Random Tidbits

*Hannah had her last bottle of formula last night.  I haven't yet decided if that means she's done with all bottles or if she'll have a bottle of milk before going to bed tonight.  Either way, it was sort of bittersweet for me last night.  (I typed that earlier today.  Hannah went to bed without a bottle of any kind tonight and so far, so good.)

*We had lunch with Troy at CHK today.  They were playing 90's music in the restaurant (and yes that makes me feel old to say it like that).  Both Luke and Hannah pretty much danced all through our meal.  It was quite entertaining.  They got more than a few smiles as people walked by.

*Luke had pj day at school yesterday.  He was so excited to wear pj's to school which is no surprise considering if he had a choice he'd wear pj's everyday.  He choose his "I MOOSE have a hug" pj's that amazingly enough have a giant moose on the front.  He insisted that he have his matching green striped socks on the outside of his pj pants and pulled up almost to his knees.  I so wish I would've taken a picture--I, at least, can still picture it in my head.  Pure awesomeness!!!

*On Monday, I randomly asked Luke if he would prefer a turkey sandwich or turkey and crackers.  He has never liked sandwiches before so I'm not sure why I even asked.  Luke surprised me when he answered that he wanted a sandwich.  I proceeded to fix one fully anticipating that he would take it apart and only eat the turkey and cheese.  Another surprise--he ate the entire thing!  And at least ten times while eating it he told me how good it was and that we had to call Dad and let him know how amazing his sandwich was.  Luke asked me to fix a sandwich for his lunch for school every day this week; he also wanted one when we went to lunch today.  He has finished the entire sandwich every time I've fixed it for him--glad I decided to randomly ask.

*Hannah babbles constantly.  Seriously, it's almost non-stop.  She knows EXACTLY what she is saying although to the rest of us it sounds like a foreign language.  She has inflection, pauses at the right times and even looks at you as if waiting for an answer.  We are in serious trouble when she starts speaking true English.

*Speaking of talking, Hannah has some new words.  They include: di-per (diaper), bebe (baby), my, puppers (a nickname for Maggie) and occassionally she will repeat random words that we say.  She also will talk on the phone now (a pretend one or a real one).

*Luke and Hannah both currently have colds.  Hannah and I didn't do much this week because she felt so yucky.  I discovered today that Hannah also has another molar coming in (the top, left) which explains her temperature earlier this week too.

*Luke is super into his trains again.  Since Christmas, he has started building his own tracks.  I would guess that he makes a new track at least daily.  Troy and I are super impressed with his abilities.  It's so fun to see what he comes up with--several ideas Troy and I have never thought of before.

Okay, I think that's it for now.

Recent Pics

January 11--playing in the backyard without coats; beautiful day

 January 13--we had another Pinterest party with the neighborhood boys; we made snow globes, painted snowflakes and made paint monsters with straws; the food was winter themed as well.

January 14--first day of walking; can you tell how proud she is of herself?!?! :)

 January 17--hugs for mom

January 19--family time at the park; Hannah using her new skills and Luke being an awesome big brother and helping her out; shadow pic (l to r): Luke, me, Hannah, Maggie and Troy

To Go or Not to Go?

To Kindergarten that is.  We can't decide if Luke should start kindergarten next year or wait one more year.  There are sooooo many factors in this decision!  I think about it almost everyday.  Some days I'm all for it and others I'm not so sure.  One thing I do know for sure, Luke is a very smart kid and he'll need to be challenged.  How challenged is the question I guess?  

Some factors to ponder:

*Luke loves to learn.  In fact, on non-school days he's started telling me that we need to go somewhere so he can learn that day.  I love that he has a desire to learn.  I am confident in Luke's academic abilities if he started next year.

*One concern is Luke's fine motor abilities--writing, drawing, cutting, etc.  He has already made huge progress this year in school but will it be enough?  In a teacher conference in November his teachers weren't too sure if he would be ready in this area.  I have to admit I had a hard time with this evaluation because it came after only 6 weeks of school.  We agreed to have more of a discussion about everything this spring before enrollment starts for school next year.

*Luke can be very attentive when he wants to and when something interests him.  According to his teachers, he does well in the center time they have at school.  However, last week they sent a note home with some work he didn't finish during center time.  When I talked to him about it he said all the other kids were distracting him and he couldn't concentrate.  Now granted this has only happened that one time but it's something to think about.

*Luke would be one of the youngest if not the youngest in his class since his birthday is in July.  That could be a good or a bad thing depending on the situation.  I want him to be comfortable with and confident in himself to not always be a follower which may not be the case if he's the youngest.  He'll be smaller for sports although this isn't a major factor for me.  Do we want him to be the first to drive or last to drive in his class?  Will he be mature enough for college having just turned 18 if he starts next year?  

*Luke is already reading.  It's mostly sight words and from memory but there are a series of books about a puppy named Biscuit and Luke can read them.  He knows how to sound out a word and put the sounds together to form a word.  He knows all of his letters, uppercase and lowercase, and the sounds that they each make.  He is constantly telling us what letters he sees and what words he recognizes and asking us what words are that he can't figure out himself.

*We have two neighborhood boys that will for sure be starting kindergarten next year.  Now this isn't a major factor either but I feel like it is something to be considered.  Luke knows they are all the same age.  I don't want him to think there is something "wrong" with him if he doesn't start school with them.  I also don't want him to be teased by these other boys if he doesn't start with them.

I've talked with numerous people about this decision and have received all kinds of advice and suggestions.  I truly want to make the best decision we can as Luke's parents for him.  The current plan is to enroll him in kindergarten and also pre-kindergarten and wait and see what happens in the next 7-8 months before making a final decision.  Any suggestions, advice, experience, etc is welcome.

My Questionnaire

I thought as I was asking Luke all of his questions that it would be fun for me to answer them for myself as well.

How old are you? 34

How tall are you? around 5'9"

How much do you weigh? all I'll say is I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight

What is your favorite toy? all my scrapbooking stuff

Favorite book? This is a hard one for me.  I got a Kindle for Christmas and since then have read 4 books.  Reading is one of my favorite hobbies but it's hard to have time for it.  As reading is such a favorite thing of mine, I have several favorites.  To give the short, easy answer--The Laura Ingalls/Little House books have always been at the top of my list.

Favorite movie?  The Thomas Crowne Affair

Favorite TV show? NCIS

Favorite food? Mexican

Favorite fruit? strawberries

Favorite snack? popcorn

Favorite drink? kool-aid

Favorite activity? playing with my kiddos, hanging out with Troy and scrapbooking

Favorite color? green 

Favorite sport? football

Favorite song? don't really have a favorite

Favorite animal? dolphin

Favorite game? Settlers of Catan

Favorite outfit? Jeans, long-sleeved white shirt with black polka dots and black/white vest.  Oh and of course black boots to go with it all. 

Favorite holiday? Thanksgiving

What do you need in bed when it's time to go to sleep? Troy and MY pillow

Best Friend? My sister

When I grow up I want to be? I'm lucky--I am a mother which is what I always wanted to be.

Nicknames?  Babe, Dear, Mom, Famous, Amers

Thing I am really good at? being a mom (I'm allowed to brag a bit, right?) and listening

4 1/2 Year Old Questionnare

I was curious to see if LJ's answers had changed much from when we did this at his birthday.  Some are different, some are the same.  The other one is here if you'd like to see it.

How old are you? 4

How tall are you? (pats the top of his head) I don't know. 

How much do you weigh? 34 lbs (a good guess)

What is your favorite toy? train track

Favorite book? The library's (all the books at the library)

Favorite movie? Little Einsteins

Favorite TV show? Word World

Favorite food? Chick-fil-A

Favorite fruit? apples

Favorite snack? fruit snacks

Favorite drink? kool-aid

Favorite activity? play

Favorite color? green and brown

Favorite sport? soccer

Favorite song? Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Favorite animal? elephant and giraffe

Favorite game? Angry Birds (he only plays this when all other options have been used when we're out somewhere)

Favorite outfit? T is for T-Rex green shirt 

Favorite holiday? Christmas

What do you need in bed when it's time to go to sleep? diapers (ugh! I wish there was a way to get rid of these.)

Best Friend? Benjamin (McBride)

When I grow up I want to be? a police man

Nicknames? munchkin (kiddo, dude, Lukester)

Thing I am really good at? Karate

Some other stats:

Clothing size: 4T or 4

Shoe size: 10 or 11

Height:  42 inches

Weight: 37 lbs

Hannah is Walking!!!

Hannah started walking on Monday.  She woke up from her nap and it seemed like she just decided she was going to finally walk on her feet rather than her knees.  Luke noticed it first and was so excited for her.  He would count her steps and make sure I knew how many she had taken each time she walked.  We knew that once she figured it out it wouldn't take much practice since her balance was already so good.  By the time Troy got home from work, Hannah was walking all the way across the family room and hasn't stopped since.  Go HannahBean go!!!

How Can It Be 1-11-13 Already?!?!

Seriously, I have no idea where the last month has gone.  We have been so crazy, busy with life.  There are probably about 10 posts I need to write but I truly haven't had much time to even sit and take a deep breath.  I'm just going to do some random thoughts today so I don't forget some of these things.  I shouldn't be quite so busy after Tuesday (at least in theory) and I plan to blog more then.

Random Thoughts:

*Luke was 4 1/2 years old yesterday.  WHOA!!!  That really sounds so very old.  Last night when I checked on him before going to bed myself, I was struck by how much bigger and older he has gotten the last couple of months.  His independence has been exerting itself in abudance the last few months as well--that is both good and bad.  More on Luke to come.

*Hannah is no longer technically a baby.  :(  That's another WHOA!!!  She had her one year check-up on Tuesday and that was one of the first things the doctor said--it made me really sad.  She weighed 23 pounds, 6 ounces (95%) and is 31 inches long (75%).  She is still not walking on her feet.  Hannah insists on walking on her knees and can do so all the way across the room so we know she has the balance necessary but she's just doing things her way.  No surprise there!  The doctor also asked if Hannah was saying mama and dada yet.  Well, she's got about 10 words now (mama, dada, bra-bra (brother), ba (bottle/cup), than you (thank you), pe (please), bye bye, hi, do (dog) and da (cat).  The doctor was super impressed.  Luke talked a bunch early so I'm not that surprised.
*Hannah had another molar come in this week.  I just finally saw it peeping through yesterday.  It's the bottom, right one.  Thankfully, she hasn't been fussy with this one, only restless sleeping for the last week.  That makes 10 teeth for Miss HannahBean.  

*Troy had two weeks off over the holidays.  It was amazing to have him home with us for such a long time.  He found out not too long before Christmas that he got a promotion to Senior Geologist--way to go Troy!!!  He's worked hard for that and we are very proud of him.  A great bonus is he now has 4 weeks of vacation--hooray!!!

*Troy has been very busy planning our 10 year anniversary trip to Switzerland.  We are going the last week of May and first week of June.  We are both very excited but a bit concerned about being away from the kids for almost two weeks.  

*Troy gave me a Kindle Fire for Christmas.  I truly was not much into the idea of the electronic reading thing but I thought I would give it a try to see if it was more convienient and let me read a bit more (even 10 minutes a day is more than I have been able to do).  It's so awesome!  I read all 3 Hunger Games books in less than a week (Troy and I were gone for 3 days which helped a bunch).  I haven't been able to read much this week but I know that having the Kindle will really be so much easier for me than toting a book around.

Okay, Hannah's waking up from her nap and Luke needs something to drink.  Back to this busy life for now :)