What's Bailey Doing?

In the world of Bailey Celeste, there are a couple of big updates.

The first is that she has a loose tooth. I forgot how all-consuming the losing teeth thing is for kids. Apparently her teacher has a whole bulletin board dedicated to documenting lost teeth. Bailey tells us every day how "wiggly" the tooth is that day and has started to be bothered by it when she eats certain foods. I'm not sure how long it will take to actually lose it. I seem to recall some of my teeth hanging on by threads but maybe I was just too wimpy to go ahead and pull them. I sort of want her to keep her teeth as long as possible, as I've seen some kids look so awkward when they essentially have no teeth in their mouth for an extended period of time. But, I'm sure I'll think MY kid looks precious when she's toothless. :-)

The other big deal in her little 5 year-old world is the introduction of sight words. I don't remember much about learning to read except teary sessions in our kitchen on 14th street reading "Spot the Dog" books with my mom. I remember one instance when I threw the book and stormed off to bed because I was so frustrated with a certain page. Perhaps we had sight words to learn and I don't remember, or perhaps times have changed. (Don't get me started on the brief period of time when the experts thought teaching kids math through the "dot method" was brilliant. I happened to be one of the guinea pigs during this time of brilliance, and the result is that, to this day, I don't know how to add 2 numbers together without counting magical dots. But, I digress.) All I know is that the teacher is sending home 5 words at a time for the kids to learn by sight. Thus far, she knows "a", "is", "it", "go", and "but". I looked online and there are over 50 total so I went ahead and made flash cards for all of them. This has become our evening activity. Jason is far better at giving her thought associations to go with the words she's learning, although some of them have been a little less "clean" than I would want her to repeat in the presence of her teacher or classmates!

I'm sure the kindergarten experience will yield many blog-worthy stories in the months to come. Stay tuned!

What is Nolan Doing? 22 Months Edition

Actually, Nolan is 22 1/2 months now.....the birthday invitations are ordered and will go out in a mere 3 weeks or so. Wow - can't believe it.

Nolan is at a really fun stage of his development. He is learning how to express himself, which obviously has some high and low points. On the low side, he now knows that he can object to things he doesn't like. This sounds simple, but those parents out there can all think back to the good ole days when their kids didn't REALIZE they had any choice in various matters. We've now crossed the threshold of disagreement. However, it's still pretty minor at this point.....not wanting to put on his clothes, having "mine...no, mine...no, mine" yelling matches with Bailey, and refusing to eat certain foods (the food aversion isn't new, but the flailing arms and scowl that accompany his "no" are new). The worst thing, however, is that he's developed this bark-like noise that he makes when he's really upset with us. I can't even describe it better than that, but it's quite an offensive sound! :-) If only I could get it on video....

As for the positive developments, he's saying a ton of things. My favorite is that he's learned to point himself out in pictures using his name. He used to say only "baby." Now, he'll point out Bailey and then say, "there's Nolan." Again, I can't quite describe his pronunciation of Nolan, but it's quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever heard. We talk a lot about being a big boy, and sometimes he'll argue that he's a baby instead. This is a running conversation we have. This morning, I asked, "Are you a big boy or a baby?" He looked at me with a perplexed expression and said, "No, I Nolan!" He pointed at his chest as he said it. I melted!

He also says: I love you, walk home (Bailey sometimes walks home from grandma's while I drive right beside her....well, wouldn't you know that little guy would want to do the same. I don't let him, by the way!), want plate, chocky (chocolate milk), that's cute (when looking at pictures), and more that I can't think of right now. He watches a Barney DVD constantly and laughs like crazy. I think he's close to attempting to sing the ending song (I love you, you love me, we're a happy family.....) but I know it will just be gibberish at first.

He's still not doing well with strangers or people he hasn't seen in a little while (sometimes this applies even to my brothers or parents). When people are around, he tends to 1) want to be held, 2) plants a look of utter disdain on his face, and 3) leans as far away from those people as is possible, often causing me or Jason to have to contort our body to avoid dropping him. I hope he gets over it a bit. A healthy dose of stranger danger is good, but I don't want him to be anti-social.....especially since he's such a happy child when he's in what he feels is a safe environment.

As always, I'm looking forward to his 2 year well child appointment to see how much he's grown. Some days I think he looks chubby and other days he looks really little. He is eating much better, however, so I'm confident that he's healthy. I do know that we've had to take back all the 24 mos. and 2T pants anyone has bought him as he can still only wear 18 mos. Actually, 12 months would fit the best, but they aren't long enough. Shirts seem to be a little easier, because who cares how long they are (and they SHRINK) and you can roll the sleeves. So, I've been buying 24 mos. in those. Plus, even with his small size, he still has the tell-tale toddler tummy that looks like a little frog belly. :-)

We're looking forward to Halloween, as the costumes have now arrived. Nolan will be super cute as a future golfer. We took him over to show Jeanne and Phil the night the costume arrived, and they couldn't quit laughing....it's that cute. Bailey chose to be Minnie Mouse, which wasn't my preference but I'm trying to let her be in charge of some low-risk decisions, and the costume seemed to fit into that category. Of course, she'll look cute regardless!

We're also taking our first outdoor family pictures on the 25th. We're meeting the photographer at the Myriad Gardens, and I'm already nervous about putting together our outfits. I am just not very good at coordinating our attire. Anyway, looking forward to our first quality pics!!!

Busy, Busy, Busy.....

It's amazing to me how quickly our life has become full to the brim with school and life activities, homework and projects! Once Bailey started school, we entered into a whole new world....I know it will just get even more hectic from here! However, I love the sense of community that develops during the school years. I wonder how long before Jason and I have some "Millers" attire in our wardrobes? Bailey now has a school sweatshirt and I think it's pretty fun!

Given the busy nature of our world, I haven't taken as many pictures lately as I would like. However, here are a few to keep you going.

Nolan got his official Steelers coat and decided to model it a few nights ago. Yes, he is naked underneath!

Bailey had a short bout of sickness last week and, despite our best efforts, we could not keep Nolan from practically lying on top of her while she rested in the playroom.

I don't remember what they were doing (waiting for someone I'm guessing) or why Nolan is in his pajamas when it appears to be light outside. But, cute picture nonetheless.

Nolan has been very sweet to his daddy lately. Here they are cuddling on the coach after bath time. (While Nolan spends a lot of his time naked, I can tell this was after his bath because of the discarded towel in the picture. There's also our huge blanket that travels around to different locations in the house, but that's a different story. It's funny what you notice in the background of your pictures when you start posting them for the world to see!)

Bailey has discovered the whirlpool jets in my bathtub. Apparently, you can make mega bubbles when you but the bubble bath in and then turn on the jets. This is amazing fun for my kids!

What's Not to Love About This?

The Lazy Days of (the End of) Summer

Picture Time!

We've had a great September so far...it's hard to believe school is back in full swing and it's going to start getting cooler. We're enjoying as much outdoor time as we can. And Bailey is enjoying wearing dresses, skirts and flip-flops. The dreaded days of jeans and tennis shoes are around the corner!


This is how the kids eat ice cream treats....wedged into a chair they both claim as their own and with Nolan eyeing Bailey's. He's scheming about how he can distract her and get a second cone!

We took a trip to Clinton where Bailey got to show grandma and pa pa her improved swim skills and relax with grandma and a good book. That's Conner trying to take a nap beside them. Good luck!

Also in Clinton....Nolan thought this was both fun and funny. He spent probably 20 minutes letting the air blow his hair, face and belly. He's naked because, while Bailey was in the pool, he proceeded to muddy up every bit of ground he could find with the water hose. Thus, he got a quick bath.

This is how I found the kids one day when I got to Jeanne and Phil's after work. They jumped up and down and were excited to see me. It was so nice!

I think I've mentioned Nolan's obsession with his toy mower. When Jason mows, Nolan will trace every line that Jason does. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?!

Nolan's first movie! He did pretty well while the popcorn flowed. He got bored toward the end. It wasn't even a cartoon, as we saw the 2nd Night at the Museum movie.

We went to the tea room with Jason's cousin Lisa's kids from D.C. and Jason's cousin Michael's daughter, Anna.

L to R: Anna, Skyler, Bailey and Stefan

Nolan thoroughly enjoys making cupcakes.

And, finally, I just think this picture is cute. They are definitely the dynamic duo these days...and I love it!

No Time for a Siesta, We're Having a Fiesta!

In addition to the craziness of starting Kindergarten, we have also been eagerly awaiting Bailey's 5th birthday. I don't know about you, but turning 5 seems like such a significant milestone. Now that she IS 5, she pretty much adds "because I'm 5" to the end of any sentence, whether it makes sense or not. It's sort of like the fun and juvenile game you play with fortune cookies by adding "in bed" at the end of any fortune. Errrrr, maybe it's not so much like that, but it's the correlation that came to my head. LOL!

As you can tell, we chose to have a fiesta this year. We were excited to dress the part, serve great Mexican food, have a pinata and drink Corona and margaritas. Of course, those last couple of things were just for the adults - because nothing says 5th birthday like alcoholic beverages! :-)

I wish I could scan and include the invitation, but I'm not that skilled. The invitation really sets the tone for my signature birthday parties. I had Bailey choose from several invitations, and she chose the only one that "sort of has girl colors." She's very anti boy colors these days. Sometimes I wonder how she determines which colors go in which category.....but I digress.

Here we have the dress-up part of the big show:

This theme made it hard for Jason to dress up, but I'm sure he wasn't too torn up about that. My parents, however, are really getting the hang of it, as you can see below.

The kids had fun with the pinata.....I keep telling people that I'm sure they didn't appreciate the fact that I stuffed it with authentic Mexican candy, but this was very important to me at the time.

I didn't get a picture of the food or the table before everyone came. I don't feel like I did a great job as a photographer this year, as it was just too crazy! If I were rich, I'd hire someone to take great pics at birthday parties! Anyway, my friend Liz's family has a taqueria so I asked her to provide the food...it was yummy and felt very authentic! I do know that anyone who was congested needed only to take a bite of the salsa to be cured!!!

Here's the cake/singing portion of the big show.

And, a few pics of Bailey opening presents.

The kids had fun at the end of the party "skating" on the ice Jason dumped out of the cooler. Simple pleasures, I suppose. Don't ask me why, but Bailey had changed into another dress at this point.

Who had more fun with the Hannah Montana wig?

Bailey making a cupcake with her brand new cupcake maker.


I realize Nolan isn't represented in these pictures. Truth be told, I think he was outside mowing the yard with his play lawnmower for 3/4 of the party. And, when he wasn't mowing, he was trying to wrestle the mower away from the other little guys, Owen and Joseph. The kid loves his mower!

We had a good party. I always feel a sense of letdown afterward, but the good news is that Nolan's birthday is quickly approaching. Anyone have any good 2nd birthday ideas for me?

K

Off to Kindergarten.....Really?

It's official....Bailey has started school. She has already made a friend, wooed a mowhawked boyfriend and learned that Kindergarten kids do NOT play on the green toys when they go to recess. Beyond that, I have no information as she's already tired of answering questions about school.

She is excited, but also made the observation that "we don't really get to play as much as I thought we would." Oh, Bailey...I think life is all play for you right now! Enjoy it!

We'll start with "Back to School" Night. This is Bailey with her school supplies.....posing. Smile.

This is Bailey as I attempted to get her up on the first day of school. This is hard work in our house!

Eating her breakfast before going to grandma's house. We don't have full-day kindergarten, so she has to spend the morning at grandma's before starting her school day at 12:45 p.m.

Biding time with project. Thank you Aunt Susan for the first-day-of-school diversions - she loved them!

And, here we get into the obligatory family portraits on the first day. Jason's are in the morning, and mine are right before school....as you'll note the outfit change.

And here we go to school. We got there early, so tried to take a few pictures. The sun was glaring so Bailey has the scrunched nose syndrome in most of the pics.

She got a new school bag for her birthday, but the first day was just prior so we used our King's Gate bag from last year. Imagine how much bigger it must have seemed when she was a year younger!

Sitting in the circle when we first came in. I see you, little girl, glaring at Bailey. I'm watching you.

And, here, it's Bailey's turn to stare at one of the kids. Hey, getting to know new people requires a good deal of checking things out!

This is one of my faves....but only because of the background. So, the teacher told all the kids (sitting on the carpet) that she was going to take each kid one-by-one to put up their bags....so they would know where their cubby is in the future. In the meantime, the kids were instructed to pick a spot at a table with various manipulatives (blocks, cars, animals), etc. Bailey hung back for a moment while the other kids scrambled for their favorite kind of toy, and then promptly chose the table with all the boys. Sigh....

Note the previously referenced kid with the mohawk. Jaaaaacob (said in an "I think he's so cute" sing-song). Double sigh.....

Peace.