Friends and a drawing

Jeanne refused to nap today, so we played with beads and pipe cleaners, then she wanted to draw with markers.  I set her up and left her be.  After 15 minutes,  I wandered over to see how her drawing was going.  She usually doesn't sit and draw too long, ends up drawing all over her body (thank you washable markers!), but today, for the first time, she was drawing a picture.  Her first, she told me, was of her musical balloons (yesterday I filled 6 balloons with different items to make noise, rice, bells, beads, etc)

Then she drew this:

This is her story:
(on the left) is the mother, she is very tall (she has eyes and a mouth, legs, feet, then all belly).  In her belly is all her food she ate, she likes food.  (the center character) is the daughter (she has eyes, a mouth, hair, arms, and lots of legs and arms), she ate lots of  things with holes and salt, she loves salt and she's so happy!  (the dots around them) are birds in the air and on the ground.

Also today, we watched a couple of friends while the Mom ran to a meeting.  I brought out two bins with colored rice, measuring cups, a funnel, and some safari animals.

Still engaged after 20 minutes      o_O

Lovely girl loved the animals the most, she had me name them all at least 6 times.  If any of them lost their way, she would gather them in a pile and ask me to name them again.  

Lovely girl corralling the animals in a bucket while Loki chills in his car.

They all played, used the sidewalk chalk and the sensory bin for over an hour.  Success!

I am trying to teach myself french braiding.  Someone recommended I cross the hair under, that it would keep the stray hair better.  I am still trying!

June 2012, Jeanne turns 3 years old

Well, that went by quickly.  I was looking at shoes for Jeanne yesterday, only to realize I was looking in the baby shoe section.  Yeah, that won't work anymore.  Here are a few photos from her birthday bash.

FAMILY PARTY:

Water blocks from Uncle L and Aunt C

Another magic wand.  Really, can you have too many?

Freeing the plush birds with gusto!

Yes! Fruit to cut!  Sweet!

Chilling out with my balloon.

The destruction!

FRIEND PARTY:

Best Buddies

How many kids can fit in this chair?  Lets find out.

Yeah for work friends taking time off to come play!

Looks like little man is ready to go FASTER!

We love to walk through the woods:

BUTTERFLIES!

Day 2 of caterpillars 

Day 4

Day 7.  It was so neat to watch them

We released all 5 butterflies on Jeanne's birthday weekend.  It was so awesome.  We both loved watching the caterpillars eat and grow, grow, GROW!

PLANTING:

I just placed the potted plants in the dirt while waiting for them to wake from their nap.  Loki was so excited to see them.  He didn't 'get' planting them, so Jeanne did all of that.

Loki did love watering the plants though.  Who doesn't love to splash water?

...some time later

Yes, I see that it has been quite a while since I last posted.  What have we done since then?  I dunno really.

We went strawberry picking at our CSA.  That was a blast, and Loki loved sitting in the dirt and eating all the best strawberries while I picked (sub-par berries one would say...).

Jeanne went to a class on how animals communicate.  It was very well done and involved the kids in making many animal sounds and even dancing like a spider.  While it was for 4-5 year olds, Jeanne was very well behaved, attentive, curious and absorbant.  It was a thrill to see and made me realize that I am completely stifling her by looking at activities/toys geared for 3 year olds. I know I want to get a butterfly hatching set for her, and would love any other ideas that involve science.  She already has a book on metamorphosis, and that has peeked her interest a little more in butterflies.  I'll have to do more searching for books like that.

Loki is sleeping much, much better these days, several hours at a time even.  We no longer rock him to sleep, but rather I will nurse him or Daddy will give him a sippy cup of almond milk and read him books.  Sometimes, both kids are sufficiently tired that we put them to bed in the same room, Daddy reading and me holding Loki.  I like that we have finally made  it to a 'one room' nighttime routine and am looking forward to it becoming more regular

My favorite though, is that Loki now wakes up from naps with a mere mew, as opposed to a gut wrenching scream.  It was a long, long year of screaming, and no one is happier than I that Loki has finally figured out that I will always come to get him as soon as he wakes up.  Of course I say this, and the days when he reverts due to sickness are pure torture to be sure, but I am choosing to look at all the positive things right now.

As for me, I am trying to streamline my day with the kids as well as LET GO.  I am so strict, so nagging, so fixated on messes and control.  Jeanne is and can be an exceptional child, and I do not wish for her to worry or tiptoe about everything she does.   Yes, we rent, so I do not want her running through the apartment with a sharpie, or dumping the bottle of glitter on the rug, but I really need to find ways to let her be a KID.  With that, I have removed over half the toys (to be switched out later), gathered all the 'baby' toys to be given to an expecting mother and gotten lost on Pinterest and  Play at home mom.

Well, that's it for now.  I will try to find some suitable photos to share and hopefully I will come back soon!

Some happy moments (delayed posting)

Sorry for the delay in posting these photos, I thought I already did it!

MeMaw and Papaw wanted to get cupcakes for the kids.  Jeanne is enjoying the strawberry shortcake one. She only ate the frosting, which is a disgusting 3" tall.  Not surprisingly, she reported a stomach ache within 30 minutes.

Loki had the carrot cake one.  

The Bakers March 2012

We visit the NC State Veterinary School 

She climbed every fence there was

Little man chillin'

My babies looking at a baby sheep

Little Miss kept cutting the line to climb all the tractors.  She buckled herself into this one so no one could kick her out.

This is my 'Mommy Group'  We circle the wagons (strollers) and all the kids partake of lunch!

There was free ice cream.  Yum!

My poor boy sneezed and coughed so much, I have him benedryl before we left for home.  All passed out, finally able to breath (a little)

Seriously, how old does she look in these photos!

Our first trip to Pullen Park!

Refusing to look at the camera.....

I have since got her a neck pillow, poor thing.