Halloween, part 2

Maya's costume update: She did an awesome job taking the dress off for projects, meals and outside play so the dress was in wonderful shape when we arrived for pick up.

All week they have been forecasting rain for today/tonight and it threatened rain but in the end it was a gorgeous night for trick or treating.

We picked the girls up at 4 and headed home for some supper. We made some impromptu trick-or-treating plans with Chloe from school and headed back to Eugene. We prowled the neighborhood for jack-o-lanterns and bowls of candy. Much to Maya and Chloe's delight they found more than any 2/3 year old needs!

We didn't get great pictures of Fin but we have a Birth to Three Halloween gathering on Sunday so I'm sure we will take more! Suffice it to say, she was really freaking cute.

Enjoy!

Chloe and Maya at school.


Even princesses need to ride in car seats! This is the only picture of her from this series that doesn't have her lecturing me (with her finger pointing all over) about how she doesn't want her picture taken. I told her that of course she wanted her picture taken so she could look at beautiful pictures of herself. That bought me a few shots!


A "horny" pair. (seriously, get your mind out of the gutter)


The first house. Can you sense the anticipation?


No keeping up with them now that they know what is going on!

Happy Halloween!

Maya went off to school this morning in her costume. We took a few pictures in case it comes home destroyed (which is always a possibility based on how active our child is)! We tried on her "costume"--a sparkly green dress--and it was too big. THANKFULLY, we bought another costume/dress-up dress on clearance to save for a christmas/birthday present. That one fit much better! Whew!

Fin has a costume but we didn't think she would destroy hers--plus she was kind of sleepy this morning. We will take pics of her dressed up this afternoon and post later tonight with additional trick-or-treating pics as well!

We kept trying to get Maya to say "Off with their heads" but she wouldn't. She is "Cinderella". We told her it was ok that her dress was red instead of blue. Thankfully we had that conversation because one of her friends at school was like "Um, Cinderella wears blue" and Maya was like "Um, not today"! :)


And to prove her "active state" (as if I need to because you all know she is insane)--she insisted on jumping in her dress. All over the house! (And if you are inspecting items in this picture...yes, that is a case of beer sitting on the hearth. It is a Halloween package from Grandpa Jack and Grandma Barb and for some reason they have access to lots of empty beer boxes.)!


Have a good day!!! Trick or Treat!

Us...

It was a rough weekend...again! A part of me thinks that Saturdays just suck because Maya is trying to figure out how to deal with a different schedule. Because let's be honest there is a bit of a difference between her time at school and her time at home! We survived...but...man, it was hard! Sunday was better...not perfect...but better.

Here are our bathing beauties:



And then some pumpkin carving excitement!

Maya loves her pumpkin.


Maya, like her mother, thinks pumpkin guts are gross.


Slowly she gets used to the idea of getting messy.


Creative geniuses at work:


Some smooches.


The final products. Danny's has the big round eyes. Maya's is the kitty. Mom's is "Skull Guy"...at least that is what the book called it.


Happy Halloween Week!

Wheel-Two'er

So...everyone says kids are maturing faster these days. Hormones and additives in our foods are causing early onset of puberty and body maturation. Well, we thought we had a few years before we were confronted with this reality. Well...think again! Danny and I both started when we were 5'ish ... maybe 6'ish. Maya is 2 and 3/4! SHE ISN'T EVEN 3 YEARS OLD YET!!! Have a look...and stand in awe of our freakish child!

(Sorry for the bad quality...it is a cell phone video.)



That's right...hit play again...that is our 2 year old riding a pedal two wheel bike...or as she likes to call it...a wheel two'er! She is so proud of herself.

poop

So, we have been trying to contain the "poop" talk to the bathroom. This is challenging since the topic seems to be the only thing Maya can talk about, sing about, tell stories about...you get the picture.

So tonight on the way home we made a pact that there wouldn't be anymore poop conversations unless we were in the bathroom. A number of chances were given and finally it was decided if poop came up one more time we wouldn't get to watch the 10 minutes of movie.

Well of course she talked about poop and we held fast to no movie. Instead Maya decided she would draw. Fabulous! Here is the conversation:

Maya: Do you want me to draw a poop?
Danny: Um, no. (a smile fighting to come through a stern face)
Maya: Why not? I want to draw a poop.
Danny: I thought we weren't going to talk about poop.
Me: Maya, are we in the bathroom?
Maya: No.
Me: Then we shouldn't be talking about poop.
Maya: I'm not going to say poop. I want to draw a poop.

The End.

Another weekend in paradise

Um...sort of! So Saturday morning we decided we would make our Halloween cookies. It started off a bit shaky because just as Maya and I were getting organized to start Fin decided she needed to have a snack. So...that slowed things down a bit...but eventually we were off and running. Maya ate a lot of flour. It grossed me out. And more...it was making her a bit crazy at this point... And our cookie making expedition ended here... That is Maya's bedroom door. Yes, such a good start ended in the first ever "Maya gets shut in her room" fiasco--complete with locking knob on the inside to insure her staying put. What got her to that point was a series of bad decisions...throwing dough, scratching Fin, slapping Danny in the face...to name a few. Livin' the dream! But while someone hollered "I can't get out" from her room, someone else was being equally tortured...and enjoying it a bit!
Today, Sunday, we headed out to the pumpkin patch again to experience the corn maze and ride the cow train again (of course). We met Bobby & Christy and Alina and Saf and saw a bunch of people we knew from around town. It's funny how Eugene can feel like such a small town at times! Here are some pictures of our adventures.

Danny carried Fin.


I had to figure out how to change a very "full" Maya diaper mid-maze. (Note...Miralax has been a miracle cure for Maya's pooping issues)


Maya posed, pouted and paraded.


Danny laid down on the trail much to Fin's displeasure.

And we had another attempt at a family "portrait"!


Here's to another week in paradise!

12 Weeks--Similarities/Differences

This might be a better angle.





Not the best angles...I will try and take a better one to compare with.

So...what do you think?

Finally...some pictures

First, thank you all for the special wishes and congratulations to Maya. We haven't had any repeat performances from Monday with regard to going potty...but...we have had really positive days at school with little to no emotional break-downs upon our departure! Hooray...I'll take that any day over going pee in the toilet!

Fin is doing well...I'm having a lot of guilt. I just keep telling myself that no one is going to pay me to be a student...that I have to finish writing or we will be in worse shape...so that keeps me going. After a few rough days of not wanting to drink out of a bottle it seems that Fin is finally figuring out that might be a good choice while I'm gone. When that doesn't work they feed her out of a syringe and squirt it into her mouth. Regardless, she is still getting only breastmilk which I am totally proud of saying. I think she is moving steadily towards being ok with the bottle while away from mom!

Here are some fabulous pictures from the last week. Last weekend on Saturday we got up and headed out to a local state park for a walk. Maya was largely unimpressed because she thought it was too cold. In her defense...it was! I think it was about 43 degrees! Once we got her running, swinging, tossing leaves and pushing the stroller she kind of forgot. Then on Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch with Bobby and Christy. Lots of great pictures from there as well. This weekend will probably be much the same! We are going through the corn maze on Sunday morning with Bobby and Christy as well as the Wiant clan! Hooray!

Enjoy!

Hats...someone dislikes hats almost as much as her sister...almost...this one will breathe with them on though!



Some sisterly love!


Tossing leaves with dad!


Looking cute at the pumpkin patch!


Riding the "Cow Coaster"! A bunch of little cars pulled by a 4-wheeler over little hills! She LOVED it! In fact, I doubt we will get out of there on Sunday without another ride! :)


And finally, "the apples of our eyes"!!! (Corny, I know...whatever.)

Yesterday was a big day!

(yes, I have pictures to post of our adventures at the pumpkin patch...i will do it tonight...i promise)


So, you all know of the struggles we have been having with Maya at school dealing with separation anxiety (something we've not had to deal with) as well as her frequent night wakings. WELL...yesterday she was sad at the drop off like usual. When we went to pick her up we were a bit worried at what kind of mess we would find. Instead, we found a bubbly and cheerful kid who...get this...peed on the potty all day! She did poop in her diaper right after nap...but she never had a wet diaper! Wa-hoo!!! She was so proud of herself...it was awesome. Then last night she slept in her bed until almost 6am without waking up and needing to be rocked, cuddled and patted back to sleep! It was a banner day for Maya!

What we've been up to!

Well, I finally got the MN Trip posted (a month after)! I guess our lives got busy. :)

A couple of weeks ago I told Danny that I felt we had everything into a rhythm and sort of under control. Maya was loving her new classroom, we figured out that she needed to go to bed about 45 minutes earlier and she was getting more and more used to being gentle with Finley. Finley was sleeping in 3-4 hour blocks and maintaining an easy going nature. I was keeping up with the laundry and putting the finishing touches on my prospectus. Danny was balancing work, home and a sound design gig famously! We were doing fab!

Well...I'm not going to say that we aren't doing fab anymore...things have just changed a bit. I started school last week so I am feeling a bit out of balance. Since I'm going to school that means that Fin is going to "school" too! And if I'm at school so are a bunch of other parents and thus Maya's classroom has gone from a low summery 12 to a fall size of 21. And poor Danny has 3 girls who are sort of spinning!

Really, that makes it sound a lot worse than it really is. It's just that the changes all happened at once! Maya is struggling right now at school. We think a lot of it is related to the volume/noise in the classroom. She has always been really sensitive to loud noises and we have worked to warn her or shield her from them but we can't in the new classroom. We have given her "tools" like: cover your ears, go find a quiet spot or ask a teacher for help if it gets to be too loud. If she doesn't get help right away or if the noise doesn't subside she has an emotional breakdown. In fact, starting at the end of last week and into this week she keeps telling us that she wants to go to a new school (aka a quiet school with all the same teachers and friends...just quiet).

We are thinking about getting her a some ear muffs to take to school to wear if she needs them. Can you just imagine...
Parent: "Which kid is yours?"
Us: "Um, the one wearing the ear muffs."
Parent: "Cool." (slides away without making eye contact)

Seriously though, we are working on solutions and thankfully the teachers and co-op supervisors are helping us well! I'll keep you updated.

Fin is doing well in the infant room. She only goes on Tuesday/Thursday when I teach. Last Thursday she took a bottle easily, this Tuesday she refused it. She is going for a longer day tomorrow...so we will see if being hungry enough will be enough of an incentive for her to take it! It's hard to leave her but I know that she is in good hands and I need to have some time and space to write. A big note from the last couple days is that Fin has discovered that she has HANDS!!! Yes, you heard it here first...babies have hands that they can periodically control! She is so cute in her confusion when she realizes that they are a part of her and that she can make them do things. Then she gets overwhelmed, snorts and goes back to coo'ing and ooh'ing!

Speaking of writing...I have an approved prospectus and I am off and writing a chapter. It is due on October 24th. There, I said it out loud on the blog...now you can all hold me accountable for getting it turned in! :) Teaching Acting 1, writing the diss and job searching...that's what I do during my non-family time. The academic job search is a little different. Typically, ABD'ers (all but dissertation PhDs like myself) don't apply during the fall but wait until the people who get the jobs that are posted now turn in their resignations in the late winter/early spring. By that time ABD'ers have more written and have a better idea on when we will be done. I am peaking in at the job postings just in case a perfect job is posted. Currently there are 2 of interest, both are at small liberal arts colleges much like Concordia. It will probably be a long-shot but since they are sort of my "ideal" positions I think I will get my application materials together.

Danny is trying to stay sane. He just finished his first sound design of the season, Doubt at Lord Leebrick. He is signed on for the next three productions...so no lack of work there! :) He's a rockstar...that's about all I have to say!

Well, here are some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks. I will try and keep a little more up-to-date.

I just love the joy on Maya's face here. We were at Lone Pine (aka Pumpkin Patch) buying produce and burning energy on a Sunday morning with the Wiants.
Princess Pickle Face here! Wouldn't you just love to know what is going on in that head of hers?

The "lost" camera has been found! This was one of the pics that we thought we'd lost. Quite the poser, this one!

Seriously...need I say anything more!
A walk out at Mt. Pisgah this weekend with the Thomas Srs. Danny and Maya took to the log!

MN Trip, Part 5

The final installment.

Friday (9/12)

Porter's 4th Birthday!!! Hooray.

We got up in the morning and went shopping for gifts and had the mandatory lunch at Graces!! Yummy. Well, one of the requested items on Porter's list was roller skates! So, you can guess who also needed roller skates...Princess Maya. Boy, oh boy. She also decided she needed big girl underwear. Well, here are two pictures to show how that all went down! :)



Note the size and shape of the wet spot on the step! :)We headed off to Jon and Teresa's house for Porter's big birthday bash! The kids were able to run around and burn off a little bit of the sugar ingested from the cake. Here is a great pic of Porter and Grandma Babe!


After the festivities we realized that Maya and Porter hadn't had supper (well, any of us for that matter) and we also realized that they were totally cracked out on sugar so we headed to McDonald's to have supper (healthy, I know) and burn off some energy in the playland!


Saturday (9/13)

Saturday morning we headed down to Albert Lea to see Dad and Barb one last time. Of course Maya had to put Grandpa Jack through the ringer! Seriously...she knows how to play him!

First, it was helping her ride the motorcycle bike. First, note Grandpa Jack's posture...he kept it up for a long, long time! It's also important to note that this bike weighs an ungodly amount! Seriously, props to Grandpa Jack.


Next we moved on to a version of soccer, basketball, baseball. They were running and throwing with great aplomb until the ball went under the van. Maya was convinced the only person who could rescue her ball was...Grandpa Jack. So down he went...


Finally, with Andy's help, the motorcyle bike got it's training wheels attached again to save on Grandpa Jack's back and Maya was outfitted with a helmet (by Grandpa Jack of course) and off the two of them went on a rainy day adventure!
Lots of saying goodbye and packing on Saturday night but we had time for a walk too. I just wanted to show off Maya's glamorous outfit. Apple hat, Vikings sweatshirt, tutu, and polka dot leg warmers. She is quite the fashion maven!


Sunday (9/14)
What an overwhelming travel day!
-one car ride from Owatonna to Minneapolis
-one plane ride from Minneapolis to Seattle
-one car ride from Seattle to Eugene
That was definitely one too many "rides".

We were able to have a discombobulated "lunch" with Kate (our lovely Renton chauffeur) and the Thomases at Taco Time. But seriously, Danny and I were exhausted, Maya was insane and Fin was chill (as always).

By the time we got home we were all delirious. We had a lovely vacation visiting friends and family but it felt pretty good to get home and sleep in our own beds!!

MN Trip, Part 4

I know, I know...where have I been with the updates and new pictures? Well, you'll just have to wait until I finish off the MN trip!

Thursday (9/11)
Well, the morning started off quite rainy...torrential downpours to be exact. Danny showed Maya how to splash and frolic in the COLD rain! Let's just say Danny got more into it than Maya!

Danny was adventurous enough to "splash" while it was still raining! Really, really cold!

Maya tried that but didn't enjoy the temperature and instead waited until the raining was finished and enjoyed splashing in the dry weather. Dude...what is up with this face!?

After drying off and warming up we headed to Grandma Babe's for lunch, naps and games of 500. As a very unimportant side note Grandma and I ended one game nearly 1700 points in the hole!! That has to be a record!

We picked up Porter about 4pm and headed out to Pat and Barb's for a wonderful surprise and adventure--PONY RIDES!!! Well, the pictures say it all!

As proud as you can get!



Grandma Sandy explaining what a mane is to Maya.
By the end of the night Maya was asking (read demanding) that she be able to ride by herself. No one was allowed to touch the reins or the lead...Miss Independent wanted to do it her own way! So, since the ponies knew the way back home, Maya got her wish. Of course Grandma was walking right next to her...just not touching! :)

The Steinberg residence has a plethora of items to ride...and Maya tried most of them out! Check out the posture in this pic! :)


On the way home we stopped at A&W in Faribault! Yummy! The best exchange so far in Maya's life happened on that night. Porter wasn't too into sharing and Maya desperately wanted a drink of his float even though she had her very own. She asked politely, she jumped on the seat behind him, she laid on him, you name it-she tried it. All of this was to no avail, Porter would not, could not share. With all other options gone, Maya screams at the top of her lungs, "CAN I HAVE JUST ONE DRINK, PUUUUHHHHHH-LLLLLEAAAASEEEEEE!" It was at this point that Danny, Mom and I lost it. We had been doing so well, modeling good behaviors and keeping ourselves in line that at this point all hell broke loose! We laughed for a really long time and periodically holler, "Can I have just one drink please!"