Gavin = Toddler

Gavin had his two-year check up with the pediatrician today. He passed all the developmental milestones of a two year old. He also got one "poke" in the leg. I warned him before the nurse came in, so he handled it well. He gasped but didn't cry. He was also distracted by the band-aid, a badge of honor in our house.

Gavin is showing signs of a bona fide toddler. As you can see from the photos I took during dinner, he's mastering the art of the fork. He's always been one to want to feed himself which, although messy, is nice for Dan and I because we can eat our food while it's warm. He's becoming more insistent about doing other things on his own. This morning when I was getting his breakfast, he said "myself!" because he wanted to pour his own cereal.

I have a feeling this is just the tip of the iceberg!

Thank You, Mr. School Bus Driver

Jolie has been a bit ambivalent about starting kindergarten, but the one thing she's been excited about is riding the bus. I feel bad for little children (and their mothers) who live within walking boundaries of school. The school bus is a big, huge, major deal.

Well, today was the day! Gavin and I walked Jolie to her little bus stop (across the street) and there it came, careening around the corner. We hadn't been there long so Mr. bus driver had to wait for me to snap a few photos. I hope he didn't mind.

Jolie's a Kindergartener!

Gavin and I dropped Jolie off yesterday afternoon for Kindergarten. She walked right into her classroom and hardly said goodbye. She'll do well in school, I'm sure. Jolie has always been my easy-going girl. That was clear from the day we brought her home from the hospital. I layed her down in the crib and she calmly closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. I'd never experienced that before!

Gavin and I went to Tasty's with some other moms while the kids were at kindergarten. In the rush to leave for school I'd forgotten my purse so we didn't have anything to eat. I knew I was in trouble when Gavin shouted "McDonuts!" as we pulled into the parking lot. He was very hurt and offended that he didn't get a donut so we brought Jolie back for a special lunch after we picked her up from kindergarten. Then we hurried home for the annual first-day-of-school ice cream social. What a day!

School!

Today's the first day of school! What an exciting day. So exciting, in fact, that Tristan was up at 5- something this morning. He came into my bedroom at 7:00 fully dressed, his bed was made, and he was ready to go. I think he woke Jolie up because she was downstairs with him.

Jolie, Gavin and I took Tristan to school and walked him to his classroom. Tristan is in 2nd grade. He has a set of team teachers, Mrs. Acord and Mrs. Arnell. I have a feeling he's going to learn A LOT and have a fair amount of fun, too.

Jolie's a kindergartener! She goes half-day and she's in Mrs. Ashmead's class. There are 27 kids in her class! I'm a little concerned about that. Utah's famous large class sizes are going to have a whole new meaning to me. She goes to school in the afternoon, so we're getting ready to curl her hair and then Gavin and I will drop her off. I hope I don't cry like I did on Tristan's first day of Kindergarten!

Snaggletooth

Tristan is a snaggletooth! His two front teeth have been loose for a while. Jolie accidentally bumped into him which wrenched this one loose a little more. He must have decided he wanted it out, because he started wiggling and came to ask for help. Dan was happy to oblige, he did the tie-a-string-and-yank-it-out trick with a piece of dental floss.

It's amazing how much a tooth can change one's appearance. Sometimes I look at him and do a double-take.

Oh, and the answer to the all-important question... three bucks is what a front tooth is worth to the Tooth Fairy these days. Have you ever wondered what she does with all those teeth? One of my favorite children's books is "The Tooth Witch" by Nurit Karlin. It's about an apprentice witch who is assigned to help the mean old Tooth Witch. At the end of the story she's transformed into the Tooth Fairy. We learn that all the beautiful, sparkling stars in the night sky were placed there by the Tooth Fairy.

Monterey

The end of summer is quickly approaching. School starts in just ten days!

One of my favorite things this summer was our trip to Monterey in July. Dan had to go there for work so the kids and I went along. We also invited my mom and Jerry to come with us. It worked out well and we were able to do a lot of things we weren't able to do when we were there in March. Some of the most memorable parts of the trip:

1. The gorgeous Monterey Bay coastline
2. The awesome Monterey Bay Aquarium
3. Clam chowder and sourdough at Phil's Fish Market
4. The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz (I still haven't figured that one out)
5. The redwoods
6. Lighthouses
7. A QUIET dinner with Dan at Elli's (thanks to Grandpa and Grandma)
8. Maid service!
9. Diving games with Tristan and Jolie at the indoor pool
10.Artichoke fields

Maiden voyage

Volila' ! I'm officially part of the the blog phenomenon.