Happy Thanksgiving!

This is why we are thankful! Enjoy your turkey.

Singing songs

Victoria has hit the stage where she sings a song about EVERYTHING...

"I'm helping mom do the dishes..."

She's singing songs that she learned at preschool all the time, but of course as soon as I get the camera out, she forgets the words.

Here's her singing the tune to her favorite, favorite, favorite show.

Plays well with self?

Self explanatory.

First attempt at braids

They look a little funny, as Victoria's hair is thick, but not very long. They sort of stick straight out!

First snowman of the season

Tonight before bedtime we played outside for a little bit, and daddy helped Victoria make the first snowman of the season!

Lazy Sunday....

Not much going on today, but it was a busy week. We finished up the wood we had to split and stack, cleaned up the yard, and got the chimney cleaned just in time for this...

Busy Weekend

We had all kinds of people over yesterday (Sunday) to take down a huge dead oak tree in the back yard. After a long day of cutting, stacking, hauling, etc, and 10 people fed a steak dinner, we're on our way to having a fair amount of wood for winter. Thanks to Jim, Penny, Steven, Pam, Russ, Mary, Darrel, Scott and Chase for all the help!

Here's some of the video from the actual cutting down of the tree - that part only took 5 minutes from when Rod's step-dad Jim began cutting the notches out to when it fell. The next few hours were spent cutting and splitting. The base of the trunk was 4 Feet across - a huge tree!

Victoria had fun playing with cousins Faith and Chloe, too - they were all exhausted by the day's end. Looking at the pictures, you'd NEVER guess they're related!

Typical conversations around here.

V: I have a band-aid. My leg hurts. The Doctor hurt me.
Me: Uh Huh
V: Why?
Me: Because they had to give you a shot to keep you healthy (flu shot)
V: Why?
Me: Because sometimes that's part of growing up.
V: Why? But I was so excited.
Me: Why?
V: To go to the doctor!
5 minutes later...
V: I ate my cookie. Can I have another one?
Me: No.
V: Please?
Me: No.
V: PLEASE!
Me: No.
V: Puh-LEASE!
Me: No.
V: But my leg hurts!

Happy Halloween!

Goings On

Victoria had her first school party this morning - there were many princesses, a Buzz Lightyear, a doctor, a Care Bear, Dorothy, and more princesses!

In other news, Rod and I just got back from a long weekend in Vegas with Nat and Joe. We had fun with them, and overall, I *think* we might actually want to go back at some point. We'll see. We did, however have a few problems at the hotel, but they remedied that I think the best they could have.

Practice, practice, practice

Every day that Victoria goes to school, the first thing they do is practice writing their name. V found my dry-erase board and asked to practice. So I wrote her name in green, then she did the rest - Not bad, in my opinion! And it was all her - I didn't help with the writing at all - she did it all, I just didn't get the camera right away!

Not Kurt Russell

These are pictures of Kristin's Uncle Tony...a San Jose Captain in the fire department. I usually make fun of him, but I think these pictures illustrate the tough job he has. Keep up the good work Tony.

Stuff

Victoria loves, loves, loves school. She woke up Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday asking if she was going to school each day. This morning was school, and about 1:30 after we were home and had finished lunch, she asked if I was ready to take her back to school!

She's working on concepts now:
Anything in the past is "yesterday" (She keeps telling me, "Yesterday we went on Jaj and Busha's boat!" when it's been a month or so) and anything in the future is "tomorrow".
"Beside" and "Next to" are tough ones for her right now (She keeps saying "I'm going to set my drink right here behind my plate!" when she means beside/next to)
Singular and plural are making their way into her vocabulary as well. There's a book we got that starts out "Aardvark Admiring, Beavers Ballooning," etc. When reading last night, I started by saying "Aardvarks Admiring" and went on to the next one. Victoria quickly stopped me, "No, mom! Go back, it's just one!" I tried changing some around throughout the book, only to be stopped every time. I guess that means she's listening!

Let's see... what else? Rod has been instrumental in teaching Victoria her address and phone number. She knows them when you ask her, it's just a matter of getting her to say it without giggling or whispering or blurting it out so fast you can't understand what she's saying!

Pumpkin Carving with Daddy

She wasn't too fond of putting her hand in the pumpkin...but here are the results.

ETA: this was a daddy-daughter event and V loved it! She's so proud of their results, too ;-)

School officially!

Well, Victoria is officially in pre-school. We visited a few, spoke to a few, most of which required she be 3 by the school cutoff (Sept 15th). We found one and visited on Tuesday. The teacher said I could bring V for a couple days, she would observe how Victoria interacted with the rest of the class and we'd reconvene next week to decide if she's ready. Well, when I picked Victoria up yesterday, Miss Michelle said we don't need to wait until next week - she's definitely ready!

So school begins - Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-10:45am. I don't feel like I'm rushing her too much. Her mind likes a challenge, she already knows the alphabet and can recognize all the letters if you ask her, can count to 14 (kind of to 20), and talks in PARAGRAPHS! I decided it's time that she got other-kid interaction. And why take her to daycare if she can go to school and learn?

So far, Victoria loves it, and wants to go back!

Firsts

Our first sticker chart got its last two stickers this morning - that means this afternoon Victoria will get to go to the store and pick out a new toy!

We started the sticker chart as a way to encourage a dry pullup when she woke up from nap or the night. About halfway through (about a week ago), naps went out the window. And Victoria started getting out of bed and wreaking havoc on her room. So then she got a sticker for a dry pullup in the morning, and another sticker if she stayed in bed all night after we closed the door and turned the light off. It's gone really well - just a few hiccups in the last two weeks.

And here's the result!


Victoria and I had our first grow-with-me class last night. It's at a local church/school and is designed for 2 and 3 year olds to start interacting, learning how to put toys away after they're done, and read stories and do art projects.

Here's V's first art masterpiece!

This is a cool concept: take a piece of paper cut into whatever shape you want, put it in the bottom of a small box (depending on the size of the paper - a shoebox is what we used). Dollop 3 or 4 colors in different corners of the box, put in a marble, put the lid on, and shake/roll it around! Victoria got a cool art project, and her hands stayed paint-free!

Unofficial numbers

Well, I took Victoria to the pediatrician yesterday morning. She's been stuffy and coughing for a few days and when she woke up yesterday her glands were so swollen in her throat.

They said it looks like just another upper respiratory infection that I have to just let run its course. It doesn't seem to be bothering her too much, other than the fact that she really wants to phase out her own naps and get less sleep (which I'm not too keen on!)

The unofficial numbers are height and weight, which surprised me a little:

Weight 29.5 lbs (just under 50th percentile) - not surprising. She's been hovering around that mark for quite a while.

Height they said 30.5 but I'm saying 29.5 since she had a ponytail in. But even at 29.5 inches, she's in the 90th percentile!!! Is that possible?!? I guess she has been going through quite a growth spurt (which may also explain the not wanting to sleep). We're pretty much officially out of all 2T clothing, with the exception of a few shirts I think.

And her first all-hair-in-one ponytail without barrettes!

Terrific (and terrible) Toddler-dom

Happy Fall from the pumpkin queen!And from the Hay-bale princess ;-)

V is such a toddler these days, her mind expanding at a rapid pace (I think the fresh fish for dinner helped!)

We were laying in her bed tonight after reading a story, snuggling before I told her goodnight and left the room. She asked if I wanted to hear her song, and then began singing, "You and me are friends to-ever and ever" A tune I've never heard, words that aren't a part of any song I can think of! Then she said, "Did you like my song? It was special, just for you!"

So many things lately are just so great about having a toddler. I love that she knows Jaja and Busha's vehicle, and gets so so so excited to see them pull in the driveway, then runs out the door to greet them. I loved watching her little legs carry her as fast as they could go all the way to their just-opening car doors.

Of course there are the drawbacks to having a child with such a rapidly-developing mind around (she's getting quite opinionated and vocal about what she likes/doesn't like to do, eat, play with, etc.!) But the benefits of watching her grow far outweigh the trying times.

I do love my *job* and am ever so grateful every day that I get to spend so much time with my beautiful daughter.

We finally got our web-cam up and running, so now we can chat with Jeff& Marie and the girls, and anyone else who has a webcam!

Delayed pics

When I got up the morning of my birthday, this is what I found in the living room...

Of course the pile of balloons didn't last long!

One of my new favorite hand-me-down outfits!

Playing with "My friend, worm" as Victoria calls it. She didn't want to put the poor thing down!

My baby-doll