Our Weekend with Clifford - Round 2

Clifford, the preschool mascot stuffed animal, came home with Will last weekend for the 2nd time this school year. You can read about our first weekend with Clifford here.

Again, it was a surprise that we would be having the pleasure of his company... even more so than last time because the students had school cancelled last Friday. So "Mrs. Skees" called me that day to ask if we would mind taking another turn. It's a really big deal to the kids and Will didn't know about it until I picked him up from the sitter's, so he was super excited.

Clifford slept at the foot of Will's bed on his own personal blanket and pillow for nap and bedtime. And Will kept telling me "I'm going to show Clifford my (fill in Christmas gift here)" all weekend. Here, they're examining some animal facts in his encyclopedia books.

On Saturday morning, Clifford came with us to the library. We checked out a new set of books, many of them about Groundhog Day, and Clifford sat with Will to listen to a read aloud book on the computer.

After nap on Saturday, we had plans for the kids to get some pictures taken with Nana, Papa, Mya & Stella since we've only ever gotten one good picture of Nana & Papa with their grandkids (at Easter two years ago). So I took a picture of Will & Clifford before we left.

On Sunday, Clifford came with us to have brunch at the independent living center with Great Grandpa King... who's name happens to be Clifford also! (But he goes by Cliff.) So we introduced Grandpa to the dog and Will was so excited to share that little name similarity with his friends at school on Monday. Whenever we go visit Grandpa, Will and Sophie always get to hitch a ride on his walker/seat as we walk the halls to the dining room and everyone ooh's and ahh's over "Cliff's great grandkids". I think Grandpa secretly LOVES it. :)
And finally, on Sunday evening, I wasn't feeling well (a 24hr stomach bug hit me all of a sudden) so Will and Clifford and I curled up on the couch to finish reading Charlotte's Web before bed.

We kept our weekend recap "journal" to a minimum since I didn't quite have the mojo to get crafty while I was feeling so rotten. Craig just printed a few pictures on regular paper and I wrote about our activities on the back. Then we laminated it with contact paper and tucked it in the bag with the rest of Clifford's belongings to go back to school on Monday.

The teacher reads our journal aloud to the kids and Will gets to talk about his fun with Clifford... before Clifford goes home with another little boy or girl next weekend!

7

As in miles.

I'd never run seven miles before in my life!

And, since picking up running again right after Christmas, I've mostly done three and four mile runs several days per week at an average pace of 8:06-8:15 per mile. But my brother-in-law Wes and I got out for a great run at Pearson Park on Sunday afternoon and he pushed me to keep going! Wes has been running far more consistently than me for the past year or so and his endurance and speed have increased tremendously. He frequently does long runs over 10 miles on Sundays and is currently following a 1/2 marathon training plan. He's seeing a lot of improvements in his times since incorporating a speed work day into his weekly routine so that's an element I've tried to add to my training as well.

I've recalibrated my Nike+ chip but I still think it's off a little bit. Wes has been using a Garmin Forerunner (GPS watch with a band to wear around the chest for heart rate measurement) since Christmas and he loves that. So my times/distances are slightly questionable unless I'm running on the high school track... which is a new thing I've enjoyed this past month. (It's open for us to use and we find that helpful for runs after dark.) On Sunday at the park, I ran seven miles per Wes's Garmin (7.22 per my Nike+ chip) in 1 hour and just a few seconds. It was snowing very lightly and it felt so nice to be out on a trail in the middle of winter! The wind was kind of hard on one part of the loop, but very comfortable for most of it.

Just last week, I signed up with my friend Nichole to participate in a relay team for the Glass City Marathon in April. There are five runners on our team and I will be the fourth of five on race day. My leg of the race will be 5.7 miles. So I'm just hoping to get to the point of consistently running six or seven miles on weekends and three to five on weekdays with a speed work day maybe on Tuesdays leading up to the race. And I'm good with taking two to three days off per week. Or even every other day if life gets hectic.

So that's my run update!

The kids are really taking notice of my running and I love planting that seed. Sophie always gets a big smile on her face when she sees me in running clothes and an iPod band on my arm. She says to me "Do you have your running?"... like it's just one collective thing that I'm holding or something. ;-) Or she'll ask me if I'm going running in the basement or outside. And, if she's awake, she'll always greet me excitedly upon my return. So that's what these goofy pictures are all about. They're terribly hideous of me... but still a moment that I enjoy looking at.

We're having another freakishly warm week with temps in the 40's (and even 50's yesterday) and that makes for some nice outdoor running conditions. So, while I miss the usual winter, I'm appreciating the chance to get outside and get my run on.

We're also signing both kids up for the Dart Frog Dash this year (in May) and I can't wait to see how Sophie likes it and how Will has improved!!

Birthday

With the exception of last year's trip to Columbus, it is a rare year that I actually have pictures from my birthday. :) This year, it fell on a Monday, so I had to work as usual and the day passed pretty routinely. My dad drove out to my work and took me to lunch, which was really nice. My boss brought in a yummy treat for our office to share. In the evening, I picked kids up, took Will to karate where my mom met me with a plate of my favorite cookies, had dinner prepped the night before so no cooking was necessary, and then followed up with our usual evening routine.

After bath, Craig took some pictures of me reading with the kids.

And then they helped me open some gifts in the living room before going to bed.

My only gift request this birthday was for some cold-weather-appropriate running attire... and everyone answered that request. :) So I'm pretty well set for running this season. Craig got a great deal on this black Nike hooded pull-over at the Birch Run outlets when he went skiing.

Sophie was mostly focused on the candy that Craig tucked into the big bag with everything else. :) My faves: a variety of M&M's and Heath bars.

Haha! This gift was totally unexpected! Over the summer, we played catch and practiced batting out in the yard with the kids on several occasions. I used to have a softball mitt at one time (ages ago), but couldn't find it at my parent's house so I was sharing Craig's with him. So he got me a mitt! I didn't need anything fancy - we usually just practice with tennis balls with the kids - but I'm looking forward to the spring now!

Aaaand Sophie's showing me more candy. ;) Craig also got me a new set of salt and pepper shakers (those boxes in my lap) because mine have been dropped a few too many times.

My "tough" pose for Craig. Modeling my new gifts. ;)

And last, but not least, a couple of North Face running tanks - super cute!

Thanks, babe!

Just after we got the kids to bed, the electricity went out. Apparently there was a transformer down on Rt.2 and we were without power until almost 11. So we got out a bunch of candles and flashlights. The kids were both a little nervous about the whole thing - especially Sophie. They have night lights in their rooms that flickered just as we lost power and when we came to check on them, they could see that the whole house was dark. So instead of the peaceful, hot bath I had planned, I just got into jammies and snuggled with Sophie. Both kids had flashlights and Will was satisfied with that. So the night went by pretty quickly!

"Just another day in paradise!" But I like the routine of our life. :)

Thanks, everyone, for thinking of me with birthday wishes and such!

Yellow Belt!

First of all... gosh that hair is long! I'm partial to Will having a really short hair cut (I think it makes his eyes pop) but we've had family requesting we let it go, aaaand we've also been lazy.

That has changed since these pics were taken, so I'll show you his latest 'do soon.

The position in which Will is sitting (above) is called "seiza". It's the traditional and formal way of sitting in Japan and I just love how cute his little feet look when he does this.

In this next picture, Sensei "E" is pointing to the Japanese characters of the dojo's name: Shinsuikan (pronounced "Shin-soo-ee-kan"), which means "place of mind like water". The kids were learning the pronunciation and definition.

This class was on January 23rd, but the week before (while I was traveling home from Florida), Will earned his yellow belt in his first "testing" challenge. It was a completely verbal test - not physical - but he was really excited to earn a new belt. Unfortunately, they only had a size 2 and he needed a size 0, so we picked up his new belt after this class instead. Here are some more pictures from the January 23rd class:

In this drill, Sensei was slowly swiping a black wand across the ground twice and they had to jump over it. Then, you can't see it, but Sensei is holding an arm pad for punching and the kids had to throw one punch into the pad after jumping twice.

Our friend Jagger has some mad ups! ;-) Haha. There were three instructors/assistants stationed in different corners of the floor and the kids took turns traveling from one to the next doing this same drill before they changed it up.

Here, daddy is tying Will's new belt on for him. It's actually white with a yellow stripe and I believe the next step up from here is a solid yellow belt. The colored strips of tape are things he earns at each class for behavior, skill and responses to questions. After so many purple tape strips, the kids get to choose a prize from the treasure chest.

If you look closely, you can see that Craig coincidentally has a Shinsuikan t-shirt on in this picture. The symbols are on his left chest area. Craig and I both have a couple of dojo t-shirts from our friend Mike who owns/runs the school.

It's been about four and a half months since Will first started karate and he still enjoys every class. I love that he has this opportunity once a week for some physical activity and educational fun.

And, of course, Craig always asks him to make a "tough" pose. :)

It's funny that I was so against starting extracurriculars before we did this, but now I'm excited for Sophie to reach the age that she can participate in something too. She asks to go to karate all the time and I would love for her to take lessons, but I also think she would enjoy gymnastics and I'm not sure I want to do two activities. So we're thinking about it... but not in any rush.

Sophia Grace at 2 Years & 9 Months Old

January 20th marked another quarter of Sophia's third year. She's 2 year and 9 months now! And we're due for another update...

Well, for starters, the girl has a LOT to say. ALL THE TIME. She talks non-stop. I know I mentioned it before, but when I came home from Florida, Craig said "Do you realize the only time she stops talking is to sing?" Haha! So there is quite the vocal entertainment from this little lady!
Bedtime lately has been challenging for both kids. They GO to bed normally and the routine hasn't changed. But then they are both awake in their beds until after 10 p.m. nearly every night. I know this is a phase but I really don't know what I can do about it. Sophie pops up and turns her light on every time we put her back in bed. Sometimes she cries. Sometimes she lays on the floor or at the foot of her bed sucking her thumb. (Yes, she still sucks her thumb. A LOT. She knows she's supposed to limit it to bedtime, but that doesn't always happen. It's her soother.) Sometimes she gets out her books and reads to her babies. But we are constantly going back in to turn the light off (she has a night light), lay her down and walk out.

Current bedtime is typically 7:30 or 8:00. We often have to wake her on weekdays, but on weekends her natural wake time is typically 8-8:45. Can't complain about that! Napping is regular, though never very long. The difference between the kids is that Sophie will almost always nap (though she has her days of refusal) but it usually only lasts an hour or, at most, an hour and a half. Will refuses much more often, but when he does nap, it's often at least two hours or more. He still gets the opportunity every day and even if he doesn't sleep, he's in bed for at least a couple hours of quiet time.

{A cute series of sibling pics. Unfortunately, Will's smile is terribly fake in all of them.}
These two argue a TON. Will likes to instigate and insist his point, which is usually correct but irrelevant. Sophie takes the opposite of whatever he says and screams it back at him. She doesn't care if she's wrong, she just wants to argue the other side. They occasionally hit and push, but physical stuff isn't real common. Mostly the arguing/yelling. Sophie also still likes to run off whenever she knows you want her attention or presence, so that becomes an issue when she's taken Will's toy or book too. Thankfully, there are also hugs and sweet talk and sharing in between the battles.

{Don't laugh!}

I think Sophie looks just like me in this last blurry one.

What else?

Her HAIR! I envy it. Especially her bedhead... 'cause it looks like what some girls put actual effort into achieving. :) It's really getting long and it's not usually tight curls anymore. Just soft, bouncy curls at the ends and lots of whispy tendrils. It's not always easy to pull back, but it's long enough to wear in one pony tail now and we do that a lot. Usually though, her standard is just a clip to the side to keep it out of her face. But whenever she doesn't wear a clip, it just falls so pretty and even looks layered!

Sophie loves to help me in the kitchen and with setting the table. She often runs to get her stool when she sees me preparing something.

Current clothing size are pretty much all 3T, but won't be for long. In many t-shirts, she will be needing 4T before long for the length. All her 3T pants fit her perfectly now, but I imagine by the time she actually turns 3, she'll be needing more length again. For some brands of shirts, a 3T looks big, but generally cotton-type t-shirts are small on her unless she's a size or two up. Shoes... she's pretty solidly in a 6 with some 7's.

Excuse the crazy eyes. She's jumping on the bed and my camera didn't get a very good shot, but I like to take diaper/underwear pics from time to time to see how their bodies change.

Speaking of diapers, we're no where near ready for potty training. She goes on the toilet a couple times every day when we put her there. But she never tells us ahead of time and she's currently in a phase of being afraid of her poop. So she doesn't like to see it... ever. She has pooped on the potty, but mostly that makes her nervous. And she's pooping a LOT lately. Not sure if I'm at the point of concern, since nothing else seems unusual, but she has been having looser stools for the past few weeks and pooping 3-6x/day! It's crazy. Our poor babysitter needs a couple of spare outfits every day because she's leaking out of her diapers again! I remember with Will, the interest in potty training was all of a sudden. So I'm not pushing the issue. She knows she has to be done with diapers to go to Nana's preschool, but that's not incentive enough for her yet.

Eating is still hit or miss. Depends on the day. Some days she's open and accepting of most everything. Other days she refuses most everything. She still has her dependables: pancakes, yogurt, squash, cottage cheese, fruit (especially blueberries, grapes, strawberries, bananas, etc.), any kind of bread/muffin/sandwich/grain, etc. But she's growing well and being served healthy choices most of the time, so I don't worry.

Learning: currently we're mostly working with letter/number/shape recognition. Plus fine motor skills, puzzles, imaginative play and social skills. As with any child, the things they learn best/quickest are the things they are interested in. Sophie just doesn't care about some of this stuff (like the names of shapes and numbers), but I try to present it to her in ways that aren't a chore. She doesn't have the patience and ridiculous memory that I'm used to with Will, but she often surprises me with concepts she understands that I don't think he did at her age. Especially math concepts. I think they will excel in different areas and it's very interesting to see how differently their brains work. Sophie's improving on shape recognition and she still really enjoys/remembers the Leap Frog Letter Factory movie a lot, so we're branching off of that whenever possible. She counts VERY well and also works impressively with one-to-one correspondence.

Books are still a favorite for her - especially rhymey/sing-songy/silly stories - and we read daily.
She also likes to play pretend and use her imagination.

Favorite play things right now are her stuffed animals/babies/dolls, bracelets/jewelry box, paper and markers, kitchen set, blocks and puzzles... and whatever activities/crafts mommy comes up with.

Pretty soon, our youngest baby will be THREE!!! I'm already thinking about her birthday and party... and yet hoping they don't arrive too quickly.

I am just constantly reminded of how quickly time passes and how fleeting this time is with our children. Sometimes I don't want to let go of our hugs. Sometimes I snuggle them a little longer than usual at bedtime. Sometimes I just stare at them and try to memorize this moment. And, always, I feel so lucky to be their mom.