Refusal to Nap

     Every so often one (or both) of my kids decide that they don't want to nap despite being exhausted. Usually this is Big Brother's deal and he fights napping and refuses to settle down until it is simply too late in the day to make him try any longer. Today was Froggie's day though and so she laid on the little couch with her cup, blankie and pony and watched Frozen while she relaxed.

Relaxing

Musician in the Making

     I'm a firm believer in the fact that creativity fosters language development in children along with a better ability to express themselves. That being said, I work with one year olds and to go along with my previously stated belief I frequently let the kids play with a variety of art supplies (they LOVE paint!) and once a week they have some time to freely play with the rhythm instruments.

     Like the rest of my kids at school Froggie LOVES when the instruments are out but seems to have a hard time deciding which one to play with!

Decisions… decisions...

Working Out With Froggie

     Hubby decided to join in with me and buy a Fitbit to track his steps/distance/etc. After he set it up he decided to do a whole bunch of stuff his Flex wouldn't track, like push ups, because he was convinced it had a heart rate monitor… Anyway, Froggie decided to get up from where she was sitting, walk over to Hubby and climb on his back - with her cookie.

Helping Daddy

Looked like a comfy place to eat her cookie

Is it Spring Yet?

     So with the four letter word floating around in the forecast we took it upon ourselves to enjoy some very spring like weather today. We let the kids wear their spring jackets when we went to the Y and Froggie didn't want to come inside! She kept "running" for the yard, I can't wait to see her running around once we actually thaw out!

How they start their day...

I wanna go out there!

Big Kid Room

     Tuesday Froggie made the move from the "baby room" to the 1 year old room at school. This meant a more structured schedule, no morning nap, planned academic/craft time, etc. that was a little more free flowing in the infant room, it also meant that she got a new teacher - me. She was a champ about giving up her nap and only got fussy when she got bored (right before we went to the play room) and when she was too tired at lunch. She was able to sit and pay attention and play with the "big kids" and she was able to do it all without climbing all over me. 

     This is a big deal since Big Brother has a hard time being in the same room with me and not being all over me. Speaking of Big Brother, he was SO excited to see that Froggie was in "The Blue Room", the snack room and the playroom. He's such a good brother but sometimes he takes it a little overboard. Here are some pictures from her first day in the 1 year old room. 

reading a book

Snack time! Mmmmm pears

A visit from Big Brother

Coloring a star

Froggie's star

passed out after her first day with the big kids. 

Wordless Wednesday

Friday Lunch Date

     After work I typically head home with the kids so they can nap. Today, however, we decided to go visit with Hubby so he and I could get some lunch while the kids (who had already eaten) had some snacks. So we headed to Hubby's office to pick him up and then went across the street to Panera, which was delicious! The kids had a blast with their fruit cups, Froggie even tried to drink her fruit!

Froggie tried to keep me from going to work with the big kids.

Froggie with her Fruit.

     After we were done eating we returned Hubby to his office to finish working and headed to Target, since it's my favorite store and we were nearby. We didn't really need anything but I picked up a few things for Easter baskets, a care package and some toys for the kids just because. They were pretty well behaved until it was time to go and they started getting cranky. They really liked sitting side by side in the cart!

The kids in the monster cart at Target

Froggie giving her new fish "kisses". 

Sibling Side By Side

Ok everyone, I need some help! Hubby and I are having a disagreement about whether the kids look alike. He says not at all and I say yes. I blame my sister and her fiancé for this since they're the ones that said they do. I pulled a picture out of Big Brother when he was the same age as Froggie is now, what do you think?

Big Brother (1 year)                     Froggie (1 year)

Introducing Our Youngest Artist

     Tonight is windy and cold and we've retreated back into the house (is winter winding down yet?), so what did we do to entertain Froggie while Big Brother was napping? Break out a brand new box of crayons and see what she would do with them! She just moved them around her tray for a little bit until I drew on her paper, then she colored away. She did pretty well and didn't start putting the crayons in her mouth until she had exhausted her attention with it.

Coloring

Investigating the crayon

back to coloring

My Car Seat is recalled… Now What?

     The short answer, nothing. according to several sources (see the USA Today article here) Graco has recalled a few million carseats manufactured over a 4 year period due to issues with the buckle. This recall only applies to toddler carseats which Froggie of course is in, so we checked out her seat this evening and it is included in the recall.
     So now what?
     Like my first sentence says, nothing. There is no immediate fix, there is no mandate that we stop using her car seat due to the recall issue. I'm going to call a toll free number and find out what exactly the repair kit will include and how long it will take to arrive.
     Please check out the article if you have a Graco seat (even infant seats are eligible for the recall kit if you're uncomfortable just detaching the carrier from the base) and give them a call!

Froggie's first ride in her now recalled seat.

Brotherly Love

     In a moment of love (and a rare act of unforced kindness) Big Brother decided to help Froggie get out of her winter gear this morning. I guess I shouldn't imply that all of his kindness towards Froggie is forced, it's not. However, a lot of the time he goes a little over board and makes her angry. I suppose I should say that today was an unprompted act of kindness.

Helping with gloves

And now the other side

he was very gentle about helping her, I think she was confused.

Wordless Wednesday

Blowing kisses

It was a pigtail kind of day

A Day in the Life of a One Year Old Princess

     Froggie started her first week as a 1 year old off by being woken from her nap to be sung to by all of the 1, 2, and 3 year olds at school and to have a birthday cookie. She seemed very wary at first of all the noise, hat and candle.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday to you.

Happy Birthday dear Froggie. 

Happy Birthday to you.

Yummy birthday cookie

Check out that icing

Big Brother wanted a picture with Froggie

     Earlier in the morning though Froggie's teacher had sent for me to come down the hall to ask me if she had been having nose bleeds. Poor muchkin fell and hit her nose on a toy and had a little nose bleed. It looked like her nose was bleeding ALL day though because she had a runny nose and even though the bleeding had stopped whenever her nose ran it was tinted red.

This is what her nose looked like most of the day. 

     To top it all off Froggie had her 1 year old doctors appointment. We waited in the waiting room for almost an hour then we were with the nurse and doctor for another 45 minutes or so. Then after her exam (which went really well) we had to wait for two separate nurses to come in, one to draw blood and another to administer her vaccines. I can't believe how brave she is - she didn't cry or even flinch when they drew blood to check her iron levels but she was pretty upset by the other vaccinations. She checked in at 18lbs and 32 inches long, I love my little peanut!

Climbing around

waiting for shots.

Happy Birthday Froggie!

     It's hard to believe that one year ago today we were 5 days away from Froggie's due date, she was STILL breech and we were at the hospital to try and turn her. If you want to read the rest of Froggie's birth story you can read it here or by using the tabs at the top of the page.

February 1, 2013                                February 1, 2014

     We decided to make today special for Froggie even though her party isn't until next weekend. Big Brother had tumbling this morning and we got there a little early so we let Froggie walk and crawl around. She took it upon herself to decide today was the day she wanted to really put forth effort to walk by herself and kept walking out towards the big kids. 

Playing at tumbling

Walking and watching the big kids

     After driving around to order food and cake for next week we headed to the mall and the kids played in the play area for little bit while we waited for Hubby to be done working. Froggie doesn't normally get to play but today since she was feeling adventurous at tumbling I let her. She had a blast climbing on all of the toys and Big Brother would pick her up and cart her from one side to the other when he wanted to play with something different. I was a little nervous but Froggie didn't seem to mind and I figured as long as she was content with it that he could help. 

Play time at the mall

She's a climbing machine

Having fun

Big Brother carrying Froggie around

     We headed into The Children's Place for a few minutes while Hubby was on his way and picked out some great deals. My favorites being the fedora Big Brother picked out for himself and the Frozen t-shirt I snagged for $1.99 for Froggie! After a little more running around we headed into Build a Bear so that Froggie could pick out a new toy. As soon as we walked in the entrance she started pointing at all the stuffed animals. She became pretty excited about the My Little Ponies so we let her pick one to those. She did a good job and even worked on filling up the pony by herself. Big Brother wanted his own pony but we told him that since it was Froggie's birthday she was going to get a big stuffed animal and he could get a small one so after some discussion he decided to get Spike (the dragon from My Little Pony). 

Picking out her new friend

She pointed at ALL of them

I'm 1!

Filling her pony

"Mommy I want that"

working together to fluff her fur

Big Brother got Spike

Loving on her new Pony

Riding the rocket ship in the mall

     We went to Max and Erma's for dinner and decided to ask if they would do anything for Froggie for her birthday and they brought her out a pice of chocolate cake with a candle in it. She LOVED it! All of the people sitting near us and the servers kept coming by to see her eating her cake. She made a HUGE mess but she was so happy, it was worth it!

Birthday dinner

CHOCOLATE CAKE!

Happy Birthday to you… 

Mmmm cake

A little blurry but she was SO happy

all gone

Happy little girl covering in chocolate cake.

     Over all I think she had a great day! I can't wait to see what this year will bring for Froggie and our little family!