When the proofs for her graduation photos came in, Jason and I were floored – when did our baby start looking so grown up?? 
This past week, B graduated from pre-school with quite a bit of pom and circumstance. They practiced graduation (the processional, receiving their diplomas, the songs, etc.) for MONTHS! And they did a great job! I have a video of most of it that I hope to get out to the family sometime soon. In the mean time, here are some photos.
In the morning, B woke up to a bunch of balloons tied to the mail box – a surprise from Ms. Alecia (Hawke’s mom).
She was beside herself! “Mommy, look! There is a tassel! The balloons have the rolled up paper (diploma)! Princess castle!” She did calm down long enough to pose in front of them for a picture.
After nap, I found myself wondering how I was going to contain my very excited graduate until graduation…I comforted myself with the knowledge that her teachers were having to contain the whole class…
Finally, it was time to go, so she put on her dress and we headed over to school. Upon arrival, we were told to stay outside while the kids got their caps and gowns on. M was a little confused as to why we were hanging around outside…
Then the processional began…
After everyone received their diplomas (sorry, I don’t have a good one of that), the kids sang some songs for us (including dance moves).
And then it was time for cake!
I managed to get a couple of pictures with the original group of kids that B has been with since the beginning. Hawke and B have been together since she was 9 months old.
B has been with the other two boys in this picture (Jayson and Max) since she was 3 months old (she is the baby of the group)!
Three of them are going to the same elementary school – we will find out in a couple of weeks if they will all be in the same class.
Here she is, proudly showing off her diploma!
And she insisted that her balloons “sleep” with her.
It was a big day – she and all her buddies did a great job at graduation. Kindergarten, here they come!
Mimi and Djadju decided to surprise the girls with new bikes (Djadju’s idea, I’m told)! Jason and I just had to pick some out. What a surprisingly daunting task! There. Are. So. MANY. Bikes!!! After spending some time doing research online, we decided to take B to a brick-and-mortar store to let her try some out. She tried a couple different kinds out and fell in love with one of them – a cruiser. She wouldn’t stop talking about it. Even though we did not tell her she was getting a bike, she told US she was getting THAT BIKE. I guess she was right…Tada!
Mimi requested that we put a “giant bow” on it. I couldn’t find one (I guess they are only readily available at Christmas?), so I made one. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. And I guess B likes it – she won’t let me take it off!
The first day went really well, until she fell and scraped her chest with the pedal (pretty nasty scrape). Ever since, she has been skittish of hills (going down any type of hill, no matter how small). But she loves to ride, and especially likes to ride her bike to school (which is slightly uphill)! We are working on building up her confidence with the slight hills we have in our neighborhood.
M was a little trickier – how do you get a bike for a toddler? We have a “big wheel” type of tricycle, but right now she is using that as a rocker on the patio. Plus, we discovered with B that the “big wheel” is hard to ride until you basically get big enough for a real bike. Also, ever since B got her bike, M has been fascinated by it, and tries to get on pretty much every bike she sees. So, we found a Radio Flyer tricycle that works for 9 months to 5 years. I put it together the other night (no small task, mind you) – I think it is pretty snazzy! I mean, how many bikes have you ever had that come with a sun shade, snack tray, sippy cup holder, “trunk” to hold extra goodies, and handle bars so someone can push you?
It has a harness (we don’t really need that with the tray on, and once we take the tray off, I doubt we will need them at all, but it would be nice for a younger baby). The harness, tray, shade and handles are all removable so it will “grow” as she grows. As a bonus, the handles control the steering, so while I am pushing, I can actually steer the trike!
Here is M the first time we put her in it (she wouldn’t let go of the shoes, which she and B found very funny):
B likes to push it too:
After naps we took it for its maiden voyage – a quick one since nasty, nasty weather rolled in about 30 minutes later! What a life…getting a snack while being pushed around in her new trike…
I think she likes it!
THANK YOU Mimi and Djadju! The girls love their new wheels!
During the month of May, we had several visitors. At the beginning of the month, Tia came to visit! For the first time, she finally got to come to Kindermusik with us – B was soooooo excited! One of the days she was here, she picked up B from school early so they could make these cookies from a mix that she had found online – the dough is all different colors so you can make all different kinds of things with your cookie dough. B decided on a princess theme (anyone surprised?). The cookies were not as tasty as everyone had hoped, but they had a lot of fun making them!
The final results:
The day she left we spent a beautiful morning at the park. You’ll have to settle for pictures of just the girls – I apparently didn’t get any with Tia.
Peek-a-boo!
B doing a “Merida” performance (riding her horse while shooting an arrow):
The visit was too short (isn’t it always?), but we all had a great time! Bye-bye Tia…
Then, a couple weeks later, Nana and Poppa arrived for a visit! Nana helped me with lots of yardwork – she even pulled most of our poison ivy (YAY!!!). Poppa fixed the upstairs toilet (YAY!!). But the girls were more interested in playing with Nana and Poppa, so we did lots of that too. Nana and B playing a seemingly endless game of restaurant in her playhouse.
B and Poppa playing with her new catch game:
M playing Itsy Bitsy Spider with Nana:
Sunday we went to some local gardens to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather!
B “fishing” with Nana and Poppa:
M coming down to the pond to check things out:
M and her favorite game: ball
We finished out their visit with a relaxing morning at the playground (love B’s concentration!),
followed by a baseball game. M is really just taking a break here – she actually had a great time!
We were sad to see our visitors go, but we sure enjoyed having them!
M is 16 months old already (the pictures in this post are actually from the day she turned 16 months), and is one extremely sweet and affectionate child. She gives out hugs all the time, and they always bring smiles to all of our faces. How can you not smile when this little darling runs up with this smile on her face, just to give you a hug?
Food: M is still picky, but she seems to be getting better. Notably, she discovered ketchup. I think she’d eat just ketchup if we let her. Her fondness for smoothies has become an almost obsession (moo-die is her morning mantra, with increasing loudness, until one is handed to her). Eggs are hit or miss, where just egg whites are generally received more favorably.
Vocabulary: Her speech improves every day – it seems like she adds several new words every day. The real trick is to figure out what she is saying. For example, “elephant” comes out as ecky. Plain as day, right? Other new words include smoothie (moo-die), booka-booka (book), her teacher’s name (Carole) and all her classmate’s names (Alexis, Asa, Andrew), outside (aside), play (pay), water (wagur), Brianna (anna, sissy, b-b), sauce (sus), toothbrush (pea-buh), etc. Oh, and she has definitely mastered “no” – usually presented by rapidly shaking her head back and forth while saying “no-no-no-no.”
Mobility: She is becoming more stable, and has even started doing the “toddler” run (which typically cracks her up). She still falls a lot, but doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. She can even manage the bridge at the playground (no easy feat). Her favorite bridge activity is “earthquake” – a Tia invention where an adult shakes the bridge as much as they can while the girls hold on.
Activities: Her favorite things to do are to go “aside” and “pay.” Outside, she prefers running in the grass, playing in the playhouse, rocking on her rocking big wheel, and going to the playground (the swings are a definite favorite).
Inside she prefers dancing, her stacking toys, her ring toy, her toy animals, puzzles (strewing pieces everywhere, not putting them together) and books. I often find her sitting down flipping through a book. And, of course, she loves playing with her ball no matter where she is.
Sleep: She does well when she is not teething or sick. In the past 10 months or so, however, she has not been teething or sick for about 1 month total, with that month’s worth of nights being sprinkled throughout. *sigh* It is rough – she doe NOT like her sleep disturbed, and thus, gets really upset when anything disturbs her sleep (can’t imagine where she gets that from). She is currently working on her last canine, at which point I hope we will get a bit of a break before her two-year molars start coming in. On the plus side, she takes GREAT naps! She still likes her bink (I am pretty sure the face she is making here has nothing to do with her bink), but we are starting to encourage her to go without it during the day.
Hair: Her hair is super straight on top, and fairly curly in the back. It will be interesting to see which one wins out as her hair grows. It is long enough now that we pretty much have to put it up just to keep it out of her eyes and mouth.
Favorites: M definitely plays favorites. Some days she follows B around like a puppy. Others, she wants only me. Still others, she wants only Jason. She is probably happiest when she has all of us around her interacting with her. She rewards us then with her best smiles and cutest moves.
