Getting ready for the Holidays and Parade

These are my favorite shots from the Christmas parade, night at the hotel before the parade, the infamous Christmas sword balloon and fun by the tree

Fun with Leaves

Thanksgiving Pictures

Glasses!

Taken moments after we picked up Bobby's "Iron Man" glasses....

Pictures with Johnnie and Jordan

Happy 6 months Tim!

I cannot believe my sweet baby boy is 6 months old today! I remember Spencer coming to visit us in the hospital when Tim was born and thinking that I couldn't imagine that Tim would ever be Spencer's size - then 6 months olds. Now - Spencer will be turning 1 and here we are - Tim turning 6 months old. The time is going by way too quickly but I am eating up those big cheeks as much as I can.

Posts from the busy first week of December and Thanksgiving to come!

Thanksgiving, Sitting up and Fun

Another milestone met - Tim is officially sitting up! He can go for almost 3 minutes without taking a tumble.

Bobby is counting down to Hanukkah. Tonight we made homemade applesauce - yum! Ready to put on latkes tomorrow! I also baked honey cake which Bobby declared "delish" and said he was proud of me. Love it. He also bragged to his class about his Dad's transformers that he played with over Thanksgiving and how he slept until 8 this weekend. Pretty funny story!

Thanksgiving in Tucson flew by! Tim's first flight which went well. Good food and good time seeing family and friends. Posting pictures tomorrow. For now - bed and hoping Tim gets back to sleeping through the night! Not that I don't love seeing him but maybe just closer to 7:00 a.m.

Glasses and Growing

Yesterday Bobby had a rite of passage of some sort - his first pair of glasses. Last week, Rob and I began to notice that Bobby's left eye was starting to cross when he would try to focus on things. Not wanting to let it linger on, I -with Rob's help -set forth to find and make an appointment with a good pediatric opthamologist. After some persistency, we were finally able to got an appointment yesterday - a cancellation and his last appointment before leaving for a month. Whew! Long story short - Bobby now has glasses for at least 6 weeks and then hopefully this condition will be getting better. Will keep you posted! Until then - we are getting used to his new look that I think he pulls off very well! His first day at school with glasses went really well - lots of compliments and he proudly showed off his "Iron Man" glasses. Glasses have always seemed to be something that children dread. I was not upset when I got mine - I thought they were cool and seems to feel that way too. Like I told him - many a super hero has glasses. He shows me that it really is all about your attitude about things that makes them good or bad.

Tim gets bigger and bigger every time I look at him. He is so long now that his feet are dangling slightly off his cradle swing. I will post some pictures tomorrow. The days seem to go by so much more quickly with him than with Bobby - probably because things are busier now keeping up with big brother. I am trying to enjoy every second with his sweet smile and kissable cheeks.

Good night and sweet dreams!

Happy 5 months Birthday!

Happy 5 months to Tim! I am belated by one day. He had a very rough night last night - almost every hour teething. Not a great way to spend your 5 moth birthday evening!

Bobby's teacher meeting and Tim's Post Op

This week, Rob and I had a very early meeting with Bobby's teacher to find out how he is doing at school and Tim's post op appointment. Toward the end of each semester, da Vinci teachers hold parent/teacher conferences. I like it because it is VERY thorough evaluation so you get a very good idea of exactly where he is in meeting skills, learning new ones and what he does all day - since he doesn't tell me much. It went very well - the way you would want any teacher conference to go! Tim's post op also went really well - he has gained a pound since surgery and everything looks great. No more visits! So Dr. Biavati - it was nice meeting you but I hope we do not have to go back to your office :)

Our Sensitive Soul

Bobby's teacher describes him as a sensitive soul and I agree. At the Arboretum, he wanted to go sit by himself on a hill overlooking the lake because he didn't want the lake to be alone. Yesterday and today, he has been asking constant questions about where the meat we eat comes from. I have tried to be honest about the whole process on a sensitive 5-year-old level but it has been tough - he said today that he may want to be like "one of the dinosaurs that doesn't eat meat" :) I'm not too worried - he likes hamburgers too much!

Halloween 2010

The day started with a trip to the Arboretum to have fun with Carrie, Bryan and "baby" Davis. Then back home for the neighborhood party and on to trick-or-treating! Bobby then came home to greet the crowds of trick-or-treaters coming by. Tim - the cowardly lion -was awake for pictures with Dorothy and the Scarecrow and then slept as we trick-or-treated. It was a very fun day!

It Wouldn't Be A Special Occassion

unless Bobby throws up during it :) Happy Birthday Rob!

Teething, Teething and More Teething

Ah yes - that time has come. Tim is teething and it is bad. Maybe time erases memory but I don't remember Bobby's teething being quite as bad. Poor guy! So - we stock up on Orajel and other soothers and take it one day at a time.

Here are some pictures from some cute moments over the past few weeks - including the cutest cowardly lion ever. Superman took a back seat after I found this costume.

Baby's First and Our Little Gentleman

Tim had another first - his first surgery on Monday. All went well. Recovery was rough but he did well by Monday night and was back to his normal happy self by yesterday. We are all VERY happy it is behind us and his breathing is sounding much better.

Bobby has been doing great at school. His teacher stopped me yesterday and said that he was "the most gentlemanly" in the class. I told her that was one of the nicest compliments she could have given him :) I was also up at school today with Tim for his Play Wisely and decided to camp out after class and watch the kids at recess while we waited for Bobby to get out of class. Bobby's class was outside and there was a lot of rough play going on with the boys - picking on one boy in particular. I watched Bobby stand up for the boy being picked on. I couldn't have been more proud.

Even More Zoo and Feeding Giraffes

Pictures-Zoo

Weeks off and Grandma

Bobby's school was closed for a week the end of September to move into the new building - which extended into the following week by 3 days as well. What to do with a week off? Have fun! Fair, Zoo, park and playing at home. It was great fun and we all really enjoyed it. Bobby did enjoy finally going back to school last Thursday. Grandma came Saturday and we had a great time - plus another trip to the Fair. School is in full swing now - field trip tomorrow, Fall Carnival coming up, pictures....busy! Pictures to come tomorrow. Good night for now!

More highlights....smiling and Bobby cam

Highlights from past 2 weeks-Yuyu, Tim's ET Impersonation and brother time

Time Flies

I realized that I have not done a post in 20 days! So much to tell that has happened- a fun visit from Yuyu, birthday parties, a quincernera, PlayWisely for Tim, soccer, baseball, an oven (finally!) and this week - a week off from school! The da Vinci School's new campus is ready and the school staff close the school this week to move so....we are enjoying great week off. Monday the boys and I went to the Fair. We ate corn dogs, played Midway games, watched some children shows and walked through the children's barnyard. It was so much fun and we can;t wait to go again when Grandma comes to town. Tuesday we went to the park and played at home. Yesterday, park again to meet up with classmates, lunch date with Daddy and then home to play. Today, Spencer comes! The weather has been perfect this week and we are going outside as much as we can. I have lots of pictures to share from the past 2 weeks and will post later today!

What a Week - Happy New Year

In between hurricanes, cars "bonking", Timmy catching his first cold, Spencer choking, Bobby throwing up and another allergic reaction for me - I think we should be maxed out on excitement for the week. Nothing like ringing in the new year with a bang! Good news - everyone is fine. Just not wanting to leave the house :)

3 months

And all cheeks! Timothy started PlayWisely today at Bobby's school and seemed to like it. It was a fun 20 minutes with 2 other babies. www.playwisely.com

Bobby's First Week of School-Recap

Below is a note from Bobby's teacher - he loves her (and so do I)

Hi,

I wanted to send a quick note to let all of you know that we had a great first week of school! Everyone seems to be settling into our routine and our "home away from home" is working out just fine- especially the playground!! We spent our first week of school learning about fish and their special characteristics. Everyone enjoyed dissecting one in class for a real up close and personal look. We started working on simple patterns and enjoyed a couple of stories from the George and Martha anthology. These stories focus on the qualities of a good friend so they are perfect as we establish our classroom of caring individuals.

This week our class will rotate to Ms. Stacey's room to learn about the author Harry Allard and the illustrator James Marshall. We are looking closely at this pair and other works of theirs (George and Martha is written and illustrated by Marshall) in preparation of our field trip to Dallas Children's Theater in October where we will see the production of Miss Nelson is Missing. Rotating teachers is unique to our curriculum and will be continued throughout the month (my class will learn about mammals from Ms. Carrie and birds from Ms. Jenna). We feel this shared curriculum will unify the PreKindergarten in a special way and allow us (the teachers) to get to know all the students so that we can better support one another throughout the year.

Back to School Night is coming up in a week, but please know that you can contact me with any questions or concerns prior to it if necessary. Additionally, I want all of you to know that I have an "open door policy", even if the door is closed:) This means that you are welcome in the classroom at any time. The only exception to this is at the end of the day when lunch is concluding and I want the children to clean up and put things away independently. Thank you for respecting this classroom ritual.

I hope you enjoy the attached photos. Some that may need explanation: The children follow the red line to the playground every day; I've been known to burst into the song "Follow the Red Line" from time to time:) Check-in in the morning is often at a vertical surface to promote good fine motor placement, afterward it's free time. Ms. Janet is our music teacher for the year- she's great! We love this playground!

Smiles,
Andrea

Another Milestone

On Friday September 3 - Timmy slept through the night! He has consistently slept from 8:30-9 to between 4-6 since then. Happy Labor Day weekend to us!

A Whole Hand Old - Bobby Turns 5

Some pictures from the school and home party - followed by dinner and games at Chuck E Cheese!

Spencer's Baptism

Spencer was baptized on Sunday August 29th - the last event of the "Stricherz" weekend :) Here are some pictures from the day. Funny moments - Bobby wanting to join the youth service and wanting to know why the people going to the front of the room were getting bread:

To my Mom - Grandma, why are all of those people going up there. Wait - are they getting BREAD?!?! I want some bread. What are they drinking from those cups? I'm starving - I want that snack too.

Old Friends and Baseball

On Friday (8/26) - Bobby, Timmy and I spent the day seeing my good friends from college - Aunt nicole, Uncle Bo, Aunt Gita and Baby Jaidan. After some fun playing at the kid zone in the mall, we headed to lunch to meet up with Gabe - uncle Bo's brother and outfielder for the Oakland A's. Bobby was VERY excited to meet him! After lunch - we made a quick trip home and then headed to the ball game to watch the Rangers and A's in action. We had a great time and Bobby really loved knowing someone playing in the game - very cool! I have attached a picture of Bobby walking with Bo to our seats.