Sunfish!

We signed Addy up for her first swimming lessons last month – she took the “Sunfish” lessons at the local YMCA.  We aren’t members there – but I decided to go there since

1. It was in Rochester and I could go straight from work to getting her at daycare to the lessons.

2. It was indoors so not weather dependent.

At the pool in Pine Island, the times just didn’t’ work out for me to consider it.  I really enjoyed the Y’s lessons, and have her signed up for the next level in August.

One of her first days....she's the one in the 2 piece

Taking turns jumping in and being caught :)

It was pretty cool to watch her progress.  Sunfish lessons were described as “transitioning” to be independent in the water…so they really just worked on things like going under water and getting comfortable and confident.  We don’t get to be around water as much as I would like (I guess I would say as consistent as I would like) so I really want her to start gaining some confidence.

The first week of lessons, when they would have you get out of the water (that she had to do by herself) she would go as close to the zero depth entrance as the teacher would let her, and then climb out.  Week 2, she’d get out wherever she was told to get out.  Just that in itself made me proud!

Week 2 - actually getting out of the water where they told her too :)

She doesn’t like to put her face under water, but she really would give it a try when they had her blow bubbles, or dip her face in real quick – it’ll come with time!

It was perfect timing as well, because after lessons, we left on the night hers finished for the 4-day weekend at the cabin.  So, she got to do some more swimming right away on the lake!

Working on putting our face in the water

Cute story, a girl that helps out at daycare had asked Addy during the weeks of her lessons if she was learning to swim like a fish, and Addy responded, “Just a sunfish!” (since that was the name of her class!).  Made me giggle :)

Having fun on the last day of class....they turned on the fountains and the slide for about 10 minutes!

Next class: Pike --- here we come!

Blaker-boy at 2 & 1/2

So many different words run through my head when I think about describing my boy at 2 ½ years old. 

Sweet – he still is my cuddler – and with those big blue eyes and long lashes, he melts most people’s heart pretty quickly!  My friend Holly’s husband made the comment about how sweet Blake is and that with the way he looks at you – Eric was pretty sure he’d do anything Blake would ask him to do :). 

I joke often, but have heard it from others too --- that he’s going to have lots of girls crushing on him if he keeps this up!  With those lashes and those looks  ---- AND the fact that he is a cuddler -----that’s a girls’ “dream guy" right there!

My sweet man!

Goofball – this kid cracks me up on a daily basis.  Him and Addy do some pretty silly things together and he is constantly giggling at her, himself, or me.  He loves to laugh – that is for sure.  And this kid has got the best laugh – it comes straight from the gut.  I can never get a good video of it, because usually I am too late, but you just have to trust me…

…if you need a pick me up in your day, you can come on over – if you get a laugh out of Blake, it is guaranteed that you will smile, no matter how crappy you may feel!

Goofball!  Wearing mama's sandals...I have an even better picture of him the other day sneaking out of my room in just his diaper and my strappy silver sandals I just wore for a wedding last month...but I'll spare him that embarassment going on the internet :)

Copy-cat – Blake pretty much copies EVERYTHING that Addy says.  Half the time, he may not even know what he is saying, like “I want to wear a dress today”, but if Addy says it, guaranteed that Blake will say it about 2 seconds later. 

Our conversations at dinner go around the table where Addy says something or asks me something – I answer.  Blake says or asks the same thing – I answer.  Then Addy says “Blake, why do you always copy me” and I say “It’s because he loooooves YOU!”  In which she says, “No, that’s not why…”

…and we repeat typically a few times each evening J

Jean said it best the other day when she called him a Mocking Bird

In regards to vocabulary – he actually is really starting to take off.  He says lots of sentences these days, so I couldn’t even begin to list what words he all knows.  One thing I have noticed is that he will say more of a ‘g’ or ‘k’ sound for some t-word.  For example, a duck is a guck.  He does that with other words too.  I’m sure it is something he’ll outgrow.

BOY – this kids LOOOOVES to be a boy…get dirty, do work outside with daddy…he is all about it!  I would say he is a good mixture though – he does love to do things with me like bake, sing, etc.  But, he also doesn’t have as much interest in crafts as Addy does or ever did.  Our daycare Julie mentions that too, because they do a craft almost every day, but most of the time, you can tell he wasn’t as interested in it as the others based on the end result! 

Helping Daddy with our landscape outside

Being a landscaper worker comes with a price...he got a sore finger that he is holding up here ( look at those eyes though....seriously melts this mama!)

Inspecting the healing of his sore finger...

Ouch!  A landscape block fell on this finger and OMG did it look like it hurt.   I feel like an "owie" like this is something boys get...or guys!

Those are just a few of the words that come to mind when I think of my Blaker-boy.  He is growing up all to quickly.  I still think of him as my baby, but then I realize he is well beyond those years, approaching the end of his toddler years (sigh) and before we know it…this kid will be in preschool and kindergarten too!

He isn’t completely potty-trained yet, but he definitely is getting the concept.  I haven’t pushed it too hard yet, but I think we will be doing that soon.  When we run out of diapers for him, I don’t think I’m going to get anymore.  He will go to the bathroom on the toilet when we ask him, and has even started to tell us sometimes that he has to go.  So --- he’s starting to be ready to work it into his routine :)

Blake has pretty much always loved his bath, and still does.  He actually asks to take one almost every night, and if I’d let him – he’d be a prune each and every time!

Swimming in the tub!

 Speaking of night time, it has to be mentioned that Blake is a STINKER at bed time!  He does NOT want to go to bed.  I think he thinks we party hard after bed…because he asks me if I’m going to go the park, or his new thing of asking me if I’m going to go dancing when I am tucking him in.  What a goof!  The majority of the nights, he comes out several times, and my patience wears thinner with each time I have to walk those stairs and put him in bed.  Usually, he ends up sad and stays in bed…but I hate that he has to get scolded each night.  We try and lay with him for a bit, talk with him and have him settle down – but I refuse to wait for him to fall asleep.  He needs to be able to fall asleep on his own…but OMG what a stinker this kid can be. 

He’s pretty persistent – I have no idea if this is a trait of mine or Aaron’s as a child, but I do know, I can’t wait for the stage of fighting bedtime to be over with :)

I would say that Blake is somewhat of a mama’s boy – if I had to have him ‘tagged’ as either a mama or daddy’s boy.  Although, it really does seem to depend on the day.  I get the BEST greeting every night when I pick him up.   A huge - huge - smile, him running to me yelling “mama” and then when I pick him up he hugs right into me. 

Best. Feeling. Ever.

There is still a debate on who Blake looks like.  I see both of us in him.  There are some pictures of me when I’m little, and you can’t deny that we have some of the same “looks” – but I know that when we are in MI, we basically here that he is Aaron all over again.  So, who knows!!!!

I sure do love this little man!

Addy Jane @ 4 years Old

Addalyn definitely keeps me on  my toes at 4 years old.  In a good way!  She is a very smart little girl so you can't get much by her.  She is listening to EVERYTHING you are saying and she will correct you if she thinks you are wrong. 

She LOVES to sing and listen to music in the car -- she enjoys being outside -- she loves playing with her little bro -- likes to play with her dolls, barbies, and princesses, but yet she'll play with Blake's trucks just as easy.  She actually chose a play gun as a prize at the Duck Pond Game in June, copying her brother.  That cracked me up! 

She got these flowers from a boy at the gas station :)

 She is "Miss Literal"....just like her daddy.  You can't say anything without them correcting you...even if they knew what you meant.  For example, the other day I told her to go upstairs and take a bath with daddy ---- of course meaning that he was going to help her and Blake in the bath while I did some things downstairs.  However - she giggled at me and said "daddy's not going to take a bath!"  She corrects me on things in this sort of way all the time.

I wish you could hear Aaron - because he does the exact same thing!  Even when they know what I mean :) 

Wearing daddy's work boots!

 She is my GIRLY GIRL!!  She will choose a skirt or dress to wear 9 days out of 10.  And, if she did choose a short/pant outfit, it is probably because it fit better with what she was doing that day. 

For example, she has a pair of athletic shorts/tank that look like what I would call a running outfit...it is the type of stuff that I wear running.  The other day, she chose that outfit, because we were going to a track meet for kiddos to participate in that night...so of course she had to wear the part, rather than a dress :)

Other than for occasions such as that, you will likely find her in a skirt or dress no matter what we are doing!

She also wants her hair down all the time.  I always want to have it up since she plays so hard and has longer, wavy hair, but she wants it down daily.  We typically compromise with a side braid, which lets me get her hair out of her face.

The outfit she chose to wear to her 4-year well-child check up...the same one she wore to a wedding earlier this summer.  Why not??!!!  She definitely got lots of compliments on her outfit at the doctor's!

For the most part, I would say that Addy is still a daddy's girl.  She just loves it when her daddy is coming home!  The way that our house is set up, we can see the cars turning up the road before coming to our house from the back....and she always looks for him and likes to announce when he is home!  Then she usually runs to meet him at the garage. 

They have a special bond that I love. 

Hanging out with daddy one day, he captured this picture on his phone.

We definitely have a good relationship as well.  She likes to do things with me like crafts, baking, and shopping.  I think that as we get older, we'll spend lots of time together doing some "girl things" --- especially if this little one that will come in October is a boy.  We'll have to stick together being the girls of the house, LOL.

Me and Addy on Mother's Day (she chose this dress that day as well...it was like 40 degrees out but she insisted).  The sticker I am wearing says "Best Mom Ever".  It came in my Barbie card from her!

I would say that Addalyn likes to do things that make her "big".  Like exercise, read, color, she tries to write words all the time, and really wants to do all of the things her bigger cousins do, or anyone older.  She loves to play with the older girls in the neighborhood.  Jordyn and McKenna are her babysitter, and she loves to go to their house.  They will have her over and play with her for a bit before I go get her, which is sooooo nice of them because they are in 5th and 7th grade :) 

Exercising with mama!

Doing her exercises....that is what she calls the Wii.  She'll say, "Dad, can I please exercise" when she wants to play the Wii".  What a goof!

In August Addy will start going to another daycare 2 days a week...one that is here in Pine Island.  She'll be doing that so in the fall she can go to preschool during the day here while we are at work.  Depending on how she does, she will then start kindergarten next fall.  We'll see!  It's crazy to think it is already that time of her life where we are thinking about school.  I get nervous....once she starts that, she'll never just "play all day" like you can at the age of 4!

Addy is also sooooooo ready to be a big sister to a little baby.  I plan on updating about that when I do a post on my pregnancy, but it definitely needs to be mentioned here.  She really is a great big sis to Blake - even if they are pretty close in age, she always tries to be a bit "motherly" to him -- so I can just imagine how she will be with the third!

It is so much fun to watch Addalyn grow.  I'm loving every stage of her life and can't wait to see what the future has in store with this girl.  She's such a sweet-heart!

It's a Barbie Party!

We celebrated Addy's birthday on June 2nd.  Addy went back and forth about what type of birthday party she wanted...Doc McStuffins, Princess, Dora (she still likes this show!), a "flower" party...she kept changing her mind!  So, finally the Thursday before her party, I took her to a party store and had her choose some plates and such ----- she decided to go with a Barbie themed party.  Sort've funny, that one wasn't even in her list of choices until the store :)

4 years old!

 We had her party on a Sunday afternoon.  My parents, sisters and their families made it as well as Aaron's mom Jean.  It was a nice sunny afternoon, and the party was a big success!

 Addy got lots of craft-like presents (Doc McStuffins paints, coloring book, etc)...and books, movies, toys for outside.  She got a scooter from me and Aaron, which she has fun playing with in our driveway.

Testing out her new scooter!

Daddy trying out her new scooter...I guess we know where she gets her goofiness from!

My goofy girl!

 Funny side story - Aaron told all of Addy's cousins that he would pay them 1 cent for every rock they picked up in our yard (we had a TON of rocks in our yard that we needed to get rid of before we could work on landscape).  The kiddos were ALLLLLL about that and they spent most of the time in between presents, supper, and cake outside digging up rocks.

They got pretty intense...the older girls picked up over 300 rocks each and the boys probably did over 100.  Aaron had to run to the store to get some cash for them from the ATM to stick true to his word!

Rock Picking :)

 Like I do every year...I made Addy's cake.  I always stress out over it being perfect, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I loooooove taking the time to design the cake in my head and figure out how to make it come together. 

Addy's 4!  Barbie Cake :)

Singing to the birthday girl :)

Her little bro approved of the cake :)

 I CAN NOT believe how quickly 4 years has come and gone since miss Addalyn Jane was born.  She is such a joy to have in our lives.   I sure do love her to the moon and back - a million, zillion, trillion times! (something that I say to her EVERY night when I tuck her in!)

"School"

We had a fun year of "school".  The kids went to school on Monday nights through Pine Island's ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) program.  I am very happy that I did that...

 

Both Blake and Addy grew through the year, making progress in their social skills.  Addy and Blake are not shy kids typically, but they both have their moments where they don't want to leave our side.  Typically it can make a difference if they are tired and such -- but at school - they both blossomed!

 

The evening started off with activities and 'play' time - followed by circle time, then a snack to end the night!  I took a few pictures of the last day of school for the year!

 

 

At the beginning of the year, during 'circle time', they both would want me sitting with them on the floor, or come sit by me in the back of the circle.  During circle time they would read a story and talk through some things and then sing/dance to 1 or 2 songs. 

 

By the end of the year, they were independent during circle time!  They would talk and answer questions when Ms. Liz & Ms. Kelly would ask questions, would dance and be silly like the other kids, etc.  It was fun to watch them grow in that way!

 

Story/Circle Time!

 

Ms. Liz with Addy & blake!

 Next school year, Addy will be doing a "School Readiness" session 2 days/week with Ms. Liz in the afternoons.  This is like pre-kindergarten.  Since she's a June birthday, I've been going back and forth between having her start as a young 5 year old, or waiting a year. 

I think she'll be ready academically and socially now, but I worry about middle school and high school.  You just never know how she'll mature.  We'll see!  My gut tells me this is the last year she'll just be my baby, "at home" ..... which puts a nervous/sad feeling in my heart.  They grow up to stinking fast!

Anyway - they had a wonderful year and they love their main teacher, Ms. Liz.  We are looking forward to school in the fall!

Tiny Dancer --- Addy's First Year of Dance!

I mentioned in a post in the fall that Addy was taking her first year of dance class.  She had a weekend of recitals in May --- she did SOOO good!  I honestly wasn't sure how she would do because the first time parents got to sit in and watch (for them to practice dancing in front of people) she got really nervous and started crying about half-way through her performance!

However, that night was off for the class (major tantrum by another little girl) and so it was just a weird night.....and she got better every week!  They did this for about 6 classes before the recital.

I also think it helped that my nieces Brynne, Brooklynn, and Ella are all in dance too.  She looooves to be able to do what her big cousins are doing when we are together...and she sometimes isnt' able to keep up.  But, she was backstage with them, and they were keeping an eye on her so I think that helped her.

Picture Day!

 

The recital was titled "Dancing with Flavor" and every song or artist of the song referenced food/beverages.  So they had these as props for the picture day --- our formal picture isn't with this scene, but Aaron snapped this shot on his phone!

The weekend consisted of a rehearsal on Friday night, and a performance on Saturday and Sunday.  I was nervous the entire weekend....I'm goign to be a wreck as my kids continue to get older and participate in events/sports.  ....seriously.....a wreck!

Rehearsal Night!  Heading to stage :)

I don't have the best camera, but you can see her having fun!

 I was sitting next to my dad during the performance, and he was laughing at how nervous I was.  I kept saying, "seriously dad, when I was in dance at this age, being so little...you didnt' get nervous??!" --- he didn't really answer!  But, my mom assured me she was a nervous wreck through my high school years :)


It's Show Time!  Waiting for the music to start...they danced to Animal Crackers in my Soup by Shirley Temple

My friend Jodi has a wonderful camera, and she is a teacher in Pine Island so she always attends the recital to see all of her kiddos that she teaches/has taught.  She snapped some good ones of Addy during her actual performance!

 

 

 Backstage, Addy did AWESOME!  Shannon (my sis) went during intermission to check on Brynne because she had a costume change - and she ran into Addy.  She said Addy was having a blast and was all excited that she had danced on stage like the other girls. 

On day 2, I had volunteered backstage to help out --- and Addy kept telling me to "go watch the dancers with daddy".  I kept telling her that I was also helping watch other kids, and not just her.  But...I was happy to see her so independent.  It is hit or miss with her and independence (fast forward to this month, when she refused to participate in track and field night here in P.I.  You just never know!)

Backstage after the recital - with her flowers and balloon! 

Proud grandma Bonnie and grandpa Tim giving the performer some hugs!

Proud daddy!

The performers with their grandparents!

Grandma Jean and Grandpa Paul came to the performance on Sunday.  Unfortunately Paul had to head out after her dance, but I goto to capture this one with Jean outside of the school!

 I think it is safe to say we've created a dancer!  I have a burnt CD in my car where she realized that one of the songs is the "song that she bowed to at her recital" -- (Tonights Going to be a Good Night by Black Eyed Peas), and she asks to listen to it almost every time we are in the car.  And, the other day she told me my heals sounded like tap shoes.  I asked her if she wanted to take tap next year and she was all excited!  Too Fun!  I did dance until sports started in 7th grade, so it is fun to see her start as early as I did :)