Happy Birthday Daddy!

This post somehow never got published, so even though Robert's birthday was in May, I am posting this in September.  Oh well!  For Robert's birthday, the kids decided to wash his Jeep as their present to him.  Robert loves that Jeep, so it was a great idea all around.  It wasn't too warm that day, so the tomfoolery was kept to a minimum.  Here are some pictures of the kids doing a great job.

Carter turns 5!

Carter turned 5 this year! 

Carter is growing by leaps and bounds and it is such an amazing blessing.  He just finished his second year of preschool - going every morning and loving it.  He still is very cuddly with me and I am going to enjoy every moment of it while it lasts.  He freely gives hugs, kisses, and I love yous and says the sweetest things.  Of course there's a flip side to every coin and when Carter is cranky he gets totally irrational, mean-spirited, and very stubborn.  This usually happens when a lack of sleep is involved.  Thankfully he usually sleeps well - 11 hours a night on average - although getting him to go to sleep is sometimes a struggle.  He is very predictable every night in telling us that he does not like bedtime the instant that it's arrival is announced.  He doesn't put up too big of a fight usually, but I have taken to sitting in his room in his chair next to his bed for 10 minutes at night to help him settle in.   He sleeps with "birdie" - a green Dr. Seuss looking stuffed bird  that he's taken to over the last year or so - and as always his taggie blanket.  He loves books (which he can read the easiest readers on his won now), animals, video games, and arts and crafts.  One of the things that I like best about him is his optimism and laid back attitude - he's generally not picky and sees the bright side of most situations.  He also has an ego to him - which is very cute - every time he tries something (despite obvious evidence to the contrary) he believes that he is the BEST at it.  As his parents, we never tell him otherwise :)  He's already picked up on some type of man-code, because anytime he meets a new little boy they almost immediately start rough-housing, but when he plays with a little girl he'll sit down and play their games as well (or rough house with them, but only after they've given a sign that they're interested - other boys he just somehow assumes, which gets him into trouble with the boys who aren't as comfortable with the wrestling antics).  He's fun to be around and we honestly have some of the best conversations in the car.  He's my little buddy for sure!

As for me I feel like my youngest being 5 years old is a turning point.  Absolutely nothing at Babies R Us applies to us anymore!  With Carter being 5 and Teah 7 1/2 it has hit me that I really don't have little ones anymore - I have kids.  It's a lot easier in many, many ways, but it also feels a lot busier with soccer, swimming, girl scouts, school, friends, etc.  Of course the older and wiser parents that I know tell me this is only the beginning and I can't wait!

Here are some pictuers of his 5th birthday party.  When he told me that he wanted a penguin theme I was stumped, but I think it turned out well!

My sweet girl

What a sweet little girl we have! Last night she just HAD to make these two cards before bed. We did not prompt her in any way. She noticed her Daddy's scraped knee from soccer and made him a get well card. Then she made Aunt Marj a welcome card because she's moving in with us for the summer. She has such a big heart :). Oh, and the picture on the front of Robert's card is his hurt knee and then his knee when it's all better - I had to ask.

Swimmers!

Carter started swim class a few months ago and is loving it. I was worried about his adjustment to the class, since he's always hated having his head go under the water. I was also nervous about his reaction because it took Teah so long to adjust when she started. This time around I was the wiser Mom, now knowing exactly what to expect from the class, and took a few months at home to start the adjustment in the bathtub. We worked on floating on his back with his ears in the water - he initially hated the sensation of his ears underwater, but it didn't take too many tub sessions before he was much more comfortable with the sensation. We also put on the goggles in the tub and worked on first blowing bubbles, then putting his face in the water, then moving to the jacuzzi to put his whole head under. He still didn't like that much, but was to the point where he would sometimes put his head in voluntarily without crying. Also, I signed him up for two private lessons with the instructor who was going to teach his group lessons and I think that really helped him to feel more comfortable about the whole thing. So, instead of months of crying, he only had a few tears for the first two group sessions. Of course the personality differences between my kids accounts for a big part of the difference, but Ai like to think that my preparation helped as well :).

Fast forward a few months and I now have two kids who are swimmers. Teah is a fish and her instructor has even called her "fearless", which I do believe is the first time that adjective has ever been used when referring to her. She swims very well underwater, dives to the bottom of a 5 foot pool to get her dive sticks, and loves jumping into the pool (she thought it was so cool when the instructor taught her the pencil jump). She just passed her level 2 course after taking it multiple times. The requirements included swimming 20 ft, lots of different floats, treading water for 30 sec, etc. After one session of level 3, which is where they start to learn specific strokes, Teah decided to move back down to Level 2. She decided that she wanted to just have fun rather than learn the strokes.

Carter is enjoying his class. He jumps in and goes all the way under. You can tell he's not quite comfortable with water in his nose when he comes up, but he doesn't let it bother him! He can swim a few feet on his own and floats on his back all by himself.

I'm so proud of both of them and so happy to see their love and enthusiasm for the water.

Animal Rescue

I have a passion for animals, especially the cute and furry kind, and have volunteered in different capacities with animal rescues for many years. I've found ways to encourage a love of animals in my kids through our own pets, the pet store, and good old mother mature, but now that the kids are getting older I can finally share the volunteer experience with them.

We adopted our dog, Vegas, from Animal Rescue Project here in Kalamazoo and I was impressed with the organization. They are made up of entirely volunteers save for a few paid staff at their shelter. This spring I decided that Teah was old enough and we went to volunteer orientation together. They have a great volunteer program where we can go into the shelter to walk a dog or pet the cats anytime from 9am-7pm everyday on a drop in basis. We haven't found the time to make it that often, but I hope to start going weekly now that summer is here.

Teah enjoys walking dogs, but really loves petting and playing with the cats in the cat room. We'll never own our own cat since Robert is allergic, so this is an extra special opportunity and maybe one that will ensure Teah purchasing a cat as soon as she gets her own place :)

Here are a few pictures I took of Teah with THE cutest and friendliest chihuahua at the shelter - I wanted to take him home!