Skyler's 1st Play

Skyler saw his first play on Saturday and how perfect that it was the one his big sister was in. Luckily the play was only a half hour long since its almost impossible to get Skyler to sit still. Shayna later told me she saw us from off and onstage and she saw that Skyler was either looking at the play, looking around at the audience, or kvetching.

1. Skyler exploring the seats after the play was over. He was dying to walk around!
2. Skyler looking at the ducks right outside the theater.
3. Shayna and Skyler outside the theater.

Frosty the Snowman Professional Pics

The photographer for the Playhouse, Aimee Miller, gives you the option of just buying the photo CD for all the photos she takes. Then you can pick & choose for yourself which photos you want printed (ie through CVS or on your own printer etc.) or not. I prefer this method rather then the old fashioned way. If you choose a photo package the regular way you also get the photo CD included. We also got a DVD of the play. Here are some photos from the CD including just Shayna, the entire cast, and Frosty. You can see the background for the play since these were all taken on the stage.

Autograph

Shayna got to sign autographs after the play Saturday. She is signing her friend Emily's program. She knows her from tap class and was with her in dance Company C last year. Shayna saw her in the audience while she was on stage.

Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. Here is our 19 pound turkey, it came out great! Manny cooked it and I did the stuffing. It was so juicy and tasty even the white meat was good. I am getting hungry just looking at this photo. I also made my grandmother Freda's potato kugel and even put on a letter "S" for Shayna & Skyler like she used to do for my brother and I (she would make 2 kugels one with a big letter R and one with a letter M). I still remember her taking them out of the oven and showing us her "surprise" with a big warm smile on her face. Manny made sweet potatoes and a home made gravy/au jus. We also had corn and rice. To top it all off Shayna and I made pumpkin bars with home made icing for dessert. YUM!

Entertaining Skyler

Skyler was crankier then usual today and Shayna was trying to keep him entertained in the afternoon and evening so I could get some work done* (and he decided to scream as loud as he could when I was in the middle of a phone call with the advertising dept. of the paper I am putting an ad in for US Life Care). We found that the turkey pan kept him entertained for a good length of time, and also our changing color lighted bubble tubes with little fish seemed to calm the crankies. One of the things Shayna did on her day off was to practice writing Da Vinci style: mirror writing. This was all 100% her own inspiration and she didn't know that Leonardo Da Vinci liked to write mirror style until I told her. She also likes inventing and art...hmmmm.




















*I work from home a lot for my company doing paperwork, phone calls etc. It really helps having a fax machine at home!

Radio Disney Training

Shayna had her training today at Radio Disney with Elyse. She not only got to record her "Zathura" review, but she got to interview Ryan Cabrera!

She recorded in the studio and Elyse will edit her 2 things and then they will be on the air on Radio Disney 640AM. Elyse said that she will edit them next week (after all the Thanksgiving hoopla- Radio Disney will be at the Thanksgiving Day parade and she has another big event on Sunday). Then they will play Shayna's 2 pieces on the air at random times for the next few weeks after that (or even longer for the interview). She will send me the mp3 files for the recordings so when I get them next week I will post them for you to hear.

Shayna also got her official Radio Disney AM640 name tag to wear at events (it says Shayna Star on it, with the Radio Disney logo and AM 640).

The next event will be the Chronicles of Narnia movie screening on December 6th. We're looking forward to that!

Skyler's 15 month check up

Skyler had his 15 month check up yesterday with Dr. Tyrala. He had fun playing with the toy in the waiting room but was annoyed with everything he had to go through in the back from being weighed and measured, to being examined by the doctor, having to wait in the examining room, and the piece de la resistance: the SHOTS. He not only got the standard MMR , DTAP and HIB but the flu shot as well (so 3 shots overall).

Here are his stats:

Height: 30.5" = 30% (he grew one inch in 3 months)

Weight: 24.2 lbs. = 50% (he was 22 lbs. 3 months ago)

Head Circ.: 19" = 90%

Snowman Pancakes

We made snowman pancakes today to celebrate Shayna's debut in the Frosty the Snowman play yesterday. They came out really cute!!

The play went really well and she got to sign autographs!

note: next time I won't get French Vanilla ice cream- it looks like yellow snow!

Treat Break

Shayna and Skyler both enjoyed eating a treat recently. A treat of course is a rice krispie treat. This is added to the growing list of foods Skyler can feed himself. When Shayna was a toddler I weaned her from breastfeeding using treats. She nursed until almost age 2 and I was able to distract her by saying "you want a treat?" She told me recently that she thought any "treat" was a rice krispie treat. Skyler is weaned and I honestly can't say exactly when was his last time (maybe a month ago maybe less? not sure). He loves food so much he didn't need to be "distracted."

Shayna's play debuts tomorrow. It runs tomorrow and the following Saturday. It is so popular that all 4 shows SOLD OUT! So they added a FIFTH show...a 9am show next Saturday. So she will perform to a full audience. The official photographer does it all on CD and I will have it by next week. Also, after the 1st show she makes a poster so for the 2nd week when you walk into the theater there is a poster with the cast photo/s. Pretty COOL!

Skyler's 1st word

Shayna and I were getting ready to leave for her Frosty the Snowman rehersal. Its in New Hope from 4:30-7pm and too far for me to come home so I just hang out in New Hope until she is done. Manny stays home with Skyler.

Manny said to Skyler: Its just you and me again.

Skyler said: El-mo

Then Skyler went and picked up his Tickle me Elmo toy!

Both Manny and I said "Did he just say ELMO????!!!!" and we started laughing!


It was as if he had said "No dad its not just you and me....Elmo is here too!"

So it looks like Skyler's 1st word is ELMO!!!

Sibling Harrassment

Shayna was trying to read her A.R. book and Skyler kept harrassing her (which means climbing all over her). So she used the toy castle as a barrier. Shayna is now #1 in the 3rd grade in A.R. and has 68.3 points. She was just moved up to white level which is 5th grade. Today Nia, who lives down the street and is IN 5th grade, was in the 3rd grade organizing the book shelf and was surprised to hear Shayna was at the same reading level that she was!

Skyler's Wish List

Some things that Skyler would like from Santa this year. These are things he doesn't already have and that are good for his age.



1. Fisher Price Stand Up Ball Blast
2. Roll a Rounds Swirlin' Surprise Gumballs

3. Little Tikes Little Champs Sports Center 4. Laugh & Learn Learning Puppy

Besides those- anything that could get him to sit still for any length of time!

COMING SOON!!

Future Posts to this Blog:


Skyler's Wish List

Why Shayna likes staying at hotels

Shayna's playhouse debut

Shayna's radio debut (training scheduled Tues. 11/22)

Costume for Frosty Play

We went shopping for an ensemble for Shayna to wear for the Frosty the Snowman play. She needs to wear a light colored* winter coat, hat, gloves, etc. So we found this gorgeous white coat and she loved it so much she wore it all over the store and didn't want to take it off! The white fur on the good/sleeves has pretty silver glitter in it. Her old coat is getting small anyway (its into its 3rd season) and she never had a true "cold weather/snow" type coat. I.E.- its long, and its DOWN. So perfect for being outside-playing in the snow and also when she has to walk home from school. She has another fake fur pink hat/scarf ensemble I love but its more to go with the black coat and I thought the bright pink hat/gloves would do well on stage. Now we need to still get new snow boots. When we check the weather now Shayna will ask "is it cold enough to wear my new coat?" OH-- it also has a CELL PHONE pocket inside! Which, ironically, we plan on setting Shayna up with a 3rd phone on the family plan (we plan on going to the sprint store over thanksgiving)- now that there are so many times she is on her own (I already had 2-3 incidents where she and I went to different meeting spots after school and the phone will give us both piece of mind).


*shayna only had black coats

Blish Blosh and art

This is Shayna's new shirt that she calls "the blish blosh shirt." She is holding the artwork she made in art class- its a magnet that was made from a watercolor self portrait she painted.

Mouth Instrument

Skyler likes to play his mouth. He uses his fingers on his lower lip to make sounds. I tried to get a photo but as usual when the camera comes out they stop doing what you are trying to get a picture of! Here he is "playing his lower lip."


PS: as of November 13th (Sunday) Skyler is 15 mo.

Skyler's Calling

Sung to tune of the Clash- picture Skyler with punk hairstyle using cell phone:
(click www.theclashonline.com to hear music before reading below)


Skyler's Calling...
to the faraway towns
now war is declared - and battle come down
Skyler calling to the underworld
Come out of the cupboard, you boys and girls

Skyler's calling - and I don't wanna shout
But while we were talking I saw him nodding out

____________________________________________

OK-- here is what really happened......

Manny got a PHONE CALL on his cell phone, and he answered saying "Hello...hello??"

There was no answer. He thought it was me b/c I said I was going out to vote, and saw it on the caller ID that it was me.

Well then he sees Skyler walking toward him holding my cell phone. He had called Manny's phone from my phone!

_______________________________________________________

Note: if you ever receive a phone call and no one is there when you answer- it may be Skyler!!

Mission: Boat

Shayna and I went to Beach Haven, LBI (Long Beach Island), NJ on Sunday-Monday to go to our boat, Carpe Diem, and get our stuff from it. We are getting rid of it so this is the last we will see it (LONG story- myriad of reasons why from cost to too small for 4). Since it is dry docked, that is not in the water, we had to literally climb up into the boat from the back. Luckily, the swim platform has a ladder that hangs. For me it was harder but for Shayna, little miss climber, it was no big deal!! Since its such a far ride we stayed over Sunday night and Shayna missed school Monday (this was the only time that was free with no rehersals etc. and I would rather her miss school then acting class and saturdays rehersal, plus no SIP monday and she has off tuesday so it worked out).

By the time we were done going through what stuff we could find, putting it into bags, and then getting the bags off the boat, it was dark - BUT the boat happened to be dry docked with the back RIGHT on the bay facing the marina we used to stay at and we got to watch a gorgeous sunset on the bay as we worked.

Here is Shayna waving farewell to our old friend, the boat: Bayliner 30' cabin cruiser OKA Carpe Diem:

I had never been to the beach in November...it was SOOOOO peaceful and quiet!! We got a hotel room right on the ocean- 3rd floor- and left the balcony door open a bit so we could sleep listening to the ocean surf. aaaaah. AND I somehow woke up (god knows how?) to see the sunrise from our balcony (gorgeous), although I only stayed up for maybe 5 minutes and then went back to sleep. Today (monday) it was nice enough to spend a bit of time on the beach-we knew it would be mid 60s so had our chairs and beach flip flops. THIS IS MY HEAVEN. I love the beach. Shayna of course had to dig a big hole!

1st Frosty the Snowman Rehersal

Shayna had her first rehersal for the play "Frosty the Snowman" which will be at Bucks County Playhouse Nov. 19 and 26th. The rehersal was held at the Presbyterian Church in Lambertville, NJ. Lambertville is a quaint artsy town directly across the river from New Hope, PA.
Here is Shayna about to enter the side of the church. This beautiful walkway smelled like strawberries (although I could not find any strawberries growing) and was very pretty.
Here is the street in Lambertville the church is on. As you can see, the church is VERY easy to find! Lambertville is filled with art galleries, antique shops, a few restaurants and a token coffee shop. Surprisingly, some of the architecture (old fashioned round wooden doors, storybook looking buildings) reminded me of Carmel, CA (one of my all time favorite towns).

Stacking Blocks

Skyler finally got the hang of using his foam building blocks. Here is one of his creations he made all by himself. Later he progressed to 4 and 5 stories and also figured out that you can't put a block on top of the triangle point. I would shake a rattle and then clap to congratulate him. After I did that the first time, he built another creation, and then he shook the rattle to congratulate himself (see bottom photo where he is shaking the red and white rattle).

Skyler's First Internet Chat

Manny left his online game on in chat mode while
we were watching a movie in the family room.
Skyler went over to the computer in the playroom
and typed "z zzzzzzzzzz." The funny thing was, he
got a response. (see "woooooooooooooooooooo
oooooooooooot" and "?"). When Manny discovered what happened, he then typed in
that it was Skyler that typed it and not him.
Note: it happens that Manny's character is
named Skyller. We were all laughing SOOO
hard!!!!

Necessity is the mother.....

...of INVENTION!

This is what we came up with to keep Skyler out of the downstairs bathroom.

Crazy Frog

Shayna and I like Crazy Frog. Thier hit song "Axel F" started out as a crazy ringtone for cell phones, then was made into a club/dance hit. They play it on Radio Disney a lot. The video is SOOOOO funny to watch!

Here is the link to the Crazy Frog Axel F video:
http://www.atomfilms.com/contentPlay/video.jsp?id=axel_crazy_frog&ratingBarExclude=0&preplay=1&brand=LG

Here is the link to hear audio clips of Axel F and some of thier other songs. We like "Popcorn." They also have a version of the Dallas theme, Pink Panther and more. Hey- they should do Hawaii Five-O!
www.crazyfroghits.com

Let me know if you see the video and what you think!!!

Skyler's Perception of Humor

While dinner was cooking tonight, Shayna was helping me assemble the manual for my new billing software neatly into a binder. I was using a 3 hole punch and she was then placing the pages in order into the binder. Skyler was in his high chair and had a perfect view of us working at the kitchen table.

When I would press down on the hole punch to put holes in the paper, it made a loud "crunch" noise. Every time I did this, Skyler would laugh HYSTERICALLY!!! He even would look on with anticipation as I placed the paper into the hole punch, and then as I was about to press down, like he does when we play peek a boo and I peek at him through my fingers. If you could bottle and sell that baby feeling of extreme giddiness and joy you would be a millionaire and no one would ever be depressed again.

Skyler managed to make a mundane task funny and memorable.