Where's the Birthday Cake?

On Saturday we went out to an early dinner with my parents to celebrate my mom's birthday, which is today. We had not really planned any other birthday party celebration, but when we realized we would not be able to get together on Sunday afternoon to celebrate, we stopped to get grandma a gift of some pretty flowers on our way back to their house after dinner. When we got their we were relaxing and chatting while the kids were playing. Then someone mentioned cake. Unfortunately, we had not planned ahead, so we did not have any birthday cake for grandma. However, Lauren did not believe this could be possible. She insisted there was cake and pulled grandma out to the garage to find the cake. (Usually, when we celebrate a birthday at grandma and grandpa's house the cake is kept in the garage until we celebrate.) Anyway, so Lauren was puzzled when she couldn't find a cake in the garage. She had grandma even open the freezer to look in there. Instead of bringing in a cake, grandma and Lauren found some cookies they could bake. In the meantime, my younger sister left to run a couple of errands. She returned while Lauren and grandma were cooking the cookies and when she came in the door, Lauren ran around the corner to greet her and ask her if she got grandma's cake. My sister said the look on Lauren's face was priceless. Once again Lauren was disappointed because my sister had no cake for grandma. From this experience, I have learned how important birthday cake is for all birthday celebrations, or there may be a little girl that is very disappointed.

The good news though is that my dad brought home some cheesecake to share with my mom and they were going to enjoy that for her birthday tonight.

He Can Ride

The other night, the sun was shining when we got home from work and school. Of course, with any sign of sun, the kids want to play outside. Colin asked for his bike, and asked for me to take the training wheels off. He has asked several times in the last several months, but I had not taken them off since I spent the first month or two of summer taking the training wheels off and then putting them back on because he was not quite ready. By the end of summer when he asked, I told him he would have to wait a while longer. However, I had noticed that he seemed to be balancing better and relying less on the training wheels, so I decided to let him try again. Once the training wheels were off, I held the back of the bike while he got on and helped him get started. He rode all the way down the street and I hardly hung onto his bike at all. I didn't actually let go all of the way because I thought for sure if I did, he would topple right over. I told him I was barely hanging on and that I would let go next time. He started riding back up the street and I let go. He rode all by himself. It took a little more practice for him to be able to start, but once he got started he could ride. Before we know it, he will be able to zoom around the neighborhood on his bike with his brother.

State Capitals

We went to my parents house for dinner last weekend to celebrate Lauren's 3rd birthday. During dinner we were talking about the names of the states and their capitals. I asked the boys if they knew what the capital of Washington was. Colin quickly responded, "W". We got a chuckle out of the total innocence and correctness of his answer. Afterall, the capital letter of Washington is W.

"I am 16"

I was getting ready for church today and while I was putting on my makeup, Lauren comes in and says she wants makeup on too. Tim overheard and he told her, "Not until you're 16." She said, "I am 16."

On another note, Lauren is officially potty trained and has gone more than 2 weeks with no accidents. Once we finally got her to go in the toilet, she was like a pro pretty much overnight. We are very proud of her for being such a big girl.

Potty Training

Lauren thinks she is potty trained. The only problem is that she is missing one key element of potty training. She doesn't actually put the potty in the toilet. She has everything else perfected though. She tells us she needs to go, she pulls her pants up and down all by herself, she gets on and off the toilet, she sits on the toilet with no potty seat, she washes her hands. You'd think she was potty trained watching and listening to her, but we are still missing the key element... ACTUALLY GOING POTTY.

Toddler Responses

The other day my sister called to ask what size clothes all the kids wear. Of course, I wasn't home so Tim did the best he could to figure it out. He turned to ask Lauren what size she wears and she responded with "orange."

This morning, I picked Lauren up after getting her dressed to take her to the bathroom to do her hair and finish getting ready to go. I said, "When did you get so big?" She replied back, "On Halloween." I asked her if all the candy she ate for Halloween made her big and she said yes.

Then with a chuckle, Lauren says, "My tummy just tooted." (I think she was referring to the fact that her stomach was growling because it was hungry.)

I was also reminded in church yesterday of something Lauren said last Sunday. Her nursery lesson was about how each one of us is a "Child of God". The teacher went around the room and told each child that they were a "Child of God." Then she went around the room again to re-iterate this principle. When she got to Lauren, she ask her who she was. Lauren looked at her with a confused look and said, "Lauren". She didn't quite get that we wanted her to say, "I am a Child of God," but at least she knows her name. ;-)

Parent Teacher Conferences

Last week, I attended parent teacher conferences for the boys. Overall, they are both doing very well.

There is often something I learn in parent teacher conferences that I did not really know about my children. And of course, I hear a lot of what I may already know, but receive new insights.

For example, Colin is very detailed in his writing journal. His teacher encourages the children to use color and details in the picture they draw to go with the sentence they write. Colin uses colors and adds lots of details, everything from the clouds in the sky to the grass on the ground. He has even started putting fingers on his people and his teacher is now encouraging the kids to put clothes on the people. Colin's teacher has used his journal pictures as an example to the class. I knew Colin enjoyed coloring, but I did not realize Colin was so detailed in his pictures. Otherwise, academically Colin is doing great. He knew all his letters and the sounds they make and most of the numbers he was tested on, could count over 100 and knows how to rhyme. He enjoys school and is a good listener in class. However, there is a little girl that has become a good little friend and they have had to be separated from each other. This little girl goes to daycare with Colin and we take her to Karate on Friday's since her mom doesn't get home from work in time. She has come to really like our family and we like her, but she has told one of the daycare teachers that she loves Colin. I think Colin is oblivious to that fact though. We are keeping a close eye on them though. Colin wishes he could go to school everyday. This every other day schedule the school district started this year for kindergarten has not allowed him to be at school as much as he would like.

Can I just say, I really like Jordan's teacher. I believe being in a 2nd/3rd split class is a great opportunity for him. His teacher understand kids like him and really wants each child she teaches to succeed. She stands at the door every morning and greets each and every child as they come into the classroom. She is a very enthusiastic and an organized teacher with a good routine. All of which are qualities that Jordan needs in a teacher. Academically, Jordan is doing wonderful. He is reading at the 3rd grade level and often gets sent out to read in the hallway with his reading partner because they do so well together and they don't need the additional instruction that many other students need in the classroom. He is also one of the top students in his math group. However, we need to work on his writing. He has good spelling, excellent ideas, good punctuation and creativity, but it is all very hard to read what he has written. His teacher is working with him and I have already seen some slight improvements since the beginning of the year, but he has a ways to go. Jordan is somewhat impulsive, so he sometimes needs to be reminded what he should be doing or how he should be acting, but when he is actively engaged he listens well and participates appropriately. However, he still wants to be a class clown and needs to be reminded when it is not appropriate.