Zoo Time

We made our first trip to the zoo this year!  It was about time.  I bought a membership in October and have not been since.  We had a good time and Shook only acted a little crazy with the animals this time - much improvement from last time.

These girls love each other!

Shook was even a lion!

They had lots of fun on the train.

Shook was really into Chooo Choooing...he is at home too.

And, we went through the tunnel and Shook cracked us with this face! (Only the one going under the tunnel was even better but I missed it!)

I haven't updated in awhile on Jules' Behavior Chart either.  Its pretty funny because almost right after we did it, we went to the Scream Free Parenting Seminar at church and had been going to some of the individual series on Wednesday nights.  This guy is a phenomenal speaker and one of the first things he says is that with your first child you do all this crazy stuff like sticker charts and candy for  pottying, etc. and with the second child you don't do any of that stuff because you quickly realize it doesn't work!  At the time, we were going strong and it was really helping Jules with paying attention during group time (the #1 goal) but not really too much with staying in her bed (the #2 goal).  I have subsequently said she could have the Princess dress if she stayed in bed and it did help her out some that night (but she always says she is scared).  So, we at least got the #1 goal out of it; we'll just have to figure out something else for the #2 goal.  And, that Princess dress has been hanging up this whole time and she hasn't even asked for it!

I now agree with him though --- there is no way working parents can keep up with 10 things they want their child to be better at, at one time.  I think I really have to stay tried and true focused on 1 or 2 at a time and it usually only takes her a couple of weeks to be good at that.  Right now, we are working on back talking.  She has this thing about crying and throwing a total fit if she doesn't get her way, saying "You are mean and not getting any treats" or "Daddy hit me" (which he never would so don't call the cops!) Funny how the #2 goal keeps staying in the #2 position!  We will get there....if only I could get Shook to stop saying "NO" 40 million times a day or to consistently walk in and out of daycare....Any tips?

Second and Third Swim Lessons

For Jules' second swim lesson, DeeDee was in town so we all went to the pool.  Jules was very distracted by Michael and Shook playing around but she did well enough to come out of the life jacket!  Now she says, "I wanna do it by myself!"  Makes me a little bit nervous!

The boys were being very silly! I love Shook's little laugh and smile right now.  It is so cute!

Daddy is squirting him with the water guns and he loves it!

They had a blast!

For our third lesson, Jules did all of those things plus learned to float on her back - first time I have ever seen her actually enjoy doing it too!  She was talking the entire time too!

 

Look at her without her life jacket!  SCARY!

 

She has a great time with the Princess Mermaid!

 

Blog Post Series - #1 - Remembering My Dad

Most people that read my blog know that my dad died 13 days after Shook was born - May 31, 2011 - and they probably also know that I don't talk about it too much.  It's coming up on 2 years now and I think this year has been tougher on me because I was so used to not seeing him everyday anyway so it took awhile for it to really sink in.  Given that, I thought it would be a good idea to ask some close friends and family to do a guest blog post for me in the upcoming months so that when I make my blog book this year, I will have some stories to remind me of how I felt and how other people close to my dad felt at this milestone.  Here is the first from me:

If Heaven Wasn't So Far Away

I'm sure you guys have heard this pretty recent country song.  I love it and hate it at the same time.  It is exactly what I think about almost every time I think of my dad.  But, I cry almost every time I hear it.  I love this song because it says "If Heaven wasn't so far away, I would pack up the kids and go for a day", and I feel like that is what I always did when I went to see mom and dad. 

The last times Jules and I went to see Dad was March 2011 and Easter in April 2011.  March was right about the time he found out he was having surgery again. 

Dad and Jules did a lot of this at the March visit:

When we left that visit, my dad gave me the biggest, longest hug we have ever given each other.  I think I will always remember it because now I would give anything to go back to that moment. 

The week he died, I was at my parent's house and was taking a nap with Shook, and I think I was just really concerned about Jules being back in Birmingham and a new baby, etc. and I had a really bad dream about something happening to Jules.  In my dream, I was at my parent's house too and I remember it very vividly.  I ran out of their bathroom yelling for someone to help me but no one was there.  Finally, my dad walked through the back door and he gave me the biggest hug and told me that everything was going to be okay.  I woke up immediately but I cannot tell you how many times since then that I have longed to go back to that dream. 

If you were to ask me what I think about when I think of dad at 2 years gone, I would say that I just think how far away he is and that it feels like he keeps getting farther away.  Even these memories seem like they will fade so easily.

So, I guess, coming up to this 2 year anniversary, if I could submit a request to God, it would really just be a hug.  Despite how much I want to talk to him all the time, about anything and everything, I usually know what his answer would be (although it would be nice to hear it).  What seems to be fading for me is his hugs.  I don't really understand it but they could always make me feel better.  I would even take another dream, if that is the only way my request could be fulfilled.

Happy St. (Uncle) Patrick's Day

It's Uncle Patrick's Day in our house!  We'll drink to that!

School Evaluations

Shook and Jules have both recently had their school evaluations.  Shook's was pretty uneventful.  They love him, he's cute and sweet and they are about to start working on colors and shapes.  They also said they wish he was a little more aggressive because even though he is the biggest kid in the class, if someone takes his toy or something, he just whines and points and expects them to get it back for him.  As you are probably thinking, this is most likely because if Jules takes something from him, we intervene to make her give it back in an effort to teach her.  He also helps clean up but he brings the toy to the teachers like, hey, you put it up!  That was about a 10 minute parent-teacher conference. 

I don't think his language is still where it should be yet but he is improving and they expect 2 word phrases by the end of the year.  I'll be so happy when that happens!  Sometimes, I just want to hear what his voice is really going to sound like when he talks!

One thing I did like about Shook's class is that they put pictures from throughout the year in their "personnel" file!  I figure its for when they get older and the teachers want to strangle them, they can get the files out and see how precious they once were!

I mean, hello, who wouldn't love this kid!

Here is Jules' form, on the other hand.

As you can see, she's doing a lot of good things and only has a couple of things, that we already knew about, that she has to continue to work on although focusing is getting better and they said they don't have to call on her nearly as much.  The #2 next step is really a function of having to be the boss and while all her friends are playing together and interacting, she is sitting at the table telling them what to do.  They really want her to play with them instead but I'm not sure how I can address that one just yet because I don't see it nearly as much as they do.

So, the week before evaluations, they did a big one on one "test" with all the kids to see where they are with everything.  They started off the meeting showing us her art work from the beginning of the year to one from this week.  Both times they asked them to draw their family and the first was scribbles and dots all over the page and this one was almost circles, straight lines, squiggles, etc. (but Jules said it was a PIG!) which they said is a vast improvement especially since she is not a huge fan of the art center.  (She only goes there when her friend Kathryn is there!)  Her favorites are math & science and home living.  So, she's pretty handy with a puzzle.

She has to continue working on recognition of letters and numbers, which we knew, but she could count objects to 10 by pointing and counting and she could do sequences, what comes next, etc. which is really good.  She can do 2-3 word commands and come back and tell you what she did and why she did it, which is also apparently really good.  She knew all the colors (even black, gray and brown, which they say most have trouble with) and shapes.  She can sort objects and tell you what they are used for (plus some extra information you probably have no interest in, like the airplane is going to fly her in the air to Disney World with mommy and daddy tomorrow - even though that is not happening).  She can do big and little but we have to start working on what is medium and middle.

All in all, no big revelations and they are both doing good! 

Swimming in the Snow

It was March 2nd and snowing!  Jules and I headed to a 3rd birthday party and then to our first private swim lessons. 

She had been asking "who is going to hold my hand?" so I knew we weren't going to be starting off where we left off last summer with her jumping in no matter who was out there.

So, I may have told her that her teacher, Ms. Selena, is a Princess Mermaid and she was going to hold her hand!  She bought it hook, line and sinker!  It's the small things!

 

It only took her about 2 seconds to LOVE Ms. Selena (Ms. Belena if you hear it from Jules!  Kind of like Shook is Fatman not Batman!  It makes me laugh every time!)

Jules wanted to hold her hand for about the first 15 minutes.

And, then she got braver.  She was telling her that she was going to get her and that she was a shark! 


And, getting out to jump in by herself.

 

And, jumping!

 

 

 

She was kicking and working on her ice cream scoop hands.

 

 

 

At the end, she jumped in and went under by herself!

 

 

And, she even went under and came back up all by herself.  She was very proud! 

 

She wanted to stay in a lot longer.  I'm pretty sure it wore her out good too because she didn't have a nap on Saturday which led to her sleeping all night in her bed Sunday night.  She was very proud of herself.  I've been telling Michael I didn't think she was tired enough and that is why she has been getting up so much.  SO, we will welcome the longer days this coming weekend!

 

We will see you again soon Ms. Belena!