First Day of Preschool

Last fall, Frank & I started thinking about preschools for Frankie.  (It's pretty competitive in our area due to supply and demand.)  I put together my trusty spreadsheet of schools that we wanted to research and then we set about attending open houses.  Chesterbrook Montessori was the first school that we visited and it immediately felt right.  After visiting other schools, we ultimately decided to sign Frankie up at Chesterbrook.  On Monday, 8/25, I took Frankie to school to meet his teachers, check out his cubby (yellow with a dog on it!) and drop off his slippers and extra clothes.  The next day, Frank & I attended parent's orientation and then, on Wednesday, 8/27, the new children went for two hours for their first phase-in day while the parents met for coffee and to dry each other's tears. ;) Frankie's first day was a hit!  Days two and three were a different story.  The mornings started with "I don't want to go to school" and he even broke out the excuses - “I’m too tired to go to school.”  Really?  They start this early?  And then came drop off.  Ugh.  It’s kiss and drop style where the teachers come to the car to get the students out of the car.  Well, Frankie cried and did not want to get out.  He literally grabbed onto the car seat and cried and screamed “I don’t want to go.”  It broke my heart.  The first time I asked the teacher if I should get out of the car and walk him in, but she assured me that he would be ok and would get the hang of it.  "I'm just going to take him out, ok?" she said.  I remember thinking, "yes, whatever - just please make my poor boy stop crying!"  I drove away with tears in my eyes.  But by the time day 4 came around, Frankie was excited to go to school!  And knock-on-wood, he’s been into it ever since.  Personally, I think someone has a crush on Miss Bethany - but the teachers tell us that he also enjoys snack time (go figure) and doing the dishes.  There are about 40 children that range in age from 3-5 in his class.  I know it sounds crazy, but it works - We observed the classroom before we signed up to believe it!  The Montessori philosophy is truly something special.  And it will be really cool when Frankie & Julia both attend together (they will overlap during his last year). 

It's tough to get lots of details out of Frankie about his school day but he will usually tell me what the snack was.  And sometimes he'll sing a song from the day.  Or at least tell me what the song was about.  He talks about the line on the floor – where they sit each morning.  And he loves to show off his jumping jacks (from morning yoga) at home which just consist of him jumping up and down.  The other day he told me about drawing a pumpkin:  “First you need to draw a stem.  And then an orange circle.”  I’m starting to hear him reference the months, too.  It’s amazing seeing him grow and learn and I’m thrilled that this was an easy transition for him!

Julia at 7 & 8 Months

Playing a bit of catch up...

Here's a look at our Julia over months 7 & 8:

• Right before our Nag's Head vacation (around 6 1/2 months), Julia started teething BIG time and cut her first tooth while at the beach! Over the next two months, her two top, front and two bottom, front teeth have come in - and she just had another top tooth break through last week!
• The girl can sleep!  Poor Julia was squeezed into the co-sleeper while we were staying at Aunt Laura's and waking up all.the.time.  As soon as we moved and put her in the the crib in her own room, she slept like a...well, like a baby! She typically sleeps from ~8pm through until 5:30am but a few times a week she will go until 7:30am.  It feels fabulous.
• She also saved another trick for the new house: crawling! After being in the house for a few weeks, she started moving all around. She has a funky half crawl, half scoot thing going on, but boy, does she get around! 

• Right around 8 months, she also started pulling herself up to stand.  Like stand up on the bottom step.  Yikes.

• Her favorite toys seem to be her brother's cars.  Which doesn't go over so well.

Can you hear Frankie yelling "nooooo" as she goes for his cars?

• She loves playing peek-a-boo! The best is when she's laying on her changing table and does it herself.  She'll pull her dress up over her face and then pull it down quickly and laugh hysterically when I say "peek-a-boo".
• The girl can eat. She's up to three meals a day. (When am I supposed to add in snacks, too??) She's had egg, shrimp, salmon, chicken, beef, rice, cheerios, baby rice cakes, cantaloupe, blueberries, pancakes, waffles - basically she's starting to eat a modified version, if not exactly, what we have for dinner.  And she loves all of it.  

Showing off those pearly whites - along with her love of blueberry pancakes

• She jabbers A LOT. Favorite sounds "mamamama" and "dadada". I swear Frankie never talked this much.  Maybe it's a girl thing?
• She loves clapping and does it all the time. 

Yay, Julia! (clapping)

• She loves dancing and has the cutest moves while sitting on the floor.
• She started waving bye-bye.
• She's learning all about the fun game of gravity - i.e. dropping her food on the floor when she's not in the mood for something. (I see watermelon, mom, so I'm going to drop this piece of broccoli on the floor.)

 

 

Happy Half Birthday, my sweet baby girl

My dearest Julia, 

It's hard to believe it's been six months since I first held you in my arms.  Hard to believe because in some ways it seems like it was just yesterday when my doctor held you up and Daddy and I gasped in shock, "It's a girl" - but in other ways the time that's past since vast.  How in just six short months have you grown from a teeny tiny newborn into this happy baby?  How in just six short months have you learned SO much? 

I'll be honest with you, before you were born, Daddy and I worried, "would we love our second baby as much as the first?"  Our hearts were bursting at the seams with love for your brother.  But then you entered the world.  And it was love at first sight.  Somehow our hearts doubled in size.  And that love has grown oh-so-much over the first six months of your life.  And it will continue to grow.  Your beautiful smile lights up the room and your joyful laugh makes my heart sing.  You are such a happy baby girl and I just can't get enough of you.  I could listen to your sweet little babbling all day long. I could smell your sweet baby scent all day long.  I could snuggle with you all day and all night.  You are precious and I love you so much, sweet pea.

Happy Half Birthday!

Love Always, 

Mommy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days prior to Julia's 6 month milestone, we made the leap and introduced her to solid foods.  Her first taste of the real stuff:  broccoli.  Let's just say it wasn't love at first sight, but it's sure grown on her.  

Up until now, I've been bathing Julia in the mornings but along with the introduction of food at dinner time has come the need for evening baths.  I decided to brave it and do both kiddos at once in the big tub.  Aside from a few minor instances, it's working out well - and Julia loves splashing around more in the big tub!

Solo bath time in the big tub

Julia is a talker.  And Daddy's little girl.  So, how appropriate that on Father's Day, a bit before her 6 month half birthday, she started saying "Da-Da".  

She is sitting like a champ and especially loves playing with her brother's toys.  (The feeling is not mutual.)  

Julia's 6 month stats:

Height:  25 inches (24%)

Weight:  14 lbs 6 oz (19%)

Head: 16.5 inches (34%)

And here's a side-by-side comparison of my two babes at the 6 month mark:

Thomas the Train

Frankie is a pretty big Thomas fan - I'm learning that most boys are.  But not every boy is lucky enough to be named after the train.  You know, like Frankie Thomas the Train DeMarco.  When teaching him his middle name, one time I said "Thomas, like Thomas the Train".  Well, that sure stuck with him.  Every time you ask him what his name is, he replies "Frankie Thomas the Train".  Maybe by the time he heads off to college he'll figure out it's just Thomas. 

Anyhoo...

Because of his love for the train, we decided to do a Day out with Thomas in Strasburg, PA.  We made a little vacation out of it and stayed at a great resort...

Pool fun

What's a vacation without ice cream?

and chocolate donuts for breakfast?

Like father, like son:  Their expressions in this pic make me laugh

We spent one day at Dutch Wonderland - really, more like half a day.  Frankie was pooped by 1:30ish so we headed back to the hotel.  But not before he got to ride plenty of rides and catch two shows!  It's a really great, small amusement park that's totally geared towards the little ones.

  

Our last day was dedicated to Thomas - Look at their excitement when we gave them the tickets ;) 

It was really, really hot that day, but they did a nice job with the event.  Other than the train ride pulled by none other than Thomas himself, we got to meet Sir Topham Hat plus their were lots of train related activities for the kids.  My, how our vacations have changed, but the smiles on the kids' faces makes it all worth it.  

Frankie was actually scared of Sir Topham Hat (look at the guy!)

Julia LOVES feeling Frank's hair, so riding on his shoulders was her favorite ride ;) 

Let Their Be Light!

Guess what!?!  We have electricity in our house!  Getting the utilities turned back on is a major milestone.  It took weeks and weeks for Dominion Power and Washington Gas to terminate our service and remove the lines prior to demolition and we knew it would take weeks and weeks to have them restore service.  But our new gas line is in and as of Thursday, power is on!  The remainder of the work in the house is contingent on power, so it came in the nick of time!  On Monday our hardwood will be installed and stained and finished throughout the week.  We are in the homestretch, people!  And it's SO exciting!

Over the past few weeks, our cabinets & granite have been installed, tile work almost completed, siding hung, porches framed, stone work started...Things are happening!  Now that we have our utilities and all of our site work decisions have been finalized, we are eagerly awaiting a settlement date, which should be towards the beginning of August.  We are so anxious!

Home, sweet home

Kid's Bathroom

Our Bathroom

I heart my kitchen!

Our Baby Girl is 5 Months!

Julia Ba-dulia...

At 5 months old, you're really starting to support yourself sitting up.

You still LOVE your brother.  He can get good belly laughs out of you and if you're in a bad mood, we just ask Frankie to act silly and you're puddy in his hands.  I love watching you watch him.  I can see the amazement and adoration in your eyes and hope it never fades.

You join Frankie and Mommy in our 'dance parties'.  While we dance around the living room like lunatics, you sit in your swing and kick your legs like crazy, laughing and smiling with at us.

Your little legs are getting the cutest pudgy rolls.

We just introduced you to the jumper which you enjoy...for about 15 minutes.  Your overall attention span doesn't last much longer than that no matter what you're doing.

You've started joining us at the table for dinners in your high chair, which you're not the biggest fan of.  I imagine once there is food on the tray, you'll come around, though.  Speaking of food, you are a grabber!  If you're on my lap while I'm eating, look out!  My plate has almost ended up in my lap on several occasions.  Not to mention the countless times your hand has ended up in my food.

You are the sweetest, happiest, most talkative little baby girl with a smile that lights up the room...and my heart.

PT

No, no...not physical therapy, the real PT:  potty training.  It's serious stuff, guys.  And hard.

All along I figured at some point during the summer, I would venture down this road.  We've been reading potty books with Frankie and I've been talking to him a lot about using the potty and big boy undies.  And then last week I asked Frankie when he thought he would be ready to start using the potty, thinking he would respond with something along the lines of "when we move into our house" or "when I get my big boy bed".  But, no.  Instead I heard, "Hmmm...I think Wednesday."  Well, push me over with a feather.  So, I went with it.  Except we started on "pretend Wednesday", which was really Thursday since on Wednesday we drove to Arlington for our weekly house status meeting.  

On Tuesday, we went to Target and Frankie picked out his big boy undies:  Thomas the Train and Cars.  (What else, right?)  

On Wednesday, I enjoyed my last trip worry-free of potty accidents.

Thursday was go-time.  

I read and heard a lot about naked time, which honestly scared me.  I mean, with a boy, that stuff could spray anywhere!  Opting for the next best thing, Frankie hung out in his undies for three straight days.  The first day I questioned if he was really ready.  The boy peed every 15 minutes.  Seriously.  Little drops here and there.  Every 15 minutes.  We went through about 15 zillion pairs of underwear.  Ok, more like 12, but still.  I would sit him on the potty every 15 minutes and he would get M&M's and stickers for trying and for successes.  On day 2, I felt like he was getting the hang of it a bit - at least he was able to hold it so it wasn't spurting out every 15 minutes.  We spread the potty increments to every 30 minutes with still pretty good success.  Day 3 we only had a few accidents.  And then on Day 4, we decided to travel 3 hours to visit family.  Good idea, right?  It was a total last minute trip so I didn't have time to order a travel potty so we were winging it.  No drinks in the car and pull-ups.  Oh - and cross our fingers that he didn't pee too much all over our family's house.  Well, we only had 2 accidents and on the way home, Frankie even peed and pooped in a McDonald's bathroom!  I cried victory.  

Since then, we've changed to pull-ups at nap time.  Frankie decided that he liked his undies so much that he didn't want a diaper at nap time.  (Which I learned by finding him naked...laying in sheets wet with pee after two naps.)  He even pulled his "special nap time undies (pull-ups) off once.  I heard him calling me after being in his crib for about 30 minutes and when I went in he told me "my sheets are vet".  Well, yes; yes they are, Mr. Naked.  He had peed while standing up so it was dripping off his crib slats.  Honestly, I was thankful for a #1 accident and not a #2 disaster!  (We have had one minor poop accident where he just forgot to tell that he had to go, but at least that was contained!)

Yesterday we ventured to the Shenandoah Discovery Museum and I just nagged him the whole time.  "Frankie, do you have to go potty?"  "How about now?"  After trying twice, he went the third time right before we left to come home.  No accidents!  And with a little bribery (hello Oreos and M&Ms), he is getting better about telling me that he has to go.  He's still in night time diapers and I imagine he will be for quite a while - but for now I think I can say Frankie is almost potty trained!  Nice work, buddy - Mommy and Daddy are SO proud of you!

showing off those big boy undies

cheesing on the potty

nothing like a little iPad bribery to get him to try every 15-30 minutes!