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Allison

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween
The kids were so fired up for Halloween. Katherine lay awake until 10PM last night telling me, “I’m so excited. I can’t sleep! (yawn)” Anyway, she headed off to school today dressed as a Chinese girl for Cultural Halloween. After Kindermusik, she come home to join me, Allison and my mom. Steve’s parents also stopped by for pictures of the kids dressed as Minnie Mousse.

A couple of funny stories:

Steve’s Mom: “Allison, what are you going to say when the door opens?”
Allison: “Helwo”
Katherine also took it upon herself to hand out candy after about 30 minutes of cold trick or treating with Allison and Steve. Here’s what would happen:
1) Doorbell rings
2) Katherine swings open door, profers candy, “Take any two pieces”
3) Allison scoots or skids to the front door to take her place next to her sister.
4) Allison exclaims, “I have gwowsticks!”
5) Kids says thanks. Katherine shuts the door, carries her bowl to the stairs and waits for the next kids.

Both girls were exhausted tonight.

Steve’s Birthday
This was perhaps the biggest blowout in family history:

1) Thursday – we constructed a new basketball hoop in our garage starting at 6:30PM and ending at 11PM. Lesson: it takes at least 3.5 hours to put one together, backwards!
2) Friday – we had a huge family party at our house. Steve, his cousin, uncle and Katherine manage to fix the basketball hoop.
3) Saturday – we go car and couch shopping. Steve and I go to dinner with friends.
4) Sunday – I finish car shopping. we go to the Trilogy Halloween party.

Funny enough, we’re not done yet with birthdays since Katherine’s birthday is right around the corner. Between this, various nasty colds, volunteer work, a trip to NYC, a broken dishwasher, and everything else, it’s been one of the craziest months ever.
Kid Conversations
We try so hard not to laugh at their conversations these days. One priceless story occurred while Allison had a cold and my mom took care of her. Apparently they went to QFC for a donut (why, i’m not sure). Allison peered into the donut case to select a chocolate donut. She carried it to the counter for my mom to pay. On the way out of the store, Allison tried to eat it and dropped it. Out of the sky, a crow flew to grab the donut. A week later, they’re back at QFC and my mom buys a donut for each kid.

On the way home:

Allison: “Kafrine”
Katherine: “What?”
Allison: “Kafrine, Pau-pau and I went to QFC. We bought you a chocolate donut!” Allison is also quite the comedian or jokester. I had noticed for a couple days an odiferous smell in the minivan. Rhetorically, I asked her as we were buckling up to pickup her sister from school, “Allison, what is that smell??” She replied, “Kafrine!” (Note: it was her car seat. I hosed it down a couple days later.)

For Halloween, Steve had decided to dress up as Professor Plum, completing a Clue team at work. He worked hard to dye a cheap blue suit that he bought at Value Village. I watched as he wrung it out and then put it through the wash, and then as he pulled out a….blue suit! Anyway, the next day he wore it as reading parent at school and then to work. The kids got the biggest kick out of it. Katherine called Dad, “Professor Plum.” Allison declared at the party, “Happy Birthday Professor Plum…Ha Ha Ha Ha” in gales of laughter. She got such a reaction from family members that she repeated it over and over for good measure with lots of laughing.

 

Swimming Like a Fish

Swimming Like a Fish

Allison has been taking her swim lessons the last two weeks with great results. My mom described her as a fish – moving her arms to reach her swim instructor with face underwater and eyes wide open. We’ve all been very pleased…including Allison who put her windup frog in the tub tonight and said “Ready….Down!”

We’ve learned lots of little tips to make swimming easier, such as us moving forward with Allison facing backwards in the water so she doesn’t get water up her nose. I’ve learned how to hold her in the water, so she can move her arms and legs without grabbing me. We’ve also learned how to hold her and proceed with “Ready…Down,” so she enters face first into the water from the side of the pool. Like her sister, Allison now jumps off the side of the pool. ๐Ÿ™‚

Developmental Updates for Allison

Allison is definitely two now! We have moments of stubbornness and upset, but she is still open to discussion and distraction. Other updates:

– Allison can count up to 5 or 6 items with 1:1 correspondence pretty reliably.
– She engages in all sorts of conversation with us and Katherine.
– Her spatial and matching skills are progressing, sorting through 48 insect puzzle pieces to find 4 ladybug pieces, 4 spider pieces, etc.
– She’s finally starting to outgrow her 18-24 month clothes.

Developmental Updates for Katherine

Katherine has really been turning a major corner to age five. Steve and I attribute better listening and higher energy levels to a weeklong regiment of iron drops, then a move to Flintstones Complete with Iron and more iron-enriched food. How did we figure this out? I took her to the pediatrician, who recommended a blood test to measure iron levels. Katherine did not appreciate the blood test, but she braved through the tourniquet and needle to receive a dollhouse bathroom set. As we suspected, her iron was on the lower side. We’re going to keep up the vitamins and such – fingers crossed the energy sticks. Other news:

– Katherine loves Kindermusik class and the glockenspiel (think small xylophone).
– She makes her own PB&J sandwiches for lunch, adds soy chips, a few chocolate covered edamame (iron rich) and stuffs them into her Princess lunch bag.
– Katherine enjoys washing dishes, surprising my mom who asked her to wash not expecting Katherine to actually do it!
– She’s eating a lot more food. My mom says it’s the B-12.

After a hard first couple days missing her old third year friends, Katherine is enjoying school and bringing home lots of intricate works. Today she brought home a rainbow letter work for the sound of the week “A.” Per teacher instructions, she drew a picture on the back of the “As.” What did she draw? A picture of Allison in her crib, looking out her window to flowers outside. She also brought home a full on cut and pasted picture of the new food pyramid, another piece of paper with grains, one more with protein, etc. She seems to have a greater appreciation of eating a well-balanced meal!

Camping At Lake Wenatchee

The highlight of Katherine’s summer was our camping trip over Labor Day. We stayed two nights, with both girls in bright pink sleeping bags and delighted at the prospect of sleeping outdoors.

Highlights for the kids: s’mores, hot chocolate, tent, flashlights!, playing with inflatable tubes in the water, ice cream in Leavenworth…

Lowlights: horseback riding for Katherine (Allison loved it), waking up bright and early due to various camping noises, packing/unpacking…

Haircut #2 for Allison

Haircut #2 for Allison

The girls went to see Shara yesterday for their hair cuts. What was the big attraction – movies? train table? toys? Nope. It was the complementary lollipops hanging for the children to take when they are done. Allison ate her lollipop in 3 minutes flat. Katherine nursed hers along for about 20 minutes through Redmond Town Center.

Research Picnic

Last Saturday we attended the MS Research picnic on the soccer fields on campus. It was an amazing experience for the kids – many of the amenities of the MS company picnic for the Research division. The girls went on pony rides (no waiting in line!), bounced on a variety of different bouncers (again, no lines), ate a small bit of cotton candy and had their caricature drawn by an artist. They ate grilled salmon, mac and cheese, had popsicles and popcorn and even got goodies bags with animal hats! Towards the end of the evening, the kids sat next some friends to watch a Native American Indian dance. Katherine talked about this all the way home, “Mom…why were they wearing masks? Why were they wearing costumes? Why did they say BOO?” and so on.

Young Frankenstein

Once every while, Steve and I will go out for a date night. Last Saturday we headed out to Seattle to have a nice dinner and then see the pre-Broadway premiere of Young Frankenstein. Steve asked me on the way in, “Why did you choose this?” I didn’t have a terrifically great response other than it sounded like a good idea!

Were we in for a surprise or what?! The show was very funny, and the cast members were terrific. The Seattle Times gave it an OK review, but clearly the writer had seen the original movie, as had 99.5% of the people in the theater. Speaking as a person who has not seen the movie (yes, I have a deprived life, and it’s on my NetFlix list), the show was great!

What do you want to do tomorrow?

What do you want to do tomorrow?

Allison have a little routine that we do each night. I ask her what she’d like to do the next day, and she comes up with the most interesting responses …examples below

  • “I want to ride a pony. Katherine ride a Big Pony. I ride a…pony.” (referring to the MS research picnic last week)
  • “Go to Chuck E. Cheese”
  • “Blow bubbles”
  • “Eat Food” (pronounced Footd)

Yesterday we drove back to our house. Allison spied long clouds in the sky and exclaimed, “The Blue Jets go Loop de Loop!” She’s also picked up Katherine’s habit of asking, “Mom, are you ready?” the song before “It’s a Small World” on our Disney musical DVD.

Danger Girl

Allison is still very much in her crazy, no fear phase. Yesterday we took the girls to a park which has a low wood walkway through wetlands and a park that resembles a castle. On the way back to the car, Allison decided to try and walk along the side rail of the bridge which is just a couple inches tall. I spied her trying this and asked her to walk in the middle of the bridge. One minute later I heard Steve exclaim, “Allison!!!” She had put her foot back on the rail and toppled straight into the tall grasses a good 18-24 inches below the bridge. Steve leaped into the grass and fished out a slightly shaken toddler. Allison had a slight scratch on her arm and lots of grass stuck in her clothes and floppy hat. No other injuries…sigh!

More On Swimming

More On Swimming

I’ve finally downloaded a gazillion pictures from the camera, so you can see what the kids have been up to this summer. First three pictures show a very happy Katherine diving for pennies, floating around the pool and waiting for her turn to jump off the diving board. What did we do or say to help enable the turnaround? Besides leaving the pool area, I talked to Katherine about the need to swim well (for pool parties among other things), how she overcame her fear to learn how to bike, and how her Grandma Dottie used to be a champion high school swimmer. Funny enough, Katherine told me after class that she told her swim teacher, “My Grandma used to be a champion swimmer.” Her teacher who has probably heard it all said, “Cool.”

Training Wheels

Katherine has been begging all summer to ride her bike without training wheels. This seems to be an opportune time, especially since she’s outgrowing her 12″ wheel bike. Steve has raised the seat as far as it will go, and it’s time to give the bike to Allison.

Last weekend, after more practice on a balance bike (doesn’t have pedals), Steve took off the training wheels of the little Trek bike. They spent half an hour riding around the neighborhood before Katherine asked him to put the training wheels back on. They then went for a Huge Ride to the Redmond Ridge Community Center – a good 1.5 miles in each direction. Not only was Katherine pooped afterwards, but also Steve since he had to push Katherine on her pink bike up a few big hills on the way there and back. This was also Steve’s first ride on his bike since breaking his collarbone.

We’ll probably keep practicing sans training wheels over the next couple weeks. Once she gets this down, we’ll head back to the bike store and buy a new pink bike.

What did Allison do while Katherine practiced? She lounged in Dad’s camp chair drinking water and eating almonds. ๐Ÿ™‚

Blue Angels

It was an ambitious idea that kind of worked. It all started when Steve and I talked about whether the kids would be ready to watch the Blue Angel show during Seafair. The kids overheard and asked, “can we go see the blue jets?” So, we hauled the kids into Seattle and parked near Steve’s old office building in Leschi to see and hear the show. We ate lunch at Perks and got a great spot on the pier to watch the show. Unfortunately, the sun, blaring music, crowds and boats were just too much for Katherine. So, Katherine and I ended up standing underneath Steve’s old office building overhang. Allison and Steve were in the parking lot, and we *really* experienced the show. Most memorably we got buzzed a couple times by a huge plane before the Blue Angels, and we saw the Blue Angels go flying by over Lake Washington and the boats quite a few times. This conversation with Allison afterwards says it all…

Mom: “Did you like the Blue Angels, Allison?”

Allison: “The blue jets were LOUD!”

Company Picnic

This was a surreal experience for me, but the kids loved the MS company picnic. Despite the 85+ degree heat, big crowds, a huge field to walk across and long lines, the kids had a nice time. Their favorite part…free ice cream! They also bounced in the toddler bouncing houses, checked out the bigger kid rides (but didn’t try) and wandered around until Allison’s nap time.

Bowling

Last summer our potluck group raised a nice chunk of change for a kids activity. This funded a nice bowling expedition to Tech City Bowl. Just imagine 4 and 5 year old kids hurling 6 pound balls down the lane…Anyway, it took almost an hour, but Katherine’s bowling group of three finished a game. She scored a whopping 60 something, largely because she kept putting her hand over the line thereby negating several of her second bowls. One big highlight for the kids was the $3.50 milkshakes. Next up…Jump Planet!

Idylwood Park

Katherine and Allison have several favorite parks that they love to visit. Among them is Idylwood Park on West Lake Sammamish. I took them a couple weeks ago and they had a blast with a couple little friends. Memorable moments:

  • Katherine and Allison lounging in their “hottub” (pool made out of sand)
  • Allison walking into Lake Samm up to her shoulders (ack!)
  • Katherine falling and taking her sister with her into Lake Samm (only 4-5 inches of water)
  • Allison surfacing, only to have her sister accidentally push her down again
  • Me grabbing Allison who said thru sandy hair and water, “I’m OK…I’m OK!!”

Developmental Milestones

Allison is a full-fledged two year old. She has a sunny disposition, a larger than life sense of humor and a great deal of persistence. She freaks out when a family member (often me or Katherine) does something that she wants to do. Examples: putting on her shirts, putting her straw in her sippy cup, going to get something. What we hear is, “I can do it…Noooo…Noooo…Don’t do it…I can do it!!”

She’s grown very attached to certain pieces of clothing, asking about the whereabouts of her A shirt or her warm shirt which is pink with stripes. Allison revolts at wearing some of her new summer clothes and ironically loves her hand-me-downs.

Allison speaks in full sentences and is aware of phonics when asked. For instance, today I asked her what letters the words Grandma and Lamby start with. She thought hard and answered each after some consideration. On the other hand, she still gets some of her lower case letters mixed up, telling me that a “u” was a “n.” We counted to through thirty nine in the car.

Katherine and Allison can play together for a limited amount of time without intervention. After about 5-10 minutes, I will often hear “noooo …. nooo…Katherine took my <toy>” or I’ll hear “Mooommm…Allison messed up my <toy>.”

If they’re in good spirits, they’ll decide to do pretend play together. Latest game is putting on ballet shows on top of the train table. Allison can now fully outfit herself in hand-me-down ballerina and shoes from Katherine and pretend to do first position (with feet right next to each other!) Katherine loves trying to teach Allison first through fifth position and tapping in her shoes.

Speaking of which, Katherine is turning into quite the helper these days. She is turning the corner to five, which means a greater adherence to rules and desire to help other family members. Katherine makes her own bed now when asked, puts away toys in her room, helps with clean dishes and laundry occasionally.

Allison receives lessons in not only ballet but academic works. In the picture below, you’ll see Katherine teaching her sister how to write a capital A. I caught Katherine telling Allison, “you go up, down, then across.” Allison, who desperately wants to keep up, kept muttering to herself, “up down across” as she wrote As, then Bs and Cs and other letters on the dry erase board.

Just about Normal

Just about Normal

We’re almost to week 5 after Steve’s injury, which means he’s almost back to normal. I still hear the chunk-klunking sound from the ice machine every night, and Steve still ices his shoulder regularly. But, he can now finally give the kids their baths. According to our doctor, we’ve got one more week until he’s pain-free. Fingers crossed we reach that milestone soon.

An Up and Down Week

This week has been one of extreme moods for Katherine – first apprehension and worry and then upmost satisfaction. Given recommendation of several folks, I signed Katherine up for group swim lessons with a private instructor this past week. Ms. Susie was fabulous and lived up to expectations.

Day 1 – Katherine got in the pool and followed teachers’ instructions…until it was time to jump in the pool at the end of class. I had to carry her to the diving board, with her crying up a storm. Teacher grabbed both arms, and plunked her in the pool. Katherine’s face didn’t even get wet.

Day 2 – Katherine went to class and whined for the first 10 minutes. She hopped out and started crying. I finally left the pool area (took a walk) after handing her to Ms. Susie. Katherine must have cried for another five minutes before doing everything the teacher asked, even jumping off the diving board. I re-appeared at the end of class to find her in good spirits.

Day 3 – Steve delivered her to class and tossed her in the pool to the teacher. Katherine did everything without complaint. I showed up in time for the jumping, and Katherine exclaimed proudly that she did everything!

Day 4 – At Katherine’s request, I sat by the edge of the pool and cheered her on. Everytime she did something with the teacher, she’d look up afterwards to make sure I saw her do it. Today she even went “googles down” to dive for pennies. Ms. Susie grabbed her arms and pulled her whole body into the pool from the diving board.

Katherine can now go goggles down, and swim from the teacher to the poolside seat (about 3 feet) underwater. She’s much more comfortable in the water, working with the teacher and/or a kickboard. We’re going to class again week after next to help solidify her learning. Meanwhile next week we’ll visit some other pools to play and practice. I’ll be sure to post pics of Katherine in the pool with her shark googles – which are hysterical. She would pull them down before working with the teacher. Then after finishing and while watching the other kids, she’d pull them back onto her forehead.