Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Little G

Someone continues to grow into a very vocal and physical little being in our house. "Baby G" is now "Little G" and is getting into everything. As evidence from the picture below, he tries to scavenge some of Krista's potty incentive:


He's a little talker, too. A relief from SOME of the squealing, screeching and screaming that used to be his sole method of communication. He can put two words together now, "Hi, Papa," "Hi Kitty," "Hat On," and others. He still reverts to his primary, non-verbal, communication most of the time - but we are working on it. He has always been louder than big sis and he says a lot more words than she did at this age. He definitely doesn't have the need to have a skill perfect before he uses it, like she did.

He also climbs on everything and is adept at climbing up into big chairs and couches without hesitation. Krista is his constant tormentor and vice versa, but soon he will be a big brother and have the same role she plays for him. It will be interesting to see how he handles it. Soon, he will be transferred to his big boy bed, the bottom of the bunk bed with Krista and I'll let you know how that goes - probably a few sleepless nights!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Family Fun Day

We try to fit as much family fun time in on the weekends as we possibly can. So far today, we bought Ansel some treats from PetSmart. It may sound like an average errand, but I assure you it is not. The kids slowly walk from one small animal to the next, observing the birds, fish, mice and guinea pigs to their hearts content. And as an added bonus, a lot of dog owners bring in their dogs to the store and the kids love petting them.

We also visited the Children's Museum, which was not as busy as I assumed it would be on a weekend. Krista got a ladybug painted on her face by Papa and she was in love with the revamped "stage/dress up" area. Gabriel got himself soaked at the water table and did not mind it one bit. We barely had enough time to look and explore everything before we had to get to our expired meter and lunch/nap time.


A special lunch at Fazoli's for pizza and unlimited breadsticks followed swiftly by Gabriel's nap time. Now we have a bit of quiet time, just a breather, before we go pick up a free toddler basketball hoop (gotta love freecycle) and venture to Shopko (or Shotgo as Krista pronounces it) for her choice of candy. This candy is destined for Krista's special movie night tonight with Mommy and Papa. We are going to watch Open Season and eat candy, cookies and popcorn - oh my!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Ballerina Update


At first, our tiny dancer did not want to participate in her dance class. Her teacher reported that she would just stand in class, observing, and she would not try the moves unless directly told to. This is expected and on par with Krista. She has always been hesitant with physical activity. She has always held off on doing things until she is ready and 100% confident that she can do them. So, after getting the report on her inactivity in class and after Krista expressing that she did not want to be a ballerina anymore, she now wanted to be a butterfly, we talked to her about trying new things and participating.
When she would watch a cartoon (like Dora, for example) we would make her do what the character was asking the kids to do. We also "played" dance class and she got to have a little role reversal by being the instructor and I was the student. By the next class, she was so excited to go to dance that she could hardly wait until the evening when her class begins. After the class, we were greeted with a large grin and Krista saying, "I did EVERYTHING!" Her instructor reported that she tried everything and did a great job. The same trend continued this week for her dance class and now she looks forward the the longer, fall dance season!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Trago Park

We had fun at a local free water park this past weekend. Once Krista "warmed" up to the water, we couldn't get her out! Gabriel, on the other hand, was an observer on the outskirts and did not even enjoy the mist that blew onto him with the wind.




Monday, July 6, 2009

The 4th

Here's the snippets of conversation from our 4th of July - from Krista:

The sparkler looks like Cinderella's Fairy Godmother's magic wand!
I have a hood, like Cinderella's Fairy Godmother!
Grandpa, you're ostracized - like the Papa in Abiyoyo!
I can do EVERYTHING and not scrutinize myself!
I like the cracklers AND smoke bombs.
That's amazing!
It's going to start snowing and a snowman is going to come.
I want more cake!

And Gabriel....

NoGoGo! NoGoGoGo!