Irishfest

Irishfest was a big hit this year.  Grandpa and Grandma Hyland came for the first time.  We discovered the wonderful kids tent which featured games with prizes, and unlimited rides on the little train.  Lucy also loved watching the kids irish dancing.  She told Mom she would like to do that when she's bigger.  I guess out of any dancing, that would be the most entertaining for me personally... Charlie was not a fan of the music, but his mood improved when he wore the headphones.

Getting Clancy painted on her cheek.

Lucy followed Clancy during the kids parade in order to get a hug and picture with him.

Day 2 of Irishfest-Lucy now has a Clancy shirt she can wear thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Hyland. 

Lucy's First Day of School!

School: First Congregational Preschool.  Young 3k program (parents attend with the child for the first semester).

Lucy woke up this morning excited for her first day of school!  She was very cooperative and was standing and waiting at our door to leave 15 minutes earlier than planned (likely the first and only time).  We arrived to school extra early and had a chance to "try" the potty.  Lucy did not care for the school potties which led to an accident on our first day.  During the school day, all the kids do a potty break together and then she was very brave and tried again with success!

Lucy was quite timid at first (and it didn't help that she was doing her potty dance the whole time).  She played with playdough, decorated a letter L, and played at the sensory table.  After potty break she started warming up and actively participated in story time.  She LOVED snack time and was one of 3 kids that sat the whole time carefully eating the entire snack.  Mrs. Haro said she already sees who the good eaters are.  

The last part of the day was gross motor playtime in the play room.  Lucy became very animated and was running all over.  She immediately went to the climbing gym and got up a difficult roped ladder and attempted to get over the top of the structure which sent Mrs. Haro into a run across the room.  Mrs. Haro asked me if Lucy is always this way; as I think she had Lucy pegged as a quiet/meek child.  Lucy also spent some good time going up and down the slide and playing with balls.  It was interesting to watch the different classroom personalities as several girls sat quietly playing with the doll house and one sat reading, one boy played quietly with trucks and trains and 3 other kids with Lucy bounced around. 

Charlie-4 Months

Wow, time is flying!  Poor 2nd child syndrome; Charlie is only getting a post every month (or less!) instead of the weekly posts that Lucy starred in!

Charlie 4 month stats:  Weight: 15 lbs 5 oz (45.07%)

Length: 25 inches (45.6%)

Head circumference: 16.3 inches (40.2%)

Highlights of the month:  Mom returned to work, and Charlie has been spending time split between hanging out with Dad and learning the ropes with Paula.  He does well, but hasn't gotten onto a  good sleeping schedule at Paula's.  

Sleep:  I have memories of Lucy being a champion sleeper, so when Charlie started waking us up between 2-4 am last week, I was disappointed.  Luckily for the blog, I could look back on the Lucy posts at this age and learned she was doing the same thing!  The bad news is that her wake ups lasted til 6 months... And to add an interesting twist, Lucy got up at 4 am too today!  No household should be awake at that hour unless they are going on vacation *yawn*.

Changes:  Charlie does his coos and squeaks/shrieks lots and holds a conversation with those willing to partake.  His hands are constantly in his mouth which leads to drool everywhere.  We double ply his onesies and do multiple changes a day at times.  Charlie no longer likes laying around to play; he'd rather see the world sitting up.  He has started using the exer-saucer with some creative wood blocks underneath so his feet can touch.

Check out those eye lashes!  Look out ladies.

Camping Fail

The Pings, Zabrowskis, and Pischkes all went to Great River Bluff State Park and Campground. The adults, kids and dogs all had a great time. We enjoyed campfire food and laughter. The bad omen was around 8 when a very large rattlesnake crossed through our campsite. The kids were safely in a pack and play at the time. The dogs never saw it. But we did. When Kerry and Isaac tried to get the kids down for bed, there was an unfortunate incident where Lucy crawled over Charlie, creating some knee to head contact. Due to that incident and the heat in the tent Charlie was pretty inconsolable. Lucy was very tired and acting irrationally. After battling loud screams and cries for quite some time we called it quits and headed home. While the night didn't end how we wanted it to, 10 minutes into our van ride home, we vowed to try again.

Good Giggles Charlie!

https://youtu.be/J77l3GDoeYY

Growing Pains

Occasionally, when Charlie reaches a milestone, we reflect with Lucy when she hit that milestone with a picture, video or story.  Recently we realized Charlie was wearing Pajamas that she wore when we took her to the Great Smoky Mountains. Yesterday we showed her the picture at the bottom of the post.   Today she reacted with this.  Note, the first few minutes of the video doesn't change a whole lot.  The tantrum was actually about 10 minutes, but I saved you quite a bit of that.

  https://youtu.be/z0pznW1g12k

Fire Truck Ride

https://youtu.be/Ef9hwBUzeH8