Nash & Margot

Happy New Year!

2011-10-04T21:36:00.001-04:00

Margot got to wear this beautiful dress my Mom knitted. Very special.

These two amazing little kids loved celebrating Rosh Hashana! Happy New Year!

July in pictures!

2011-07-23T08:47:00.003-04:00

This is what Nash and Margot call a horse festival. Lucky horses, they get lots of festivals.
Mr. Lion protects Nash while he sleeps.
He's going up, not falling down!
Love this picture of Margot's pigtails flying as she bounces in her seat. This month we got rid of diapers! Hooraaay!

Summer Tiiiime

2011-06-30T18:49:00.007-04:00

It has been so long since I updated that my new computer, which isn't new anymore, doesn't remember this web address.
I think I stopped putting pictures on because it was so hard to get good pictures! I didn't have a good camera, and it was frustrating to see everyone else's gorgeous blog with great pictures. I got a new camera. I still post all the time on Facebook. Of course, maybe this is partly for the kids, when they're older, and they can't look back on Facebook.
So, randomly, here I am posting again.
Margot is sitting next to me reading me Thomas stories, her most favorite thing, while Nash is in VA with Maeme and G for his first ever big boy trip week away from me. I miss him so much it feels awful. He is having fun. Margot and I are having alone time together. And things are much more peaceful than they usually are when the kids are here playing together and teasing each other and running around like crazy little people.
I guess it would be impossible to catch up. The kids are enrolled in a new school now- yes, even little Margot loves school, and Summer camp. I'll just throw in a few pictures. And hope I can carve out some more time for this blog for them soon. I am on it now because i wanted to show Margot pictures of she and Nashy (since he's gone and she misses him.)
So here's what my not so little people are looking like these days:The kids crawfish boil wear. The shirts say "I wanna be loved bayou".
Nash has always been afraid of the goats at Grant's Farm (can't say I blame him, those things are so aggressive!) until now. He decided it was time, and now when we go we have to stop at the goat feeding area, and he also has to feed the ducks, and llamas too!
Nashy was Shabbat king at his school, so he had prayer honors and got to carry the torah. He says, "I am the Shabbas King, I can do anything! YEAHH!"
Nash is so crazy about Star Wars. Star Wars this and that. This is a pretty cook little helmet that Uncle Eric got him. Bobba Fett rocks. Here's Margot's bike she peddles around on. Yep, she peddles.

Copycat Picture!

2011-01-08T15:47:00.000-05:00

Then...

and now

Family art

2011-01-02T16:30:00.003-05:00

Nash has gotten a lot better with his writing! He's able to sound out simple words and knows how to spell his name and some of his friends, and his family and write "I love you" :)

He does a lot of his practicing on his easel, which is a white board and a chalk board, and this makes me a little sad because it means I can't keep every piece of it.

This one he drew just for me! See, that's me (cause I have long hair) and there's a sun and a rainbow and I'm standing on grass. But yes, a storm is rolling in and those are storm clouds above my head and rain is coming down. But I'm still smiling, see? That's cause I love my little boy. Oh, and lower left hand corner art work is courtesy of Margot, who always wants to participate in whatever her big brother is doing.

Catchin up!

2010-12-12T15:11:00.005-05:00

Getting slower with the blogging. Usually post pictures to Facebook now. But still, we get to keep the things I post here, so will try to do better. I think now I've missed Margot's second birthday, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. Whew that's a lot to catch up on. Pictures. I'll start with pictures.
Margot decided before her second birthday party, that she needed to wear a crown. This is not something she usually does, I guess it just felt right. And if I'd known she was going to wear it, it would have definitely been decorated for the occasion. She had a "Sweet Shop" theme to the party, but it kind of went by the wayside. It was fun though to see some of the kids playing and "making" cupcakes cookies and cake and "selling" them. All pretend! And we discovered why people pay money to have others run their party for them. It's too much work when it's not at your house to get it all together!

Bullet points:
-Nash's favorite songs are "Eye of the Tiger" and "We Will Rock You"
-Margot's favorite song is called "Mouse In My Toolbox" by Laurie Berkner
-They both also love Barenaked Ladies kids album called Snacktime.
-Margot got her first Barbie-ish doll for her birthday - a fairy. And she likes her. But she doesn't really play with her.
-Margot is discovering her emotions and makes faces on command. Mad. Happy. Silly.
-Margot carries around the step stool all over the house turning lights on. Or off. Or whichever they're not.
-Nash writes his name on his own! Just drew an awesome picture of his family under a rainbow :)
-Nash got all kind of great cool presents for Hanukkah but his favorite one is an Iron Man toy.
-Nash and Margot's favorite place to eat is Dewey's pizza. And on the way there every time there are holiday lights they both yell, "Pretty lights! I saw them first!"
-Nash is becoming a better eater! To get seconds at school he has to eat everything on his plate. So he's even had a few bites of green beans lately! Yesterday at home he ate a half a banana. He hasn't done that since he was a baby. Thanks Raintree!
-Nash loves to paint watercolors, and is so very diligent about cleaning off his brush before changing colors.
-Nash wants to wear jeans EVERY DAY
-Margot wants to do whatever Nash wants to do. Right now apparently they both want to take a nap, which is awesome because my birthday is tomorrow and my awesome husband surprised my by getting a babysitter tonight!

Also, Nash graduated from Superhero school with the Superhero name "Black Flame". He is WAY into Superheroes. At Superhero school he learned how to be a good friend and a good citizen, how to mix colors, how to design a pattern, how to draw shapes, the characteristics of a Superhero vs. a hero (Is a doctor a Superhero? Firefighter?)

We all celebrated and it was a happy day.

25 Months Old Counting To 10

2010-11-15T11:42:00.001-05:00

Get it?

2010-09-30T18:36:00.000-04:00

Nash:
Knock Knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Interrupting Cow!

Dear Susan,

2010-09-30T18:11:00.001-04:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the jacket. Big thanks, and hugs :)

Scary = Good??

2010-09-19T10:28:00.003-04:00

Nash suddenly likes all things scary. I'm sure there is a fine line between being a big boy and thinking scary things are fun, and actually having the pants scared off of him.
Not too long ago Nash was afraid of the following things: thunder, fireworks, monsters, aliens, sharks, the dark. Straight from Nash's mouth, "Now I'm not afraid of anything." Nash watched Star Wars with his Daddy for the first time yesterday and his favorite guy is Darth Vader! And today his picked out the toothy shark sticker to put on his hand. He loves looking at all the Halloween costume catalogs we've been getting in the mail, and keeps picking out scary grim reapers and ghosts. What a big kid!

2010-09-14T17:28:00.004-04:00

It's not always so crazy around here. Oh, wait, yes it is. I actually take my daughter out of the house in rain boots when it's not raining, and with mismatched shoes.
And clearly Nash is allowed to wear his Superman cape as we run errands. In fact, we met another Superman last week at the Post Office! Can you believe it??
During quiet moments Margot likes to sit on the window sill and read.
Deep breaths. Love these kids.

Happy Labor Day!

2010-09-07T15:31:00.004-04:00

It went so fast! The weather was SO beautiful so we stayed outside and went to Grant's Farm and partied with neighbors and drove around with the doors off... yes, even the kids doors!

Getting ready to go, the doors came off per Nash's very persistent request.

Loving the wind!!

Not really loving the wind :(

But then we got to beautiful Grant's Farm and all was right again with the world.
Margot on tour at Grant's Farm. Sweater weather! Hooray!
This big turtle was very interested in Margot and Ray.Peek-a-boo elephant!

Next up, Ray's birthday next week!

I have a great idea!

2010-09-02T15:08:00.011-04:00

Let's nap together!

Take one. Nashy's bed

No really! We're sleeping!

Take two. Emmy's room - with Nash's bed on the floor.

His bed's just not big enough for him and Eebee and Margot and blankie. So, now, take three, side by side.

This is fun. But I can think of something more fun.

And what's that I hear from downstairs?? Giggles and LOUD thumps?

I don't think the kids are ready to nap together just yet.

Am I not supposed to be doing this?

2010-09-01T16:12:00.001-04:00

It's Hot Out Here!

2010-08-16T11:09:00.005-04:00

For what seemed like forever, Margot's favorite things were whatever Nash's favorite things were. A month or two ago, that started to change and Margot has her faves now too! They are: Olivia the pig, Elmo, Hello Kitty, and Minnie Mouse! What great things for a girl to love! She's also becoming quite a stacker. And after she's done something funny, she says, "look what Emmy doing!" or "silly Emmy!" or "Good job! Look Mommy! Good job!" and, of course, it's so cute.
And he're Nashy last Monday on his first day of school! Thanks to a Summer of Raintree came he's explored the world of Pirates, treasures, plundering (which included us plundering our neighbors by surprising them with a sneak water balloon attack!), and sports.

Since I last posted we've had Grammy visit from Florida, we've taken another trip to VA, Nashy's started school, (I've started a diet), we went to our first Cardinals game, and we've endured day after day of scorching heat... and more! As Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it."

Yesterday Nashy was in trouble and we asked him to go to time out. He was moving slow and Margot said to him, while pointing, "Go, Nashy! Now!" And Ray and I muffled our laughter and told her "Thank you Emmy, that's enough."

Some more highlights:
-Margot thinks she's hilarious. She climbs stairs. Throws herself off the couch. Throws the ball into the street. Do you see a pattern? These are things her parents do not think are hilarious.
-Margot also gets away with these things without us being too mad because she's so darn cute. And when she knows she's been bad she puts herself in time out.
-Nash and Margot are both obsessed with Dots. Are you aware of dots? If not, RUN to the store and get some. And a Dot book.
-The kids love the books by Leslie Patricelli No No Yes Yes, Big Little and Yummy Yucky. The baby in those books can be a very naughty baby.
-Every day before school Nash asks if I can have a Superman cape for him when he comes home. I think a boy at his school had one for costume day. But also, there's a Monster Truck called Superman and Nashy is way into monster trucks.
-I sing three songs to Nashy every night before bed. Twinkle Twinkle, You are my sunshine, and one we made up that goes, "It's dark outside sleepy silly head, close your eyes it's time for bed, have sweet dreams sleepy silly head, I love you silly sleepyhead." I used to sing Sunshine normally, but since Nash doesn't like gray skies, he asked me to sing "You are my sunshine my only sunshine, you make me happy everyday. You'll never know Nash how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away." But then he asked me to change it to "...you make my happy when I love you, you'll never know Nash how much I love you..." but then we went back to "...everyday." Then, a few nights ago he asked me to change it to, "you make me happy when I love your projects! You'll never know Nash, how much I love you please don't take my sunshine away."

"Who wants lemonade??"

2010-07-03T18:59:00.003-04:00

We had a very exciting morning this morning as we had our first lemonade stand! Nash and Margot have become HUGE Olivia fans (for those who don't know she's a very imaginative little piggy with her very own show on Nick Jr.) and Olivia sometimes has a lemonade stand. I've been trying to build a little shop on Etsy which,recently, has included some fun paper banners. So a lemonade banner was obviously in order! And we decided to also have cupcakes. Because we like 'em.
Margot and Nash looked awfully cute in their lemonade-colored clothes.
Nash called around the neighborhood, "Who wants cupcakes? Who wants lemonade? Cupcakes! Lemonade! 50 cents!"
Nashy poured the lemonade.
And now on to cupcakes. Why don't kids like cupcakes? They think they do, but they just like the frosting. We threw away 4 whole cupcakes with the frosting licked clean. Nash and Margot made $18! Way to go kids!

Names

2010-06-18T13:03:00.002-04:00

Sum Sum Summertime

2010-06-17T14:22:00.003-04:00

Apparently a trim can really bring out Margot's curls!

Nashy got a SCOOTER!
The kids love to play construction. Nashy calls himself a "decstruction" worker. HA!
Margot ready for work.
Nash loves to run back and forth and all around the bottom floor of our house. Usually half dressed.

>Margot loves to play with blocks! She uses her imagination and puts together great playscapes.

Colors and Sorting

2010-06-14T11:06:00.002-04:00

We missed our last visit of the season with our friend from Parents As Teachers, so I'm kinda taking a guess at some things she might have brought for Margot. Nash loves his toys and doesn't always understand that it's time to pass them on, or at least share them with Margot. They've always been his. But it's so amazing to watch her learn to play with them and figure them out in her own way, totally differently from Nashy. So in the mornings while Nashy's at school, the toys come out and I try to help/teach Margot, and watch and see what she does with them. This morning we were working on colors and sorting. I guess it's probably a little early for her to know her colors and how to sort, but never too early to start learning.

The Great Caper

2010-06-09T12:10:00.003-04:00

Why is it that one day Nash loves grapes, and the next he doesn't? The same is true with macaroni and cheese (he thinks he likes the white kind, but not the orange kind) and he loves peanut butter sandwich crackers from Trader Joe's, but oh-NO he does NOT like peanut butter. This very complex little boy has big responsibilities now and makes big decisions. Let's hope he continues to make the right ones most of the time! So, last Saturday Ray and I were having "stinky" breakfast, bagels and lox, which we load up with onions and capers. Nash decided that he would like to eat capers. An what Nash does, Margot does too. Which led to the great caper eating fiasco.

Nash and Margot ate so many capers that I started to wonder if the acid in the brine would hurt their tummies. But, as far as I know, no tummies were hurt in the eating of capers, though whole caper populations were consumed.

2010-06-04T16:16:00.001-04:00

Can you read this, G?? We miss you!

She's a wild one

2010-06-04T12:23:00.002-04:00

After splashing around in the pool this morning, Emmy roamed around in her birthday suit for a few minutes. She was playing very quietly, so I rounded the corner to see what she was doing and had a good laugh when I saw her pigtails and tush in the kitchen. Stick her in some heels and she's every boy's dream.

Memorial Day Weekend Fun!

2010-06-01T22:54:00.005-04:00

Fun and games outside! Kiddie pool + assorted sprinklers + water table + "Daddy home" + beautiful day = magical weekend for Margot and Nash.

Before heading outside, Margot is stationed at her favorite spot, where she's not supposed to play...

Nashy doing his thing. The kid did at least a dozen run-and-jumps into the pool.

This is Elmo's 3rd Summer sprinkling us with water. For this we are grateful.

Run, Emmy! Run!

Margot has recently discovered the joys of snuggling! Hoorah!
Yes, Margot's in pants even though it's 90 degrees outside. Because she has fallen on the same knee three days in a row and OOOOOOF does it look awful.

Silly words

2010-05-25T19:27:00.002-04:00

Because he just learned how to say it properly, I have to note, before I forget, that up to this day Nash called Ferris Wheels "Paris Wheels". I never corrected him. Loved it.

I guess I'm excited

2010-05-24T16:22:00.002-04:00

You know, the funny thing I've found about Margot is I am just as excited when she does new things as I was for kid #1. Somehow, in a very short time, I forgot how awesome it is when they develop new skills and become little people instead of babies. So, I guess I am excited about this lacing thing. I am writing this because after just posting the video I realized that my last post was also all about Margot and her beads. (Sorry to be obnoxious about it, I didn't mean to be, I'm just proud of my girl.)

Lacing

2010-05-21T16:59:00.011-04:00

Nashy stayed home from school today and he and Margot both had great naps! It was nice to have some time to do last-minute Crawfish Boil prep. But, thanks to the thunderstorm in the middle of the night and our scared little boy, and I have been pretty tired today. So I had a quick snooze while they were napping, and woke up from a dream about a toy Nashy used to play with. I was thinking that Margot might now be the right age? So I went to the closet and pulled it out. When both kids were awake it was play time. Margot had no trouble mastering the concept of Nash's old favorite toy - lacing! Here are the exciting results:

TAH-DAH!!

Rainy Spring

2010-05-20T10:57:00.005-04:00

We're inside today, playing with trains. I never expected my baby girl to love trains as much as my baby boy. But, I think she does. She loves to send them zooming down bridges.

Nash knows his letters, and learned them in uppercase. He has a puzzle game with pictures and the space next to it to spell out what the picture is - in lowercase letters. He knows some of them and is still learning. Uppercase and lowercase letters seem very silly to a kid. Why the heck do need two of each? Anyway, Nash and I have started singing a song with flashcards and I'll point to the upper and lower case letters as I sing, "Big A little a, what begins with A? Alligator, apple, a, a, a. Big B little b, what begins with B? Banana, bat, boy, b, b, b." And we go through the whole alphabet that way. I took advantage of this rainy morning inside and tacked up some flash cards in his wall for him to study. (It may seem funny that I used the word "study" since he's 3, but that's really what he does. He looks at things and examines them and learns them. He's always done it.)

And finally, I was so proud of Nashy last night! I have him this little book with simple connect the dots and it didn't take him 30 seconds to grasp what to do. And he loved it!!

Emmy speak

2010-05-17T21:50:00.002-04:00

Bullet points

2010-05-17T17:25:00.003-04:00

-Margot loves to scoot around on her bee.
-Margot is a climber! I turn my back and find her on top of all kind of things.

-Nash asked Chef Scott, at his school, to make biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Raintree made a big deal out of this request and it made the Friday News and showed up on May's menu as Nash's biscuits and gravy. Margot and I joined him for breakfast that day. Nash did not like Chef Scott's biscuits and gravy.
-Nashy's best friend at school is little Sydney. He likes to play outside in the log box with her.
-Margot's favorite song is from the 60's and is about a woman is never going to get over her man. The doo-wop singers in the background since "no no no no no no" and Margot loves to shake her finger back and forth and sing along.
-Margot often speaks in sentences beginning with "want" and ending with "Mommy". Want cheese Mommy. Want hug Mommy. Want Daddy home.
-Some of Margot's favorite words: bunny, book, cheese (the food, and what you say in front of the camera), yummy, duck, shoes, Jeep, Daddy, hello, baby.
-Margot often walks around with one of Nash's Crocs on.
-Nashy is still obsessed with trucks, dump trucks, recycling trucks, firetrucks, ambulances,excavators and trains. The category remains the same, but I gotta say, I'm impressed with how much he's learned about these things. He can identify different kinds of trucks and worker trucks and trains, and knows the names of their parts and the truck's purpose.
-Nash would eat hot dogs for every meal, including breakfast, if I'd let him.
-I've thought about letting him and seeing how long that would last before he never asked for another hot dog.
-When it's lightning outside, Nash says, "it's taking a picture out there." and he also thinks Daddy should get a big shooter and shoot out the lightning.
-Nash is pretty terrified of thunder. When it's bedtime and it's thundering outside he says, "Hey! Thunder! You're too loud! I'm trying to sleep!" On a positive note, he is no longer afraid of baby goats.

-Both kids are "monkey-see monkey-do" Margot makes a loud silly baby noise and Nash does it. Margot puts her mouth against the window and does raspberries and Nash follows. Likewise, Margot wants to dip everything in ketchup, color with markers, sit at Nash's project desk, climb stairs all by herself. Sighhhh.
-Nash's favorite song is "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" which he calls "Aweemaway".
-Nashy's Mother's Day card to me said "I love you because you came to have lunch with me at school, and you make things for me." I loved it.
-We spent a fun week in VA and got to visit Maeme and G and Uncle Eric and Aunt Lizzie and baby Phoebe! We love baby Phoebe!

Siwwy Nashy

2010-04-09T21:26:00.003-04:00

Lest I give the impression that Nash is all grown up, here is a brief list of some silly things he says:

He calls puddles "peddles"

He calls puzzles "pizzles"

He calls pickup trucks "hiccup trucks"

And he thinks that our eyebrows are wipers!

One year apart...

2010-04-06T16:43:00.002-04:00

Made this dress for Margot when she looked like this:

Now, here's my big girl:

Passover!

2010-03-31T12:53:00.003-04:00

We had visitors! After cancelling their trip here in February because of snow, Maeme and G finally made it out to St. Louis, and it was really nice to have them here to share Passover with us.

Family portrait

And one with Maeme. Someone had to take the picture! Thanks G.

Matzo cover a la Nashy and Margot. And me, I guess, since I sewed it up. Nash wrote "Matzo" all by himself and Margot made the pretty finger stamped flower, with a lot of help from Mommy.

Smiley moment.

Margot loves her new play stroller! We had one for Nashy but he loved it too and it got used to much it went kaput. So Emmy gets her own girly pink flowery stroller. Fair or not, there aren't too many pink girly toys in this house. I have to say, I think she knows this is all for her, and she LOVES it.
The new dolly is from Maeme and G and is called "Little Me." Margot is feeding her a goldfish. In the end I guess Little Me wasn't hungry, and Margot put the goldfish on her dress, so she could enjoy it later.

Now we're ready for Springtime and beautiful weather!

On A Roll

2010-03-25T20:36:00.002-04:00

Look at all this posting! Trying to make up for months of being a bad blogger. Had Nash's first parent-teacher conference today. Nash is the youngest one in his class. The school starts at 3 years old, as long as the child is potty trained. Nash took to potty training pretty easily and was trained in September '09, when he was 2.5, and never looked back. So, anyway, being the youngest at his school I would expect to hear from the teacher that he has some catching up to do in a lot of areas. But she didn't really say that. She said Nash loves to spell and is curious, and interested in learning. She said there are a handful of kids in the butterfly room (4 year olds) who aren't writing their own name yet. Actually, every kid in the school has a symbol associated with their name because it's easier to recognize and practice. Nash's is a box with an x in the middle reaching to the corners. But Nash's teacher says he's doing great with his name and since he's been able to read it since he started there they haven't needed to use the symbol. Of course when I got home I asked Nash to trace his name, and here's what he did:
Not too shabby!!
Also, March 7 is the first day I saw Nash drawing faces. Here are the pics:

He was drawing some heads himself, but since I know he can do circles and he wanted to practice the faces, some of those beautiful heads were drawn by yours truly. Pretty good, huh? Anyway, I'm proud of him.

I Exhaust Myself!

2010-03-24T12:38:00.002-04:00

Margot Margot Margot the explorer! This little girl likes nothing more than to be "down" and not being told where to go or what to do and definitely not holding mommy's hand. The other morning it was the park. Ohh! Look at this leaf! Let me bring it over there. Ooh! There's a dog! Let's pet it! Hmm I wonder what's down this way! Where's Mommy going? Who cares, I want to see that thing over there. For about a month she has been putting two words together. Very often they are "Uh-oh Emmy" or "milk, Mommy" or "more, Mommy" or "more please". She doesn't call me Mama very often, which Nash did until he was way beyond her age. I've pretty much always been Mommy. Other words: Daddy, Dada, Nash, shoe (oosh), fish (ish), horse (hor), duck, dog and woof woof, balloon, ball, up (bup), milk, more please, down, banana, nose, hair, ouch, tickle, truck (uck), choo choo, no no no (accompanied by finger shaking), n'night, bye bye, hello (every time she hears the phone ring), hi, dolly. Will continue my list later. There's more. We're busy people lately!

Rolling is the new jumping

2010-03-23T16:01:00.009-04:00

burned my hand.AVI

2010-03-22T16:54:00.001-04:00

Recent photos

2010-03-22T11:44:00.005-04:00

I'm long overdue on new description of everything Margot is doing and saying, but I have a running list, and soon soon soon I will post. For now, some pictures of the "little" ones. And below, finnnaaally posted earlier this morning, more about Nash and his Raintree.In matching Dwell backpacks *love*
Just like his Daddy, a Porsche man.
Trying to get the shoe ("oosh" as she calls them) to get on her foot! Sometimes Nash steps in to help out.
Margot is like Linus. This blankie goes everywhere with her, and she takes periodic breaks throughout the day and lays down on it, wherever she is, and breathes out deeply. This morning I was doing laundry, and she laid down next to the washer.
Miss banana face on her favorite chair.

Raintree- written three weeks ago...

2010-03-08T20:35:00.015-05:00

It's been almost a month now that Nash has been spending half his day at his new school, Raintree. After not even a week of tears, he declared that he wasn't going to cry anymore. And every day since, when I pick him up her tells me "I didn't cry today!" And, I don't cry anymore either, though some days I miss him like crazy. It is such a neat little school and I'm so happy we found it! The school has kids from 3-6 years old, and the classes are divided by age. Nash is the youngest one in the school, having started the day before his 3rd birthday. His class now has 9 kids (2 are new in the last month) and they are called the Dinosaurs, led by their fearless teacher Mary Beth who Nash looooves. She calls him "Nashy" and sometimes I see her play with his hair a little, which makes me happy. He talks about her a lot. And she is wonderful. She is 2 years out of college, with special teaching certifications and one year previous experience. She looks like the kind of person a kid would like, and when addressing the class she calls them "friends" and says things like "friends, let's catch a bubble and close our eyes" which means they should pretend to catch a bubble in their mouth, which will make them quiet, so they can have rest time. The other classes are called the Butterflies, and the big kids are the G4s (like G force, I think.)
The school is based on this approach called Regiio Emilia. The school's website is here under the raintree. Here's a brief description, should you not feel like reading all about it. It's a project based school, so everything thing they study revolves around a theme/project and all the disciplines tie in. And this project can last from a month to all school year. The kids pick the project. So they talk about what they're into and decide what they want to learn about. Right now Nash's class is studying music. There are no toys in the room, there are only building materials, art supplies, lots of books, comfy places to hang out. His room has a full size keyboard color-coded to a key on the wall, to teach them to play twinkle-twinkle little star. Nash knows how to turn it off and on, change the volume and sounds, and he can play Twinkle Twinkle. There's also a CD player in the room, and a digital camera, all available for them to use any time they want. The lessons here are the CDs available, in different tempos and melodies and pitch, for different times of day. He is recognizing how music can create different environments and evoke different emotions. And they're capturing that on camera, and are making a "music video" for the other kids at the school to watch! He has learned Jaws da-na da-na da-na for suspense. And probably my favorite thing that he showed me after school is the rope dance! He was circling the lasso and throwing and drawing it in! And he learned the robot! And ballet and marching, among other things. They're also creating art to music - again, different emotions. They've had a dancer visit them and teach them some moves, they're reading books about music and dancing, they're showing their new moves to the rest of the school at a pep-rally. Everything they do is music music music.
Nash goes early, gets there at 8, even though class doesn't start until 9, because then he can see what Chef Scott made for breakfast and decide if he wants some, and play outside before class. Chef Scott makes wholesome organic food for breakfast and lunch that smells AWESOME! And Nash hardly eats a bite of it :) But maybe one day he will. Nash loves to wash his own dishes after lunch. And loves jumping on the tree stumps outside with his favorite friends, Gage, Sacci and Osmond. But he also talks about new kids everyday. Nash has always been pretty shy, but I've seen him at school playing outside, when he didn't know I was watching, and we've found a safe. happy place for him. What more could I ask for?
(Sorry this has taken so long to post.)

Update

2010-03-03T20:48:00.002-05:00

Thanks, everyone, for concerns! The garbage truck actually worked!! Hoorah! It didn't work perrrrfectly, but I think we're really on the right track to good sleep. He is still coming into our room sometime in the 5 o'clock hour, but I'll take that any day over once an hour all night long! And the first night he went back to bed until his clock said 6, came in my room and was very proud of himself - my clock said 5:59 so I'm guessing he didn't go back to sleep, just waited until 6, like Mommy and Daddy asked him to. This morning he was up before 6, but so was Ray. Can't expect him to stay in bed if he doesn't want to, when he hears Daddy moving around. Even so, no garbage truck today because he was in our room before 6. He definitely understands what he's supposed to do, and what will happen if he does it.
SO, we'll see how this goes. I'm happy with the progress so far. Maybe he's just become an early riser. I hear that's just how some kids are wired. For now I am going to let happiness flow through me that he stays in bed for the night once he's tucked in, no more putting him to bed multiple times, and he's just about completely sleeping through the night! I repeat, HOORAH!

Why won't you sleep?

2010-03-01T10:52:00.004-05:00

We are having some very long nights in this house. At 5 months old Nash decided he loved to sleep, and from then on he did not wake us up one single night. Until a few months ago. I can't remember exactly when it started, but for the last few months Nash is out of bed multiple times a night. The first time is around 1:30. He very quietly opens our door and doesn't say a word, but stands there until I get up and bring him back to bed. I hear him opening the door and sniffling a little, or whatever, and I don't talk to him because I don't want his "visits" to be "social". I just bring him back to his room and silently tuck him in and leave. And that's fine. But then he gets up again, and that's when the trouble usually starts. It could be as early as 4:45. And he comes into our room and when I get up to put him back again he protests. Either starting to cry or throwing himself on the floor. It gets hard then, because even if he's back in bed sometimes he'll kick off his blanket, and he won't go to sleep unless he's tucked in by mommy or daddy. My goal, of course, is to get him settled as quickly as possible so I can go back to sleep! Sometimes I can get him back in bed without much trouble, but then sometimes he's up again and in our room 10 minutes later, just as I've fallen back asleep. And this can go on and on. Of course we're worried, also, that his screeching and thumping protests will wake up Margot. I can't say that I've heard her wake up because of him, but she does seem pretty tired some mornings and I wonder if she's been up because of him too. 6:00 is really the time we've deemed OK for Nash to be out of his room. Before then, I am just pretty tired. I always start out patient, but that's hard to continue on those mornings I've been up 7 times with him in a night, and basically haven't slept since 4:45AM. Ray helps by either bringing him back sometimes or letting me sleep in on the weekends when it's been a bad night. But I am first to hear Nash when he comes in our room, and sometimes he says he wants his Mommy, so Ray is really getting up for no reason.
I probably didn't write about this sooner because it didn't really bother me for a long time. I guess I should have tried to fix it earlier, but I thought it was just a little phase he'd grow out of, and he was peacefully going back to sleep. But it's getting worse now and he is in school now and I don't want him to be tired. So time to try and get the kid back into a good sleep habit.
The first book I read about sleep trouble in 3 year olds suggested something that seems obvious that I hadn't thought of. Bribery. Why not? For the last 4 nights before Nash goes to sleep we tell him he needs to stay in bed all night until morning and not come and check on Mommy and Daddy because we're asleep. We're in our room and he's nice and safe and we'll see him in the morning, after a good night sleep, when it's light outside. AND if he sleeps all night long we'll be so proud of him! And he can have chicken nuggets from McDonalds. He seemed to understand and be very very excited. But it didn't work. So we've upped the ante and gotten him a huge awesome garbage truck he picked out. In NO WAY does this kid need another truck, but I'd buy him just about anything get my uninterrupted sleep back. And along with the truck we bought him a clock. Last night before bed we had lengthy discussions about what was to happen last night. And there was illustrations.
This did not work perfectly, but I think we're heading in the right direction! Nash slept until 4:45 this morning! And then when I tucked him back in he did not protest, and he went back to sleep until 5:50! At that point I didn't want to worry about those 10 little minutes. BUT, with all the emphasis we put on the 6 I am definitely disappointed that that little guy wasn't on the clock when he got out of bed after all. So send me happy thoughts of Nash (and myself) sleeping peacefully! And also send me any suggestions you've got!!
Though this is totally unrelated, we've done some work on Nash's room. He wants his walls orange. So far there's only one orange wall, but it's really cute.
And Ray made these totally awesome cubbies for him out of these heavy cardboard and wax tubes from Lowe's. Aren't they cool?
XXX

School Update

2010-02-16T14:54:00.002-05:00

Day 1, Friday: post below. After the initial tears, he had a great time! I think the highlight was definitely riding on the school bus to and from the SPCA.
Day 2, Monday: Feeling very apprehensive. In the morning most talk was of not wanting to go to school today. His eyes were red and teary all morning. Didn't get much better when we got to school and found out that his teacher, Mary Beth, wasn't there today. But the good news is the Dinosaurs (Nash's class) got to play all day with the Butterflies (3-4 year olds) and they played with a parachute. The end of the day report was good.
Day 3, Tuesday: Morning. "I just want to go to school now. I'm just ready to go to school." He was excited! Said he was going to ask Mary Beth if they're going to ride on another school bus. Was excited when we got there and saw Nannee, the school dog, and when he changed into his inside shoes. But, I waited just long enough to see him sit down in story circle and start to cry a minute later. But at the end of the day when I picked him up, the rest of his class (who is there a full day) sang a good-bye song to him (We love you Nash...). And he ate the school lunch for the first time (applesauce and gumbo!) and loved washing his own dishes! The report from the director is that Nash spent a very long time washing his plate, then set it down to dry, then got in line to wash some more. After 3 rotations they told him that was enough.

And while the cat's away the mice will play. Which is to say, Margot is having a ball playing with her big brother's trucks while he is gone. Next post: the birthday post! Nash's 3rd birthday was Saturday and we partied down.

Nash's first day of school

2010-02-12T10:33:00.005-05:00

Nashy was quiet and excited before school. He was laying on the floor playing with his new monster truck from Uncle Eric.

All smiles and waves when we arrived.

Kids were outside playing with sleds and wanted him to join them.

Here's Nash by his cubby. Raintree is a "green" school so he has inside shoes and outside shoes. And boots. And a lot of snow-gear.

Me and my boy on his first day of school. Do I look happy? It's a great place and he'll love it, but I am completely broken up inside.
The drop-off was not as bad as it could have been. Today is a field trip day and they're going to get on a school bus and go to the Humane Society and play with animals. I hope it'll be a great day for him. Even as I'm writing this I am just hoping he has some fun today. As I was walking out the door I heard him say, "I want my Mommy" and it was really hard for me not to turn around and grab him and run out the door with him. I just hope at the end of the day he'll tell me how much fun he had. My little Nashy, my little sunshine. So hard to let him go!!!

And then when I got home Margot decided to surprise Ray and I with a new talent... climbing into the big armchair all - by - herself.

Nash's photography

2010-01-25T15:01:00.004-05:00

Getting a new camera for my birthday means that I can let Nash do something he's been trying to do for months - use my (old) camera to take some pictures of his own.
Through Nash's eyes, here's his world.
This is his blog post.

"My little sister, Margot, is always reaching for something!"

"Here's my Daddy, I take a ton of pictures of him. This is only the 60th time he said 'cheese' in 10 minutes."

"My super-sweet train table."

"Here's my kitchen, where I spend a good part of the day makin' dinner for my Mommy."

"This is me, the artist, Nash."

What we do in the cold...

2010-01-15T11:02:00.003-05:00

Here are the two kiddos at the scene of the crime. Laundry Basket Mischief.

Margot is quite a climber. I really have to keep my eye on her! This is how I found her the other day...

She's been walking pretty much exclusively for 2 or 3 weeks now. And she is sturdy on her feet. She just looks adorable with her little blonde curls bouncing around. At least her Mommy thinks so.

A sweet little face peeking over the couch.

Nash loooves "projects". Projects, according to Nashy, includes: stickers, paint, beans, glue, q-tips, cotton balls, play doh, scissors, lots of construction paper, contact paper, tissue paper, pictures, dried pasta and on and on and on and on. And he is very proud of his work, and absolutely LOVES having it displayed in his room. Talks about it every single day. We're also starting a rotating art display in our living room of Nash and Margot's work... yep, Margot loves to color too!

Nash spends a lot of time looking through this, so I turned it around on him and took a picture. He thinks it's really cool. Sorry if you think it's weird, but this blog is for him :)

She likes to undress herself. Yes, that phase.

Nash is way into cars, trucks, buses, dump trucks, recycling trucks, tanker trucks, hiccup trucks (pickup trucks- hee hee), trains, combooses (as he calls cabooses), box cars, airplanes, etc. We like to teach him to build them with blocks. He's pretty good at making an airplane!

We've been stuck indoors because of the super cold weather, and we're all a little stir crazy, I think. We're having a few warm days now and I'm really looking to this long weekend and getting out and having some fun. Hope you all do too!

Welcome Phoebe Hannah Shoenfeld!!

2009-12-25T16:55:00.003-05:00

Born on December 23rd, 8 lbs., 20.5 inches. BEAUTIFUL! Can't wait to meet her tomorrow!! And here she is with my big brother, Eric. Congratulations Eric and Liz!!

Where'd '09 Go??

2009-12-23T22:39:00.004-05:00

MAGIC HOUSE! YAYAAAAAYYYY!Emmy loves the light table! Stacking blocks with different colors to see how the colors change. Doesn't she look pretty all lit up?
Here are Nash and Mariel. Mariel is the older of two very special girls we spend our days with. They are very good at playing pretend; this picture was taken after finding them camping in the Spiderman tent with cupcakes.
Fairy Princess Margot! These little skirts are too easy to make, I imagine we will have a dozen by the time she's 3.
Hanukkah jammies! Margot would spend all day playing in Nash's bed. And Nash loves playing in Margot's. Are all kids like that? I don't get it! It's cute though.
Put the ball in the hole and watch is go BOING BOING BOING. These little cause and effect toys fill the magic house. And they are indeed magical to the little ones.

Hanukkah!

2009-12-20T15:37:00.005-05:00

Margot was so little at her first Hanukkah, not so much anymore. Margot hung in there for 14 months and let me nurse her, but she's had enough now and I think she's getting bigger faster with all the cow's milk she's drinking. According to the baby scale at the Magic House she's 21 lbs, which puts her over the 20th percentile! She's never ranked so high before. So we've just finished Margot's 2nd Hanukkah and Nash's 3rd. What a Hanukkah! Margot and Nash's new toys include: a dump truck, books, tubation, CD's, people puzzles, jammies, and a few girly things :),

I've had a birthday since I last wrote. I am now 31! We had a fun morning at the butterfly house playing with my new camera

I started to write deep, reflective thoughts about my age and my birthday and the love and craft and excitement in life, but I don't really have the words to express just how happy and grateful I am everyday. So I'll leave it at that.
Back to more everyday fun: The Magic House!

Margot and I are headed to Richmond, VA on the 26th to give a big welcome to my neice, who I am sooooo excited for! Eric and Liz are due on the 23rd with Nashy and Margot's first (first) cousin, a baby girl. We also can't wait to see Maeme and G and a few friends too!

Was trying to upload more pictures by Blogger isn't responding, so I'll try again later.

Bye Bye Fall!

2009-12-04T10:28:00.010-05:00

We all love Autumn. Margot's birthday, Halloween, our Anniversary, Thanksgiving... then before you know it, it's my birthday and Hanukkah! Margot is standing up on her own and takes the occasional step. She's still only got three little teeth, which she loves to show off with big smiles.Stand in the place where you live...

We stayed home for Thanksgiving and missed our families! Ray took the week off and it was really great to relax at home and be goofy.
We made ourselves a yummy pre-Thanksgiving dinner.

Ray is crazy about these kids.

Daddy's girl?
Nashy's a little sick today, but was still playing games with me when I tried to take a picture of him resting on the couchAnd Ray and I after Turkey din at the Bell's house.
And the exciting news of the week is we are now pet owners! Here is our fish Aleph the Beta. Isn't he beautiful?Nash and Margot love this Farm House we got them as a special present to play with Thanksgiving week while Daddy was home

And here's our little Margot, with her hair back, doing what she does. Being sweet, and peaceful, and studying books and cars and chillin' in the doggie bed.

Cute little Margot video

2009-11-16T11:15:00.003-05:00

Triple P: Projects, Playing and Pretending

2009-11-14T17:31:00.004-05:00

We do a lot of the triple P around here. Now that the Flaherty girls, Mariel and Noella, have joined our daily play, I need to accomodate two babies naps, which means a lot more time around the house. More toy rotation, more theme playing, and more projects. Somehow, our days are not always consumed by chaos.
"No thanks, Mashy, I have enough."
A little tea time always settles these crazy kids down a little bit.
We used a potato masher to paint Nash's shirt! We've got a few other shirts, can't wait to get them decorated.
Margot with her little baby, giving her a kiss, after a Cheerio breakfast.

Nash's new favorite is Peter Pan. So, I've added a link to "You Can Fly" on You Tube, which he can watch again and again. Speaking for flying, Margot has taken a few steps on her own, cruising between chairs and tables. And thanks to big brother she is playing with bigger things so much earlier than he did. We got her a washer & dryer set from PBK which she loves, and she plays with the kitchen. She loves the Rody pony and her 1st birthday present, the Whirly Bee! She pretends to take sips and bites. Yesterday at the train store she was rolling trains along the tracks. She has defintely phased into a new way of playing that is much more like a little girl and less like a baby.
Time's going extremely quickly....

Florida in October

2009-11-10T15:47:00.004-05:00

After Margot's big sha-bang, she really needed a break from the everyday grind. So we took the fam to Florida :) WHAT A GREAT TRIP! Our anniversary was the 30th, and we wanted to do something special. We are very lucky people we have amazing friends we can get together with and relax and enjoy ourselves. We met my college friend, Audrey, and her super-sweet family at the Hyatt Coconut Pointe resort for a long weekend of sun-filled fun. We swam at the pool, lounged in the lazy-river, ordered a frozen drink here and there, headed down to Old Town Naples to one of our favorite restaurant, Campiello, and enjoyed the great company! Margot loves the water!!!
Just like old times, eh? :)
The boys contemplating jumping in, at Campiello.

Nashy loves Jacob, their almost2 year old, even though he wouldn't call him anything other than "that boy"! And their baby, Max, is 6 months old and quite nearly 1.5 times Margot's size! He has the sweetest disposition, and it was so interesting to watch them all together and their curiosity toward one-another.
Then we headed to Siesta Key to enjoy the generosity of our friends from Roanoke and stay at their amazing house. There it was all about the beach and the seashells.

We also had a really nice visit with Nanny and are really hoping she'll come visit us for awhile this Winter- and see some snow for the first time!We're waiting for the call, Nanny!

Margot's Special Day

2009-10-28T22:50:00.003-04:00

Scenes from Margot's first birthday:

Our Favorite Things

2009-10-06T11:29:00.007-04:00

The Carousel. They're everywhere here.

Library books! We go about twice a week. It's amazing how many great books we've discovered.

Put it in. Take it out. And repeat about 30 times.
Seeing this big Elk with the amazing antlers at Lone Elk.
To be continued...

Here and there and everywhere!

2009-10-05T12:49:00.013-04:00

We had Grammy come to visit for Ray's birthday and had fun fun fun. Here we are having milkshakes at Jen's Pharmacy in Clayton,
walking around at the art fair, going to Grant's Farm and getting spoiled. How does that already seem like it was so long ago? Thanks for visiting, Grammy, come back again soon! Here's Nash enjoying a nice, big pickle from Dickey's!

And Margot getting super duper messy.
We spent 10 days in VA for Rosh Hashanah, visiting Maeme and G and Uncle Eric and Aunt Lizzie. Nash looooves his Uncle Eric. I'd say a highlight for Nash was definitely seeing this big Firetruck! He even got to go sit inside and talk to the firemen!
Time went by fast and then we were back at the airport again.
"We had a great time in VA, be we miss Daddy! Let's get on one of these planes and go home!"

Now, back home, Nash had fun in a jumper, putting his arms out and flying like a plane!
Here are the kids back home on a beautiful Yom Kippor day

One of our favorite places to go at home is Lone Elk park. It's a State Park a few minutes from our house which has herds of Bison and Elk!
We looove to drive through and look at these big beautiful animals.
Margot's first birthday is only 2 WEEKS away! Where has the time gone??????

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2009-09-16T18:26:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was Daddy's 32nd birthday!! Margot always does special things on special days for her Daddy. She crawled for the first time on Father's Day, and yesterday, for Daddy's birthday, she started saying a new word. "Uh oh!" Little uh-oh's are so cute. So now she says Mama, Dada (and Daddy), hi and uh-oh. She says "hi" all the time, in the cutest little voice, sometimes accompanied by a wave. Looove it.
Today Margot and Nash and I sat in a circle passing my cell phone back and forth to eachother, which brought on BIG smiles from Margot. She's also a very social laugher, something which Nash takes full advantage of. Nash and Margot's Grammy was just visiting, and she bought a toy that makes a noise when you throw a block into the giraffe's mouth. Margot figured out quickly how to make the noise sound without bothering with the block. C'mon, babies, let's get to the point. She takes steps when we hold her hands. She loves to feed herself soft foods and loves to eat everything, except egg. Neither of our kids like eggs! And she loooves her Daddy. Starts kicking her feet and squishing up her face and breathing excitedly when she hears him coming. Happy birthday, Ray, we love you.

2009-09-04T10:34:00.000-04:00

Standing!

2009-09-01T10:07:00.003-04:00

Margot has been pushing up for about the last week. So on a low step she could get herself into a stand. But as of Sunday can also pull herself up! I've had the camera on her non-stop for three days with video rolling waiting for her first pull-up! But of course I missed it. It's so funny to walk around a corner and look at our baby and watch her do something we've never seen her to before. Why why why do they get big so quickly?

Congratulations on your first pull-up, Baby Girl. (I really would have combed your hair if I knew we'd be taking pictures first thing in the morning.)

Creativity Station

2009-09-01T09:52:00.003-04:00

It's been a long time since we've been, but I think going to Creativity Station is about to become a part of our rotation. Kids are free to wander, without too much risk of injury. Even Margot mostly had free roam, and lots to do. There is a huge wooden pirate ship with costumes, a puppet theatre, gears, books, trains galore, crafts, a kitchen,beads, things to put together and take apart. The only thing it's missing is a coffee bar.Yaaaar, don't touch me booty!
These cars and trucks are pretty cool, they have magnetic pieces so you can make firetrucks, bulldozers, garbage trucks... the list goes on.
Yay! Love watching them play together.
There are good toys for me here too!
Creativity Station is fun!!!!

A beach in St. Louis?

2009-08-26T14:31:00.002-04:00

Indeed! There is a beach in St. Louis! And it's a 3 minute drive from my house. Ok, so the water isn't blue or crystal clear, but there's sand and water and peace and quiet and I'll take it! I picked up some pretty, large shells too. Nash was happy to get his feet wet and look at the little fishies, Margot got to dig her little toes in the sand, and I got to be with my two kids next to the water, in the sunshine, and be grateful for everything we have.

Little Man

2009-08-24T13:59:00.002-04:00

These big horses are a little scary, but Nash knows they're nice. We love going on walks in the park and feeding the horseys.

With Maeme and G at the Wild Bird Center, a bird hospital and park with awesome huge birds!!

Lakes with fountains, riding on Daddy's shoulders, and a cool Summer morning. Sounds good.

We are forever grateful to our neighbors for giving Nash this playhouse! He is majorly excited about it. Loves to open and close the shutters.

From the pictures you'd think Nash and Margot lead two different lives. They don't, of course. But when we're out I usually have Margot in the backpack, and I love having some alone time with each of them while the other's asleep. More pictures of the two of them together once Margot can keep up with Nash.

Little Lady

2009-08-24T13:10:00.004-04:00

Margot loves Starbucks! Maeme and G were here visiting last week and there was a early-ish morning trip to Starbucks every day. Thanks to G, Margot had her own Starbucks cup to play with, and she looooved it!

Baby lady likes to swing. This is a somewhat new discovery. Margot is pretty small, so putting her in a swing, even a bucket swing, is a little scary for me. But I'll probably loosed up a little now that I've seen how much she likes it.

Even though she's a little sick with a stuffy/runny nose, Margot has still got a great sense of humor. Cucumbers! Hahaha!

Yes, yes I did put postage stamps all over Margot and put her in the mailbox. Cute, huh?

Nash is a great helper. "Hold on tight so Emmy doesn't fall!" She's trying on the first Fall Janie & Jack outfit Maeme got for her.

Fuuu-uuun!

2009-08-12T13:05:00.002-04:00

Really? It's Wednesday? Cause we've been buuuusy! Playing at Gymboree and with the horseys with Brooke, James and Keira, and also digging our feet in the popcorn. What a great feeling!!

The Haps

2009-08-10T11:12:00.002-04:00

Margot gets to do all kinds of things Nash never did as a baby. Nash's activities open her eyes to experiences she wouldn't have for months if it weren't for him. Even though she doesn't participate in his Gyboree class, Margot's right there in the middle of the action watching the kids run around. She loves the bright colors, and bubbles, and music and noise and smiles. When Nash colors, Margot plays with crayons, after Nash runs around the house with grocery bags, she usually gets to them before I do. It's great to have a big brother who wants to play with you all the time!
Nash loves playing memory games with alphabet cards. He's so good at it, sometimes better than me.

Nashy had a pretty bad spill last night during our evening stroll. He's ok, other than a fat lip and bruised ego.
Margot tasting the green. No I don't let her eat crayons, but I do let her explore them.
Margot takes after her Mommy. She loves bags.

Nash has some alone time with his Jeep. He likes flipping his house upside down and turning it into a "garage".

Biscuits and Jam

2009-08-08T17:12:00.002-04:00

Stacking Jam
Kisses from Daddy before breakfast
Biscuits
A little love for her Daddy.
Would write, but we're leaving for the toy store. Enjoy the pictures. The news of the week is that Margot can sit up from a crawl.

Afternoon nap

2009-07-29T14:58:00.003-04:00

This is Nashy, as I write. He didn't want to nap. I was getting frustrated. He ended up here. I am a big ball of mush. What a sweet baby boy.

Week of Rugpratts

2009-07-28T15:15:00.001-04:00

You wouldn't believe how good this ball tastes.
Nash looks at the rainbow up close everyday to see what's inside.
I know a little girl who has a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.
Yep, I'm standing. I'm pretty good at it too.

Moments ago...

2009-07-22T11:43:00.003-04:00

Nash asked me to take this picture.
Really, does it ever get old to play in the cabinets and rearrange the pots and pans?

Sunday Play

2009-07-19T13:14:00.002-04:00

Despite the colds and viruses passing through the Pratt household this week, we're still having a relaxing Sunday playing together. Margot got her first (of many) wildflower crowns. And Ray finished putting together Nash's almost-too-pretty-to-be-a-children's-toy mailbox, and gave it to him.

May wildflowers and mailboxes be yours.

Crazy Water Contraption

2009-07-17T17:03:00.003-04:00

What has Ray built now? Given Nash's love for his Elmo sprinkler and water table, which he uses (and soaks himself with) daily, when I saw an article in Family Fun about a "water park" using PVC pipe, I showed it to Ray and an hour later Nash had a water park too. We wouldn't want the kid to think we didn't love him.

I love it watching his eyes light up when he sees a new creation for him to play with.

Nash quickly learned about water pressure.
Ray playing with his boy.
I must admit, I have plans for an addition already.

So happy together

2009-07-17T15:39:00.006-04:00

I must be busy or tired or lazy. I can't believe it's been two weeks since I've posted! Sorry folks! I've been keeping up with my crafting during nap time, and Ray and I have been pretty well consumed with projects for the Rugpratts every weekend. So when should I blog? I don't know, but I guess I need to figure it out. And I will. Because if I didn't I wouldn't have a chance to share how excited I am that today is Margot's 9 month birthday! My sweet little pint-sized baby girl is already teething and crawling and saying "mama" and "dada" all over the place. And, maybe even more exciting that all those awesome milestones we got to see with Nash, now we get to watch Nash and Margot play together. Here Margot is sharing some of her first finger food with Nashy.Nash wants to participate in everything I do with Margot. Not in a jealous way, more curious. He's a great brother. Margot loves to crawl through the spider man tunnel and Nash is happy to meet her half way.
She cracks up laughing when he sticks her face in her face!
Our other big news is that we are now the proud owner of a mini-van. In the face of another expensive car repair, we traded in for a cute little 6-seater and will now be happy to have visitors we can ride around town with :)

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T11:12:00.005-04:00

Margot's 2nd tooth is popping through, so she'll no longer be our little onetoothie baby. She is recognizing Mama and Dada, but doesn't have a name for Nash yet. We had Margot's first professional solo picture taken this week and I'll scan it in soon for everyone to see. We've had a fun week, and here are some highlights:
Under the train table is Margot's new favorite place to play. Nash likes to join her there too.
Bubbleland!

Trying on Ray's cowboy coveralls

Nash noticed a rainbow on Emmy!

We went to Gymboree twice this week. Margot loves the bright colors and watching all the kids run around and the songs. I carry her in the Moby and she kicks and smiles the whole time. Nash looooves going there and playing the imagination games and he climbs and jumps and I'm really impressed with how well he participates (except when the train goes by, and then all other things get put on hold.) We also went somewhere special this week- to The Hairy Elephant for...
a haircut!!!!! Doesn't he look like a charmer?

And finally, happy 4th of July, everyone! It's a rainy day here, and Nash and I took a walk and jumped in the puddles and looked at the worms on the sidewalk. Hope your 4th is sunny, but if not, hope it's as exciting as looking at worms!

Recital

2009-06-28T14:34:00.002-04:00

Margot's been practicing the recorder, but hasn't quite figured out which end goes in her mouth!
She loves playing our new piano!

BRAVO! ENCORE!

Satisfaction

2009-06-26T14:38:00.002-04:00

It's 1:30 and Nash is asleep and I'm helping Margot become a speedracer, and I'm feeling good. Margot has peas and carrots for lunch and Nash had carrots (he calls it carrot-sauce) blueberries, pumpkin seeds (which I'm trying to convice him are sprinkles!) and chicken fingers. I get frustrated with his eating sometimes. I know it's my fault and not Nash's that when he asks for snacks he means "fruit" gummis and not broccoli spears. But now that Margot has got a wide range of things she can eat and I'm cooking for 4 people, I'm re-thinking what I'm making for everyone. Gosh-darned those little packages of snacks that need no refrigeration, and those chicken nuggets you can pop in the microwave for a minute. Somehow these "convenience" food seem to make things more difficult for me these days. Anyway, I'm working on phasing out those dinosaur shaped frozen chicken nuggets and giving him the real deal. Half an hour later now, Margot's asleep and I'm going to collect some dry diapers off the deck and head downstairs to sew. One last thing, if you have any ideas about getting your kids to eat their veg, please let me know! I hate the idea of hiding it in their food.

Summer's Here!

2009-06-23T16:33:00.006-04:00

We've spent the last week and a half traveling and we're catching up now on all the things we have to do at home! Made slightly more complicated given that Margot is now in the early stages of crawling. Yes, crawling. Not quickly, but getting from one place to another.
We took a long drive to Tallahassee to see Grammy and Grampy and had a nice, relaxing stay. We drove through Metropolis, IL on the way and let Nash and Margot briefly fulfil their destiny as Superman and Wonderwoman.

On to Tallahassee!Nash was quite pleased with the enormous bucket of toys waiting for him there. He loved watching the birds and squirrels in the peaceful backyard and eating sprinkles! (I know his hair is rediculously long and I should cut it, but I love it!)

Mmmmmm Grammy's cookies. "Another cookie please, Grammy!"
Then before we knew it we had to leave and drive to Georgia to go to one of my favorite places in the world, Callaway Gardens.
For those of you who don't know, I pretty much grew up at this place, been going since I was three. I also pretty much great up with the circus. It didn't scare me a drop to be 30 feet in the air when I was 5 years old. I juggled clubs, tennis rackets and fire by the time I was in middle school. I love the circus. I'm a circus brat and always will be.
I was much better at this when I was 8, but here I am going for a swing on the trapeze. Is it still responsible to do this when you're a mother to two young children? Well, it worked out ok. What could go wrong?! :)
Ray looks like he's doing it right, doesn't he? Man am I jealous, he makes it look so easy!

Enough of that.

Here we are at the Friday night circus!

Margot's new float. Looooove it.

I am looking HOT here in the tent with Nash and Margot. Margot's first circus!

"Hey Maeme and G, can we come back again next year?"

Carnivore!

2009-06-03T18:22:00.004-04:00

Not sure I like this
Giving it a try

I like Turkey!
Margot's first few bites of meat were pretty uneventful! I expected her not to like it, but she ate it up.

Bath time

2009-05-29T15:19:00.002-04:00

A few weeks old, but worth watching.

More giddying up

2009-05-27T11:03:00.002-04:00

Lovin the feet off the ground and getting some air from the horse, goofy smile and hair everywhere. Thank you Nash, and thank you Rody for my moment of Zen today.

Margot's bathingsuit

2009-05-23T21:04:00.004-04:00

I am a little bit obsessed with it. And the hat too.

And we saw a Nash at Festival in the Park. So cool. Just like the little man.

Fun in the Noke

2009-05-23T09:10:00.004-04:00

We hopped on a plan Tuesday morning, with two days notice, to head for VA for a week of fun. We've spent three days in a row playing with trains at B&N, and HOURS playing with the fountains in the pool and trepidatiously walking into cold water. Nash loves every second of it. Margot's playing with blocks and cups and sitting and hatching teeth. Tomorrow's already Sunday and it'll be back on two planes, carrying Margot and a backpack, two car seats, pushing a stroller, and pulling a suitcase. And when I get home, two tylenol will be on the top of my list!

May 21, 2009

2009-05-23T09:09:00.002-04:00

The first tooth! Following a long wait and some fussy afternoons, Margot's bottom right tooth has made it's appearance. B'bye gummy smile, I'll miss you so!

No time for Monday blues

2009-05-18T21:54:00.004-04:00

We were up early this morning so I thought we'd take a little field trip. My new favorite book to read to Margot and Nash is The Donut Chef by Bob Staake. He is an illustrator for The New Yorker mag and I love him. So we brought the book to our favorite Donut Shop and ate and read about donuts. Don't let these stern faces fool you, they loved it. Really.

Hope you enjoy the videos below, they're by the same illustrator. Nash loves them.

The End by Bob Staake

2009-05-18T11:04:00.001-04:00

One by Bob Staake

2009-05-18T10:59:00.000-04:00

Our day

2009-05-14T21:11:00.002-04:00

Margot says to tell you that her teeth are on the way, but not to hold your breath. They're taking their time. Days can be long when you're waiting for teeth to come in.
Here are some clips from our day:
Getting creative with cooking...

Sprinkles in the guacamole
And jumping around and counting numbers and looking at colors!

Jennifer's Pharmacy

2009-05-13T21:45:00.005-04:00

We met our friends yesterday morning in Clayton at this cute little apothacary and soda fountain, Jennifer's Pharmacy. Nash had an entire milkshake! We were supposed to share, but he had basically finished it by the time I looked up. It was a little bit of a logisitical challenge because there were only high bar stools and I had a two year old and a hungry baby and no stroller. I got inventive and camped out under the counter... The cute ladies who worked there called me the Secret Lady. Really. They gave me a nickname. I like this place.

We hung out at home today, aside from a quick trip to the store. I think my kids are over-tired from all the fun Summer outside play. I wanted to be sure all naps were in beds. Nash is sooo obsessed with cars and trucks and trains. I know all boys are. But SHEESH! When he wakes up in the morning, one of the first things he asks for is to watch the movie "Cars". Everyday when Ray comes home and asks Nash what he did today, Nash says "trains". Anyway, the boy has a nice, growing collection of cars, trucks, trains, etc. This afternoon, for a little amusement, we made a little parking lot for them all.

Margot also gets excited about cars and trucks.\I think Margot's bottom teeth will be in within the next few days, they're right under the gum! Poor girl was crying a lot today.

Bum Genius

2009-05-11T23:06:00.005-04:00

You might be surprised to learn that I've started using cloth diapers for Margot. It's something that I've been thinking about for a few months and finally decided I should go for it. When I mentioned it earlier, Ray was not 100% on board. I figured this would be my thing, and he could continue to use disposables. I was also not convinced that I could really get into it. I mean, it's icky, right? The thing is, it's not icky. I mean, no more than changing any diaper. And I kinda think they're cute. Really. They're bright and fun, and super soft on the inside and they get white white white after being washed. Ray doesn't seem to mind it either! I think we all have these pictures in our head of old school cloth diapers - rags with safety pins. These are an all in one, size adjustable diaper. I figure we'll save about $2500 dollars over the course of 2.5 years!! I don't think I'm the cloth diapering "type" but it turns out I am. If you're thinking about it or have ever thought about it, I would definitely encourage you to try it!

Happy Days

2009-05-11T17:33:00.005-04:00

"Happy day, Mommy!" is what Nash told me yesterday. It was a great Mother's day. I wonder how old they'll be when I stop remembering what we did previous years. For my first mother's day Nash was a few months old and we went to Bistro R in Richmond for brunch with Mom & Dad. Nash wore a seersucker onesie with his name monogrammed on it in all lowercase red letters. Last year we went to the park in Westover Hills (in Richmond) and Nash was toddling, and playing in the dirt. This year, first Mother's day with our wonderful baby girl, was so relaxing and wonderful, and it seemed like a special day, but it didn't. It made me so happy that most every day I spend with my family is special.
Here we are at the end of the day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to be with Maeme and Grammy too.
Now that Margot can sit up by herself, she isn't as interested in rolling around on the floor or sitting in a bouncer. Except since she can't really sit by herself for long, I have tried to get a little creative with ways to occupy her and let her practice sitting and get strong.
She seems to like sitting up at the piano and banging on the keys and listening to songs.
Meanwhile, Nash and I continue our Summer Art Series. This week he picked 3 rubber stamps out of the basket: a fish, and orange and some starts. We stamped and doodled independently, then collaberated. I really think he's developing an artistic side!
And this morning we went to Forest Park and saw the waterfall at the Grand Basin and got really close (scary) to some little duckies, and ended up hanging out at the zoo, then playing in the grass under a shady tree for awhile before heading home.

Sometimes I think we like laying around just as much as we like being busy.

It was a gorgeous day.

My toes are getting tired (from keeping on them)

2009-05-07T22:20:00.005-04:00

Went to Grant's Farm again this morning.
Yes, yes, second day in a row. Didn't really plan on going up either day!
Today I thought we'd just go see the clydesdales, but once we were there I though we'd take a little ride. Nash loves the tram so much (calls it a train) and seeing all the animals and going over the bridge, it's absolutely worth whatever effort it takes, and my exhaustion at the end of the day.
Here's Margot hangin with me on the tram.
And as if that wasn't enough excitement for one day, we took the water table outside, and for the first time, Nash realized why it's called a water table. He's been playing with this thing inside for two weeks.

And loves it! But fill anything up with water and it's better. After the amazement wore off, the reality of the havoc that could be wreaked set in.
I think it would be GREAT if tomorrow I could sit on the couch all day long. Yeah right!

A day in the life

2009-05-06T15:23:00.003-04:00

I haven't brought the camera up to take pictures of Margot for bathtime because I usually have my hands full. But it's so cute to see her all bundled up, I thought it was time I made the effort.
Since Nash takes a bath in our garden tub, there's room for Margot too. So while Nash plays I give Margot a quick bath, then she sits wrapped up in a towel and blanky in a bouncer until Nash is done.
After breakfast and some playtime, Margot naps and I have good one on one play/craft time with Nash. This morning it was play-doh! We cut pieces and made snakes
and cranked it through little tubes. And I made a new picture for the blog-header, as you can see :)
When Margot wakes up it's snack time, bananas for both kids, and a granola bar for Nash. Then today we went off to Grant's Farm, and I didn't bring the camera. It was a funny trip because I realized that Nash is so used to seeing zebras and elephants, it's almost like dogs and cats to him. He gets excited about seeing them. But he gets excited about dogs too! And the ostrich and watusi bulls and camels are all pretty cool too. We fed a baby goat a bottle of milk, and that was a little freaky. Now it's nap time for the kids and kitchen cleaning time for me.

Sweet Dude!

2009-05-05T20:47:00.001-04:00

Magical Morning

2009-05-05T16:55:00.007-04:00

This really might have been the best day ever for Nash. While his baby sister napped this morning, Nash and I played outside on the swing,
and then the mailtruck came and our awesome mailman got out so Nash could sit in his seat.
Then we went to the Magic House and I carried Margot in the Moby wrap and Nash played in Water World, and went down the slide

and played in the big sand bucket alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5332448101151458770" />and made music

and climbed through tunnels and went over bridges... I AM EXHAUSTED.

Look Who's Sitting!

2009-05-02T22:12:00.001-04:00

Lots to blog about leaves little time for blogging

2009-04-29T17:09:00.006-04:00

Margot's eating all kinds of foods! Bananas and avocados and sweet potatoes, squash & pears mmmmmm!

Margot LOVES Nash and sometimes Nash loves Margot too. He's usually pretty sweet, only sometimes he wants to play with whatever she's playing with. It could definitely be worse!

She likes a pacifier, but spend most of the time taking it out and trying to figure out how to put it back in. She doesn't seem to mind too much that she rarely gets it right. She can also sit by herself for short periods of time. No teeth yet! Oh, did I mention that she started sleeping through the night a few days before her 6 month birthday? She did it for about a week, then was waking up again just for a few nights, and now she's back to being an all night sleeper. Sheeeeew!

Springtime is definitely here and we're into Summer clothes, hours outside and new toys. Like kites!

Nash would spend all day playing outside if I could keep up. Of course, I can't. But Daddy can. So that's how weekends go around here!
Nash and I made cookies one rainy morning this week while Margot napped. Here's Nash asking if the camera wants a bite of his cookie.
Also, since we started potty training about two weeks ago, Nash is spending lots more time in a diaper. I get pretty tired some days of all the in and out of the bathroom. But it's still early. Nash is REALLY into bridges and tunnels, so why not pretend to be one?
Lastly, we took a hint from our friend Gabe and got Nash some "briefs" which he only wears briefly, so far. And I wouuld also like to thank Paul Frank for all the smiles we have had because of him.

2009-04-20T14:32:00.010-04:00

Since early April we've been to the East Coast and back for Margot's baby naming and Passover, celebrated Margot's half birthday, and had our 4th annual Crawfish Boil. It's been busy with a lot going on with the kids and traveling and planning for the Boil also. Margot's Baby Naming was followed by a very special luncheon my parents gave at their house for all of our Roanoke friends. We spent a lot of time with Uncle Eric and Aunt Liz in Roanoke and Richmond and Nash even got to the point that he was giving hugs!

Margot wore a dress I made for her, which made me sooo happy.

It was just a really special day!

We went to Richmond and spent as much time as possible with our friends there. We miss you all! It was too short. Our friends there and their little guys have such a special place in my heart. Sighhhh.
Then it was back to Roanoke for Passover and to play with Robin and Evan and Gabe at the Transportation Museum! Trains! Awesome!!
And maybe one or two stops at Elderberry's mmmmmmmmm smooootthhhhies.

When we got back home is when the real excitement began. We took the rail off of Nash's crib so he's now sleeping in a big boy bed!

We did it last weekend. He's getting up earlier in the morning. Well, he's probably getting up at the same time, but now since he can come to the door to see Daddy, he's up and out of bed in a flash when he hears anything from our room. Naps are interesting. I think his naps are definitely shorter. But at least he's taking them! Overall I would say that it's gone really really well. Yay Nashy! The other exciting thing is that Nash is really potty training now. In fact I think it's been days since I've changed an icky diaper. I don't miss it!

Our big party of the year, our Crawfish Boil was this weekend! 40 lbs. of extra large crawfish were shipped to us from Bayou Lafourche in Southern Looosiana. It was a HUGE boil with tons of kids and man alive was it fun.

I guess that just about catches us up! Also, some good and bad news. Our good friends Audrey, Mitch and Jake down in Florida are welcoming Jake's baby brother Max! And very, very sadly, Nash and Margot's great-grandpa Harvey, also down in Florida, passed away this week. We think about all our friends and family with love!!

Corndog and playgroup

2009-04-02T15:32:00.003-04:00

This morning was the singalong playgroup! It was good time, and there we probably about 10 minutes of circle time, singing and shaking egg shakers. Then onto the parachute, which most of the kids really loved. Nash didn't care so much. I think maybe he plays more actively when he's not at home, which is sort of a shame since his mommy likes to host play group, and it's a little easier with Margot too.

Nash had a corndog for lunch. What a lucky kid, huh?

love love love

2009-04-01T16:23:00.001-04:00

You know how sometimes there are no words and no pictures good enough to describe a moment when you catch your kid being so adorable you think your heart is going to burst?

Nash at Pottery Barn story time

2009-03-31T21:04:00.002-04:00

Also known as 3 Crocs in a row. Our friends Marji and Maya also joined us, but they weren't in this cute picture. Anyway, PBK has storytime every Tuesday at 11, and I plan to be there every Tuesday at 11. It's good for Nash. And maybe eventually he won't spend half an hour getting up into and down out of his chair. (He was no worse behaved than any of the other little ones there!)

Tupperware

2009-03-31T13:10:00.002-04:00

Yes, yes, it's true that Nash has multiple trucks in various sizes, Mr. Potato Head with 50 parts, 3 sets of blocks, puzzles, a play kitchen, a play stroller, stuffed animals galore, a mickey mouse activity plane, a tunnel and playhouse, a jack in the box, a violin, a sushi set, an animal clinic,doctor set and tons of books, among other toys. And yet, going back to when he was a baby, about as old as Margot is now, Nash has always had a special place in his heart for tupperware.

Grammy's visit

2009-03-30T18:51:00.004-04:00

OK so we're not the first people to take the picture. But it's so irresistably grody. Creepy crawly roaches are cool.

Margot in a cute little number her Grammy knitted for her.

Grammy with Nash and Margot at the butterfly house

Last week was a busy one! Nash and Margot's Grammy was in town and we kept pretty busy showing her the sites in St. Louis (which included a few yarn shops) and Ballwin. We went to a few toy stores, went to the carousel and butterfly house, made a stop at the Quilted Fox so I could get a new sewing machine (finally!) and played with the kids. This is Peggy's second time seeing Margot live and in person, and it was nice of her to confirm during her visit that Margot really is as cute and as happy as she seems in the pictures on this blog. And of course Nash is Grammy's favorite little boy.

251 posts

2009-03-25T08:03:00.007-04:00

I've broken the 250 mark. I may have slowed down a bit, but am still going strong with the blog, always glad we have it.

Nash and Margot's Grammy Peggy is visiting just in time for some nice weather. The last week and a half has been great, nice and warm and mostly sunny. We spent some time outside with our friends, including our new friends Avery and Chloe. Here's a picture of Nash after coming down a slide at Avery and Chloe's house!

Oops! If I hadn't said anything you'd think he was doing baby yoga, right? Is that a toddler slide, or a rocket launcher??

And here's the little man again in his new sportswear (4T!!) and loving his new bike from Grammy. It's all he can talk about bike bike bike bike. I think it will not be easy to get him used to wearing the bulky knee and elbow pads and helmet.

And the girls relaxing on the lower patio, on a gorgeous day. I look forward to more days like this! I hear St. Louis has a nice long Spring. So far I'm not having any allergy issues, knock on wood. I've been spending as much time as possible outside, even doing a little gardening while the kiddos sleep.
Speaking of sleep, Margot has gone through a series of difficult nights this week. She's rolling over both ways now, but is quicker to go tummy to back. Since she sleeps on her back, this has started becoming a major problem. We took her out of her swaddle at night so that she could flip back over, but it hasn't helped yet. She's been sleeping with a pacifier the past few nights, and I'm a little afraid to get into that habit, but it's helping her. So for now if it helps we'll stick with it. Of course then if it falls out I have to get back up and pop it back in. I don't think it'll be long before she's sleeping through the night though. I hope.

One last thing. I don't think I blogged about switching Margot into her convertible car seat.
It looks HUGE when she's in it!! She looks a little scared, doesn't she? This was her first day in it last week. Taking her out of the bucket car seat has made for some interesting shopping trips. Last Friday she laid down on a blanket in the back on a shopping cart at Whole Foods!! It looked a little funny, but she didn't mind :)