Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July!

So, what do you do with a 2 year old who is too young for the local fair (I mean, way too young to deal with the madness there!) and who is in bed long before the fire works? If you are me, you find the next best thing, Pancake Breakfast at the local fire house!

Yep, we spent some time this morning enjoying pancakes, eggs and ham at our local fire house with about 100 (at that time) of our neighbors and got to, you guessed it, explore the ambulance, the fire engine and the brush truck! So, you ask, did Miss C enjoy the adventure? You bet! At first she refused to go inside until we hopped in the fire engine but because no one was outside at the engine at that time, I had to talk her into going in and asking after breakfast if we could visit the truck. Once we mentioned wanting to explore, the fire fighters jumped into action and kept a whole lot of kids very happily entertained by letting them climb in and out of all of the different vehicles.

Below is one of the pictures from our adventure, the rest are here.

Oh, for all of my friends and family who have yet to get a blogger account, I have made it possible to make comments without a logon so ... :)

Too many changes too fast for me.

When did someone tell my little girl to grow up? For the last two days it has become readily apparent that I am no longer the mother of a little one but I really am the mother of a toddler perhaps even preschooler.

Why do I say this? Well, for example, the past two nights have involved a significant shift in our bedtime reading. Last night, Miss C sat in her (our) chair alone, legs covered with her blankets (like I normally do when she is in my lap) reading her princess songs book (out loud no less!) and then her animal baby book. She did let me read the second book to her but I read from the floor. After the stories, she put herself in bed. :( Tonight, again, different. Miss C sat on her bed with her Wall-E toy and I read to her there. After her third book (Good night, Good night, Sleepyhead) she laid down and waited for me to cover her up. Growing up way too fast.

Today was our first real weekend day alone with no obligations. Miss C announced during breakfast that it was "Mama, [Miss C] Adventure Day." I call our days out those but hadn't realized how much she caught on to that. She decided that she wanted to paint something for DH. I had mentioned a Paint Your World place downtown (very small town so down town is just a street!) and she got herself clothes and then, once we got our shoes on, I was told we were going to paint for Daddy. Wow.

Another big change, Miss C decided she needs to start using the potty and wearing pull ups. There is something to be said for peer pressure. Most of her little friends in school are in pull ups and working on potty training so apparently must she.

On the plus side, for her anyway, she is still napping for me and at school (I have mentioned that she is in a great class where the teachers notice that she plays with her shoes so they let her take them off for a nap, even though its preferred that they keep them on? And that they put her far away from the music so it doesn't disturb her when she sleeps? I am so pleased with her new class!) and she is still in bed around 630-640ish nightly. She is so busy at school and at home that she is still worn out enough to do both.

I never thought I would long for putting a diaper on my little one. Too many changes way too fast for me but there is little I can do to turn back the hands of time. i only hope she lets me cuddle with her still.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day, DH!

And Happy Father's Day to my FIL, SNG, LeBon and all of the other wonderful daddys out there. The world is a better place because of you!

The end of a busy week

What a busy week!

If you read my last posting, you know that this week was a very busy week for us with the transition period. If you are curious, which I think you must be since you are actually reading this, Miss C did great this week! She absolutely had a great time in her new class this week. All week long, less today, I brought Miss C to her original class at the beginning of the day and sometime after breakfast, Miss J would take walk her down to her new classroom.

Since the first day of the transition, Miss C spent the remainder of each day in her new class. She was a little hesitant to get really involved, as expected, until today. She really loves the different playground (as I mentioned, it has a slide, a sandbox, lots of little cars and motorcycles and is just huge compared with the "yard" she had been playing in) and the toys in the new classroom are definitely more age appropriate and more stimulating than the last room.

Basically, she was ready for this. She didn't have any issues with the "no numnum" policy even though I haven't enforced that at home yet (too much transition in one short period could prove detrimental, especially with DH gone now). We come to school with the numnum and before we go into her classroom, Miss C says "no numnum, mama" and hands it over. Its so neat that she understands. I was a little concerned that she would either not talk in her new class since she does get shy or that her teachers might not understand her, but I needn't worry. Having talked to both of her primary teachers over the past week, they have assured me that she lets herself be heard.

Everyday this week has been a longer day than the last. I was able to get out of work shortly after Miss C's nap which meant we were actually able to spend more than a couple of hours together after work.

I considered moving Miss C's bedtime back about 15 minutes since we are getting a little less time together after school but every day this week she has been simply exhausted. She actually tells me before 6 every night that its time to go upstairs and take a bath. Wow. I know. I shouldn't really complain that she is in bed by 630 nightly and sleeps solidly but sometimes I just want a little more time snuggling with my "itty bitty [Miss C]".

So, how has your week been?

Big kid class

About a week ago, I got a letter from Miss C's school that she will be moving to the big kid class this week. I met with the teachers last Wednesday and had my orientation while Miss C napped down the hallway. After orientation, during which I learned that Miss C won't be able to have her numnum (that what she calls her pacifier, if you are new to the blog), I started to talk to Miss C about moving into the two year old class.
On Thursday, on our way out of school, Miss C and I walked down to her new room. I thought it would be a good idea to show her where the room is, what their toys look like, etc while the other kids were playing outside. We also looked out into the two year old playground, which, gasp, has a big slide, lots of little cars (her absolute favorite) and a sandbox!
The next day, Miss C reported to her current teacher that (pointing to the other playground) "I go play there." She seemed to be starting to get it. We talked about the move all weekend, just here and there, about her being a big girl and being honest about not being able to have the numnum in the new room. I reminded her of which friends are already in that room, all of the fun toys, etc.
Today, before I left for work, we talked again. I reminded her that sometime after breakfast, Miss J would walk her to her new room. I reassured her that she would have fun, that she could give Miss J a hug bye-bye and that if she had any problems, she could go back to the other room. When I left, Miss L, the nice woman we all check in with in the morning, reminded me that I can always call to see how she is doing (she knows how I think and that I will probably call).
I guess I should know better by now. I called a little after noon, enough time for Miss C to see if she was ready to spend more time in the new room, enough time to find out if she would be ok without the dreaded numnum. As soon as Miss L knew it was me, she told me "Oh! She's having a great time! She signed and talked about going to the big girl room. She said she was a big kid and that she was happy! She's sleeping right now." I asked "In the new room?" She replied "Oh yea, she is doing just great!"
Yep, that's my big girl, in the big kid class. Why does that make me a little sad?

Miss C is 2!

We have our 2nd year check up in the morning so I decided to put this post together now. Based on the doctor's measurements (Miss C stood on the scale and against the wall for them!), she is now 36 inches tall and 30.1 lbs. If the 2 year old formula holds true, Miss C will be 6' plus or minus an inch. Holy moly!

Here's my first attempt at a photo video. I know its a little long (just under 4 minutes) but its Miss C's current favorite song. Hope you enjoy.

Where did the weekend go??

Wow, talk about a whirlwind weekend. I thought, eh, first weekend after DH left would be tough but as social butterflies, our calendar was literally full.

Let's see, Saturday we actually got to sleep in and spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at a work party. Not exactly the best party for Miss C but she did know a few folks and after a little shyness at the beginning, she opened up and even held a friend's hand (that friend was a mom and a grandma and Miss C can tell, always!).

Sunday, wow. I thought that Saturday felt rushed, today started off with us getting up at normal school time so I could go in to work for duty. I tried to get my sitter over but alas, no joy. After work, we went to breakfast and then grocery shopping. We were gone 3 hours by the time we got home. After about 45 minutes home, I got Miss C down for a nap. After an hour and a half nap, we ate lunch and were off. We went by the car wash (Miss C got to sit in DH's seat, as she refers to it) and then were off to the nursery to replace a plant that the cat accidentally knocked off the window ledge. After that, we made it to the pool where Miss C celebrated a classmate's birthday. At first she was hesitant to get into the water below the second step but once one of her buddies got in, she was all over it. She even figured out how to float which she demonstrated to everyone. Once I showed her how to jump off the side of the pool, well, we spent a lot of time swimming, that's for sure. I need to get her back in classes because she really seems to enjoy it.

After swimming, we got out and had some yummy pizza with her friends and then cake, yea cake. I thought Miss C would be all over the cake but she wouldn't touch the frosting. Once I removed the frosting, she was in heaven. After the cake, Miss C looked me square in the eye and said "[Miss C] all done, time to go home." and I knew we had to leave. She is great about giving me a warning when she is about to melt down from the excitement so we said our goodbyes and came home. Once we got home, Miss C was all about playing outside and doing everything she could to avoid bedtime. As I type this, i am listening to a very tired little girl who went to bed over an hour ago but apparently cant' quite fall asleep. I even tried going up a couple of times, once with milk and once with more water, in case that is what was keeping her up but no joy. not even a wet diaper. On the plus side, she is content talking to herself and will most likely fall asleep in the next 10 minutes or so (or so I hope, since we have to get up in the morning for work and school).

i hope next weekend will be a little mellower but since her birthday party is next Saturday, i sincerely doubt it. Miss C does seem to take all of this well though and has yet to really lose her temper with me, though I know it is coming.

I am posting a couple of photos and have already uploaded a few more to our flickr. What do you think? A true water baby, eh?