Mount Vesuvius

The word around our house this week, Mount Vesuvius.  Jonathan learned about this volcano at school this week and now this is the topic of discussion.  He has made artwork at school of volcanoes, our sand pit turned into a volcano when Alex & Evan were over, we checked out volcano books from the library and he even watches youtube videos about Mount Vesuvius.  I have learned a lot this week!  Now he wants GB to find the ashes from Mount St Helen that Brad told him she had of his.

Can't Catch a Break

Poor Diana has been feeling under the weather since Sunday, debatable since a week ago Saturday.  She has been to the doctor twice this week and they think she just has a cold and that her teeth are bothering her.  Every time I take her somewhere, people make comments about how she doesn't look good, etc.  One lady told me at a store told me, "Mom, she just can't do it anymore.  She looks like she needs a nap."  I laughed and said she just woke up from one, which she had!  Her face just looks sad and her eyes are all glassy.  She has been running a slight fever, runny nose, not eating well, up in the middle of the night, very clingy and moody.  Definitely not our Diana!  To make it worse, today while we were outside playing, she was running down the sidewalk, tripped and busted her lip open.  The girl just can't catch a break!  We are all hoping she feels better soon!

Christmas Tree

Well this was my attempt at keeping Diana away from the real Christmas tree.  It doesn't seem to be working as well as I would have hoped.  I think today we had 6 ornaments taken off the tree.  Luckily none of broken yet!  Oh and I had to post a picture of the cutest Santa I have ever seen!



Thanksgiving in Florida

We have so much to be thankful for again this year!  A special thank you to GB & Grandpa Weeks for flying us all down to Florida to spend it all together.  It was great having Uncle Kyle, Aunt Amanda, and Cousin Natalie there!  As always, it was wonderful getting to see Grandma Long and Grandpa Mike.  We had a fun week getting to enjoy the beautiful Florida weather in November...some pool time, beach time, golf and climbing palm trees (only Brad).  The kids travelled well, although I need to get a splitter and an extra set of headphones before our December trip.  Diana was a little out of sorts all week.  Waking up in the middle of the night screaming (which is NOT normal) and not napping well.  Sorry to all of you who got to experience this "fun" with us.  I know I did not enjoy it.  Diana did take a 4 1/2 hour nap on Sunday when we got home...guess she was worn out from the week and/or sick.  Despite the stresses of Diana, it was wonderful to be with everyone.  The kids had a blast and will have a hard time adjusting to being home with lack of people around and the cold weather.  More pictures to be posted.

Gymnastics Week 2

This week at gymnastics, Jonathan's favorite part was the bar where he got to be a "wash machine."  He basically hung from a parallel bar (sorry if that is not the correct term) and wiggled his hips.  I forgot my video camera which I am bummed about because it was really cute to watch.

Excuse Me

One more important tidbit about Diana...she is extremely independent!  Tonight I was reminded of this when I attempted to carry her down the stairs.  I put her down about half way down the stairs after struggling to keep her in my arms and said ok, you can crawl down the rest (this is one of her new favorite things to do, crawls backwards down them).  She proceeded to crawl up to the top of the stairs, sat down, stared at me, and then turned around and crawled down all the steps all by herself.  Well excuse me little Miss Independent.

Cheese Face

Diana is a ham!  Well, when she wants to be.  She all of a sudden has fallen in love with the camera and will make her "cheese" face anytime she sees the camera.  Oh and, still obsessed with her pink monkey hat.  Wears it all the time, even inside when we aren't going anywhere.  She tries to make Jonathan wear his too...depending on his mood, he sometimes cooperates or maybe it's so she will stop trying to put it on his head.

Diana 18 Month Checkup

"You go girl!"  Were Dr. Bagamery's words today at Diana's 18 month checkup.  She has officially made it to the 50th percentile for height and almost 50th percentile for weight (up until this point she was closer to 25th).  She weighs 24 pounds 3 ounces and is 32 inches tall.  She had to get her DTap shot and her second flu shot.  Of course she screamed but was quickly over it.  The other funny thing Dr. Bagamery said about Diana was "Wow, that girl has abs of steel!"  Diana continues to be ridiculously strong and is sometimes hard to control in my arms (when she is upset).  She is also a climber, which is so opposite of Jonathan.  She is obsessed with washing her hands these days and since there was a sink in the doctor office, she HAD to wash her hands.  I kept telling her no but after she was literally hanging on the sink, feet off the ground, I figured it was better to wash her hands than have her hurt herself while at the doctor.  The doctor said not to worry that she isn't drinking that much milk but suggested putting chocolate in the milk...crazy because I had thought about it but thought I shouldn't but if the doctor says it is ok, well?!?!  Diana is a good eater and always has been so I guess I am just going to stop worrying about the lack of milk drinking.  Let's face it, I didn't like milk when I was little and she seems to be following in my foot steps an awful lot.  Diana sleeps now from 7 - 7:30 at night to about 6:30 in the morning and then naps from about noon to 2.  Poor thing usually falls asleep in the car from dropping Jonathan off at school.  She has a total of 10 teeth now.  She is starting to talk more and more every day.  After Grandpa Gordy and Nana were here she started talking a lot more...they worked with her a lot.  The funniest thing she now says is "apple" when she is hungry.  She does love apples but she seems to say it even when she doesn't want to eat an apple.  She does a lot of pointing and says "dat" which I can only assume means "that."  I think she comprehends a lot more than she can actually say because she will do anything I say or ask...like "Diana go get your shoes" or "Do you want to go upstairs?" and she will immediately go to the stairs.  She adores her big brother still.  There is no one else that can get her to laugh or smile the way he can.  I think having a big brother is wonderful, but she plays a lot "rougher" than other girls her age.  Last night while I was cleaning up dinner and Brad was still at work, Jonathan started yelling "Mom, Diana is jumping on me!"  I go into the living room and sure enough, Jonathan is laying on the floor and Diana is straddling him and bouncing.  I of course thought this was hilarious.  I am sure the battles have only begun between the two of them but for the time being it is cute.  Diana is a very busy little girl and rarely sits still, in fact aside from when she is sleeping or buckled in her car seat I don't think she is ever still.  She is constantly up and down and in and out of things.  The other night at dinner, Diana was in and out of her seat and my lap so many times that Brad finally said, "I am exhausted just watching you two."  We adore our little girl and wouldn't have her any other way!  It's hard to believe she is 18 months old already.  Where does the time go!?!?  I am so blessed to have been able to be home with the kids and watch them grow up.

The Things Jonathan Says

Jonathan cracks me up every day with at least one thing he says/does.  Here are a few examples:

Today we just got home from the grocery store and the garbage man was coming by.  Jonathan watched him take our garbage and our neighbors.  I was carrying in groceries and saw Jonathan talking to the garbage man and I saw the man say something back and smile but I didn't hear what it was.  After the garbage man drove to the next house he says to me "Did you hear what he asked me?"  I said "No" and he said "He asked me if I have to take a shower after I get done with work?"  The guy thought it was funny and a very appropriate question.  Later Jonathan said, I saw him put his head in a garbage can.  I think that is what sparked the question.

Last night Jonathan was practicing his typing on the computer.  He would ask me how to spell things and then he would type them.  This is what he wrote:
no jt!


no strangers!

how old are you?

what is your number?

how are you?

Does anyone see a trend in the last 3 questions?  Pick up lines from a 4-year-old perhaps.  Ha!  This child is going to be a heart breaker I can see it coming.  There are only 4 girls in his preschool class and he talks about all of them and one of them told her dad that she was going to marry Jonathan.  :-)

The other funny thing he said the other day was when I asked him to turn off the light in Diana's room (he was the last one out of there), he moaned and said "Why do I have to do everything for this family?!?!"

Diana Molars

I am happy to report that Diana's top two molar's are finally in.  She started cutting them around October 18th and after a lot of sleepless nights and angry Diana chewing on things, I think they are cut!  No for the bottom two to break through.

Jonathan's Preschool Evaluation

This is the evaluation Jonathan's preschool teacher sent about him.

From our class observations, I am pleased to tell you of your child's growth. As we progress through the year, additional incremental goals are set for each child. Please note that preschool development is not linear.
Each area--social and emotional, fine motor, gross motor, cognitive and language literacy usually develops at different rates and intensities. One area usually takes center stage at any given point. While cognitive (facts or rote) information is important----SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IS MOST IMPORTANT AT THIS STAGE OF THEIR GROWTH. Creativity is a subjective area - I can confirm each child is creative in his or her own way. Please note the following observations are not all inclusive.

enters classroom enthusiastically
enters play appropriately
self regulates
respectful with good manner
plays with boys and girls
enjoys approaching new experiences
volunteers to help out
on task
loves to read books with friends and be read to
responsible-does his job daily
great imagination-always getting children to make up scenarios to play
makes rational decisions
rhymes
counts well
likes math games
empathic and always concerned for others
good pencil grasp
kind and considerate
cuts well
improved writing
able to resolve most simple conflicts-comes to teacher when he needs support
uses new vocabulary learned in class
enjoys making things out of paper
attentive in large group
enjoys math games
follows 4 step directions
gets inferential information
a good friend but, functions well on his own
expresses himself with detail and relevancy
is patient and asks others to be patient
fluid body movement
is very forgiving

Gymnastics Timber

Jonathan started gymnastics "tumbling" today.  He had a blast!  This video of course was of his favorite part.  They stretched and did some coordination/balance movements and then it was off to the obstacle course which included a vault, some ladders to climb, a beam with obstacles to step over and then a mat to do a "forward roll" (i.e. somersault) down.  At the end of class, the teacher held up the mat and then let it fall with the kids on it.

Gymnastics Vault Video



Cold Turkey

After a couple of months now struggling with Diana to get rid of her bottle, (yes, she won last time...she is far more stubborn than her mother), I am happy to report that it is GONE!  I couldn't take the bottle anymore and I really didn't want to travel with it on all of our upcoming trips.  On Monday and Tuesday, I let her have it first thing in the morning and right before bed.  During the day, I miked the Danimals (yogurt smoothie) with milk in a sippy cup and she drank it.  Wednesday she didn't get it at all and then that was it.  She still will fuss for it or go to where it used to be in the cupboard but I am NOT giving in this time.  She definitely doesn't drink nearly the amount of milk that she used to but I am not going to worry about it.  She eats plenty of cheese, yogurt and ice cream to get her calcium.    She wants her pacifier a lot more since we got rid of the bottle but I decided one thing at a time and I definitely am not ready to travel on a plane with her without the pacifier (we have trips scheduled for Nov, Dec & Jan).  We did cut a slit in one of her pacifiers last weekend though and she doesn't like that one, obviously, so I think we will start using that pacifier more and eventually phase that out too.   Diana is growing up!

Preschool Pictures

I am so far behind in my blog that I don't even know where to start, so look for backdated posts in the future.  I wanted to post some pictures of Jonathan from school though.  Mrs. Riccardi brought in pipes and other items for the kids to build with.  I told her she needs to turn it into Blue Man Group music as well.

This one is of juicing lemons and cleaning pennies.  Jonathan was very excited about his shinny penny.