Big Brother

We took the kids to the pool.  Afterward, we walked a couple blocks to get dinner.    I was walking hand-in-hand with Oliver.  As we walked, our independent Adeline refused to take Joe's hand and instead insisted on holding Oliver's other hand.  And so they walked the whole way to dinner.  A pretty sweet walk.

C'est la vie

First, I did not realize I have not posted anything since Adeline's birthday!  But, I will catch up with some pictures from the past couple months in a separate post. 

This post was intended to share that despite a little disappointment about canceling our trip to Paris (a surprise anniversary/birthday gift from Joe), I loved how special Joe, Meghan, Oliver and Adeline made my birthday celebration.

Oliver came down with a stomach virus (with an initial hospital visit for an appendicitis scare) the day before our flight.  He was in pretty bad shape for 24 hours, so we canceled our trip the night before because we were worried about him and the possibility that Adeline or one of us might get sick next.  Turns out Oliver was fine the next morning (the day of our almost flight) and so far no one else has gotten sick...C'est la vie.

I came home from work on my birthday to a room full of balloons and decorations, a wonderful dinner prepared, and our gang excited to celebrate my day.  I felt very loved.  There was a bit of a post-party/cupcake sugar crash before bed.  But, we took that to be a sign of a good party.

Hopefully, our next attempt at Paris (tbd) will be seamless.  In the meantime, I am planning to enjoy a nice weekend with the kids and Joe. 

 

Adeline is One Year Old!

Adeline turned one year old today.  She is friendly, feisty, loving, daring, and independent.  She is not only walking, she is running.  She says a handful of works, e.g., Dada, Mama, duck, cat, Oliver, moo (for cow), and roar (for lion).  Though she says a number of other things that I think she thinks we should understand.  She can identify all her major body parts, follows instructions, can identify almost any animal, and likes to color with crayons.  Her favorite activities are Walking/Running, Dancing, Legos, Magnatiles, and Books.  When Oliver is around, she wants to do whatever he is doing. She loves to be near him, but she has learned how to grab and run to avoid him snatching his toys back.  Even when Oliver is not around, she loves to play in his room during the day and sneak in some time with his Myrtle turtle when he is not here to stop her.  At night, she snuggles her muslin blanket(s).  She balls it up and makes a pillow that she lays on.  She always sleeps on her tummy.  She is a good eater.  She is eating a lot of regular foods now, but still loves her puffs and baby cracker snacks.  She is still taking bottles in the morning after breakfast, in the afternoon, and before bed.  She loves people and will smile and talk to anyone who she deems friendly.  However, she sometimes gets frightened by men especially if they have a low voice.

She was the sweetest baby; she is now the sweetest toddler/girl.  Joe, Oliver and I celebrated her birthday at home today.  She loved all the FaceTime with family and friends.  Her first cake was vanilla buttercream (picked for her by Oliver), and she loved it.

Happy Birthday, our sweet Adeline.

 

One year ago....

A little sunshine

We have been fortunate to have several beautiful days for late November and early December.  The weather is definitely turning cold, and we have had a few bitter cold days already.  I am already anxious for Spring so we can have some more wonderful days in the sunshine. 

 

11 Months and Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving in Wisconsin again this year.  It was great to spend time with family and friends.  A little remote working, but it was still good quality time with the kids.  The kids also got to enjoy a their Midwest Christmas that lucky for them always comes a month earlier than in DC.

Adeline turned 11 months on November 24th.  She was taking her first steps, practicing her first few words, and loving all the attention from the grands, aunt/uncle, and nieces. 

 

Tae Kwon Do

Oliver started tae kwon do a couple weeks ago.  We tried a few different "sports" lessons with him in the past, but nothing really stuck and it has always been a struggle to get him to participate.  So we decided not to push for the moment and wait to see if he took an interest in anything. 

It has been a less than perfect transition to Kindergarten.  I did not expect at such a young age that Oliver would already be picked on by the other kids for his size.  The structure, long day, and homework in Kindergarten has also been a challenge for Oliver.  So we started thinking about ways to boost his confidence outside of school.  Joe and I both thought that a martial art might be good for him, but we were not sure if he would be interested.  I knew the instructor would be critical.  After some research, I found a teacher that sounded perfect.  I was so nervous about bringing him the first time because when Oliver does not want to participate, it is hopeless.  And I really wanted him to give it a try.

On our first visit, Master Coles shook his head at me and said, he is too small, I just don't think this is going to work.  I assured him that Oliver is in fact 5 and asked him to give him a chance.  Oliver did well and took to Master Coles immediately.  Although, Master Coles was surprised at how well Oliver followed instruction and learned quickly, he was still concerned about his size and strength.  He offered to give Oliver private lessons twice a week to see if he could help him get some basic skills before joining the group class.  So for the past couple weeks we have been going for private lessons, just Oliver and Master Coles before the doors to the regular classes open.  The teacher declined to let me pay for the lessons and Oliver has been an attentive student.

Today, when the group class started to arrive, Master Coles asked Oliver to stay on the mat and join the class.  I was so proud of him.  Even though he is the smallest and is still gaining strength, he is learning, he is trying and he is paying attention.  He participates in a way we have not seen him do for any other activity.  I give a huge amount of credit to the teacher.  We are going to continue with one private lesson a week, but Oliver is going to start joining the group class every Friday now.

We left the group class today and I told Oliver I was proud of him.  He responded, "Mom, I am proud of myself."