Abby's Out for the Summer

I can't believe today was the last day of school for Miss Abby (Jake still has one more week). She proudly brought her teachers their presents today and played hard with her friends. They had an animal parade and pizza party today (they made their own pizzas too). She also told her teacher that she was really going to miss her this summer and so she (and her best friend Landry) were going to come to her house over the summer. Her teacher is amazing and put together a CD of their time this year (Jake is even in some of them!). She has grown so much this past year and I'm sad to see it come to an end but looking forward to the fall.

Naps oh naps, Where have you gone?

Within the last few weeks, Jake has decided he doesn't need to nap anymore. He just plays in his room instead (unless Daddy's home, then he'll nap with Daddy in our bed :-). This week I finally caved and decided not to even put him back in his room for naps b/c he usually ends up waking his sisters up (the boy doesn't understand the concept of playing QUIETLY). He's been doing just fine with no nap and actually isn't too cranky in the evenings. However, I think everything finally caught up with him today. He was playing with Play-Doh and I noticed he was really quiet, I looked over his direction at the table and he was asleep in his chair! It was 2:45 and I really hated to put him back in his room, but the boy must be super tired to fall asleep in a wooden chair while playing Play-Doh! I carried him back to his bed and he never opened his eyes. At 4:15 I finally went back and woke him up, fearing bedtime might be compromised.

If only I could have my wonderful naptime back with all three kids sleeping peacefully and quietly for at least an hour and a half. Oh well.

Our First Trip to the Dentist!

The twins are now three and with that means it's time for our first trip to the dentist. The twins used to be great about brushing their teeth, but within the last few months, they've decide it's a habit they'd rather not have. Great, just in time for our first trip to the dentist!

John was working and so this was one adventure I was going to have to do on my own with all three. In hind sight, I should have found a sitter for Lily and insisted John go with me for the first trip, but we all made it home safe and sound so I guess it wasn't that bad :-).

The dentist had a HUGE play area for the kids and of course they immediately wanted to go play. However, I knew I'd never get them out to go see the dentist when it was our turn so I promised they'd play afterwards if they did well. Luckily the play area was behind a closed door that the kids thought was locked :-). Jake was first up and happily went in the back with the assistant (at 3 they take them back without mom :-). Abby was next and was back there about 5 seconds before she and the assistant came out and asked me to come back with her. She wouldn't even get in the chair, lol. Jake was happily watching a movie in his chair waiting for the action to begin. I sat with Abby and the dentist finally came back to clean her teeth. Abby had to have me in sight at all times, but she laid back in that chair and grudgingly let them clean, count, floss and check her teeth. They also said it was time for me to floss their teeth (ya right!).

Jake was next. The dentist sat down and he scrambled out of that chair terrified! She couldn't even get close to him. I left Abby (who was heading down for xrays) and went to sit with Jake. They had me lay in the chair with him on top of me (my legs pinning his legs and my arms holding his hands still). They did count and check his teeth, but weren't able to brush, floss or rinse his mouth out. Instead they just used a plain toothbrush and brushed his teeth in my lap. No xrays too. They suggested I get a spin brush for him so he could get used to that before we come back next time. While I was with Jake they brought Abby back from xray and had her sit in a chair in our room. She quickly saw the opportunity to run (knowing I couldn't throw Jake off me to get her) and ran to play. The assistant that was helping watch her couldn't find her. So, we had to stop everything and try to find that child. We searched everywhere and couldn't find her. I had checked the play area, offices, waiting areas, etc. No Abby. I was hoping she didn't go outside and so I decided to check the play area one last time. I didn't see anyone in there, but finally heard a little sound. She was hiding at the very top of the play area, hunkered down and not making a peep. She wouldn't come down for anything so finally I had to climb up that stupid thing and get her out.

Abby's teeth looked good although they are already seeing an overbite and have some concerns with how some of her teeth are spaced. Looks like a retainer or braces is in her future.

Jake's bite was good, but he had a brown spot on one of his back molars. It's not a cavity yet and may never turn into one, but it could. We have to watch it and brush extra in that spot.

Good times!

The Boy has Skills!

Abby is great at book smart stuff and Jake is my artist. He's great at gymnastics and artsy stuff. He loves to color and draw and he is starting to draw actual stuff now. Here's a car he drew the other day. You can actually see the car! He drew people too, but I didn't get a snap shop of that, but they looked like people!! I just love seeing them develop and hit new stages.

Hangin' with the Big Boys

Lily is more active every day and trying hard to keep up with her older siblings. She LOVES outdoors and is getting better at walking everyday. Here's a few pics from a typical afternoon around here.

Already a climber!

They always cover their faces! They just got new pinwheels and were excited to show them off.

Yay! Playing with Abby. Lily was so excited.

But less than thrilled to be left on the bottom step. Practicing her new skills!

Our First Bike Ride!

Ask John and he'll tell you I can't wait till the kids are old enough for bikes and we can go on bike rides in the park, neighborhood, etc. I don't know why I'm looking forward to that b/c I know they'll out bike me, but I am. So, on Thursday after naps, I decided we'd try our trikes outside on the sidewalk since John was home. I can't do this by myself with all three so it was a perfect time to do it. Abby "cheated" and just pushed her feet off the ground, but Jake actually road the tricycle correctly. He had a tough time doing it and got tired quickly, but he did really well. I pushed Lily in the stroller and she had a blast watching the kids on those things. We'll definitely have to practice bike rides on the sidewalk more often now. Everyone had such a blast!

Our Animal Lovers

We all know Abby is an animal lover and today was just one more chance to witness that. We had a birthday party this morning for some friends who were turning three (another set of g/b twins) and the theme was barnyard animals. They had a petting zoo, llama and even a pony to ride. The entire morning all Abby could talk about was riding that pony (Jake wanted to ride a cow). However, as soon as we arrived, she saw the petting zoo area and headed straight for that. The animal that caught her attention was not a pig, goat, bunny or even the llama, but chickens! She fell in love with those things. One of the workers showed her how to hold them and so she spent the ENTIRE party in the petting zoo holding chickens. At one point though she was throwing them up trying to get them to fly, so we had to put a stop to that quickly (although the worker said they were fine since they had wings and could "flutter" down :-).

Jake had fun feeding the goats and tried to catch a few chickens towards the end too, but his favorite was the snack table (cheese puffs!) and of course the cake. We were running a bit late to the party and got stuck in traffic. At one point he asked if the other kids would eat all the cake. We quickly assured him they would save him a piece; that boy LOVES cake!

Lily had fun too watching the animals (from the outside of the pen) and playing with her little friend Ashlyn.