Growing and changing

On Sunday night I always lament the things I didn't get done over the weekend (organizing my pile of recipes, making photo books of the kids, etc) and think that we could have done more but the reality is that we are usually pretty busy and try to have at least a little down time (hard to come by these days) every weekend.  On Friday Mike had some much-needed adult time at beer club and I took the kids to a carnival at the Chaska Community Center.  The kids played games, made cool fish hats and danced.  In one room they had a dj, all the lights were off except the dance/strobe lights and lots of little kids were shaking their little bodies everywhere.  Miles and Hadley had a blast and spent 30 minutes getting their grooves on.  Saturday we went to Target, to the library and had a movie night.  We actually got through a whole G-rated movie - Cars!  Today we went to the zoo with the Sievers, I went to a heavy hula hoops class (so fun if anyone in Chan wants to try it with me), and to Costco.  So we were pretty busy... and my recipes and photo books have been moved to my to-do list for next weekend. 

New with Hadley
Hads had the stomach flu the first half of the week.  We missed her cheery energy and smile.  She finally started coming around on Thursday and I knew she was getting better when she greeted us from her crib in the morning (like she does every morning) by yelling cuckoo-coo clock!  This week she also surprised and entertained us by pulling off and on her own socks and enjoyed sucking on lemon slices - making faces when they were sour.  I was also ecstatic because her hair is finally long enough for pigtails!  Also, she's so sweet that every time I say "I love you Hadley" she immediately responds with "I love you mommy."

New with Miles
We had Miles' preschool conferences this week.  Ms. Emily, his teacher, reported that he is adapting to his new routine and new class so well and always has a big smile on his face when he comes to school.  He doesn't always choose art as his first option when doing different activities but once he gets into it he loves it and is sometimes the last one still creating a masterpiece.  He also really enjoys Legos.  Overall, she reported that he is one of the quieter ones in class and if he doesn't feel like participating in a group activity he'll just sit down but when it's a game or song that he likes he enthusiastically joins in.  She also reported that he gets along well with others and is well-mannered.  Things he should work on include small muscle skills like control while cutting and picking objects up with chopsticks.  Also, his goal in the class is to discover the importance of listening the first time to redirection.  None of these things were surprises to us - we're happy that he's doing well and thriving at his new preschool and with his new nannies at home.

After going to the zoo this morning we were talking about the zookeepers (we saw a zookeeper in scuba gear feeding the fish and two with the penguins).  He was asking me if the zookeepers live "in the rocks" with the animals.  I explained that the zoo is where they work and at night they go home to houses just like ours.  I also told him that when he grows up he can be anything he wants to be including a zookeeper.  He looked at me and said "I want to be just like you...  and I want to the feed the penguins and then come to your house."  I just about started crying because it was so sweet. 

Snuggling in for movie night!

Fun with fish at the community carnival

I was taking a picture of Miles getting dressed by himself in order to tape the photo to the fridge to remind him that this is something he needs to do everyday.  Not the best photo of miles but look at the little crazy girl in the upper, right hand corner.  She cracks me up!

Miles and Hadley are demonstrating "listening ears" and "using their words."