We are one Cool family

We love our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch, the official kickoff to the fall season. Matt gets pumped about the holiday season. He gets all the decorations out and has the girls help him decorate the house. I don't help anymore. I don't do it right. And when the girls help, they don't do it right either. Then Matt asks me to "check their work." I am the last person that he needs to be asking to do that because I don't do it right according to him. He goes back and checks my work. If a decoration is a half-inch out of place, it will get moved to the correct place. So I just sit on the couch and let him decorate the house. I tell him "When you want something done right, do it yourself!"

Our trip to Cool Patch Pumpkins in Dixon is fun. The whole family comes out and this year we let Diana invite one of her friends and her family. We could've spent the whole day out there, it was so beautiful. I will let the pictures do the talking.

The girls walking into the patch with Daddy. I have a picture of Matt and Diana walking into the patch when she was three. It's great to see this one with an extra little person in it!



Diana and Amy love playing in the houses.



Another one of my favorites. I am going to get this one blown up and frame it with the one of Matt and Diana from three years ago. She's so BIG!



After a while, they just want to be chaffeured.

Remember me? I'm Amy!

Amy's birth story is great. I know she was born early and there were complications, but once she came into this world, she was awesome and her story is so unique. Not too many babies spend their first three weeks of the world in three hospitals. Both of us got great treatment in our hospitals, but Walnut Creek Kaiser has to be the most special. She was there for two weeks and let me tell you, she thrived!

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) there is one of the best, if not the best, in Northern California. There were so many babies in the NICU when we were there and all of them there for different reasons. Amy was very fortunate to be one of the healthiest babies in there at the time. I visited Amy every day once I was discharged from the hospital, making the 35-40 minute drive, sometimes with my mom, down Interstate 80, then to 680. I walked into the hospital, Boppy and diaper bag in tow and was excited about our one hour together for the day. I visited her in the morning and because the nurses didn't want her overstimulated, I was only allowed to hold her for an hour. Once she got bigger, I could hold her for longer. We did kangaroo care (where she laid on my naked chest in just her diaper) for an hour and we just sat there. I didn't sing, I didn't talk, I couldn't even rock in my chair. I wanted to fall asleep, but I couldn't take my eyes off this little person. She loved kangaroo care and so did I. When the nurses told me my time was up, they literally had to peel her off me - our sweaty skins were stuck together (LOL).

We were invited to the NICU graduate reunion and it was decided as a family that we were definitely going to go. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like because we didn't get an invitation last year. There were games, snacks, live kids music and activities. It was so much fun. Amy and Diana even led a group of kids in dancing to the live music.

I got a little emotional being back in Walnut Creek, seeing all the little babies and the big "graduates" walking around. I've been back to Walnut Creek since Amy left there, because she has appointments there once a year so I don't know why I was emotional on this day. But that hospital and the staff holds a special place in my heart and I will never forget how wonderfully we were treated there.

Here are some pictures from our fun day.

Amy was very helpful, making sure to set up the pins after she knocked them over in the bowling game.



Daddy was pumped that there were Color by Number coloring books. He needs structure, but I didn't know he needed THAT much structure!



You would've sworn that the "live music" was Taio Cruz or something by the way the girls were dancing, but no...just a man and his guitar singing kids music.

Another chapter begins

It's been a long 11 months. There have been ups and there have been downs. It's basically been an emotional roller coaster. I have been blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with my girls and spend more time with my family which is what everyone wants,right? Walking Diana to school every morning has been extremely fun and being the first one to see her smiling face when she rushes out of her classroom at the end of the day is awesome. I can't wait to hear all about her first-grade adventures.
All the while, I have stayed busy with a lot of freelance work. It was important to me from the get-go to stay busy and still write and be involved with the community and take on projects. I even started volunteering with some organizations at Diana's school.
For the past month I have gone to a parent preschool with Amy which is so much fun. It's kind of surreal to watch her in a preschool atmosphere. I never got to do that with Diana. We dropped her off at daycare, went to work and picked her up. We relied on the teachers to fill us in with every detail of her busy day.
Now, it's time for another change. I am ready to go back to work and someone is...finally...ready to have me.
In my email inbox on Monday I hope to have an offer from Novartis, a pharmaceutical company in Vacaville. Yes, Vacaville, the city where I live. Not San Francisco, not Sacramento. I will drive 15 minutes to work every day and 15 minutes back home. If my kids get hurt at school, I can jet over and make sure they are OK if I need to. Amazing. Things happen for a reason. All the rejection for the past nine months happened for a reason.
I had an interview with this company on Friday afternoon. I was there for two hours and met with several different people. I loved every single one of them. They were excited about this position and honest about the company's "transitioning" culture. I am excited to possibly shape that culture.
At 6 p.m. that night, I got a phone call from the director of communications telling me that the committee met briefly and that it was unanimous to move forward with me as their primary candidate. I submitted my references and will wait for the offer to come in the email. They will do a background check, I will do a drug test and then I will start in a couple of weeks.
Check out the company online, my mom did. She's impressed. I'm impressed. While the job is only a contract position through the end of the year, there is a possibility that it could go full-time. Like I always do, I will work my butt off for the next two months and ensure that I can stay with this company as long as they want me.
Thanks to everyone for their support over the last 11 months. A big reason that I have been able to stay hopeful that there was something out there for me was because of the love and support of my family and friends.

It's time for preschool already

I knew it was time for Amy to start preschool when she got so excited about Diana's friends coming over for playdates. She was screaming for some friends of her own and for some time away from Mommy.
My mom convinced me that the parent preschool at her former place of employment (yay Mom!) was a great option for us now. It's four hours a day, twice a week. A bonus that you don't get a traditional preschool is that for about an hour during the day, I learn some great parenting techniques. We talk about discipline and other topics that parents feel they want to know more about.
Last week was the first week for Amy and me and she had a great time. She recognized the playground right away from the few times that I took the girls there to visit Grandma V. She busted right into the room and was so happy to have new toys to play with. I was really pleased with her for paying attention during circle time, sitting still at a big table during lunch and playing on her own while I was watching a video in another room. The kids played pretty well together on the first week, but they were all still a little shy. I am sure that will change as time goes on.
They got to play outside as well. When Amy heard that it was time to go outside, she shot out of the door like her hair was on fire.
I had never seen her run so fast - not even in the Diaper Derby! When she got outside, she couldn't decide what to play with first so she ran back and forth between the playground, the sand table and the play house. Then she went back to the sand table, and then the play house and then the playground. She was like a pinball.
I finally ran over to her and told her that we had plenty of time out here and that she would get to play with everything before we went back inside. It was almost like she took a sigh of relief. She settled on the playground first.
She slept really well that night and was very excited to go back a couple days later.
For me, it's nice to have some parents to talk to and to get to have some out of the house time with Amy. I love to watch her play and learn. It's going to be a great experience for both of us!

Well, that was rude!

We've all seen the movie Pretty Woman, right? You know the one...prostitute falls in love with billionaire and they live happily ever after. Right, we're up to speed now.
There's a scene in the movie where Richard Gere's character gives Julia Roberts' character money and she goes down to Rodeo Drive to shop for some "appropriate" clothes. When she goes into the first store, they tell her that she's in the wrong place and they don't have anything for her. Booo!
I love the scene a little later in the movie when she returns to that store with about 10 shopping bags in her hands and says that they made a huge mistake..."Huge!"
Well, I am no Julia Roberts, but I was "Pretty Womaned" the other day and I feel compelled to write about it.
I am going to be in a wedding at the end of October. I have been a little preoccupied lately so I put off dress-hunting until Friday. Huge mistake, I know. Especially since I was asked to pick a dress that is more summer color than fall color. My bad, yes. I saw an ad in the paper the other day for a popular dress shop in downtown Fairfield. They were having and end-of-summer clearance. Well, Angela missed out on all the summer dresses so when I went the clearance was over.
I strolled into the shop promptly at 10 a.m. after enjoying a Starbucks tea with Amy. She was still munching on her bagel when we arrived at the store. I immediately got dark stares upon entering the store with my kid. I could practically hear what the two older women were thinking "How DARE she bring a child in our store? And the child is eating to boot?"
The lady asked me to put Amy's bagel away (yea, good luck with that) so I had Amy put it back in the Starbucks bag. She screamed and then threw her book across the store.
"I have a thrower too," the lady said. I looked at her a little funny.
"My grandson is a thrower," she clarified.
Whatever. I told her what I was in the market for that day because I obviously wasn't in the mood for small talk. She looked at the swatches that I brought along and instantly she was discouraged at my color choice. She showed me a couple dresses that I said were "OK" but not exactly what I had in mind. She presented another dress that I don't think anyone in their mid-30s should even touch let alone wear.
"I don't think that's quite me," I said. She turned her nose up at me and went to another part of the store.
She then handed me back my swatches and said "I don't think we have what you are looking for."
HUH?
"Oh, well, OK," I said.
There was no offer to order something from a catalog or offer another shop. Nothing. Just a snooty attitude and dismissal. I left the store with my kid. As I manuevered out of the front door with Amy in the stroller, she didn't even offer to help. Not that I need it, but an offer would have been nice.
That's the last time I go to that store. (Technically I have never purchased anything at that store, but still...)
I have never been "Pretty Womaned" before and I have never gotten the kind of reception I did from those women anywhere else because I had a kid with me. Considering those women, at least one of them, was a grandma, I would've expected a little more courtesy.
It's all good. I went to JC Penney...a nice family-friendly store...and got a dress for the wedding for $30! Thank you big-box retailers and your end-of-summer clearance!

Staying very busy

I've known people all through my life who have held down three jobs just to make ends meet. They go from one job to the next, barely enough time in between to feed or even say hi to their kids, and this is their life. The whole family adjusts to this crazy schedule...but it's only crazy to those not in it. What is crazy to one family may not be so crazy to another.
As a writer, I can work from anywhere. Right now, I am in the backyard with the laptop, sitting at the table while Amy plays in the water table and slides down the slide. Diana is learning Spanish at school and Matt is at work. It's quiet for the most part, aside from lawnmowers doing their business and some birds chirping.
For the last few months I have been writing a column for the local newspaper about being a stay-at-home mom. I've gotten good feedback from it and I really enjoying writing it. Last week, I picked up another freelance writing gig and I have another prospective offer to do some freelance work for a local company. That's three jobs. And I haven't even mentioned the stuff I do for Matt's basketball team and freelance work I do for some of the other sports teams at Solano, some PR stuff I do for the Solano president and part-time PR for Diana's theatre company. Whew.
That's OK. It's projects, and I love projects. I love staying busy and keeping my creative juices flowing.
I had a coffee meeting with a friend this morning and she said that maybe I was just going to be one of those people who freelances. I said I was OK with that because freelancing allows me to be involved with my kids' lives. I can take them to gymnastics, theatre and all their other activities and still have some money coming in. I just have to make sure I am cutting back in places.
The thing I look forward to every day though is taking Diana to school and picking her up. She really looks forward to school and I have been able to help out a friend/neighbor by having her daughter walk with us to school every day. I realize that there's nothing quite like being there to tell your kid to have a great day and being the first one to ask how their day was. Yes, all the in between stuff is hard - disciplining a 2-year-old, coming up with creative lunches every day, cleaning the house, staying sane - but it's all worth it when that little first grader runs over to me in the afternoon and tells me all about her day on the way home.

First day of first!

There are new routines to adjust to on the first day of school. We have to get up a little earlier, there's more of a sense of urgency as the morning progresses and the to-do list is a little longer.
On Wednesday, Diana started first grade. She's been ready to go back to school for a while and, frankly, so have I. Unfortunately, even though she's excited, she still has no sense of urgency.
Diana woke up around 6:15 and got dressed right away (just like I told her was going to have to happen). I made breakfast and then got Amy going around 7. The little one is getting up about 30-45 minutes earlier than normal which sucks for her. Amy likes to chill in her crib for a while before greeting the family. She did well Wednesday though.
At the breakfast table, I had to remind Diana four times that we are not in talkative, summer, goof-off-at-the-table mode anymore. It's all business baby!
I admit to having a little anxiety on Wednesday but I wanted to make sure we got out of the house on time. Anticipating the traffic at school was at the forefront of my mind as well.
Once breakfast was over, Diana brushed her teeth and hair and put her shoes on. Once the clock struck 8, we were out the door and drove the 1 minute and 30 seconds down the street to school.
NEVER AGAIN.
So much traffic, so many people. I know it was the first day of school and all, but I had to park way down the street from school - it was nearly the equivalent of being at my house. What a waste of time.
There I was, pushing Amy in the stroller, lugging two reams of copy paper, a box of Kleenex and my purse with the camera in it. Meanwhile, Diana has a backpack that the crossing guard says makes her look like a turtle because it's so big. It's filled with supplies and she's carrying her lunch. We looked ridiculous but as I looked around at other families, we fit right in!
Diana was the first one in line and I didn't speak but two words to her the rest of the time. Once her teacher came out to greet the class, she went with her, put her backpack away and sat on the carpet. The teacher told the students to say "Hasta Luego" to the parents (remember, she's in Spanish Immersion) and Diana was still staring at the teacher as if to say "Yea, can we just start learning now?"



She finally turned around, waved and we left. I got a little misty eyed but I think it was more hurt feelings because my baby wouldn't say bye. Whatev, D! Momma doesn't forget! :)

The next Erin Andrews

We put our kids in sports in hopes they will become the next great superstar athlete. The chances of that happening are slim and we all know it, but we have to take a chance, right? Besides, they are getting some exercise, making new friends and learning valuable lessons along the way. There are really few negatives to being involved with sports.
In the past nine months since Diana has been involved with various athletic endeavors, she has learned that maybe she actually enjoys sports. She tries really hard at everything she does, she smiles, she has a great attitude toward her coaches and teammates and it's led to an interest in the sports we watch at home on television.
Since it's summertime, that means she's paying more attention to the (World Champion) San Francisco Giants. They are on nearly every day and even though most of the games are on past her bedtime, she can catch the games when they playing on the East Coast. (I am sure that she will be a fan of the National League East someday).
Diana can tell us what the score is, what inning it is - including whether or not it's the top half or the bottom half - and knows that three outs is all ya' get. Now, granted, these are basic baseball facts that everyone should know, but remember, she's a girl and she's just started showing interest in baseball. She's picked it up pretty quick. Her favorite player is Pablo Sandoval but I don't think she could tell you any other player.
I was excited the other day to learn that she's been paying a lot more attention than I though after talking to a friend of mine (a sportswriter) who struck up a conversation with Diana at a barbecue.
He told me that he was impressed with Diana's baseball knowledge. I had no idea what he was referring to.
He said that she was excited because the Giants has won two games in a row and that they won that day 4-1. She was aware, he said, of the Giants' streak of hitting a home run with no runners on base (something Dad must have taught her). I was blown away by all this knowledge. My friend was impressed.
I thought all day about this and later told Matt that if nothing comes of Diana being an athlete (with the legs she's grown over the summer though, I am pretty sure sports are in her future), she's got a career in broadcasting for sure! I can just think 20 or so years from now watching Diana on SportsCenter - blonde hair and all - as the next Erin Andrews (minus the stalker of course).
See, there's more to participating in sports than the physical side of it!

Our venture into signing

Amy began her second week of speech therapy this week. I sit on the couch and let the therapist work her magic for 30 minutes twice a week. She's teaching her a little bit of sign language which I am not totally for, but it's not a lot of signing. She's taught her how to say "more cookies please", "fish", "apple" and some others. She brings Amy snacks and encourages her to use her words if she wants another snack. I practice her signing with her at home while also encouraging her to use her words when she needs or wants something.
The two of them play with a train and the therapist shows her pictures of objects, encouraging Amy to look at her mouth while she says the word. She's impressed with Amy's jaw movement and how well she uses her tongue to chew, etc. The words will come, she tells me. (I'm still not concerned.)
The thing I realized this past week and I think the therapist realized it too, is that Amy just doesn't want to talk. She's not ready. Diana wasn't ready at this age. She knows how to ask for more cookies or Goldfish crackers, but instead she whines and points to them. We remind her to use her words and after a little bit of encouragement, she signs for them. The therapist says that she has several kids who are in the same phase as Amy and they don't seem to want to talk either.
While the girls were at Camp Gramma V, Diana taught Amy to say "Dada" so now everytime Matt comes home, he asks Amy who he is. When we sit down to dinner, he looks across the table and asks her who he is. "Dada" she replies. He chuckles. I just remind him who her favorite is...he shrugs because he knows the answer to that is me.
Amy's vocabulary is slowly expanding. I just don't know that it's because of speech therapy.

We gotta get outta this town

There are a lot of places to take kids in the summer that don't cost a thing. We have done Michael's craft days, gone to the park, gone swimming, visited the Jelly Belly factory...that's just the beginning.
But sometimes, you just gotta pack up the car, head out of town and spend a little bit of money. That's what I decided to do one day so we went to Fairytale Town in Sacramento. I didn't tell the girls where we were going, I just said we were going for a car ride. It was Amy's first trip to Fairytale Town and Diana's second. I realized not long after we arrived that Diana is a little bit old for that place. She was practically tackling the other kids who were climbing on the structures and going down slides. She loved it, but she's ready for something a little more age-appropriate. Amy, on the other hand, was in heaven. She loved chasing her sister around, going down slides much larger than those that we find at the parks and being outside.
It was fun to watch them discover a new place. And I was pleased that the snack bar inside Fairytale Town was extremely reasonably priced. Everything was less than $2 for the most part...way within my budget.

Here are some images from the trip. Diana first went to Fairytale Town with my mom years ago and she made Diana a photo album from it. I am going to do the same for Amy because Amy just loves looking at D's album. Now she can have her own.

Diana was such a good big sister, watching Amy as she climbed up the stairs on every slide to make sure she didn't fall.



Amy really did chase Diana around some times.



And they loved the hippopotamus water fountain!

With a huff and a puff

Birthdays are funny. We spend weeks planning for a party - sometimes when only family is invited - and the day goes by in a blur. That's kind of what happened with Amy's birthday. Invitations were sent out three weeks before her party via email because there was so much going on after Diana's birthday one month earlier. I think I did a pretty good job with her invite though and we got a good response. Both sides of the family were coming to her party which I was really happy about.
We woke up on Saturday morning and serenaded Amy with Happy Birthday. She loved it. She had been practicing holding up two fingers and by the time her birthday rolled around, she nailed it! We had French toast for breakfast and then opened presents, just the four of us. Diana and Amy made a mess of the living room with the wrapping, toys and clothes but they were happy so I wasn't one to complain. Shortly after that, it was time to get into party mode. I vacuumed, Matt took Diana to the store to get some food for the party and I baked cupcakes. Poor Amy was left in the living room to play. She was fine with it, but I felt bad. Poor birthday girl just got ditched on her special day.

That's OK. Later on, we had a lot of fun with family and friends.





Amy got a baby doll from Grandpa D. She loves her! She sleeps with her every night and more often then not, she is still in the crib in the morning and not on the floor because Amy threw her out in the middle of the night.



We trained Amy a long time ago to blow on her food when it's hot. She picked it up pretty fast but we never thought it would work like a charm on candles. Matt told Amy that her cupcake and candles were hot and to blow on them. She took a deep breath and swiftly blew both those little pink candles out. It was the highlight of the party for everyone there. And the birthday girl was very proud of herself too!

Where's MY summer camp?

Diana was at summer camp for the last two weeks. She participated in a sports camp, where there was a lot more going on than just sports - they went on a field trip to Scandia, went to the dollar movies and did arts and crafts every morning. Last week she had cooking camp, where they "cooked" sandwiches, tortillas, edible arrangements and other goodies. They also went on a field trip on the city bus to Fresh Choice and two of the days they went swimming. There was also a park right outside the site so they played there too.
What I want to know is...where is MY summer camp? I want to go away for a week, do arts and crafts, go swimming, cook, go to a movie and play sports. I also would love to play miniature golf since I haven't played that in probably three years.
I guess my house is a constant camp, but it sure doesn't feel like it. I supervise the arts and crafts, act as lifeguard during swimming (even though I don't know CPR -I know, that's bad) and cook the meals for other people.
My ideal camp would be me at a quiet location, sans children, with my Kindle, soaking up the sun and sleeping in until about 9 a.m. I want to eat what I want to eat when I want to eat it without a child saying "Can I have one?" This is all wishful thinking because these "camps" cost mucho dinero that I just don't have. I will have to improvise and have a makeshift camp during naptimes. I can sit in the backyard in my bikini, with my Kindle, soaking up the sun and sneak some snacks while the kids can't see me. As for the arts and crafts, I will have to make sure to take part in them, instead of just supervising. I will insist that my husband take me on a date to go play mini golf one of these days.
Camp might be spread out among several days, but I will get my chance too!

When I am strong, my kids are healthy

I am not what my husband likes to call a "mental midget." I like to think that I am mentally tough. It's that mental toughness that gets me through every day and helps me run a functional household.
Sure I am tired throughout the day. When you get up at 5 a.m. to exercise five days a week you are bound to get tired at some point. But there are little people running around that need attention, need to see sunlight and need to be entertained. There's also a house that needs to be cleaned, meals to cook and diapers that need to be changed. Plus, it's not healthy for me to be couped up in the house all day either. So I push through the tired.
When I want to just sit down and roam the internet for a job for 15 minutes, I glance over and my 2-year-old is making a mess of the living room. That can't happen so I get off the internet and have her help me clean up. When I would rather stay in the house all day then take the kids to the park, I can't. That's not fair to them. So, I lather them up with sunscreen and we head out. Do we walk, ride bikes or take the car? Most of the time we take the car, but let's walk today...or ride a bike. Sure, one might say that my kids are a little spoiled because I am giving in to their every need, but they are kids and it's summertime. This is their time to have some fun and not have any pressure on them. When Mommy and Daddy have jobs and we are on a tighter schedule, they have more limitations. Now, let's just have fun.
When I put the girls down for bed at night and I come downstairs and take a breath, it's nice. That's MY time. I finally get to relax, read a book, look for a job, watch television, bake something...do whatever I want to do.
It's not easy being mentally tough, but my kids are mentally healthy because of it!

Diana's rookie year

One of Diana's many summer activities includes t-ball. She's never played baseball a day in her life and we have barely played catch with the girl in her six years of existence. When we have played catch, it's been with a basketball. Certainly nothing as small as a baseball. But her friend from track season was playing so we decided to give it a shot.
Diana is not the best player on the team, but she's not the worst either. She has a smile on her face the entire time she's out there and that's all that matters to me. She's in the senior division which means that the games are not that hard to watch from a talent standpoint (most of the kids should be playing Little League or Bobby Sox).

Here's Diana at opening ceremonies last Friday.



Here she is warming up before her first game on Saturday morning.



Diana getting some batting advice from her coach. Yes, she is wearing a skirt. I tried to tell her that she needed to wear shorts, but "Daddy said it's OK because it's sporty!" was the reply I got. Matt suggested that we needed to get her some baseball pants and I said heck no! I especially was against that idea when I saw one of the girls on Diana's team wearing baseball pants and they were super baggy in the crotch area (enough room for a cup!). Those things are not made for girls. Gramma V suggested waiting to see if Diana requested baseball pants after the first game. I said "Mom, my daughter is wearing a skirt. Do you think she's gonna request baseball pants?" Enough said.



She reached base a couple of times. I love this photo because the first baseman is totally checking her out! :)



And here is Diana's No. 1 fan, watching her from behind the fence. Amy wanted to be out there so bad!



She now has two games a week until the week before school starts. It's going to be a busy month for us because she's in camp this week again. She's also taking gymnastics one day a week. Hold on for the ride!

My backyardigan

It doesn't matter what the temperature is outside, my girls always want to play outside. I am fine with that. Let's get the sunscreen out and head outdoors! With Diana at camp during the day for a couple weeks, Amy and I have been playing outside more often. It's nice that the temperatures haven't reached triple digits too many days so far this summer so she can actually play in the sun and I don't have to move her backyard toys to the shade.
I texted Matt a picture of Amy playing with the water table one day when it was a little hot and he replied "I can't believe she wants to be outside." She's a kid...what kid doesn't want to play outdoors!

One Friday, I decided to test Amy's artistic abilities outside of crayons. I got out the tempura paint, pinned up a piece of poster paper onto the fence and let her have at it. Now remember, Amy has never painted a day in her life. And she doesn't like to be messy (hmmm, I wonder where she got that from?). I brought the camera outside and knew that it was going to be a Kodak moment.

Here's Amy's adventures with the water table on a very hot June day.



She loves her ducky.



That's a smile worth a million bucks!



Here's Amy's awesome artwork (I got the smock - a two-pack - at Ikea. The only good purchase I have ever made at that store).



Amy checking out her messy hands.



Sometimes we get a little on our faces, but it's OK.

An overrated skill

It was decided a while back at Amy's 2-year preemie checkup that she would start speech therapy. I am not one to argue with the doctors but I did tell them that I didn't think it was necessary. They insisted, saying that it couldn't hurt. OK, I said, still showing my displeasure.
Diana was a late talker, Matt was a late talker and they are both fine to the best of my knowledge.
Fast forward to about three weeks ago when Amy had her initial assessment. She passed with flying colors in all the developmental stages. She only struggled in the verbalization test...obviously.
Today, she had her first assessment with her speech therapist. It wasn't an actual appointment because she still has to get approved by a board to get speech therapy. The therapist was impressed with Amy's development and her intelligence. She even taught us some sign language - something that I have always been a little against. Amy knows how to sign "More cookies please." It's funny though because Amy knows how to say "please" so she does the sign for "more cookies" and then says please.
The therapist was here for 45 minutes and conducted a couple tests. Amy loves the test part. The therapist brought a picture book to warm Amy up to her and she was into it as I chatted with the therapist. Once she brought out the cards to test her abilities though, Amy perked up and got down to business. She correctly identified several objects in the book, impressing the therapist tremendously. It was fun.
We won't hear from the therapist about our next appointment for a couple weeks because she has to file a report and then it is presented to the board at their site who then recommends or denies Amy speech therapy. The therapist doesn't think Amy will be denied. In the meantime, she gave us some activities to practice with Amy. We have to make sure she's looking at our mouth when we are talking to her and there are some letters we should practice with more than others because they are easier for a beginning talker to use.
It's all so intense. When she's ready to talk, she'll talk. She communicates very well. We know what she wants and she knows what we are saying. She's a very smart girl and I am not worried about her at all. Being a preemie has not hindered her development one bit - outside of this whole talking thing.

A bittersweet day

Diana's sixth birthday also was her last day of kindergarten. So, it was a happy day for sure, but sad that kindergarten is already over and she's on to first grade. Where has time gone? I saw a picture of her the other day on her first day of school and look at pictures of her now and she's grown into such a young lady in such a few short months.
Diana is a confident, smart, fun girl who we adore. She's a great big sister who loves her family. She has a bright future ahead of her and had a great kindergarten year. She's in Spanish Immersion and her teacher had nothing but great things to say about her. We were very proud of her final Kindergarten report card. She's more than ready for first grade and we are already doing some extra work this summer to make sure she is ahead of the game.

Here are some images from her last day of school. The three kindergartens had a family picnic in the kindergarten field with families invited. Amy and I joined the group and then we went to Fenton's afterward with some of D's friends for ice cream!








Diana's birthday party was the day after school. She had it at the community pool with some of her classmates and friends. Everyone had a great time. Diana has a great group of friends at school...she is very lucky, but she's also a very good friend to everyone in her class.

The busiest week of the year (hopefully)

There's a lot going on this week - mostly because we have two big events happening on Thursday. It's the last day of kindergarten for Diana, and it's also her birthday. Yes, the same day that Diana finishes kindergarten is the same day that she's turning 6. Crazy.
I am in crazy baking mode this week. I have scaled back on my baking lately so I got a little excited at the prospect of getting something done in the kitchen and baked cupcakes this morning that she doesn't need until Tuesday. I hope they are still good and not too dry by the time I deliver them to her after-school group on Tuesday.
They are having a kinder picnic on Thursday and I am bringing homemade banana bread for the celebration. We are going out for ice cream after school that day with a bunch of Diana's friends and some of the other moms to celebrate a year that went by way too fast.
I was looking at pictures today from her first day of school and all the kids just look so young. Open house was the other night and the teacher put together this huge project consisting of some of Diana's artwork month-by-month. There are also pictures of her in it. It's crazy to see her face on Day 1 vs. a photo that was taken of her a month ago wearing a lab coat and happily peeking through a microscope during their science segment. What a difference!
I feel fortunate to have been home for most of her first school year. I love walking to school with her every day, telling her to have a good day and then picking her up afterwards and talking about her day on the way home. She's learning so much and I am extremely excited about her future.
Diana's big birthday party is on Friday at the swim park. I, of course, can't just let it be a swim party. I have to go above and beyond with the decorations, homemade cake and all the things that her birthday doesn't really NEED to include. We are having family over that night for our family birthday celebration. It's a big week.
One thing at a time is what I tell myself every day. You can only get one thing done at a time and you are not Superwoman...no matter how hard you try.

Fiesta Forever

Diana had her chance in the limelight at this weekend's Fiesta Days celebration - she joined several of her classmates in the parade on Saturday. They sat on a float to promote their school's Spanish Immersion program. I absolutely love this program. The teachers are great, the parents are great and we love that Diana is doing so well in school while learning another language. She's becoming such a well-rounded individual and that's what we want for our kids.

We were especially proud of our kids this Saturday because the kids were asked to get to the meeting spot one hour prior to the start of the parade. Our float didn't step off into the parade route until 30 minutes after the official start of the parade. The kids sat around in the cold and wind, never had to pee (which surprised us all) and never complained once. Truly amazing! When the parade started, they waved, blowed bubbles, proudly wore their sombreros and represented their school and program with pride!

Matt, Amy and I walked alongside the floats (well, Amy was pushed in the jogger) and had a great time as well. I proudly carried the Mexican flag with another mom.
The highlight of the parade though was my dad jumping out of the crowd to get a super closeup of Diana in the float. One of the moms asked me if he knew one of the kids and I said "Oh yea, that's my dad." She just laughed.

Here's Diana with her crew of girls before the parade - Shae, Natalie, Elizabeth and Delaney.



Diana and her friends waiting patiently before the parade.



Diana practicing her parade wave.



Diana and some of the girls posed with the pink fire truck.



This program is so much fun. It's exactly the type of community atmosphere that I wanted for my family in elementary school. For anyone who is on the fence about doing Spanish or Dual Immersion, I say jump on over. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

The tradition continues

I had reservations about entering Amy into the Fiesta Days Annual Diaper Derby. Diana did the race twice, taking first place the second time. But it's crazy. It's like a beauty pagaent for athletes. It's not super organized like a Borchert function would be so that's a big set back for us as well.
But my family is always giving me a hard time about not treating the second child equally. The Diaper Derby was my chance to allow Amy to do something that Diana did even though I don't look forward to it.
Matt wasn't thrilled that we were going to have to get to the Derby site right as the Indy 500 was starting. Too bad, I told him. This is the only year that Amy is doing the Derby so suck it up. The Indy 500 is like 4 hours long or something anyway.
We arrived at the site, signed Amy up, put her in her official Derby t-shirt and practiced around the gym with her. She ran from one wall to the middle of the court upon our yelling "go!" One mom commented "She's ready." Yes, Amy is always ready to run.
Around the time the crawlers were starting their race, Amy was getting a little tired of running from the wall to the middle of the court so I took her outside to get some fresh air. Grandpa D showed up and we chatted for a while. But before I knew it, Matt comes running outside yelling "It's time! C'mon!!"
I scooped Amy up and we ran inside. I gave Amy to Matt, he lined up on the starting line and I ran to the finish line.
I started looking around for my family - I found Au Bob, but my mom and Diana weren't there yet. They were going to miss it. Oh well, there was no time to cry.
There were about 15 kids in Amy's heat so there were an equal amount of parents, grandparents and siblings on the receiving end. I squeezed my way down to the floor, much to the chagrin of some of the grandparents and parents, and waited for Amy to start.
The lady in charge decided to split the group up into two heats. Matt yells down "We are going to go second!" I nod my head. My mom later suggested that Matt scoped out the competition to see where Amy would have the best chance of winning. And so what if he did?
The first heat went and the lady in charge wasted no time in getting the second heat up on the starting line. I barely had time to make eye contact with Amy before she was sprinting from Matt's arms, across the gym floor, to the finish line and into my arms. She won, and it wasn't close. (My dad has pictures to prove it and Matt has it on video.) The girl took off at the first sound of "GO!" and with a huge smile on her face.

I scooped Amy up, the Fiesta Days princesses came over to confirm that we, er, Amy did in fact win her heat. I was way more excited than Amy, she just looked very confused. I think she wanted to keep running.
We took Amy over to get her trophy and headed home. I was beaming. I have two Diaper Derby winners. When we got home, we took a picture with the girls with their first place trophies. Classic!
If Amy could give an acceptance speech, here's what she would say; "I would like to thank my sister, Diana, for all the nights running around the living room. I never thought that all that running would actually pay off, I just had a fun time chasing you and thinking I was 5."

Flying colors

Amy and I returned to Walnut Creek on Tuesday for her two-year preemie checkup. It's hard to believe that it's been almost two years since we were rushed from NorthBay hospital in Fairfield to Kaiser in Walnut Creek just 12 hours after she was born so she could receive the best care for preemies in Northern California.
When strangers make comments about Amy nowadays, they don't say "oh, she's so small." They usually say "She's not two yet?" I just smile. I guess there's no need to say "She was less than 3 lbs. when she was born." When I do tell people that, they are stunned.
Amy met with a physical therapist, who was happy with her development. Amy played some games and pointed to pictures in a book. The only issue that came up was her language development. She doesn't have as many words as a typical 2-year-old should have at this point and they suggested that we enroll her in speech therapy. I am hesitant of course but the doctor we saw later said there's really no disadvantage to it. If Amy starts talking in the next two months (by the time she turns 2) and the speech therapist decides she doesn't need therapy, then we don't need it. But it can be helpful and useful for her if we decide to proceed.
The doctor came in next and was real happy with how Amy is eating and sleeping. Then the nurse came in to weigh and measure Amy. This is always our favorite part. Amy is 25 lbs and 35 inches long. She's in the 95th percentile for height and the 50th percentile for weight. I've joked all along with her pediatrician that instead of a basketball player, she's going to be a volleyball player - long and lean. But now, it seems that she's putting on some weight. Maybe she will be Matt's power forward after all! It was a very exciting revelation! :)
The social worker came in last (before the nurse returned to stick Amy with another round of Hep B) and asked how home life is. The only concern that she had was that Matt and I don't go out enough. I told her we were going out tonight to a concert and that I was very excited about it.
It was a great visit and we will go back in a year for her final preemie checkup. A little sad, but glad that our little person is doing so well!

Diana tri(es)!

About a month ago, I got an email from A Change of Pace Foundation, a non-profit group in Davis which puts on a lot of foot races in Northern California, advertising a kids triathlon - the Positive Energy Kids Triathlon. I've seen this before on their website, but never gave it much thought.
With Diana in such great shape right now, I thought it was something we could "tri" (no pun intended). They offer a parent-child division so I thought it would be a great starting point. Diana, at first, was hesitant, then I told her that she could pick out where we eat lunch afterward and she was on board.
The week before the race it was raining here so training was nearly impossible. When the sun did come out, I got Diana on her bike and we rode to the park and around the neighborhood. I took her swimming in the local pool a couple times to get her some practice with the kickboard, which she was allowed to use in the pool at the race.

The day of the race came and once we arrived on scene, she was excited. Here are some images from the race, courtesy of Au Bob. I must thank my family for coming out to be cheerleaders. Diana continues in a long-line of triathletes and even if this is her first and last triathlon, I was super proud of her for finishing and working real hard today!

Diana getting bodymarked. Grandpa D thought this was hilarious!






The girls with their game faces on!



Diana gettin' her kick on!



Diana needed a little extra help up the last hill on the bike portion of the race. The entire bike course was a little more hilly than we expected.



We're almost done, girl!



This photo is a little blurry, but it's my favorite! We did it!



Everyone (including me) got a finishers medal. Five hours after her race, Diana is still wearing hers!

Gone Fishin'

The minimum age on the box says that kids should be 4 years and older to play the "Let's Go Fishin'" game that sits in our living room. But Amy doesn't think that's right. She wants to play now. She's watched us all play it and must have said to herself "Easy breezy, I got this!"
We started out slow with her, letting her play with Matt or me when we played against Diana, but after a while, she wanted to do it herself. She held the pole wrong the first couple times she did it, but that was OK. She was still getting the hang of it. After a few tries though, she aced it. Now, she wants to play all day every day and it's not even a big deal anymore when she gets the fishies. She doesn't take a deep gasping "I am so proud of myself" gasp and show us. She just puts them down on the table and tries to get more. It probably takes her 15-20 minutes playing by herself to clear the whole pond. Once she's done, she puts the fishies back in the pond and goes at it again.
It's fun to watch her play, but the funniest thing (according to Matt, at least) is watching her place the fishies on the table once she's fished them out of the pond. If one falls over, she has to place it right side up. OCD is inevitable.

Amy giving the pre-game stare down to the fishies.



Amy has unbelievable patience for an almost 2-year-old and a very steady hand.



While sister poses for the camera, Amy sneaks in and grabs the fishies!



"I think I got one, Mommy!"



So pumped!



"I've mastered the fishies!!"