Libby and Jake

About 2 weeks ago Libby's school was closed for a few days. She got to spend the day with her old sitter, Lisa. Lisa took her to see her old friend Jake at his new daycare. Libby misses him so much. They took some pictures and this is my favorite one! Don't they look happy to see each other?!



Libby misses her old sitters and friends and talks about them a lot. Last week one day I went to get my haircut. One of her other old sitters does that for me and Libby got to play with her kids whom she just adores.

I don't think Libby knows it yet but come fall we will be seeing Lisa a lot because Lisa is going to keep Brynn during the week. I think I'm going to call Lisa "Brynn's personal assistant" instead of her sitter. It fits because Brynn is going to be the only child in her care which will be great for a new baby! What do you think, Lisa?

On another note, Libby is starting swimming lessons today. Wish her luck!

Just for fun

On Friday we took Libby to the St. Louis Science Center with Uncle Mike. She was a little skeptical at first, but then really seemed to like it. She ran around so much that we didn't get too many pictures of her actually doing anything until she found this stacking area. Instead of putting the rings in order of size she really wanted them categorized by color. All the purple ones had to be together and all the yellow ones where together. She also really just had a fun day with her "Muncle Mike".







She loves to play computer games. We had a free download of a Backyardigans game that she just loves. She can pretty much play it all by herself now.


Libby says a lot of funny things and I try to keep track of them by posting them on the blog. One thing she said last night was good. We bought her a little golf set that came with some clubs, balls, flags, holes, and a golf bag. One of the tips of the flag broke off and now won't stay in the hole. It broke because Mike stepped on it accidentally. Well, last night she was trying to put the flags in the holes and the one wouldn't go because the tip was gone. She was upset about it and Mike told her it was broken and couldn't be fixed. I told her that Daddy broke it and I wish I had a picture of the look she gave him. She looked so disappointed in him. Then she said, "You did that!? I said no do that. That makes me sad." I know it sounds like a sad story but it was priceless and very cute. Even Mike thinks so.

ABC's

Libby has just learned how to sing her ABC's (although she skips around and sometimes repeats letters). But it is just so cute! Funny enough, she actually can recognize and name most every capital letter but this song is just a little hard for her!

Ear Tube Removal

Libby got her tubes removed today. They were supposed to come out on their own after 6-9 months but hers were in for 19! They just didn't want to work their way out. The doctor kept hoping they would move on their own but nope! Anyway, she did fine. Mike took the day off and went with her for the surgery. (I am trying desperately to save my sick days for when Brynn comes.) Libby was mad at me when she woke up because I wouldn't let her eat or drink anything. She couldn't have anything after midnight last night for the surgery. After her surgery, Mike took her to Wal-mart to buy donuts and a new DVD. I guess that made her pretty happy. She said one funny thing when he was first allowed to see her after the surgery. She told him that they put something in her mouth and it made her tired. Poor thing! We go for a post-op in about 3 weeks and her eardrums should be completely healed by 8 weeks - just in time for Brynn who should be here 9 weeks from today!

I was going to take a picture of Libby's actual tubes but they are so small that I wasn't sure it would turn out. She had the black ones you see in the bottom right corner of the picture. I just can't believe something so small could help her ears out so well.

Cooties

I was surprised to find out that even a kid as small as Libby is afraid of cooties. She likes to play Ring Around the Rosie and she wanted Mike to play with her this morning. We really didn't have time so he was trying to get her to teach kids at school to play. He told her to teach her new friend Spencer to play and she said she couldn't play with him. When Mike asked her why, she said, "I'd have to hold his hand." Not even 3 years old yet and she already knows that boys are gross! Let's keep it that way for about 20 more years!

Adjusting to School

Libby is adjusting to school alright. The teachers tell me that she's doing very well while she's there. She finally started napping there on Wednesday, eats well, and they say she's getting along with others. She's been emotional at home but I can deal with that if she's fine there. At home, she will be sitting and happily doing something and then cry for unknown reasons. She acts like she likes school but tells me that other kids are mad at her. I asked school about it and they told me again that she's been fine there, so I guess that's good. I think she just needs some time to adjust to being one of 20 kids instead of one of 5. We took her out of her comfort zone which will take some time to get used to, I suppose. I'm very glad she is going through this before baby comes along though. We weren't originally going to start preschool until this summer. Can you imagine what kinds of adjustments that would mean?! I think this is much better timing for her.

A few things we've noticed since she started school this week:
1. She is much more interested in nature and things outside - they play outside everyday unless the weather is just really bad.
2. She has been talking A LOT more. About everything. All the time. Without stopping.
3. She is eating more and making healthier requests. Instead of constantly asking for sweets, she has started asking for apples or yogurt when we get home as a snack. We think they must have done some sort of hypnosis on her at school one day because our kid is constantly asking for sweets! Who is this child?!

So, all in all, things are going well. I think she'll need a few more days or so to really get used to the routine, the kids, and all the teachers (I think there are about 6).

Libby has met her match

Libby started preschool on Monday. She has come home completely exhausted and totally filthy which tells me she's having a blast! The directors of the school pick kids up from one of the schools I work at and yesterday I saw one of them and asked how she has been doing. She said that she's been really sweet with a little girl who's having a hard time adjusting to a daycare situation. The little girl just turned 2 in January and only comes 2 days a week. She cries a lot and Libby kept asking her if she wanted to play. But then she went on to tell me that Libby almost bit someone yesterday! I guess this little boy is very strong-willed and as most of you know, so is Libby. He kept pestering her. Libby tried to get him to stop and he wouldn't stop. The teacher looked over and saw Libby leaning in for a bite! She has never bitten anyone that I am aware of before. The afternoon teacher told me that the two of these kids are just exactly the same and they are learning how to work it out. I guess this other little boy has pretty much gotten his way with the other kids for awhile now and Libby just doesn't stand for that! I think it will help her a ton to have another kid that puts up a little bit of a fight and learn how to deal with it.

Prepping for Preschool

Yesterday I called preschool with a question and they told me that they are going to do a unit on weather this week. I know that Libby did some weather stuff at daycare not long ago so I know she already knows some stuff. I told her that they would be learning about weather and asked what she knew.

Libby: There are raining days, windy days, sun days, and cloud days.
Me: Are there cold days and hot days?
Libby: Yes
Me: What do we do on cold days?
Libby: Wear a jacket.
Me: You're right! What do we do on hot days?
Libby: Buy donuts!

And there you have it!

Brynn's Room

Brynn's Room is not completely done yet, but here are some pictures of it so far. We went with a garden theme and really like it. My dad made the curtain and crib skirt too. We decided not to buy a bed set this time because last time we only used the bed skirt and hung the quilt as decoration - kinda a waste of money. So this time we did it a little differently.



The open space above her dresser will have wooden letters spelling her name but we haven't ordered them yet. You can see the nails still from where it had "Libby". Good thing we picked another 5 letter name. :) We don't have to add any new nails or try to re-configure nails on the wall.


We also got Libby a set of these garden lights for her room except hers are blue, green, and pink which matches her room perfectly.


Sorry about the glare from the lamp! It didn't look that bad on my viewfinder on the camera.