Halloween Update

 

Okay, I know it's been a few weeks since Halloween, but I thought I might as well give a quick update of the holiday as well as the other happenings around here.

We started off the Halloween weekend with a Halloween party at our house. There were about 20 kids and 20 adults, it was the first big event we hosted since moving in and things generally went pretty well. I had a number of activities planned for the kids (bozo buckets w/ pumpkins, pumpkin decorating, mummy wrapping), but for the most part hte kids just wanted to run around and be kids. Kerala was really psyched to have her friends over and I hope we can make it a Halloween tradition.

On Halloween, Kerala and I handed out candy while Kian napped. Kerala really enjoyed handing out the candy and enforcing the no costume/one piece of candy rule - she was strict! She did seem to get a bit overwhelmed when there was a large crowd of trick or treaters that would build up while she tried to find the perfect piece of candy for each trick or treater. As far as costumes, Kerala wore her mouse costume for the first year. She wore the same costume at 9 months, 21 months and 3 1/2 years. Since it appears to now be capri length, I think this is definitely the last year she will wear it. She insisted though. Kian went as a ghost, the costume Kerala wore last year. I must say that he was a very cute ghost.

 

The kids are doing well. Kian has been doing really well with speaking. He is consistently uses two word sentences, which are pretty cute. Lately he has been saying "Shake your booty, Tamra" because our friend Tamra taught him that phrase. It's pretty adorable.

 

Kerala is doing well at school. I got to observe her classroom this past week and it was really neat to see her in action and the various activities that she does. It was also cute to see the interaction between her and her friends.

 

Settling In

 

We finally feel like we are settling in our new home in Oak Park. This past week we had our bedroom and family room furniture delivered. Up until this point, we had been sleeping in our guest bedroom. While we still need to buy a ton for the home, we are beginning to really enjoy our home and the surroundings. Kerala really loves her preschool and Kian loves his morning classes (music, spanish, gym and art). We also got a cat this past weekend and plan to add to the household with a dog this spring. The kids are doing really well with the cat - although I did have an "Olivia" moment when I turned around and saw Kerala carrying the cat up the stairs and then attempt to plop him down in a kid's chair. He is a kitten - but he is really long, so the two of them looked pretty funny. I have also heard Kerala tell Max, the cat, that she is going to give him a bath. Kian is very excited about the cat as well. This evening he kept putting a ball in front of Max and telling him to "eat it." Kian also is constantly showing Max where is food and litter pan are located. It's very sweet to see how quickly the kids have become attached to this cat.

As far as preschool, Kerala really loves it although she does not tell us a ton. It seems like the most infomration that we get is right before she goes to sleep. Tonight she was telling me about how someone was not being respectful today during line up time and he had a time out. Troy and I are just really happy that she is excited to go to school every day and appears to even be disappointed when it is the weekend.


 

As for Kian, he is doing spectacular. His language is really developing - the other day we were cuddling in bed and when I told him I had to get up he responded with "stay here." It was so sweet - needless to say, I got in a bit later to work than I was planning to that day. Kian is also really active - it seems like he went from crawling to running. He is constantly running around the house - typically chasing either Kerala or me.

All in all, we are doing really well and look forward to the fall. This weekend we are going pumpkin picking, which should be a blast.

 

First Day of School

 

This past Wednesday was Kerala's first day of preschool. From what we could tell, it went really well. We did not have any separation issues (well, at least not on Kerala's part) - Kerala basically kissed us goodbye and then walked into the classroom. She hasn't talked a ton about school, but every so often she will say something which gives you a little bit of insight into her new world. For instance, she has talked about a favorite seat next to some bookshelves as well as playing with a little boy named William. She hasn't told us a ton about her activities, but she did say she painted last week. She also said that when the teacher wants them to be quiet she turns off the music and that they also have to get in a line for carpool time (the time we pick them up). Overall, it seems to be going well.

 

Kian is doing great. He is definitely a bit more adventerous than Kerala. He can now climb up the slide in our backyard whcih is no small feat. He also loves to get on top of the kids' play table and look at you with a very devlish grin. It's cute because he knows when he is being mischevious.

 

First Day of School Tomorrow

 

Tomorrow is Kerala's first day of preschool. We are really excited for her - she is going to love it. This past weekend I had orientation at her school and was able to see the classroom set up for the students and it was wonderful. It was really neat to see the various stations that I know Kerala will absolutely love. Her teacher visted us yesterday and said there are a lot of really sweet girls in the class this year, so I think Kerala will make a ton of friends. Kerala's teacher seems to be really sweet and has a very calm presence, which you probably need in a room full of 3-5 year olds. It was also really nice for me to meet the other parents at orientation and I exchanged e-mail addresses with another mom who has a son Kian's age and a daughter Kerala's age - sounds perfect. We will post tomorrow with updates on how the first day went.

We are still unpacking and hope to be completely unpacked and situated sometime next month (after the painters finish painting up a couple of rooms). This has been a long process - I can really see why people never move. We are enjoying our home more and more and have really loved our backyard lately. The kids just love to run around. I bought a play golf set for the kids. So far they love the golf clubs - they like to take them and hit them against one of our trees to knock down leaves. Kerala also likes to use the club to crush cicadia shells, which she refers to as "taking care of the scadas."

Kian is doing great. I am not sure how he will adjust to Kerala being at school in the mornings. He loves his sister so I think he is going to miss her. This morning he kept climbing into her bed trying to wake her up by laying on top of her and saying her name. Kerala wasn't a huge fan of that method of waking up at first, but in a minute or two both kids were laughing. It is really sweet to see the bond they are developing.

Back from Vacation

 

We had a fabulous time in Michigan last week. We went to Michigan with four other couples that we have known since college. Each couple has children now, so it was a great family vacation. All of the kids played very well together, although we did have some sharing issues. Kian and Kerala were particularly fond of their buddy Emmett and every time Kian would here Emmett cry he would scream out "Emmett!" It was really sweet. The weather was great most of the trip and we spent almost every morning at the beach. Both kids loved playing in the sand and Kian loved the water. He was actually a bit dangerous because he would attempt to walk straight into Lake Michigan and keep going. He also did not seem to mind it when big waves would splash him in the face and he even asked for "more waves" a couple of times. We definitely need to enroll him in swim classes since he likes the water so much. Kerala got to experience her first campfire and seemed to really enjoy the vacation once her buddies Val and Rollie arrived. Kerala has been asking about doing a sleep over with Val ever since. The girls were really adorable together - holding hands and just playing.

We are still in the process of getting settled into our home. They did some work while we were away, but work seems to always be ongoing. Right now we have quite a large hole in our living room ceiling so that our plumber can fix some horrible pipework that was causing some issues with one of our bathrooms. The plumbing work should be done tomorrow and then the hole will hopefully be patched up on Saturday. The nice thing about this whole process is that we found a really great handyman, so if anyone needs a recommendation please let us know.

We Have Moved

 

We are finally in our new house. It seems like so long ago that we moved out of our condo. We stayed in our friend's townhouse for about a month while they were doing work on our house and then moved in on July 3rd, just in time for the Fourth of July parade that goes in front of our new house each year. We have had our share of new home issues - leaking bathroom, paint issues, sump pump malfunction (just in time for the "100 Year Storm") and a host of other mishaps. But overall we really like our home and our new neighborhood.

The kids are still transitioning to their new surroundings. They both seem to really love the backyard and their playroom (up until it was flooded by the huge rain storm). Kian also seems to like the fact that he has his own room. Kerala is really excited about preschool - she has visited her preschool a couple of times and talks about it a lot. I think she is going to do really well and will love being with a ton of kids everyday. She is still a social butterfly and has been really good about introducing herself to people. Unfortunately, she hasn't quite figured out age differences and the other day she went up to a group of 15 year olds at the park and said "Hi, I am Kerala. Would you like to come over for a playdate?"

This is a short update because I am int he process of packing - we head off for a week beach vacation tomorrow. The kids and I are leaving tomorrow and Troy will be following Tuesday/Wednesday. Everyone is very excited about the time away, particularly Kerala who cannot stop talking about the beach, going into the water and having ice cream with her buddy Todd.

 

Last Night in Condo

 

I am taking a break right now from packing. The moveres arrive tomorrow at 8:00 am to move us to our temporary house for the next five weeks. We are excited, but also sad. This was the first home that we brought our children to, the last home we lived in when both of our fathers were still alive...it was just a really wonderful home and we are sad to say goodbye. If only it had two more extra rooms, a basement and a backyard.

 

The kids have been fabulous during the packing. Kerala has been very into helping us pack and attempting to climb on all of the packed boxes. Kerala did say that she was sad to be moving, but hopefully it will be short lived and she will transition smoothly into her new home and surroundings. Kian should be pretty pscyhed about his new house - he will have his own room which is at least 3x the size of his current room (aka as my closet).


 

As far as development goes, Kian continues to walk more and more every day. At times he will take up to 5 steps, however, he still prefers crawling. His language development is still amazing - today, he kpet saying "OK Sam" when we were making fun of Troy acting like his father. Kerala and Kian also have been getting along fantastically. Their favorite actiivty is to wrestle, which can get pretty intense. Kerala is doing great - I don't think I have posted that she is officially potty trained. We only do diapers at night (we tried one night without and that was a disaster). The only problem with being potty trained is that we had to unbabyproof her door at night so she could use the potty. The problem is that occassionally Troy and I will get a visit from her around 4:00am or so. The other morning she came to our room at 4:30 to tell me that I didn't tickle her before she went to bed and that she needed me to tickle her. This morning she came up to let me know that her nightlight was out of batteries.

We should be able to post from our temporary housing, but in case we can't - we'll write with pictures shortly after we get into our new home.