Winter Break - Part 1

This is big sister K's first year in public school, so for the first time ever, we now have to follow the school schedule instead of being able to take off whenever we want (work permitting).  Big sister K has been off since Christmas Eve, and for most of those days, I've been fortunate enough that I could take off with her.  Thank goodness for my abundance of vacation days left over!

I scheduled a play-date with one of her classmates on Christmas Eve.  We dropped baby M off at daycare and headed over there in the morning.  I probably had just as good of a time chatting with the mom as big sister K had playing with her friend.  It was a struggle, but I eventually managed to tear her away so that we could met up with M for lunch.  In the midst of enjoying our waffle fries at Chick-fil-a, big sister K lost her very first tooth!  She was playing with the straw while drinking her milk, and the next thing you know, there's a tiny tooth in her hand and blood coming out of her mouth.  She was so excited for the the tooth fairy to come that that was the only thing she talked about the rest of the day.  She told me it's $5 for the first tooth, and $10 for the second.  Man, talk about inflation!

Big sister K was the first to wake up Christmas morning (which is a rarity).  You'd think she couldn't wait to get up so that she could open up her presents... but no... bright and early at 6:30 in the morning, she comes running into my room exclaiming she got something from the tooth fairy.  I had her open up the envelope and read the letter that accompanied a $5 bill (I gave into her wishes on the $5, contrary to M suggesting a buck, but I have to set expectations so that she won't be expecting $10 for the next one).  Big sister K was so thrilled with the tooth fairy's visit that it totally trumped Christmas morning (despite it truly being Christmas morning).

The kids opened up their presents after breakfast.  Loved seeing their happy faces.

On Friday post-Christmas, we went to Adventure Aquarium with the S family.  I didn't want baby M to miss out on the fun, so he played hooky from school that day and we all clambered into P's mini-van for the long drive there.  It was our first time to Adventure Aquarium and the kids had a blast.

Monday was another play-date, this time to the Liberty Science Center with the H family.  It was our second time carpooling in four days and I am becoming a pro at uninstalling/ reinstalling car seats.  Though I would probably never get one myself, I must admit, mini-vans do come in pretty handy.

 Who knew rice could be so much fun??

Four hungry kids anxiously awaiting lunch.

Rock climbing!

Baby M having his own fun.

The Infinity Climber was probably big sister K's favorite exhibit.

About halfway done with winter break!  More to come on the rest of big sister K's days off!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!

Rockefeller Center

We went to see the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center after church on Sunday.  While the kids didn't particularly mind going, I don't think they really appreciated it as much as we had hoped.  Baby M had more fun going on the subway than seeing the tree itself and big sister K kept asking what we were going to do next and why we were there.  Someone recently asked if we were going to make this an annual family tradition.  After seeing the kids' lack of interest, I'd have to say no for now.

Baby M's second time on the MTA... he loved it.  Big sister K had her hair flying all over the place when she took off her hat.

Family photo by the tree.  It was too crowded to get a decent one with the top of the tree, so this was the best we could do. 

Kids had more fun playing with their McDonald's Happy Meal toy than enjoying the sights of Manhattan.

Freshly Squeezed OJ

A few days ago, when I went to pick baby M up from school, his teacher told me that the kids were served oranges during snack time.  Rather than eating it, baby M took his and squeezed the liquid into a cup to make orange juice (and apparently, this isn't the first time he's done this... don't know where he got it from since he doesn't do this at home).  All the kids saw what he was doing and started copying him... soon enough, the whole class was making orange juice!  LOL!

November Birthdays

November is always a busy month for us, filled with what seems like endless birthday celebrations.  There was so much going on (big sister K had a few birthday parties to attend plus her normal extracurricular activities on Saturday) that we decided not to hold a birthday party with friends.  We just had family come over and celebrated both baby M and big sister K's birthdays together.

Cupcakes on baby M's actual birthday (had it right after dinner and silly us didn't bother to wipe his pasta sauce mouth):

Birthday gathering with family... there was so much food/dessert left over that we ended up throwing away more than 3/4 of both cakes:

 Ice cream on big sister K's actual birthday:

Cupcakes at big sister K's Girl Scouts meeting (we did it backwards and took a picture of the cupcake with a candle after the girls already ate theirs):

Sweetie vs. Smart Aleck

When big sister K came home from school the other day, she told M and me that she wanted to write cards/letters to people in the hospital.  At first, I thought this was something she learned or was doing in school, but then she told us no.  I asked why she wanted to write to people in the hospital, and she said because it's a nice thing to do, and she wants the people in the hospital to feel better (and she thought of this all by herself).  My little girl can be so sweet sometimes that it simply leaves me speechless.

Meanwhile, my conversation with her brother (in response to something he said)...
Me: You're such a smart aleck.
Baby M: I'm not an aleck.
Me: So you're just smart?
Baby M: Yeah!
Me: LOL!

I certainly have my hands full with this one!

New/Old Daycare

Baby M started his first day back at his old daycare yesterday.  Things didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but he did well for the most part.  I was antsy all day after dropping him off because it seemed like they were ill-prepared for his arrival.  First off, my badge didn't work when I got there and I had to be buzzed in.  Then at the front desk, I was told that baby M's primary teacher was not there (Monday is her day off) and that the assistant teacher was helping out in another classroom, so baby M didn't get to meet any of this new teachers that day.  When we got to his room, his cubby was not set up and I didn't have a place to put his coat and backpack.  The teacher that was there (she used to be the assistant teacher in big sister K's preschool class... not my favorite) was kind of blah... I had to actually tell her that it was baby M's first day, and can she please do something to make him feel more welcomed, like introduce him to some of the other kids in the class.  Even then, all she does is sit down next to him at the breakfast table.  I ended up introducing baby M to the other kids sitting around him and asking what their names are.  The daycare has known for two weeks that he was returning... I guess I just expected more for them to welcome him back.  On the bright side, he didn't cry, so that's always a good thing.

Today's drop-off went a lot better (at least for me).  Baby M got to meet both his teachers and a lot of the kids in the class said "hi" to him and welcomed him in.  Baby M even knew some of their names, so looks like he's already made some new friends. :)

Thursday, November 20 Update:
I definitely have no regrets moving baby M back to his old school.  He had spent two months at his "new" school, and we would ask him all the time what he learned that day, to which he responded with either "I don't know" or "Nothing."  Baby M has been back in his old school for only four days and I can already see the difference.  While I was giving him a bath tonight, he started telling me about a book he read in school (without me even asking!) called "Three Bears in a Boat."  The fact that he was paying attention and remembered what the book was about (as well as the name of the book) is huge.  Apparently, he also made a very good friend in class.  He told me he asked his friend J's mom if they can have a play-date together, and said that J is his best friend.  It's been four days... and he has a best friend!  Wow!

My Girl

Random thoughts and updates:

Big sister K's masterpiece on my co-worker's whiteboard when she accompanied me to work last Thursday on her day off from school:

Conversation in the car today:

Big sister K: Is Kwanzaa in December mommy?

Me: I don't know when Kwanzaa is.  We don't celebrate it. We celebrate Christmas.

Big sister K: Jewish people celebrate Kwanzaa.

Me: No, Jewish people celebrate Chanukah, not Kwanzaa.  African-Americans celebrate Kwanzaa.

Big sister K: Christmas is an important holiday because that's when Jesus was born.

Me: That's right, big sister K!  Very good!

Big sister K: Halloween is not an important holiday. Easter is an important holiday because that's when Jesus died on the cross for us.

Me: Yes, that's right.  Good job!

Times like this... makes me feel like we're doing something right.  :)

As I was flossing big sister K's teeth before I realized she has shark teeth (adult teeth growing behind her baby teeth)!  It freaked me out and I was all ready to call the dentist first thing in the morning until I googled it and realized it is not that uncommon, nor is it something that can't resolve itself.  Hopefully her baby teeth will fall out on their own soon.  Big sister K's been reading so many books about losing the first tooth (plus seeing it happen to her friends) that she is excited for her turn.