Curious Mya Turns 2!

It's hard to believe Mya is 2 already.  This past weekend we celebrated her birthday with a Curious George-themed party.  I'd like to say I thought up all the ideas on my own, but I took a lot of help from Pinterest.  I can safely say I didn't go nearly as crazy as some parents do, but probably did go a little overboard considering we had 10 guests (including ourselves).

The centerpieces for our tables were red and yellow bouquets with bunches of bananas next to them.  A "2" birthday candle made with my Cricket (that hardly ever gets used - who has the time?) sat atop the bananas.  And of course a card that read, "She was a good little monkey, and always very curious."

The menu was centered around characters from Curious George too.  We had Chef Pisghetti's tortellini skewers, Marco's corn & black bean salsa, The Quints' fish crackers, and (Adam's idea) Hundley's in a blanket.  Then to continue it on, we had Nana's banana bread and mini banana cream pies.

For the kids gift bags, we had a George puzzle, George bubbles, a George DVD and I found a couple Curious George books for each of them.  One of Mya's books was "Curious George and the Birthday Surprise," which I had everyone sign to commemorate the day.  But Mya was just as happy about the balloons.

We also ordered a Curious George cake from Young's Bakery & Deli in Augusta.  This is not a camera trick - the cake really was this big! 

Probably the highlight of the afternoon was the opening of Mya's gifts.  One of her presents was a set of Disney princess costumes (Cinderella, Belle and Ariel).  Mason did most of the unwrapping for her, and when he got to the princess dresses, he got so excited.  Mya did too, but it was really Mason who was the star at this point.  The kid loves dress-up, and seems to especially love princess costumes.  Cinderella to be exact (or should we say "Cinder-fella?").  So he wore that costume, Julia wore the Ariel dress and Mya was Belle of course.  Doesn't she look exactly like the Little People Belle?  I'd post a picture of the costume parade, but I have a feeling Mason would some day be very mad at me for doing so. 

 

In the end, it was a great birthday that I know I'll always remember.  Can we top it next year?  Maybe not, but I'll sure have fun trying.

 

My Day Off

Sometimes you just need a day off for no reason. Okay, today actually had a reason - Adam would normally have watched the kids but had all day training, and rather than submit a schedule change at daycare and deal with messed up billings for the next month, I decided just to take the day off. 

We began the day just like any other, watched a couple kid shows, ate breakfast and got dressed.  But as I watched them staring out the window together, I started thinking how this day could be so much more.

So we made a quick stop at Target (no photo of that) to pick up new lampshades.  Why you ask, because my fabulous children had destroyed the other ones.  We swung by the snack bar on the way out for popcorn and headed down the road to the zoo. 

Arriving at 10:30 was a fantastic idea.  It wasn't a ghost town, but there certainly weren't that many people there.  I much prefered it this way - I wasn't fighting to get the wagon up against the fences so the kids could see the animals. 

Of course we rode the train, after which Mason had a discussion with the conductor about how the engine looks like a steam engine, but it really must be a diesel.  Yep, that's my boy.  Then we played in the children's zoo area for a little while.  Of course many of the animals there were related back to Curious George (Bill's bunnies, the Renkin's goats and pigs).

Then a ride around the carousel before we headed out to Wild Africa.  The only line we encountered the entire day was when we stopped for lunch at the Kalahari Kitchen.  Then it was off to feed the giraffes.  The lady doling out the lettuce must have thought the kids were cute, because she gave us the lettuce hearts which is actually like 5 for the price of 1!  Mason has been feeding them for the past few years, tentatively of course.  But Mya would have none of it.  She stood behind me just about the whole time.  The one moment she ventured to the front, a giraffe came sniffing for food and she jumped and ran away. 

After a good three hours at the zoo, and well past their naptimes, we headed for home.  Mya didn't even make it to the end of the zoo drive before she was out.  I had to wake them both up at 4:30 (I'd worn them out!), and we watched a few more kids shows before having dinner.  It would've been a complete day at this point, but I decided to keep going with the fun.  You only live once, right?

 

So after dinner we headed to the golden arches for ice cream cones.  I know, you'd think BC would have more ice cream options, but I didn't really feel like driving too far and knew they'd be just as happy with McD's soft serve.  While we were there, Adam got out of training and said he'd meet us at the park.  The total elation on their faces (and in their voices) when they saw Adam was priceless.  I don't think you could've peeled Mya off of him if you'd tried.  .   

The kids played for a while, Mya making friends with a bunch of 1st and 2nd graders who wanted her to be their baby and Mason doing boy-type things.  Finally, we headed home for baths and snuggle time.  The perfect end to a perfect day.  Not every day can be special, but I'm glad I was able to make the most of this one with my kiddos.  All I can say is it was well worth those 8 personal hours.

Pre-K Commencements & the Big K Decision

It's inevitable.  You mention commencement ceremonies, and I have to think of the generic speech that while this is the end of something, commencement really means beginning.  I feel like I could go on and on about all the beginnings and endings going on here.

When you think about it, graduation from Pre-K and high school are not all that different.  It's at this point that kids will move on to different schools, in some cases staying back in Pre-K for another year.

Adam and I wrestled with what to do with Mason - hold him back or send him on.  Thus far in his young life, it's the most difficult decision we've had to make for him.  We went back and forth on what to do for quite a while, seeking advice from anyone and everyone.  In the end, we relied heavily on the advice of Adam's mom.  As you can tell from the picture, we decided to move him on to Kindergarten.  Academically we think he's ready, socially we hope so.  He has mostly good or excellent days at school, and keeping him with some of his friends was another factor for us to consider. 

Our Pre-K is through the kids' daycare center, which is attached to a K-6 charter school.  The charter school is one of the reasons we chose the daycare we did, since we knew if we still lived in the BCPSD, we'd want our kids to go to school elsewhere.  For the short term, this means Mason will be spending the summer with the same kids he's been with for almost 3 years now. 

 

Looking down the road though is the ending I alluded to before.  Some friends will be going to Kindergarten in their home districts, no doubt.  Some will stay back in Pre-K, either because their parents chose to hold them back or because of their birthdays.  And thankfully a few will continue on to Arbor Academy with Mason.  Two that won't are his buddies Shun and Lyle from this picture.  Shun and his family are returning to Japan in August, and Lyle is a December birthday. 

 

Miss Ireland made a slideshow movie of pictures she'd taken of the kids throughout the year.  As we watched it at their ceremony, these thoughts of beginnings and endings were running through my mind.  And if you know me, you won't be surprised to hear that tears were running down my cheeks.

 

 

Pretty in Pink

We didn't set out thinking our daughter would be a pink girl.  Yes, her nursery bedding is pink, but the walls of her room are a soft bluish-lavender and the accents in her room are pink, green and white.

Somewhere along the line though, she realized that all the pink toys belong to her and all the pink clothes are hers too. 

We didn't see this realization play out in the real world until we began swim classes a few weeks ago.  Toward the end of the first class, the instructor emptied a bin of balls into the pool for the kids to play with.  Mya immediately reached for the pink ball.  Still, it didn't really sink in until the following class.  When the bin of balls was emptied this time, she ended up with a blue ball.  She cried and cried and called for "my baaall."  And then we figured it out - she wanted the pink one. Thankfully it was still in the bin and we swapped out the awful blue ball for the pink one.

The following class the same thing happened.  Adam was with her when the balls were brought out and swam over with her to get a pink ball.  It was not her pink ball though - this one was a light pink ball and the one she liked was brighter, like the shade of her jacket.  Thankfully again, Adam was able to swap it out for the right one.

A little later the instructors passed out pool noodles.  Mya drew a teal noodle, and immediately started crying.  Adam had to swim over to the side with her and request a pink one that was up by the lifeguard.  She obliged, and all was right with the world again.

Unfortunately, our string of good luck came to an end last week.  The balls were dumped and the two pink ones were passed out to other kids.  Again Mya cried for "my baaall" but there was nothing we could do about it.  She just had to suffer with the green one.  There was no consolation on this and it was at this time we realized this was our fault.  Without even trying, we'd programmed her to believe that if something is pink, it must be hers.

Mya's last swim class for the summer comes tonight.  I think Adam and I both fear what will happen should she not get the pink ball or pink noodle this time around.  Thankfully, we know we'll be spending some time with the kids in their life jackets.  And wouldn't you know it, when we needed to get her a new one for the lake last year, we bought her a pink one.

Say Cheese!

I haven't managed to get a good picture of Mason and Mya together in a long time.  This is mostly because Mason is currently going through a phase where he doesn't want his picture taken. 

"Don't see me!!!"



Mya isn't much help either right now since she just wants to look at the display on the camera.  And of course she doesn't understand when I tell her she has to stand there and take a picture before I can show her.

But I've been craving a new picture of the two of them.  So I pointed at this family tree collage frame that hangs on our living room wall and told Mason we need a new picture for the frame.  Mya isn't in the space for our kids, just a picture of Mason with his fuzzy hair from when he was a baby.


Miracle of miracles, I caught him at a good moment when my request seemed perfectly rational.  "Nyeaaah, we do need a picture of Mya and me in that frame."  I was immediately thankful that I put them in coordinating outfits.  Really, you never know when a photo op might present itself so I always try to be prepared.  Having a camera in reach is part of it, but yes I actually do try to make them match without matching on a daily basis.

The pictures didn't come out exactly as I'd hoped (he looks like he strangling her in the first, neither are looking at the camera in the second), but it's better than nothing.  And even without a great shot of the two of them, I ended up with a picture of Mason proving that if he just tries, he can be one of the most adorably photogenic kids around.

Cousins

I have to admit I'm a little envious.  Of course I have cousins, but I don't have any close to my age.  My closest cousin on my dad's side was 9 years older than me, and on my mom's side the closest cousin was 4 years younger.  I was, quite literally, stuck in the middle.  That is probably why I love watching my kids play with their cousins. 

 

Mason and Abby are 1 day apart in age.  Yes, one single day.  The downside is Abby lives in Washington, so we don't get to see her and Mason interact as much as we'd like.  Evidenced by the fact that the last picture I took of just the two of them is from when they were almost 2.  I can't believe how much Abby and Mya look alike. 

Speaking of Mya, she and her cousin Julia are just six months apart in age. As you can tell, they get along wonderfully. Kids develop so quickly, that for me watching Julia is like looking into a crystal ball and seeing what Mya will be doing in just six months time. It's just amazing when you really think about it.

The past couples times we've gotten the girls together, they've really been playing like friends. Megan and I are just going to sit back and watch them grow together.  They may not look at all alike, be we hope they'll be like sisters.

Pancake Saturdays

When I was a kid I spent many a weekend morning begging my dad to make pancakes.  Once a week he'd get out his bowl and antique hand mixer and whip up a batch. There's nothing like the sound of one of those mixers.  If you were asleep, you'd wake to the sound of it and know something good would soon find it's way in your tummy.

Of course us kids would put in our requests for different shaped pancakes.  And my dad, being artistically inclined, had no problem obliging.  I'm sure I had a favorite design, though I can't remember what it would have been now.  This is because at some point, I decided I didn't like pancakes anymore. 

I probably went 15 or so years without eating pancakes. 

And then I had kids.

Now, anyone who knows me knows I barely do anything in the kitchen.  My wonderful former-cook husband makes EVERYTHING for us.  But I decided this was the one thing I could do for our kids.  And then all the memories of my dad and his pancakes came rushing back.  Suddenly I knew this was something I had to do. 

I don't have an antique mixer, but my pancakes aren't my dad's either.  I take a lot of help from premade mix, but to make these mine I add a container of baby food squash to the mix.  I once read somewhere you could do this to squeeze in an extra serving of veggies for your kids.  Then, instead of syrup, I put sprinkles on the kids pancakes and usually add some fresh-grated nutmeg to the adult versions. 

As for what shapes the kids like best.  Well you guessed it for Mason, it's trains.  Not just any trains but Thomas (3 wheels, on top) and Percy (two wheels, on the bottom).  And of course they ride on bacon tracks.  Mya doesn't have a favorite shape yet, but I'm sure she'll be asking for something specific soon.

I know there's a chance that after a few more years, my kids will become sick of pancake Saturdays just like I did.  But until then, I'll relive the memories of my childhood each weekend and hope I'm making some for my kids.