Throwback Thursday Safety Town Edition

Me at Safety Town in 1986 (looks like I was in the grey group too and didn't learn not to tailgate)







Ellie at Safety Town today







While so much changes...it's all still the same!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tummy time champion

Cal spent time hanging out in his rug and doing some tummy time this morning. He is a champ. At daycare the reports are that he loves it more than older babies and doesn't fuss much.






In fact, I have been told by several of the teachers that he is so happy and they haven't heard him cry or fuss. Every morning when we walk in he gets lots of "hello Calvin" and "Calvin, you are so cute!" and smiles from all the teachers we pass by. It definitely makes leaving him at daycare easier for me.

Report from Ellie last night was that Safety Town and her day were great. After Safety Town Ellie and grandma went to the library (intending to pick up a single book)...but 2.5 hours later they finally left. Apparently E played with blocks, a computer game, and even a therapy dog.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Um...so what now?

Last night Cal was down by 7:00 and I was eating dinner by 7:10. I haven't eaten dinner before 8:00 on a week night in like 8 years (yes I understand my oldest is 5, I'm going with an exaggerated VEF here). I was some eating by 7:20. I wasn't sure what to do next. There wasn't a lunch to pack. I'd washed the bottles while preparing dinner. It was weird. So I did nothing. It was nice!

Nick got home around 9:30 last night. His flight was delayed coming home so he got home about 2.5 hours later than expected. But he made it and promptly went to bed upon getting home.

Cal was a happy camper this morning. Should be since he slept well from 7:00 till 4am with one pacifier put back in. Then he slept after eating at 4am till 6:50am. Apparently he is feeling better now as he is sleeping much better (without swaddling as well!). At daycare he was happy to see friends and play with toys.






Apparently the first day of Safety town went well yesterday. Ellie was very excited to tell us about the day and how they will get to ride the tricycles today. The tricycles are "cars" in the little town (complete with buildings that are the home base for each group of kids, Ellie is in the grey group and at the Police station) while other kids walk the sidewalks and cross the "streets" to learn pedestrian safety. Apparently she was excited to be back at Safety Town today!












It's nice to see that some things never change. The name tags are still felt with masking tape safety pinned to the kids shirts. The buildings look the same, but with a new coat of paint. Although Ellie said there was a toy store and a cafe...I don't remember those being there (I remember a school, police station, bank, church, fire station...there was 8 I think).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Rite of passage

My little almost kindergartener is partaking in an annual rite of passage for pre-k kiddos in Santa Barbara this week. She is attending Safety Town. I went when I was 5. Susie went when she was 5. It's been around that long. Susie and I were even counselor a at Safety Town during junior high and high school summers. And now Ellie will don the bright yellow shirt and octagon name tag, and learn safety related songs as she rides tricycles in a mini-city. I'm so excited for her!

This morning I was excited to get to sleep in an extra 15 minutes because we wouldn't have to swing past Meher to drop Ellie off. However, Cal had a major blowout in his carseat which was a nice surprise when we got to school. And unfortunately both teachers were busy with the other two kids (feeding and diaper change) so I had to take care of Cals mess...which took 15 minutes! Grr. And I didn't get a photo. So enjoy these from the weekend.









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Just lots of things going on...

So Nick is in Chicago for a guys weekend. I'm not jealous at all. I mean who wants to go to Cubs games, hang out downtown, sleep in a hotel, drink beer in July in Chicago and hang out with some of your best friends. Especially when you could stay home, have someone drool or spit up on you on a regular basis, brush out horrible tangles, sleep 2-3 hours at a time, constantly answer questions that typically start with, "can I eat..." Or "will you help me with...", clean cat vomit off the couch, and pack lunches!

Today Cal had his 4 mo well visit. Little man weighed in at 17lb 4 oz which is the 85th percentile. Head is 43.5 cm (75th percentile) and height is 25" (48th percentile). I think he is bulking up to have a serious growth spurt soon. He's still congested with a cough but the ear infection is gone. Doctor was happy with his growth and "tricks". He even spit up on her!






Before his appt we had a chance to have a special breakfast.








Today is Ellies last day of summer school. Aka her second last day at Meher (she will have a third last day, and final last day, after August day camp in a couple weeks). And in true celebratory fashion it was costume day! She went as a mash up of Elsa with fairy wings and a magic wand. THats okay, her friends went as Hulk/Cap America and Batman/Superman mashups! She wore the Elsa dress I made which I was a little overprotective about, but if she's not going to wear it and show it off, what's the point of having made it? I did tack up the cape so it wouldn't drag on the ground.









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Field Trip!

Today Ellie is going on a field trip with school to Eaton Canyon for a nature walk. She was very excited about the adventure. Neither Nick nor I was a chaperone for the trip, but Ellies good friends parents who we regularly hang out with were both chaperoning. So this morning I got Ellie all set for her "hike" which included convincing her to wear pants (which she immediately rolled up but said she would roll down for the hike), packing her backpack with a water bottle, hat, and a fruit leather, finding her school shirt, and writing my phone number on her upper arm (just in case!) we also talked about what to do if she got separated from the group (find the nearest shade, it's supposed to be 100 today, sit down and stay put until an adult finds her). And I took her car seat to school for the short drive to the Canyon (she was to ride with her teacher or our friends). As it is now after 12:30 here, they were supposed to be back at school at 11:30 and I haven't gotten a call, I guess everything went well.







Cal and I didn't have a great night. He woke up at 2 to eat. And then he woke up at 4 wanting to eat and then he wanted get up and play. Well that wasn't happening. And so he cried and fussed for an hour until he fell asleep. The little man apparently doesn't like to sleep with a lot of space around him and likes kicking the crib rails (like he did in the bassinet) because he always turns 90 degrees to be the wrong way in the crib. And this morning I figured out a way to do the nebulizer treatment without having to hold him for 20 minutes. He seemed to like it as he could see more and we could interact with him more.









- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Oh! It's a race!!

This morning I had to be at the office at 8:00am. Now lately I've been trying to practice getting out the door at 7:30am as Es kindergarten starts at 7:50. So I want to make sure we are all ready to get out the door and get her to school on time. A real challenge today to get me to the office by 8 for a meeting. It takes 40-45 minutes to get both kids dropped off. So yeah, we walked out the door at 7:16 and I walked into the office at 8:00 on the nose. Success! Even Cal was happy!









(Yeah, kid is a chunk right now).

As a side note I got a fitbit. It is interesting to note that on a normal day (not when I'm in the field) the majority of my steps and active minutes come from the crazy race that is getting out the door in the morning. I've been logging an average .5 mi just running around the house!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

You say you want a awesome blogpost, well, you know...

I had to work instead.

Sorry Ive had Beatles songs in my head lately and Revolution is the latest to be stuck there. So you are supposed to sing the title and the first sentence to Revolution. Yeah I change words to songs like a sorority girl during rush week, what of it?

Busy morning. Busy day.

Ellie looked especially cute in her new pink dress that fits really well. She said she wasn't going to smile. I dared her not to.













Cal was happy to be at daycare and get some attention from his teachers. He took a 3 hour nap yesterday! But also had two big poop blowouts and lots of spitups and went through ALL his extra clothes at school.












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Big crib. Little man.

Over the weekend we expanded Cal's crib and moved him to his own room. He was getting a little big for the bassinet and it was about time that we were both sleeping in our own rooms. He slept pretty well requiring 2 pacifier put ins and one feeding overnight. But he was definitely feeling better this morning as he was much more smiley, giggly, and just all around happy. Ellie in the other hand was a little cranky...









This weekend we succeeded in getting E a haircut. We tried a new place owned by the woman who did Ellies first haircut and I really liked. I'm glad we found her and were able to support her new venture! Plus, Ellie got a special little braid which the stylist colored blue (rinsed out with water) and added some sparkles. Fortunately E saw friends over the weekend (her social life is better than mine) and got to show it off.







She picked her own outfit this morning...her choice and decision.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pajama Day!

Ellie has been looking forward to today for a year. It's Pajama Day at school! The kids wear their jammies and will have breakfast foods for lunch. Also, they will have a little movie time in the afternoon complete with laying out of sleeping bags, stuffed animal friends, and snacks. She was moving way too fast and excitedly for me to get a picture.






She also was excited to bring her fairy house to school for sharing. She has waiting all week for today to share her fairy house with her teachers and friends.

Cal on the other hand...kid has been coughing and been congested for almost 2 weeks so I called the doctor yesterday. Poor thing has an ear infection so we got some antibiotics for that. And the doctor was a little concerned about his cough, especially considering family history of asthma, and so we are now using a nebulizer with albuterol with him twice a day or as needed. Hopefully this will kick the cold to the curb and he will be back to his super happy smiling (and sleeping) kid. And how do you pass the time at the doctors office? Selfies of course!












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Nicks alarms

I often get asked how Nicks TV morning news schedule affects me and Cal. About 30% of the time Cal and I both sleep through Nicks alarms (which start at midnight and go off every 15 minutes...not how I would do it but it works for him). So what about the other 60% of the time? Well half of that Cal and I hear them and Cal just needs a pacifier reset or to be swaddled with arms in (if they were out) for him to settle back down, maybe a brief rocking to get him to fall asleep. But the other half...like last night...he is awake, angry, and hungry. And because the alarms go every 15 minutes, I could have him fed and calmed down...and then the alarm goes off again and we have to start the settling down process all over again and we end up being awake for 90 min up to 2 hours. Thus, another reason to get him moved to his room.

I let Ellie sleep in an extra 15 minutes and it totally paid off. She was happy and helpful. She got herself dressed and put on shoes. She didn't complain about sunscreen or rushing out the door. She joyfully ate breakfast in the car and remarked how much she LOVED blueberries. At school she settled in with a new sorting/organizing toy thingie.







Cal was up at 5:45am and after our long awake period last night because of the alarms nobody was happy. But he had some awesome tummy time while I pumped this morning and took a little nap in the car between Es school and daycare. He woke up upon arrival at daycare though. He was the first kid there this morning and got some extra attention from his teachers and did some "baby aerobics". He was happy and smiley when I left.












- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone