Happy Birthday Horris!

Our Windy Adventure at the Orchard

We met Chuck, Erika, Madison and Owen at an orchard in MD. We flew our kite from the Outerbanks, rode ponies, jumped on a moonbounce, and saw bunnies and chicks. It was so very cold but the kids didn't seem to mind much. Afterwards, we went to Rio Grande for lunch and fed tortillas to the ducks in the pond outside. We were all about the farm animals today.

The Playground with Olivia

Olivia came to visit us on her Spring break. We had a great time hanging around the house and at the playground. We're very proud of Sydney who can now navigate the monkey bars! She also climbed up a rainbow and subsequently got scared when she had to come back down (not sure if you can see the worried look in her face). Hollis had fun too. I was embarrassed to be seen with him. I guess that's par for the course.

Bunny Day

On Easter Sunday Syd woke up grumpy and didn't want to get dressed or brush her teeth. Until... I mentioned that maybe the Easter bunny came. All the sudden she became very cooperative.

Julia's Preschool Progress Report

Every six months we get a progress report for Julia noting her progress on motor skills, cognitive skills, language, self-help skills, and social/emotional development. She can "score" an always, sometimes or never. I thought some of the tests were cute and I don't think she'd mind if I shared some of her test results with her dearest fans.

Motor Skills
Walks approximately on a line - S
Kicks ball forward - N
Turn pages singly - S
Holds crayon with thumb and fingers - S
Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet - S (She would have totallys scored an Always if they didn't have the alternating feet part in there. SNAP!)

Cognitive
Recognizes self in mirror - A (yay Jujy!)
Knows colors and is able to match colors - S
Imitates adult actions, such as sweeping and ironing - N (Hollis hasn't exhibited this skill yet)
Has limited attention span - S

Language
Understands "in" and "on" - N
Understands big and little - S
Points to pictures of common objects - A
Uses pronouns I, you, me, correctly - N

Self Help Skills
Spoon feeds without excessive spilling - S (yes, we're working on this with other members of our family)
Pulls pants or shorts off and on - N
Pours well from a pitcher - N

Social/Emotional
Verbal scolding replaces physical aggressiveness - S
Begins to participate in associative play - S
Helps put away toys - A/S

Why not three?

Here's a conversation I had with Sydney while we were driving home from school. Hollis and I were talking about this after the kids were in bed. Not sure how I could've played it better. Let me know if you have ideas! Hollis thought maybe this is when the stork saves the day. But I think that would only create more questions. She's a bit too young to learn the truth. Especially when boys in her class are running around calling their penis a "googley."

Syd: Why can't we have three babies, mommy?
Me: What do you mean? You mean you want to invite more friends for Julia to play with at your birthday party?
Syd: No, I mean three kids in our family. I want a baby brother.
Me: Oh. Well, Sydney, I just don't think that's going to happen.
Syd: Why not? Other families have three. Why can't we?
Me: That's just the way it is, Sydney. Some families have no babies, some have 1, some have 2 like us and some have more.
Syd: (Thinking quietely) But how do mommies get babies in their bellies?
Me: (mind racing) Well, I think it just happens to some mommies. Some are more lucky than others. (yeah, that's the ticket. yay, ginny!)
Syd: But mommy, how do the babies get inside? Is it because they eat too much?
Me: (in a full panic, but luckily I remembered a line that teachers use at daycare) Mommies get what they get and they don't throw a fit.

And that seemed to settle things for Syd... for now!