Mia's 4th birthday

Mia turned 4 years old on January 15th.  We wanted to do something above and beyond the store bought cake sent to daycare so we attempted to send a castle cake.  So here is what it was supposed to look like:

and here is the demonic looking castle that it turned out to be:

Sweet little Mia loved it and thought nothing of the scary window (eyes) and turret (arms).

Her party wasn't until the following weekend but we honored her day with family presents (from the Palmers, Grandma and Bubbe/Pop Pop) in the morning. . . 

and ice cream for the whole family at night: 

Her party was held Saturday January 19th in the afternoon at her ballet studio where they played games like Limbo, follow the leader (Mia), freeze dance, and so on followed by pizza and cake.  We were so fortunate to have the Lipchock's join us from Chestertown, MD, Mia is always overjoyed to have her good friend Simon by her side.  Also in attendance were First Steps preschool buddies:  Rachel/Ethan, Jillian, Annie and Lily/Emma from down the street in Highlands, NJ. She got some amazing presents this year including some wonderful books and arts/crafts sets, two of Mia's favorite pastimes.

Invitation (Mia picked these out)

Here is our 2nd attempt, for the party.  Much better I think.

Here is the gang at Kelly's Dance Loft, Mia's ballet studio in Atlantic Highlands, NJ

we had some toys for Gavin and his classmate, Ethan, out there in the waiting room.

Limbo

Pizza time

"Happy Birthday dear Mia"

Picnic blanket was (thankfully) very absorbent  

cards

and presents

After the party, Mia went home and made good use of the presents with Simon:

and it it so cute to see Gavin and Jane able to interact more and more each visit.  After they left, Gavin was asking for "baby Jane" a lot and telling me "baby Jane a-home wi-Sarah".  

Mia Update

Stats:  I'm not entirely sure about weight but I'm pretty sure she is 41" tall
Clothes:  Mia wears anywhere from a 4T or 5T to a normal 4/5 (xs)

Favorites-interview:  Says her favorite food is pasta and favorite dessert is ice cream (what kind?  "chocolate strawberry with little ice cubes of chocolate" [I think she means chocolate chips]).  Favorite color is "purple and violet and pink and green".  Favorite toy:  princess activity book.  Favorite thing to do with Gavin:  likes to color and play with him.

Sleep:  She hardly ever naps anymore though occasionally reports falling asleep at school's naptime.  At home (on weekends) we mostly just have her play quietly for an hour (overlapping with Gavin's naptime) and she does amazing at this by: looking at books, playing dollhouse, playing with stuffed animals, singing songs, looking out her window.  For bedtime, I recently posted a pictoral representation of our bedtime routine so Mia can be more independent and I can hover a little less.  It includes pictures of picking out clothes for the next day and pajamas, getting undressed, going potty, brushing teeth/hair, and picking out books.  She gracefully runs from place to place doing what she needs while I sit and "warm her bed" while reading my novel. . . . I love this win win!

Activities: It recently came to my attention that Mia believes her favorite activity arts and crafts is actually called "arts and crabs".  She particularly likes copying pictures like this:

Arts and crafts work well for Mia since she tends not to be a highly active child but she started consistently asking for ballet lessons after our first annual trip to the Nutcracker ballet.  Shortly after the new year we started her lessons at Kelly's Dance Loft in Atlantic Highlands, NJ (where we hosted her 4th birthday party).  Her first lesson was cancelled due to gas leaks across the street:

which made for a sad ballerina:

but now that she has had a few lessons, I can easily say she loves it:

 Gavin and Mia can be caught playing "ballerina" by twirling and prancing around the family room.  

Emotions:  Mia can be heard telling us we've hurt her feelings and for a period when we were evacuated in the 2 bedroom loft and things were a bit different, to say the least, she would run to her room covering her face when she cried out of sadness or frustration.  At first I thought it was a positive development to emote in private then I wasn't so sure and now it just doesn't happen anymore, so perhaps she is feeling better now that we are back in our house.

Literacy:  Mia is starting to read 3 letter words.  I think it started with a website called Starfall that we used to let her play around on a lot but her laptop broke awhile back and she hasn't been on for awhile.  Then her curiosity for reading/sounding letters out just snuck into everyday life ("Mia and Mommy start with the same letter, we're 'M's mom").  Then alphabet Cheese-Its actually became useful/fun during snacktime at home.  Finally, Mia started showing some interest in these Houghton Mifflin Reading books (On My Way Readers) from our shelves that a friend of my mom's gave us a long while back.  Books like "Fan Hen Gets Sick" and "Valentine Cat Sat Sat Sat" are our "learning books" (as Mia calls them) that she reads about a page from every night.  Some words are becoming sight words now where she just sees them (like the word 'said') and knows what it is.  Other words/letters she still struggles with a bit (sounding 'G's out like 'J's).  I've always known that Mia can write a lot of different letters but only recently noticed that she is trying to write letters based on sounding things out in her head.  For instance, when Mia was writing her thank you cards out she wrote "Ma" for her friend (Emma), which makes sense if you think about it and "Be" (for Bubbe) and "Grama" (for Grandma).  Incredible!

I was just thinking tonight about how Gavin is learning to talk so fast (see his update post soon) and that Mia says everything pretty much like "normal" now but I do still notice a couple of cute vestiges from her past.  For instance she still says "I sink" instead of "I think" and "sumping" instead of "something" but her days of mixing up 'Y's and 'L's are long gone (good bye Yiyon the maned animal that roars and good bye Lello the color of lemons).

The big sister:  Despite his biting (he's getting better) and pushing (when does wrestling stop and 'no pushing' begin?) and screetching (ouch!) and toy snatching (both are at fault here) Mia is a steadfast great big sister.  I can't say how many times she has crawled under something to grab a toy he dropped without even being asked to.  Or how many times she has cooed and "awwwed" at him for doing something cute or asked for a kiss good night if we forget to encourage one.  These moments are something I need to hold on to and cherish and realize for their importance.  I do so hope these are the beginning sparks of a lifetime of support and friendship for siblinghood is a relationship that no other relationship can take the place of.  Who else will know your families quirks and dark secrets as best as your brother/sister?  When I am gone, I hope this bond will hold and grow even tighter.  Here is but an example from earlier today to help me express how amazing Mia can be with Gavin:

Mia to me:  "at first I said he couldn't share but then I (chuckle) just let him"

and I smiled with her knowing how big a gesture this is for an adult, let alone a four year old.

Dear Mia,

I love to watch you grow, to watch you learn, to watch you excited to discover a series of 3 sounds could be a recognizable word, to watch you share your love so generously, to share your joy.  I love how you need me one moment and the next want to do it all by yourself.  I love the opportunity to grapple with your unpredictable and opposing needs and desires.  It warms my heart that you want me to buckle you in the car seat.  I love how we love our Disney bedtime songs and sing them together once we've memorized one.  I love how you seem so wise beyond your years one moment and then the next I find myself teaching you what an icicle is.  I love how you can wear footie pajamas in the summer and refuse to wear a sweater in the winter.  I may seem irked by these inconsistencies in the moment but what I love most about you (and your daddy and brother) is that you inspire me to keep bettering myself as a woman, a wife and a mom to be a better role model (and partner) for you all.   

Love,

Mom

Holidays in Newton, MA

We couldn't let anyone into our still-under-construction house, including pet sitters, so we packed up the cats and-for the 2nd time since November-the cats visited Matt and Harold's basement once more.  Here they are getting used to their surroundings (Gogo) or hiding from them in the duvet cover (Mojo).

Making gingerbread houses this year from kits (last year was graham crackers and frosting) proved to be more difficult than we imagined.  Adults ended up doing the frame and the kids got the fun part (CANDY!).

After a mandatory day of display-only houses, we let everyone dig in for yummy demolition.

Before

 After

Some traditional Dave wrestling was in order after that sugar high

Randall and Gavin enjoying water play together

In addition to decorating (and eating) ginger bread houses, we went to the science museum and saw a somewhat disturbing and scary-ish IMAX called Santa vs Frosty.  Perhaps we should have paid more attention to that "versus".  On Christmas Eve morning we all watched Charlie Brown's Christmas.  That night,  Christmas cookies were made and set out for the reindeer and carrots for Santa.  The kids were off to sleep while we had some friends over and played board games, ate cookies (wink wink) and consumed beverages.  We were all quite thirsty ;)

CHRISTMAS MORNING

first peak (the before picture)

OPENING PRESENTS:

the after picture

We actually took hours and hours to open everything and not just because there were a lot of presents but also because the kids at this age just love to play with each item that we embraced that and it nicely slowed our pace. 

PLAYING WITH PRESENTS:

Christmas dinner was Chinese takeout a la Vicki (thanks!).  

Given their high activity level, the older boys had camp for 12/26-12/28 and the rest of us did a fantastic childcare juggle that allowed everyone a little fun:  Harold and Dave went to the movies once and another time Matt and I did.  Matt and I also took Mattie and Mia to Ikea at one point and I got a memorable night out with Vicki for dinner.  Vicki kindly watched and put the kids to bed so the four of us adults (Matt, Harold, myself and Dave) could go out for dinner for the first time since we all got married and had kids.  Dave and I even got our own romantic evening out at Oleana's where we had a 6 course Mediterranean vegetarian meal.  When it was my turn to entertain the kids, here are some fun things we did:

we mixed concoctions, smelling all herbs/spices before pouring them in

we colored

we made colored fizzy water

Movie night!

The boys' piano recital included works like Twinkle Twinkle and Jingle Bells.  Jeremy focused on playing two handed, which he did very well and Mattie's job was to work on playing from the music versus looking at his hands and he was exceptional at this!

On December 30th there was a Noreaster, which dumped 12" of snow.  Fortunately, Matt/Harold had enough winter clothes for everyone as we didn't come prepared for such winter fun.  

Mia didn't really like the whole experience because it was too hard for her to walk (her shoes were a bit big) and Gavin was just a bit terrified of the sledding itself.  Regardless, it was nice to get out and about and was a sunny, gorgeous family day.  Hot cocoa after coming back inside warmed our bellies.

New Years Eve day story time by Uncle Matt

New Year's Eve snack table (in use)

Champagne. . .

. . .and that is actually sparkling cider believe it or not.

Oh and yes, Harold stayed up to ring in the New Year!

2013!

Before getting on the road to go home, we got a few more shots of the cousins together.

Thanks boys for hosting us for so long.  Despite sometimes getting overwhelmed by the craziness that is 9 people (including 5 kids) can create, I really had a fantastic time and especially treasure all the one on one time I got to share with everyone.  I'll see you all in February for our Miller tour of Northern Florida (ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!).