Thursday, July 2, 2015

March Events and Happenings

March 1: Cozy snuggle time on the couch
March 4: Hangin out with Dad in the office with some super cute pigtails
March 5: Reading the Lego Club magazine on his own
March 8: I went on a scrapbook retreat weekend.  This is a wonderful group of ladies and we always have a great time together!
March 9: Snuggles with mom
March 10: Troy was out of town.  Luke had soccer practice and we'd just had a ton of rain.  In a effort to maintain clean shoes and provide entertain I brought Hannah's bike to practice.  She rode around on the sidewalks for almost an hour.  
March 11: Some swingset time after school
March 12: Luke had a birthday party at Chuck E Cheese and Hannah came along for the ride.  Both kids had such an awesome time!
March 13: Watching Mary Poppins along with some more snuggle time
March 14: LJ's soccer game
 March 15: One of many dance parties we have
 March 15: Looking very grown up and wanting to play soccer just like Luke
 March 15: Kids helped me make chocolate chip muffins
 March 15 (it was a busy day): Snuggles and tickles with dad
 Another March 15: Cutest hard-hat wearer I've ever seen
 March 17: During Spring Break, we did numerous Pinterest crafts.  The kids made tissue paper rainbows with pots of gold for St. Patrick's Day. I love Luke's tongue--it's what he does when he's concentrating.
 March 18: My friend Leslie and I went to Paint Your Art Out to paint some water lilies.  I think they turned out well.
 March 19: Painting the fabric batik project (again the tongue)
 March 21: Celebrating Grandpa's birthday
 March 22: Both kids helped me get some seeds planted to get our garden growing early inside.  Well, we had no luck with any of our seeds.  
 March 24: Driveway time
 March 25: Swinging after school at the park
 March 26: She basically put the puzzle together all by herself.  She was super proud!
 March 28: Maggie really enjoys driveway time too.  Big girl on her big bike.
 March 29: Finally getting to the finishing touches on the swing set.
 March 30:  Hannah and I went to the park and had no idea all of the tulips were blooming.  She let me get a few pictures before she had to swing (still her absolute favorite!).

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

3 1/2 Year Old Questionnaire and More

Hannah's half birthday was a little over a week ago.  I just remembered that I wanted to get her answers to this questionnaire.

How old are you? 3 said like free
How tall are you? 49
How much do you weigh? not taller
What is your favorite toy? i don't know and then when prompted again she said baby doll
Favorite book? my owl
Favorite movie? Cinderella
Favorite TV show? Daniel (Tiger)
Favorite food? macaroni n cheese
Favorite fruit? strawberries
Favorite snack? mix up (trail mix)
Favorite drink? kool aid
Favorite activity? play games
Favorite color? pink
Favorite sport? in there (pointing to the playroom downstairs)
Favorite song? Frozen (Let It Go)
Favorite animal? baby (I said that wasn't an animal and she said penguin)
Favorite game? I don't know (then she said uffalo which LJ interpretted as Hungry, Hungry Hippos)
Favorite outfit? my dress
Favorite holiday? Halloween
What do you need in bed when it's time to go to sleep? baby
Best Friend? baby
When I grow up I want to be? play
Nicknames? HannahBean, Sugar Bean, Beanie, Hannah Banana
Thing I am really good at? I keep whining.  (No joke this was her answer without pause or hesitation of any kind.  More than a little telling :/  )

Some other stats:
Clothing size: 5 (not the toddler 5 but a regular 5!)
Shoe size: 10
Height: 41 1/2"
Weight: 39.5 lbs

Some other info I want to remember:
Sayings:
  zert=dessert
  squito bugs=mosquito bites
  clip clops=flip flops
  sumscreen=sunscreen
  mommy, hold her=pick me up
  my brush teeth=her toothbrush
  no eyes in soap=no soap in her eyes during bath time
  globbles=goggles
  sumscreen=sunscreeen
  Lukie=Luke
  mato=tomato
  dance on mommy's puter=mom play songs from your computer so I can dance to them

Hannah has a fairly regular schedule these days.  She is up anywhere from 7-8:30.  She is still taking a nap after lunch.  Most days it's about 2 hours long but there are some where it's much shorter and maybe 1 or 2 times a week it's closer to 3 hours.  Luke gave up his nap between 3 1/2 and 4 without warning so I'm curious to see how long Hannah will nap.  Bedtime is very dependent on the days activities and nap length.  She has lights out no later than 8:30 but sometimes as early as 7:15.

When school starts in the fall, she will go three mornings a week, Tuesday through Thursday, with an option to stay for the afternoon.  I'm anticipating doing one afternoon a week to see how she does since there won't be a nap on those days.  

One of our biggest struggles right now is whining and tantrums.  I know this is a trait of most 3 year olds but man it is a big struggle for us--above the norm for sure!  This phase has lasted since about Christmas and there are days when Troy and I just want to pull out our hair.  It's hard for Luke as well because he misses out on some things because of her behavior.  It is unpredictable what will set her off and meltdowns have ruined plans and shifted entire days.  It took us a while to figure out a consequence that has meaning for her as well.  It's going to her room until she calms down (I think it's being alone more than being stuck in her room).  I hesitated on this one because I thought she would destroy her room while in there but so far that hasn't happened.  I am so ready for her to transition out of this stage.  

Hannah is also now sleeping in a big girl bed.  She never really tried too much to climb out of her crib like Luke did and it was easier just to have her contained in her crib when it was time to sleep.  She transitioned well with about 2 weeks of getting out of bed to play but once we started taking away any TV time for the next day she figured out that staying in bed was a good thing.

Hannah is full of life!  
She loves her brother, her baby dolls and being outside.  
She loves to color, draw and be "artsy."  
She holds writing utensils correctly and loves to use scissors.  
We are working on counting, letters and writing her name.
She sings ALL the time and loves to dance.
She would rather wear a dress than shorts and a shirt.
She has gained some independence in playing upstairs alone and with her dollhouse in her room.  Games are starting to be more fun for her; we have a Disney princess cupcake game she really likes.  She is very confident in the swimming pool with her floatie on but wants no part of learning to swim without it.  
Swinging is still her favorite at the playground although she's adding twisting the chains to the fun now.  
She can be super snuggly or want absolutely nothing to do with you.  
She insists on kissing your hand and you kissing hers before bed and putting said hand to your cheek.  About two weeks ago, I tried to incorporate some new "be-be's" (comfort item: cloth diapers) into her collection but she has yet to really even acknowledge they are there.  The old ones are so gross and discolored.  
Eating is usually not a problem for Hannah.  Her favorites include: cheese, mac n cheese, strawberries, tomatoes, corn on the cob, chocolate milk, scrambled eggs, chips when she can have them, and her favorite meat is chicken.  She's still not a huge fan of eating a lot of meat though.

Friday, May 15, 2015

February Snow

Okay, it's time to attempt to catch back up with the monthly posting.  When I did February's post I had intended to do a seperate post about the snow we had at the end of the month.  That hasn't happened--until now!  

February 23
It was a Monday.  I was supposed to be helping at Hannah's school with enrollment for next year.  The turnout wasn't as high as expected because it started snowing early in the morning but no schools were canceled.  I got an email from Luke's school saying that we were welcome to come and get our kiddos early if we wanted since the roads were rapidly deteriorating.  Since Hannah was with me, we just left early and went to get Luke about 11.  I'm really glad I didn't have to get out for the rest of the day because the roads got really bad, really fast.  Luke and I really enjoyed watching the snow fall while Hannah napped.  The minute she was awake it was get outside as fast as possible for Luke.  We got all bundled up and headed out.  I have to say that it was COLD!  I don't remember what the temperature was but it was well below freezing.  Hannah was done in 5 minutes.  I distracted her enough that she and I stayed out for about 20 minutes but when she ran to the gate and was screaming to do inside I figured she'd really had enough.  We did have fun making snow angels, swinging and sliding, and making large trails of tracks on the golf course before coming inside.  Luke stayed out for about 15 more minutes and tried to make a snow man but the snow was very dry so it didn't work.
 Running to get to the back door because I told her we were going inside.
This is the snow man, a pile of snow with some stick arms and leaf buttons.

February 24
School was canceled because the roads were still really bad in the morning.  It warmed up fast though and made everything very slushy.  Luke really wanted to go back outside but he waited until Hannah was napping.  By that time, it was slushy enough to put together some actual snowmen.  He then played with our neighbor for a long time.

February 28
This was a Saturday so since I had reinforcements in the form of Dad we went sledding in our old neighborhood with friends.  Both of the kids had a really fun time.  Troy and I also enjoyed the slope although after a few trips down the hill my back was done.  We came home for hot chocolate and spent the rest of the day in our pj's--perfect, snowy Saturday with the family!