Caps for sale, bowling, and birthday cake!

This morning Nadia had her last day of theatre camp, and the session ended with the children putting on a presentation of the book Caps for Sale (see video below). The teacher asked the children what they wanted to be when they grew up, and that was the role they played as a villager when the peddler was trying to sell his caps for 50 cents. Nadia said she wanted to be the first woman to land on the moon, and so she was cast as an astronaut. The villagers all became monkeys in the next part of the story. The kids each introduced themselves prior to the start of the play, and Paul recorded that as a separate video.

 

Next we went to the bowling alley, which is about five minutes way from the theatre. We ate lunch there and bowled for two hours. Last time we were all on one lane, and it took us 90 minutes to bowl nine frames. This time we were on two lanes, and the adults bowled twenty frames. The kids decided they had enough after they bowled 15 frames. They were given 6 tokens for the arcade area as a part of the "kids bowl free" program, and Grandma bought them 7 more tokens. At the end the kids redeemed their tickets for tootsie rolls, a tootsie pop, a glow in the dark bracelet, etc. I was very excited when I bowled two strikes and a spare right in a row (almost got my first turkey). It's been years since I've done that well.

The boys slept in the van on the way home, and then Oliver opened up his Thomas the Train birthday card and his two presents from his grandparents. Ian and Oliver really enjoyed playing with his new Duplo train set! A couple of hours later we had rigatoni and meatballs for dinner and then the birthday cake Aunt Millie made for dessert. Pop Pop and Daddy had vanilla cupcakes as they aren't fans of chocolate cake. I never had a messy cake face photo for Ian so I am very thankful that Oliver dove right in and enjoyed his birthday cake! He didn't know how to blow out his candle, but Daddy helped him with that. I think Oliver had a very special 2nd birthday!

Oliver requested to wear his "Elmo shoes" (slippers) this morning.

Three 2-year-olds

1. At 2 years old Nadia and Oliver's attention spans for reading were much longer than Ian's. Ian was only interested in books that have only a few words per page (like Spot books for example). Ian attempted to recite two books from memory - Polar Bear, Polar Bear What do you Hear (Carle) and Blue Hat, Green Hat (Boynton).

2. Nadia and Ian's vocabularies at age two were very similar in size, and Oliver's is the smallest. Nadia's pronunciation was MUCH better than her brothers. Ian and Oliver certainly could pronounce many words correctly, but there were also many words they said which were understandable but not every sound within the word was pronounced yet. Nadia and Ian were at about the same stage in terms of the length of their sentences at this age (3-5 words). One of Ian's most common sentences was "I'll get it." Oliver very recently got out of the "mostly only

using one word at a time" stage. He has said a few 4 word sentences, but mostly he's at the 2-3 word stage right now.

3. All three children loved VeggieTales. Nadia preferred the silly songs. Ian's favorites were Daniel (VeggieTales) and Frosty the Snowman. Oliver's favorite show to watch is Thomas the Train.

4. At two years old, they all enjoyed riding rides at Knoebels. Nadia and Oliver were definitely braver with riding rides than Ian. Nadia was the most expressive during the rides (biggest smiles).

5. All three children enjoyed singing at this age. Nadia's pronunciation was better than Ian's, and Ian definitely sang more throughout the day than Nadia or Oliver. Some of Ian's favorite songs were "Frosty the Snowman," "Go Tell it on the Mountain," "The Wheels on the Bus,"

 "Oh Christmas Tree," "Jingle Bells," "BIBLE," and "Joshua fought the battle of Jericho." Of the three kids, Oliver sang the most with me while rocking him before putting him down for his nap and at night. Many times EVERY day he asks us to sing "Row, row, row your boat." I am very tired of that song! :)

6. Nadia and Oliver were definitely more extroverted and friendly at this age, but Ian had just started to occasionally wave or say "hi" or "bye" to strangers at a store or restaurant. Nadia LOVED going to church. Before she turned two she had been promoted to the preschool Sunday School class and children's church. Ian and Oliver were still in the nursery for both Sunday School and church when they turned two. Ian usually cried when I dropped him off. Oliver went through a phase where he cried, but he generally doesn't cry, especially when Tom Morgan is helping out in the nursery.

7. Nadia was drinking cold cow's milk from a hard sippy cup. Ian was drinking warm rice drink from a soft spout sippy cup, and Oliver is drinking cold cow's milk, water, or apple juice from an open cup. Nadia and Oliver were eating table food. The only table foods Ian could eat were pudding, yogurt, and applesauce. Oliver drinks more water and eats a wider variety of foods than his siblings ever have. In particular he eats WAY more cheese.

8. At two they all loved walking around in Mommy's or Daddy's shoes, being tickled, being cuddled, playing outside, Play-Doh, rough house, and baths. Nadia loved playing with her kitchen. Ian and Oliver weren't really into that, but they loved playing with vehicles of all sorts. Both boys also LOVED to be chased. Nadia was better at catching a ball that was thrown to her than Ian or Oliver. Oliver really enjoys playing with Mr. Potato head and also building with Duplos or Mega Bloks. His building skills surpass where his siblings were at this age.

9. Nadia was potty trained (night and day) by this point. I thought Oliver would be day time potty trained by the time he turned two, but potty training fell apart on his fifth day of wearing underwear. I didn't start (day time) potty training Ian until shortly after he turned two years old.

10. At 2 years Nadia weighed 29lbs, and Ian and Oliver both weighed 27lbs. All three were a little more than 33 inches tall

when they turned two years old.

11. Nadia and Oliver both had 16 teeth, whereas Ian only had 9 teeth when he turned two (didn't have any canines and only had 1 molar at that point). They all still had blue eyes and blonde hair although Ian and Oliver's hair was lighter blonde than Nadia's. Ian's hair was thicker than Nadia or Oliver's.

12. All of them were sleeping through the night at two years old. The latest Nadia ever slept in by age 2 was 8:45, the latest Ian ever slept in was 7:45, and the latest Oliver ever slept was 8:00. At two years old, Ian was more consistent about sleeping in until 7:00. Nadia and Oliver typically got up earlier than that (sometimes even before 6am). Nadia was a MUCH better napper as she was taking a 2-3 hour nap compared to Ian's 10-30 minute long nap and Oliver's 1-2 hour nap.

13. Ian and Oliver's attention spans for playing independently were MUCH longer than Nadia's. She always wanted

someone to play with her.

14. Ian spent a lot more time crying each day than Nadia or Oliver. Ian cared FAR more about what he was wearing than Nadia or Oliver did at this age.

15. Ian was far more destructive than Nadia ever has been. He loved to pull tons of books off the bookshelf, dump bins of toys out, etc. He made messes FAR faster than I could clean them up! I think Oliver would have been like Ian in this regard, but I nipped it in the bud. Oliver is required to help clean up any mess he makes.

16. Ian loved animals more than Nadia or Oliver. This was really evident whenever we visited a zoo.

17.  Ian and Oliver were far more "Momma's boys" than Nadia was at this age.

18. Ian and Oliver were far more interested in all the contents of my purse (who knew a calendar could be so exciting to a 1 year old?) than Nadia, and Ian loved talking on

the phone more than his siblings. Several times a day Ian handed me my cell phone and said "call Grandma," even as early as 7:15.

19. Nadia had one favorite stuffed animal. First it was "doggie" that Sarah gave her, and then it was Larry the Cucumber. Ian loved stuffed animals, but which ones were his favorite changed on a weekly if not daily basis. These included a rhino, kitty, dog, "Chocolate man," Bob, rabbit, bear, and monkey. Up until very recently, Oliver was not attached to any stuffed animals, but he now loves to sleep with Mickey Mouse tucked under his arm (that Paul's parents got him at Disney).

20. None of our children made any attempt to climb out of the crib during the first 2 years of life.

21. Ian and Oliver made far more of a mess when sitting in their booster seat than Nadia did at this age. The boys love to throw things. We're working on overcoming that bad habit with

Oliver. Oliver also throws things when he's mad. He definitely has the worst temper of the three kids.

23. Ian and Oliver sat in a stroller happily far longer than Nadia would when she was this age.

24. Oliver shows the most interest in helping clean. He brings the dustpan over to my pile when I'm sweeping the kitchen floor. Whenever we are at a playground, he removes pieces of mulch from the equipment.

25. By the time they turned two years old Ian had been under general anesthesia four times, Oliver had been under it once, and Nadia at six years old has never experienced that yet. Oliver's pregnancy and first few weeks of life involved far more medical professionals than the other two, but from NICU discharge to age two, Ian definitely had far more doctor appointments than the other two. Ian also had weekly occupational therapy, and the other two haven't had any therapy services.

I am so, so, so thankful for all three of these precious kids. They have brought so much joy to our lives. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Two Years Old!

Over the last two years Oliver has...

Gained 24 pounds. He weighed 3 pounds at birth and had just hit 4 pounds when he was discharged from the NICU four weeks later. He's gone from wearing XS preemie diapers and preemie clothes to wearing size 24 month/2T clothing, size 4 diapers, and size 5.5 shoes.

My first time holding Oliver (he was 6 days old)

Gained 16 teeth. He has 8 incisors, 4 molars, and 4 canines. He just got his canines in the past month.

3 months old

Has been hospitalized three times. He spent the first 4 weeks in the NICU (one week in Harrisburg and three at Geisinger). He had urological surgery at CHOP in February and ended up spending one night in Philadelphia because his oxygen saturation levels were too low to send him home after the surgery. He spent 4 days at Evangelical Hospital in April due to RAD and RSV. We now own a nebulizer and use it whenever he has any kind of a cough.

6 months old

Learned to sleep through the night. Currently he sleeps (on average) from 8pm to 6:30am and takes a nap (on average) from 1-2pm.

9 months old

Became mobile. He learned to crawl at 12 months and started walking at 15 months. He also LOVES to climb.

1 Year Old

Learned how to talk. He said his first word (Dada) at 8 months old, he added a second word (Mama) at 10 months old, and now he's talking all day long - anywhere from one word at a time up to four word sentences.

15 months old

Learned how to drink. Oliver learned how to nurse and drink from a bottle in the NICU after being tube fed my milk for the first few weeks. He nursed for 10.5 months. He switched from a bottle to a sippy cup at 11 months old and switched from a sippy cup to an open cup at 21 months old.

18 months old

Learned how to eat. At six months old I began introducing Oliver to solid foods, and he has done a terrific job ever since then! He is willing to try anything. Most fresh fruits and some veggies he spits out, but he keeps trying everything, and aside from fresh fruit he eats just about everything I eat. He can use a fork and spoon, but he prefers to use his fingers almost all the time.

Learned to love his family. I am still number one in his life, but he also really loves Ian, Nadia, Paul, and his grandparents. Oliver says "Pop Pop" many times a day, and he loves to give Ian bear hugs. He is definitely a snuggler!

Learned to enjoy many different activities. Oliver loves to have books read to him, watch Thomas the Train on Netflix, go to the playground, swim, take baths, ride rides at amusement parks, and play with a wide variety of toys including Mr. Potato head, cars, peg puzzles, trains, blocks, and balls.

We love you SO much, Oliver, and we look forward to seeing how you will grow and change over the coming years!

Playgrounds and zip lines

Last year we participated in Lewisburg's National Night Out for the first time. This year's event was held last night. last year we had to wait in line for 90 minutes for Nadia's turn on the zip line. This year we went there right away and only had to wait 40 minutes. She loved the zip line and would have done it a second time, but the line had grown longer. Other highlights included inflatables, petting zoo, and shooting water from a fire hose. We left a little earlier than planned because it was obvious a storm was about to let loose. Nadia was bummed we left before she got her cotton candy, but we did have pizza, hot dogs, popcorn, chips, and snow cones. Everything was free! The pony rides were $5, but we passed on those.

Yesterday morning I took the kids to two different playgrounds while Nadia was in theatre camp. We tried a third one this morning, but the equipment was a bit too wet from yesterday's rain, so we headed to the mall instead where I did some shopping and then let the kids play on the rides. I didn't put any coins in those, but then I paid for both of them to ride the carousel inside the mall before we picked Nadia up. Today was Oliver's last day as a one year old.

Climbing the ladder to do the zip line!

Thankful Tuesday

1. On Thursday afternoon I mowed the lawn. What was remarkable about this was it was about 72 degrees (in JULY) when I mowed. I had been mowing every 5 days, but I went 14 days this time around because we haven't had as much rain lately. Oliver's nap lasted just long enough for me to complete the task.

2. The grocery store in our town is having some really good deals this "week" (their week goes from Thursday through Wednesday). On Thursday morning I completely filled the shopping cart. For example, I bought FAR more cheese than I've ever bought at one time because the Kraft shredded cheese (8 oz) and Kraft slices of cheese (18 slices) were on sale for 99 cents each, and I actually used a few coupons to lower the price a bit more on some of them! One of the coupons was to get $2.00 off of produce if you buy a Kraft cheese product, so I used four of those coupons to get some free cherries and bananas. Yum! I got some great deals on Friday at another grocery store. I bought 17 pounds of grapes because they were FINALLY on sale for 99 cents a pound. I'm freezing some of them because even though Nadia and I love grapes we can't
eat that many in a week, ha ha! I went back to our town's store on Saturday to get a few more of the bargains. I spent way more money than I usually do in a week on groceries, but our pantry and freezer and refrigerator are filled to the gills. According to the receipts, I saved 68% altogether, and that's only taking into account some of the sales and coupons (it doesn't count the good deal I got on ground beef and such).

3. Nadia and Ian were able to participate in the workshop at Home Depot on Saturday with Paul's parents and spend the afternoon at their house, which was a treat for them. Home Depot made Saturday's workshop special by serving free popcorn, playing Frozen music, and a guest appearance by "Elsa"!

4. Paul took Nadia and Ian to the Joseph Priestley House on Sunday afternoon. My brother can't stand house tours, but I think he would have viewed this one as more tolerable since it involved watching someone perform chemistry experiments.

5. Oliver's naps have often been less than an hour lately (ugh!), but on Sunday afternoon he took a nap that was a little over TWO hours long. Yay!!

6. The kids and I enjoyed the juggler at the library on Friday. He was very entertaining, and we enjoyed swimming that afternoon.

7. Nadia and Ian were able to participate in an art program at Michael's on Friday morning, and after that I made a super quick trip in to JCP to use a $10 off coupon that enabled me to get myself two new tops for $8 each. I feel that most of my wardrobe is pretty blah because I often wear a solid top with a solid pair of shorts (ex. white top with blue shorts or something like that), but these tops are not solid and are rather pretty in my opinion!

8. On Sunday I wore a dress that I hadn't worn in a long time. I've had this dress for many years, but I haven't worn it much over the past six years so it felt like a new dress. I got lots of compliments on Sunday (and that

almost never happens to me), which was a great feeling. It's nice to feel pretty, eh? The person who by FAR gives me the most compliments over the course of a year is definitely Ian. He's such a sweetheart!

9. Yesterday Nadia started her second week of Theatre Camp. Last year she went for a week in the afternoon. I picked the morning session this year due to Oliver's nap. the camp is called "Storybook Adventures," and it's offered by the Community Theatre League. Her teacher's name is Jennie, and Jennie spent a year in the cast of the Noah and The Miracle of Christmas with Sight and Sound in Lancaster. Jennie is now at Wheaton College in Chicago, working on her Bachelor's degree in Theatre. Nadia told us yesterday they will be putting on a performance of the story "Caps for Sale" (50 cents a cap) on Friday. We are looking forward to seeing that!

10. While Nadia was in camp yesterday, I took the boys to Target to shop their 70% off toy clearance sale, and then I took them to the Treasure Castle Playland for two hours, which they hadn't been to in a year. They only charge $5 a child on Mondays. They have a very large indoor playland as well as a bouncer, LOTS of toys, puzzles, and books, and an eyeplay interactive game floor. The boys had a blast! It cracked me up that the seemed to gravitate toward the toys we already have at home (pirate ship and train table). Oliver brought me several books to read. Then after lunch and nap time for Oliver we headed to the swimming pool, as it was a nice warm day out! Today I'm planning to take them to an outdoor playground and then do some shopping at a consignment shop.

Soccer Dad

When we signed Nadia up for the spring soccer season, I let them know that Paul was willing to be an assistant coach. He volunteered in part because we were hoping to avoid the problem of Wednesday night soccer practices. They didn't take advantage of his offer, and initially her soccer practices were again scheduled for Wednesday nights, but the coaches switched to Monday nights (yay!) because another girl on the team couldn't do Wednesday nights due to ballet. This fall we were first informed Paul would be an assistant coach for Nadia's U8 team, but when he showed up for the coaches meeting on Sunday at 5pm, he found out that he had also been assigned to be the assistant coach for Ian's U6 team. There are nine kids on the roster for Ian's U6 team, and the woman who is the head coach was an assistant coach of a U6 team last year. There are eight girls on the roster for Nadia's U8 team (only the U6 teams are co-ed), and the woman who is listed as the coach also only volunteered to be an assistant coach. She said to Paul we can both be assistant coaches. She was an assistant coach last year of a U6 team.

The two women Paul will be working with didn't show up at the meeting on Sunday, so Paul was given all the equipment (ball bags, etc.) for both teams as well as the rosters and such. It also meant he was able to pick the practice times for both teams! The first three weeks they will practice twice a week (Tuesdays/Thursdays), and then once the games begin (in September) they will only practice on Thursdays. He set the U6 practices for 5:30-6:30 and the U8 practices for 6:30-7:30. He couldn't do Mondays, and the kids can't do Wednesdays so Tuesday/Thursday was the best option. He's not teaching on Thursdays this semester so that should work out well. Isn't Paul a great Dad? I love that man so much! Hopefully Nadia and Ian will have a lot of fun, get some exercise, make some new friends, and learn some new skills during the fall soccer season! Two of the girls on Nadia's soccer team this year were on her team last year. During a U6 game they play three on three without referees or a goalie. During a U8 game they play five on five WITH a referee but still without a goalie.

Oxygen Day

This afternoon Paul took Nadia and Ian to the Joseph Priestley House for their annual Oxygen Day. Dr. Priestley discovered oxygen in England in 1774, and he lived the last 10 years of his life in our county (about 30 minutes from our house). Paul had planned to take the kids to Home Depot yesterday morning, but when I told him of this chemistry field trip (they watched chemistry experiments at 1:30), he decided to work at Kennedy Concrete yesterday instead of today as originally planned. Paul took the kids with him to work yesterday morning, and his parents took them to the Home Depot down in their area. Home Depot made the workshop extra special yesterday by having a guest appearance by Elsa (she signed Nadia's apron), free popcorn for the kids, and by playing music from Frozen while they completed their projects.

They came home last night with another one of Paul's Star Wars toys from his parent's house, and this morning Paul brought up some of his Star Wars

figurines from our basement. For two kids who have never seen any Star Wars movies, they both know a lot about Star Wars! They can't wait until I deem them old enough to watch the movies. I was thinking this morning that I can't recall any toys that I was so sentimentally attached to like Paul was to these Star Wars toys. I'm sure I had some toys that I loved, but I just don't have any memories of them. I mostly remember reading voraciously, practicing the flute and piano, riding my bike, watching tv (shows like "I Love Lucy"), and playing board games with my family. Speaking of which, we had fun playing Operation with Nadia last night! Well it will be interesting to see some day if our grandchildren (hopefully we'll have some!) enjoy some of our children's toys as much as they do (ex. Nadia's princess collection).

Oliver and I were home alone yesterday for 10 hours. In addition to playing with him, I did some extra cleaning around the house such as straightening up my dressers and closet, organizing our medicine cabinets and the cabinets under
the sinks in our bathroom, sweeping out and straightening up the garage, etc. In the process I did some purging - some to the garbage and also filled a couple of garbage bags of stuff to donate. It felt so strange only having one child at home, but that will be the case during Oliver's last couple of years of high school. To make the day a bit more special for him (he was really missing his siblings), I assembled the basketball hoop I got him for his birthday and charged up the Lil Kawasaki that I got him for $5 at a yard sale (brand new they cost over $100). As you can see from the pictures, he loved it! He just needs to grasp the concept that he has to keep pushing the red button (with his thumb) if he wants to keep going. He would push it and then let go. Those were his two birthday presents, but since he's not quite old enough to comprehend birthdays (the other two eagerly anticipated their third birthday), I gave them to him five days early. Two presents for a two year old! He also had fun with the sidewalk chalk yesterday, although as you can see from the picture he used the chalk more on his face and clothing than he did on the driveway. I took him right upstairs and gave him a bath before dinner, whereas the other two got their bath and shower after dinner.

Juggling Crafts

Michael's craft stores offer many programs for kids. On Saturday mornings a thirty minute craft session costs $2.00. We haven't tried one of those yet. In the summer they offer a Passport to Imagination program on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for seven weeks (21 total sessions) that costs $2 for a session that lasts up to two hours long. This year the theme of the program focused on seven different famous museums such as the Field Museum in Chicago and the Georgia Aquarium.

I thought of taking the kids on Wednesday for the Picasso themed projects, but Paul wanted to take them to see Turbo. I took them yesterday morning for the very last session. Next year I will probably take them to a few different sessions after I see what exactly they'll be making each day. They do offer a wide variety of classes for kids and adults - cake decorating, knitting, painting, etc. A certified art teacher teaches a kids's painting class twice a month ($15 a class). I think I'm going to have Nadia try that once and see what we think of it. Since art was on my mind, I pulled out the art dvds I purchased in May and ordered about $100 worth of art supplies for the kids to create 5 projects (soft pastel, colored pencils, acrylic paints, etc.).

After Oliver woke up from his very short nap, we headed to the library to see the Flow Circus juggling program. Ian and Nadia were laughing their heads off at various points in the program. The performer did an excellent job of teaching science (potential energy, gravity, etc.) during the entertaining and humorous presentation. Nadia was selected as a volunteer at one point. She came up and danced with the other three kids, but then she misunderstood and sat back down although she was supposed to stay up there to balance two spinning plates on two sticks. He selected a replacement for Nadia since she went back to her seat. I would have liked to have seen her do that trick! Here are some photos on the newspaper's website of the event. Oliver enjoyed parts of it, but a 45 minute long program was a bit too long for him. From the library we headed to the swimming pool as the temperatures were in the 80's for the first time in five days. Hopefully we'll have some warmer weather so the water temperature can get back up to where it had been.

What to save

8-7-13

In general I try to keep the clutter to a minimum. The papers they send home from church go straight to the trash can, as do the math pages from Nadia's textbook after she completes them. I have very few "knick knacks" around the house aside from picture frames. In general it's usually easy for me to part with "stuff." I don't grow sentimentally attached to many things. This changed once I became a mom. The hardest thing for me to part with has been their clothing and some of their shoes. A few months ago a FB friend (she was a mom of two students in the school where I was principal) posted a picture of her first grandchild wearing something she had saved from when her daughter was a baby. Things like that encourage me that I'm not crazy to be saving some of their clothing. Maybe a grandchild will wear it some day!

7-31-14

I know other moms who have a really hard time parting with their children's toys. I had always been planning to save some of their books so I'd have books on hand for other children who visit our house and to be prepared for (hopefully) future grandchildren. I hadn't been planning to save the toys that they outgrew, but I've been changing my mind lately. First, I was thinking about how my kids, nieces, and nephews enjoy playing with our old toys at my parent's house, and recently Paul's mom gave Ian two Star Wars toys that were Paul's many years ago, and Ian LOVES them. It doesn't make sense to save EVERY toy or book. For one thing, I can always shop at yard sales in the future and build up my toy stash to prepare for a new grandchild, but I am planning to save more toys than I originally thought I would. This will make the purging decisions trickier though.

Yesterday morning the kids were playing with the big teddy bear. This used to be my teddy bear when I was a kid, which again proves the point that sometimes it's nice to hold onto things (even if they are big and bulky). It also hit me that it had been almost a year since I had taken a picture of Oliver with the bear, and so I snapped a couple of him with the bear even though it's one week before his birthday. Ian asked me to take a picture of him with the bear also, and he loved it when I showed him pictures of when he was an infant with the bear. Who knows maybe some day a grandchild of mine will have his or her picture taken with this bear? That's a pleasant thought!