Allie's walking!

Finally!!! Yesterday Allie decided to put aside her pride, face her fears, and piece together 4-5 steps....she hasn't stopped since! All day today she was walking. I've now seen her take as many as 8 steps at one time and travel half way across our living room before grabbing on to something or going down on her hands and knees. Certainly it's still easier for her to crawl, but it seems as though, when she wants to go somewhere, she at least tries to walk first rather than immediately giving in to the crawl. I expect she will only get better every day...I'm hoping she's a walking pro by the time Will gets here!

I grabbed the camera today to capture a few of her steps...





Nikki

Allie's first school art project-Father's Day 2009

When I picked Allie up from school on Friday, there was a brown paper sack in her cubby hole that said "To: Daddy, From: Allie". Although I was very curious as to what this package might be, I went on the assumption that it was a Father's Day gift for David and brought it home so that he could open it with his other Father's Day presents on Sunday. As you can see, a very pleasant surprise awaited us....I'm sure David was very proud to be the recipient of Allie's very first school art project.




Nikki

Update on Baby Will

Well, it's getting closer...only 9 weeks to go until Baby Will's arrival. I'm counting down the days (can you tell?)! Things are moving along quite well. Everything is fine at each of my doctor's visits. No problems at all...same as with Allie. He seems to be growing well. At my 28 week visit, my belly was measuring at 27 weeks, but by my 30 week visit, my belly was measuring at 32 weeks, so it appears that he had a little growth spurt. I could definitely tell.....It was like my belly grew overnight. David and I had actually commented the day before my 32 week visit that it seemed like my belly suddenly exploded outward. I'm feeling pretty well, just getting really tired chasing Allie around (she's constantly in motion and we've now entered the "suicide watch" phase with her...she climbs on everything and has no fear of falling!). So, other than being exhausted at the end of the day, feeling like a whale, and being really, really hot, things are good.

Will's nursery is also all ready for him. We have a new crib and changing table and little boy decor in the room. The closet is beginning to fill up with little boy clothes (no trucks/bull dozers or farm themed items allowed!). We've also recently purchased two double strollers (time to get rid of our cute little pink and brown girly single strollers), but we haven't assembled them yet. And of course, we have a new "boy appropriate" car seat (again, gotta get rid of the pink/brown stuff), so I think we are pretty much set for his arrival....minus a few minor things that I need to pick up over the next couple of weeks.

Now, time for me to begin the mental preparation for what it will be like to have a clingy 15 month old and a newborn....that may be the biggest challenge yet! Send your postive thoughts my way....PLEASE!!!!

Nikki

Allie's first day of school....

So, this is a day for that we have been waiting on for quite some time....it's Allie's first day of school! David and I knew that we wanted Allie to start school at an early age to develop her social skills, and we also knew that we wanted her to be exposed to many different cultures and languages as early as possible. Luckily, we found the perfect school......The International Preschool is a school in our neighborhood that offers everything that we were looking for. We found the school many months ago when Allie was just a few months old, and back in February, we registered her for classes for this summer and this coming fall. This summer, Allie will attend one day each week, and beginning in the fall she will attend two days each week throughout the next school year. The school has classes up through kindergarten, so we're hoping that Allie will love this school and attend for many more years. Each week they have designated days to teach in Spanish and Japanese, and the kids are exposed to many other languages and cultures throughout the school year. We are so excited that we were able to get Allie into this school......Now, let's just hope she loves it as much as we do!

This morning, I dropped Allie off at 9am. When we arrived in the classroom for the first time, she was ready to get down and play with the toys (whew!). I sat her down and spoke to her teacher, Ms. Angela, for a couple of minutes while I emptied the contents of her backpack into her cubby hole. Allie was tentative while playing, but content. I left my phone number for Ms. Angela who said that she would call me later with an update. Allie was still tentatively playing on the floor, so I snuck out without her seeing me (I think/hope!). I'm not sure if sneaking out is the right thing to do, but I didn't want her to cling to me while I tried to leave....I hope I made the right decision. So, while I can't say that she didn't cry, I can say that I didn't HEAR her cry....and isn't that half the battle!

Ms. Angela called at 10:45am to let me know that Allie was doing just fine. She hadn't cried at all, although she was starting to get a little fussy because she had not taken a nap....I guess there's just too much going on in that little classroom for her to lay down and sleep (Allie usually naps at about 10am each morning). They had been outside to the playground, and they were back in getting diapers changed and getting ready for lunch.

I picked Allie up at 12:45. When I walked into the classroom, she was playing with some cars on the floor. She seemed very content, although you could tell that she was obviously exhausted. Ms. Angela said that she never did nap, and she had a couple of bouts of being a little whinny simply because she was so tired. She ate all of her lunch, which I was happy to hear. Ms. Angela kept saying "she is such a sweet baby!". We gathered up her sippy cup and blanket and packed it back into her backpack and headed to the car. Allie was waving goodbye to everyone and was laughing and happy while walking back to the car. It took her about 3 minutes to fall asleep....

So, all in all, a great first day of school for Ms. Allie....now, let's see how next Friday goes!

Allie's very cute backpack!


Ready for school.....and EXCITED!



Nikki

One year and counting....

Allie is one year and counting....not walking yet (sigh....), but she is taking a couple of steps by herself. We're just waiting for her to let go and take off...it shouldn't be long!

Here's a couple of cute shots that I grabbed this week....Allie has finally discovered that she LOVES her sunglasses....very cute!






Nikki