airplane

Mommy is off to the airport in a few minutes to get on an airplane to Kenya.  Oh boy!  Meetings in Nairobi for four days and then 2 days of safari-adventures.  Mommy is going to miss all three of these guys very much!  Hopefully there will be many  happy wheelbarrow rides and other fun moments at home and stories to tell when Mommy returns!

 

par-tay

When you are freshly four and suddenly find yourself the center of attention during your birthday party and everyone is singing to you and waiting for you to blow out the candles sometimes you just have to focus on your coloring.

You know, really really concentrate...

Happy Birthday Abby!  What a fun zoo celebration we had on Sunday!

After looking at this photo several times I just noticed that Nate is strapped to my back!  Hi Nate!  Thanks for coming to Abby's birthday party!

When a whole bunch of 4 year old pals come to your party, they bring their parents and some siblings along too..... estimates come in at about 40 people total at the zoo to celebrate Abby's big day.  Wooo hooooooo!  Let's all bounce around on the pizza playground after we eat our birthday cake!

Abby was sure about one thing on her bday party day: she would wear her purple princess dress over her regular clothes.

This was slightly out of character for Abby who is usually not into all-things-princess.  But it did lend a festive air to the occasion.  And one family of Japanese tourists did ask if they could take her picture (um..no).  Then they asked if they could feed the animals at the kids farm (um, no again!).

Abby & Sofia scoot around on some mushroom slices while Emma conquers Mt Olive.

Hey...was there a princess in that olive?

Nate found a new favorite activity during party cleanup time... pushing a plastic chair around the patio....makes a really loud scrapy sound that Nate just loved!

 

dear nate: sleep please

Let's talk about Nate.  Nate is going through a serious 18 month sleep regression.  Unlike when Abigail was this age we do not find ourselves with abundant time to consult baby sleep books, etc.  So we turn to our bloggy friends and family to complain (a little) and look for advice.  Let's take the last 24 hours, which were particularly unusual: Nate was awake and screaming from about midnight - 2:30am on and off (this is not the unusual part...this is the new normal).  If we go into his room he stops crying immediately and is quiet as a mouse and seems to be sound asleep...until you try to leave the room and return to your own bed.  In other words, it seems Nate would like some company in his room all night long.  This has led to one of us sleeping on the loveseat in his room some nights, to shush him every time he cries out.  It has also led us to try the old cry-it-out plan, which is painful for everyone.  After Nate's choppy choppy night he slept in until 11am (that is the unusual part of this story...Natester usually wakes up around 8:30am).  Woke up, chowed down, and was like "what's the big deal?"  He went down for his nap at 3pm (usually would be 1pm) and we had to wake him up for dinner at 5:15 (usually would wake up on his own at 3ish).  He was happy to see us, happy to eat a little dinner, and eager to play in the sandbox.  In an attempt to get back to normal sleep schedule, Jamie put him in bed around 7:30, and he is still in there wide awake and chatting to himself and talking about choo choos.  It's now 9pm.  What will the night be like? No one knows..... Send advice, please.  

little dancers

Last day of this session of ballet class and parents were invited in for the last 15 mins of class.  Who would have thought that Abigail would love dance class so much?  Not us!  But she does!

Oh to be Ms. Liz and be soooo adored by 9 little 4 year olds.

Abigail's love for ballet class is definitely related to having good buddies in class with her... Georgia and Emma, and today Sahana (who is usually there on a different day!)

Waiting for stickers at the end of class.

With buddies Emma and Sahana.

And then we went to Bella's birthday party!  WOW.  Abigail's buddies will meet up at the zoo tomorrow to celebrate her birthday!  Stay tuned....

 

summerish-spring

What a warm spring this year!  Looking forward to the trees growing some leaves so we have a little shade chez backyard again.... in the meantime, Nate seeks shelter in the little casa and leads us through the hand motions for "head, shoulders, knees, and toes"!

Abby is 4.  If you see her in person, she'll tell you that herself.

Sitting on the sandbox lid.

Getting cozy.

Nate's new favorite activity... don't try to offer him a hand.  If he could say "self, self" he certainly would.  Flashbacks to Abby at this age when "self, self, SELF!" was a very common phrase.

It was "N" week at school and they made noodle necklaces!  And one of Abby's preschool pals let her borrow this fancy pearly necklace for 2 days!

Courtesy of our neighbors across the backyard fence... a dumpster with "Get R Done" written on the side.  Melissa & Jason, this one is for you!

Joint effort: sprinkle sandbox sand everywhere!

 

abby is 4!

Happy Birthday Abigail!  The day started bright and early.... Here's Abby opening presents in the dark at 6:30 am while eating oatmeal with mommy and papa!  Natester, as usual, slept in.  Check out that plush flowery piggy bank!

Four is looking good!

At four Abigail has a funny sense of humor and gets the "gigs" a lot.  Potty humor features prominently.  (And we were wondering why "toot" is one of Nate's few words...hmmmm.)

So much fun to open cards from friends and family far away!

After a big day of playing, we get down to serious birthday business and dish up the cake.

Sugar Abbs.

The sillies strike.

Add cake to the (short) list of foods that Nate enjoys!

Post-cake stroll.

Spring has sprung!  A record breaking warm week here has made the blossoms pop.  Different weather than it was four years ago today!

Finally, it sure is fun to do birthday flashbacks:
THREE
TWO
ONE
BIRTH DAY

fun games

Leading each other around the house with a measuring tape!


Surprisingly fun!  Give it a try!

This activity lasted about 10 minutes...

Walter and Nate keep an eye on the raking project outside....Papa and Abby had a rapt audience!

W&N.

 

daylight savings breakfast

The breakfast bunch on Sunday morning... Abby and Walter catch up over waffles.  Nate sleeps in.

Action shot.  After breakfast we had a fun visit to the zoo!  Lions and tigers and llamas, oh my!