For Jorie

Jorie, I know this was once your favorite outfit, and now it is Allison's favorite. She is even acting a little like you. Cayden has said on several occasions (unprompted) that Allie "is like" Jorie. Wish we were closer to see the two of them together!! xoxo

More Talk

I must quickly add to the last post, because since that post, Allison's vocabulary has exploded! I am just going to list a few, but it is amazing to listen and hear her trying to say almost anything. I really need to get a video of the first one. She is hilarious.

Wow! (Said when she sees something "wow" worthy, which can be almost anything. She says it with so much enthusiasm that I have to stop and giggle every time she says it!)

Dip (As in, dip your carrot in ranch, dip your fry in ketchup, dip your bread in soup.)

Nummy, Nummy (Always said twice, and usually means, GET ME SOME FOOD before I start acting up.)

Bookie (Within the last week Allison has begun to LOVE books, and will actually sit through them. She brings us "bookies" when she wants to read.)

Rrrroarrrrr! (Said when she sees any animal, no matter what it is.)

Cream (As in, ice cream, whenever anyone gets close to the freezer, she starts asking for cream!)

Goon (When requesting a spoon, or any utensil to eat with. She even wants one when it is finger food.)

Allie Talk

Allie has quite a few new words, but the number is still small enough that every word gets repeated hundreds of times in a single conversation. She never says something just once. Here is a short video so you can hear what we listen to all day.

This is not the greatest video, but it does capture two of her most used words. "Milkie, milkie, milkie, milkie . . . ." and "tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle . . . . . "

Some others are:

goggie (for dog - she LOVES dogs!)

shoes (we are in trouble already and cannot walk by a shoe store without her wanting to try on every pair!)

gaga (for garbage - she loves throwing stuff away!)

teeeee (for teeth, which means she wants to brush her teeth, which for her is really just chewing/sucking on the tooth brush.)

Hi

Bye

Bonk! (Every time she falls, bumps, or trips she immediately says bonk, and hops right up.)

Gucky (for yucky)

Nose (Always said with finger UP her nose.)

Eye (Always said while poking herself in the eye.)

Cheese (Used both for a snack, and when she sees a camera.)

Baby (Said in reference to anyone who looks younger than she is.)

She is a hilarious little girl, and loves life. She sings in her crib in the morning, rushes to the door chanting dada dada dada dada when she hears Keir drive up (no joke, she can hear and recognize his truck pull up!), and we love her to pieces!

Snack Time

I must admit, I was a little late getting a snack ready for the kids this afternoon. I spent way too much time on the computer, and on the phone with customer service reps who do not speak English!?! (Arrgh!) I was buying our plane tickets to CA for Christmas- yippee!

Anyway, Allie took it upon herself to find a snack. She found a pack of gum and ATE THE ENTIRE THING, including ALL the wrappers. I found her when Conner came running while screaming, "Allie is eating all dad's gum, and she ate the paper too!"

This is what I found. (Sorry, the pictures are not great.)

She really did eat it ALL! There were a couple pieces left half chewed in her mouth when I found her, but she swallowed them as quickly as she could to keep me from getting them. Allison is proving to be a little wild child - yes, more than Cayden was! And, yes, I have all my medicines, cleaners, etc. behind child locks! I just hope she does not figure those out.

Cayden's First Day of Preschool

Cayden was so excited to FINALLY start school, and asked daily how many more days until school starts. We drove by at least five times before school started so Cayden could see the playground - his biggest concern. His little school is in this gorgeous home, and is amazing!

All the cubbies had pictures of them, and their family members. He was so excited, but couldn't figure out how Miss Jenn had pictures of Allie and Conner. I told him that I emailed the pictures to her, but he was still amazed.

All the kids take off their "outside shoes" and put on "school shoes" upon arrival. This will be especially helpful when the snow starts to come, and the children arrive in wet snow boots. The kids have no idea they are ballet shoes, they just think they are comfy slippers! He loves them.

Moving his name from "At Home" to "At School" is the first task each day.

The children help with everything throughout the day, including dishes after snack, sweeping the floor, washing the tables after art - in addition to all the other preschool activities. Cayden thinks it is pretty cool, and has already told me that I load the dishwasher wrong, and that I need to sing the handwashing song to make sure my hands get really clean. So, I let him load the dishwasher now! It is fabulous!

"All by myself!"

Allison has had me running for my camera a lot the last few days. She is growing up, and really doing her own thing.

She found a new hiding place in her room. I am still not sure how she got in here without the basket tipping over.

She has been dying to play with the boys in the backyard, and I finally let her go, all on her own. Can you tell she had a blast? She went face first down the slide, and ate some dirt.

She will not let me feed her anything anymore. She must do it herself. Needless to say, we are wasting a lot of yogurt these days.

When the spoon fails, just go for the fist! She is also demanding to sit in the Stokke chairs, and I have to say, she does pretty well - I just don't want to buy a third one when she has a perfectly good high chair.

First Day of Kindergarten

I am pleased to announce that I did not cry this morning!  Yippee!  Conner started kindergarten this morning, and boy was he excited!

The kids put their backpack on the line, and can play until the bell rings.  Today, they also got name tags to wear when they dropped off their backpack.  This is the neatest school ever, and has a little playground just outside the front door of his classroom.

Cayden had a few moments when I thought he might cry (because he wants to go to school so badly!), but overall he did great and was excited for Conner.  Cayden's preschool does not start until next week.

Allie was more interested in the PTO snacks at the parent breakfast.

Just to show how lucky we are..... This school has a program (ISS) for the special education kids, and there are 3 kinders in this program.  They have their classroom teacher, two classroom aids assigned specifically to these 3 children, AND a special education teacher,  assigned to these 3, and 3 in first grade.  (Yep, that is right, six kids - while most special education teachers have over 30 kids on their caseload!!)  The typical developing children only stay mornings, while these 3 children get to stay all day, four days a week.  During the afternoons, they are provided with physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.  They even get to go do swimming therapy every other Friday.  Also during the afternoons, the special education teacher gives them a preview of what will happen the next day with their entire class - so when the time comes, they will hopefully absorb as much as their classmates.  This afternoon time can also be used to review past activities.  I am amazed with the program, and know we are in the right place for Conner!