Peace Dude

I'm not a huge fan of the style that the kids are into right now. Everything is neon, glittery, and covered in peace signs. Reese paired her toothfairy money with a few more dollars that she'd been saving up and decided that she wanted to spend it on an outfit she would pick out all on her own. This is what we came home with: Don't get me wrong....I do think she looks cute, but I think she makes the outfit cute and not the other way around. I have to allow her a bit of creative freedom and happily bit my tongue when she picked it out and proudly made her purchase at the counter. It has been really hot and dry here lately. Today we finally got a tiny bit of rain. We decided to take advantage and went out into the front yard to enjoy the rainfall.

I loved seeing how excited they got running around together getting soaked. I cherish these simple moments.

Talan - 18 Month Stats

Poor second child. Oh how I've neglected you! For some reason, I thought it would be okay to bring Talan in for a 1-year check up and then not again until his next birthday. Please don't ask me why. I don't have a good answer for that one. It was only when I was talking to my cousin, Heather, (who obvs does a much better job at parenting than I do) that I realized that I should have not only scheduled his 18 month check-up but that I'd also missed one in between. I should have taken him in at 15 months, too. Whoopsie daisy. Way to drop the ball.

I scheduled an appointment the day after beating myself up for 24 hours I realized what I had done and took him in for his appointment on Thursday. Thanks to me, the poor dude had to get caught up on shots and they stuck him 4 times. Four was my limit so I've got to go back and have them give him 2 more next month. He's such a good sport and bounced back almost instantly. Thank God he doesn't react to shots like his sister did.

The doctor did a good job at reassuring me that I wasn't a monster for not having brought him in until now. In fact, she too has an 18 month old and she too missed the 15 month and has yet to bring hers in for the 18 month so that made me feel a little better. I was a little shocked when she said that at this point he should know somewhere around 10 words. He knows 75-100 words and repeats just about anything. I thought he was on par with other kids his age but from what she says he is advanced in his speech. The kid didn't walk until 4 months ago so where these kids take their time in one area, they surprise you by advancing quickly in another.

Speaking of walking, he tends to walk around on his tiptoes. I wasn't concerned about it but pointed it out to the doctor anyway. I mainly wanted to know how much longer he'd be doing that to know how much longer I'm going to have to deal with the 3-a-day accidents because he's got so much forward momentum that he can't stay upright. She suggested that we put him in high tops for 4-6 hours a day to help keep his feet flat. He's like me....he's happiest barefoot or in flops so keeping him in shoes should be fun times.

He is following the same curve he has been on with height and weight. He is 21.7 pounds (17.11 at 1 year) and 3 percentile in weight and 31" (28.5 at 1 year) and 11th percentile in height. He just doesn't seem tiny to me at all when I look at him but the scale states otherwise. He eats more than some adults I know so I'm not really sure where it all goes. I wish I had that problem!

In other Talan news, we broke him of the pacifier habit. I was dreading it but it was the easiest transition ever. A few weeks ago we just decided to try putting him to bed without it. He didn't make a peep. From that night on we just didn't offer it up and he didn't complain. That easy! In fact, after he had been without for over a week he was having a rough time teething. He was screaming and miserable and I was about 3 seconds from ripping every hair out of my head so I dug a pacifier out of my purse and offered it up in hopes of a few moments of silence. He wouldn't take it! I'm glad, in hindsight, that he didn't but I was desperate at the time.

T and I are still trying to get used to the days without Reese. Man do we miss her. It was great to be all together this weekend but unfortunately it flew by. Back to the daily grind tomorrow.

1st Day of 1st!

And so the day arrived. Reese woke up very excited this morning and was ready to go long before her alarm sounded. We have her alarm set for 7:30. It's not to prevent her from sleeping to late. Oh no. Instead it's to prevent her from getting up too early. Her bus doesn't come until 8:40 so if she's up at 6:30 it makes for a very long morning with a very anxious 6-year-old girl. She picked out her outfits for the week last night. And the winner for the first day of 1st was..... Talan had to get in on the photo op: When it was finally time to head to the bus stop she was excited to see our neighbor, Nithya, who is also in 1st: Waving goodbye (but it wasn't really goodbye because the entire family piled into the car and followed the bus to school as not to miss out on the rest of the first day excitement): Arriving at school: Heading back to line up with their classes: Super excited!: Making a new friend: And saying hello to some old friends: Blowing us one last kiss before heading in for a fun-filled day: Okay, so that was all MUCH harder than I'd expected. Believe it or not, today was harder for me than the first day of Kindergarten. I'm not sure why but I think it was just that she was so comfortable and so ready for it. It made her seem more grown-up than I'm ready for her to be. And I was also just not ready for her to go back. I needed a couple more weeks of time with my mini. Talan and I both had a fairly rough day. He walked around with the phone all day having make believe conversations with her. "Eese, hi. Eese, bye. Ya-you Eese". I watched the clock for the last hour in anticipation of the bus arriving. Finally it did and she jumped off: And guess who got the first hug? Melts my heart. The photo at the top has become a first day tradition. The video of her describing her first day is another:

Night Before Day 1 of Grade 1

This afternoon was "meet the teacher" day at school. They officially start tomorrow. It still hasn't hit me. I just can't believe this summer has come and gone. Reese was super excited to meet Mrs. Towle (pronounced "toll"). We were the first ones there so she walked right in and up to her new teacher and said "I looked you up in the yearbook and when I saw your picture I was so happy because you look like you're nice". I thought it was hilarious but the teacher barely cracked a smile. This one might take some getting used to. After our initial introduction and due to all of the chaos I wasn't able to snap a photo of Reese with the teacher. Instead, here's one of Reese with her friend, Natalie. She and Natalie were in the same class last year. They were so excited to have real desks this year and to be able to pick their own seats.

Afterwards we "met the daddy" for dinner and ice cream sundaes for dessert:

Yes he had a bowl, and yes it had chocolate syrup on it, and yes put a big dent in it. Now stop judging me.

When we got home we had just enough time to pack the backpack and do some prep for tomorrow morning before bedtime. I surprised Reese with a special book before bed....Night Before First Grade.

I guess I'm ready for tomorrow. I'm really excited for her but it will be an adjustment for me and I'm certain Talan is going to miss the heck out of her tomorrow, too. My sweet little 1st grader!

Buh Bye Summertime

I don't know where this summer went. I have mixed emotions about the start of the school year. In some ways I'm ready for it. There is something to be said for being on a schedule. I feel like I get a lot more done when there is a bit of structure to our days. In other ways I'm sad to see it go. I am really going to miss having Reese around. She's bored to death but I love hanging out with her every day. I'm also dreading another winter here. I can't believe so many people complain about the heat! Hello people.....shut it. I'd rather be sweating like a pig than freezing my rear end off. I am not even close to being ready to pack up my flops. Reese starts school on Tuesday. We went to see her class list when it posted last week. She was excited to see several familiar names alongside hers. She didn't get the teacher she wanted but I am not sure that she really knows anything about the 1st grade teachers. To celebrate the new school year we invited over the three girls that were in her class last year who are also in it this year. 2 of the 3 came over and the girls had a blast. They love laying out the sleeping bags and doing the whole mock-sleepover deal so that's what they did tonight. I fixed them dinner and brought it down to the basement. They watched a movie and played for a couple of hours before heading home. On Monday we meet her teacher, Mrs. Towle. So exciting!

Slip Sliddin' Away

Last week Kevin's job took him to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It's a 2.5 hour drive from here. Rather than going over, taking photos, and coming back home we decided it would be fun to pack up the whole family and drive over with him. On the way back we stopped in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and stayed overnight. Reese was just a tad bit worn out after the drive. She and Talan both perked right up when they realized that we were there. Hotels with indoor waterparks are huge in the Midwest. I guess it makes sense being that it's freezing cold for 9 months out of 12. There were only two big slides but it was perfect for us. Reese and I went down there while Kevin worked and Talan napped. One of the slides was the kind you go down on a tube. We were able to go down that one on a double tube so we did it over and over and over again. Kevin and Talan eventually met us down there. Talan did better than I thought he would. He cruised around the lazy river with me for almost 30 minutes. Reese was in Heaven. We had to drag her out of the water after several hours. We bought a package deal so it came with a bunch of tokens for the arcade so after the park we headed there for some fun and games. Talan spiked a fever the night before we left. Every time he cuts a tooth (or 4 teeth in this case) he spikes a high fever and gets a runny nose. Poor dude was in quite a bit of pain but it's nothing a bunch of junk food can't cure. Mother of the Year people! That's a lollipop in his mouth and an ice cream sandwich and dipping dots in front of him. Whatever it takes. The following morning we went for a walk around the lake. It was such a cute little town. I loved it and can't wait to go back.

I Wish....

Reese recently told us that if she had a wish, she would wish for a ride in a convertible car. My friend, Jennifer, swapped cars with her mom for the week and her mom's car happens to be a convertible. So Jennifer made a wish come true and took Reese for a spin around the block. And since Reese got a wish, it was only fair to let Talan's wish come true as well. He wished for an ice cream cookie. Duh. Here's the aftermath:

She Screams for Sushi

Reese isn't what I'd describe as a finicky eater. She will eat almost anything and is always willing to try new things. The problem is that one day she's crazy about something and the next day she'll turn her nose up at the exact same thing. That makes it really hard when it comes to meal time so I always try to ask her what she wants so that I can at least try to put something she'll eat on the table. Her answer to that question as of lately is always "sushi"! I'm so happy that she loves it but that is one expensive palate she's got. Sushi is not cheap. In fact, it's very expensive. Unfortunately the summer vacation is about to come to an end. We promised Reese an end of summer date night and her obvious choice was sushi. We booked a babysitter for Talan and off the rest of us went for an awesome dinner. Another of her requests was that we sit at the sushi bar which turned out to be a lot of fun. She spent most of the day planning out exactly what she was going to order. Her favorite is eel so that was a definite. She also wanted a California roll and a spider role (that's soft shell crab for all of you anti-sushi peeps). Eel happens to be one of my favorites too. She slammed just about all of it. She's about the only person I enjoy watching crush my favorite meal. I was so happy to see her digging it and eating so much.

We had a blast but we've decided that we're going to save the expensive fancy sushi nights for ourselves because she would have been just as happy with something a lot more simple. I'm thinking we'll start a Friday night sushi tradition once a month - something she'll earn for good behavior and doing well in school. So hard to believe she starts 1st grade in three days!

Pie Got Married

My cousin, Pie, got married to the love of her life, Shad, last month. My Aunt Jill and Uncle David didn't really name her Pie. Her name is Amanda but pretty much from birth she's been known as Pie. My Aunt Jill has a way with nicknames. Mine? Porkchop (because the first time she saw me as a baby she said I looked like a little porkchop). Reese became Lambchop and Talan is T-bone. Speaking of Lambchop and T-bone....Pie asked the both of them to be in her wedding. The weekend was a blast. We started the celebration with an 80's themed surprise shower for Pie & Shad. Reese loved dressing up. She also loved being in control of the karaoke mic. I wish I had a photo of my crazy parents in their outfits. Think Flashdance & Richard Simmons. Yep, they went there. On Friday Reese and I were invited to the bridesmaids luncheon. It was such a fun afternoon! We went to a place called Corks & Canvas. We started out with a blank canvas and with the help of an instructor who took us step-by-step in the process we ended up with this: It was so awesome to see each person's interpretation. Mine is on the left, Reese's on the right. Saturday was the big day. The kids looked so cute! And Pie? Stunning. I was a little nervous about Talan and what he'd do (or not do for that matter) when it came time to walk down the aisle. I have to say, I was very impressed at how well both kids did. Here is a shot of the beautiful bride and groom: And the entire wedding party: Reese danced the night away! Talan got in on the fun, too: Reese was in awe of Pie: It was such a fun night. We were so honored to have been a part of it. Congrats to Pie & Shad! We love you!!