Pennington's First Day Skiing

Saturday was one of those days I have been waiting for since the day Pennington was born. I honestly believe people that don't ski are really missing out. It is such a great lifetime activity that you can do with the whole family.

We have been waiting for that "perfect day" to take Pennington skiing and that day showed up on Saturday. It was a beautiful blue bird day with temperatures was around 30 degrees.

On our way up we stopped by Greenwoods to get ski socks for the kids and picked up a sled for Piper. We didn't rent anything at Greenwoods because Bogus has a fabulous military discount which makes renting skis and boots for Pennington relatively inexpensive. We were also able to rent a really sweet orange helmet for him to wear.

When I first learned to ski at Bogus they didn't have the "magic carpets" but rather a "rope-tow". I remember the rope-tow being really hard to hold onto. It is so nice that they have the magic carpets now. They are also free to use. Pennington went up the magic carpet at least 5 times before lunch. Johnny said there was some falling and some crying but overall he really enjoyed it.

Piper and I hung out by the magic carpets. The sled we got a Greenwoods was definitely worth it. I just put her in the sled and pulled her around. Piper had a great time. She was a little jealous of Pennington's helmet but I just kept telling her next year she could wear one too.

We all went into the lodge for lunch. We purchased a few things to eat which included Fries. I can't think of a time when I was younger when I didn't get fries to eat when I went skiing. I also brought up some fruit and veggies to eat. The whole time at lunch Pennington talked about skiing. He talked about it so much that we decided to let him go back out on the hill for a few more rides up the magic carpet.

Johnny said the afternoon didn't go quite as well as the morning since the snow started to get wet and sticky. Overall, I would say it was a success. Pennington is asking if he can go again which is a big plus. Below are some pictures of the day.

I Play Basketball Mom

Below is a video of Pennington playing basketball. I don't want to get my hopes up but I honestly think my child is gifted athletically. It is amazing to me how athletic he is for a 2 1/2 year old. He is now attempting to learn how to dribble and makes pretty much every shot he shoots with a real basketball. We keep having to think of ways to challenge him since a lot of what we have already taught him is to easy for him. This video is very typical of what it is like at our house every day. Pennington is always wanting to play some sport (basketball, tennis, golf, soccer, football, you name it).

Piper's Words

Piper has a few things she says right now that I never want to forget.

1. Shee-shu - She is trying to say "feed you" but she really means "feed me". This one cracks me up since Pennington didn't ever get "you" and "me" mixed up. This is probably because when he started talking he just started talking in full sentences. I know it is very common for toddlers to get you and me mixed up.

2. Mah-mah - one more

3. Pie-per - Piper

4. Hun-ney - Henry

5. Pa-pa - Poppy

Piper really likes to talk about herself. She says Piper a lot. She also LOVES her Uncle Henry and asks where he is all the time.

Shabbat Dinners

This years education program at the synagogue is "The Jewish Home". The last few weeks at K'tamin they have been talking about Shabbat in the Jewish Home. I was able to attend K'tamin this week with the kids. At K'tamin the kids decorated candlestick holders.

As a family we try to have Shabbat dinner as much as we can. I think the kids really look forward to having Shabbat dinner. For me Shabbat symbolizes the end of a long work week. The kids know we light the candles and say the blessings. Today Nonni and Piper made baby Challah (the bread we eat on Shabbat). I always get out the kids toy wine glasses for them to drink juice out of when we say the blessing over the wine. Below are pictures of the kids drinking their juice and eating their baby Challah.

Sibling Love

This photo was taken a few months ago by Grandma. It is so precious. I hope they continue to love each other this much. They are still young enough that they give each other nigh-night kisses every night.

Heading to School

This week when I took the kids to school they decided to hold hands while they walked from the gate to the front door. It just melted my heart.

Pennington 29 Months

Pennington turned 29 months old 10 days ago. I wanted to let you all know what Pennington has been interested in recently.

Pennington really likes watching Winnie the Pooh (new and old ones), Olivia, and Clifford. We read Olivia and Clifford books all the time. I remember Johnny wanted to buy Olivia for Pennington before he was born. I looked at him like he was crazy. Thinking . . . "That's a girl book you know?!?!?" So we didn't buy the Olivia books until Piper was born. Well come to find out Pennington LOVES Olivia. Pennington also really likes Clifford's friend T-Bone who is in the videos. Recently we asked Pennington who his favorite football player was. He told us Tebow. We had no idea who told him to say Tebow. Well come to find out we actually think he was saying T-Bone not Tebow.

On Friday night while we were at Early Bird Shabbat (think happy hour and appetizers along with an optional short service), Pennington pretended to play football with both Nonni and me. It is really awesome to watch a child imagine doing something. He would pretend to kick, throw and catch the ball. Hopefully this imaginative play will continue.

Pennington is now part of the big kid group at school. Denise says he is doing really well. He is starting to tell me more and more about what he does at school. I have to say I think the Montessori method of putting kids together of different age groups is really smart. Right now since Pennington is one of the older ones he is working on helping teach the younger ones.

We have recently figured out that Pennington LOVES taking showers. We started taking showers with the kids when they were sick a few weeks ago. Now Pennington asks to take a shower.

Pennington still takes really good naps. Sometimes as long as 3 hours. He is actually really hard to wake up when he is not ready to get up. While he does take a really good nap, he doesn't sleep as long at night as some other children his age. Part of this has to do with the fact that we keep him up a bit later than we probably should so that I can hang out with him after work. There are some nights he doesn't go to sleep until 9pm. He typically gets up around 7am. So basically he averages around 13 hours of sleep a day.

He continues to love anything and everything that has to do with sports. We are seriously thinking about putting him on skis next weekend. We have shown youtube videos of kids skiing so he knows what to expect. I hope if we do decide to take him (weather permitting) that he enjoys it and that we wont regret taking him so early.

Below is a recent photo of Pennington. He is Super Pennington in this photo (just like Kipper the super dog).

Piper 17 Months

Piper turned 17 months old last week. I decided I no longer have children that will be referred to by how many months old they are but rather a 1 1/2 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. I think it might have been getting a little too specific saying I have a 17 month old and a 29 month old.

Piper is now saying around 10 to 20 words. This is so amazing to me since Pennington just started talking about 3 months ago. Piper wants to keep up with her big brother but at the same time runs like crazy when she thinks he is about to tackle her. She's a tough little one.

Piper is doing really well at school. One of the helpers told me that she thinks Piper is really smart. I guess she is ahead of the other children her age developmentally. Of course this was a really proud moment for me as a mother. Part of the reason she is probably ahead is because she has her big brother to keep up with.

Piper is starting to want to dress herself. She can put her own coat and pants on. She is still amazing me with her ability to go poop on the potty but for some reason not pee on the potty. Piper is very into helping out around the house. She pushes she toy vacuum around the living room and enjoys playing with her cupcakes.

There are some challenges we are still working through with Piper. This girl still really wants to be breastfeed. Yes I am that mom that is still breastfeeding her child. Some days only twice other days as much as five times. I just keep hoping someday she will decide she is done but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Since Piper got sick a few weeks ago and is now working on a few new teeth (Did I mention this girl has had the same 8 teeth for like 6 months now? It is about time the rest of them decided to show up) we are back to square one with her sleeping habits. I had to make her cry it out last night. Otherwise I would have had to hold her for 30 minutes before she falls into a deep sleep for me to be able to put her down.

Below are two recent photos of Piper. She is helping me with the dishes and playing with her cupcakes.

Pennington's Assessment

About a week ago I received the Comprehensive Evaluation Report from Pennington's developmental and speech assessment. Included in the assessment was a summary of how many correct answers Pennington had in six different categories. The results are suppose to approach 100% by 3 years of age. Below are Pennington's scores as a 27 month old.

Fine Motor - 92%

Gross Motor - 97%

Adaptive - 75%

Cognitive - 70%

Social-Communication - 78%

Social - 92%

Not 100% sure I totally understand what this all means but it definitely looks like he is scoring well for a 27 month old.

Looks like we still need to work Adaptive, Cognitive and Social-Communication skills.

Adaptive is the area that assesses self-help skills that allow your child to become increasingly more independent.

Cognitive is the area that evaluations a child's memory, critical thinking skills, ability to grasp concepts and ability to discriminate feature of objects.

I think that the only reason he was lower on social-communication compared to social is because he is a little behind on talking. However, the other day he said a 10 word sentence to me so I think he is starting to improve in that area.

Melissa if you have any ideas of things I could do to work on Adaptive and Cognitive skills please let me know.

Gymnastics Meet

Tonight our family was planning on going to Tot Shabbat and then to the BSU Gymnastics meet against my alma mater (UW), however Piper was running a fever so Mommy stayed home with Piper while Daddy and Pennington went to the Gymnastics meet. Pennington stayed home from school Tuesday - Thursday this week with a fever and cough. Piper didn't show signs of the fever until last night. Oh the joys of having sick kids. The worst is when the second one doesn't get sick until the first one is feeling fine again. Why can't they just get sick at the same time?!?!? Below is a picture of Pennington with his buddy Buster.

A' Poo-Poo

This is one of those posts that I just have to do so I never forget. Piper talks about poop a lot. She is constantly saying a' poo-poo with a french accent. One really amazing thing about Piper is that she has told us twice now that she needed to go poo-poo and lone behold the girl has gone poop on the potty twice. I'm obviously not getting my hopes up about this but Piper is definitely interested in the potty and regularly tells us when she needs her diaper changed. She has only been to school four times but I am sure in the next few weeks she will start going on the potty at school. My hope is that both of the kids will be potty trained by August. Oh the thought of never having to change a diaper again is wonderful. However, I can see how it is nice sometimes to know they have a diaper on just in case they have an accident. Since Pennington had Hand, Foot and Mouth in mid December he has totally digressed when it comes to potty training. He is now totally fine with wearing a diaper instead of a pull-up (or as Pennington would say a pull-pup) or underwear. This is 180 degrees different than two months ago when he would fight us when we wanted him to wear a diaper to bed. I'm hoping that being back in school will get the potty training back on track.

Mom's Birthday

For my birthday, Johnny made a wonder birthday dinner for the whole family. When I say whole family I really mean it. My husband, all of my brothers, both my parents and the kids were able to be at my 29th birthday dinner. I also got some really awesome gifts from Johnny and the kids which included a new camera. This is good news for the blog as I will hopefully be taking more better quality photos. Below are some pictures from my 29th birthday.

Discovery Center

Mommy and Daddy both had to work all day Friday, so Nonni got the pleasure of watching both kids all day. Uncle Ben was in town so he got to help out. Uncle Ben, Uncle Elliott and Nonni decided to take the kids to the Discovery Center of Idaho to do some exploring. The Discovery Center has over 160 different, interactive, hands-on science exhibits to explore. While a lot of the exhibits are for older children there are some that toddlers can enjoy such as the marketplace. Nonni mentioned that Pennington really like the ball exhibit. Both kids got to lay on the bed of needles. Nonni warned up that we should not try to take the kids by ourselves. We have been debating getting a family membership. It is only $50 for the whole family for an entire year. This is pretty cheap since it costs $13 for the family to go one time. With our busy schedules we are just not sure we will be able to go enough. Below are some pictures of the kids at the Discovery Center.

Tot Lot

I can't remember if I have talked about our neighborhood Tot Lot before. It is great to have a playground so close to our home. I would say the Tot Lot is between 1/8 and 1/6 a mile from our house. Less than a 5 minute walk for adults but can take as much as 15 minutes if the little ones want to walk. Pennington has gotten really good at riding his balance bike and is able to ride it to the Tot Lot and back. The Tot Lot has a basketball court, two slides, tunnels, ladders, and swings. In the pictures below, it looks like Piper is swinging on the big kid swing and Pennington in the baby swing. I just love Piper's expression.

First Day of School

Piper had her first day of school today. Pennington was very excited to show Piper what to do. He even told Johnny and I all about how Piper cried at nap time. Denise said Piper did really well. She got sort of cranky around noon but didn't want to lay down for a nap yet. She did take a nap after Pennington laid down next to her. I guess someone knocked on the door of the school around 2 which woke everyone up so Piper only napped for about an hour. Denise mentioned that she didn't have very wet diapers. This is pretty normal for Piper. She doesn't pee all that much. We haven't been very concerned about it since she is continuing to grow, eats like a pig, and does have a few wet diapers a day. Overall it was a very successful first day. She didn't even cry when we left her. Below is a recent picture of Little Miss Piper. It was taken a few days ago. She definitely doesn't look like an infant anymore.

Winter Cabin Adventure

After Daddy put in two 15 hour days working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we all headed up to the cabin with Grandma to meet Nonni and Poppy for some winter fun at the cabin. We took the kids over to Tamarack so they could see what skiing was all about. I definitely think Pennington is interested in learning how to ski. We are tentatively thinking about trying it out later this spring. If not this spring then definitely next year. The kids loved playing in the snow. Pennington got to eat snow for the first time. It is crazy how children just know they should try eating snow. Of course he loved it. The kids built there first snowman and snow woman with Nonni, Poppy, and Grandma while Daddy and I went skiing. While we were at the cabin Brundage Ski Resort was celebrating its 50th Anniversary with a bonfire and fireworks show. It was awesome because it was at 6pm so the kids were wide awake for everything. Below are some pictures of our Winter Cabin Adventure.