Happy Halloween!

Princess Belle

Day at the park

Claire's 4th Birthday

Claire has been waiting for this day since she turned three! She was so excited too, because Mema and Papa were coming in town for her birthday, and so was her best friend Bella. I kind of made the mistake of showing her where we were having her birthday party about a month before the party, so just about every day, she wanted to see pictures of where she was having her party. We counted down to her birthday with a started a countdown calendar on the iPad, and then she wanted to know every day how many sleeps left until her birthday. Mema counted down the last few days with a new birthday present every day. Then the day arrived. Wow was this kid excited! We had a prince and princesses in a magical forest party at Moonpaper Tent with 15 kids. What fun! The kids got to dress up and then go on an adventure, make a craft and get a treasure. It was a bit gypsy like, but perfect for the kids and bringing out the imagination. Claire had a blast.

For her actual birthday, Mema, Papa and I took her to do the Ride the Ducks tour. It was a bit miserable outside with the weather (cold and pouring rain), but Claire didn’t care. She bopped around to the music on the duck and loved every second of it. Then we took her to see dad at Starbucks so he could wish her a happy birthday. That night we had another cake for her and she was glowing ear to ear. She had the cake a little late (8 pm), which made her stay up late as well because of the sugar. Oh well, only on her birthday.

Claire was blessed with so many presents. She’s really into crafts and coloring now, and just about every gift related to one of those. Busy girl.

Claire as a 4 year old:

1. Loves dancing and singing. Anytime there is dancing on TV or music playing, she’s dancing along with it.
2. Smart kid. She calls us out on things if she knows we’re lying.
3. Loves coming into our bedroom in the early morning to snuggle.
4. Loves mac and cheese and peas, spaghetti o’s, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, carrots and snap peas. Won’t eat fruit unless it’s from a fruit cup. LOVES ICE CREAM!
5. Wants a princess story told to her every night before she goes to bed.
6. Loves Dora the Explorer and the movie Tangled.
7. Only will wear something if it’s pretty (dresses, skirts or something sparkly). Won’t wear jeans.
8. She’s learning to read, but won’t practice reading at home with us, only at Tree of Life.
9. Is shy when she first meets people, but typically opens up within 15 minutes and is your best friend.
10. Loves to color or play on the iPad. This kid is smarter than me on the iPad!
11. Very opinionated. Tells you what she likes and doesn’t like.
12. She’s a total ham! If you laugh at something she does, she keeps going with it. She loves seeing people laugh at the things she does.
13. She’s very protective of her sister. She wants to help her in every way she can, but doesn’t really want other kids to get in Maya’s way.
14. She’s one of a kind. She’s smart, great personality, a go-getter, and will try almost anything.

Happy birthday sweet princess!

Claire's bday

Ear tubes = walking!

This last year for Maya has been rough with all the ear infections she’s had. She’s had five of them and has had to take multiple antibiotics for three of them because she couldn’t get rid of it. So we decided it was time to get ear tubes. They worked so great for Claire, and we don’t want to see Maya suffer anymore. So I took her to the Bellevue Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to schedule the surgery. Fortunately they were able to schedule it that week. So I took her in on a Friday morning at 6 am in Issaquah. I was a little concerned that she would throw a fit because I woke her up so early and she couldn’t have anything to drink before surgery because of the anesthesia, but she was fine. She slept a little on the way in, and then slept on me while waiting for surgery. The surgery is maybe five minutes, but I can’t be with her. She came out and was still sleepy, but she did great. They told me to give her a bottle, so I did. That was probably a mistake because it made her throw up in the car on the way home. Yuck! She was crying and the car seat was a mess! She slept for a bit when we got home and then woke up in the afternoon as happy as can be. Didn’t even phase her.

 

The next day we were hanging out, and all the sudden she started walking on her own! She’s been attempting walking since 10 months old, and holding our hands ever since, but never walking on her own. The doctor said that the ear tubes might help out her equilibrium and that she might walk soon, and he wasn’t kidding. She didn’t just take one step, she took about 20! We got the video of her first steps, and big sister Claire was so proud. Maya was thrilled to be walking as well. She was squealing with delight. So proud!

Maya's walking!

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59fAZlqCZ4Y&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Sent from my iPhone