Trip to the Zoo

Back in September, I went with some mom friends to a small zoo about an hour away. We were able to walk all the way through the zoo, and it didn't take too long... perfect for little boys!

First up we saw some flamingos!

Flamingo :)

Piper had fun chilling in the stroller.

Fun with a cut out sign.

Trying to see the zebras through the fence. We also saw some giraffes.

Climbing on the fence like a monkey.

Walking on the boardwalk with friends.

We spent a few minutes in this picnic area, and the kids had fun running around.

Wyatt liked running ahead of the group, so here he let me take his picture while we were waiting for everyone to catch up to us.

They had a few goats the kids could feed. Here Piper and her friend Molly were watching the goats clamor for the food.

Best buds.

Mommy and her lil' guy

Neat statue at the entrance to the zoo.

After the zoo, we ate a picnic lunch and then played for a few minutes on the playground, which was right outside the zoo.

Wyatt had a great time climbing and running. Then it was time to go home, so we could pick up Lila from school!

My Star Student

Back in September, Lila was the Star Student for a week (all of the kids in her class get to be the Star for a week). What did that entail? She got to bring in a poster and talk about herself on Monday, and then on Friday she got to bring in a show-and-tell item. She chose to bring a Lil' Woodzeez family (toy). Some of the things she likes that she featured on her poster: drawing pictures, reading, AWANA Sparks, playing outside, coloring, catching bugs and her Lil' Woodzeez toys.

In addition to catching bugs, this summer we had the joy of housing a couple little lizards. My reaction when I find one of those fast-moving little creatures in the house is to get it out as quick as possible. Lila's reaction is to run and get her bug kit and catch it (well, to have Daddy catch it!) This particular lizard was found outside and was larger (3-4" from nose to tail) than the normal tiny ones that come inside.

You can see in this picture, the lizard was about to shed his skin. I was hoping it would happen quickly, so we could see it and then let him go. But, a few days later he looked the same. We convinced Lila to let him go before he died since he had no food. By the way, after I took these pictures, I taped the lid shut on this thing... didn't want to risk him getting loose!!

This was Lila on Crazy Hair night. She had several ponytails adorned with pipe cleaners, fake flowers and pom poms. Ben is helping with Awana again this year. Lila is a Spark (last year she was a Cubbie). They have council time (bible lesson), handbook time (where they recite their verses) and game time (where they play games, relays, etc.) She has been having a lot of fun with it all.

Lila still loves being a big sister. Now that Piper can stand, she LOVES to stand next to the tub. It is the perfect height for her. She also loves it when there are people in the tub to watch!

And interact with!! 

This week Ben was a Watch DOG at school. Watch DOGS (Dads Of Great Students) volunteer to come help at school for a day. Lila was so excited for him to do it. She must have asked everyday for a week if tomorrow was the day. Then that morning when I was making their lunches, she informed me that I didn't need to put a note in her lunch box because "Daddy is my note" (he spent about half of the day helping in her class and got to each lunch with her.) This is a picture he took on his phone at recess.

Another picture he took during "free centers" at the end of the day. Lila almost always chooses to go to the art center.

I wasn't sure how she'd handle going to school the next day after having Daddy there all day, but fortunately she had a field trip to the zoo to look forward to (which was today). And Ben was going to chaperone. I am looking forward to being able to chaperone a trip in the spring (when I don't have to be here for Piper, and somebody else could maybe stay with her and Wyatt). I meant to send along the camera with Ben, but forgot, so here is another photo taken on his phone. This was his group. The girl wearing pink is Lila's "best friend". Her dad and little sister (far left) joined them at the zoo.

Another picture riding on the tortoise sculpture.

Overall, I think Lila is enjoying kindergarten. She asks me frequently if I will eat lunch with her. We have gone a few times (someday she will know what an act of love it is to eat lunch with her at 10:45!!) If she is tired at the end of the day, she will get weepy and say she misses me when she's at school. But in the morning, she is usually fine. I have been adjusting as well. It is hard to not know what all goes on during the day (especially since Lila doesn't share much). Since she has started school, her reading ability - and interest - have increased a lot. She reads quite well and also has taken an interest in writing now. The few times we have eaten lunch with her, she seems to be fairly popular with several girls. At the beginning of the year, she had to switch seats with another girl because the other girl was talking too much. I asked her if she ever got in trouble for talking, and she informed me that she was the most shy in the class (and therefore the quietest). I haven't asked her recently if that is still true!

We Love Trucks!

Can you believe that next week this guy will be three? Yep, three. Not four or five. Three. In fact, I struggle most times to remember that he is only two and not already three. He has been the size of a three year old for quite some time. When he plays with Lila, it is easy to think that they are my "older" kids. But in reality, Wyatt is closer in age to Piper. I asked Lila once if she remembered Wyatt being born. She didn't. Life has never existed for her without Wyatt. I feel that way too. Has it been only three years since this little guy came into our lives? It feels like longer. 

Wyatt has had a fascination with construction vehicles, fire trucks, garbage trucks, etc. for a while. And he loves to play outside in the dirt, so it's natural that those two things would go together.

Here he is filling his little dump truck with dirt to empty into his big dump truck.

In the past month, he has discovered Bob the Builder and LOVES the Bob videos. So now we know construction vehicles by their Bob names... Scoop (backhoe), Dizzy (cement truck), Lofty (crane)... you get the idea. 

Lucky for him, I didn't try to plant any new flowers this spring in my flower boxes. (Lucky for me too - they probably wouldn't have survived our extreme temps and drought this year.)

Dumping the dirt.

Getting more dirt.

Then I suggested he move his big dump truck closer.

Yes, this will go faster now :)

What prompted me to go outside with my camera in the first place was I saw him sitting on the window ledge. But of course, by the time I got out there he had moved on. So I had to convince him to sit back down for me and then I had to coax a smile. Here are the outtakes :)

Perhaps you remember Wyatt's cute mispronunciation of pancakes? Well, he says that word correctly now, but he still has a few things he doesn't say quite right. Like the restaurant Which Wich - he says Switch Wich :)

He loves to watch the garbage trucks go down our street, and he loves to help me pull up the trash cans once they are empty.

He also loves to help me in the kitchen and will pull over a chair to "help". He also likes to help with the dishes (which usually just involves dumping water from one cup to another -- and ends when he gets water on the floor or all down his shirt).

His favorite word to say is "duck". He says it frequently and randomly. He laughs whenever he says it. When Ben was in Germany and we made a little video to send him, I asked the kids if they wanted to tell Daddy anything. Lila said "I love you Daddy." Wyatt said "duck!" Then he laughed.

And here's another photo to put in the "embarrassing wedding photos" stockpile. He likes to put on Lila's socks and shoes.

With him about to turn three, I have begun to think about potty training. But, he still shows no interest in using the toilet. And we have had some issues with him not wanting to go #2, even in his diaper. I don't get very excited about this venture right now. Two things I don't understand... why wouldn't you want to go in the toilet and why wouldn't you want to take a nap?? :)

Usually, he is my sweet, but loud, little guy. However, if he gets overly tired, we have learned he becomes a crazed maniac. By that I mean, he won't make up his mind but then gets upset about it, screams and yells and kicks. It isn't pretty. The other night I had to hold him down while I changed his diaper and then put him to bed. It doesn't happen very often fortunately. During those moments I have no problem remembering how old he is though :) 

Times Have Changed

This was taken (on my phone) in July of 2009, a little over two years ago.

Now, those two look like this. Where did my babies go???

Back then, he was the baby.

Now we have a new baby in the picture.

I have no idea what Piper was looking at. The other two were laughing at Ben, who was trying to get them to smile.

And just for fun... what a happy little guy :)

9 Months and Thriving

When I took Piper in for her 9 month check up, everything looked great. She was hitting all the milestones... babbling, crawling, standing. She had grown an inch. BUT, she had only gained 1 ounce since she was 6 months. The doctor was concerned and perplexed as to why she hadn't gained more weight. She never acted hungry, but maybe I wasn't feeding her enough?? I mean, she really is a happy baby 95% of the time. It was the second time I have heard the phrase "failure to thrive" concerning her. (I also heard that when I was pregnant and measuring small.) The doctor wanted to do a urine test to see if that gave any answers. So while we were waiting for my sweet girl to tinkle, the doctor also ordered an EKG.

Here she is: 9 months old getting an EKG. The hardest part was keeping Piper from pulling all those cords off. I haven't heard anything about the EKG results, so I can only assume it came back normal. Since that day, we have doubled (possibly tripled) what we were feeding her. Included in that is some Pediasure which the doctor prescribed. She has eaten it all. I feel badly that I obviously wasn't feeding her enough, but at the same time, I am hoping that is the only problem. I take her back to the doctor in 2 weeks for a weight check.

Here she is before her doctor's appointment, happy as a clam. She was particularly excited about touching that dishwasher thingy (that's the untechnical term). Also, she loves to carry something in her hand. She crawls everywhere holding something in one or both hands. That little tubular lego? Her favorite.

She does try to put it in her mouth and chew on it sometimes. Then she gets told "no-no".

The face I got when I took it away.

She makes a really cute pouty face, I must say :)

I took her outside later that day to try and get a new picture for my living room. I have a frame that holds the kids' three pictures and I wanted to update Piper's pic.

She was fascinated by the dead grass.

I thought maybe she would be upset about sitting in the straw-like grass, but she didn't mind at all!

Then one morning, I decided I'd better take some pictures of her to document nine months. Here she is with the turtle.

Get used to these types of hugs, Piper. I see many of them in your future.

She often sits on her knees... easier to keep going that way!

Wyatt laughing at something she was doing.

She was laughing because I kept gently pushing her backward when she'd try to sit up.

Happy girl.

Happy hungry girl.

A picture of her hair swirl on the back of her head.

I believe it was at this point I started thinking, "Hmm. She IS 9 months old. She should have a doctor's appt. coming up." I went and looked at the calendar. Yikes! It was that day at 10 a.m. The time? 9:40 a.m. We ran out the door and made it on time. Little did I know I would be there for two hours waiting on things like an EKG.

She stands up all the time now. Notice the blocks in her hand.

Current eye color: gray?

She likes to stand up by the window and look out.

I thought I should document bath time now. She holds things in the tub too.

She LOVES bath time!

She holds on to the toys when she gets out of the tub too. You can kind of see all of her teeth in this picture. She has two on bottom and three on top.

Where's Piper?

So sweet.

Friends of ours got this towel for Piper when she was born.

I love hooded towels.

Oh, that tongue. And the dimple. So cute!

Different day, same block.

What do you think? Does she look like she's gained weight? She really is a happy baby. Loves to babble and investigate everything. She eats really well... has only gagged at a few things :) And she loves to snuggle. I'm sure if I wanted to, I could hold her all day long and she wouldn't complain. When I pick her up, she gets really excited and starts bouncing up and down in my arms. It is an instant mood booster :)