Miriam Milestones

Even the 3rd time around, I'm amazed at how quickly kids move from one milestone to the next as they become mobile. It seems like Miriam was just in the "laying on the floor in one spot" stage, and suddenly she's conquered sitting up, rolling, crawling, and now pulling up to standing. I know these have happened over the course of the last few months, but it feels like I blinked, and here she is doing this...

She is a hilarious little girl and smiles and laughs a lot. She loves watching Peter and Esther do things and thinks they're super funny! She doesn't want to miss anything that goes on with them, so she has pretty much given up morning naps and reluctantly sleeps a couple hours in the afternoon. It will be fun to see what else she accomplishes before her first birthday in December!

Rainy Day Outing

We were originally thinking of going to Robinette's Apple Haus this morning with my parents. When we woke up to cool, rainy weather, we decided to go to the Children's Museum instead. We hadn't been there for a while because the weather has been so nice, so the kids were really excited to go. It was a good way to spend a rainy morning!

Fun-Filled Week

We've had lot of fun this week! Here are a few highlights...

Tuesday we went to the zoo in the morning and cousin Ty came over in the afternoon.


This morning my parents watched Peter and Miriam so that I could go with Esther to the Meijer Gardens on her first field trip. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun. We had a picnic at school afterwards.

Last night some friends arrived to stay with us for the weekend because another friend is getting married tomorrow. Before they came, Esther was complaining because they have 2 boys and no girls. However, she has been having a ball playing outside and playing "getting married." She does inform me that she does not play with any boys at school, which makes her Daddy quite happy.

Fire Engine Bed Part II

Well, today the bed is "officially" finished. Grandma K brought over the awesome quilt that she had started when I told her I was making this bed for Peter. It's the perfect "finishing touch."

Also, my Deputy Chief at the fire department managed to get me some official Kentwood Fire Department lettering for the bed.

Corduroy

The kids in Esther's pre-school class gets to take turns taking home a bear named Corduroy. They take him home the day before it is their turn to bring the snack for the class. It was our turn this week, so Esther was very excited to have the Corduroy bag with her when I picked her up on Wednesday. The bag contains the bear, a notebook in which to write about Corduroy's adventures while he is at your house, and the classic Corduroy book by Don Freeman.

Corduroy pretty much did everything Esther did for the past 2 days, including going to the doctor's office for a flu vaccine, taking several bike rides (he rode in the basket of Miriam's stroller), sitting at the table for meals, and sleeping in Esther's room in the doll cradle (I'm not sure why she didn't want him in her bed). The highlight of Corduroy's time with Esther was experiencing Daddy Donut Day yesterday. We had a little "Marge's Donut Den" onesie that Marge had given us when Miriam was born, so he wore that. Marge even brought out a little chair for him to sit on while they ate their donuts.

It was our turn to bring snack today (and also bring Corduroy back), which meant that I could stay and be the helper for the day. It was so much fun watching Esther interact with Mrs. M and her classmates and seeing all the cool things she does during the action-packed 2-1/2 hours that she spends there. Pre-school sure is a lot of fun!

Corduroy gets to come home with Esther 3 more times this year, so I'm sure she (and Corduroy) will be looking forward to his next visit!

Happy Birthday Mom!

We celebrated Casey's Mom's birthday today by having Sunday dinner at our house with the family. We attempted to get a picture of Grandma with her 4 grandkids. It was a humorous experience since Esther was the only one who would consistently look at the camera. Here are a couple shots...

Happy Birthday Mom and Grandma. We love you!

Big Boy Bed

Well, it only took a month and a half of working a few hours a night and fitting some time in on the weekends....but Peter's big boy fire engine bed is finally done!!! (Laura is more excited to have a sawdust free garage again!)

This was my first project of this caliber....I think it was harder than building a house.

All in all, I'm pleased with the end result...and as the pictures show, we have one happy little boy. The working red light was the highlight of his day.

Grandma K is making a special Fire Fighter quilt for Peter's new bed....watch the blog for the finished product!

Now, Esther wants a doll house..........

The First "Real" Day

So I guess I didn't have to worry about Esther's first day of pre-school without us there. We got there a little early because I thought she might be less overwhelmed if there weren't already 19 other kids there. Only 3 or 4 had arrived before us, and they were playing blocks with one of the teacher aides. Esther showed Peter the snake and bird and then started playing with the blocks. I waited a couple minutes and then kind of held my breath when I told her to tell us goodbye. I was fully prepared for her to freak out and cling to me as she has done in other new situations like this, but it didn't happen! She gave Peter and Miriam hugs, gave me a couple kisses on my hand and went back to her blocks.

I told Peter to say goodbye and he said, "Bye Mom!" Poor little guy--he wanted to stay too! He looked quite disappointed as I reached for his hand and told him he had to come with me. We had a good time playing and making dinner together while Miriam napped, and when we picked Esther up he told her he had missed her.

On the way home I asked Esther what she did at school. She replied, "I don't remember." Talk about 4 going on 14! Over the course of the afternoon and evening we did get more information about her day, and it sounded pretty fun. We went out for ice cream with friends tonight to celebrate her first successful day!

Daddy Donut Day Returns!

Laura went back to work this week, which means the return of Daddy Donut Day! We had a great morning.

First we headed out to Marge's; the staff was very happy to see us return and even happier to see that Miriam is now eating her own donut. Another bonus was having Grandma K and Uncle Nick meet us there. Each kid was sure to wear their Marge's shirt as well!

When we got home, Miriam went down for a 2 hour nap while Esther, Peter and I made blueberry/peach cobbler. We are looking forward to that for dessert tonight!

Preschool Preview

Today was visiting day for Esther's pre-school class. Casey and I got to go along for an hour-long preview. Esther made a frame for her picture to hang above her coat hook, see the animals in the room (snake, guinea pig, bird) and check out some of the cool toys and activities. We had circle time at the end and Mrs. M brought some of her puppets, which was very cute. Esther wasn't so sure about the song which required shaking hands with other people, but she did join in a little on a couple other ones. It might take her a few days to warm up to things, but once she gets started, I think she's going to love it! We'll see how things go on Friday when I have to leave her there. Hopefully it won't be too traumatic (for her or me!)