The Zoo... again? You betcha!

Making the most of our zoo membership before it expires next month (Boo at the Zoo will happen before it expires, so we won't miss anything if I don't get the chance to renew it before that happens). We've actually done two separate trips since the beginning of the month. The majority of the pictures are from our visit today, which was made during moderate temps with a nice breeze. The first two pictures are from our more daring venture, when it was so humid I was mentally pleading with Mother Nature to just make it rain already (it finally did on our way home and then for the rest of the week).

At the elephant baths. The kids were fascinated by the baby elephant (8 months old now!) and the tricks the zookeepers were coaxing the elephants into doing.

Can you tell how hot it was from Megan's pink cheeks and damp hair?

Staring at the great hornbill. Connor claimed free reign of the zoo for the first half of our visit.

I've been making a conscious effort to be in more pictures with the kids, thus turning Megan into the photographer for a bit.

Knowing what was next, Connor launched himself from the stroller and ran for the drums. I had to drag him away.

Another inclusive picture. Too bad you can't see the chimp.

Climbing all over the rhino cutout.

I needed at least one of Megan and I, so here's a selfie. I love Megan's smile!

Getting to pet a baby alligator. We also got to pet 2 types of lizards and a snake. Quite adventurous!

We also got to wander through the "big bugs" exhibit, since it was free today. No pictures, since Connor had worn himself out by running willy-nilly through the zoo and Megan was too eager to move on to the next bug each time I stopped to fish my camera out.

For a quick general school update for Cadence (since I know this is how several family members keep up to date with our family going ons): She's doing SO well! Any concerns I might have had are gone. Behavior is reported daily, with purple being excellent, green being default/good, and then the yellow, orange, red for misbehavior. Cadence's daily behavior record has significantly more purple than green. She is loving school and I've had a recent reminder how lucky we are to be in a school that does more explorative learning than non-stop worksheets in kindergarten. Daily Cadence goes to PE, music, art or the library, and she also does "workstations" in her class daily. Some of the stations are worksheets, but others are cutting, coloring and pasting a book on that day's subject, while others involve building with blocks as a group or walking around the room with a clipboard to write down words they see or even just an "art table", where they're given basic supplies and free reign.

I've filled out the paperwork to have her tested for GT (gifted track). She'll be tested at some point throughout the year and then we'll get results in April. It feels vain to be nominating my own child. Doesn't every parent know their child is brilliant?

18 month stats

It's just been one of those weeks, ya know?

We'll start with the happy stuff. Connor is 18 months! Unfortunately, his first day of nursery was trumped by Stake Conference, so his first day of nursery has been pushed to next week. Though, to be honest, he's already gone once. I subbed for the second half of junior nursery and let him wander around. He was perfectly fine. I imagine as long as we have James do the drop-off, he'll have no issues adjusting. Toys, snacks, and other kids? What's not to love? All it's missing is a pet of some sort.

His check-up was first thing yesterday morning. I have yet to switch to a pediatrician closer to our new home, though I have officially decided the distance is too far. I will be switching the girls for their annual check-ups in November. However, I will continue taking Connor to the current pediatrician for his 2-year check-up due to his heart murmur. The pediatrician is not concerned, but did tell me if it is still there at 2 years, she wants to refer him to a cardiologist and I'd like to see that through. The girls' heart murmurs had healed themselves by their first year, so...

Despite starting out as Chunky Charlie, our stubborn toddler has slimmed down and is pretty much the same size as his sisters. A half inch shorter than Cadence at this age, but the same weight.

Height: 32.5" (50th percentile)
Weight: 23lbs (25th percentile)

His physical milestones are above and beyond. He keeps up with the girls on the playground, climbs over everything (we had to take the girls' bunk beds apart because even blocking off the ladder didn't work). He's been wielding a spoon successfully for quite awhile (pudding has been really inspiration for him). He even puts on his own shorts and sandals, though sometimes his legs end up in the same hole.

The only frustrating point is talking. He'll boss Beau around like there's no tomorrow, but ask him to use words to communicate with people and all he does is "ma!" and "ugh!" while pointing or yelling. However, he understands most of what we tell him, so I'm chalking it up to his stubbornness and figure he's just saving up words and once he talks, he'll surprise us with how quickly he picks them up.

*

Cadence also went to the doctor yesterday. We got a notice that her immunizations were not up to snuff, since two of her shots were given a week earlier than acceptable (had to be given after her 4th birthday or she needs an extra one). The doctor was most apologetic, to the point it started to get awkward, because it's something she and her office are aware of and are usually on the ball for. She claimed this was the first time in almost ten years that she's had to give the 4th shot, because they always schedule the 3rd one for after 4th birthdays.

Either way, Cadence had to get the shot. Luckily, they were able to combined both needed vaccines into one shot and, despite crying about it as we drove to the doctor's, Cadence put on a brave face and only whimpered a little during the actual shot. My big, brave girl!

We also all got the flu vaccine, except for Connor. We'll have to take him in later once they have the one for under 2. Megan wasn't thrilled with it, but I did mine first (nasal vaccine for the win!) and then she got hers.

Car Woes

Intermittently for the past year or so, my car would make a gurgling-type noise while decelerating or idling. It was ignored initially, because it happened rarely. But, as things tend to do, it gradually got worse until I realized it was doing it more often than not. This became more obvious as I did a lot of idling while dropping Cadence off at school. Finally, it grew from irritation to concern and after the guys at the Jiffy Lube (oil change and state inspection appointment) were clueless over it, I went to google. It was several days of trying various combinations and combing through forum posts and maintenance articles.

I finally found a youtube video that sounded similar to my engine and blamed the IAC valve. I had already been considering this, even though most complaints about the valve involved a different noise complaint (a whining/humming sound). We opted for the cheap fix first: take the piece out, clean it out and see if it made a difference.

Oh, it made a difference all right. The sound got worse. Instead of happening most of the time, it happened every single time. I spent 2 days hating my car before I returned to google and confirmed cleaning the valve was an option, but most of the time didn't work. So, saying a prayer and going on a hunch, we put the money into the replacement part.

Once we compared the new part and the old part, we realized the valve was most definitely the problem. The rod is most likely not missing, it's probably just so gummed up, it's stuck out of sight. Either way, once the new part was in, my engine was so quiet at idle during this morning's drop-off at school, I kept having to roll down my window to listen for my normal V8 rumble.

Of course, now I can hear all the other squeaks and sounds the engine is making and I can't remember what's "normal", because all I'm used to anymore is the loud gurgle (made from air vibrations in the air intake system, specifically resulting is loud vibrations throughout, most strongly felt/heard at the air filter housing).

I am bummed I didn't get a picture of Connor. While James and I tinkered with the car, he came out and started touching the engine cover and got adorable smudges of car gunk all over his hands and face. I tried handing him a wrench to grab a picture, but he wouldn't sit still.

The dog also got my on my crap-list while we were fiddling with the car. The first time, he got in the front yard with Connor and then saw a cat. I basically threw Connor to James and sprinted after him. He hadn't gotten far before he found people, forgot the cat and cornered them in their truck. When I called for him, he ran straight to me and I dragged him home.

I obviously didn't learn my lesson, because two days later, when I was tinkering again, Connor opened the kitchen door to let both of them out into the garage (I'd left the garage door open so I could hear the kids while I was in the driveway). Same cat, same problem. I sprinted down the block once again. This time when I called for him, Beau realized I was mad and ran to another truck to beg them for their protection from my wrath. They betrayed him in the end, holding him so I could drag him back once again.

The car tinkering is not quite done. I want to clean out the throttle, just for good measure, and James has plans to change my brakes this weekend.

Also trying to decide whether or not to swing by the Jiffy Lube and tell them what the problem was so if they encounter the problem again, they can offer a suggestion to future customers.

My birthday

Having kids makes my birthday a rather quiet affair, at least when compared to theirs. However, the girls have been impatiently counting down to my birthday ever since Cadence started school (they may not understand how far apart the days are, but they DO understand the order of things. For example, they know the next big thing is Halloween).

The girls, super-sweet Megan specifically, spent all morning telling me "happy birthday" and coloring pictures for me. Megan even used her budding reading skills to write "Mommy, happy birthday" completely unprompted, though the concept of words being written/read left-to-right is still optional in her world, probably because being left-handed, it's easier to write "backward".

Turning 29 was not a huge deal. As I've mentioned to lots of people, 29 actually seems like a young number when you add in my 3 kids, at least in this day and age. I know I'm not the youngest person to have children numbered/aged like mine, but I am actually one of the youngest ones I associate with. However, to make me feel "old", we gave Connor his first haircut. I'd been debating it for awhile. The hair was uneven, several inches long behind one ear, and not behind the other. So, we grabbed James's hair clippers and buzzed it down to a reasonable 3/4" all over. In truth, he didn't look too much older when we finished. He actually reminds me of his 9 month pictures, since the boy hasn't really changed much since then, except his hair and height. :-P Still, he's super cute.

As for my birthday celebration itself? Saturday afternoon I splurged on a haircut that wasn't at Supercuts or Great Clips and added in some highlights. I also got a 2-hour break from parenting, which is nice in its own way. Currently, I'm fretting over how clustered/bright some of the highlights are, but I've been assured it should tone down in a week if I can just wait it out.

Finally, Sunday, we had the missionaries over for dinner and treated them out to steak and sausage, along with some roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli. The whole night was rounded out with a tasty layered cheesecake, regular on bottom, pumpkin on top. There was concern it wouldn't turn out when Connor turned the oven down on me and I didn't realize it until I thought it was done cooking. Luckily, overnight in the fridge allowed it to set up and it was delicious.

Heh... gotta love how a post about my birthday is 90% about the kids. Life as a mom, I suppose. :-)

First Day of Kindergarten!

Today is the day. After weeks of anticipation and preparation, Cadence put on her new school uniform, I packed her lunch in her princess lunch bag, and it was time to go. With warnings of traffic chaos on my mind, we left early and ended up being right on time. Cadence asked that we walk her to her classroom the first day, so we parked on one of the side streets and followed the flow of pedestrian traffic, sweating the whole way (humidity is a killer, ugh!)

The moment we reached the classroom, I became chopped liver in Cadence's world. As soon as we hit the doorway, she ran to her teacher shouting "Hi, I'm here!" and I stood helplessly cast aside as the teacher helped her find her desk. The useless feeling was equally met with pride that she could so capably adapt to this new classroom without my aid. She at least deigned to allow me to take one picture of her at her seat before she returned her full attention to coloring and brushed off my "I'll see you after school" farewell.

So the remaining duo trekked back to the car with me (I had carried Connor, not caring to maneuver a stroller in crowded halls) to brave the remaining traffic to get home. Truthfully, it wasn't too bad, though I expect parent pick-up will be sheer chaos, since everyone will be coming at once instead of staggered waves. We'll see, I suppose.

It's 8:30 here. Cadence's class started officially half an hour ago. I have a kindergartner!

Zoo Pictures (Can never have too many!)

With school starting next week, I wanted to do one last trip to the zoo with Cadence. I'm currently struggling with a strange sense of guilt as I consider going with the youngest two and not her, a sort of "it's not fair that we get to go do this fun thing and they don't" sentiment. I'll admit it's a silly feeling, and I'll be over it soon enough. Besides, we had her kindergarten orientation tonight and I am super excited for her to start school now that I have a better idea of what's going to happen. (We find out her teacher tomorrow afternoon when we go in to do the final batch of registration paperwork).

The weather was not going to cooperate with a zoo trip anytime this week, so we packed cold water bottles and apple slices and braved the 90-degrees-feels-like-105-with-humidity weather. It was about as nasty as expected, but we came prepared and did a route to take advantage of the various air-conditioned spots. We got there right as the gates opened and high-tailed it to the far end of the zoo to work our way back to the front, doing most of our outdoor viewing before we ran out of steam and recharged in the various a/c cooled buildings near the front at the end of our visit. For about twenty minutes, it looked like the storm overhead might break early, but it just rumbled at us, spit a few drops and sat there.

Playing at the "African Village". They recently installed a "primitive shower" which I tricked the girls into reading a sign under the showerhead before pushing the button to douse them with water. Mwahaha.

Taking our first break at the chimpanzee house. The chimps kept wandering close to the window to pick up stray pieces of broccoli.

Exploring the prairie dog tunnels. Eventually I took Connor in as well and we got an up-close look at the animals.

This tortoise was looking for some food and kept sticking his mouth out.

Super quick pictures before I snagged Connor back before he could put his fingers in snapping reach.

Another break at the playground, where Cadence was quite dramatically "eaten" by the hippo several times.

At the flamingo pond, we started a group of ducklings right beside the fence. The kids were so excited to see them up close, even though the mother and father quickly herded their little ones away from the noisy giants.

One of our final stops, the "wild encounters" room. Connor got free reign here and ran up to say hi to every animal he could see.

We made it back to the car in one piece, handed out the cold apple slices, divvied up the remaining water into sippy cups and water bottles and headed out. Now we're having a lazy afternoon in our a/c cooled house. Tomorrow's another busy day, with a library visit and registration for Cadence in the afternoon. Friday morning we meet the teacher, then we have to hang out at home for the foundation repairmen to come do their job.

Just another Friday?

For the past couple weeks, I've felt like I'm just holding my breath as I wait for August 25th, so not a lot has happened. We've done the usual trips to the library, grocery shopping, and a couple playdates.

But, given our normal schedules, the last couple weeks have been very quiet. I didn't realize how much we actually do until we weren't doing anything for awhile. Heck, we've barely made it out to the gym the last few weeks because one of us or the other has been sick. Currently, I'm working my way through a mild head cold (you know, the kind that doesn't completely debilitate you, but just has you feeling miserable for days on end).

Yesterday, we did our first "exciting" thing in weeks and for some reason, I was a complete wreck as the appointment drew closer: Cadence had her kindergarten assessment. For completely irrational reasons, I dwelled on the upcoming meeting.

Naturally, the actual experience was simple. We reached the elementary school and were greeted by a group of bubbly pre-teens who were running the table for their mom (principal? PTO president? counselor?) Either way, they were adorable in their way of handling the responsibility in a way only pre-teens can. They checked Cadence's name off of the list and walked her down the hall to a kindergarten classroom, leaving us behind.

Megan watched a movie on my tablet, Connor played a lockable color/numbers game on my phone and I watched the other parents and wondered if they were as excited/anxious/nervous about this whole kindergarten ordeal as I was, but didn't dare speak. I did get a few comments from one mom who admired Connor's... we'll call it tenacity as he frequently attempted to flee down the halls. And another mom reacted when I complimented her child's tiara headband as she returned from her assessment. We spoke briefly about how her kindergartner was also her oldest and she too had two younger ones at home. As they left, I couldn't help but wonder if that little girl would be in Cadence's class and whether she might become Cadence's best friend. Given the tiara, I imagine they'd have a lot in common...

Finally, Cadence returned, entrusted by the teacher to walk back down the hall by herself. She was all smiles as she talked about reading books with the teacher and naming letters and words that started with it and counting buttons and almost falling out of her chair.

Next Friday we'll spend a few minutes meeting her teacher, seeing her classroom and dropping off the pack of school supplies we'll be picking up at the kindergarten orientation Tueday night. With just over a week to go, I still can't seem to grasp that this is really happening.

I'm such a mess of emotions. I'm so excited for her to start school and have the new experiences and make new friends, but I am going to miss her like crazy. Though, I think Megan is going to miss her constant companion more.

Gymnastics

Man, I wanted to have some amazing pictures to share about the girls' gymnastics lessons. The problem? My camera sucks and the whole point of gymnastics is movement. So, 9 out of 10 images are blurred beyond recognition. Even with mom attending the last lesson and taking care of Connor to give me the chance to snag a few pictures ended up with few worth sharing. However, share I shall, because that's what I do here!

The girls enjoyed the class and were both a little sad when they realized today is Wednesday and they will not be going to gymnastics. "Hercules" is a poor substitute (though I did treat them to the summer movie deals at the local theater to go see "The Lego Movie" instead). Each day of gymnastics they practiced 2 different events. For four of the six classes, they did floor and beam, and the other two were spent on vault and bars. I think it was meant to be split evenly, but the week off for the 4th of July threw them off, I think.

Cadence, the one time they were allowed on the elevated beam. She terrified the coach by slipping out of his hands and jumping off the end, spurring every following student to attempt the same.

Megan's turn. These pictures are from a few weeks ago. The coach left the following week for a new job.

Floor exercises: Megan is doing a forward roll and Cadence is examining the cartwheel mat in the background.

Cadence attempts the cartwheel, but is so focused on placing her hands and feet in the correct spot, she forgets the ever important need for momentum to pull the move off.

Megan's turn to try the cartwheel.

A little coaching for Megan on the third floor exercise. Don't ask me to recall the name of it. They never did it correctly, anyway.

Practicing the Relevé walk on the practice beam.

So, it was a worthwhile 6 weeks. I'm already eyeballing the parks and recreation program for the rest of the year, but not signing the kids up for anything yet. Next year Cadence is eligible to take a martial arts class and a drawing class. I'm thinking the drawing class is going to be her summer project next year. Megan might be enrolled in gymnastics all over again. We'll see. :-)

For now, we continue to plod along toward Cadence's first day of school. I have a shopping list still that I need to tackle, but it has to wait another week or two. She has her uniform shirts and her backpack and lunchbox, plus all the school supplies on her list (through a convenient supply service the school works with to get a major discount for parents). Mostly, we need new shoes, socks and pants for Cadence, plus a few other odds and ends. We meet her teacher in just over 3 weeks! I still get a little teary-eyed over the thought, but I'm reaching the point of being excited to see her reach this new milestone, experience something new, make new friends... She's so excited and she's so ready.

Nana's Visit and then some

Nana has come and gone. It was a fun visit, but we're all missing her. It was a relatively quiet week, all things considered. We hung out on Monday, went to visit a cousin on Tuesday, headed out to the indoor playground on Wendesday, story time on Thursday and the zoo on Friday. Perhaps the most exciting moment was when we had a power outtage for an hour or so Saturday evening. But we made the most of it and went to a Chinese buffet until it came back on. ;-)

Waiting for Nana at the airport. The trio got a lot of "aww" looks from passing grandparent-type people. I'm betting most of the grandmas were jealous when they saw the cute brood waiting for their Nana.

Visiting Kerry in League City. Connor was enthralled with the small dogs and followed them almost the entire time we were there. My favorite part of the visit? Free Chick-Fil-A. Kidding. ;-)

At the indoor playground. Connor has no fear and does his best to keep up with the big kids even though he runs the risk of being trampled.

Getting off the carousel at the zoo with Nana. Megan and I sat on the sidelines when Megan had a mini meltdown over which animal she wanted to ride. But Connor and Cadence enjoyed it. It was a miserable day to be at the zoo, though. It was the only day that week it didn't rain, but the humidity was a nasty warning the storms were not yet over. Easily one of the worst days this summer to be outside.

Not from Nana's visit at the zoo, but I forgot to post these so here they are. This is from our trip to the zoo the week before Nana was here.

Roaming free. It wasn't busy and Connor was thrilled to escape the stroller for awhile. He made it all the way from the chimps to the giraffes before I scooped him up again.

They all rode the carousel this time without complaint.

Nana did bedtime a handful of times she was here. We checked out "The Monster at the End of the Book" just for the occasion, then she'd be sweet-talked into reading extra books. In this picture, Megan is "reading" the book she has memorized.

We meant to get this picture taken when we were all dolled up for church, but got distracted. So they're in their pajamas in their final moments with Nana. When they woke up the next morning, she was gone. *tear*

Reading Updates

Due to Cadence's personality, I have found she does better in learning when I just back off and let her practice on her own. If I try to push it, she shuts down and begins to insist "I can't do it!" So, when she came out holding a book, "The Empty Pot" and announced she had read the whole thing, I was floored. Of course, I've recognized her reading skills have improved as she reads signs and store names while we're out running errands, but I hadn't sat down to see how far she's come recently

So, I finally grabbed a few books and got her to read to me. I'm pretty sure she already has half the kindergarten sight words down plus another few dozen (for example "princess" and "frozen" and "brave" are recognized on sight). What's really astounded me, though, is the rules she's picked up on already. Over the past few weeks as she asks "what's that word" I would talk about "sometimes..." and explain how vowels work. For bedtime tonight, she read most of a book to me. She stumbled a bit over words like "lighthouse" and "seashells" (see-ah-shulls), but instead of getting upset she couldn't do it, she puzzled them out and asked for help.

Ah, maturity. At least... in some circumstances.

I attempted to gauge Megan's reading skills, knowing she's been attempting to sound stuff out on her own, but it turns out she'd memorized the book I had picked out to read with her. I don't know when she memorized it, whether it was from the few times I read it, or if Cadence has been reading it, or if she even puzzled it out herself by sounding it out, looking at the pictures and recalling what I had read in the past.

She is trying, though, so it means when I sit down and work with her, her skills will undoubtedly improve. For now, I'm giving her space, though, to see if she's a self-learner like Cadence or if I should give her a little guidance. So far, I've found she gives up a little too easily when I'm involved and expects me to provide the answer after one half-hearted attempt at sounding out a word she doesn't know.

Connor... is not reading. Surprise? He does like books, though, and will turn pages and ask "wassat?". His vocabulary itself is slowly evolving. At dinner today, he asked for "more" instead of his normal point and grunt. He shoved too much food in his mouth at one point and started to choke, which isn't funny, but once he spit the worst of it on the floor he went looking for Beau. I had to cover my mouth to not laugh too hard when I let the dog in from outside and Connor stood at the side of the table and called in a little stern voice "Beau!" and pointed at the mess with a stern look on his face.

He also discovered kisses this afternoon and has been giving them out by the dozens ever since. Of course, his first kisses involved biting, but he quickly corrected that. It was too cute when he hurt Cadence and then attempted to give her a kiss, but she was crying so her mouth was open and he couldn't kiss her properly. He kept tattling on her by calling my name and pointing at her mouth to get me to fix it. ("mom" by the way is a command, not a name, in his world. It means "something is wrong, now fix it", which is a pretty decent definition of mom in general, so it works). Anyway, when he couldn't give kisses he just kept patting her head, rather roughly, and climbing on her to give her hugs and attempting to get to her mouth again only to discover it now buried in her arm when she was curled up (prompting another bout of tattling on his end).

**My poetry contest, in case anyone cared for updates: The lack of internet for the last week of June meant I didn't get the poems submitted on time. I was able to get the prompts daily and I did finish them daily, but with no way to post them I got 0s on 4 of the days, which put me firmly in 8th out of 11 (or was it 12?) in the final scores. To say I was disappointed is an understatement. I didn't expect to place and I did do this mostly for me, but to have my name so far down on the list due to something I had no control over... Oh well. I have a handful of poems I'll probably transfer to my poetry folder, since they're decent enough, on the site and the rest will be tucked away**