Hello June

Look at that cute guy. He is such a mama's boy. He gives lots of kisses and hugs to mama, but is not quite as generous with everyone else. I'm not complaining!

In other news, I have accepted a job with Sirius XM and will be starting next week. I had multiple interviews and multiple offers, but this one seemed to be the best fit. I've been hustling to get all of those projects I've been meaning to do actually done during this sabbatical.

Vivien's last day of preschool was this past week, and let me tell you, it was a tearjerker for mom. For the last day, they let her read to the class. She was very excited! She has been at that school since she was 2, and I've loved all of the teachers there. It was hard for me to say goodbye! But Vivien is VERY ready for Kindergarten. She is already reading, and doing quite well at it. Daddy is very apprehensive about his girl being old enough to go to Kindergarten. Mama is ready to see her go flourish. I would like to share a note her teacher sent me when I asked for some feedback:

"What a delight Vivien has been to have in class this year!! I would like a whole class full of Viviens!! She is a very bright child and amazes me everyday on how she can define pretty much any new word I say to the class when I am reading. I think that sometimes she can figure out what a word means just by listening to the sentences before and after the new word. She listens soooooooooooo well when I am reading. Vivien does not miss a thing!!! She rarely gives a "wrong" answer. Her comprehension is remarkable. My daughter was reading before Kindergarten and she has never stopped!! You can always tell the children that are read to by their parents. I think that she would benefit greatly in any type of gifted program. When my daughter was in K, they pulled her out and she would go to the 1st grade class for reading. I don't know if they do that type of thing here(we lived in a small town in upstate NY). I think she needs to be challenged, and I do not think that it would overwhelm her. She is not easily frustrated and has a calm, gentle personality. She seems to enjoy doing our "craft projects", but I do notice that is where she tends to rush and be in a hurry. A lot of the children are like that because they know they can go to centers when they are done! Does she enjoy drawing, coloring, painting etc. at home? She never complains or tattles and is just the kindest friend to anyone you put her with. Vivien always follows the rules too!! What a gem!! I just love her!

As far as preparing her for K, I would just continue to read, read, read and maybe work on her writing, drawing and coloring. She knows her numbers and alphabet backwards and forwards!!! She is going to do great next year, and I hope that you will keep in touch and let me know how she does. I know that she will love and enjoy Kindergarten!! I am really going to miss her next year!!"

I had to laugh about the "craft projects" part. She is so her mother. I'm not so crafty, but studious, I am. That note really touched me.

We finally bit the bullet and got some ear tubes for Silas. He has done really well with them. His appetite has increased ten-fold. "Di-di" is now "dain-you." I'm still waiting for him to sleep through the night, though..... We put a Mario tattoo on him, because Super Mario is one of his favorite characters. He calls him "Wee-ah-wee-oh." There is also "Doo-dah," which is Mickey Mouse. If we are watching something on TV, he will point at the TV or the remote and demand "doo-dah."

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Vivien is our little athlete. We had a picnic for Jim's work, and they played a game of wiffle ball. Vivien is not familiar with the rules of baseball, and had never even really swung a bat. *EDIT: Apparently she plays at the babysitter's all the time. Ha ha. Well, she acted like she had no idea what to do that day. Must've been a ruse. Check this out....

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I got Silas a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book since that's his favorite show. First, he ate the entire corner off the book. But after that, he seemed to like reading it. Notice how he says "Yep!" to everything.

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If I don't Post now, I'll forget

Okay, so yes, I'm way behind. I am in desperate need of posting something so that I have track of these milestones. Since I've spent the last few days cleaning and catching vomit, I will go ahead and just vomit some information here. I have plenty of pics and videos, but not enough time to post them here so words will just have to suffice.

In January, we decided to prepare our house for sale. We put it on the market on 2/15 and had a contract within 36 hours. We found a house that weekend, that turned out to be a dud upon inspection. However, the following weekend, we found the PERFECT house. But, it was in Frisco. That meant no more Plano schools and things were going to be complicated with Vivien entering K in August. We moved in on April 1st. The kids are in love with the house, and so are we. Vivien began sleeping with her door closed on the very first night, which she never would have done at the old house. Jim built a huge swingset from a kit we bought from Sam's. With some help from some friends the first day, he had it put together within 7 days. Definitely a labor of love. I quit my job the second week of April. I was extremely unhappy. I am currently looking for something more suitable.

Vivien is 5. She read an entire library book to me last week in the car. It is the first time she has read a whole book. Her teacher told me how smart she is. They were doing If, Thens in class and the teacher kept doing tricky ones. She said Vivien got every single one of them. This is no surprise, of course! We have been reading the Junie B. Jones series that Aunt Gina and family got her for her birthday. She is all registered for Kindergarten. We will go to a Kindergarten meet-and-greet next week. Her hair has gotten so long, but she never wants it brushed. She still loves to sing all of the time. Her pitch and tone are spot on.

Silas is 21 months. He says "di-di" for thank you. He will whisper secrets in your ear. He loves Mickey Mouse and anything to do with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. One of his favorite sayings is, "Barbie! Yeah!" You can tell he has an older sister! He loves waffles and lasagna. He has an advanced sense of humor. He is so smart and a great communicator. He is very mechanically inclined and likes to study how things go together. When he sees his daddy with tools, he follows along to help. He is so handsome. He likes to put on his shoes. He likes to screech "NO!" when he doesn't want something. He will furrow his brow and look all serious, but crack up when you do the same back to him. If he wants something, he will go to it, point, and say, "Yeah." We are about to start potty learning with him.

I love watching the kids play together. Vivien does bully Silas a bit, so I look forward to the day when he can stand up for himself. She says sometimes, "It's hard having a little brother." He copies everything she does. She is his idol, for sure. We were recently in a store, and I turned around and they were walking hand-in-hand down the aisle. It made me teary. They were so precious.

That's all I have for now.

Walking Progress....and so on

I love this picture. It is my first (fur) babies and my real babies. Everybody is giving Mama some love!

Yes, that would be Jim belching in the background.

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Mean? Maybe. Funny? Definitely. (P.S. He loves the kitty now and follows me around petting it.)

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Jim and I got all dolled up for the first time in years to go to the Progressive holiday party this past weekend. They do it after the actual holidays, which is fine by me. It was a lot of fun, and terribly unusual for us to go out together.

One of Vivien's friends passed on some Thomas the Train stuff. The kids have really enjoyed it. Jim and I try to put together different routes, then Sizilla comes along and destroys it. He says, "Whee" and "Hoo Hoo" for the train noises.

The child has finally been making strides (pun intended) with his walking. He is becoming more confident daily.

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We took a little trip to the park yesterday. Silas was enjoying the "Whee." Here, they had a slide race, in which Vivien was trying to rip his arm out of his socket.

Whee! (Vivien, don't!)

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Well....this is embarrassing

I have not gotten better at updating this blog since going back to work. I made a New Year's resolution that I will update twice per month. Since I'm so far behind and this past month included Vivien's Birthday, a visit from the grandparents, the school program, Christmas, and a hospital stay, there will be no videos in this post. I might have to do another one with just videos because there are some real cute ones.

Vivien is now 5. She spent four days in the hospital last week with pneumonia. Silas has had multiple bouts of ear infections. He is 17 months and still not walking. ECI is supposed to come later in the month to assess him. Right around Christmas day, he started taking 2-3 unassisted steps. But he's still fighting the urge. We really think he is scared more so than lazy. He says what sound the doggy makes (FFFFFF) and what sound the chicken makes (bahbah). He says bye-bye and kisses everyone. He has become aggressively interested in nursing recently. He LOVES Speedy. He also loves to take a shower.

Here are some pictures from the month of December...

Our first snow this year was on December 3rd. Or was it the 2nd? See? I can't remember because I waited too long to post.

Vivien and I decorated the Christmas tree after Silas went to bed one night. The tree was very heavy with ornaments on the top. It took him a couple of days to really realize there were things on there he could pick off. Then he started sly maneuvers like pretending he was going to look at a book under the tree while reaching up with his other hand and pulling an ornament off.

My parents came for their annual weekly visit for Vivien's birthday. Here we are enjoying lasagna on their first night in town.

Bedtime with Grammy and Mama.

We did a felting party for Vivien's birthday this year. Amba owns a company called The Felting Pot. She teaches workshops. We thought it would be fun to make ornaments for the kids. The kids (and parents) seemed to have a lot of fun.

All of our guests' finished snowmen.

I have no idea.

Grampy was so excited when Silas crawled up and reached up for him on the 2nd day they were here. Grampy had just undergone his colostomy surgery right before Silas was born and suffered major neuropathy in his hands. It was hard for him to really hold Silas in the prior visits since he was born. This was the first time Grampy could really hold him well.

Vivien was class VIP on her birthday week, so she had Marvin the Monkey for a couple of days. Marvin helped her and Daddy make banana bread.

Grampy made some star ornaments for the kids to decorate. Even Silas made one.

Snuggling with Daddy before bed.

Vivien and Grammy shared a bed all week. Grammy is buried under there somewhere.

Silas enjoyed hanging out with his snack while Grampy worked on his computer.

Vivien's school Christmas program happened to fall on her birthday. She was so nervous leading up to it. Once she got up there, she did fantastic. We were so proud!

MommyJan brought over a suitcase filled with fun costume jewelry. The kids had so much fun playing in it.

Our dishwasher was who knows how old. We've lived in this house for 6 years and I'm pretty sure it wasn't very new when we bought the house. The thing is a piece of junk. We finally broke down and ordered another one to be delivered on the 24th. A few days after we ordered it, the front panel fell off of the old one. So we made our own Advent calendar on the dishwasher for the arrival of the new one.

Mom and I went to a painting class at a place in Frisco called Painting with a Twist. It was so fun!

Our second snow came on Christmas Eve. It snowed harder that I think I've seen in several years. We had a white Christmas for the first time in twenty-something years.

Santa brought Vivien the scooter she asked for.

He brought Silas a ride-on Tonka truck.

The LaGasse family (my step-family) has had this 1982 calendar circulating since....well, like 1988. What? Did you think I was going to say 1982? It is the gift that keeps on giving. And I got it this year. I can't believe that dreadful thing is still alive. I can't wait to think about who gets it next year. And I hope to give it to them in person.

Hey Silas, give Speedy a bone. Huh?

Before heading to Aunt Liza's f0r Christmas lunch, Vivien got to play in the snow for a bit.

Silas modeling all of his new gifts.

MommyJan was helping Silas work on his walking.

I don't even know what to say about this picture.

I love this precious boy.

My poor munchkin got sick Christmas night and had to be hospitalized 3 days later for pneumonia. She was in the hospital for 4 days. It was awful. At the same time, Silas was sick with a double ear infection. Jim and I had to swap places back and forth. I couldn't stay with Vivien at night because I had to be home to nurse Silas, so Jim stayed at night. I would hang out with her during the day. The very first night, it happened so suddenly that she had to be admitted. My friend, Kandice, came to stay with Silas so that I could go see her for a bit. MommyJan stayed the next two nights and helped us out tremendously. Silas had a vomiting spell on Wednesday night, and I was so grateful to have her here to help. We are very fortunate to have such good family and friends.

Silas turns 15 months....a month ago.

Today is Silas' 16 month birthday. But I'm so far behind that I'm going to start with his 15 month birthday when he went in for his official 15 month check-up. I'll put the month of November together chronologically. The end of this post is where I'll say what he's doing now....

At his 15 month check up, Silas weighed 22 lbs. 10 oz. That is the 30th percentile. He was 32 inches long, which was the 95th percentile. He's going to be long and lean. He also continued to have a big melon keeping him in the 90th percentile. Since he was not yet walking, the pediatrician said if he wasn't walking by 16 months, we would need to call in Early Childhood Intervention to help.

For Halloween, the kids were Cinderella and her mouse friend, Gus. They were might cute.

My friends, Kandice and Jackie, walked in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day. We went out to the cheering station to watch them. We were out there for over 2 hours waiting. We finally had to leave before seeing them (we had no idea when they would be by) because we were due for a playdate. Despite not seeing them, we had an amazing experience watching the walkers. I was certainly touched and got teary-eyed multiple times. As we were driving off, I spotted my friends. I flipped a u-turn and headed back to see if I could spot them again. I pulled up next to them long enough to tell them that I was so proud of them. What an amazing experience!

Silas spent the entire month of November sick. Literally my second week of work, he has been sick. I feel like the world's worst mother. It started with a diarrhea bug. Then he developed a wicked cough that required two weeks of the nebulizer. Then he got a double ear infection. Just as he finished his antibiotics, he got another virus giving him fever and congestion (he still has it). The nebulizer treatments are torture because they take so long. Jim gave him his treatments most of the time. A couple of nights, he was so exhausted, he fell asleep mid-treatment. Poor guy. :(

Nakey boy.

She just looked so adorable this day that I had to take a quick pic before we walked out the door.

Amba has been teaching Silas to sign "more." Here we are trying to get him to do it. He does it at first (when he points to the palm of his hand).

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Although he is still not walking, he is a pro with the walker. He picks it up and moves it whatever direction he needs it to go. He could totally walk at this point, but was just too nervous to let go alone. He's been standing alone (mainly in the bathtub of all places) for a couple of months now. He'll walk when we hold his hand, but when we let go, he sits right down. Which is so weird considering the way he's been scaling the furniture for several months.

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He looked so sweet, I had to take a pic.

Daddy and Silas taking Myspace pics.

We went to MommyJan's for early Thanksgiving (the Sunday before). Silas loved Wyatt's shopping cart.

Vivien, Wyatt, and Silas eating their Thanksgiving lunch.

This is pretty cool. Silas is eating in the high chair that belonged to MommyJan when she was a baby. Granted, it's a huge safety hazard, but still cool.

My kids love to hang out in the laundry basket. Now I just need to teach them how to do laundry. I'm sure I was doing laundry by Vivien's age.

We went to our friends' house on the real Thanksgiving. We had a nice group of different families celebrating together.

Silas loves to give kisses. He's been giving them for a while, but lately, he's been giving them unsolicited.

Okay....at 16 months.... Silas has taken a couple of steps on his own several times now. He's still really nervous. He shakes his head and says, "uh-uh" when he is about to do something he knows he's not supposed to. He also does it when you ask him certain questions: "Do you love Daddy?" "Uh-uh." He also just started nodding his head "yes" and I swear he does it in context. He brings his shoes over for me to put them on. He points to the snack cabinet when he wants something. He's currently working on 2 teeth. He's about 24 lbs. He thinks Speedy is the coolest thing in the world. He loves to give him kisses. He blows kisses all of the time, especially when it's time to go to bed. When I drop him off at Amba's, Juniper gets so excited and blows him kisses. She cries when he leaves. He is such a delight. We love him so much!

I think that summarizes November. Stay tuned because a certain big girl is turning 5 in a couple of weeks. I think I'll go sob in the corner now....