First Day of School

Last Tuesday, Ava began her preschool journey into The Musical Arts Schoolhouse. She did a trial day last spring and came home with such joy, exclaiming "I love school!" that we had to give it a try. She then went to a week long Carnival Camp there and again, LOVED it!

The school obviously has a focus on the performing arts and what 3 year old doesn't love that? She goes from 8:30-12:30, 3 days a week, rotating between an hour of theater (dress up), art, music and dance, all integrating a subtle educational curriculum. She has so much to tell me when she comes home. Her favorite is a toss up, between her tap shoes, dress up and playing the keyboard with her own set of headphones plugged in. She loves Mrs. Misty, her teacher and has made a friend. "She smiled at me" Ava told me, and now they are friends.

It truly is such a neat program and I can't wait until the recitals and fun this year has to bring!

Her first day outfit that she chose....cute!



When I went to pick her up, she was sporting these new shades she earned from the treasure chest!

Belly Laughs

LOVE this! His laugh sounds identical to Ava's first belly laugh.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Talking to the Crib Soother

I wish this were easier to see, but I had to capture his "talking" on camera one night when he wouldn't go to sleep. He laughed and smiled and talked to it for at least 20 minutes.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wordless Wednesday: Big Boy in a Bumbo

2 month comparison

Sister LOVES to help

Ava is infatuated with helping, nurturing, and assisting in everything we do with Griffin. Thank goodness I have her help, seriously.

The other day she asked if she could feed Griffin his bottle. I couldn't see why not. So we got them all situated and she did great! She even paused, took it away, and wiped his mouth with a burp cloth. It was so cute!

This child!

"Look mommy, I'm a rhinoceros".



I've posted before, but I love this age...she's so full of questions, real thought-provoking questions, and her imagination is at an all-time high!

She is into asking "What if" questions that trigger great conversations. Some recent ones....

Ava: "What if our feet could talk?"

Mommy: "What would yours say?"

Ava: "Ouch, ouch, that hurts when you walk."

==================================

Ava: "What if cats had human legs?"

Daddy: "They would look a lot different."

Ava: "Yeah, they would be taller."

It's almost SOCCER time!

Last weekend we went to buy Ava her first pair of soccer cleats (boy they are so cool--they've come a long way since we were little), shin guards, socks and a soccer ball. It made mommy and daddy a bit sentimental. One, our little girl is getting so big, so fast. And two, it took us back to the days when we played soccer as kids.

We find out this week when practices begin and when the games will be played. Ava is anxiously awaiting to hear from her coach and start. I can't wait to update with pictures of her picking grass, I mean, kicking the ball.

Happy 3 Months, Griffin!!

Friday the 13th marked Griffin's 1/4 year birthday....3 months old!!

He is such a healthy, growing and snuggly little baby boy. It's hard to believe that he is little baby because he is so big. I don't have his stats this month, but I would guess around 14 1/2 lbs. and 26 inches.

His personality is really starting to shine. He is a happy little thing and pretty easy-going. Overall, a fairly "easy" baby.

Eating:

Still eating about every 3-4 hours. Lately he is back to eating around the clock, so up an average of 2 times at night. Zzzzz!

Sleeping:

For a solid month he was sleeping a 6 hour stretch and then a 4 hours stretch and then back to sleep for another couple of hours.

However, in the past week, he has only been going 4-5 hours at first and every 4 hours after that.

Routine:

Awake around 7:30ish, eat, play, and back to sleep around 9:00ish. Takes about an hour morning nap and eats around 11:ooish and plays. Back down around 1:00ish and sleeps for about 2-3 hours. Eats around 3:00ish and plays. Takes a quick 30 minute nap around 5:00. Eats about 6:00ish and is ready for bed around 8:00ish. I am trying to decide if "topping him off" is working or not, some nights it does, some it doesn't. He then wakes up around 1:00ish and again at 5:00ish and for the day again around 7:00ish.

Diapers:

Still hanging out in size 2 dipes. Still having about 3-5 poopies a day. Is gassy quite often. Boys!

Clothes:

I officially went through 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes this weekend, totally eliminating the 0-3 and hand picking what still fits in 3-6. I would say he'll be a good fit in 6-9 month within the next month or two.

Disposition:

MUCH less of a fussy baby than he was newborn. He is a snuggler and just a happy boy. Oh my goodness, he loves to talk and babble. He'll imitate and talk and smile and drool until he decides he tired. Like last month, 9 times out of 10 if he is crying or fussy, it's because he is tired. Easy to read.

What I love about Griffin at 3 months:

I love that he loves to be rocked (sometimes to sleep....shhhh!)

I love when he is sucking on his pacifier and looks up at me to smile and it falls out because his smile is so big!

I love that his face when he smiles can light up a room.

I love that he smiled at a stranger. Eeek, I exclaimed, I have a smily baby!

I love that he is already starting to show preferences.

I love how much he loves to watch and smile at Ava.

Ummmm, could I say SMILE anymore?

I love the way he looks in his footed jammies...I just want to eat him up.

I love my baby boy! Oiy!

A Day in the Life of our Pod

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Little Perspective

Looking at my friend Beth's blog, she had a post that showcased her son's snapshots from his little perspective. I remembered that back in June, Ava took some pictures and thought I'd post them.

20 Questions

I am amazed at the questions that Ava asks these days. Everything is why, where, what, how, who, when, etc.

Some that come to mind....And I quote....

"Why don't dogs and cats smile like we do?"

"I know you said she {Ryan's grandmother} is not living, but where is she?"

And my favorite:

"What makes humans different?"

From Caterpillar to Butterfly

Thanks to our dear friends, Kelly and Hannah, Ava received a neat educational present for her 3rd birthday. We just got around to reading about it and experimenting with it. It was a kit where you order caterpillars and once you receive them you watch them grow and grow and grow, form the chrysalis, and emerge as butterflies. We were all fascinated with watching them grow and change.

Of the 5 caterpillars we received, one was DOA, 3 made it to the chrysalis stage, and only one actually completed the entire life cycle and emerged as a butterfly. It could be the numerous times they were dropped and/or shaken, but who knows.

Here is a picture documentary of our Science experiment from caterpillar to butterfly.

Beautiful, Beautiful, Beautiful.........

Beautiful Boy!

Easter Egg Hunt in August...Why Not?

Ava woke up one morning with an idea....

Let's have an Easter Egg hunt!

Actually, she was cheated out of one this past Easter because we just moved the day before Easter and everything was a little hectic, so I said, WHY NOT!

She had THE. BEST. TIME. From boiling the eggs to dying them and from finding them to eating them. She exclaimed, "Is this the best day EVER?"

Painting her OWN nails

Anyone with a preschooler (Is that right? Is she no longer a toddler?) can more than likely relate. EVERYTHING needs to be done "by myself". Well, I thought I would oblige to her request of painting her own toenails and fingernails and she did REALLY good. Check it out!



It is now a weekly activity for the two of us. If it weren't for her reminders, my toes might look terrible for summer (not that my own pedi's are great or anything).

Growing like a weed

Is it just me, or does he look like he is 6 months old.

Definitely losing the newborn look.

Love him!