Belated Birthday

I promised myself I would post pictures of Connor celebrating her birthday before Taylor's birthday.  But in all fairness, having two kids born in the same month is crazy.  Anyway, for Connor's birthday this year we had two family parties.  The first celebration was a 'Pooh-l' party at my parent's house on Labor Day. Obviously, we wanted to use the pool, and we had a 'Pooh' theme.

 She couldn't wait to get her little hands on her 'Bee-hive' cake.

Pool hair

Taylor is a fish in the pool...but was freezing when we took a break for cake

I just love T's face smiling up at Connor in this one

Oh yeah, she blew out her candle on her own...first try, no spit even!

Opening gifts

Snuggling new clothes

I love that they want to play with everything we opened

Connor is actually a really good present un-wrapper.  I know, that probably does not come as a surprise at all.

Oooh!  A shoe box!

Clothes! Yay, let me take them to the person who gave them to me.

And show you how they fit....

Reading cards

I had to explain what a 'piece of paper' inside of a card meant to Taylor.  She got the concept when I said we could take it and go buy something at the store.

Oh boy - babies!

Taylor & Evan checking out her new Princess books

Another baby! - A Princess Baby even! OH MY!!!  (Taylor was a little jealous, Aunt Steph told her she would take care of it ;)  )

And this is how she spends most of her time with her babies, carrying them around in her little arm.  

The day after Labor Day, we had Andy's side of the family over for dinner.  I did a terrible job with the camera, so there are very few pictures of Andy & Connor opening gifts....

Allison and Connor were having a staring contest, apparently.

Musical cards!!

Trying on her new Elmo baby Jayhawk shirt!

Shop till you Drop

Mid-snack, she finally passed out. At least Target has super sturdy straps to hold her in.

Taylor & Connor...Unplugged

Friday morning I was woken by a hot, sweaty almost-two year old around 5:00am.  I picked her up, and realized that our fans weren't running.  Then flipped around and looked at the clock - to notice it was also black. A nasty storm had started the night before, and apparently knocked out our power.  In an all electric house with a well, you don't get to shower when there's no power.  Daycare called around 7:10 to let us know they were also without power - so we couldn't even let the girls escape our hot house.  So - without power, AND water and all of us at home (because you know Andy shouldn't go to work without showering!) we went to Quick Trip for breakfast and bathroom breaks in the morning.

Donuts & milk from QT

She is the fastest donut eater I've ever met.

Coloring extra boxes...surprisingly entertaining.

Playing dress-up...or dress-down I guess. They thought sticking those sticky jewel things to their stomachs was so much fun.

And once we convinced everyone to put their clothes back on, Connor thought she should model Taylor's shoes.  Shes got a lotta growing to do....

Power finally came back on at noon, but not soon enough for our milk and about everything else in the fridge. That made for a reeeeeally fun afternoon.

Friday Afternoon at Work

I've accomplished all I'm going to get done this week.  I've got a long list to start on for next week, but if I do it all now, what will I do with myself next week?  OH right, go to the 60 hours of meetings scheduled for me.  Well, I'll blog a little picture instead.

This is what happens when you have an almost 2 year-old who is crazy.  Refused to put her clothes back on after getting her diaper changed at the pool.  And decided to try and do a somersault into the pool....crazy.

Scatterbrain

Stay with me on this one.  It's going to be all over the place.

Taylor went to Sanayia's birthday in June (A friend from school)....pool party!  They had a really great time playing.

I have no idea why Taylor is scrunching down so much in this picture.  She looks like a runt in comparison, but really - she and Sanayia about the same size.

Then we hosted Meinen Birthday Fest 2011.  Papa Tom, Grandma Ginny, and Anya's birthdays were all celebrated.

Grandma even made shirts!

Taylor went to another friend's birthday - Norah's Jump 4 Joy party.  It was really hard to get a good picture of them having fun, but this is the big slide they spent most of their time on.  Taylor is the one at the bottom of the slide in the pink tank...Norah is headed up the steps.

We've been swimming a lot. Cause, you know - IT IS HOT.  

Uh - someone's glasses are a little crooked.  And someone seems to be sticking out her belly :)

Last weekend we went to Deanna Rose Children's Farm in OP.  Only $2 a person!  We saw a cow getting milked, and hung out with some goats and took a tour of some teepees.  And then, it was HOT.  We'll definitely go again.

Parent Teacher Conference #2: Taylor

Last Thursday was Taylor's conference.  I took the day off and spent the morning at the Downtown Lawrence Sidewalk Sale, cleaned a bit at our house - then went to daycare.  Taylor's teacher, Miss Debbie,  is from a Montessori background, so she spent some time also explaining how they do learning in her class.  Overall - very good report on Miss T.

Taylor is so thoughtful of others and very respectful.  In the classroom, the kids aren't asked to 'Share', but to wait for their turn.  Taylor respects the 'take your turn' rule very well, and when she is done with something, will make sure to pass on the activity to the next person waiting.  (Maybe we should stop saying 'share' at home - pretty sure Connor doesn't give a toad's toe about either way you say it!)


She is very very well spoken and articulate for her age.  No problems with expressing herself or verbalizing anything. She is very creative with language, and very imaginative. (no kidding...)


Loves dramatic play (again - Shocked) and dress up/make-believe time. Loves anything that they do in the classroom that has music or art involved.


When doing her art, she has a plan of attack for each project. Where some kids like to fill the entire page, if that isn't in Taylor's plan - she isn't going to do it.  Everything is placed on the page(sculpture/item/whatever) with a purpose.


Enjoys 'social life'.  Taylor has definitely moved past the parallel play stage.  She has a couple of 'best friends' in the class, and she wants to do everything with her friends.  She sometimes will make decisions just based on what they are doing.  Miss Debbie said she is trying to make sure that she asks Taylor first some day's , so that she does what she really wants - not just to hang around her buddies.  I was a little worried about that - but Miss Debbie really emphasized that she feels that T is purely after the social interaction.  She said Taylor is very independent, knows what she likes/doesn't like and doesn't have any problems expressing those opinions.  So...maybe unnecessary worry on my part. She is only 3.5.   


Lunchtime is about 90% talking, 10% eating. But she eventually eats everything when she realizes that everyone else is done and off to play without her!  (I received two detentions in my entire life, and they were both for talking.  And I was shy.  I'm afraid we are in for a lot of 'it wasn't my fault - they were talking to me first' when she is 13)


The only time they ever see tears or an upset Taylor is when someone invades her space.  Miss Debbie was full of praise in the fact that T has never, ever shown physical violence towards anyone at school...even the boys who can get pushy and aggressive.  She is very vocal about expressing her concerns, so she does a good job using her words instead of her appendages.  She is very 'in control' of her emotions.


Overall - just a joy in class.  She relates well to others, and loves to help. 


There ya go...what I can remember anyway. Now for the schmooze: I'm reminded again how lucky & how great things are for us.  Can't be happier with my two little girls and what they've accomplished.

The End.

Parent Teacher Conference #1: Connor

Our pre-school started using an assessment tool in each classroom to help track, monitor, and enhance the daily lives of our kids. They started using the 'methods' back in February, and this week and next we have our first set of parent-teacher conferences.

Today features Miss Connor Anne.  I am not sure what I was expecting, but I tried to re-cap everything the Toddler 1 Teacher told me:

She is completely in-line with all of the milestone's for her age-group.  Even verbally, she is showing more expressiveness in language and babbles are becoming words.  Again - tracking right on.  Some other great things that Connor does:


She handles her emotions really well for her age.  She knows when she is upset, and will go grab her blanket or a teacher for some 'support'. (Sometimes both!)  Usually, after a few minutes of snuggling with one or both of those things - she is right back in a great mood. (They have apparently not seen the tantrums she can throw - as demonstrated below. OH - I know what's wrong - we didn't have her blanket here.....YES - that's it.)

She makes friends well in the classroom.  She has 3 best friends (Ben, Amelia, and Desi) They love to dance and play with each other.


She comprehends and understands directions very well...and will act on a 'command' without a visual cue. For example - you tell her to wash her hands, she will walk over and do it.  You don't have to point or show a hand signal.


Her communication and verbal skills have really begun to blossom in the last few weeks.  She communicates really well with the other kids in the class - either in their own 'language' or in signs.  Her words are now becoming less babbles and more understandable.  She sings along to things - and can sing the tune of the abc's (although we can't understand the letters she is singing!).


Connor loves to participate in the songs that have hand-motions/actions.  Like the itsy-bitsy spider, et al.


She is like a little mommy in the class for some of the younger kids.  She pats them on their back at nap time and will bring them their blankets. (Sometimes she even pats her own back at nap time!)


She is really good at balancing and walking on the balance beam in the gym.  She loves to do that whenever we are playing in there.  


So - all in all, good review. The teacher said she really likes having Connor in class, and is just amazed at how much she's changed in the last year.  I think she is really thriving there as well, and am again so happy we are at this daycare center.  Don't worry - I told the teacher that, too :)