Tor with Basketball

This picture is for Ty and Brock.  Tor has on his Jordan basketball shirt and is getting the feel of the basketball.  Ty remarked the other day that he could hardly wait until he could play basketball with Tor or throw around a football, since with the girls both he and Brock have to play Polly Pocket or Princess pretend.  This rainy weather isn't helping since he and Brock can't take the girls outside to the play fort or bicycles.

Painter

Bridget can be very focused at times.  She wanted to paint so we got out the watercolors.  She spent a lot of time working to cover all the white and surprisingly staying within the lines, which is super for a new 3 year old.  Here is her finished picture.

Open house

Jillian took Daddy to open house at her school yesterday. We went to her classroom and met Ms. Cheatley, who had many nice things to say about Jillian. One of the first things Jillian showed to Daddy was the behavior chart where she was at the highest level (purple) ... Ms. Cheatley said she is almost always at that level each day.

One More Present

Bridget was thrilled to get one more birthday present yesterday from the Dolans.  She was thrilled as she loves the pony and it talks.  She was busy yesterday making thank you cards to Ava and Harper.

She is one funny girl sometimes.  Lately she has been telling us that she can't go downstairs without one of us since Mommy and Daddy said she couldn't go downstairs by herself.  I think she just thinks it's scary down there by herself.  Then at nap time she said Mommy and Daddy said she doesn't have to take a nap since she went to bed early last night.  Nice try!  She has a good imagination.

Two New Teeth

Surprise! Both of Tor's bottom front teeth have come in ... if you look very closely (or zoom in) you can see them. Mommy happened to get chomped by Tor the other night, so she felt his gums and found the little daggers. Now that they're in, Tor is in much better spirits and back to his 24/7 happy self.

3rd Birthday Party

Bridget had her "Longview Birthday Party" today at home, and lots of guests showed up. Both Bridget and Jillian were extra excited to have their neighbor Hazel come over, and they all played hard for quite awhile. Bridget didn't have her nap, so she was a bit delirious, but she still had a great time. Here's a picture of her with her Princesses in the Park cake.

Soccer-mania

Jillian had a soccer game today at 7th Avenue fields, and thankfully it rained only a little bit. Jillian had been telling us before the game that she wasn't going to play in the rain, but we kept reminding her that soccer is still played in the rain. The game was a blowout, with the other team scoring tons of goals and our team getting shutout. But Jillian wasn't too concerned afterward, only saying that she needed to practice so she could score goals, too.

Ava and Harper Visit

Ava and Harper brought Bridget a birthday present.  Bridget loved the walking Pet Shop horse and extras and busily played with that while the twins explored everything else.  Getting a picture with all three facing the camera and getting a thank you hug from Bridget was a challenge.  Bridget gives big hugs.  It definitely made Bridget's day.

Another first for the day was Tor getting in the tub with Bridget when she was taking her bath.  Tor seemed to really love it and was splashing water.  Bridget was trying to be helpful by washing Tor's hair which didn't go over well so she let Grannie do that.  He didn't get to stay in the tub near as long as Bridget since I had to bend over the tub to hold on to Tor.

Top of the Chart

Jillian has a new teacher, since they got two new kindergarten teachers and moved some children, and Jillian absolutely loves her new teacher.  She was so pleased that the teacher moved her to the top of the behavior chart and she got to get something in the prize box.  (Here she is holding her new special pencil.)  When we asked what she did to get a prize, she said she listened to the teacher, sat up straight and did good work.  After school she made her new teacher a card and then did 3 practice sheets, one with her numbers, one with some of the alphabet and one with words she had written. 

Grabby

Sophie has learned not to get  near Tor as he is getting good at grabbing anything close.  He loves to sit up and play and Sophie will tease him by getting close and then scampering away.  Sophie has learned this with Bridget too.  She wants to pick Sophie up by her head so Sophie plays a game of dodging away.  Tor has also had fun working his little play center, usually by pounding on it with his fists to make the lights flash and music play.

Birthday Cupcake

Bridget celebrated her 3rd birthday with some cupcakes in both Castle Rock (shown here) and Seattle. She has been very excited about turning 3, since this makes her a much bigger girl.

Ouch!

Tor is normally a very happy, and mostly quiet, little guy. But the last couple days, he's had a several instances of screaming episodes. Bottles, naps and diaper changes didn't seem to help. Tonight, he totally erupted and nothing would calm him down. Then, Mommy checked Tor's mouth and found some jagged little bumps on his lower gums ... a tooth was coming in!

Party in Seattle

Here is Heather with her Seattle friends. We went to Seattle to celebrate Nicki, John and Laura's birthday.

Sitting Up

Tor is pretty much able to sit up all by himself now, though he still needs a spotter for those moments when he gets a little excited and topples over. Sitting up is becoming Tor's preferred position to be in, which means we spend more time playing in the girls' or our room where we have soft carpeting.

Behavior Chart

A couple days ago Jillian worked hard to make this 5 level chart.  She did it all herself including hanging it on the window.  (I added a little more tape to make it hang together better.)  Then she put all the ladybug clothespins on the middle paper.  She put the first letter of each person on the clothespin, like J for Jillian.  Then she told us when you do something nice you get to move up one level.  When you get to the top you get a prize.  When you do something bad you move down a level.  When you get to the bottom the teacher will need to talk to your parents.  Hummm?  Wonder if they are doing this in kindergarten this year?  Anyway we had to be on our best behavior but poor Bridget kept getting moved down.  Tierney got moved down one for not asking before she poured herself juice.  Then she got moved up by giving Jillian some ice cream.  Thank goodness we all get to start over in the middle each day.

Posing and Nap

It rarely happens, so when Bridget says, "Take my picture.", I am glad to oblige, since getting her to look at the camera is almost impossible.  At first she was apprehensive about this reclining gravity chair but eventually decided it was really nice and not scary.

Bridget was excited that Tierney came and did play-doh with her.  Ty came for late breakfast and then had to head to class but Tierney stayed and did dolls and whatever Bridget came up with.  Then Tor woke up from his nap and it was time for Bridget's nap.  She said she wanted to do it by herself so she went in to bed with a play animal but didn't want a story.  After I gave her a hug and kiss and checked back in a couple minutes, she was fast asleep.  This is a girl that is hard to get to sleep but sorely needs it.  Wow! Hope it lasts.

Almost Sitting Up

Tor is getting some practice at sitting up in this photo. He does really well staying up for a long time before he loses focus and tips over, but the pillows are there to catch him. Tor likes being up in the sitting position because he can see everything that is going on. It should only be a week or so before he's totally on his own.

End of Summer Vacation

With school starting up, we decided to take one more vacation ... a trip to the beach cabin. It was a pretty quick 2-day trip since Daddy had to get back to prepare for school, but it was still a lot of fun. The weather cooperated and it was sunny and warm the whole time, which meant the girls got to play at the beach for a long time. Here's some pictures of everyone: Jillian wave-jumping (her favorite activity), Bridget digging in the sand (her favorite activity) and Torion getting his feet in the ocean water (he was fascinated by it).

First Day of School

Jillian's first day of Kindergarten was last Wednesday, and she was oh-so excited about it. Here's a photo of her all decked out in her sparkly summer dress and new backpack, standing in front of the house. Mommy walked her to school, while also pushing Tor and Bridget in the stroller.

When Jillian got back from school, the thing she most wanted to talk about was recess, saying that she saw cousin Adam, and did as she was told (just a wave and a "hi", rather than tackling each other).

First Soccer Game!

Jillian was ready for the first soccer game.  The girls ran joyously after the ball and Jillian did a great job of dribbling and controlling the ball.

The game lasted an hour and all the girls lost some focus in the second half.  But for the first game they did great.  Mom, Dad, Bridget, Torion, Aunt Greta, Aunt Robin, Uncle Dan, Cousins Ainsley and Tierney, Grannie, and Papa formed the cheering section.

First Week of School

We picked up Jillian Friday after school.  She loves school but didn't have tennis shoes when they had inside recess due to the rain and she wasn't happy about that.  She loves recess too.  Bridget wanted in the picture. 

Lots of Attention

Now that Jillian is in kindergarten, Bridget is soaking up the extra attention.  She fixed a multitude of food in the oven and then when Mocha came over and sniffed her food, she had to stand guard so Mocha wouldn't eat her goodies.

Then Ty came so she got all his undivided attention.  He put the roller skates on her and she did surprisingly well on them.

And then there's Tor who is the best baby.  He wakes up happy and stays that way most of the day unless he gets hungry or sleepy.  As soon as you look at him he gives you the biggest smiles.  When he is sleepy he goes to sleep quickly and sleeps soundly for quite awhile.  Now he is figuring out how his hands and feet work, so I will put this activity center where he can kick it with his feet and that entertains him for quite awhile.  If it's by his hands he will hit it so it will play or make sounds.  He is certainly a charmer!

Too Early

Loved this picture!  Jillian wanted to hold Tor this morning since Bridget got to last time.  After several tries to get a good picture and they were making weird faces, I had to pick this one as Tor is saying "What?  Another picture!"

Growing Girls

I measure the kids regularly during the year-start of school, January, end of school.  Since school ended Jillian grew 1 and 1/4th inch this summer.  She looked at the mark today and said, "Wow, am I that tall?"  Bridget grew the same amount this summer.

We found some roller skates at a garage sale and Jillian practiced a lot today with just one sit-down hard.  She then had me follow her around right behind her to catch her, just in case.  The deck is a little rough so it's good to practice there as the skates don't roll as fast.