Baby G at 10 months

Forget the army crawl -- he is on the move now. And you can tell that he's not going to be satisfied on all fours for much longer. You should see him move when the bathroom door is ajar! It's fun to watch how proud he gets when he connects signing with what he's trying to tell us. He is very determined and not easily distracted. And his giggle when he's getting tickled can make all of the frustrations of the day melt away.

Halloween 2010

I think I've decided that from here on out I'll do the special Halloween dinner on the night BEFORE Halloween -- it was too crazy trying to eat and get out the door. Here are some of our festive highlights:

Carving Pumpkins

Beggars' Night

So. Much. Candy. Seriously insane. But C was loving it. I think he really caught the vision and joy of Trick-or-Treating this year. We went with our neighbors and C told every house, "TRICK OR TREAT!!! I'm a dragon -- and these are my neighbors!"

And yes, that is the same costume he wore last year, and it really was pulling down on his face because it was too small. But hey -- who am I to stand in the way of a boy who wants to be a dragon?

I also got to go help out at Lydia's school for the Halloween Parade. She had so much fun walking regally around the neighborhood as a Russian Snow Princess.

Ward Halloween Party

My parents and sister just returned from China and sent these matching costumes the day before the party. They were perfect. C loved the braid hat and Q made sure to teach him the proper way to bow as a Kung-Fu fighter. We have a photographer in the ward that set up and took shots of everyone who wanted -- how sweet is that?!

Q and I were the American tourists.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

('tis the season?)

Visitors and Catching Up

October and November were FULL of visitors to Ohio. We were definitely feeling loved.

Q's parents visited while the Fall colors were most vibrant.

My mom was an angel as always and helped me tackle some of the daunting projects that pile up between her visits.

My sister Dani was able to spend Thanksgiving with us. I'm sure she was thankful for the boost we gave her immune system! As we were about to start work on her welcome sign I asked for C's input on what we should say. He thought for a moment and said, "Patience, Dani." Nice. I agreed that it might come in handy while she was here in all of our chaos and excitement.

We also bribed our friends the Oliveros to come into town in exchange for some OSU tickets and it worked! I can't believe we didn't even get one photo with them here though!

So there you have it -- my excuse for having disappeared for a while. Don't worry. I've got quite a few posts to catch up on so you'll be hearing a bunch from me soon.

Baby G at 9 Months

Army crawl says it all. He is everywhere and into everything. This is the age where strangers begin to look at the bruises on your child's face and wonder about your parenting -- he's pulling himself up on things, but doesn't have the balance or get-down ability mastered yet.

He thinks his big brother is quite entertaining, even when he's being rolled over or head-butted. It's sweet to see how much they adore each other -- now only if I can keep the love gentle.

GO BUCKS!

(Posing on an OSU Game Day that we were heading to attend -- only my 2nd ever!)

The From this Valley Band

Look out, the Beazer kids are heading for Nashville.

Baby G at 8 Months

No, he is not 8 months -- but I did take pictures when he was!

First Day of Preschool

We were able to have C attend the same preschool that his big sister did. All summer he enjoyed listening to us verbally transform it into HIS school. I think it really means a lot to him to have teachers and a class and a school of his own. It was fun returning to the same classroom that L was in when she was 3 -- he ran right to the favorite toy he'd had back then: the marble run. Two of the teachers are even ones we've had before.

There were some nerves (as shown by his "worried face"), but after lots of rehearsing how the morning would go, I was able to exit the classroom with only a few minutes of reassuring. 2 1/2 hours seemed like such a sort time (now that I have all day kindergarten to compare it to), but he had lots of fun (even though he came home with a secret that he is refusing to divulge but keeps bringing up --I'm going insane with curiosity).

It is going to be lot of fun to see how he rolls on his own.

Online Preschool Site Recommendations

A while back my sister asked what sites I let my kids play on and I really didn't have much to offer. We use Starfall (which is great for reading/letters), PBSKIDS.ORG, and a while back we would do Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Nickjr.com (for Dora). The newest one is Shiddoni where they get to draw their own characters and then the characters play games (so more for creativity than academic).

Do you have other places you like to visit? C likes him some computer time and I'm always looking for new places that are safe, fun, and of course educational!

UPDATE: Today while reading our Family Fun magazine with C, I came across a 5 week free trial (using code USA25FAM) for a reading/letter site www.readingeggs.com. I signed up and it looks like it will be lots of fun for a month (costly after the trial so don't get too attached). I like that I can have different levels for each kid.

First Week of Kindergarten

Truth be told, I was not excited to see my baby girl start on the path of formal education. Preschool for 2 hrs twice a week was more of a playdate than schooling. The thought of all-day Kindergarten made me feel like I'd lost a custody battle and was only receiving nights and weekend visitation rights. It didn't help that she had to be bused 20 minutes away to a school downtown instead of getting to walk her to the end of our street like I'd anticipated (the school is remodeling for 2 yrs).

But, we've all survived the 1st week. And she even seems to be enjoying herself quite a bit. Her younger brother is definitely happy that he now gets to choose activities, dictate play, and pick shows to watch. He's stepped up his interactions with friends on playdates too because she's not there to be the leader. I think he's really digging this new set-up. Plus, when L gets home they are having lots of fun playing together before dinner.

Our 1st After School Snack -- the Brownie #2 Pencil

Still, it is hard adjusting to this new phase in life. I miss getting to hang out with my little girl all day. And gone are the whimsical, carefree, schedule-free days of going and doing whatever and whenever. It's wake up early, get her out the door (Q walks her to the bus on the way to his bus), morning activity, lunch and a short nap for the kids before trying to wake them up to walk to pick her up, time to start dinner, and then early bedtime to help our sleeping beauty (that likes to wake up at 9am) wake up in time to make her bus.

I guess there is an alternative... homeschool?

Baby G at 7 Months

Some of you have been attentive and noticed that Baby G is no longer 6 months. It's true -- I've had so many good intentions. But he IS still 7 months (until tomorrow).

During this month we have watched our relaxed little infant become an active explorer. He is no longer willing to lay and smile at bear mobiles above his head -- the world is out there and he wants to know all about it. He's sitting and army-crawling all over the place. I've discovered that we've re-entered the stage of needing to baby-proof everything -- which means I've got to get started collecting the millions of little trinkets and toys that 3 and 5 year olds collect.

He is still such a content and happy baby -- even with his first two teeth popping through. There were a couple of rough days/nights, but you can tell he's feeling better. Vocally he's realized that he can babble almost as loud as the noises he's hearing from his big brother.

On a total side note, our camera lens that we saved up for mysteriously broke in half. No one seems to know what happened, but pictures won't be quite as fun for a while...

One of my favorite things:

I'd seen and heard about these with my other babies, but didn't use or take much notice of them. Man was I missing out! With the older kids I did a lot of steaming and pureeing. I've only done it once with G because I can stick whatever fresh or frozen fruit or veggie I want in there and he just gnaws away at it. I've even done rice and beans in there (not together). I don't have to sit and try to spoon stuff in and I don't have to worry about him choking. He loves it because he is in complete control -- when he's done he just tosses it over the side.

Baby G at 6 Months

Sometimes you can catch him sucking his toes.

Truly a bundle of joy. Baby G has smiles to melt the orneriest. He is rolling, squirming, trying to sit, and babbling lots (especially "ma ma mama"). He really is aware of when I leave and enter the room -- that can be problematic, but I sure feel loved! We've started to let him experiment with food -- he's been lunging at our plates for a while. Right now his favorite thing is my water bottle. I got him his own sippy and he's been fairly content to drink water out of that for a while -- but I see in his eyes that my bottle will not be safe for long.

July 4th

There are LOTS of parades around the Columbus area and we chose based on schedule. So we ended up at the Upper Arlington parade again. It was a no-candy event (much to the kids' disappointment) and very community oriented. Most of the entries were high-school class reunions, streets (the streets would get together to make a float), and cars that well-to-do men spent lots of time and money to fix-up and show-off. But, there was a very patriotic beginning to the parade. Veterans passed by with signs showing what war they served in or what honors they had received. The words, "Lest we forget, lest we forget..." kept running through my mind. Life is so good that it is hard to connect it all to the sacrifices of others. It was a good reminder that we're not celebrating that we are bigger and better than everyone else, but that we are blessed to live with so many privileges and freedoms.

L enjoying the parade

I don't know that we'll ever again be in a place so fiercely connected to their university football. This float was quite the example -- notice the priest and nun at the end. I wish you could have seen the shorts he was sporting and watched them groove to some rockin' music. It was very entertaining. I couldn't figure out if they were dressed up like clergy or if they were just living the moment.

Happy 4th!

Water Party

L has been wanting to invite all of her preschool classmates over to the house for months. With our house size, a new baby, etc I have been side-stepping and dodging the requests for quite a while. But I realized that I could have a SHORT water party in the backyard and let her invite all of the school kids over without too much effort or stress on my part.

So, on our 2nd try (the 1st canceled due to an erroneous severe weather warning), we got wet and had a blast. Some of the games were:

Ice Cube Relay (freeze black/pinto beans in ice trays and then have the 2 teams relay with slotted spoons to fish out their beans and bring them back to their bucket)

Duck, Duck, Dump (Instead of calling "Goose!" the kids had a leaking cup that showered as they walked around the circle until they dumped on someone and ran)

Balloon Toss (This one was probably better suited for an older group with better large motor skills)

Fill 'Er Up Relay (Use punctured cups that the teams have to fill and then carry back on their heads to dump into their buckets at the other end)

And of course there was a little pool, water table, sprinklers, and balloon throwing.

It turned out great. We might have to make this an end-of-the-school-year tradition.

L had a great time.

C ate his weight in Goldfish (why will he not eat real food?!)