Once A Year

We took the kids to the Giants game on Sunday, let's just say now I know why we only do it about once a year with both of them, it was EXHAUSTING!  We had a great time though and the weather was nice, we were actually hot!  The kids were all about the food and it was the day where fans can bring their dogs to the ball park so Jacob was all about the dogs!  He also tried to drop sippy cups over the ledge the whole game which was fun for me to try to stop.  The most famous dog that we saw?  Willie Mays dog.  We got to ride in the elevator with him when we got there.  I even caught him from falling over as he was getting out of the elevator.  He lost his balance and I grabbed him and stabilized him.  Marc spent the day saying "Wait did you catch Millie Mays today?"  Fun times, but I think we'll wait until next season to do it again! 

First Day

Yesterday was Riley's first official day of Pre-K, aka Pre-School C! 

 

 

Click here to see Riley a few days before she started at KinderCare!  My has my looked 4lbs of Fury grown!

Pahtay!

Saturday was our last day of 4 weeks straight of Saturday birthday parties.  We went over to Riley's friend Sophie's house for a very princess party!  Sophie's mom was super sweet and called and told us that we should bring Jacob too so that we could all come, which was SO nice because I had planned on leaving him home with Marc but Jacob's starting to like a good party.  The kids had a good time, particularly because there was a bouncy house.  I pretty much figured out that all I really need in life to keep my kids happy and busy is a bouncy house for Riley and an ice chest filled with ice for Jacob.  Seriously, at every party we've been to he somehow finds the ice chest and spends about an hour playing with the ice and eating all of the ice.  (Consider this your warning not to use ice from an ice chest if Jacob is at the party with you!)

Best part of the party?  The after party!  Riley took a 2 hour nap and Jacob took a 3 1/2 hour nap and only woke up because Riley was talking really loud outside of his room so that he would wake up and we could go to the mall. 

I love this picture of Jacob and how he has his hand on my lap.  He climbed on the chair and patted my leg like he was staking his claim on me.  Love him!

Riley was too busy running around like a crazy person to get any pictures of her!!!

Back at It!

Well Riley FINALLY got clearance to participate in all activities just in time for gymnastics to start Friday afternoon.  I decided to sign Riley up for Friday afternoons because she starts t-ball in a couple of weeks Saturday mornings so that would interfere with her gymnastics class, they happen to have a 3:45 class Fridays and since I work at home I figured that would be a good one for us to attend.  I really wanted her to start back up on gymnastics because I really do think it helps strengthen her tendons and muscles.  It just so happens that they also have a class for Jacob's age at that same time so I signed him up as well for the parent participation class.  The kids had a ton of fun, Jacob wasn't so sure about the trampolines but loved the foam pit and Riley did great and did the whole class with her AFO on (which Dr H wanted).  The only thing she couldn't do was the high balance beam so she just did the low one and then jumped into the foam pit which she was not upset about one bit!

The balls very well could have been the highlight of his gymnastics experience

After gymnastics Riley wanted some ice cream so we went over to Hacienda and got some Coldstone, Jacob owned his ice cream cone.  Afterwards, Riley wanted to go to Old Navy to pick out "some cute clothes for school" so I took her over there and let her pick out some stuff. 

It was an awesome afternoon with the kids.  I had had a pretty crappy day at work so it was just what I needed to boost my spirits and make me realize that in the realm of life, these two are what's important and work is just a job.

Floor Routine

We were watching gymnastics on TV the other night and Riley loved the floor routines, I can totally see her doing some floor routines.  Good thing we start gymnastics again this week!

Burst My Bubble

Friday Ri and I made the trek back up to Walnut Creek for a check-up with Dr H.  As much as I love Dr H, I am quite sick of going up for appointments, nothing against him, but I feel like I've spent all summer going to Walnut Creek for appointments, and literally I have.  I spent May/June making the weekly trek there for her casts and then we've been on an every 3 week schedule since then to have her foot checked.  Quite honestly, I am burnt out.  I was glad we were going because Riley was still complaining about her AFO, even after going up Wednesday to the brace guy to have it looked at and he ended up stretching it for her and shaving some of the plastic off.  Well Dr H looked at her foot and she wasn't being very cooperative so he didn't get much stretch out of her and felt like she wasn't overly flexible. I told him I could tell by the look on her face that she was messing with him and we see that at home, that depending on her mood we get a good stretch or she pushes against us and we get no stretch.  She still looks good but he said we're not at a point where we can do another few casts (which I was prepared for) or we can do the transfer and be done with it.  So now surgery is back on the table. In the words of Riley "Ah bumpers!"  He doesn't want to see us back until November so I guess that he is willing to let us go 3 months is a good thing!  And we should know by December if we will be doing the tendon transfer.

Meanwhile, she is still complaining that her AFO is hurting her foot and the inside of her foot was all red when she took it off for a nap today.  So I think we have another trip to the brace guy to have him fix it yet again.  I'm hoping I don't need her, that I can just run over at lunch to have it stretched out a bit.  I also think she needs some better socks so that's my mission this weekend.  :)  Fingers crossed that she can get used to this thing AND that it works!

Cuddle Boy

Jacob is 100% a momma's boy, no denying, no getting around it.  I'm not going to lie, I love it!!!  He will randomly come up to hug, kiss, and sit on my lap without asking.  He was particularly cuddly last week and willing to cheese it up for pictures!

He also had lots of love for his sister this night and showered her with hugs and kisses while she was trying to watch her show.  I absolutely love when they show affection towards each other!

T-4 Months

Until my little man is 2!!!  How!?!  Jacob is 20 months today, not sure how that happened but it's true.  I guess I better start thinking about his 2nd birthday party!

He is a TON of fun, his little personality cracks us up daily and he charms everyone at school.  His vocabulary has picked up a ton in the past month, he loves to say:

 "Ah bumpers"
 "Ah boop"
"baseball" (Marc's personal favorite)
"buh-bye" (which is followed by air kisses)
"balloon"
"bowl"
"book"
and he says a ton of his friends names. 

One of the little boys' mom in his class stopped me and told me that he and her son, Xander, are little buddies and give each other high fives every day.  How cute is that!?!  He is also buddies with a little boy Nathan, Isaac and a little girl Emma.  He points to their clipboards every morning when I drop him off and tells me their names.  Jacob also knows all of his body parts, complete with opening his mouth as wide as it will go and sticking out his tongue as far as it will go when asked about his mouth, tongue and teeth.  It's quite a sight!  He won't say them but if you ask him he will point to them on himself and then you.  He also knows the color blue and will say it when he sees it in a book.  He continues to love books and he recently discovered nacho cheese Doritos at a birthday party and is OBSESSED!  He went around the party gathering all of the leftover bags and eating them.  I can't blame the kid, they are delicious!  

He also has a bit of a temper and has gotten sent home with several incident reports for biting in the past month.  He comes unglued when his favorite teacher Miss Ahman, isn't at school or isn't in his class.  A couple of weeks ago she was in Riley's class and both Riley's class and Jacob's class were out at the playground at the same time.  Their playgrounds are separated by a chain link fence and Jacob was standing at the fence screaming so Miss Ahman thought he wanted to see Riley so she sent her over to say hi, he kept screaming so she finally went over and said hi to him and picked him up and he stopped screaming so she had to spend playground duty holding Jacob.  She also draws hearts on his hands that he is SO proud of! 

He now is a little man, it's so sad my baby is growing up so fast, no matter how much fun he is right now, I want to freeze time and slow down both of them growing up! 

End of Summer

I can hardly believe where the summer has gone, oh yeah, that's right, it's been spent doing 2 jobs, Marc  traveling every week and shuttling to orthopedic surgeon appointments.  During the summer, the kids' operates like a camp more than a school, particularly for Riley but as school districts start up, the summer winds down at their day care and the curriculum begins once again.  Every year they have an end of the summer party and the kids have a blast.  They bring in a bouncy house, have snacks, band, face painting, and cotton candy.  Riley was very excited about the party, she also hadn't been to school in 2 days so I think she was excited to see her buds.  My mom came to visit and help out so she spent 2 days with my mom doing fun stuff, like movie, shopping, lunch and just playing.  Jacob was just happy to be with me and on the big kid playground.  The minute we walked outside, Riley begged to go on the bouncy house, so even though I shouldn't have, I let her take off her AFO and go on the bouncy house.  A kid has to be a kid and since she's been stuck in a cast or brace all summer I decided to let her enjoy herself.  We had a check-up with Dr H the next day anyway (more on that later).  She begged me not to tell Dr H she was in the bouncy house without her AFO on.  I have her trained so well!  The kids had a great time, Jacob loved the food of course and Riley just loved running around in circles with her friends!

Of course snacks were the first stop for Jacob

While Ri's first stop was the bouncy house

Cotton Candy!

Little brother had to follow

What is this fluffy, yummy, goodness!?!

He wanted more

More snacks, that's 2 taquitos in one hand.  His teachers weren't shocked!

Face painting

Rainbows and gumdrops

That's a wrap summer!  One more week of summer camp and then school starts up.  Can't believe Ri is in pre-k, which means homework starts in 2 weeks.  Fun times ahead!

His And Her Days

Sunday Marc took Riley to the Giants game and I stayed back with Jacob and ran some errands.  I introduced Jacob to the world of Costco, I think Jacob thought it was heaven on earth.  He loved the sample tables and every time we passed one he grunted and bounced with excitement over the prospect of food.  There was one point where he had food in each hand and I had food in each hand, he couldn't consume it fast enough!

And while we were eating our way through Costco, Marc and Riley were having a blast at the Giants game despite their loss!

Look how good her feet look!  Even her left foot looks decent here, a little curvature in the forefoot but overall good position

Cutest Giants fan I ever saw!