This evening Kacey and I went to a little, tiny, mini carnival down the street. Daddy stayed home with David and we got to have a little mommy daughter time. :) It was so nice to hold her hand and walk around and see the wonder on her face. She watched the big rides and wanted to go on them soooo badly. Soon enough my precious girl. You will be big soon enough. Sigh....

Last night I took this pic because she insisted on sleeping with her light on so she could read if she woke up. Samya is trying to get her daughter to sleep in a big girl bed and wanted pics of her friends in theirs. So I took the opportunity to get a good one.

WOW, look at all of this!!!
Big enough for the roller coaster!!!
Showing off the mermaid doll she won with the duck game.
Riding on the roller coaster!!! All by herself!!!
Driving a car, wheee!

Really terrible video from my phone of her very first ride on a roller coaster. Daarn I wish it were better!! The smile was sooo big!

Last week we went to the local library for story time. When we were done, we walked around a little to explore the library. We came upon a table of ladies knitting. Kacey was entranced. She went over to one and just watched her. She then started asking her questions. This lady, Judy, told us she was making an afghan for a friend who was sick. She showed us how she did it and let Kacey look in her tool bag. We were there about 15 minutes and that left an impression on Kacey. She talked about knitting for a couple of days. Last night we went back to the library and Judy was not there but there were other ladies and Kacey chatted and watched again.

When we got home Kacey was playing with a piece of rope Jamie gave her to practice knots with. She took the two ends and told me she was knitting. I asked what she was making and she said a sweater for her friend who is sick. Her friend is in the cold and does not have a sweater. She looked so serious and concerned. It was very sweet. It struck me how much she remembered about what Judy said a week ago. She is really taking stuff in!

On Monday it took me 45 minutes to leave Kacey. Marie stayed home to have some alone time with David so I didn't have him as a distraction so I just kept staying one more minute... When I finally left a teacher swept Kacey up and took her away. I drove to Jamie's office (office, haha!!! if only we all had an office like that!) and had him reassure me I was doing the right thing. This is just such a good opportunity and it's only for a couple weeks. If she truly does hate it she won't be damaged for life! So he reassured me and I went home. An hour or so later I sent a text to the teacher and asked if Kacey was doing ok or if I should come get her. She texted me back that Kacey was very happily playing in the sandbox with another girl. Smile.

Later, I left David with Marie again and went to pick her up. When I got there, she was having a snack. The girl next to her tapped and said "Your mom is here." and pointed me out. Kacey waved and went back to eating. Yeah, she missed me so much! She finished her snack and showed me around. I chatted with the teacher who said that when I left they just read her a story in another room and then she was fine and joined the rest of the group. She played and participated in everything the rest of the day except swimming. When it was swimming time she just didn't want to go. Not upset, just busy doing other things and it was fine so... ok.

As we drove home she told me she had fun and talked about her lunch and playtime and storytime and she wanted to go back. Well yay!

Unfortunately she couldn't go yesterday so today was the next time and i think too much time had passed for her to remember how fun it was. When we were getting ready to go she looked at me very seriously and said "I am sorry mommy but I do not want to go to school. I want to stay home." Jamie didn't have to go to work until later so he was still home. I think that may have had something to do with it. Jamie stayed home with David and we left, she was pretty calm, just kept saying she doesn't like school, it isn't fun and she doesn't want to go. I tried telling her of all the fun she had last time but she said that sometimes it is fun and sometimes it is not and today it will not be fun. How do you argue with that. So we talked and finally agreed that she would try today out and if she didn't have any fun then she wouldn't have to go back.

So we got to school and walked in the door. Her teacher gave her a big smile and said how much she missed her!! Kacey looked at her and said "I do not want to go to school, I want to go home." She didn't cry or anything she was just dead serious.

I read her and 2 of her friends a book and then I went to leave. Her teacher asked if she wanted to see the snack and she said yes so off they went. I made a move for the door and she saw me and started crying. I went ahead and left. I texted Jamie and told him that if when I picked her up they said she was upset for a while then I am done with preschool and she is not ready.

About an hour later the teacher texted me that Kacey was very happily playing in the sandbox with 3 friends and all was well. Phwew! So after lunch I went to pick her up. All the kids were lined up to go on a walking adventure, they invited me along so I put David on my back and followed them along. Kacey hugged me but then went off to join the group. She seemed happy I was there but also seemed like she was happy if I wasn't. That helped me alot. I got a chance to talk to 3 of the teachers and they all said she did great after I left. They think she is adorable and fits in really well. The teacher that had taken her in the morning said she is very smart. She would try to distract her and Kacey seemed to know that was what she was doing. She would be like "that's great, but where is my mom?" It only lasted about 10 minutes though.

I did ask the main teacher to please be honest with me, is she ready for preschool? and she said absolutely. What she was doing was 100% normal and didn't mean she wasn't ready to be there. I asked Kacey if she had fun and she said yes. I asked her if she wanted to go back and she said yes. So we'll try again on Monday, let's hope it goes well!!!

BTW: she must have worn herself out because she fell asleep in the car on the way home and is still asleep next to me on the couch. David fell asleep too and transferred to his bed so it's a nice quiet time for me. As I carried each one into the house, I couldn't help but give them each an extra squeeze and remind myself of how darn fortunate I am to be entrusted with these adorable beings.

Jamie and I are sooooo excited that his brother (whom David is named after!) and sister in law are expecting around Thanksgiving. They aren't finding out what it is so we have to be patient. (WHAT?!?!?!?!?!) She doesn't keep a blog and they live in Canada so we have had to take it on their word that she is pregnant. Until now. She finally sent us proof!!! Woo-hoo!!! and ADORABLE proof it is. Kristie, you look soooo cute!

Kacey and David's cousin at 21 weeks in utero of course!

On Sunday afternoon Jamie's coworkers came over for a BBQ. Kacey got to play alot with Elizabeth and by the end of the evening they were just lounging and watching a movie, all worn out!!!
On Monday, Ally, Avery and Nola came down for a visit. Ally writes a blog that I have been reading for years now but have no idea how I started. We comment on each other's blogs about how Kacey and Avery seem to be doing the same things all the time. Sleep issues, eating issues, potty stuff, you name it, they do it. Crazy, like they are kindred spirits. Well kindred they must be because they hit it off instantly and by the time we got to Hathaway Pond for some swimming they couldn't be separated.

Here are all 3 girls.
David spent most of the time lounging. This seems to be what he just really likes to do.
Isn't Nola adorable!!! (2 years ago when we were in Gloucester, I was supposed to meet up with Ally but this little one was born and foiled our plans! Glad she is so cute, made the wait worth it!)
Poor Avery is freezing, Kacey refused to stand up for a picture!
Nola spent alot of time on the beach playing with David when he wasn't lounging. She would bring him a toy and say "Here baby!"
We went back home and Kacey got to show Avery the outside shower. The girls had a blueberry snack and got into their jammies. David showed his boyish ways and sat off to the side refusing to be one of the girls.
Kacey and Avery playing
And finally a picture with me and Ally in it!
Last but not least a picture with Nana Rie, such a sweet picture.
Thanks for all of our visitors coming to see us!!!

Skip this post if you get sick of the videos but if you've got a few minutes to kill these might make you smile.

David's first tantrum that I have caught on video. Certainly not his actual first tantrum!



Kacey telling David to sit down... kind of like her own little puppy dog. Sit, David Sit!!!



David playing catch with Nana Rie, he's pretty darn good for 14 months!



At Kacey's gym class, they pulled over this ball pit for David to play in. He had fun swimming around.



Kacey's first ride on a carousel. "Mommy! This is so much fun!!!"



Another pic of David in the ball pit. In ball heaven!!
Just in case the video wasn't enough, here are some pics.

He didn't get to ride on a horse but he did get to sit on one for a picture. I don't think he was impressed though!

We had a lovely weekend... kindof. Saturday Jamie wanted to sightsee so we went out to breakfast and then put the kids in the car and drove for a bit over an hour. We got to Chatham, basically drove by the world's shortest most unimpressive lighthouse and then parked near Main St. Kacey was 100% energy and would not calm down. I think she just wanted to stay home and play with her dad. Sticking her in a car and sightseeing was not necessarily the best idea. Without getting into it, because that is just too exhausting, let's just sum up the day with she had the worst misbehaving episodes I have ever seen. It was so bad we ended up calling it a day early and leaving. Ugh. Bad day in that regard.

Sunday was much better, Jamie went off to Joshua Pond on their own and had a wonderful time, just what she needed. We all went to the beach in the afternoon and just some relaxing time. Glad we ended the weekend on a high note!!!

and now some pics...

Look at them playing together!!!! So cute!

Loving these new jammies!!!
This was at the Children's Museum. Kacey got to sit in the front row at the show and even got to participate in the play!
Ahhhh! Can't believe I get to keep these!!!
In Chatham, a rare calm moment. Kacey and "her" pig planter

We had the opportunity to let Kacey go to pre-school for the next couple weeks that we are here at no charge. It's a great school with a 1:1 or 1:2 teacher/kid ratio. She will go at 9am, play for an hour, then do circle time with reading, learning and singing. Next up is snack time! She will then get to go to a pool with swim instructors for swim class and then back for lunch. I will pick her up between 12 and 1. We decided it was win/win because if she hates it, she can stop and we have lost nothing. We had already planned on letting her go to pre-school this fall so this is a great opportunity for a test run.

Today we were to take her for 20 minutes or so and let her meet the teachers and see what it is like before going for real on Monday. I talked it up in the car and talked about what she would do on Monday and how fun it would be and she even reminded me that today was "to check it out." :) She also told me that she wanted to play a little because she likes to play. I told her we would see. Well we got there and she immediately started chatting with the teacher and looking around to play. I chatted with the teacher and when I was ready to go it looked like Kacey wasn't so I asked if it would be ok if she just stayed and the teacher was fine with that.

So Kacey said by to me and Jamie and David and we left. I said I would be right back because I was going to get her bathing suit from the car. Jamie went on to work and I grabbed the suit to go back. When I walked back in she was off playing with a different teacher and another girl. She took me around and showed me the library and then I tried to go. She started to cry and asked me to stay. I reiterated that she did not have to stay she could come home but she didn't want that. She wanted to stay and me to stay with her. I stayed a bit and read her and her new friend a book and then tried to leave again. She wanted me to pick her up at the door and I asked the teacher what she thought I should do. She said I could let her cry but then she started talking to Kacey about swimming and asked if she wanted to see the pool toys. Well that did it for Kacey!!! She got down, grabbed the teacher's hand and off she went!!

Jamie was able to leave work at swim time and we both hid and watched her in the pool. She was one of the first to go in but it didn't last long. They insisted she wear a belt floatie and she was having none of it. After she got out of the pool, Jamie felt bad for her and went to go try to get her back in. Bad move, after that all she wanted was Jamie. She wanted to go to work with him or him just get in the pool too. Well she couldn't do either of course. After a few minutes I stepped in and get Jamie to leave and go back to work while I comforted Kacey. One of the teachers was reading stories on the lawn to the kids that weren't in the pool, so I distracted Kacey over there. I sat with her for a few minutes and then snuck off. (Note: I had talked to the teacher who said Kacey did great all morning and was having fun until the pool time.)

I guess after story time, Kacey started looking around for Jamie and cried when he wasn't there. After a bit, the teachers called and suggested I get her. I ran right over got her. Funny thing, once I got there and told her daddy was not coming to get her, she calmed down and started playing with the kids again. I talked to the teacher a bit who said this was a totally normal reaction considering this was her first experience of being left and daddy stepping in.

On the drive home Kacey told me she had a lot of fun at school and kept talking about how she is a big girl now that goes to school. She said the other kids had more fun than her in the pool though. hee hee I ordered her this Puddle Jumper as it is the same we have back home and the swim teacher said it would be ok. I am hoping on Monday she will be fine in the pool and will enjoy the whole day. (well the half day that is!)

I did get teary eyed when I first left her, this is a huge deal for me. My baby girl is able to be with other people and be ok with it. Just one year ago she had trouble when I left the room!

So we will see how Monday goes, hoping it goes well.

BTW, after going out for ice cream and storytime at the library, she fell asleep on the 4 minute car ride home. It was 5pm. I couldn't wake her. I put a pull up on her and carried her up to bed. It's 8:30 now and she is still asleep. Oh my, school must have worn her out!!!

BTW #2, today her little brother is 14 months old!!!

**Cute Kacey moment today. We went to the library for storytime and there were a bunch of ladies knitting. Kacey got to talk with one of the ladies and ask her all sorts of questions. She was mesmerized!! I said it was time to go and she said "Not yet mama! This is fascinating!"

His personality just keeps getting stronger and cuter.

He is developing a very, very determined temper! When I change his diaper and I mean EVERY SINGLE TIME, he screams as if I am poking him with hot burners, tears and everything. When I am done he rolls over and puts his face into the floor and wails for a minute or so. did I mention this is EVERY SINGLE DIAPER CHANGE? It's getting a bit old. After his tantrum he is 100% fine so it's not a rash or pain of any kind, just does not want his diaper changed ever.

Speaking of putting his face into the floor, if you upset him, take something away, etc. He gets down, with his butt in the air and his face on the floor and his hands down and cries. It's quite funny and I must try to get it on video. Since I have Kacey and one of her best tantrums on video, remember this classic?


He can climb onto the couch, up a full flight of stairs and almost anything you let him.

He still won't go off the deck and touch the grass in the backyard. heehee

He is so sweet, he will crawl over and put his head on my lap or chest and just cuddle for a minute.

He loves to feed you stuff. He actually gets really angry if you don't let him ;)

HE LOVES CARS! He will grab onto one and just crawl around with it, everywhere. Put him in a room with a car and he is happy.

Still not walking but he stands without holding onto anything alot. Probably 8-10 times a day and it lasts for 10-20 seconds. Just standing there playing with something. He can even twist around to look at something while standing. Now why won't he walk already????

and now some random pics I downloaded from my cell phone.....

I already posted a video of him looking out our hotel room window but this pic is cute too.
Kacey enjoying story time at the Centerville Library. The BEST story time reader ever. I really like this librarian. The first time we went she noticed Kacey had a Tinkerbell shirt on. The next week she remembered Kacey and brought her a little Tink figurine that lights up to see. Kacey was so impressed and so was I!
Kacey was watching a movie and David had climbed onto the couch to be next to her. They almost look like friends here!!!
David could not be happier! Notice the car in his hand?
I came into the living room to find him like this, just lounging on the couch.
I have such a tough life right now ;) This afternoon we went for ice cream and then the beach at 5pm. Rough times I tell you!
David wasn't into the beach, just wanted to climb in and out of the stroller over and over again.

So if you are going to post a comment that is rude, please be kind enough to not do it anonymously so that I can respond to you directly and know if you are kidding or just being a bitch. Thanks.

Yesterday I left the kids with Jamie and ventured out all by myself to the Wrenthem Outlet mall. It was a 1.5 hour drive and for what I got the 3 hours of driving wasn't worth it, but the time to myself, sitting in a restaurant eating by myself in peace and taking as long as I want, and getting an Italian Ice and not sharing it, and going to the restroom without trying to get Kacey to NOT OPEN THE DOOR PLEASE while mommy is peeing!!!! all of that was worth it.

Today we walked to breakfast and it was so beautiful outside so that was a wonderful way to start the day. We then went out to lunch and got ice cream and then to the beach. Our little fearless fish wore her floaties and went into the water with daddy. She was getting pummeled by waves and loving it. A couple times, Jamie thought she got hit really hard but when he got her, she just asked for more!

At one point David crawled to the water. I held him standing in it a bit and he would laugh and squeal when the water washed over his feet. I sat him down and he started to crawl into the water. I forced him to just sit and at first he yelled at me but then a wave got up to his chest and splashed his face a bit and he never tried crawling into the water again. He laughed a bit as the water came up but after it got his chest a couple of times he was done. I took him back to the towels and stuff and he spent the rest of the time sitting and standing on the beach chairs perfectly happy.

While David was taking his morning nap, Kacey was filling up his kiddie pool. I had put her hair in 2 braids and she looked so cute I just had to get the camera.


I asked her why there was her underwear in the pool and she said it was in the outside shower and very dirty so she was washing them. OK.

and replaced her?

Tonight at dinner Kacey was acting up. I asked her to please sit back down in her chair. She got in the chair, looked at me and said "Maybe I just need to go to bed. I am very tired."

HUH? Am I hearing things?

"Do you want me to get your pajamas?" "Yes. I need to go to bed."

Cue me RUNNING up the stairs to get her pj's. I got her changed, did not even bother brushing her teeth, ran her upstairs and tucked her in. I gave her a kiss good night and left the room. As I was going down the stairs she called after me to come back and read her a story. I called back that I couldn't leave David in the middle of dinner but I would come back after he was done to read her a story. 20 minutes later it was still silent up there.

Did I mention this all happened at 6:20 pm?
__________________________________________
So here is a picture of our house.
Haha!! Just kidding!! It's on the corner though, very odd little broken down house. I feel sorry for it.

Yesterday on the drive to the Museum, Kacey settled in for the long drive. She was quiet and I looked back and saw this.
So grown up! Here are the kidlets playing together in a car. Both so happy!!!
Here is Kacey in the reading room I mentioned in the last blog.
Playing checkers.




This is so cool. If you stand there, the butterflies land on you. You can wave your hands and shoo them around.
Kacey decided to build stairs so she could reach up high to get the marbles above.

Sorry the videos are choppy lately, I don't have my editing program on this computer so that's how they will be as long as we are here.

I am looking forward to tomorrow!!!!!! There is no sales tax on clothes here so I am going back to the Wrentham Outlet mall for some alone time shopping!!! I went there 2 years ago and bought so much stuff!!! I have been looking forward to shopping there since Jamie found out we were coming to Massachusetts!

I'll just reduce it to bullet points because I am too tired to work out a legible narrative.

* As Jamie was leaving for work Kacey started to melt down. "I didn't have enough daddy time! I want my daddy. I don't want daddy to go to work. i want him to stay home with me and mommy go to work!!!!!" (Mind you this was after yesterday when she woke up after David and FLIPPED OUT yelling at me to put David back to bed because she didn't want him awake before her.)

* We drove 1.5 hours to Boston to go to the Children's Museum. Both kids were yawning at home so I figured they would sleep on the way..... well they fell asleep about 20 minutes before we got there!!! The rest of the time was spent screaming back and forth. For some reason Kacey like to scream at the top of her lungs in an ear piercing tone whenever David cries. Near the end I repeatedly told Kacey if she would just be quiet David would fall asleep. She finally listened and at one point whispered "Mommy.. David is asleep. " I looked at her and she had the biggest smile on her face. She was asleep shortly after that.

* We went to lunch first, I had packed it for us. I did buy little fruit cups and got us situated and stared eating. David inhaled the grapes and watermelon from his fruit cup and then started screaming at Kacey and crying for her watermelon. he would not calm down and YOU KNOW Kacey was not about to share her few pieces of watermelon. A family walked by and the wife and a kid went into the restroom. The dad was waiting with a stroller and a second kid. I asked him if they were going to go buy food and he said no. He offered to go get me something. I paused and asked if he could just watch the kids for the 20 seconds it would take me to literally got 20 feet around the corner to buy a package of watermelon and he was happy to. When I got back he and his daughter were chatting with Kacey and all was well. That was the first time I have ever left my kids with a stranger... something I never thought I would do.

* We then went to the little kid room so David could run around for a bit before we did all the Kacey age stuff. We were there about 90 minutes and toward the end Kacey started getting bored. She saw they had a reading room with books and asked if she could go read. She was still in the gated baby area so I said ok. I could see her through a glass partition (got a pic but too tired to put it up right now) and she looked adorable just sitting on a little couch "reading" a book.

* We ended up staying until almost 4pm... so all told we were there about 5 hours. The kids were done in, absolutely done! I assumed they would be asleep in seconds.... well you know how assuming goes! Yup neither of them slept at all. About and hour into the drive my brain hurt from the screaming... must give some credit to Kacey. She did do a lot of playing with David and making him laugh. She just got tired around the 45 minute mark. it was just about 5 and I was getting dizzy hungry. I was so hungry that my energy was going and I was struggling to stay awake. I made a decision that was my 2nd choice of the day in regards to things I didn't think I would do. I pulled off the freeway, went through a Burger King drive thru and bought my self a disgusting chicken sandwich and a Dr. Pepper and I got Kacey a hamburger. David was stuck with pretzel sticks because I couldn't bear to give the boy a hamburger. Also I don't even have a mirror so it would be a choking hazard that I couldn't see. So yes, i am a bad mom that fed my daughter fast food. But at least I was awake for the rest of the drive which was then completely uneventful.

* Kids both asleep before 8... I will be asleep by 9:30. I call that an overall successful day.

Friday night we stayed in a hotel in Boston. David immediately climbed up on the window seat and started banging on the window.



At the Cape's Children's Museum, David burned a lot of energy climbing back and forth through this train.



Later he moved onto this train table. We have been around a few train tables and it is becoming obvious that the boy side of him is becoming obsessed with them. I wish so much we had room in our house for a train table because I think he would love it... maybe I need to find room.



Kacey at her new gym class. She is such a confident girl!

First a conversation with Kacey.....

Me: Do you like having David as your brother?
K: No
Me: Would you like Lorelei as your sister?
K: (Big smile) YES!
Me: Would you dress her in pretty clothes?
K: Yes.
Me: Do you want to dress David in pretty clothes?
K: No, he is a boy. Boys wear messy clothes.
Me: But what about daddy? Does he wear messy clothes?
K: Noooo... daddy is very nice. :)


Before we left for Cape Cod, Kacey was feeding David. Jamie tried to get a picture but this was the best he got.
This just looks so American. David is soooo mid-western, corn-fed white boy from the 50's!!
Here is the view out our kitchen window. The next door neighbor cat named Mickey LOVES Kacey and follows her everywhere, even into the car!!! Kacey calls him Orangie since he looks like our cat.
David will not venture off the back deck onto the grass. Once he fell off the bottom step and screamed as if his leg was on fire. I brushed him off and back to the steps he went.
Kacey loves cutting the grass with her new scissors. She plans on cutting the whole backyard because it is too long.
Another shot of David and you can see the back deck.
The back of the house. The fence hides....
this!! An outdoor shower that even has hot water!! Kacey likes to get naked in the shower then run around the backyard and back into the shower.
We went to the Cape Cod Childrens Museum the other day. Kacey fell asleep in the car on the way there so I put her in the stroller and spent 1.5 hours playing with David. He spent the first 20 minutes pushing this vacuum all over.
Today was Kacey's first day at gym class. She did soooo well. I misunderstood and we showed up for the 4-5 year old class. The teacher let her stay and she really held her own. I was so proud of her! She listened to the teacher and walked the high balance beam by herself (even pushed the teachers hand away at one point!) When the class was over they got to go outside and play on this waterslide! Poor David wanted to soo badly but was stuck on my back the whole time. Kacey enjoyed it so much that we signed up for a second day and will be going on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Tomorrow we will bring a swimsuit!
This afternoon, I decided to brave the heat and humidity and loaded the kids into the stroller for a walk. Kacey fell asleep in the first 10 minutes and stayed asleep until i reached our destination 45 minutes later. We went to 4 Seas ice cream which several people have told us is the BEST ice cream on the cape. Kacey woke up as soon as we got there and inhaled her pink mint chip. Yummy!

Here is a pic I took on the walk, this looks 100% Cape Cod to me.

David like the ice cream and LOVES the cone.
Took this pic on the walk back.
Stopped off for pizza at Craigville Pizza and Mexican (odd name but fantastic pizza!) David was a bit tired.
But he perked up when he heard food was coming!
Kacey took this picture and said we should email it to daddy.
After we got home I put them both in the bath as we were all hot, sweaty and dirty (I was dripping sweat and humidity... so gross. I wanted to get in the bath too but not enough room!) I decided that was the last bath I will give them together unless they are covered in toxic sludge. David decided half way through me cleaning Kacey he wanted out. He kept trying to climb out as I tried keeping him in and getting soap off Kacey. It was awful. At one point I stopped what I was doing, closed my eyes and counted to 10 really loudly. Both kids froze and just watched me. I finished up Kacey who was being unusually helpful and cooperative and then got them out. Done! The end!