Rainbows

 Our favorite part of Spring is the rainbows. Both girls cry like they are melting when they are in the rain. A few weeks ago, Chris was going to pay for our new play set. It was raining. Both girls wanted to go. We told them it was raining and they couldn't cry like the Wicked Witch. They went. Juliet got in the rain, and was saying, "I don't like the rain. Oh wait, I forgot I do." She didn't want to be kicked out of the adventure. 

 They had fun playing outside with their umbrellas and looking at this lovely rainbow.

 Almost a double rainbow!

Outside

 We have really been on a working outside kick (mainly Chris). For the past few weekends we've been planting flowers, pulling out bushes, moving playsets (we sold our old one and got a new (to us) one), painting play sets (hello 11 hour day!), and installing and readjusting some brick pavers. Our outdoors looks fabulous! Chris has been such a workhorse and is the primary one responsible for all the improvements. :) 

 The girls have been hanging out with us outside a lot. They have been awesome. One day we just totally threw Juliet's nap out the window, and she did great with that. They have had a lot of fun getting reacquainted with all their outdoor toys and neighbors. 

 Juliet loves her goggles. We start swim class next week. She's been better in the bath, and tells me that she wants to swim like a mermaid, so hopefully she will do well. Leah is totally terrified. I keep reminding her how many things she used to be afraid of, but now loves. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that she gets an amazing teacher like she has for gymnastics. And, I am really hoping she doesn't pollute Juliet's desire to learn to swim. 

Farm Field Trip

 Leah's Young 5 class had a field trip to the same farm as her preschool. Leah was so excited to go, and let us know that she wanted to check out a cat for 3 days. She could do this when she was a student/camper, but not as just a field trip participant. She wasn't very happy about that news. I got to chaperone, which was pretty fun.

I led one of the horses for horse rides. I had a very friendly horse, that the farmer told me was a little dim. She kept eating the straw off the ground and that the kids were giving her. The farmer was really upset because she is supposed to eat hay, not straw, and was going to get sick later. She wouldn't stop, though, and I couldn't manhandle the poor creature like the farmer seemed to want me to do in order to get her to stop. Leah wanted to ride a big white horse named Cinderella, but that horse seemed pretty wild and kept pulling the parent who was leading her, so I had her ride my horse instead. She wasn't totally on board with it, but faked it pretty well. 

One guess what this girl liked best about the trip...

She was all about the kittens.

She also sort of like feeding the sheep a bottle, but the farmer came behind her to assist and Leah seemed a little annoyed (she really values her personal space). 

Leah had a ton of fun, and is looking forward to returning to the farm a few days this summer as a camper. She wants to make sure we sign out an animal every single day she is there. No pigs this time! 

Mudda's Day

 I was so spoiled on Mother's Day. Juliet woke up and launched into a song about how Mudda's are for hugging and kissing. Nothing sweeter. Leah had an entire bag of goodies that she was so eager to give me. She made an awesome card, a ladybug rock, and a sign that told me how much she loves me. Juliet had made me a jewelry box, a piece of art, and planted a flower for me at Stay and Play with Chris. They were the best gifts ever and it made me so happy to see how excited they were about the day. Chris also sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers, which Leah took full credit for, though she had no idea about them until the doorbell rang. 

Typically on Mother's Day we go to the nursery and plant flowers. It's a tradition that has gone on since I was a kid. So, off we went. But we went to Marshall's first because I decided that I couldn't go one more day with the old toilet brushes that we had in our house. Ha! Everyone had to indulge me because it was Mother's Day.

We planted lots of flowers and the girls got pretty dirty "helping". Leah decided that she loves worms, and we made a "worm home" from the terrarium we used for the tadpoles last year. Juliet is pretty sure she likes worms, too, but isn't quite as passionate as Leah is. 

I made Chris give them a bath (he usually does, anyway) because Juliet has decided that baths are now her kryptonite and screams so loudly when she is being cleaned that it seriously sounds like CPS should be involved. I'm thinking the teacher she has for swim lessons in a few weeks is going to have their work cut out for them. 

Happy Third Birthday, Juliet Renee!

 Juliet Renee,

You are THREE! THREE! Seriously, where has time gone? To celebrate your birthday you picked out cupcakes to take to the babysitters house. You picked out chocolate cupcakes with pink and yellow frosting. You talked me into getting you monster face cookies for your "bir-day eve". You know how to work it! You were so excited to come home at lunch, but super tired, too. I wanted you to help me make the cake, but you were exhausted.

We woke up today singing you "Happy Birthday" You woke up in such a good mood, saying, "It my bir-day! It my bir-day today! I three!" You were so happy and just kept smiling and cuddling your Mama and Dadda. 

You picked out a "party" outfit and told me how you wanted to do your hair. You kept telling me how your diapers needed to go out the window now that you were three. You only use diapers at night, but your teacher's telling you that diapers go out the window at three really made an impression on you. 

You are so joyful, Juliet Renee. When you are happy, you are *really* happy. You smile, and jump, and flap your arms. You will say things like, "I'm so happy!" and "I love you so much!". You make friends anywhere you go. Everyone is your friend (or as you say, "lot-er-body"). You love to talk up strangers. If another kid isn't playing with you, you will stare them down until they play with you. You get so upset when other kids don't play kindly. You get compliments on how nicely you play with others. You would never even imagine swiping a toy from another kid, let alone pushing, kicking or biting. You want everyone to be happy. When a strange kid treats you unkindly, you are beside yourself. 

 Your relationship with your sister is something, You tell each other all the time that you are best friends. You may play exceptionally well with others, but you can be down right dirty with your sister. You have bitten her and pinched her. When you two get mad at each other, it inevitably ends with one of you stomping off saying "You're not my best friend!". Once you two are separated though, you both get super upset until you make your way back to each other. When Leah is at school you go back and forth between crying about how you miss her and telling me how we should just leave her at school. You love to play baby, doggie, and kitty with your sister. Daddy and I love it when you play Frozen and you follow her around and say, "Why you shut me out? Why you shut the world out?!" You and Leah always want to dress just the same. That means dresses. All day. Everyday. When you wear leggings and a shirt you slump over and say, "Now lot-er-body think I a boy!"  

 For your birthday you wanted to order pizza. You wanted me to make you a yellow cake. We worked together to decorate it, and for once I think it's a Pinterest win. You opened your presents and were so happy that you couldn't stop jumping.

 Your favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese, hands down. You can't get enough of it. You request if for every meal of the day. You love chocolate milk. You love most fruit. Apples are your favorite, but you also love melon, grapes, blueberries, and strawberries. You are a much more adventurous eater than your sister. You will try unfamiliar things. You also love corn on the cob, meatloaf, chicken nuggets, cereal and milk, and peanut butter toast/peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You like the idea of sweets, but typically only eat a few bites of ice cream or cake before you say you are done. 

 You are so smart. Your counting has really improved. Most days you get to 12 independently and can get to 30 with some help. You know several letters and letter sounds. You don't like to color or try to write with me, but our babysitter you tells me you do it with her. You like puzzles, too. More than anything, you love to tell stories and make up jokes. Our favorite joke you say currently goes like this: "Knock Knock", "Who's there?", "Anna", "Anna who?", "Anna Pear!". You will also tell us riddles that go like this, "What is little and a house" Answer: Tiny house. You have the cutest little laugh I have ever heard in my life. 

 You love school. You ask all the time when you get to go back to school. You love Stay and Play and your teachers there. You did gymnastics for a few months and you love that, too. You are such a good listener and so coordinated! You have started speech and love that, too. Today you cried because you didn't have "peach". 

You are so good with little kids. I know you will be an amazing big sister one day. You have such a way with babies. You tell me that when you get older, you are going to have twins and I can watch them while you work. You want to buy my van from me so you can drive them around. 

 Your favorite shows are: Yo Gabba Gabba (don't ask), Paw Patrol, Team Umizoomi, and Doc McStuffins. You love most movies, too. We watched Tinkerbell and the Neverbeast a few weeks ago and you were memorized. 

 You love to travel and ask often when we get to go back to the beach. You want to drive to Mexico and stay on the beach. 

 You go back and forth between telling me how big you are, and telling me how tiny you are. Today in the car you cried because you would never be 2 again.  

 We love you so much and hope you had the best birthday yet. 

Love, 

Mommy, Daddy, and Leah 

Starting Big Person School and Other Big Things

 Juliet started speech therapy last week. It was a big move. Chris and I always noticed that some sounds were tricky for her to say--namely the "f", "s", "w" and sometimes "d". We can usually understand her, but have noticed that other people often struggle. Juliet is so agreeable (with other people--haha!) that when they misunderstood what she was saying, she would just giggle and act extra charming. 

I asked Juliet's Stay and Play teachers, who said an evaluation would be beneficial; they didn't think she would qualify, but at least we would have a baseline and hopefully some strategies moving forward. Long story short, she did qualify. Her standardized test scores fell in the normal range, but the speech therapist said at this young of an age, teacher and parent input is just as important as the scores. 

Our district has changed the way speech therapy is offered. It is no longer offered at the Early Childhood school, instead it is in our local elementary school. So, off we went last week! I got Juliet a new dress because the thought of my little girl inside of an actual elementary school gave me a lump in my throat. I had a little comfort knowing who her therapist would be (since I worked at the school my first year in PCCS), as well as the principal and many other faces. Her appointment felt like a mini-reunion. Juliet claimed to be a little nervous in the days leading up, but was happy as a clam sitting in the office. Her therapist asked her what she did earlier in the day, and Juliet launched into a story about playing with Lukey and Anna. The story went on so long, that she had to be cut off. She happily went with her teacher, holding hands. 

The report from the therapist was that Juliet is very gifted at engaging with and connecting to adults. She does an exceptional job sitting still and doing her best to follow directions. She has a very advanced vocabulary and a great ability to tell engaging stories. However, her struggle with certain letter sounds sometimes slows her down. The first visit focused on making the "F" sound by tickling your teeth and making an angry cat sound. Juliet thought it was great!

 Later that day, Leah got a turn at the school for Kindergarten Round-Up. Talk about lumps in the throat. Try as I may to stay positive, the thought of her at school all day, everyday makes me want to cry. I know she will excel and have lots of friends and fun, but joining "real school" seems to be when it all speeds up. I begin to think, at this time next year will she still love twirly dresses and giant bows in her hair or will she want to wear Justice (yuck!)...will she still love fairies and princesses or will she want to watch those awful Disney shows that are on at night...Will she still love her mama fiercely or will she start to call me "mom" and tell me I am annoying?! One of the kids in her Young 5's class is also going to her school next year, so her mom and I exchanged cell phone numbers. A day later, I started getting texts from this little girl telling Leah to facetime her. I almost had an anxiety attack. Facetiming, already?! I know time is going to speed up, and I know it's going to be a great ride, but I can't help but want time to slow down just a little. 

 Two little beauties in front of their new school!

 Later that night, Leah had her Spring Sing. She was very excited about performing on stage. She did great!

 The music teacher had a family emergency, so he wasn't there. The kids were being a little naughty with the lack of a conductor, but it was still super cute. I also liked seeing my kids from the first part of the year. They looked so big!

We celebrated by going out to Olga's (their favorite restaurant). It was a big, fun day!

Costume Party

 The girls were all dressed up to go to a Half-O-Ween party at a friend's house. They had fun and were pretty much rock stars. They made it to be the last kids there. 

 One of their favorite parts of the night was holding another friend's baby. Juliet loves holding babies. Yesterday we were at a birthday party, and I look over and Juliet has a random baby propped up next to her. I asked her what was going on, and she said, "I wanted to hold the baby". Clearly this baby's parents weren't entirely comfortable handing over their bitty baby, so this was their compromise. Holding babies is one of the instances where Leah lets Juliet take the lead, then decides that she also wants in on the action. I was laughing during the picture below, because every time the baby would move, Leah would jump and try to back away. Juliet was trying to help her. So cute!

Leah's Art Show

 Our school district has an Art Show every year. At the elementary level, the art teacher picks 2 works of art from each class to represent their school at the show. Leah's masterpiece was one of the selected. 

We were so eager to see what was selected. It turns out that it was her name, using glitter and watercolor. Quite striking. 

 Leah was very proud of this honor, and imagined that the entire show would be full of her art. 

 I'm not surprised Leah's art was selected since drawing, coloring, painting, and creating are among her very favorite things. Yesterday she colored a quite detailed mermaid as we were watching Despicable Me 2. There's been a few pieces that she has given me with that I do a double take with and say, "You made this?! All by yourself?!" We are so proud of her and her talent. 

 We love you and are so proud of you, Leah Bean!