Paige's 5th Birthday Party!

Paige had 7 friends over for her birthday.  Three school friends and 4 non-school friends.  I was a bit nervous as to what to expect as the school friends were being dropped off.   All in all it was fine.  We had a magician scheduled for a 45 minute show, a pizza and cupcake lunch, and present time.  That mainly covered the 2 hour long party.  The kids did go a bit crazy in downtimes (waiting for everyone to finish food, etc), but there were really a lot of kids! We had colouring sheets to work on as well.  I realized what I remembered from my childhood--there is always one child who is difficult/pouting/crying at a birthday party.  I also realized that present opening time is utter chaos with 5 year olds.  They all want to physically help open the present, and if you try to move the birthday girl away with the gift, they all just get up and follow.

Paige loved her songs about rainbows at school so I decided to do a rainbow theme. 

The friends (minus Clara and Ellery). Rebekah, Katie, Keianna, Amy, and Belle.

The magic show was hilarious.  The kids really appreciated the humour that he threw into the show.

 Paige preparing to take a bow at the beginning of the show  (p.s. notice the lootbags in full view on the left side?--don't do this ever!!)

 He wanted them to sit on the carpet, so they all sat in a line right at the edge. 

Paige spinning plates

We have photos of all the kids as bunnies.

Paige made the bunny appear and then she was a bit scared.

 Great photo op!

I really appreciated that the magician asked the kids to wash their hands before lunch! (They all petted the bunny--I wouldn't have even thought to do that).

Present mayhem.

I'm so happy that Paige had a great time, regardless of how crazy it felt at times.  I would definitely recommend the magician--"Mr. Oh!"

She still claims she will want to go to Great Wolf Lodge with just her family for her 6th birthday.  That would be a lot easier I think!

Big girl time...

Rose has been climbing in and out of her crib for a long time now.  But things really got crazy when she got soother obsessed.  For a long time Rose was fine with the "no nummies out of the crib" rule.  But then as her 2 year molars really started coming in (she has 2 of them now--bottom ones), and when her temper tantrums really started to kick in full force, she was desperately asking for the soothers.  She would climb into her crib to suck on them for a little relief.  Or we would put her in there to calm down with them for a bit.  But then she would climb out and sometimes she would fall a little bit.  The last straw was when she climbed out during nap time and was just playing in her room, and I had no idea.  We figured it was time for a big girl bed.  The plan has been for Rose and Paige to share a room, but we're really not ready for that.  Rose still naps, and we didn't want to put out the expense for a bunk bed (and Rose is not mature enough to sleep in a room with a ladder and bunk!). 

So on my birthday after a trip to Cora's for breakfast, we decided to just go to Ikea for the cheapest bed possible! The hope was to find a toddler bed so we could use the crib mattress, but they only had small kids beds that were longer.  So we had to buy a mattress and bedding as well as a bed.  But it really only cost about $150 all in. And the best part is that she loves it! She loves climbing in by herself, and she's been sleeping exactly the same as she always has, which is through the night every night.  Actually-- last night she got turned around and confused, and woke up for a minute, but that is the only time in over a week.  She's out of her sleep sack for the first time too, and that is going fine.  She picked out her own pink covers too which maybe helped with the transition.  The only thing is that she doesn't like the pillow or having any stuffy guys on her bed.

Rose was prone to skipping the odd nap before she switched to the bed, so she still skips about the same amount of naps...a couple a week.  The only difference now is that if she doesn't want to nap she just plays in her room and looks at books, or comes out of her room. We may get a child proof door knob cover on her door so she doesn't come out.  Especially when Paige is back to school, I sometimes go in the basement, or do some weeding or something, and I wouldn't want to worry that she is getting out of her room.

She really does seem like a big girl.  We measured the girls at the cottage and she is about an inch or so taller than Paige was at the same age.  The hand-me-down shoes we thought she could wear this summer were a full size too small.  She is still very insistent on "do it self" for many things.  She is sitting in a booster seat at the table and refuses to be strapped it and likes to "sit on knees!!!" all precariously on the side of her seat.  She's at the extremely strong willed stage.  She's really tough and can take a big fall without crying.  Also, she's got a lot of energy in terms of walking and running.  Nice that she can keep up on family walks to the duck pond, and to the school. 

She loves to copy Paige and repeats a lot of things Paige says or sings.  Sometimes they will yell out silly things in tandem over and over again.  I find it hilarious that Rose now says "this is boring" even though she doesn't know what that means, and just says it about random things. 

Oh--she's also at the stage where she wants everything the opposite of what you want her to do.  for instance if I ask her to wear a shirt and she says no, when I go to put it back she says "Yes! Yes!". So silly.

Not sure if I mentioned the potty training as it was a total bust.  We tried for about 4 days--hardcore no diapers, etc. and it didn't really work.  1 poo and 1 pee on the potty, but nothing consistent.  We decided to just leave it for a month or so to erase the bad memories and give our carpet a rest.  We'll probably wait until after we return from Alberta to attempt that again.  Now that I've said that she'll be show signs of wanting to do it in the next 3 weeks and we'll have to deal with going on the airplane toilet...

July Long Weekend...

Tons of fun in the sun on the long weekend.  It wasn't very buggy at the cottage again, unless you ventured out to go for a walk on the road--at which point you would be attacked.  Paige and Rose were able to play for hours in the water as it was low enough to have a small sandy beach this year.  Scout enjoyed playing on the shore too, and retrieving her "dokken" from the lake.  Mike even got her to swim a little to retrieve it.  

Scout stealing toys

Wet dog

Chippie eating peanut butter out of Scout's toy.

Canada Day cake

This was also the weekend where we heard the world's loudest fireworks.  There must be a new kind because a few people had them and they sounded like a bomb going off, or a war or something.  It was ridiculous.  My dad also went to the Foote Lake cottager association meeting where they all were reminded that fireworks are "illegal" at our lake.  Well, we had bought $100 in fireworks the previous day.  Hmmm...  so we just blasted them off anyway.  Besides, we did it at 9, rather than the other people who sent off sonic booms at 10:30.



Last day of school...

Having the camera at school on the last day reminded me of 9 months ago when we took pictures of her walking in on her first day.  So much has changed. She is so confident heading into the school, barely saying goodbye to me anymore, eager to hang out with her many friends.  On her end of year goal setting form, her teacher mentioned that she is a "happy, quiet, and friendly student". She still needs to continue to practice her writing, but is good with counting and can recognize all the letters and remember almost all of their corresponding sounds.  She is a good listener most of the time, and has improved in that area over the course of the year. All in all a great report!

Part of me doesn't miss the before school/after school rush...mainly because Rose isn't always cooperative on the way to the school or home from the school.  So in that respect it's nice for it to be summer.  Paige hasn't mentioned being bored yet or missing school, but I suspect she will be eager to head back in September.  She's especially looking forward to being an SK next year, and having younger kids in her class.  

JK graduation....

Parents were invited to attend Kindergarten graduation at Paige's school.  The SK's had graduation caps and the JK's had hats that said their name and "is in SK".  They performed a few songs and then went up individually to receive their certificate from the teacher, along with a photo op. 

Afterwards there was a splash party which was basically kids spraying each other with water guns.  Paige was too nervous to go in the splash area (as was Rose who was also with me).  So they played in the sand, and ate food in the "dry zone".

I got Paige to model her hat when we got home.

Rose said "Me too! Me too!"

Paige...

I am so behind on blogging. This picture of Paige and Scout is funny because Scout looks smaller than she is now, and this picture is from June 10. 

Here is a picture of Paige's last school presentation, which was a list.  She got to pick any kind of list to make which she would then present to a group in the class. She chose to make a list of puppy toys. 

Here she is at the table while doing the school work...

Paige seems to have grown recently.  She got on her bike the other day and she looked huge on it.  She's still smaller than her friends and classmates, but definitely bigger than a couple of months ago.  In a year end school scrapbook, there is a picture of her taken on the first day of school.  She looks so much older now. 

Daddy's girls...

Modelling Umbrellas...

Dance recital

WHAT a fun day!! Paige's dance year came to an end and there was a major recital at Hamilton Place.  Hamilton place is a huge theatre with 2 balconies.  Big time.  I had to bring Paige to the theatre for 11:00am for the dress rehearsal in full costume, hair and (minimal) makeup.  I'm so happy that I got to watch the rehearsal as I was able to videotape it with my phone.  For the actual evening performance, cameras were not allowed.  In the video below Paige is on the far right.  Doesn't she look so cute??

I definitely got to live vicariously through Paige.  I always wanted to dance as a kid.  Not at Paige's age, but a bit later when I had seen a few friends dance at their recitals.  Well, I did do musical theatre for 6 years or so, but never had a pair of ballet shoes.  sniff.

In addition to seeing Paige's routine, I got to watch a few other classes rehearse their numbers, including a huge opening number of 67 dancers. I've never wanted to be 15 years old again so badly.  All the energy, flexibility, and fitness. I felt very old.

Anyway, after the rehearsal we went home for a few hours.  Paige and I relaxed while watching a movie, just to be low key.  At 5:00 Amanda came over to babysit Rose and Scout, followed by James a bit later (decided to leave Rose at home and enjoy Paige's dance fully). We powered back some pizza and went through the same motions again of costume, hair, makeup, and back to Hamilton place. Right away we dropped off Paige, met up with Mary Jo, who came to watch the performace, bought Paige a flower, rand then got our seats.  Paige's routine was number 4. Even with the 1000 people or so sitting in the auditorium, Paige did the same great job that she did in her rehearsal.  So so so proud of her.  She had been scared of the recital for a few weeks, but she didn't look nervous at all. On the stage with her class was the class assistant to help them remember the moves.  Next year, if she decides to dance again, which she says she wants to, she'll be on the stage with only her class, and the teacher off in the wings doing the movements. 

We made it to the first intermission and decided to call it quits as it was already 8:00 ish and Paige said she was ok to go home.  We stopped for a quick ice cream at Baskin Robbins before heading home.

The dance schedule for next year comes out soon, so I'm going to look over it with her and see what she wants to do.  Some kids do more than 1 class, which she could do if she wanted to I guess.  We'll see what the schedule looks like.  She may go into Sparks as well. 





Scout update and Scout casualties...

Scout has been home for 4 weeks now.  So far she has ruined 2 balls (which we let her play with--her teeth punctured them almost instantly), and most recently, this book.  The book happened this morning when she jumped up and got it off the couch while I was brushing Paige's hair.  We didn't even notice.  Pretty good though I'd say.  But really, we don't leave toys lying around and she's not allowed in any of the bedrooms. Oh--a couple of dropped crayons have met their demise as well.

 I have to say, it's pretty hard work to keep one eye on her at all times, but will be worth it in the end.  Very very exhausted by the end of the day due to constantly being alert, as well as from her 5:00am wake up.  Her night time kennel disasters have stopped and now she sleeps right through from 9:00ish to 5:00am. We do wake her up once before we go to bed to take her out.  I actually enjoy waking up at 5:00 as it gives me lots of time to make Paige's lunch, read a bit, take Scout for her walk, and then have a shower when Scout has a nap at 7:00ish.

Paige is no longer scared of Scout and loves to play with her.  Scout in turn is very gentle around Paige and Rose...has even endured being poked in the eye, had Rose attempt to ride her, pulled by the tail, and pulled on the ears.   She likes to play bite me however, which is very frustrating.  Working on that.



Making progress.  Sleeping on shoes.  A few weeks ago these crocs and boots would have been toast.



We took Scout to the vet a few days ago for her booster shots.  She could possibly have a mild ear infection, which we have to reevaluate later, and does have an intestinal parasite (ew!), which is apparently common in puppies--have medication for this.  She weighed 18.6lbs. Going to the vet with Paige and Rose was both fun, and extremely not fun at the same time.  They thought it was a great place to act up and generally be ridiculous since no one was paying attention to them.  Poor girls, everyone wants to talk to the dog now...because who can resist a 3 month old lab puppy? Apparently no one.  When we go to the park about 20 people come over to pet her, which really takes my time away from the girls for the moment.   We are trying to train her to sit when people come over to avoid jumping when she is 70lbs. If I'm not there to supervise it gets crazy.  We tied her to a tree yesterday at the park last night while i pushed the girls in the swings.  I thought the barage of people was over so I left Scout to chew on ground material while i pushed the girls in the swings.  A few minutes later i look over and there is a girl on the ground on her back laughing while Scout is jumping on her and biting her hair.  The girl thought it was great and fun, but not really the message I want to send to Scout about what is acceptable! Now if you're thinking this sounds insane, it really is, but mike is away in chicago for 4 nights and I really have no choice but to go on 2 walks a day with all 3 girls.  Trying to train Scout to walk at my side nicely with a slack leash while Paige and Rose either run ahead, or dawdle along behind is really quite difficult. A little crazy! I can only imagine what it looks like...4 blondes spastic in the streets.