Oktober in September

Enjoy some randomness...

Vivien has a newly-developed fear of storms. I knew it was just a matter of time. She's terrified the power will go out and it will be dark. We had a few storms a couple of weeks ago and Vivien was nervous about going to bed. I told her she could sleep on the couch for a bit before she went to her bed. I couldn't resist taking a pic.

Silas was enjoying a snack in front of a full audience.

Silas has no fear when it comes to the water. Vivien was much more cautious at this age. She still doesn't like to get her face wet.

So sweet!

We went to Oktoberfest in Addison with the Wright family.

Here is Vivien with Frankie riding the $3 ride.

I was probably the only one who really enjoyed this part. Doing the dances reminded me of when we went to German Park in Indianapolis as a kid. My mom is from Germany, so I am always comforted by the German traditions.

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Jennifer treated Vivien to a snow cone. It was so hot out, the snow cone was a welcome treat!

The kids ended up sick the rest of the week. Vivien ran a nearly 105 degree temperature Tuesday night. Silas never got that high, but he had one too. Vivien started with a rash on Friday, so I think she had Roseola.

I gave a bag of clothes to a friend, who in turn gave us this handmade mei tai. We love it so much!

I found Vivien wearing the baby, playing computer games. The baby "talks," so Vivien was comforting her while she played. I tried to get a video, but she started hamming up as soon as I came around. It was very cute, though.

Silas wanted to play with the baby, too.

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I LOVE babies in footed pajamas! Here is Silas dribbling water all over his sleeper.

We painted with sidewalk chalk paint. It was all fun and games until Silas picked up the bowls. His leg and feet were dyed blue. I was waiting for CPS to call me.

Vivien made a sun!

Yes, there is something green in his mouth.
Yum, a piece of chalk!



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September Happenings

Look at this guy. He is the cutest.

We made strawberry cookies on Sunday.

Vivien has been taking private swim lessons every Sunday. She has been making amazing strides over what she learned in group lessons. She took a week off, and regressed a bit with her fear. Rob is really great with her, though, and she really likes him.

Here is a picture Vivien painted. I have added in text to explain what everything is. The first thing she drew after drawing the stick representing Jim was the big circle around his head. That's his neck, of course.

We went to Mommy Jan's house yesterday so that Jim could put together an arbor for her. Silas is looking out the window at Dad and Mommy Jan.

Then Aunt Liza and Wyatt came over.

Vivien was having fun playing on the stool with Wyatt. She told him that statue was God. Aunt Liza told her it was a disciple and asked if she knew how many disciples Jesus had. Vivien answered, "Twelve. Do you know how many disciples I have? One hundred twenty-one." Ha ha!

Mommy Jan took us all to Red Robin.

Getting smooches from his grandmother.

Macaroni and cheese face.

This was Silas' first time to play with a balloon other than the deflated ones from his party. He was super serious about it.

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Wyatt has some dance moves like you have never seen. The mood may strike him whenever. He recently learned to walk and is finding that dancing while walking takes a lot of practice.

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Standing, First Day of School, and Poor Dad

I let my son eat paint. Now let's move past that and see him unexpectedly stand up without leaning on me!

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Vivien went back to school on Tuesday. Yay!!! We started the first day back with the normal school day drama. She didn't want to eat or cooperate. I figured it's just par for the course.

When we got there, she found her name to put in the door.

This is her teacher. Vivien loves her teachers! Although she didn't look very enthusiastic here, she was just a little overwhelmed with what she needed to be doing.

After putting her things away, she went right over to the table to start her tablework. They have to finish their tablework before they can play in the centers.

In the meantime, Jim had to stay home because he had some sort of freak muscle spasm. It happened at work on Saturday and then was exacerbated by doing yard work on Monday. He had to miss work and see the chiropractor twice. Our friends who own Park Cities Yoga (shout out) helped him with some stretches he could do so that he could at least get in the car to go to the chiropractor. The poor guy was in so much pain and very much resembled Quasimodo. Of course, didn't stop him from cuddling with the boy. Oh and Vivien was so sweet. She kept checking on him and saying how sorry she was the he was not feeling well. Then she came to me and told me she was sorry he wasn't feeling well because he couldn't take her out to swing. We're working on empathy...

This is the song Vivien learned on her first day of school. I thought I knew all of the kid songs, but this one was new to me. She's so cute!

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Day 2 of school was even better. Vivien got up, ate, and got dressed with no delay or rebellion. When she got home, she thanked me for cleaning her bedroom while she was gone. She then put her shoes on her shoe rack and her socks in her hamper. I was so proud! Normally she just throws them in the middle of the room and takes off. She really is growing up and I think this school year is going to really prepare her for kindergarten.

The Rest of August

The end of the month flew by. We had plenty of activities to do and friends to see. Many of Vivien's friends started kindergarten this year, so we needed to get in some last minute playdates.

I was able to get a good temper tantrum on video. Silas was mad because Jim took away a balloon that he was trying to eat. Buzzkill parents.

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In an effort to promote dental health, we have devised these bathtub games. Not really, but this was really cute.

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Mid-month, we had a Day in the Life feature on the mom webgroup in which I am a member. This is where you chronicle your family's day with a pictorial. I won't post everything, because it was a considerable amount of pictures, but here are four from that day...
This is after Vivien got dressed and we fixed her hair.

Then there was a race between the rocking horse and Tina.

Vivien made me participate while she took the photo.

Daddy reading her bedtime story.

Many may not know, but Vivien has a favorite nightgown. She wears it almost every night. One of the straps was hanging on by literally a thread for weeks. Finally it broke. I had no choice but to sew it. I didn't have a machine at the time (since this, my friend Susan gave me one) so I had to hand sew it. We needed evidence of this since I am not one to wield a needle and thread. For the record, I sewed it back on twisted.

Vivien is pretty good about not acting jealous of Silas. But the one thing she cannot deal with is us taking his photograph or a video without her in it. It has become a joke of how long it takes her to get in front of the camera.

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He's quite a monkey.

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Jim was out playing with the kids before bed the other night. He came running in to tell me to bring the camera. Vivien was hitting the ball every time. Of course, when I brought the camera, it took a bit for her to get her momentum back, but she rocks! She also has a great throwing arm. I think t-ball is in our near future. She really has some athletic skill.

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After playing outside, it was time to wind down with Dad before bed.

One day, Vivien and I decided to make crayon tarts from her broken crayons. First we peeled the paper.

After baking and freezing, it was time to see our end result!

The colors were beautiful!

One place you can often find Silas is in the dishwasher. Naturally, as I attempted to take a pic, Vivien came running.

We went to the park the other day. It was the first time in about 3 months that we could handle the park in the afternoon. I miss the days of spending 3 hours at the park with friends. Hopefully, we can do that again soon once the weather is cooler.

On Sunday, Vivien went with Mommy Jan, Aunt Liza, Uncle Joel, and Wyatt to lunch and the mall. They went to Build-A-Bear and Vivien made a pretty unicorn. She named the unicorn after her late cousin, Bella. In the meantime, Silas enjoyed playing on the couch without getting tackled or having his legs pulled out from under him.

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I enjoyed an afternoon nap, and when I awoke, this is what I found. Jim was wearing Silas and doing the dishes. Doesn't get much better than that.