Choco-Monsters

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! We hope you had a wonderful day. It was a bit of a long one here as some sugar highs and crashes really tested the patience of any adults that were near our kids. It all started when Michael and Traci returned home from dropping Katie off at preschool. Our uber-nice neighbor, Mary, had placed two huge chocolate hearts on our porch for the kids. Of course, Michael had to immediately eat his (see picture). He was on such a sugar high after eating it that he was actually screaming out intelligible words at his speech therapy session. (Screaming being the operative word.) Of course, 30-40 minutes later, while the session was still going, he crashed, tantrumed, and demanded his paci.

Later, we picked Katie up, with her huge stash of Valentines and goodies. Of course, Michael was upset that he didn't have an equal stash and persisted to cry himself through lunch, lunch clean-up, and nap-time. Here is a photo of Katie perusing her wonderful cards and candy. She, at least, was a happy camper at this point. Michael woke up after only about 35 minutes of nap, asking for more chocolate.

Finally, Mike and Traci brought out their little goodies and gifts for the kids after dinner. By now, the kids had had so much sugar throughout the day that they were bouncing off the walls. Clean-up time was a pathetic joke (in terms of getting help), tears flowed through story time, and the parents finally sighed in relief when the lights were turned off for the night. What a day, what a day. Oh well, at least it was all in the name of love!

Getting Closer....

Alas, we are steadily approaching the date when we will move Michael out of his crib into the bottom bunk. Call it "Operation Big Boy Bed." And, yes, we have given the "mission" a war-time moniker because we expect an all-out battle. Michael still doesn't get into the bottom bunk if he doesn't have to, so we decided to try a subtle form of bribery...cool truck and plane wall decals!! We didn't want to leave Katie out of the fun, so we also got her a castle scene. (As you will see by the end of the video, she's kind of obsessed with death right now, after watching "The Lion King.") Anyway, wish us luck...this could be our last peaceful nap-time/bed-time week for awhile...

Beer and Ice Cream

A big thanks to our good friends Kelly, Rob, Charlie (5-years-old), Maisie (3), and Ruby (7-months) for inviting us out to their house for dinner tonight. Traci met Kelly through her Moms' Club, but unfortunately never gets to see her since Kelly moved farther from the city. All of the kids had an absolute blast trashing every square inch of their house (sorry, guys!), while the adults could actually sit back and chat. We had a super-delicious meal, followed by an ice cream bar - with all the fixings - to finish off the evening. This picture cracked us up as it looks like the kids are polishing off their ice cream with some ice-cold beers. Never fear...those were for the daddies. In fact, the kids were cracking themselves up by sniffing at the bottles and yelling, "STINKY!" Let's keep it that way, little ones!

Princess Leia vs. Pests

For the second time in two years, Katie came home with the dreaded YELLOW PAPER from preschool....the notification that somebody in her class was infected with LICE!! Now, some of you may not know that Traci has a deathly fear of all things parasite. Ticks, fleas, lice, pinworms...you name it, and it scares Traci into submission. (She was once known to fly into a panicked frenzy of OCD cleaning when she dropped a tick that she had just picked off of her old greyhound in Chicago.) Anyway, yesterday was spent obsessively checking every square inch of Katie's hair again and again and again, praying that nothing would be found.

This morning, Traci decided to go on the offensive. In addition to using the lice repellent tea tree oil shampoo, she decided to go all STAR WARS on those buggers and give Katie the tightest Princess Leia braid buns possible so they had nothing to cling to. (You know, just in case a little buggar was still crawling around in the classroom...) Unfortunately, Katie was less-than-thrilled with the hairstyle and fought it with anger and tears. Traci held her ground and off they went to preschool, both in grumbly moods.

Well, the minute we started to see other parents and buddies at school, EVERYBODY started to compliment her on her super-cute hairstyle. I think Katie's pride swelled up like a balloon when her teacher gushed over it. Traci just gave her a knowing, "I told you so" look. By the end of the preschool, Katie asked if we could do it in that style again tomorrow. And, so far, so good with the lice situation.

So, for now, chalk one up for Mom. She's sure she'll lose many of these such battles in the future, but she'll enjoy today for how it turned out.

Bubble Guppies

Just look at the two Bubble Guppies swimming around in their pool! If Katie seems happy, it's certainly because she had a great day! We had her five-year check-up today, and it couldn't have gone smoother! We had heard dreadful things about this particular appointment (urine tests! blood draws! shots!), so I had psyched Katie up to expect the worst and to keep her chin up throughout. I even begged Mike to stay home from work this afternoon so he could keep Michael with him. Well, the appointment couldn't have turned out to be more opposite than what we expected! Aside from a few stressful moments during the vision screen and blood pressure test, Katie was as smooth as silk. For some reason, we didn't have any of the really bad stuff described above. When I asked the doctor, she said that our school system (kindergarten) no longer requires that stuff...hooray! So, I just sat back while the doctor and Katie chatted away. It really was the easiest kids' doctor appointment I have ever been a part of! Her reward? A Wendy's frostie on the way home!

Anyway, the doc was pleased with all of the Katie's stats and accomplishments. Her updated measurements: Height - 44.75 inches (86th percentile), Weight - 45 pounds (78th).

Somehow, I don't think that the kid well-visits I'll be having shortly will go so easily. We'll just all enjoy this one!

How Cool is This?

It all started innocently enough... Mike was reading a bedtime story to Katie and Michael as usual, when Katie spotted the author's page. In that particular book, the author chose to use one of his childhood pictures for his author picture, which caught Katie's attention. It led her to believe that she was old enough to create her own book....which became her project for the weekend! Nudged along by a great idea from Daddy, Katie decided to "write" her first book, "Real Animals." Please see the front cover above!



Mike urged Katie to pick out her favorite animal figurines. She then chose where to pose them and how to take their pictures. Yes, Katie did all of the photography herself. After Mike helped her with a little digital editing online, they printed-out, cut, and pasted the pictures into her book. Finally, she finished off the pages with her own labels. (Mike was official speller, of course!)



And, of course, she had to finish the book with her own author's picture page. If you cannot read her author discussion, it says, "Katie McGillicuddy is five years old and lives in Falls Church, VA. Her interests include sticker books, animals, princesses, and her birthday. She also likes attending preschool, reading books, and enjoys playdates with her friends." How cool is that???

Happy Birthday, Col-leenie!

Happy, happy 3rd birthday to our sweet, little pal, Colleen! This is Katie and Michael's buddy who we get together with every Thursday morning. On this fine Thursday, her mom hosted a great birthday party playdate for all the kids lucky enough not to be in school or preschool. (Alas, big brother Patrick was locked away at Kindergarten!) The kids had fun tearing apart the house and eating bagels, muffins, and cupcakes. Traci was lucky enough that both kids are so comfortable in this house that she could actually just relax and converse with the other moms. (Usually, at least one or the other kid is stuck to her lap at birthday parties.) Thanks again to Ms. Kim and Col-leenie-leenie for a fun, fun time (and great goody bags!).