Ben is home! We are so happy to have him back and the girls were so completely excited to see him. Our week without him was mostly good though there are some major temper tantrums and non-napping going on these days. Some days I try to give myself a time out!
Last week was Maia’s preschool conferences which went well. She’s opening up more in the classroom and has made several friends so it’s nice to see that. Her best friend there is Sareena and they’re so cute together. They play and hold hands and are just great friends. We’ve had a few playdates and Maia was really hoping to go to Parnassus next year to be with Sareena so we’ll see what happens.
Skating has been going well too. A couple of weeks ago was Maia’s last Brooklyn Park skating session and she didn’t pass level 2 but they moved her to a combined 2/3 class instead of the 1/2 class she was in. She can do everything except one foot glides so she’s working hard on those. She is actually getting a private lesson this Thursday so hopefully that gives her the help she needs to “figure it out”. A couple of weeks from now we start our ice show practices so things will be crazy busy these next couple of months and chances are Ben will be going back to Seattle here and there. We’ll make it work!
I’m debating about potty training Lily and Juliette. They’re scared to sit on the big potty, even with a seat and they haven’t really shown much interest yet. They are almost three though and I’m tired of changing diapers so I think it’s time! I am not looking forward to the process though because diapers are easy. Gaaah, wish me luck!
The Parnassus lottery was today. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time and was pretty excited to finally find out if Maia gets in. They had 190 applications, 42 of them siblings so there were 48 spots for 148 applicants. We were number 55 on the wait list. It’s not impossible to get in still but unlikely, even if they open another class. In that case we’d still be #25 on the wait list. Maybe it’s not meant to be and there is somewhere better for Maia — I’m just hoping we figure out where/what that is! Next week we have the Nova benchmarks evaluation so that is still a possibility as well.
In other news, Ben is in Seattle again so the girls and I are on our own. He’s scheduled to come home on Sunday so I hope that happens! We miss him a lot.
This week Ben is in Seattle helping his mom so the girls and I are on our own! It’s a crazy week because Ben’s trip was kind of last minute and we still have so many things going on at home but we’re managing. We are ever grateful to my mom and dad for helping out so much this week when I have class and other things going on and I honestly don’t know what I’d do without them! Love you guys.
I started teaching a new class this week which is such a fun change of pace. I’m teaching students how to do some advanced gumpaste flowers and so far so good! I love what we’re working on and everyone is doing really well. I’m excited to have another class to add to my rotation and am really enjoying teaching and the extra pocket money it provides.
Maia had her last session of skating tonight (a new one starts next week) and while she didn’t pass to level 3, she almost did and we were told that if she masters one more skill early in the next session they’ll just move her up to level 3 at that point. She still has 3 more weeks of Basic 2 at Maple Grove so that will give her some more opportunities to work on it so I’m hoping she gets it down. If not though, it’s certainly good review for her to practice things she already knows.
Suzuki is going well. We’re making an effort to practice every single day and now it’s my job to keep it fun. We do a lot of princess races during practice and I’m about to put together a “go fish” game as well. Our teacher is impressed with Maia’s progression and so am I – she’s doing great! It won’t be long before I’m posting videos of her playing. She starts her first pre-twinkle group Suzuki class this Saturday so that will be a fun experience as well.
Lily and Juliette are doing well. We had them evaluated for continued service through Early Intervention and neither of them qualified. It’s bittersweet because the intervention folks have been there for us since the girls were born and it will be sad to let that go but at the same time I’m thrilled they are doing so well that we no longer need a teacher, physical therapist, occupational therapist, etc. Their main struggle is social and they’re convinced that 2 years of preschool will remedy that. I sure hope so. I really can’t believe that my babies are almost 3!
On Thursday night in the middle of the night I took Maia to the bathroom and heard her start to cough and it sounded like barking. I have never had any experience with it but I remembered that the telltale sign of croup was a barking cough. She was also wheezing in between and was obviously uncomfortable. She was fine earlier in the day with the exception of a slight “regular” cough. We ended up sending her to preschool on Friday because she woke up fine and was hardly coughing but when she got home she wasn’t feeling well and started getting a fever. I took her in and the doctor confirmed croup and gave her an oral steroid to help. That night she slept well and in the morning was barely coughing at all! Now she does still have a little one but it’s not barking and she’s way better (except for the runny nose that just started. Oh boy.)
Today was a very busy day. We had two birthday parties to go to then went to dinner at our friend Adam and Holli’s house. My friend Stacy’s daughter Korri turned 1 and then we went to a party for Maia’s friend Bella from preschool. Ben stayed home with Lily and Juliette since Korri’s party was during their nap and it was kind of nice to be sans little ones pawing at me every second!
Speaking of which, Juliette is driving me crazy. She whines 60% of the time these days and when I’m in a good mood it slowly chips away at it until I lose it. I’ve tried ignoring and it just escalates until she hyperventilates. I’ve tried asking her to use her “big girl voice” which she refuses to do. Sometimes it’s just to get my attention (I have two other kids that need it too!) but sometimes she will whine just for the sake of whining. She’ll say “mama mama!” and I’ll acknowledge her right away and ask what she needs and she will just keep saying “mama” without actually saying or asking anything. This whining happens frequently in the car and it’s been worse since we turned their seats around this month. Please tell me this will get better.
I ordered a new carseat for Maia today. She’s starting to outgrow her Britax Boulevard and even though she’s the right height/weight (42″, 32 lbs) to go to a booster seat I’m just not comfortable with her only being held by a shoulder belt yet. We got the Britax Frontier which is a combination 5 point harness/booster seat and it will hold up to 85 lbs and up to 45 lbs in a 5 pt harness. Safety first! We also needed a new seat since starting next week Ben will be taking the little ones by himself to MacPhail for music class while I take Maia to her violin lessons and we currently have no carseat for our other vehicle.
It’s a busy week coming up so hopefully it’s whine-free! I’m looking forward to ice skating practices this week – Maia’s Brooklyn Park teacher told me that she’d move Maia up to level 3 already if she was just a little bit faster so that is great news that she’s mastering level 2 stuff so well already.
Lily has “always” (lately) been our good sleeper. We rarely have trouble getting her to go down for nap or bed. Since she’s been sick it’s been tougher because she’s been up much more at night but the last few days have been rougher because for an unknown reason she’s stopped sucking her thumb. If she had her lovey and her thumb she’s always been good but now she refuses her thumb so she’s struggling to sleep. She has quietly gotten out of bed and emptied her dressers, she’s gone and sat on her rocking chair and lately she’s been getting out of bed and falling asleep on her chair. Today at nap I went in there to get her and she was sitting on her chair crying. I’m hoping she gets over the withdrawl quickly and can go back to being our good sleeper.
This week has been pretty good. Maia had her violin lesson on Saturday and it was her first time having a lesson with her new violin. Next week we have off then 17 weeks in a row of lessons! Hopefully we make some good progress. She’s been napping more often again lately by her choice, I think because she realizes that she gets to stay up later if she naps and that appeals to her. She’s been so fun lately and I really love spending time with her just talking or playing games and I really want to make the most of this time that I have with the kids. She went to a birthday party on Saturday for our 6-year-old neighbor and was quiet but really enjoyed being with the older kids. it made me realize how unprepared I am for having/dealing with kids in elementary school. Whew!
I’m thinking more about next year and possible preschool for Lily and Juliette. They struggle socially and I really think that it will be awesome for them. They are getting so much more comfortable in the setting of Maia’s school and adore her teachers so I’m confidant it will be a good fit. Now to work on the potty training!
Teaching is going well. I’m having low class numbers which sucks but I enjoy what I do and even though I don’t do it for the money it sure is nice! I am excited about a new class that I’m teaching next month and hope that I get some good enrollment for that.
I’ll leave with a couple of photos. One is a spaghetti and meatballs cake I did for Emerson’s birthday and the other is Maia today in her new “sparkle” outfit!
We are finally getting over “sick” in our house. Oh, there are still boogers – lots and lots of boogers but the worst is finally over! Everyone is sleeping mostly well again so things are almost back to normal at our house.
We de-Christmas’ed this week (except for the outside lights) and it felt good to get that done before March! Maia was a big help this year. She really loves helping Ben and me do things around the house so I know I should take advantage of that more than I probably do. Lily and Juliette aren’t big fans of helping or cleaning. They CAN but if they’re putting something away it’s almost as likely that they will dump it out again as soon as they’ve finished. C’est la vie.
Skating this last week went well. Maia has several kids in her Brooklyn Park class and the teacher commented how cute Maia is. (I agree.) Her Maple Grove class just has 3 kids so I feel like Maia gets more out of it than at Brooklyn Park since it’s specifically geared toward her level. Brooklyn Park has beginner kids mixed into Maia’s class so they’re spending a lot of time “marching” on the ice. Ice skating for me has been great. I really love being on the ice and learning new stuff. I am working on three-turns and mohawks now (both are one-foot reversing directions) and I am better than I expected I’d be. I wish I had more time to practice but it’s okay.
Maia and I signed up for the Brooklyn Park Ice Show. I think it will be something fun we can do together! She’ll get to skate with the preschoolers and I’ll skate with the adults. It’s in April if anyone wants to come see it.
During Saturday’s violin lesson Maia was told that she gets to “graduate” to a real violin! We are excited and are going to throw a “mac and cheese” party to celebrate. (Her box violin is made from mac and cheese). I’m thinking of taking the kids to the violin shop today to get her sized!
We are doing a playdate tomorrow with one of Maia’s friends from preschool and on Wednesday morning I’m taking Maia back to Dr. Ruf for another IQ test. This time they’re using her for “norming” a new test and we more than likely won’t get the results but they will pay her so it’ll be nice to put a bit of money in Maia’s account. She really had fun last time we did it so hopefully it’ll be the same thing this time around.
Countdown: 15 more days until open enrollment closes for Parnassus. I’m starting to get really nervous that she won’t get it!
I brought Lily to the doctor today because I’m tired of her being up every 20 minutes at night. It’s hard on me (since I’m sick too) and on her because she seems to be in pain when she wakes up due to her coughing. I knew they would tell me that it’s “just a cold” but I thought maybe it was an ear infection or something else that was causing her such uncomfortableness but no, other than a huge wad of earwax, all is well. Oh well, a small copay for piece of mind is worth it I suppose!
Grandma Sue and Grandpa Jim came over tonight and boy were the kids glad to see them. Juliette has been resisting sleep lately and seemingly has some separation anxiety when falling asleep (last night Ben was in with her for 30 minutes and I was with her for 45 for nap). Today however, I mentioned to Juliette before nap that Grandma and Grandpa were coming over and wanted her to take a good nap and I read her a story, put her down and she went to sleep! Tonight Grandma put her down and there was no whining, just sleep! Hopefully this brilliant behavior will continue!
Maia starts skating again next week and has violin lesson tomorrow. She hasn’t had violin in a few weeks so it will be good to be back. I think she might get her “real” violin really soon so that’s exciting for us!
We applied to Nova Classical Academy today for Kindergarten next year. It’s more of a whim thing and I know the wait lists are crazy long so we’re not expecting anything out of it but having a back-up option is nice.
We received Maia’s results from the Stanford Binet 5 assessment today and honestly we were surprised by what we were told. We’ve always known that Maia is a bright little girl but we were not expecting to hear that she is “exceptionally gifted”. The psychologist we went to is a nationally renowned doctor that works with gifted children and helps parents find appropriate placement for them in schools. She said that Maia is more than ready for Kindergarten next year and that Parnassus would probably be a good choice for her so I’m relieved to hear that she agrees we’re on the right track. We did not pay for the full assessment of Maia, just “score only” but will strongly consider going back to discuss how we can best help Maia excel in school if things aren’t working out for us. Ben graduated high school two years early and his mom had to work very hard to make sure he was placed properly so I hope we have an easier time!
In other news, our family is sick. Lily started getting a cold and a yucky cough a few days ago and yesterday Maia got “flu-ey”. I’m not feeling the greatest and for once Ben and Juliette are the healthiest in the family! Hopefully we all feel better quickly.
Yesterday I took Maia to a local psychologist to administer an intelligence test to determine whether she’d qualify for early enrollment to Kindergarten next school year. I explained to Maia that we were going to see a doctor who just wanted to talk to her and that it would be “hard thinking” work but fun too and it turns out it was a great experience. Dr. Ruf’s office is in her home and we were greeted by a very large standard poodle who was very sweet and Dr. Ruf gave us the tour, showed Maia where she was going to sit and then showed me where I was going to sit (the basement). Maia opened up immediately and was very chatty with the doctor and I could hear her asking lots of questions so my fear of her being quiet and scared in this setting was unfounded. Dr. Ruf administered the Stanford Binet v.5 assessment and we have yet to find out the results but either way I’ll be good as long as it’s the right decision for Maia. Maia was bummed to have to leave at the end!
Christmas was good for us. It was wonderful to see my brother and his family and of course Grandma Laurine too (who just left today). Things get back to normal next week with Ben going back to work and Maia going back to preschool and I’m looking forward to getting back into a routine. Ben being home this week has been wonderful though! We’ve had some good family time and Ben and I have been able to alternate sleep-in days which has also been great for us.
My cake classes are going well. I’m currently doing 2 classes/month and while it’s not always fun for Ben to handle the kids bedtimes by himself for multiple nights the extra money is helpful. In February I will be doing 3 classes since my new Advanced Flowers and Gumpaste class will start and I’m looking forward to teaching that one!
Lily is starting to get a nasty cough so we’re watching her right now and hoping that it doesn’t turn into anything worse. She’s having a hard time sleeping tonight so far!
I didn’t mention my lovely Christmas gifts this year. Ben got me a beautiful 6 qt KitchenAid which I know will be my best friend when I’m in baking-mode (I’m just extremely annoyed it doesn’t fit under our countertops!), Kathryn got me a big 4qt stainless steel pot to do sugar work and Laurine got me the Cricut cake which I’m super excited to try!
I’ll probably post at least one more time before the new year but just in case, happy new year everyone!
First of all, I want to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and happy holidays! I feel very blessed to have people who care so much about my family. There have been so many ways you’ve demonstrated that over the years and I will say “thank you” and that I hope to be able to do the same one day for all of you.
We have had a busy few days with the holiday! Grandma Laurine is here to visit right now and we also were fortunate to be able to see my brother Ron, Kathryn, Annabelle and James for the last few days. Maia has been loving having her cousin around! I think this is the longest I have ever gone without seeing my brother (a whole year) and I don’t know that I’ll ever get over being so far away from them. They are doing well down in Texas and I support that and them but that doesn’t change the fact that we miss them a lot!
We celebrated Christmas at our house on the 23rd with my parents, Ben’s mom, and Ron and Kathryn. Yesterday we went up to my cousin Rob’s house to celebrate with my dad’s side of the family and this morning we stayed home and did our immediate family Christmas. There was paper and “stuff” everywhere but the kids had a great time opening playing with their new toys. All and all I think it has been a successful year for us and we’re looking forward to 2012.
Ben is home all week this week! We don’t have many plans but considering we always seem to have plans every other day we’ll probably just try to keep things low key. Grandma Laurine wants to watch Maia ice skate so we’ll probably try to do an open skate sometime in the next few days but that’s doable!
I’ll do my best to post some Christmas photos in the next few days.
