She Swims...

...sort of.  Isabel took one session of swimming with Daddy, and then got bumped up to the big kid class for the next session.  The first couple of weeks with Daddy were sketchy, but she had the routine down by the end of it.  We were nervous for her to start the big kid class, but she was definitely ready for the next step.  In the few days leading up to her new class, we talked about how she was a big kid now (those words again--it's the theme of our summer!) and so she would get to sit on the steps with her class (two other 2-year-old boys), and listen to her teacher, and swim by herself, and wave at Mommy and Daddy from the pool.  She was all excited about it, but we were still nervous that she would freak out once the day came.  However, this little fishy surprised us all and did a great job--no fuss and no problem!  She is still working on those chipmunk cheeks, but is an expert back floater!


Session 1:  With Daddy (Uncle J and Avie were in the same class)

Showering off before hopping in!

Henry and his daddy and Avie and her daddy made good pool buddies
(Can you tell that mommies make better spectators than swimming coaches?)

Focused on the task at hand...

Showing off a little for Mommy

Can you tell she was getting a little too comfortable?  Climbing all over Daddy!

Practicing climbing out of the pool

 Session 2:  In the big kid class with Henry and another little boy...

Listening intently to instructions--we talked about how important
it was to listen to the teacher and do what she said to stay safe.

I wish this was a better picture...but she wears goggles in the big kid class!
 

Transporting to the other side of the pool.  My dad
says they look like opossums when they do this.

Practicing jumping in and heading for safety.  Notice Caden standing to the left.

A Weekend Getaway

We have been wanting to get up to the Omaha Zoo with Iz for awhile, but haven't made the trek yet.  We finally managed to find a date that worked, and it worked for Grammy and Popper and the Meyers, too.  We had so much fun--we haven't gotten away together since having kids (so 4+ years), and we had the best time relaxing and playing.  Our rooms were really close to each other, so the kids had a blast running around and "visiting" each other.

We drove up Friday afternoon, ate at Grisanti's, and then went swimming in the hotel pool (even Popper went swimming--woohoo!).  Grammy had come ultra prepared (surprise!) with snacks and toys for the kiddos.  They each got a Dora the Explorer stable as a fun new toy to have at the hotel.  

Somehow, even though they started elsewhere, everyone ended
up by Grammy and Popper by the time dinner was over.  Weird.  

Emily's hotboxes ready for bed in their shorts and t-shirts.
My Munchie in her long sleeves, pants, and pajama dress.  

We ate a hotel breakfast on Saturday morning, and then it was off to the zoo!  We got there about 9:30 and stayed until 3:00.  There is so much stuff to see there, but we had decided we would just see how long we made it and be happy with what we got.  The weather cooperated really nicely all morning--not too hot and the clouds were covering the sun--but warmed up by lunchtime.  We couldn't believe the kids made it as long as they did!

First stop -- the Aquarium!

The penguins

Daddy's favorite part

Iz LOVED the turtles.  We loved her
and Avie's matching rompers.  

 Then off to the safari animals.  Iz had said ahead of time 

that she was most excited about the giraffes (Daddy says 

she might be predisposed to that because of Jerry).  She 

did enjoy watching them quite a bit!

"What he doin'?"

Giraffes outside, too?  What a deal!

"Let's all get close."  Okay, Iz.  Only
6 more weeks until baby boy!  Yay!

"Let's go look at some more stuff in cages."

Mommy's favorite.  We could have stayed here all day talking to this guy.

1:00pm (this is her usual nap time)  After an emotional
outburst at Popper that she was embarrassed by, she
hid in the landscaping crying and said, "Just give me
some time, okay?"  But after a well-timed ice cream
cone recharge, we managed to make it a little longer.

The Jungle!

Starting to look a little sweaty, perhaps?

Chickadee thought she was hot stuff 

Every time we got to a tunnel (which was often in
the jungle), Iz and Caden would cup their hands
around their mouth and scream, "Tunnel!"

Can you tell how tired she is?  She cuddled her new giraffe on the ride back
to the hotel.  "Oh.  I'm a tired baby."  She named the giraffe "Bercy"...?

We let her sleep from 3:30 to 5:30, then got her up so she wasn't too messed up.  Grammy and the kids then put together a surprise birthday dinner for me--she's so good at coming up with fun things for them to do and letting them feel involved!

Sunday morning we had some breakfast, hit the pool, then stopped at the outlet malls before heading home.  All in all, a wonderful weekend trip!

Grammy's dream come true.  All her babies in one room with her, letting
her wait on them hand and foot.  (And in matching Frozen shirts that she
bought them awhile ago.)

Happy 4th of July, Folks!

Izzie-Bee was a huge fan of family and friends and food, sprinklers and chalk and sandboxes.  Mark her down as unimpressed by water balloon fights and loud fireworks.  But all in all, our 4th of July party was a success (once Izzie figured out that it actually wasn't a birthday party for her after all...).

The day before.  Made a banner and a picture at school.  She picked her picture
out of a pile of identical ones instantly.  I said, "We better check if it's yours!"
and the teacher said, "It is.  She insisted she didn't want any red."  Patriotic.

If this is the drama at 2, imagine when she's 16.

Skinny Minnie.  Where's my chubby baby?
(Oh, in my belly...)

Daddy and Brian Abbott's homemade sprinkler extravaganza

Our party guests before the 500 count water balloon fight.
Daddy goes big or goes home, to say the least.

Is this love?  Probably not.  Henry was crying for his mom and trying
to yank his arm away 5 seconds after this picture was taken.  

Izzie loved the flag decorations -- her and Grammy practiced the Pledge of Allegiance

Love.  This.  Picture.  These girls are a hoot.  Avery's surprised face can't be beat.

Is there anything boys love more than fireworks?  Look at Caden's pose!

Taking turns on the sucker with Popper and Aves

Realizing we haven't shown a picture of brother in awhile--he's under there!

Our attempt at a family pic.  30 minutes after bedtime should have happened,
already out of our patriotic gear, and snapped between bangs and cries at
the loud fireworks.  Hey, it will do, right?  At least we're all there.

A Date with Popper

Popper works long days Monday through Thursday and just works mornings on Fridays.  So he and Caden have been having Friday dates for a long time, but he's been waiting for Izzie to be potty trained before inviting her on the adventures.  Popper started asking Izzie a few months ago, "You still pooping in your pants?" and she'd say, "Yeah", which meant no dates yet!  But last Sunday he asked and the answer was no, which meant this past Friday was her first big girl date with Popper!  I asked her where she wanted to go and she said, "Popper's gonna take me to the pet store."

They ended up venturing to the hardware store first, then Runza (and her first play land that she would actually go in and enjoy by herself), followed by TWO pet stores.  The second pet store was necessary you see, because the first pet store didn't have turtles.  What a travesty.  When they got home I asked what they did, "We went to ... (whisper) da pet store!"  I think it was a success.  Popper told me later that after lunch she said, "It's so nice to play and eat."  Haha!  What a goose.

Mommy had to snap a picture on their way out the door.  "Bye, Mom!" and off she went.  Kind of choked me up how big this girl is getting.  Going on her own adventures without me!  (But then again, I had the house to myself to clean, so I can get over it!)

All dressed up.  Two bracelets, a necklace, and a donut.

Potty? TRAINED.

This girl just makes life too easy for us.  We started potty training on a Monday (June 9th, I believe), and by that Friday this girl was accident free.  Mommy was gone over the weekend for a girls' shopping trip, and while I was gone she and Daddy mastered going potty in public places (McDonald's, Nana's house,...).  This was a big deal, because it meant we weren't tied to home and the froggy potty anymore!

We tried potty training in December because she seemed interested and I had a break from school, but it didn't last.  It was too hard to manage since our schedules weren't consistent for her, so we decided to wait until school was out to try again.  I think that's part of the reason it went so easily, though, because she remembered and has used the potty intermittently for the past few months.  It also helped that we had Rapunzel underwear, and she got FOUR smarties when she went.  Four is a lot when you're only two years old!

This was a stack of books that she collected to read aloud
to herself while she pottied.  The stack got so big that she
spent over 30 minutes sitting on froggy, even though she
went in the first 30 seconds.  The kid loves books.

An activity Mommy created to help Iz with numbers.  Just the other day, we
realized that although she could count to 15, the number 5 had somehow
disappeared completely.  So we made number cards to 10 and hung them on
the wall as a fun way to practice counting.  Five is slowly making a comeback.

Caught.  Dancing to Rapunzel in her bedroom.  I think I'll keep them both.

Summer Fun

Oh, summer.  We love you.

Giant stick?  Check.  Apron?  Check.  Sun hat?  Check.

Oh, to be 2 years old.  The joy of a hose and a pool.

Check out the organization of those crayons.  I
messed it up once and she kindly redirected me,
"No, Mommy.  It goes HERE."  Got it, babe.

This was entertainment for quite awhile.  PILLOW PILE!

"I will read to them so they don't cry.  C'mere, girls.  COME HERE!"

Building a sandbox with Daddy.

Salt dough sculptures

The Big Girl Room

There were a lot of things on Mommy's "To Do" list once school was done.  First up was moving our big girl to her own big girl room with a big girl bed (can you tell what phrase we've been using over and over around here lately?).

It was quite a project, as the big girl room is in what was once the old playroom (the spare bedroom upstairs).  So to do that, we needed somewhere to put the old playroom--aka Bryan had to finish the bedroom in the basement.  Once the playroom in the basement was complete, we started working our magic in what was now going to be Izzie's room.  We didn't tell her about it or show her anything beforehand because we wanted it to be a surprise.  I was a little nervous about this--that the surprise might be more of a shock and too much of a change--but we went with it anyway.  We had mentioned before that she would be getting a big girl bed (she had gone shopping with us a few weeks before), and talked about how brother would use her crib when she was done, but that was about it.

Izzie went to Grammy's for a few hours one day so Mommy could work on the surprise, and then when Daddy got home he finished putting the bed together and we did the big reveal.  She gasped.  She smiled.  She jumped up and down on the bed.  She loved it from the get go.  And while I was a little worried about her seeing her old room torn up, she happily walked in and said, "This is where brother sleeps?  I like his room, Mommy."

Big grown girl still loves her Jerry.

If you come to our house, please note that her bed is "purple".  Wink, wink.

The wrinkly curtains were there for a trial run.  She cried when she saw them
in my cart at Walmart (even though she had no idea they were for her), and
said, "I don't like these.  I want purple!".  I figured I would make sure she
didn't have a panic attack before I hung them permanently.  But the purple
sheets, blanket, and pillow were enough of a distraction and the curtains stayed.

I was more traumatized by the experience than she was, that's for sure.  I put her in that giant bed for bedtime, and then said I would sit with her because I thought she might be afraid.  She sort of just stared at me awkwardly, and then I realized I was not needed.  I stared at her video monitor for what felt like most of the night, but she did fine.  It took her a half hour to fall asleep, but she laid in bed quietly just like she used to in the crib.  She slept all night, and in the morning she called for Mommy when she was ready to get up, just like I told her to.  

The next morning.  "I had a good nap, Mommy!"

Two weeks in, and she's a pro.  For those of you who have yet to make the move to the big girl bed, I highly recommend you train them to wait in bed for you in the morning.  Izzie won't get out of bed until I come in the room, and it is very handy.  We don't have to worry about a toddler roaming the house without us, and if she gets up way too early then she quietly entertains herself until Mommy is actually ready to get her up.  It's also handy for nap time so that she is resting and giving Mommy a break even if she isn't sleeping (though this little princess usually has no trouble getting her beauty sleep).  

One day, her 2-3 hour nap was only about 1 hour and 15 minutes.  This was not okay with Mommy, so I told her she needed to stay in bed and rest until I came and got her.  She did pretty well for about an hour, and then I heard her yelling for me.  Obviously I did not move fast enough, as she moved to sweet talking.  "Mommy!  Mommy!  Come and get me because I love you!"  If I wasn't already on my way that would have gotten me moving for sure!

Next up...potty training and binkie banishment...  Yikes.  Pray for this mommy.