just stare and smile at Elaine, and tell her that she's "so cute".

I'd have to agree!

Monday, October 6, 2008

Things I hear from Peter and Natalie (and Elaine) - part 3

We officially have entered the phase of "why?"
...in stereo nonetheless.
Both Peter and Natalie have been asking, "Why?" every chance they get. As anyone can figure out, it's a never-ending stream of explanations. So we thought. When it came to the point (a very FAR point) where we couldn't answer "why" something was, for fun, we just said "Why not?!" This has come in handy and even has rubbed off onto Natalie, who answered her own "why" question with a "why not!" They think it's as funny as we do.

Elaine sayings:

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaa..." - our little baby girl is starting to speak!

Natalie sayings:

"Mommy, I need water, I'm like a flower" - guess she was really thirsty?

"
When I three years old, I gets to go to school like Peter!" - she is sooo ready!

"Mommy! Peter not sharing!" - ah, a little budding tattle teller!

"
I'm free to goooo!" - usually after we finish getting her dressed after many attempts to keep her still and in one spot.

"I so crazy!" - no comment

"Nothing!" - her usual response whether you ask "what are you doing?" (when she really is doing something she shouldn't or when she's doing #2 in her diaper) or "what will make you feel better?" (when she gets into her sour moods).

Peter sayings:

Daddy: "Everyone wants 'Mommy', 'Mommy', 'Mommy'. When am I going to be the cool one?"
Peter: "When you turn into Mommy."
I kid you not, this dialogue is verbatim!

"If the ground in McDonalds wasn't so hard, I could tumble" - stems from them taking tumbling classes.

"We can't skidoo because we're not magical" - how sad he's lost the suspension of disbelief, even in Blue's skidoo-ing!

"Mommy! You're getting smaller and smaller every day!" - awwww, my boy sure does know how to make his Mommy feel better about her post-partum weight!

Other things worth mentioning...

...about Elaine:

As introduced on this entry, Elaine has started to become vocal. I'm starting to wake up to her 'talking' to the animals on her mobile rather than her crying. It's really cute!

Elaine has already learned to roll onto her side. I guess she's been able to do this for a couple weeks already, but I failed to mention it here.

Elaine has early signs of being a thumb sucker. I often catch (or hear) her smacking at her hands/fist and finally have seen her singling out her thumb and sucking away! All three of our kids have refused any pacifier. Peter and Natalie never sucked their thumbs, rather they sucked on - really - nothing with their tongues poking in/out of their mouths. Natalie still does this (along with pinching the skin on her neck) when she's getting tired or ready to sleep. I'm interested to see if it disappears or will Elaine be the first and only (well, along with me, when I was younger) thumb sucker!

...about Natalie:

Natalie's own personality is truly coming out. She's become our bright-eyed, free spirited, crazy (by her own admission), sweet little girl. As I often say to Sam, I feel that she might have learned a few things from Uncle Jim during his last visit. She rambles off the silliest things, comes up with some crazy dance moves, and handles discipline somtimes in a slightly comic way. Natalie certainly is not our 'serious' child.

Physically, Natalie has grown up. She's eating at the table without any high chair or booster, drinking out of a cup, and using 'big people' forks and spoons. She's made these changes partly because she is getting bigger but partly because she wants to do "like Peter" is doing. I also noticed she's been walking up the stairs rather than using her hands to help her climb up. These are small and simple changes, but ones that add up to your baby girl growing up to be a big girl.

...about Peter

Peter often has been pretending to fall asleep in the car after a 'long' ride. Although he's pretty good at it, he still needs some work on his acting skills. We can plainly see his eyes fighting to stay closed and his mouth fighting to not burst out with laughter. He even tries to sneak a peek to see if we've been fooled. We usually break his 'method acting' by saying something funny or "I guess Peter can stay in the car while we go inside for a snack!" That 100% snaps him out of it - he would never want to miss out on a snack!

For preschool, Peter had some chocolates he had to sell. Yes, fundraising apparently starts early at Regina! It was hard enough trying to explain to him what fundraising meant let alone explain why he couldn't eat all 30 boxes of chocolates. Finally, I think he got the idea. Well, I can definitely say he got it because the next thing I hear is Peter asking me to get money out of his piggy bank to buy his fundraising chocolates! He chose chocolate covered raisins. Such a resourceful boy!


Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Peter's first field trip!

Tuesday was a special school day for Peter - it was his first field trip! Regina 3-year old preschoolers were going to Wilson's apple orchard!
It also turned out to be his first time on a school bus, which seemed almost as exciting (if not more) than the field trip itself! What 3-year old really understands what an orchard is anyway?

As one of the parent chaperones, I was assigned Peter and a cute little girl named Carissa. Here are the two of them excited about their first school bus experience.



As soon as we got to the orchard, we got off the bus and hopped aboard the tractor wagon for a ride around the orchard. It was a fun and bumpy ride through apple trees and the creek, which was lots of fun for the kids. My main concern was to make sure the two kids under my supervision stayed on the wagon!



Here are Peter's preschool teachers: Mr. Nick (in black shirt) and Ms. Connie (in the hat).



After the tractor ride, we went inside for a little demonstration on different kinds of apples and how differently they taste. All the kids were paying close attention because she was cutting apple slices for them to sample. Yum! Even us parents got to sample a few slices!

Once our Bear class apple demonstration was over, we played games and sang songs outside while the Bunny room kids got their turn inside. It was a beautiful day and perfect for a little hokey pokey business!




and with that..."That's what it's all about!"