Montessori Home - Toddler Community

I can't believe it is almost 2011. To me 2011 means I head back to work. I have decided to return to work part time (35 hours a week which in the Public Accounting world means 75%). By working 35 hours a week I am able to keep 100% of my benefits and I don't have to work 55+ hours a week during January - April.

You are all probably wondering what the plan is for the kiddos when I return to work. I realized a few weeks ago that it is still really tough for one person to watch both of the kids by themselves for an extended period of time (more than 3 to 4 hours).

We have decided to do a combination of child care and at home care (aka Nonie, Mommy and Daddy watching the kiddos at home). For child care, Pennington is going to attend Montessori Home twice a week.

Below is some information about the Montessori Home.

The website is http://montessorihome.net.

Montessori Home provides a loving Montessori Toddler Community for ages 13-36 months. They try to keep a 1:5 teacher/toddler ratio during active times; which allows them to spend time with each child individually, as well as in the group.

The toddler years are the time when each individual lays the foundation of their future social, spiritual, and intellectual development. As Montessori put it "the child makes the man" he will become.

Montessori Home strives to provide the "perfect place for toddlers" while parents take care of necessary business, or just take "a breather". At Montessori Home the toddlers are well cared for, with healthy food, having fun with friends, and learning. Their time at "school" is valuable and stimulating, a time for exploration and discovery.

The school follows Montessori's methods of Education for Peace, "teaching" respect for self and others; activities exercise toddler's skills of cooperation and collaboration. All leading to development of high self esteem in every member of the community.

Two of the children that went to Music Together and one child that goes to Little Gym with us are at Montessori Home. All of the parents had wonderful things to say about the school. We are super excited for Pennington to start school the first part of January. Stay tuned for pictures and stories of Pennington at school.

Little Leos

Both of my kiddos are Leos. A good friend of mine told me once that she was told they are the hardest to raise but the most fun. I can definitely agree with that. We have several family members that are Leos (Great Grandpa Larry (aka Papa), Great Grandma Melba, Great Grandpa Jess, Uncle Ben, Uncle Rocky, and several other second cousins and Great Uncles (Bryan, Matt, Robecca, Touy, ect). I really meant to take this photo of Piper in her Leo shirt when she was eight weeks old but to be honest I totally forgot. She also would have probably been drowning in it at 8 weeks. Below is a picture of Piper in her Leo shirt at ~ 17 weeks old.

Here is a picture of Pennington in the same shirt at ~8 weeks old. I think you can definitely tell they are siblings.

Daddy's 29th Birthday

Daddy turned 29 years old on December 14th. I think Poppy said it well when he wrote the following in Daddy's birthday card:

Johnny,

So Tomorrow you officially begin the last year as a twenty something. In the last ten years you beat cancer, got married, graduated from college and boot camp, and now you have TWO KIDS! Enjoy because the years starts to move even faster.

You're a great man!

Love, Craig

Below is a picture of Daddy getting ready to blow out the candles.

Piper Four Months Old

Wow! I feel like there is so much to say about Piper over the last month.

Motor Skills: She can roll from her back to her stomach pretty much every time you lay her on the floor. She is also starting to get her knees up under her bottom. She is also very good at holding her head up.

Social Skills: She laughed for the first time about a week ago. It was so cute. She loves smiling at you when you say her name.

Yes she is wearing a cat suit. Thanks Tamera and Kim!

Sleep: She is FINALLY sleeping in her crib. I won't lie I did have to do a bit of "sleep training" to accomplish this but it was well worth it. It took me a while to figure this out but Piper really enjoys being Swaddled and listening to the sounds of the Ocean when she sleeps. Since Pennington hated being Swaddled and would have probably woken up to the sounds of the Ocean I didn't think it would work for Piper. Boy was I wrong. Piper successfully sleeps in her crib until about 4 or 5 in the morning when she decides that she has had enough with her crib and wants to sleep with Mom. She is still waking up about two to three times a night. A few nights ago she sleep for 6 1/2 hours in her crib without waking up. She is also now taking naps in her crib. A few days ago she napped for 3 hours.

Feeding: Breastfeeding is going really well. We are still giving her around 2 to 6 ounces of formula a day. The reason for this is to make sure she will take a bottle when I go back to work on January 3rd. So far so good. She doesn't mind the formula or the bottle. Over the last week I was away from Piper three times for more than 5 hours at a time. Since I was gone for a long period of time I had to pump. As I expected, pumping is not going very well. I can hardly get anything. If I am lucky I will get two ounces a sitting. I am crossing my fingers that my milk supply will be able to hold up for a few more months.

Below is a recent photo of our little girl Piper.

Open Gym at Fort Boise

During the winter months on Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 11am at Fort Boise Community Center there is Open Gym. What is really awesome about Open Gym is that it only costs $1. Open Gym is exactly what it sounds like a big open gym. The gym has lots of balls, mats, cars, wagons, slides, ect for Toddlers to play with. Below are a few photos of Pennington at Open Gym.

Pennington Teaching Piper to Dance

This is a short video of Pennington teaching Piper to dance. The song I am singing is from Music Together. Pennington LOVES holding Piper's hands and teaching her to dance. I think Piper enjoys it as well.

Pennington 16 Months Old

Pennington turned 16 Months Old today. There are a few things that we would like to highlight about Pennington's development over the last month.

He can now get into EVERYTHING!!! He can open pretty much every draw, closet, door, cabinet, ect. The only doors that he can't open are the doors that go outside and the ones that are really hard for us adults to open. This has made it really challenging for us as parents to make sure he isn't getting into anything that is dangerous. This morning he climbed into our bathtub and poured shampoo all over himself. I think it is time that we re-evaluate how well we have child proofed the house.

At Little Gym he can walk across the balance beam with little assistance and can grab onto and swing from the low bar. He is also very close to being able to jump.

Dancing to music and making music is still one of his favorite things to do.

Below are some pictures of Pennington over the last month.

Pennington wearing goggles.

Making music with a pizza tray and a BBQ brush.

Riding around the house in his little red wagon.

Amazing Friends

Last night Johnny, Piper and I went to my dearest friend Becca Keller's house for our Annual Friends Holiday Party. "The Girls" decided to do something extra special for Johnny and I since we haven't gotten out very much at all since Piper was born. Becca, Kayla, Teresa, Mandy, Lindsay and Leah got together and purchased a Regal gift card for Johnny and I so that we could have a "Date Night". The best thing about the gift is that they all offered to watch Pennington and Piper when we go out on our Date Night. Thank you Ladies!!!! I love you all so much.

Hanukkah 2010

Hanukkah this year was in early December. Pennington LOVED listening to the blessings each night when we lit the candles. Since our children are still really young we didn't go all out and get eight gifts for each of them. Maybe next year. Below are a few pictures taken during the eight nights of Hanukkah.

Pennington on the first night of Hanukkah. Don't you just LOVE toddlers in the one piece pajamas.

Pennington at our extended family Hanukkah night. He LOVED pointing at the lit candles.

Pennington opening his gift from Nonie and Poppy.

Pennington at the synagogue Hanukkah Party. He pretended to play the piano with the band.

Nonie and Piper at the Hanukkah Tot Shabbat. Don't you just LOVE her green shoes. Thanks Emma!!!

Thanksgiving 2010

I know I know. I am super behind on blogging. So I am going to get you all caught up right now.

We had a wonderful Extended Family Thanksgiving at our house the Saturday before Thanksgiving. This included all of the relatives that live in town (all of my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, and siblings) as well as Elliott's girlfriend Leasley and Johnny's bother Rocky and his girlfriend Shannon. Nonie did a fabulous job decorating the house and Johnny and Poppy did a wonderful job on cooking the turkey.

Papa and G.G with Piper.

On Thanksgiving Day our immediate family went to Jesikah's friend Moya's house. We really enjoyed Thanksgiving at Moya's because there were other children there as well all under the age of 15 months. Thank you Moya and Clint for the wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

This is a picture of the whole family at Moya and Clint's on Thanksgiving.

Baby Picture of Piper

I mentioned in an earlier posting that my OB gave us a free newborn photo sitting for Piper. Below is one of the photos from the sitting. Isn't she a doll?

Video of Piper Three Months Old

This video was taken on November 15. For some reason I have been having issues up loading videos. Enjoy!

Music Together

Pennington just finished his second semester of Music Together. He is really starting to excel musically. He now points at the computer or CD player asking for us to turn his music on. Below are some photos of Pennington at Music Class.

Piper Three Months Old

Piper will be three months old tomorrow. Below is a recent picture of Piper.

Pennington 15 Months Old

Pennington turned 15 months old yesterday. Over the last month he has started to respond to questions by saying "ya". He can tell you what a sheep says. He also can pretty much say dog. He also likes to say "ah, ah" or "uh, uh" and point and things.

He just started moving a chair around so he can climb up on in order to reach things.

He gets really excited to go to K'tamin, Music Class and Little Gym. He knows exactly where to go when we arrive at the class. At both Music Class and Little Gym he puts the ball or musical instruments away when asked.

He really enjoys when you sing songs to him that has actions to them like I'm a Little Teapot, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, If Your Happy and You Know It, ect. He attempts to do the actions as well.

He loves throwing and kicking balls. One of his new favorite games is to throw or kick a ball down the stairs and have Daddy throw it back up to him. Mommy was a bit scared about this game at first but Pennington never seems to fall down the stairs.

Pennington's First Haircut

As I mentioned in the Raking Leaves posting Pennington's hair is getting a little long. We have had a few people think he was a girl lately. Really??? It is not like I dressed him in girly looking clothes. Johnny's hidden talent is cutting hair so he took on the task of cutting Pennington's hair. Below are the before and after pictures. Our baby boy is now a really little boy.

Before,

After. Sorry this isn't a very good picture. More to come,

Piper Two Month Doctor Appointment

I know that Piper is almost three months old but we just had our two month appointment today. Dr. Booth said that Piper is doing really well. She is gaining weight well. Below are the stats:

Weight: 11 pounds 8 ounces (45 percentile)

Height: 23 1/2 inches (55 percentile)

Head circumference: 39 1/4 cm (50 percentile)

I have to say that I was shocked to know she is basically 50 percentile. It seems crazy know that we were ever concerned about her weight. No need to be concerned at all now.

Of course these appointments also include shots. Piper did fairly well (meaning there was minimal crying). I did step out of the room so she didn't have to watch. Pennington also got a flu shot today. Pennington did fairly well also but did cry more than Piper. He did really enjoyed the cherry sucker I gave him after he got his shot. Nonie came to the visit with Mommy and said that Pennington started crying when he heard Piper crying from getting her shots. I think he is going to turn out to be a great big brother.

Piper Twelve Weeks Old

Piper turned twelve weeks old today. As we have always said from the beginning she is a talker. She LOVES cooing. She will have an entire five minute converstaion with you in baby talk. It is sooo cute.

Piper has had a few colds since she was born. Most likely she got the colds from Pennington. We are happy to say that the think the colds are gone for now. We took her to the doctor last week to make sure she didn't have an ear infection or any fluid in her lungs. The good new is that she didn't. The bad news is that you can't really do anything for a newborn with a cold so it last forever.

Piper is basically out of all of her newborn clothes and currently is wearing 0-3 month clothing. She currently weighs a little over 11 pounds. She is getting her first round of shots on Friday so I will have a doctor update for you then.

Piper is still not sleeping in her crib. If you have any suggestions for me on how to get a child to sleep in there crib I am definitely open to hearing them. Even though she doesn't sleep well in her crib she will sleep well on a bed, in her bouncy chair, or in a baby carrier. Below is a recent photo of Little Miss Piper and her Daddy.

Raking Leaves

Last week Pennington helped rake leaves in the front yard. He LOVES helping out around the house and in the yard. He will follow Daddy around while he is mowing the lawn. He also likes to help sweep and rake. Below are a few pictures of Pennington helping rake the leaves.

Pennington raking the leaves.

Pennington hanging out with Mufasa. Mufasa is Elliott's girlfriend Leasley's dog. Pennington LOVES walking Mufasa.

Yes it looks like our kid has a mullet. I think it is about time for a haircut.

Pennington sweeping.

Bath Time for Two

We have been trying really hard to get a routine together for bedtime. About a month ago the old routine that we used to do for Pennington just wasn't working anymore so we decided to change it up. A friend of mine told me it only takes 5 days to get a new routine established. So that is exactly what we did. Honestly we are still trying to figure out how to make it work with two but for right now it goes something like this.

1. Dinner for Pennington and a bottle for Piper. Note: To make sure Piper will continue to take a bottle when Mommy goes back to work we are giving Piper two two ounce bottles a day.

2. Playtime

3. Bath time for Pennington and every couple of days Piper joins in as well.

4. Quiet music while we get our pajamas on and sometimes Pennington has a little milk. Currently we are listen to Jewel Lullaby which is SOOOO relaxing.

5. Two to three bedtime stories for Pennington. If Piper is happy she gets to listen as well.

6. Pennington is held by Mommy in his room while she sings him a few songs and then lays him down while he is still awake. If Mommy has to be with Piper at that moment Daddy lays Pennington down.

7. Mommy gets to relax and get ready for bed while Daddy is with Piper.

8. Mommy reads Piper her own story and then feeds her one last time before both Mommy and Piper go to bed for the night. Note: Still can't get Piper to sleep in her crib. I am up for any suggestions.

Below is a picture of the kiddos at bath time.

Happy Halloween

For Halloween this year we decided to dress both Pennington and Piper up as bumble bees. Pennington wore his costume to Music class on Thursday and to go trick-or-treating at Mommy's office on Friday. On Halloween night the kids wore their costumes over to the Ploetz's for dinner. Below are some pictures of the kiddos in their bumble bee outfits.

Pennington looking at himself in the mirror.

Daddy and Piper.

The Family.

Painting Pumpkins

Instead of craving pumpkins we had Pennington paint a few pumpkins. Below is a picture of one of the pumpkins Pennington painted.

Pumpkin Patch

On Wednesday the whole family went to get pumpkins at Farmstead which is a Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch off of Eagle and I-84. It turned out that this wasn't a really good idea because it was super windy. Instead of actually picking the pumpkins off a vine we just grabbed some that were next to the entrance and jetted back to our car. Below are some picture of the family at the pumpkin patch. Pennington enjoyed riding in the wagon with the pumpkins. Mommy did her best to keep Piper warm and out of the wind.

Planet Kid

As I have mentioned many times before, Pennington is definitely excelling in the gross motor skills area. He LOVES climbing on things. One of the Groupon deals last week was 50% off at Planet Kid. Groupon is basically one big online coupon for something in your area. Planet Kid is basically an indoor playground at Wings. Below are some pictures of Pennington at Planet Kid. He liked playing in the toddler area but really wanted to go hang out with the big kids. Note: I don't recommend going to Planet Kid on a cold, rainy Saturday. It gets really crowded.

Piper's First Trip to the Cabin

Mommy, Nonie, Piper and Pennington went up to the Groves Family cabin last Thursday. This was Piper's first trip to the cabin. Daddy, Poppy, Uncle Henry and two of his friends Ryan and Nick, Uncle Elliott and his girlfriend Leasley joined us at the cabin over the weekend. While at the cabin we watched football games, walked along the beach in front of the cabin, went for walks around the cabin, played cribbage, watched movies, played with Pennington's toys, ect. Mommy, Daddy, Pennington and Piper went into McCall one afternoon and had a lovely family picnic (catered by My Fathers Place) at the park in McCall. Pennington loved walking around on the beach and watching the skateboarders. Overall, our time at the cabin was really fun minus the fact that the cabin is not childproofed at all. Below are a few pictures of the trip.

Piper Two Months Old

Piper turned two months old yesterday. I remember telling people that the first two months with Pennington were the hardest. I am happy to say that I have made it through the first two months with Piper alive and well. I think the reason I say the first two months are the hardest is because the baby doesn't interact with you very much. Now that Piper is two months old her personality is really starting to come out. She has the most adorable smile and really enjoys watching what Mommy, Daddy and Pennington are doing.

I went back to work when Pennington was two months old. This time around I decided to stay home longer which was definitely a good decision. I can't even imagine having to leave both Piper and Pennington alone with anyone right now. I will not be going back to work until Piper is 4 and a half months old.

My OBGYN doctor (Bryan Hodges at the Women's Clinic - I HIGHLY recommend him) gave us a free photo session and 8x10 photo when Piper was born. Today I took Piper to get her pictures taken. I can't wait to get the photos. She looked so adorable. Getting newborn photos taken is so much fun. I definitely regret not doing this with Pennington. I will post a few of the photos as soon as I get them.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Piper's eyes look as though they are two different colors. Her right eye is brown and her left eye looks like a lighter shade of brown / hazel. I believe that her eyes are continuing to change but as of right now I would say her has two different color eyes. It is pretty hard to see so I don't think that you will be able to tell from this photo. Below is a recent photo of Piper.

Piper Eight Weeks Old

Today Piper turned eight weeks old. The biggest development over the last two weeks is that she is smiling at us. We have continued to work on tummy time but it doesn't last very long because she is constantly rolling over from her tummy to her back. She has also started to hold rings in her hands.

At the "Breast Feeding Bunch" today we found out that she is continuing to gain weight. She currently weights 10 pounds 5 ounces which means she gained 5 ounces this last week. Over the last week we supplemented 6 ounces a day. Over the next week we are going to start cutting back to 5 ounces and the 4 ounces a day.

Piper loves to talk to us. We will try to post a video of her talking soon.

Piper has also starting to become more independent while sleeping. Last night we were able to get her to sleep from 9:30pm until 3:30am in her crib waking up once to eat. This is HUGE progress people! Hopefully by the time she is 3 months old she will be sleeping in her crib regularly instead of in bed with Mommy.

Below are some recent pictures of Piper.