I think Eve is a secret reader. I don’t know why she’s so shy about it, but sometimes she lets loose and reads an entire book (Go Dog Go, or most of Green Eggs and Ham), but then other times she refuses to read even the simplest words. It’s exciting to see her learning, but frustrating that she doesn’t seem more excited. I think she’s just being silly, but you never can tell with that one. I hope she becomes proud of her reading skills soon. We are all proud of her!
For those who know and love them as we do, welcome baby Kate. Born yesterday. She’s adorable, of course.
This year I decided to participate in the March of Dimes’ “March for Babies” walk held at DHMC on May 7th. I’m very excited to be a part of March for Babies this year and hope you will join my team! The course is 3 miles around DHMC, with registration at 9am and the walk beginning at 10am. I think it will be fun and it’s certainly for a good cause!
To walk with me, check out my team page at: www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1562136
Or if you’d rather donate you can go to my personal page at: www.marchforbabies.org/tessaj
Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon, too small and often very sick. We’re walking because we want to do something about this. The money we raise will support March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. And it will be used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care. Thank you for helping me give all babies a healthy start!
Happy April 1st. The April Fools Day joke today was snow and school cancellation. I was looking at pictures from Eve’s 3yr check up and there was sunshine and green grass. Not today! Instead I had to take both kids to the doctor where we waited for over an hour. Sigh. They were as well behaved as can be expected for two bouncy kids in the doctor’s office at lunch time.
Eve, of course, is healthy and strong. She weighs 41lbs and is 42″ tall. The doctor didn’t tell me her percentages, but I’m sure they are fine. We know she’s tall. The doctor said she looked healthy and great. She also got an eye exam today, which I was eager for, and the nurse said she seems to have 20/40 vision. Eve was very silly and Lex was quite distracting, so I think it was hard for her to get an accurate read, but Alan and I have noticed that Eve may not have perfect eye sight. The doctor recommended an appointment with an eye doctor. More on that later.
Eve got three shots at the end of the appointment and cried the whole way home. I got a little bit of lunch in her and then put her to bed. Lex is having quiet time now and I’m trying not to eat all the cookies we have in the house. I really need a sugar detox this week and it’s going to have to begin with a purge of all remaining birthday sweets.
Today is our last day of swimming lessons, marking the end of a crazy week. We are looking forward to a quiet weekend.
Look at this boy go! I’m so proud of him!! His teacher (in the red bathing suit) is also super proud of him and raves about him after each lesson. Silly boy still fusses before each lesson and tells me he’s too tired, but then he does the lesson, does great, and comes out super excited about what he’s learned.
At the end of his lesson he did the freestyle stroke for about 3/4 of the length of the pool (not across as he is in the videos).
Happy, happy birthday to my big girl today! Just four short years ago today we welcomed her into this world, forever changing our little family. Lucky, lucky us!
Today she woke to find a little birthday something waiting for her.
Happy Birthday Eve!!
A tiny pink Samuri eraser makes her say "awww"
Ribbon on packages is kind of like torture to small children.
Lex picked out a flashing "Birthday Girl" tiara for her. She loved it :)
Big birthday hugs
The chocolate cupcakes I made for her party this weekend didn’t turn out well (literally, they did not turn out of the wrappers well and made a huge mess) so last night I whipped up a batch of yellow cupcakes (thanks Betty Crocker!) and this morning we put Cool Whip, red sprinkles, and raspberries on top. They were a big success with her friends at school.
Decorating cupcakes
Like my snazzy cupcake transport system? They all made it to school, safe and sound.
After school we decorated a princess mirror, put together her new puzzle, ate lunch, and spent an hour watching videos of her first year. That was fun.
Eve's friend got her a Decorate Your Own princess mirror. Eve loves it.
This was a gift from me, but it ended up being much harder than I had antipcated. We did it though!
This is Eve’s favorite…
This is one of my favorites (it’s hard to choose just one!)…
Now she is napping (which took some effort on my part!) and this afternoon we are off to swimming lessons again and then out to dinner at a restaurant of her choice, which is still undecided. It is a lovely day.
My birdy buffet turned out to be not such a great idea for the birds. I didn’t think through the fact that most birds need to land on something before they can eat. Fact, right? It seemed to be the case for the birds around here anyway. We saw several birds try real hard to enjoy the buffet, but it didn’t work. Eventually I knocked the whole thing over to see if the birds would eat the seeds from the pine cones on the ground, but I didn’t see much interest. Poor birds.
A few days ago I noticed one of the hanging pine cones from the porch missing. This afternoon we discovered why…
There's the bird seed bandit!
When I first noticed the squirrel he (she?) was hanging upside down from the railing, grabbing the pine cone. He brought it up, got situated, then went to work biting through the string!
He quickly got it free and took a moment to show me his work :)
Then he popped the pine cone in his mouth and away he went with it. Smart little bugger.
When I realized the pine cone plan wasn’t working I ordered some real bird feeders. Actually, I’ve been looking for suction cup bird feeders in local stores all winter, with no luck, so I went to trusty Amazon and found just what I needed. They came yesterday and this afternoon we put them up. Let’s see how quickly the squirrels figure these out. Hopefully the birds get a few days head start!
We spent our evening at a new pool trying new swimming lessons. Thankfully the kids were super excited about it! We got there really early and explored the whole place and the kids did great… until the very last minute. This is kind of like a camp wherein the lessons run daily for a week, five nights, in a row. There are tons of kids there and each kid gets their own swim instructor. Private lessons. Cool! The instructors are college students. Lex’s instructor’s name was up on the big board as a champion back stroke swimmer. Or whatever they are called! When it was time the kids all lined up and went down on the pool deck together to meet their instructors. Lex did great until the moment arrived to leave my side and go down to the deck. Once again, sobbing face pressed to my leg and statements of, “I just can’t do this today.” Brave Eve walked down with the crowd. I ended up walking with Lex all the way until I handed him off to a very nice instructor. Then he had a great time! Eve was mistakenly signed up for a parent/child class so it took a bit of arranging to get her an instructor, but she was brave and sweet and did a great job. I’m super proud of them! After the lesson Lex’s instructor said that he can already do everything at the level he’s signed up for, so tomorrow they are going to bump him up to the next level… which just means his instructor will be teach off a different sheet. She already started today. Anyway, good times. The kids were happy and tired and it took me until 8pm to have them in bed. I wonder if we can sustain this for four more days?
Doesn't he look chilly? The water was so cold! They both had blue lips at the end.
I couldn't get a good close up of Eve, but she is in the back right, under the bridge.
After lessons Lex excitedly demonstrated the freestyle strokes he learned.
Eve was very tired after lessons. I'm glad I insisted on a nap this afternoon!
I was a little worried about how this morning would go after such a busy weekend. I was pleasantly surprised when the kids were happy and Lex made it out the door with no fussing. He actually made it all the way into his classroom where he stopped short when he saw not one, but two, substitute teachers! He immediately pressed his face into my leg and said, “I don’t think I can do this today.” We chatted a bit and he eventually agreed to try. He knew both of the teachers and one was actually there on Friday as well. I left him on the verge of tears, but of course he came home happy. Whew!
On the Eve front, I left her like this:
Large hat... large shoes... yep, this looks like an efficient way to sweep the floor.
And came home to find her like this:
Eve's salon
She was sad when Rosy left. We had plans to go visit a friend this morning but Eve insisted we have a quiet morning at home. I asked about inviting our friend over instead, but Eve said no. She was quite insistent so I called and canceled. Eve and I had a nice quiet morning at home, cuddling and reading stories and enjoying each other. It was really nice.
(I’m not quite ready for her to be four yet. I still get a few more days with my three year old!)
For her birthday this year Eve wanted a “just family” party. Over the past weeks I’ve asked her off and on about inviting others, maybe a few friends, or neighbors, or classmates, but she held firm to her “just family” idea, so this weekend we had a fun “just family” party. Luckily we have more than enough family to fill the room! :) Eve was surrounded by love and duly doted on.
Lex learned how to use the vacuum and did a great job helping us clean for the party.
He was THRILLED that I let him stand on the counter while he dusted the shelves.
After he was done with the shelves he decided to clean the counter. This kept him busy for awhile. It was great.
Eve and Rosy
Mema and Lex.
Eve's idea of birthday heaven is a room full of people ready to play Candy Land with her.
Books are irresistible in this house. If you pick up a book, both kids will immediately appear. Aunt Katie is an excellent book reader.
Eve chose pizza for her birthday dinner. I love her idea of a good party - family and pizza!
Cake! This year Grampy Don convinced Eve that she wanted a Parcey Cake for her birthday. She agreed before she even knew what it was :) Parcey Cake is a Johnson family creation consisting of layer cake with a layer of Jell-O and Cool Whip between the cake layers. Eve chose chocolate (of course!) and raspberry Jell-O. Yum.
Eve liked the cake!
Eve and Grandpa Tom.
Classic.
Eve got wall sticker dress up dolls and a doll house. They were quickly put on the wall and the kids have been having fun with them.
Sunday was beautiful and we got out the bikes!
Lex is going to try and lose the training wheels this year.
Taking a break with Aunt Rose.