Dance Mom

I didn't think I would become an activities chauffeur with a preschooler, changing my schedule to get kids to practice, etc. But I did sign Gina up for dance class with full knowledge that there would be a show at the end of the year, complete with extra practices and photo day; at the time it seemed so far way. So yesterday I left work an hour early to pick up the kids and take Gina to dance practice. Of course I cut the time too close, especially with freeway traffic so we were a full fifteen minutes late. I then forgot that practice ended at 6:30pm and not 6:15pm so we were hanging around the lobby for half an hour (since it ran late) with a very antsy almost 3yr old and baby. Dylan was great, smiling at everyone who came by, but just as Gina finished he had had enough and started crying. So we get to repeat this two more times.

Eat with the Seasons CSA
I love the idea of buying directly from farmers and supporting local farms. A few years ago, I tried Mariquita Farms CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture). Every week I picked up a box of fresh produce, mostly vegetables and then tried to find the best ways to use them. There wasn't any choice in what we got in the box, so a lot of fennel and kale went to waste. At one point we got some very potent onions which I really liked in the potato salad that I made, but Vic still complains about that dish to this day and mentions "those smelly onions" every time I bring up Mariquita Farms. The one bright point was the strawberries, bright red, juicy and full of flavor. I almost considered signing up again just for the strawberries, but didn't.

Currently I am getting fruit from another CSA, Frog Hollow Farms. This CSA is all fruit, and all year round. In the winter we enjoyed apples, pears, kiwi, avocado and citrus and now with spring, we are getting cherries, apriums (a cross between apricot and plum) and peaches. The kids eat a lot of fruit from the box as we are bringing it home which is great, though it is some times difficult to get them to eat it once we are home. But we are working on that.

While I love all the fruit from Frog Hollow, I also would like to get vegetables in the same way. So now we are trying a new CSA, Eat with the Seasons. One good point of this CSA is that each week I get to choose six items from a list of what is available. So this week we got broccoli, carrots, chard, potatoes, blueberries and strawberries, all things that we eat on a regular basis. The carrots smelled wonderful in the bag, very sweet. Gina snacked on one right when we got home. Most of the blueberries didn't make it home, the kids ate them up as we drove home. The one disappointment was the strawberries, they are organic but not as ripe as I would have expected. So next week we will get two containers of blueberries and I will have to track down my favorite strawberry vendor at the Saratoga farmers market on Saturday.

BBQ fun

On Sunday we went to a local park for a barbeque with friends. Originally, it was supposed to be just us and the Creech family, but then Judy mentioned that she had wanted to do a bigger get together but didn't want to do it alone. I am always game for large gatherings of friends and family so we decided on a joint party. We each invited friends and family, I took care of the location and invites, and Judy took care of the shopping spree at Costco.

It was a beautiful day at the park. The kids had fun playing on the play structures and exploring. Gina went off with Gabriel and his dad for a walk through the "forest". Alice got to spend some more quality time with Dylan.

The guys spent awhile figuring out how to start the BBQ. The one thing we forgot to bring was matches, but luckily someone at the park had a lighter so no one had to make the trek up the hill. As always with potluck type parties, we had a ton of food, especially yummy desserts.

This is a picture of Andrew quite pleased with himself for finding his new hat. The hat had arrived by mail on Thursday and for awhile on Sunday it looked as if it might already be lost. But at some point he ended up with his hat again. Hopefully he will hold on to it for the summer.

Saturday Fun

Saturday Auntie Alice flew up for the weekend to visit. We decided to take the kids to Los Gatos for the afternoon so that the kids could run around in the fountains. Usually Andrew ignores the fountains and instead, pushes his stroller around the grassy area. This time, with no stroller to push, he followed Gina into the fountains and had a great time getting soaked. Gina was excited to try out her new bathing suit.

Dylan had fun hanging out in the shade with Alice and Nana. He is now rolling over and likes to show off his new skill.

We also took advantage of having both Alice and Nana visiting by leaving the three kids at home while Vic and I attended a wedding reception for his boss. I got the "Mama, you look beautiful" from Gina (not that I was very dressed up, but I was wearing makeup and a necklace which impressed her).

What was the question?

Gina: What are those horses eating?
Me: Grass.
Gina: No, what are they eating?
Me: Grass?
Gina: NO, WHAT ARE THEY EATING?
Me: I think they are eating grass.
Gina, now getting very frustrated at my stupidity: No, what are they eating, like dinner?
Me: Lunch
Gina: Oh.

Surfs Up

Yesterday I took the kids to the park for lunch. Gina and Andrew found some old cardboard that had been left. They had a great time surfing down the sandy slopes by the slides. Gina has mentioned that she wants a skate board. I'm hoping to hold out as long as possible for that, though I always have pictured her skateboarding wearing a pink skirt. Let's work on riding that bike first.

Dylan got his first tooth on Saturday. The other kids didn't get theirs until 11 months. Each kid is definitely different. Today Dylan tried winter squash and actually ate some. The previous five days he tried cereal and pureed pear but quick drooled it out or pushed it out with his tongue. He ate some in the morning and then in the afternoon at daycare.

We also had a visit from Boppa today and a bookcase delivery. We are being over run by books and hopefully the new bookcase will help solve this problem.

Gina rides her bike

I finally got around to uploading the little bit of video that I took of Gina riding her bike for the first time. Here it is.

Doctor's Appointments

Today both Gina and Dylan had doctor appointments and Andrew tagged along. Andrew didn't want to be left out and volunteered for a checkup and shots. He followed Gina down the hall for the eye exam and repeated everything she said. Gina sat in my lap for her shots/TB test and cried the whole time.

Gina is still a big girl (95th percentile for weight and height). Dylan on the other hand is falling off the chart in the other direction. He is now 14lb 8oz (5th percentile). But now he gets to try solid food. Here is his first attempt at rice cereal. The cereal went into his mouth but I don't think he actually swallowed any of it.

Mothers Day

Today for Mothers Day I had the bright idea that we should all go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was a beautiful day and the kids liked the idea of going. We saw the otters, and the penguins and the big fish in the outer bay exhibit. Andrew loves turtles and was quite impressed by the large sea turtle. He also got a little battery powered turtle for the tub which he also took to bed with him.

Yesterday Gina spent some time working on making a potholder from a kit that she received for her birthday. She only needed a little help from me. Of course this is the kind of thing I love to do so it was hard not to help her too much.

Today was also the first time that Gina got to try out her new bike. The store had put training wheels on the bike and Gina was happy to keep them on but from watching her at preschool, I knew she could balance on the bike so we took them off.

With a little push, Gina was off riding her bike. Now she just has to learn how to use the brakes. The preschool bikes don't have brakes so she is used to dragging her feet to stop. She had a few spills but got back on each time.

Party Time

Last Sunday was Gina's birthday party with ALL of her friends. Actually a few had other plans and couldn't come, but there were still a lot of kids from her preschool and las madres. We had it at the park to accommodate the large number of kids that she wanted to invite, complete with jumphouse to keep them all busy. I had forgotten that this park also has a water feature so a number of kids also got very wet and sandy as they turned the water into a sand volcano.

It ended up being a very warm day so the candles for the cake were starting to melt and the frosting on the cupcakes was starting to turn into melted butter. It was also a little windy so only one candle ended up staying lit, but it was better than none.

Uncle Steve made an appearance and I got a cute picture of him holding Dylan.

Once we got home, Gina wanted to open all her presents. The one problem with inviting so many kids is that there are so many presents, each with tiny little parts that get strewn about the house. This may be a big problem when Dylan starts to crawl since he loves to put stuff in his mouth. When Gina and Andrew were crawling, we didn't have any of the "not for children under 3 - small parts" stuff. Andrew had a very hard time understanding that the presents were for Gina and not for him.

Cupcakes for Breakfast

When you turn 5, cupcakes for breakfast seem like a pretty good idea. Actually it was Andrew's idea but Gina was certainly agreeable to it. When Gina got up in the morning of her birthday, she immediately got dressed (49er tshirt and too short leggings, but who am I to complain) and was ready to get her birthday started.

We frosted cupcakes for her preschool class and Gina and Andrew had fun putting sprinkles on top.

For dinner we went to Gina's favorite restaurant, Flames. Gina got a big hello from Roberto the manager and after dinner he took the kids to the case to pick out cake. Gina picked out the pinkest cake they had.

On Friday, Gina got her big present, a big girl bike. The only problem was it was too big. In the toy store, the bikes looked so small. But once Gina stood next to it, the bike looked huge. So she got to sit on it once before exchanging it. Of course, when she went with Vic to pick out a new one, she had to have the extremely bright pink Strawberry Shortcake bike (the one I specifically avoided). Why does everything have to have a character on it? Dora, SpongeBob, Disney princesses...

On Saturday, I finally got around to giving Dylan a bottle of formula. I had been procrastinating for weeks but I thought that maybe after seeing all the other babies at daycare drinking from bottles, he might be more willing to try. After playing around with it for a while he finally started to drink! Yeah!! He finished the two ounces in the bottle before starting to complain.