Samantha: 59 Months, Week 4
Aedan: 24 Months, Week 2 (Week 107)
Since Samantha was still recovering from whatever virus she had that caused her to have a fever, we mostly stayed around the house on Tuesday. Originally, we had plans with some of Samantha's preschool friends and their moms, but we had to reschedule that since I didn't think it would be a good idea for Samantha to be around other kids yet. So instead I took the chance to run some errands with the kids. We went to Bed, Bath & Beyond to pick up a few odds and ends for our new house, then we went to Meijer to get more bubble wrap, other packing supplies, and a present for Josiah's birthday party. The kids did pretty well in both of the stores, and I got things checked off my list, so it was a pretty productive morning.
Ben had another rough night, waking up in the middle of the night shivering and then not being able to fall back asleep right away, so he was pretty exhausted on Tuesday. He was glad that it was a rainy day and softball games were postponed again due to the weather.
I was unsure about what to do with Samantha napping on Tuesday since she was still recovering from being sick and ended up being up until 10:00 on Tuesday night. She was acting tired and like she needed to nap, but I didn't want to make it hard for her to go to sleep at night again. However, by lunch time, she was just melting down over the smallest thing and had huge bags under her eyes, so I decided it would be a good idea to have her take a nap. We did our joint nap time routine because that usually works pretty well, but for some reason Aedan was very unsettled. He normally curls up in my arms and is fast asleep within minutes. On this afternoon, however, he just kept wiggling around and looking around the room. I tried to get him to calm down and even rocked him for longer than usual, but it just wasn't working so I decided to just lay him down in his crib, hoping that he would fall asleep on his own. He was quiet for awhile, but then started crying so I figured I should go up and see what happened. I figured that he had thrown his pacifier out of his bed or something like that. However, that was not the case, but instead he had one of his toes stuck out through a small hole in the bottom of his wrap and he was crying because his toe was stuck. I helped him with that and tried to get him to lay back down to go to sleep, but as soon as I left the room he started crying again. I gave him some time to see if he would settle down on his own, but that wasn't happening. Now, Samantha actually fell asleep this afternoon without needing any prompting from me, so I was concerned that Aedan was going to wake Samantha up by crying so loud. I went back in Aedan's room after I sensed that he wasn't going to settle down, checked his diaper, and then tried to rock him like I usually do at nap time. However, the same thing happened as earlier, he just laid there looking around the room. I wasn't going to keep holding him if it wasn't going to help any, so I decided to just lay him back down again so that I could at least try to get something done during nap time. He then continued to scream and cry for quite a while before finally falling asleep around 3:45, just in enough time for Samantha to wake up five minutes later. Needless to say, it wasn't the kind of afternoon I was hoping for, and it was so unlike Aedan to refuse to nap in such a way.
Even after he woke up after only about forty-five minutes of napping, he was not acting like himself. He was very clingy and cried every time I tried to put him down or leave him to do something else. Luckily, I was able to finish getting dinner ready once Ben got home and could hang out with Aedan and make him happy. We were hoping that there was some explanation for his behavior, like maybe teething or something like that. He did perk up a little bit after dinner and enjoyed following Samantha around the house with two purses hung around his neck.
Wednesday morning was our last Bible study, and we had a brunch at a lady's house out in country. I brought banana bread to share, and they said it was fine for me to bring Aedan along. However, none of the other moms with kids ended up coming so there was no one for Aedan to play except for the lady's daughter, Hannah. Really, Aedan liked the one-on-one attention from an older girl, kind of like having a replacement sister. She did really well coming up with things for him to do, sharing, and helping him have a good time. They had bubbles for him, riding toys and push toys, and this great swing set. He particular liked this swing where they could sit back to back and ride together. Hannah got them going pretty high, and Aedan was smiling and laughing the whole time. Even though I was afraid he was going to fall off a couple times, he really did a good job holding on to the chains and not letting go.
Another interesting thing happened on Wednesday morning that I wasn't expecting. I received a voicemail from the Bahweting charter school in Sault Ste. Marie, saying that they have an open spot for Samantha for kindergarten in the fall. When I visited with Ben and we toured the different schools, we put Samantha's name on the waiting list, just on the off chance that she could actually get in, but I wasn't expecting it to happen. The school wanted me to call them back and let them know if we would like to accept her spot. Ben and I talked more about it that evening because I knew they would need an answer soon. It took us by surprise because we just assumed Samantha would attend the public school that is right across the street from our new house, and we thought it was nice that it was so convenient. However, that was really the biggest draw for the public school over the charter school. Ben did a lot of searching awhile back to compare test scores of the schools, and they really came out fairly equal. The school with the biggest difference is the public middle school, as they definitely under-perform in comparison to the charter school. Not that it's all about test scores, but that's the most objective data you can find on a different schools. When we visited Bahweting, we were pretty impressed with their facilities, and the principal went out of her way to meet with us even though when we first came she was out at a meeting. She showed us around and very thoroughly answered all our questions. She was very professional and helpful. The biggest difference between Bahweting and the local public school would be the amount of resources they have. They have two times the money to spend per student because they are also a Bureau of Indian Affairs School. Since they are dually funded, they have more money to provide more resources. The biggest way this comes out is by having a full time paraprofessional in each grade, K through 5. Also, I know that for kindergarten they cap the class size at 20 which makes the ratio 10:1 rather than 22 or 23:1 like it would be in the public school. I know from being a teacher myself that there is just not enough of you to go around when you have 22 or 23 students in a class, and particularly in kindergarten when they need so much more individual attention, having a smaller class size is a huge draw for me. Also, since it's a BIA school, they have an emphasis on Native American culture and language, which you would not get in the public schools in Sault Ste. Marie. I like the idea of Samantha being exposed to cultural diversity. So, after discussing our choices and the pros and cons of both, we decided having to drive Samantha to and from school was not an important enough reason to not try Bahweting, especially since the drive will only be about six minutes. Plus, if for some reason we don't find that it's a good fit, we can move her to the public school after kindergarten. It was an exciting development on Wednesday, and I will be excited for Samantha to attend Bahweting.
The rest of our Wednesday afternoon was a little busy as well because Samantha had her five year check-up scheduled for 1:45. Ben had to give a final at 3:00, so I was able to get my friend Maggie to come over to our house to sit while Aedan napped, giving me the chance to take Samantha to the doctor. Ben and I had a few questions about Samantha's napping and sleeping issues that we hoped we would get some answers about. We were called back pretty quickly, but then I had to fill out some paperwork and a developmental questionnaire that took awhile, since they didn't mail it to me ahead of time. The nurse took Samantha to check her weight, height, vision, and hearing. Her height was 45 inches in the 91st percentile, and her weight was 47 pounds in the 87th percentile, and putting her in the 79th percentile when looking at her height and weight together. All to say, she is doing well in that area. Her vision was great, and her hearing was slightly low on the right side but the doctor said that was probably do to the ear infection she had recently. However, they do want me to bring her back to get her hearing checked before we move to make sure the issue is resolved. Then, the doctor talked some about the importance of eating meals together, talking about our day, and talking through our problems. She talked about serving sizes and how half their plate should be fruit and vegetables. I brought up our concerns about Samantha's sleeping, about how it seems like she is never getting enough sleep whether she naps or not. I expressed concern over whether she was getting colds because she wasn't getting enough sleep, but the doctor made it seem like those things wouldn't be related, which didn't make much sense to me. She said it seemed like Samantha was dealing with seasonal allergies and encouraged us to give her Claritin and Flonase in the morning every day through the middle of June or so when the allergens die down.
As far as the concerns with sleeping and being overtired, I don't feel like I got very good answers to that. The doctor basically said that everything Samantha is going through is normal in this transitional period where they really do need the sleep in the afternoon, but they are fighting it and growing out of it. She said that the only time napping becomes a negative thing is when it happens really late in the evening and causes them to stay up late. However, we never put Samantha down close to dinnertime like she was suggesting, and we still find that it takes her a long time to fall asleep on nights she naps, negating the extra sleep she got during her nap. So Ben and I decided to just go with what we have been doing, trying to transition her out of naps by giving her quiet time in her room instead and having her in bed by 7:30. Hopefully her body will adjust to this new normal over the summer, and she will be better able to handle full day kindergarten in the fall.
Ben had a final on Wednesday night and a student that got extra time to complete the final, so he got home a little later than usual, but it was nice in some ways because it gave the kids and me extra time to play outside before dinner. Especially with Samantha going to bed earlier, our evenings are cut short because after dinner we have to start calming down or we have bath time to take care of. This evening was particularly fun for the kids because our neighbor girls, Tessa and Ella were out to play as well. Aedan likes to just follow them around, and he feels so special when they are around because older girls are much kinder to little boys than your own big sister.
On Thursday we didn't have any plans, so we hung out around the house for awhile before heading to the library for our last story time and Kroger to pick up a few groceries. Here is Aedan that morning sporting Samantha's necklace and bracelets. He thinks it's cool because she thinks it's cool.
Ben and I have decided to try and sell the Saturn rather than pay to tow it up to Sault Ste. Marie when we will not need it anymore anyways. I posted an ad for it on the Oxford Online Yard Sale site and had one person particularly interested in it, so we are now going back and forth answering questions about it. Ben planned to take it into the shop to get it checked out so that way we know what the coolant leak is from. It would be so nice to sell the car for close to the $1000 we are asking for it so that we can have that money in our bank account and probably get more money for it than if we were to trade it in or sell it to a junk yard. We will see what happens!
It's difficult getting all the odds and ends taken care of with moving, getting doctor's appointments out of the way before moving, finally getting our lawn care situated, making arrangements for packing and driving, and all of this while still trying to live our normal day-to-day life and plan Samantha's birthday party. Life has certainly been busy for us lately. On Friday morning I called around to a whole bunch of places trying to find Kung Fu Panda cups to use as party favors on Saturday. I cleared out our Oxford Kroger, and it took awhile to locate a store that had enough so I could be sure to have one for each kid that planned on coming to the party. More kids RSVP'd at the last minute, which is fine, but I wanted to be sure to include everyone. The only place that had any was a Party City that was half an hour away, so they put some on hold for me. Ben and I had a date night planned for that night because Stephanie and Jim offered to watch our kids for us in return for a time when we watched Isaac. Oxford was too busy with everyone in town for graduation weekend anyways, so it worked out that Ben and I were able to go out to eat at Cheesecake Factory and also pick up the cups.
I had Samantha take a nap on Friday afternoon because she was acting pretty tired and cranky. In fact, I let her color at the kitchen table while I showered after exercising, and I wasn't going to make her nap, but then when I was done I noticed she had colored on the kitchen table. She certainly knows better than that, and I think she was just too tired to even be able to think about her actions. We had a full and busy weekend ahead of us with birthday celebrations, and I didn't want her to be too tired to enjoy it. I figured she could nap on Friday and then wouldn't have to for the rest of the weekend. She resisted me a little bit on going to sleep because she didn't want to, but she was better once I explained my reasoning to her. Samantha wanted me to stay in the room with her, and she actually fell asleep within five minutes. I was glad I had her nap, and I knew it would help her that evening at Isaac's new house. Plus, she could stay up later since she napped that afternoon.
Ben and I stayed up way too late on Friday night getting the decorations and favors ready for Samantha's birthday party. We went with a Kung Fu Panda theme, and I found a few decorations for free on Pinterest that I could print out and hang up, so that was nice. We also ordered this Kung Fu Panda cake from the same lady that did Aedan's Cookie Monster cake for his birthday. It turned out so well, and I knew that Samantha would love it!
On Saturday, May 14th we had Samantha's birthday party with her friends at the Rec Center swimming pool on campus. Samantha was SO excited for this day to come. All told, she had 22 friends come to her party, including Aedan, plus lots of parents and a few siblings. We got to the Rec Center early so we could get our stuff downstairs and be waiting to meet everyone. Samantha was anxious for her friends to arrive, and as soon as they did, everyone started running around and having fun right away. It was so fun seeing Samantha interact with all her little friends. The pool party was a perfect idea for Samantha since she loves swimming so much, and it was also a chance to have fun and say good-bye to all her friends.
Once we got everyone situated and paid for, we made our way to the pool for some good time swimming. Believe it or not, all the people you see in these pictures were there for Samantha's birthday party. She is a loved and special little girl. :)
I took Aedan in the water for about half an hour or so, swimming around with him while checking up on everyone, especially the kids that didn't have parents there to keep an eye on them. Everyone was having a great time swimming and playing together. Samantha had a blast!
I gave my phone to Stephanie to take pictures for me because I knew that I would be busy running around doing other things and wouldn't be able to take pictures. She took some really great ones, and I particularly like these next few that show Emmeline and Samantha getting ready and then jumping into the water together, and then Daddy holding Aedan and playing basketball with other dads and their sons. Such precious memories. I'm so glad we decided to do this party for Samantha. All of her favorite people in one place. :)
Normally Aedan is a lot more hesitant in the pool and doesn't last very long before he gets cold and wants to get out. However, now that he has his Puddle Jumper, he has a new found confidence in the water, and it was so fun to watch him swim around right along with the other kids. You see his great smile in the second picture? Aedan had a blast at Sissy's birthday party as well.
A little before 11:00 I got out of the pool to start setting up the decorations for the party. I placed little paper lanterns and a Kung Fu Panda character on each table, as well as a banner and garland across the front of the room where the cake and snack table was. Here are some pictures of all the kids sitting at the tables, warming up, and waiting patiently for their cake.
And here we are singing Happy Birthday to Samantha, the special girl of the day, who put her hands up to her mouth and turned pink, which is what she always does when she is embarrassed when a lot of attention is placed on her. Happy 5th Birthday, Samantha!
All the kids enjoyed their cake, pretzels, grapes, and juice. Ben suggested buying some cupcakes for back-up treats for the parents and extra kids there. We didn't want to pay double the price for a bigger Kung Fu Panda cake, so we decided that was a happy medium, and it worked out perfectly. Everyone enjoyed themselves, got their fill, and then parents got to decide if they would take their child back into the pool for more swimming or back home. As people left, everyone told us how much fun they had at the party and how nice it was. We were happy to have everyone, and I'm so glad so many people could come celebrate Samantha's birthday. The party went much smoother than I thought it would, and the facilities for the party and the wet classroom worked out just perfectly.
Here is our birthday girl. I can't believe she is (almost) 5 years old!
Last year when we had Samantha's friend's party, we said that presents were not necessary and most everyone brought one anyways, so this year we didn't say anything about presents. Well, as you can tell by this picture below, Samantha scored big time. I was blown away by the quantity of presents. In fact, the people in charge of the wet classroom gave me two large trash bags to help carry them all out to our car.
Samantha went to her friend Josiah's party right from the Rec Center and Ben went to pick her up afterwards while I did housework and packing. When she got home, she was very excited to open all her presents from her friends that day. Here are some videos and pictures from her opening her presents that evening. The first two videos are the presents that Ben and I got for her. A lady on the Oxford Online Yard Sale was selling a bunch of princess dresses that her daughter had outgrown, and I was happy to buy them from her at a steal of a price. All of Samantha's dress-up clothes were much too small for her, but she loves to dress up and I knew she'd love these fancy dresses.
This video is Samantha opening up her present of the tickets to Frozen, Disney on Ice which was a present from Upland Grandpa and Grandma, as well as Ben and me. She didn't understand why she pulled out just paper, so it took some explanation, but she was really excited once she realized what it was. I know she got a lot of toys from her friends, but I didn't think she needed more toys from us, so I thought tickets for a fun experience would be much more enjoyable.
Aedan had a hard time watching Sissy open all of her presents and not being able to participate or look at the toys much, causing him to cry quite a bit. Since Stephanie, Jim, and Isaac were unable to come to his birthday party, they did give a present for Aedan as well, which was a Hot Wheels race track. It took some work to help him not be cranky while we watched Samantha and wrote down who was getting her which present so she could help write thank-you notes later on.
This silver jewelry box was probably one of her favorite gifts. Both her and Aedan listened to the music and watched the ballerina spin around for quite awhile. Samantha thought this was a really special present, and she couldn't wait to put all her jewelry in it.
All of these gifts were so kind and thoughtful, and goes to show how much Samantha is loved in this little town of Oxford. We will miss all these families and these wonderful friendships we've made over the last two years.
Sunday was the big day of seeing Frozen on Ice, so after going to church and eating lunch, Samantha got dressed up in her new Anna dress and put on her new Ariel light-up crown. She loved seeing how she looked in the mirror. The dress was long and poofy, and she had to hold it when she went up and down the stairs so she wouldn't tip, just like a real princess.
(I included this new picture because I love Aedan crawling up on the bed in the background, trying to get in on the action.)
Samantha was pretty tired out from a busy day of birthday parties on Saturday and was feeling it on Sunday morning, so I encouraged her to close her eyes in the car as we drove to Cincinnati for Frozen on Ice. It didn't take long at all for her to curl up with her new Cinderella doll and fall asleep.
We found parking easily, stopped at the restroom, and then found our seats. They were great seats in the fourth row, and Samantha was so excited for the show to start that she sat anxiously waiting. I did convince her to stand up and let me take this picture of her with the ice in the background. She was so happy and so excited. This was a great idea as a way to celebrate her birthday. :)
I told Samantha she could choose one snack while we were there, and of course everything was super expensive. She wanted a bag of cotton candy with an Olaf hat on top, so I obliged. She enjoyed it but was a sticky miss by the end of eating at. I actually had to get up and go to the restroom to get a wet paper towel to help her clean herself off.
The show started with an introduction and some skaters that taught everyone how to do a snowman dance. Samantha loved this part and was up dancing and following along with the skaters right away.
Then they had different princesses and princes come out on the ice, along with Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Samantha thought it was cool to see Cinderella, Snow White, Ariel, Rapunzel, Nemo, Woody, Buzz, and many others.
Then, it was finally time for the Frozen show to start, and Samantha loved seeing baby Sven and Kristoff come out onto the ice.
They stayed pretty true to the movie, using the same songs and much of the same dialogue. One of Samantha's favorite parts of the movie has always been the part where Anna and Elsa are little girls and do the magic together. It was neat how they showed this part with different skaters showing the girls growing up.
Everyone was excited when Olaf came out on the ice.
Here is the lead troll curing Anna of being struck by Elsa's magic.
I just loved watching the expressions on Samantha's face as she watched the show. She was captivated, just mesmerized.
Here are some more videos and pictures from the show. I took quite a few because I thought Daddy and Aedan would enjoy watching them later since they couldn't come to the show.
Here is Samantha's concerned expression when Elsa's ice powers were going out of control and she was freezing everything in Arendelle.
Big Sven was a big hit because he was so large and silly looking. After the show when Samantha and I talked about him, she understood that there were two people inside of Sven't costume making him skate. She thought it would have been really hard to skate around and not really be able to see.
For most of the show Samantha was happy to sit and watch rather than sing along, but at this point in the show, when Anna and Elsa sang their duet, Samantha couldn't help but sing along.
However, she was very sensitive every time fireworks went off, lights flashed, or fire shot out. She said that the bright lights hurt her eyes, and I think the noise frightened her as well. It's interesting because this type of thing doesn't scare her in a show on TV, but when it's in person it's more real and surprises her more. I love how she puts her little hands up to her face. It's moments like these when I see not my five year old, but my little girl who still needs comfort and is not always brave.
Then there came the remote controlled snow monster, who Samantha described looking like a huge balloon.
Large stones rolled onto the ice for the troll scene, and I was hoping that the trolls would pop out, but they came on the ice from back stage instead.
Frozen, Disney on Ice really was a great show. The skaters were entertaining, the props were colorful, the music was great, and it was Samantha really enjoyed it. She kept calling it a movie, and it's not very often that her and I get to go out on a Mommy-Daughter date. Plus, after we move to Sault Ste. Marie, we will not be close to a big city where we can do things like this very often. It was definitely a fun afternoon together.
While Samantha and I were watching the show, Daddy hung out at home while Aedan napped, giving him three hours to get finish his grading for the semester. Here they are hanging out after Aedan woke up from his nap.
He's one crazy, happy little boy!
Monday was finally the big day, Samantha's actual birthday. We now officially have a five year old! The day was fairly normal with Ben wrapping grades up on campus and Samantha going to preschool. However, she was Star of the Day which always makes preschool even more exciting. She decided to bring brownies for her snack since they are allowed to bring special treats on their birthdays and for Share Bag she brought her new Cinderella doll. Andrea and I did our babysitting swap this week, so she took Aedan so that I could get some packing done at home. I was able to cancel our utilities in Oxford and get some packing done without having the kids underfoot.
That evening, since it was Samantha's birthday, we decided to go out to eat at her favorite restaurant, Chipotle. We realized that we had gone to Chipotle for her birthday ever since she turned two. The kids ate well, and we were actually able to eat at the restaurant since the students were gone. Then, we decided to go to a local park to play. This park has a lot of fun things and we only recently discovered it, so it was fun to visit it again, even though the kids were getting pretty tired by the end of our time out.
I love to see the kids having fun together, smiling, and laughing. It was a great way to celebrate Samantha's birthday by spending time together as a family.
(Blog about May 10-16, 2016)
