We survived the 1st Day of School!

Here are some highlights of Shayna's 1st day of 3rd grade today:

1. Bounced on beam at recess while heavy boys pushed and Cassidy said "Choo choo!"

2. Made birthday birds

3. Did silly dance in music special

4. Surprised Steven at recess (Steven, 2nd gr., went to the same private school as Shayna last year and they both rode the van)

5. I thought Shayna had a lot of homework but it turned out only one sheet was for her and all the rest was for ME.

1st Day of School

Here is Shayna today on her 1st day of school at Valley Elementary.

Just as I was taking this photo the 3rd graders went in. Luckily Shayna ran into Megan in the main lobby (a 4th grader she knows from Girl Scouts) and Megan took her to the 3rd grade. Shayna is new to this school so wasn't sure where to go.

Play Play Play

Enjoying the last days of summer before school and activities start!








My bulldozer baby!

Apple Harvest

Shayna picked apples from the tree in the backyard today. She picked 11 apples and ate 2 of them for dessert after dinner. She says that they are really good- much better than store bought and sweeter. She also saved a crickets life - poor thing was stuck to the duct tape left over from Skyler's party (we had the tablecloth taped down).

Scavenger Hunt

I picked up the 3rd grade recommended supply list Friday. Since this is Shayna's 1st year in public school, I had no idea of the protocol. In her previous school we got a letter from her teacher in the mail and a supply list (NOT recommended). This time I thought to call the school Thursday and ask (I was actually trying to reach the nurse to talk to her about her various medical forms). Now I get to hear from the everlastingly rude Valley secretary (for some reason she is always rude to me), that yes there is a supply list. (Holy cow no one told ME!) Well I guess she wasn't all rude because she kindly taped it to the office window so I could pick it up Friday when she wasn't going to be there. Well, alas, I guess Shayna won't be getting any letter from Ms. Blaswick in the mail. :::sigh:::

So Shayna has been on a scavenger hunt through the house trying to find the various items on the list, since most of it should be items she already has from previous school years. So the search is on- through bags of stuff left from 2nd grade, through previous "art boxes" from maybe 1st grade, maybe K? Through her ever crowded "stationary box" and through the chaos of the playroom.

She did comment that this years list has some odd items on it...like an old used sock.

Plant attack: Part II

MISCHIEF REPORT- straight from Bensalem, PA

Location: Scene of the crime

The crime:
Perpetrator (Skyler) attacked the plant again. This time he changed strategy and went for the dirt. Shayna had just watered it- a little too much- and there was wet soil with a layer of water. He got his little hands all into the dirt and then played with his stand up toy (Fisher Price Intelli-table) and got dirt all over that and some on the floor. All in a days work...eh- mischief...

Laughter is contagious

Shayna and I were laughing because I had just read her comments on her Uncle Mike's blog, and I was laughing saying she made comments to my comments, and then we both started laughing and just being silly...well we look down and Skyler is sitting there and HE is now laughing out loud. I snapped this pic of him, he is still holding two items from when I changed his diaper (he always holds onto the stuff he finds on the changing table).

Just prior to this he had been attacking the plant in the family room-- luckily its the hardiest plant alive- thankfully so because it is the very same plant that used to be in Grandpa Ben's apartment.

Mrs. Welch

Shayna received this postcard the other day from Monica Welch, her Special Interest Program (SIP) teacher. SIP is what the gifted and talented program is called in the elementary grades.

Shayna's Post on her e mail list

This is what Shayna sent to her e mail group the other day. One of the members is an 8 year old girl from Australia:

To: Courtney
WOW!! Australia! Abby and I are from United States.Abby's from Utah and I'm from Pennsylvania. And I'm 8. Did you get the other Emails? if you did you must know
we like Harry Potter!

Shayna

To: Abby did you read what Courtney said she's from Australia WOW!!
She reminds me of your pets!

Shayna

One Year Milestones

Skyler started walking much more yesterday. We were watching him do more walking than crawling. He is so cute to watch and still walking with an unsteady gait. Manny said he isn't crawling anymore, then this morning he crawled a little bit and he said "now he's blowing my theory." Shayna likes to count his steps and so far his "record" is 11 steps.

Skyler also had his 1 year check up at the pediatrician on Monday (8/22/05). Here are his stats:

Height: 29 1/2" (50%)

Weight: 22 lbs. (50%)

Head Circ.: 19" (90%)

Perfect Day

What a perfect day we had. The weather was perfect- not too hot or cold and slightly breezy. After the beach we went to a wonderful Italian dinner and dined on homemade pasta with fresh garlic and olive oil with shrimp, crab and mussels, clam chowder and sauteed spinach. Then we strolled on the boardwalk and enjoyed the ocean breezes. Shayna went on a few rides (including 1st time on the swing ride where she went barefoot and I waved as she passed) and then we topped off our perfect outing with Frozen Custard. YUM!

Playing in the sand

Skyler seemed to get the hang of how to use his shovel and pail. He mainly liked banging the shovel on the pail. Shayna still likes to dig big holes in the sand. Shayna found a little crab with a spiral shell and Skyler kept taking it out of her big pink pail and putting it back on the beach. The ocean was very warm!

Beach Day!

Skyler went to the beach for the first time yesterday. Here are his first moments experiencing the ocean.

He loved it! Soon after these photos were taken, he was crawling around playfully in the surf and didn't care when he got hit by waves, even if water got in his mouth.

Airplane

Shayna was playing with Skyler tonight and getting him to giggle a lot. Here she is giving him an "airplane" ride. One thing about Skyler, as long as he isn't hungry or dirty (diaper) at the time, he is ALWAYS happy. If you give him eye to eye contact or a smile he will respond with a HUGE grin and sometimes a big giggle.

First Steps

Skyler is at the delicious stage of babyhood right now where he is taking 1-2 steps at a time. He still mainly cruises and crawls, but once and a while he will step off from whatever he is holding onto and take 1-2 steps before plopping down onto his butt or reaching another "stronghold." These moments are so seldom and fleeting that you can easily miss them.

Last night we had dinner at my parents with Uncle Juli and Aunt Annette. Uncle Juli was the only one who witnessed Skyler taking 2 steps from the bookcase towards me.

So far we haven't seen him do more than 2 steps, and I keep saying he is doing "1,2 steps." Which then always reminds me of one of Shayna's favorite songs, "1,2 Step." So the line "everybody 1,2 step..." keeps playing in my head.

LINK to Audio of 1,2 Step:
http://www.musicremedy.com/audio/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowAudioPlayer&AudioId=2218&Quality=6

My modern girl

Shayna has just joined her first e mail list/group. Its a spin-off from one I belong to called 97kids- a group of moms all over the country with kids born in 1997. This group started in 1997 when they were all babies. A few months ago some of the kids began "old fashioned" pen paling to one of the kids named Abby. Shayna also corresponded with Abby. After some discussion, the moms decided it was easier and preferable to have the kids write via e mail the way the moms do (and I think Abby got overwhelmed because all the kids who were into writing wrote to her). So....the group "Kids of 97kids" was born. Right now there are only 3 members, but the group was only created TODAY. LOL Already Abby and Shayna have sent out e mails mainly to each other but to the whole group.

Besides being in the e mail group (Shayna has had her own e mail address for as long as I can remember) she also has her own "blog" (see link here to Potter's pensieve). She also has her own characters in 2 different (or 3? I lose track) online video games, one of which is a mini businesswomen in the game (she has an online store there and does real business selling wares).

Maybe someday soon when you have a baby, when they give you the paperwork to fill out for the baby's birth certificate it will have a space for their e mail address so they will have a designated one from birth. Just like they give out thier social security number - e mail addresses will be assigned. By then cyberspace may get very crowded!

Backyard Nature

Sometimes you only need to travel so far as your own yard to enjoy nature. Shayna and I have been enjoying this simple pleasure.

Shayna fills the bird feeder that hangs in the backyard and then we watch for all the different birds that come to eat. Then Shayna looks them up in her little bird guide book and tries to find out what kind of birds they are.

We get some life by the pool where we have wild honeysuckle growing. One year there was a birds nest with eggs and when they hatched as you swam in the pool you could hear the babies chirping, and spot the mom nearby with a worm in her beak. Last year we were all in the pool trimming the honeysuckle when we found a pretty green caterpillar, and then Shayna delighted in watching him crawl along the pool deck.

In the fall Shayna would come home from school with her pockets full of acorns collected during recess. One day she decided to leave a trail of acorns along the cobblestone walkway leading up to our front porch. Then she peeked out the door and watched with delight as a cute little squirrel came out and got all the acorns!

Class Lists

The class lists for Valley Elementary school were posted today. I took Shayna over there after doing a bit of work at the office (where she did filing and helped put the days billing into thier respective charts).

There we found posted on the door the lists for the 3rd grade along with all the other grades. Shayna has Ms. Blaswick and there are 23 kids in her class. The 3rd grade has just 2 classes (the district has lost students over the years to various Catholic and charter schools). This will be her first year in public school so this school is all new to her. Despite that fact, we did recognize a few names in her class- 2 boys from her preschool days at Judy Sare-Tifereth Israel who Shayna barely remembers; one girl, Carly, who was with her in Company C at Bucks County Dance Center. In the other class there is a girl named Cassidy that she knows from Judy sare preschool and also from Adventureland Day Camp, and she also was with her in horse back riding camp this summer.

The first day of school is August 31st. It seems much too soon! We haven't even been to the beach yet (but plan on going this Friday or one day next week).

Skyler's Birthday Cake

"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."

When it was tIMe tO blOW oUT* the candle, Skyler went to grab the flame with his hand- as you can see in the picture on the top (of course I grabbed his arm back before he actually touched the flame).


*Skyler kept touching the Caps Lock key as I typed that.

Skyler's Birthday Party

Some photos from Skyler's 1st birthday party this past Sat. August 13th.

Photo on left is Mason (Steve and Andrea's son, age 2) and Skyler in the baby pool; and David on the far right (a few months older than Skyler- Shayna's friend Nancy's little brother).

Photo on the right is Skyler and David playing with his water play toy.

It was VERY hot- around 97- so everyone enjoyed the big pool also. We kept it small- about 15 people including 6 children (4 little boys and Shayna and Nancy).

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY SKYLER!!!

Nicknames for Skyler

Bamm Bamm
(there are actual times he does the "Bamm Bamm Bamm" thing- and of course Shayna is as girly as pebbles)

Hercules
(remember the story of Hercules killing the snakes in his crib? well Skyler killed the mobile in his crib)

Tazmanian Devil
(self explanatory or see earlier post on this)

Putchy
(just my own made up boy-ish nickname)

Bulldozer

Skyler's New Pool

We got Skyler this baby pool and will use it at his birthday party this coming Saturday. He tried it for the first time this afternoon, it was his first time in a baby pool (we always take him in his baby float in our 4 foot pool). I gave him this boat to play with but he just wanted to bite it.

I also got him one of those water play toys you put on a table only when I took it out of the box I found it came in about 100+ pieces...just another way the toy companies like to torment parents.

Shayna's Good News and Bad News

BAD:

As my Penn State French 1 and 2 teacher Pierre used to say, "Mon pauvre Shayna." Poor Shayna had 3 cavities filled and 2 sealants done today at the Pediatric dentist. She was a real trooper, but I still felt bad for her when she came out with her cheek slightly puffed and the cotton roll sticking out of her mouth, with her somber droopy face. Dr. Josh then told me that she is predisposed physically to cavities because her teeth have deep grooves in them. The toothbrush can not reach these grooves. So she needs to use the floride rinse (which she just started). He said she would be numb for about 2 hours.

We went and got bagels at Einstein bagels since they are near the dentist, and she said she really wished she could have a bagel. We ran a bunch of errands together and by the time we got home, almost 2 hours later, she still wasn't able to eat and said her apple cider tasted bad.

That was at 5pm, now at 6:45pm she was finally able to enjoy her bagels.

GOOD:

Shayna is invited to go meet with an agent/agency this coming Tuesday August 16th!! I had sent her photos and resume to 2 agencies. We haven't heard from the other one, but this one wants to meet with her. Shayna wants to pursue acting. I guess she could also try modeling but its acting that she really wants to do. She loves to perform. Her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Buckley, said that she could see talent in Shayna, from her facial expressions while singing & performing to how she acted in the lead of the 2nd grade play when she played the Hare.

Also, she is taking a theatre class (acting) at the Walnut Street Theatre in center city this fall. She will really enjoy that plus afterwards (since the class meets on Saturday mornings) we can go out to lunch in the city and maybe sometimes do other fun and educational things in the city (like the Constitution Center we have not gone to yet).

Begging for food

One of the consequences of Skyler being such a voracious eater is that he begs for food. Even if he has eaten and is not very hungry, if anyone is eating, he will stop what he is doing and go over to that person and "beg" for food- that is, he will growl & grunt until you give him some.

Just a few minutes ago he was being all clingy with me and all of a sudden he vanished. It turns out Manny & Shayna are eating bagels in the kitchen, and he is now at thier feet demanding some too.

The worst is when we eat popcorn while watching a movie, because he will beg and doesn't undertand that babies can not eat popcorn. So we have to "hide" a bit of his baby approved munchies in the bowl and then dole it out as if he is getting the goods.

If Shayna is eating ice cream he won't leave her alone. He especially LOVES ice cream. So sometimes when Skyler goes to bed, Shayna will say "I can have ice cream now!" Manny says "you have to pay the taxman" when he comes around...if you are eating you have to give him his share.

The way we see it, he is just getting ready for the day when he is a football player (and there is no doubt in Manny's mind that his son will play football as soon as he is of eligible age, i.e. age 5 or younger if he weighs enough).

Fake vs. real food

Skyler has just recently discovered the stash of play food in the kitchen area of the playroom. Manny said that he thinks its really food. This morning he brought the fake ice cream sundae into the family room. A few times he would crawl into the hallway and kitchen clutching an item from the food bin, and its almost always the fake McDonald's shake.

Speaking of clutching items, Skyler likes to crawl holding an item in one or both hands. Also, the only way we can change his diaper is if he is holding something in each hand.

Reverse Psychology

Skyler kept going over to the fireplace and opening up the glass fireplace doors. Finally after getting tired of shutting the doors over and over, Manny just left them open. Now Skyler doesn't go over to the doors anymore.

The same thing happened before I "baby proofed" the fireplace area, where we still had a pile of kindling and basic fireplace dirt. Once Skyler started crawling he would go over there and play with the dirt. We would laugh at him being a "boy" and playing with dirt. Shayna from day one never liked getting dirty. So I baby proofed that area and cleaned it real well. He has stayed away from there from then on except now he started targeting the fireplace tools. He wants to grab a poker and start swinging it. What a boy.

Now I am running out of space on my refrigerator because as he grows taller he is able to reach more magnets and throw more magnets & pictures etc. onto the floor.

We also have a few laws here in Skyler land.

1. LAW OF TABLES:

Skyler believes that tables should not have anything on them. Any table or surface that he can reach, if there is anything on it, he decided that that item does not belong on the table. I got rid of everything on the end table by the family room sofa except for the cute dad book Shayna got him for Fathers Day one year at age 2, complete with her hand outline. Skyler has decided that book belongs on the floor. If you place the book back on the table, no matter where or what he is doing he will come right over and throw it on the floor!

2. LAW OF THE COFFEE TABLE:

Any drink or item that you don't want Skyler to grab MUST be in the VERY center of the family room coffee table. If you even place it slightly left of center it will be within his reach and he WILL, within 10 seconds of placing said item, knock it over.

Summer Reading Club

Shayna has been keeping track of her reading via the library's "Summer Reading Club." She has a list tacked to the wall that she records all the books she reads. So far she has read 15 books, including the 2 last books in the Harry Potter series.

I got the 6th Harry Potter book, "The Half Blood Prince" from the Bensalem library the day it came out. All three of us read it and there were 3 bookmarks in the book.

Now she decided to re-read all the Harry Potter books starting with book #1. She is enjoying finding all the little nuances you find when you reread a book after knowing the entire story.

Shayna was on the phone yesterday talking to her best friend, Nancy. Nancy so far has been, besides her friend Annie, the only girl her own age to be on her level because Shayna has always been so advanced. Nancy is also the type who will read a book like Harry Potter in 2 days. They started discussing re-reading the series. Nancy must have said to Shayna that she is re-reading the books but going backwards from Book 6 to Book 1. Then Shayna said "are you going to read it from the last page back to the first...like "PERIOD. YrraH..." Then they giggled.

He'll sleep anywhere

This is where I found Skyler sleeping when I got home from grocery shopping today. He will sleep anywhere. Shayna was the same way as a baby and toddler. We could always pretty much go about our business and not curtail our schedule since she could sleep through anything.

The spirit of Willy Wonka's dad

Shayna had a dentist appointment today. Unfortunately, she has two cavities that she needs filled and the dentist also wants her to get sealants on 3 of her molars (which I didn't realize they get thier adult molars at age 6). The sealants are preventative. I think this was never offered before because we never had dental insurance and now we have Delta Dental.

The girl behind the desk was explaining how once she gets the sealants she can't eat any sticky candy, basically the only "safe" candy is chocolate. This is because they could pull the sealants off.

So I asked "how about lollipops?"

she said "No lollipops."

me: "for how long?"

lady behind desk: "the rest of her life."

me: what about halloween?

lady: no not even Halloween...

Shayna had the saddest most forlorn look on her face!

of course, I think being a dentist office thye must take the ultra conservative stance...I could never forbid lollipops forever.

besides when I read the brochure, it mentioned the sealants can easily be redone if they happen to come off.

As she mentioned the various candies that were no no's I had an image of Willy Wonka's dad from the movie falsh into my head.


PS: for those you who want to know what I mean by the Willy Wonka's dad reference and have not seen the Charlie & the Chocolate Factory movie, see the comments section below.

Skyler's New Skill

.

Skyler has added a new skill to his resume of paper shredding, banging, knocking things over, basket emptying, and one legged crawling.

Skyler in a Basket

Last night Shayna was helping do laundry and Skyler kept grabbing clothes out of the laundry basket, so she put him in the empty basket. Then she gave him a ride in the basket!

Shayna's New Collection

Shayna decided to start collecting the state quarters last week. I thought she got the idea to do so from a random conversation we had with a man while we were waiting at the mall by the movie theater last week to meet Nancy and her mom Olga. We had been talking about a quarter she had that had something "island" on it and she couldn't remember what , she thought it was from Long beach Island, but the man sitting next to us said he collects the state quarters and he and I both said LBI isn't a state. Then she said "maybe its Long Island." I told her that isn't a state either. When we got home she got the quarter out and it was Rhode Island. At that moment she said she wanted to start collecting them. She got the Rhode Island one from the cafeteria while at Penn State Kids College film/TV camp (July 11th-15th). I just asked her if she got the idea from the man and she said no...that last year a few girls in her class were collecting the quarters.

I was shopping in AC Moore last week for items for making Skyler's birthday invitation and picture frames and happened to find the Coin Folder made for the state quarters. So she put her Rhode Island quarter in it.

Today she found 3 more state quarters. First, I found a California one in my car. Then on the way home from Skyler's cognitive study getting off the turnpike, I asked the tollbooth lady if she could give me state quarters when getting my 50 cents change. She gave us Arkansas and Virginia.

Here is the link about the state quarters:
http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/index.cfm?action=50_state_quarters_program

Cognitive Study

I took Skyler to Villanova University today to be a subject in a Cognitive Development Study. Its kind of neat considering that Skyler himself was created via a study, since I was part of an IVF study. I am thinking he is destined to become a research scientist. The study itself consisted of him watching a series of videos and being videotaped to see his reactions. They were looking to see in the 1st series if he could figure out if the words and action didn't match (in the timing- like they say the words at the wrong time, like when you see a movie and the words are said seconds after the action took place). In the 2nd series they were seeing if when they said a word over and over with a specific action if the baby would then associate that word with the action (they use a split screen and see where they are looking).

Here is the link to the study:
http://psychology.villanova.edu/cdp/

For all his hard work he gets a Villanova U. T-shirt. I can also see the study when its finished.