Siblings

Jack and Mara posed for some really good pictures today. Sure, they're faces are dirty and Mara is in her PJs, but sometimes those are the best ones. And I think you can definitely tell they are siblings just by the faces they both make. :)

Feather in Your Cap, or Hair

Feathers in the hair seem to be all the rage this year. Lori and Lani got feathers in their hair earlier this week, so naturally Mara wanted one too. We went to Diane's hairdresser after skate school to get her one. She didn't have much of a selection because she was waiting on an order, but I found an orange and black one. Mara liked it because it's OSU colors. After digging through the feathers some more, I found a purple one, but Mara insisted on getting the OSU one. The feather is held in with a metal bead with silicone on the inside that is just squished to hold the feather in place.

Dance, Dance, Dance

Wednesday, August 24

We fixed some salsa for dinner, and Jack really enjoyed eating it. I know he can't really taste spicy foods yet, but he seems to prefer eating them sometimes.

Thursday, August 25

We were trying to teach the girls a dance during Girls Scouts tonight. We didn't get too far into the song, but the girls were finally getting down some of the moves after 30 minutes or so of practicing.

Friday, August 26

Jack discovered the toddler area of the playground at Chick-Fil-A tonight.

Toothless

It's been a big week for Mara already, and it's only Tuesday!

Mara had a surprise for us when John picked her up from daycare today. Her other front tooth finally came out. It had been pretty loose for a while now, but I thought she was waiting to lose it at school so she would get a special tooth box. She thought she was going to lose it around lunchtime since she took a bite of her sandwich, and it became extra loose. She said she tried to wiggle it and even pulled on it, but it wouldn't come out. She didn't get the tooth box because she lost it at after-school care instead. It finally came out when they were eating snack at daycare. She has a few more loose teeth, so maybe one of these days she'll finally lose one at school.

Our First Grader

Today was Mara's first day as a first grader. She was pretty excited to go because a lot of her friends are in her class this year. I think she was nervous too since she only ate one pancake and then said her tummy was full. When she got to her class, the teacher had them start on their morning work while waiting for the announcements. Here's hoping she has a wondering year and loves school.

And he's walking...finally!

Over the past few weeks, Jack would take a couple of steps at a time, sometimes up to four in a row. But walking across the room has been a long time coming. I thought Mara was late when she didn't walk until she was 13 months old. Then, Jack's 17-month birthday came and went, and he was only doing a few steps at a time.

He started walking just in time. He's supposed to move up to the next class (older toddlers) tomorrow, but they can't move him up until he is "toddling" well. While he may not get to move up with his friends tomorrow, he won't be stuck in the younger class for long now.

He celebrated walking by doing one of his new favorite activities – dancing on the coffee table.

And to prove he was walking, here is a video of him walking.

Skate School

Mara attended her second skate school lesson today, and it was the first one with her actual instructor. Her instructor is the same one who Lori and Lani take lessons from, so it's nice that she already knows her. Mara is already gaining more confidence on the ice and even mastered the "two-foot glide."

Pedicures & Meet the Teacher

Mara got to meet her new first grade teacher today, but first Mara and I spent a special afternoon together.

I only worked a half day, so I picked her up from daycare and we went to lunch together. Then, we went and got pedicures. Mara wasn't too sure of her first pedicure, but she liked the final result. She knew before we went what colors she wanted. And as an extra special treat, she also got polish on her fingernails (not a full manicure).

Then, it was time to meet her teacher. When we got to the school, we found out she'll be in Mrs. Hembree's class and that several of her friends are in her class again this year.

We ended the evening celebrating Diane and Rob's birthdays.

The End of Summer

Monday, August 15

School started today where John works, and he had to work late getting computers ready for the next day. The kids and I joined him for a little bit before I had to head back home and put them to bed.

Tuesday, August 16

Jack loves to climb. He will stand up in his rocking chair and rock. He's learned the words "sit" and "down" thanks to his little daredevil streak, but it doesn't stop him from doing it.

Wednesday, August 17

I'm helping out with the Girl Scout recruiting night this year, so I have some yard signs that I need to update with the event information. Then, we'll put around the neighborhood if we can't put them up at the school.

Thursday, August 18

Mara attended a birthday party for her friend Savanna tonight. Several of her Girl Scout friends were there, and they had a blast playing in the pool. It was hard to get them out when the party was over.

Jack's new words

Jack's vocabulary has really exploded the last few months since I posted this list of words. In addition to repeating a lot of what we say, he also uses the following words pretty frequently now:

Me/Mine
Hello
Bye
Thank you
Mara
Cookie
Puppie
Doggie
All done/gone
Sit
Down
Five (for high five)
Love you
Up
Doxy (one of our cats)
Brown-brown (for our cat Brownie)
Puck (one of our cats)
Nose
Eye
Teeth (sometimes followed by "ow")
Nana (for banana)
Monkey
Stuck
Shoe
Bubbles

And he makes the following animal sounds:

Meow
Woof woof
Moo
Neigh
Ooo ooo (for monkeys)

He also makes the panting sound for dogs.

Playing & Skating

Monday, August 8

Jack has become really adept at using utensils. He was using his fork with dinner tonight until he decided it was easier to just pick up the food with his hands.

Tuesday, August 9

I pulled out Mara's old Little People farm tonight, and the kids just sat on the floor playing with each other for the longest time. I'm hoping this will help Jack learn his animal sounds better (although he has a cow's moo down already).

Wednesday, August 10

We got Mara a Rapunzel water bottle, and she's been using it to drink more water during the hot weather.

Thursday, August 11

For the first time in a long time (40 days to be exact), it wasn't 100+ degrees when I came out to the van after work today. In fact, thanks to a lot of clouds and rain all around us, we broke a string of 100+ degree days, just missing tying the record of 42 days set back in 1980 by two days. It was nice to walk to the van without my eyes feeling like they were burning.

Friday, August 12

We ate dinner at Chick-Fil-A tonight, and Mara took Jack up into the play area. He had a lot of fun crawling around with Mara and going down the slide.

Saturday, August 13

Today was Mara's first day at skate school. She did pretty well and even left the wall finally. She seemed to really like it, and even wanted to go out and participate in public skate for a few minutes after her class was done.

Sunday, August 14

We went to the LEGO store at the mall today, and Mara showed me how she can fit inside a large brick they had there.