Growing Up Grace: March 2007

Friday, March 16, 2007

Tent City for you, Ba-by!!

Ryan no longer needs mommy and daddy to help her make her tents. She has a wonderfully creative mind and can imagine them and create them all by herself. In the pictures, Ryan has made a special tent for Charlie in their room. They took turns going into the tent for quite some time. It is amazing how much fun a simple pillow between the bed and play table can create. Take a look at their fun...

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Charlie's First Swim Lesson

So Charlie started swimming lessons this morning. The other day she couldn't wait to get in the pool while watching Ryan get her lesson but today was another story. Can you see that look of apprehension on her face? She wasn't so sure about this "swimming thing."

About 1 minute into the lesson... No tears yet but clearly not happy.

About 5 minutes in...Nathan put her on this step to see if she would jump to him. She turned her back to him and just cried, and cried, and cried.

About 30 seconds after that... Charlie decided she wasn't having it. She climbed out the pool to proclaim that she was finished. Nathan is really good at letting her "voice" her opinion and extremely calm about getting back to the lesson. She climbed out twice.

About 11 minutes in... the dunking. He had dunked her earlier in the lesson but they were too far away for me to catch in on film. Their philosophy with the babies is not to teach them to swim yet but to teach them to not drown. In doing this they let them flail around before grabbing them. It is extremely hard to watch but this swim school gets rave reviews for their success.

In summary, Charlie was definitely glad when it was over and she sat huddled in a towel in my arms for about 10 minutes before I even attempted taking her into the changing room to put warm clothes on. On the way home, she proceeded to projectile vomit all over herself and the car from swallowing too much water. I had forgotten about that part since Ryan started this program. Good work Charlie!

Ryan's Dora Party

On Monday, Ryan got to have another birthday party at her preschool. She chose to have a Dora theme. This one was much easier for mom but she loved it just as much.

Ryan would not let go of those balloons...Not even to eat that cupcake or more accurately, lick the frosting. That is really all she likes to eat. Then yesterday, on her real birthday, Renee threw her yet another party at her house with the daycare group of children. And then we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate as a family. I can't believe she is only 3 and already gets a week long birthday. I didn't think that was supposed to happen until much later in life. The apple doesn't fall from the tree, that is for sure.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

The Big Par"tea"

Ryan had her 3rd birthday par"tea" yesterday. We had 9 total little girls 3 years old and under here for a tea party along with their mommies and Ryan's aunts and grandmas (but grandma Gigi wasn't able to make it and was so sad). We had a total of 21 guests plus a very special guest (can you spot Alice in the pictures?) for a tea party. I sure love throwing parties but even being a teacher did not prepare me for the chaos of keeping nine toddlers busy for 3 hours. Thank you to ALL the adults for pitching in with clean up and picture taking and so much more. I literally don't think I could have done without everyone's help. There wouldn't even being pictures to post without the help of Ginny and Kristina and whoever else picked up my camera to snap shots. I am so grateful. And Aunt Mary helped by bringing some tea sandwiches which were just divine. And Nonna was very busy with little Miss Charlie. What a handful she is. And Steve at the bar. Excellent mojitos my dear. And the gifts, you all are so special and good to our little Ryan. Thank you, thank you to everyone for everything.

Here is the little girls' tea table all ready for it's guests

Here is our birthday girl with Alice in Wonderland. Alice made a special appearance for Ryan's party. She taught the girls important etiquette tips, taught the song, "I'm a Little Teapot" to the girls, played musical chairs, helped with the painting craft, and helped Ryan open her presents.

Aunt Casey, Nonna, Aunt Ginny, and Aunt Mary enjoying the afternoon sun with their tea.

Each little girl had their picture taken with Alice under the Wonderland tree.

We all sang "Happy Birthday" to Ryan and enjoyed some cake and ice cream.

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And the best part of the party was watching the little girls enjoying their tea time. Here are some pictures to capture the moment...