With school starting at the beginning of the month, we've spent the past few weeks settling into a new routine of school, gymnastics, and dance in addition to the normal things like going to work. We had some really nice sunny days and now have transitioned into rainy fall weather. School is off to a great start! Haleigh is in Kindergarten and loves it! She runs to her class as soon as we walk in the door, grabs her pencil box and sits down right away. If it were up to her, I would just drop her off and not even come inside! It is such a change from preschool when she was so timid and cried the first few weeks of school. Her Spanish is improving significantly as well and she loves to throw in a Spanish word here and there when she's talking to me, followed by "Mom, that's Spanish for ________." Annaliese is in second grade. She wants me to walk her all the way into her classroom, wants to talk to everyone on the way in and could care less if it's 8:30 and class is starting. There are only 4 2nd graders, so her class is a combined 1st/2nd grade class which means she gets to be in the same classroom as Elias this year! So far, it seems that math is her favorite subject, followed closely by P.E. (which Grandpa teaches) and art.
Annaliese said the opening prayer (in English and Spanish!) at the Welcome Back School Potluck.
With Haleigh and Annaliese back in school, Lydia and I have started running again which also means so playtime at the park if it's not raining. Lydia also really likes to play games, so we've spent a lot of time playing Candy Land, Sorry, Spot-it and Uno!
Lunchtime...she's eating a cucumber!
Checking out the goats at Hovander.
We've had so many sunny days that we typically hang out at school in the afternoon when we go to pick up the girls and will stay and play on the playground there. We've also made it to a new park in town, Waypoint Park, and Kyle took the girls down to the Nooksack River at Hovander Park one day while I was sleeping.
Waypoint Park
This is the playground at school.
And then there's our time spent at home, playing in the backyard, reading books, coloring and working on getting Lydia potty-trained (hence all the pictures of panties and no pants!)
Just doing a little sweeping...cleaning up Haleigh's mess!
On the way home from our run at Lake Padden...Lydia and Shelby were both pretty tired!
Annaliese bought this Hatchimal from the store at church. Each week she earned $1 or $2 for things like memorizing the Bible verse or bringing her Bible to church. This cost $50 and she's been saving for a long time!
Eager anticipation!
Movie and Popcorn night
We ended the month with a date night! Kyle and I went the Demolition Derby in Lynden at the Fairgrounds. It was cold and windy but we had so much fun! It is such a crazy thing for people to do! Watching the tractors come in and tow out all the cars was also quite entertaining. Thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting!
Haleigh is 5 1/2 now and started Kindergarten at the beginning of September. She is so much fun to be with and has really grown in her thinking/processing/listening recently. She still loves to build things, but also likes to read, to play with Lydia and to play 'phone' (where she literally walks around the house with a toy phone and just talks on the phone!) Haleigh loves school and gets excited every night to make her lunch and get her backpack all ready. We spent quite a bit of time trying to learn how to ride a bike this summer, but that's still a skill we haven't mastered. She also took swimming lessons and we have a lot to learn there too!
Sleeping: Haleigh shares a room with Lydia and sleeps on the top bunk. She recently stopped sucking her thumb (yay!) and likes to sleep with her purple bunny. They prefer the sound machine to be off and the light on, but in reality, they sleep better when the lights are off and the sound machine is on! Bedtime starts around 7:00 with a goodnight story, and then the girls all get to read together until about 7:45 when they get tucked into bed.
Activities: Haleigh loves school! They have access to a reading program online call Raz Kids which Haleigh loves to do. She takes a hip-hop dance class, likes to watch Llama Llama on Netflix, and likes to color. Currently, we are working on breaking the bad habit of putting everything in her mouth- she is always sucking on her hair, licking her fingers (or whatever she is holding!) Haleigh is an excellent big sister and loves to play with Lydia. She has also been super helpful in getting potty trained!
Hard to believe my baby is three years old! She is full of personality, good hugs, and smiles but isn't afraid to stand her ground and throw a tantrum. She is a talker and likes to point out who is around her and what they are doing. She is quick to say 'thank you' and 'in a minute.' She loves coloring, reading books, and destroying whatever anyone else is building.
We had a small birthday party for her and all she's wanted for months is a truck. And she has loved all the trucks she received!
It's a Menchies frozen-yogurt cake!
Trying to figure out how a remote control truck works!
Auntie Kelsey reading a story before we open presents.
Here's where we are as a 3-year-old: Sleeping: At the end of August, we decided it was time to be done with the crib so we switched Lydia and Annaliese around...we gave Annaliese her own room, Haleigh moved to the top bunk and Lydia gets the bottom bunk. It's been a rough transition and most of the time, she ends up in the pack-n-play! There were several nights in a row where Kyle and I would find her laying on the floor in the middle of the room, legs crossed staring at the ceiling, or cuddling with Shelby! She gets up way too many times to count and has a tendency to turn the light on, making it hard for Haleigh to get any sleep. Hence, the pack-n-play. She still sleeps with her blanket and sucks on her fingers at night.
Starting to finally sleep in her own bed instead of the pack-n-play!
Eating: Eating is hit and miss; some days she eats everything, but most days, she picks at her meals and wants to snack all day! She loves chips, Lara Bars, raisins, 'long yogurt' (go-gurt) and cucumbers. She will ask for peanut butter and raisins with a spoon but doesn't really eat a peanut butter sandwich anymore. It's quite frustrating and we end up throwing a lot of half-eaten food away. Clothing: Lydia is now mostly wearing 3T clothes and size 7 shoes. She is very particular about what she wears and picks out her own clothes every day. Her favorite shoes are a pair of 'star flip-flops' that she's worn so much that she's almost worn a hole completely through them! Her big toes hang off the end, but she wears them everywhere, even when it's raining. We are starting to potty-train (simply because I'm sick of changing diapers!) and Lydia is finally interested in it as well.
