A Jam Packed July

We have been busy busy this month as is the usual for the summertime.  It's crazy how fast the summer flies by and it's already nearing the end of the month and I'm planning Halloween costumes (only a little bit kidding).

We enjoyed a fun Fourth of July starting with the kids bike parade in Brown's Point.  The kids helped decorate their bikes and did great on the route!  They both pedaled (scooted, in Oliver's case) the entire route.  Oliver and Chris were actually the last ones by the end and the only complaint Oliver had was 'self' (he wanted to do it himself).

We had some good friends over for a BBQ and then headed down to the Brown's Point Lighthouse Park to watch the Tacoma fireworks.

Our weekend camping trip was on Bainbridge Island last weekend and we had an amazing time!  The campground was a city park and aside from having terrible neighbors the first night and a bumpy campsite we really enjoyed it.  We even knocked off four hikes in our Best Hikes with Kids book.  The island was beautiful and the kids did great camping (a few accidents on Oliver's part but he really loved peeing in the grass).  We ate yummy food and slept in fresh air.  Doesn't get much better than that!

The Palevich's were here for five days this past week and it was really fun to spend so much fun with all of them.  We went to the zoo, swam in the pool, had a BBQ, went to a concert in the park, had another BBQ and made lots of memories.  They'll be back in a couple of weeks!

Summer Has Arrived

Our kids are growing!!!  We have so many new milestones being hit and this mama is always sad that they are growing so fast.

Oliver:

Potty Training: Take #1

I foolishly started potty training a few weeks ago.  Because I'm a crazy person and just can't wait.  I knew the summer would be the easiest time to do it since the kids just run around naked anyway...well.  Oliver filled up his first sticker chart in record time (earning Cars toys and eventually his Thomas and Mickey undies) and has successfully pooped in the potty once.  In three weeks.  He rushes to the toilet because he knows he has to go, sits for about thirty seconds, leaps off the potty and goes and poops in a corner.  If we take him every 20-30 minutes he will pee every time but if we miss one of those timers he will most definitely pee in his pants and has no desire to run to the toilet if he feels it coming.  But there is NO way we're going back now, so we'll just keep trucking along!

Showing off his certificate at the showcase

Oliver can successfully count to ten and can identify all of his colors (when he's not distracted by...life).  I think it's super impressive.  His favorite numbers are still two (do) and five (figh).  He LOVES to count before he does things and demands "minute!" before we ask him to do anything which means he wants us to set the timer for some minutes before he: goes potty, gets ready for bed, washes his hands for dinner, picks up toys, etc.

He is sleeping a bit better since we returned from Sunriver and his few nights in the bottom of a bunk bed there.  I think he was waking up in the morning when he wasn't covered by his blankets and then wouldn't go back to sleep eventually.  Now, he still needs to be recovered around 5:30-6:00 but then he'll go back to sleep for another hour sometimes!  YAY!  I think being in a big kid bed with big covers will do wonders for him, but I don't want to get rid of the glider in his room yet, so we're going to transition his crib to the toddler bed for a bit.  Maybe.  Or maybe I should just suck it up and put the twin bed in there.  Ugh.

Cheesing Oliver is way better than tantruming Oliver

Probably the most drastic recent development is Oliver's proclivity for tantrums.  Like.  Big ones.  He has discovered the word NO and uses it frequently.  And if we expect him to do something and he doesn't want to, forget it or expect a complete meltdown.  It's guaranteed at some point he will melt down in the car, sometime before nap/bedtime, and perhaps before dinner where he is placed on the bottom step of our staircase until he calms down and goes and washes his hands so he can come join us at the table.  ARGH.  It is SO frustrating because he was SO easy going and now, NOPE.

Zoe:

Riding her bike at Sunriver

Z is also growing growing growing.  She has learned how to ride her bike which she absolutely LOVES (especially since she learned how to brake in Sunriver) and she thinks she's the fastest bicyclist in the world (spoiler alert: she is SO slow).

Zoë and Miss Madeline

"Woodland Creature"

End of the season showcase at The Little Gym

Watching her in her gymnastics and ballet classes has been my absolutely favorite thing about her lately.  She LOVES her classes and is the best student in the class, for real.  She listens to the teachers, follow directions, and pushes herself to try new things every week.  I know gymnastics is the perfect environment to challenge her because she feels safe and loved by her teachers.  I can't say enough good things about the Little Gym and want her to go to classes there forever.

Her ballet recital was absolutely precious and it was so fun to watch her perform.  Her teacher, Miss Madeline, was not at the recital so they had a stand in teacher lead them onto the stage and do the dance with them.  The kids were all bunched up on one side of the stage and so Zoë ended up in the back of the group on night one.  I told her on the way to the school on night two that she needed to get to the front so I could get a better view.  And, wouldn't you know it, about 15 seconds into her one minute dance she slid right to the front and continued seamlessly with the choreography.  Every time I watch the video it makes me laugh to watch.

The whole class

In other fun news, Z has been sleeping until 8am some mornings and it is glorious.  She is also working on recognizing her numbers 1-12 so that she can earn a watch.  AND, she can now count to 100 with just a little bit of help on the 10s (and still skips #16!).

She HAS become little miss independent and sulky-pants.  But more on that later.

We went to Sunriver with our good friends Kari and Patrick and their 9 month old son Bennett and had a great time.  Chris participated in the Pacific Crest Triathlon which was so fun to watch him do.  He swam the first leg in the Wikiup Reservoir about a 30 minute drive away from Sunriver, biked to the Three Rivers School, and then finished up a 10K in the Village.  We got to see him at each transition and he was wonderful!  It was, of course, the hottest day Sunriver has seen this summer yet (high was about 94) so he had his work cut out for him.  We are heading back in September with my entire family and we're looking forward to spending more time on our bikes and eating ice cream at Goody's.

With the Bradleys: Patrick, Bennett and Kari

We have our first summer BBQ tomorrow and pretty much have the yard ready, thank goodness.  It seems like the summer is flying by already and it's not even the Fourth yet.  We have too much fun to pack in!

With Daddy before he started his swim for the Sunriver Triathlon

We love Sunriver!

Easter and Spring

***Disclaimer...this was written in April and posted in May.***

We had a wonderful Easter with our family over for brunch in the morning.  The kids spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house the night before so Chris and I had a relaxing morning getting everything ready for the meal and it allowed the Easter Bunny LOTS of time to hide baskets and eggs!

The kids had a GREAT time searching for eggs outside and I think I can speak for everyone when I say it was really fun to watch them run around.  The Easter Bunny hid about 75 eggs, so they were everywhere.

We've been getting outside as much as possible even during our super, record setting, rainy spring.  The rain doesn't stop us!  It's included searching for painted rocks as that's the newest fad in Tacoma.  We've painted a few, also, but haven't hid them yet.  We've gone to the zoo nearly every week since we got our membership at the beginning of the month.  It's definitely a fun and easy outing.  I'm so proud that both kids can walk for such long distances and I don't have to rely on the stroller anymore. 

Chris and I have been working on building a new bed for ourselves, KING SIZED!!!  It's almost done and then next week we'll have a couple of days to paint Miss Zoë and Mr. Oliver's rooms so we can move our queen sized bed into her room (lucky girl).

Chris took Oliver to his 2 year wellness check and he weighed 31 pounds (75th percentile) and was 35 inches tall (80th Percentile) and right on track for everything.  What a healthy boy!  And, in Zoë's health news...I took a shower at the beginning of naptime last week and as I got out Zoë came in and said "Mama, I need your help.  There are beads stuck in my nose."  I laughed so hard.  I would have NEVER thought SHE would have shoved anything up her nose and was immediately reminded of when my sister shoved an earring back up her nose when she was of a similar age.  I had an appointment made with her pediatrician to go have them taken out (because I didn't want to shove pony beads up even further into her nasal cavity) when a friend sent me a suggestion she found online.  I put my mouth over hers, closed one nostril as best I could, and blew a sharp puff of air into her mouth and the bead popped right out!  So.  File that away for later.  What a nut.

That's all for now!  The weather is getting nicer (we had our first impromptu BBQ last night with Bailey's family and the pool will open at the beginning of June and then we'll be ready for a summer of fun!).

Happy 2nd Birthday Oliver Finn!

Oliver Finn you are 2!  I may be a little biased, but I think you are the most charming two year old on the planet with your mischievous smile and the way you hold a conversation with anyone who will listen.  I see why second children get away with more than the first...my heart just melts when you are naughty and push the limits and you grin your grin at me.  And my heart hurts when you cry.  You are often grinning, sitting on the timeout step, when I come back to talk to you.

Bedtimes are so precious.  You pick your own book, usually insisting on a dinosaur or car/truck/plane/train book but sometimes going with Click Clack Moo or Hello, Ninja.  You always try to negotiate getting another one read to you about halfway through the first.  When we're done reading you say "shong", turn around and bury your head into my shoulder as I turn off the light and sing you a song.  Just recently you've begun to finish each line in the song with the correct word which is so adorable.  When song time is over, we rock for a bit in the dark, just you and me.  Then, you lay in your crib, your Coug blanket balled up under your chest and your fuzzy "lellow" blanket completely covering you.  I know you'll be sleeping in a big boy bed in no time, but I am going to dread the day we take the rocker out of your room because I enjoy sitting in it with you so very much.

We cannot believe how your vocabulary and communication has grown just in the past month.  You have words for most things that are correct (except milk="bunt"...what is that about?!).  You negotiate EVERYTHING by putting your little finger up in the air and declaring "one" and quickly changing it to "two" and then "five" with a nod and dip of your head and your little chubby fingers sticking up in the air.  You LOVE to spend time outside ("side").  You insist that we "come, come" when you want us to see something or sit next to you.  Your favorite mode of transportation is "bat" (back) on anyone who will carry you.

You. are. fearless.  You jump.  And run.  And hop.  And roll.  And tackle.  You go down slides (something your sister is still hesitant about).  You earned your first stitches just a few weeks ago and I have a feeling they will not be your last because of the break-neck speed with which you live life.  You catapult down the stairs, jump on the couch (even though you're not supposed to), leap off of your changing table, and run like someone is dangling cake in front of you.

Your sister is your favorite person.  She is the sunshine in your sky.  You love to do whatever "Zo Zo" is doing which also includes playing with whatever toy she has.  You give hugs and kisses to everyone willingly and you're GOOD at it.  I love when you lay your head on your dad's shoulder and just rest there for a short moment of stillness--which doesn't last long, by the way.  "Fuh Fuh" and Joe are constantly being tackled and hugged, much to their chagrin.


Lover of elephants (phffffffffft), dinosaurs, books, your sister, RUNNING, JUMPING, being outside, gymnastics, plashing in puddles, and eating.

Where oh where did my baby boy go?  I know your baby-hood is disappearing with every new word you learn and new skill you master and it breaks my heart.  But I still delight in every new thing you can do and celebrate it with Daddy and Zoë and all of the other wonderful people who love you.

You are a wonder, little boy, and I am so glad that you're mine.

Spring and Stitches

We are so thankful it's Spring, even though the rain has been non stop for about the past month.  At least the temperatures are slowly climbing and making our outdoor adventures much more bearable!  We've even had a few wonderfully sunny days to go hiking and exploring that have given us a glimpse of our fun summer ahead.

The chicken whisperer.  OMG, he is in LOVE with the chicks.

We've had a rough week in our household, though.  Last Friday, my dad and Chris broke me down and we brought home a box of chicks to take care of until my parents get their coop built at their new house.  We brought home four chicks, one for each of the grandchildren.  Z and O got to pick out their own and named them Cinderella and Roar.  :)  The kids LOVE going and checking on them every day in the garage where they are in a cardboard box with a heat lamp to keep them at the appropriate temperature.  Every day we notice they're losing more and more of their baby fuzz and gaining feathers.  Apparently you're supposed to buy more chicks than you actually want because they have a high likelihood of dying when they're so little.

Oliver and Roar.  Surprisingly, he's been quite gentle.

SO.  The kids and I were getting ready to leave the house on Wednesday, I was loading up the car and the kids were checking on the chicks when I heard "Mama, why is that one just LAYING there?"  I knew immediately what had happened and sure enough little Roar died.  Explaining the death of this chick to Zoë was excruciating and she was HEARTBROKEN.  Sobbed all the way to the Zoo which is where our morning adventure was taking us.  She had all sorts of questions like, "why can't I see it after we bury her?" "why did she die?" "how do you KNOW all of the other ones will not die?" and just general heartache.  I told Chris and Dad that I was never forgiving them.  When Chris came home from work we had a brief funeral where we buried Roar in the front yard in a box Z had decorated that afternoon and under a rock for a grave marker she had painted.  She was super teary and then choked out "ice cream" and the tears disappeared.  She is related to Chris and myself, after all.  Food fixes everything.  ;)

Zoë and Cinderella

WHOSE idea WAS this?!

Oliver with the numbing cream on his forehead, waiting for the doctor to come back.

What a champ!  Capri Sun and graham crackers afterwards!

 And then yesterday I took the kids to the library for storytime and I kid you not we were TEN steps into the building when Oliver tripped over his own two feet and fell INTO THE CORNER OF THE BOOKSHELF and split his forehead open.  Like, a big gash.  Blood gushing from his forehead I whisked him to the front desk and asked a librarian if they had a first aid kit we could use, and then told her we'd be in the bathroom (I didn't want blood to be dripping all over the carpet and figured the bathroom would be easier to clean up safely).  The gash looked huge and I had a feeling we'd be getting stitches.  Luckily I had the foresight to call our amazing pediatrician who said to bring Oliver in right away so we checked out a few books for Z in case we were waiting for a while and drove up to Renton to see Dr. Moore.  As soon as the nurse saw the picture of O's forehead she said, "oh, yes, that'll need stitches" and put some numbing cream on it right away.  We waited about ten minutes and Dr. Moore came in to check it out.  He was hoping to only use the special glue to help his skin heal but determined it was too wide of a gash and that the glue wouldn't hold it together, so stitches it was.  Oliver was a CHAMP so far and didn't even flinch or flail when everybody else was touching him or looking at his head.  They were quite impressed with our almost two year old.  :)  Dr. Moore put cleaned up his wound, they put more numbing cream on it, and then came in to do the stitches.

This kid is never down for long.

 They put a piece of paper completely covering his head except for a hole cut around the gash.  So the poor kid couldn't see anything except Dr. Moore's face out the top of the hole.  He thought it was a game at first until the stitches started, but he held still and was fine until I lifted the paper up after the second stitch and could see that his lip was puckered and he was holding in his tears.  Such a tough guy!  We kept reassuring him and he finally started to let the sobs out around the start of the third stitch and then it was downhill from there.  It broke my heart to see him trying to be so tough and know he was probably really scared.  The whimpers of "ow, ow, ow" were not helping, either.  Five stitches later, he got to sit up and have another graham cracker and Capri Sun while they wiped him up and put some steri-strips over the stitches.

Bedtime "stodies"

So.  That has been our week.  Quite traumatic for Mom.  (Update:  Oliver got his stitches out, easy peasy.  The doctor put glue over them so they stay put.  For the next 3-6 months we have to put a mixture of sunscreen and vitamin E oil over the scar...).

Family hike at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Enjoying a brisk but sunny day!

And now the month of April is looming with Oliver's birthday coming up, then Easter, and then all of the planning that comes along with summertime!  We already have several trips planned for our summer and can't wait for pool and BBQ weather again!

A Quick Hello and Goodbye to February

Baba helping with art at the Hands On Children's Museum in Olympia

It's been kind of a mundane month, not much exciting, not much new.  We have been busy busy busy doing fun things, thought, and the kids still surprise us with their new skills every day, so that is super fun.

Rooooooaaaaaaar!  At the children's museum with Dedo

Second time hitting the slopes this season for Z.  Grandma tagged along this time!

Baby's first time bowling!  After her first turn she loved it.  I don't think
she understood the point the first couple of balls she rolled.  :)

Zoë has been honing her patience skills with her brother and life in general.  She has become a tantrum queen when she gets frustrated or doesn't get her way.  Like, put in a time-out in her room, kicking the door, coming out before her time is up, screaming at the top of her lungs kind of way.  Chris took her doorknob off her door the other day because she wouldn't stay in her room.  That was not received well.


She is continually using words and phrases I would never expect to hear out of a four-year-old's mouth.  One day she was describing to a friend how Oliver feels about his Dedo.  "Yeah, Bailey.  Oliver is kind of obsessed with Dedo."  Obsessed?!  Both true and a hilarious word to hear from her.  Also, we were discussing how she got her name when on our way to the store one day.  She asked who picked her name, which doctor it was.  I told her that mama and daddy picked it out and she responded, "But, did the doctor give you all of your options?".  Such a smarty.










She is showing more interest in learning her letters and can recognize more than I think she lets on.  She's definitely got her name down (and great at writing it).  She told me the other day that she wants to learn more letters and about which letters people have in their names.  A great start!

Picture from the dance

Zoë and Chris went to a Daddy/Daughter Dance at the Federal Way Community Center before Valentine's Day and they had a great time!  It was a princess themed dance so all of the little girls wore princess dresses.  So fun!  Z's friend Bailey and her dad were there, too.  After the dance Zoë and Chris went and had Japanese food (the Spaghetti Factory was way too crowded, sadly) and then came home to tell me about their great time.

We've been to two preschool open houses within the past month to check out our options for her in the fall.  One, our first choice, is at the Tacoma Nature Center and has all outdoor preschool, but they have a lottery with not very many slots open.  Chris says we tend to be very lucky people, but I'm not holding my breath.  Chris attended the open house at the Tacoma Children's Museum this week and actually enrolled Z in their 3 day a week play based preschool as our second (and very good) choice.  We opted for the co-op model to save $100 a month which will require me to come in 2 or 3 times per month to help, but that will be fun.  There are no other responsibilities like meetings, fundraisers, or committee positions, so it was worth saving the bucks.

Z has been spending a lot of time with her friend Bailey (and my with her mama Marci) and we LOVE the two of them.  It is so wonderful to have a good friend within minutes of our house who I feel I click with so well.  Our parenting styles are similar and Z and Bailey get along well (minus a few 3/4 year old glitches that are to be expected!).  They do ballet together, too.

Oliver's first snow!

Oliver is getting more and more vocabulary every day that he uses without being prompted.  The other day he walked into the kitchen and declared "book!" and pointed at the one he had in his hands.  I think it's his first 'b' word he's pronounced correctly.  :)  He also loves to declare, "down!", "no!", and "'side!" (outside).  My new favorite thing he says is "NOPE" in perfectly appropriate situations.  It's hilarious.

It didn't snow and stick last winter, so he enjoyed his first experience with it.

He is a MASTER storyteller.  He LOVES to tell stories and recount what happened during our day to Chris over dinner.  His favorite story to tell is about the peacock that stole his sandwich last summer at the zoo.  Yes, last summer.  He tells it with great expression and conviction of how traumatized he was.  I can't believe how animated he is and his facial expressions are priceless.

Typical morning...in princess gear by 7am.

Tried out a hike today...didn't go well.  

He's also really loving gymnastics.  He does an OK job of staying with the group and following directions.  Every once and a while he'll run away which makes me cringe, but he usually comes back.  He also can't wait to do ballet like his big sister.  Every time she goes into class he whines, pats his chest and points into the classroom as if he's saying, "Is it my turn yet?!"

Oliver has also attempted to sit on the potty a few times in the past two days...but only for "numanumanums" (M&Ms).  We'll see if this has any momentum but this mama would LOVE for the potty training to start to get rid of these diapers!

I've been doing the Whole30 this month which has been easier than I expected.  The Whole30 consists of only eating whole foods and avoiding dairy, gluten, processed sugar, and preservatives.  I have 8 days left and will debrief more when I'm done, but I feel as if I've been eating really good for me food and conscientious of what I'm putting in my mouth.  I'm pretty sure I prefer Weight Watchers for the weight loss aspect and the fact I can eat whatever I want, just in moderation, but we'll see when I start to reintroduce some of these foods into my diet how I feel then.

Chris' birthday was celebrated at Smash Putt with friends!

Chris signed up for the triathlon in Sunriver in June and I'm training for the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Seattle in June, so we're both trying to get ready for our separate events.  Should be a fun summer and I can't WAIT for the weather to be more conducive to getting outside (as I just looked up from my computer and outside, I see that it's trying super hard to SNOW...really?!).