Gymnastics at Stroller Strides

Today's playgroup after Stroller Strides was a visit from the gymnastics program at the Palomar YMCA. They brought their gymnastics equipment and set up a little obstacle course for the kids.

Our monkey loved it. Of course. One of the girls even commented, "Well, he's a bouncy one, isn't he?" Yes, yes he is.

The YMCA donated a raffle prize of $50 off a birthday party at their gymnastics center and Will won! We'll have to talk to Daddy about maybe having a good-bye party there since we'll be in Virginia next time Will has a birthday (and turns 3!).

More and More

Everyday, this kid

looks more and more like

his Dad.

And that's not such a bad thing.

Birthday Party Circuit

Will went to two birthday parties this weekend. The first was his buddy, Dylan, from Stroller Strides. Dylan turned 3 and had a fire truck birthday party...with a REAL fire truck that gave rides. Don't be fooled...this thing actually went pretty fast and left many a pregnant mom wishing their kid didn't want a 2nd go around. Will went three times. It drove all around the neighborhood, turning at each cul-de-sac.

The 2nd birthday party was the complete opposite: a Princess party! Will was the only boy at this party, but it didn't phase him at all. Probably because he's smitten with the birthday girl, Makayla. Makayla turned 2 and had her party right here in our complex (since she lives here too).

Aftermath

Despite our very busy weekend plans, we took some time this morning to head over to the beach and check out what the week of storms did to the ocean. Wow! The beach looked more like a rocky beach in Maine than the sandy coast of California we are used to. The waves were "WOAH! BIG!" according to Will. That, of course, didn't stop him from getting as close as he could.

It was rock and seashell heaven on the very same shore we took those sunset pictures on just one week ago. After some exploring and "fishing" from the pier, we stopped for some ice cream and watched the trains rush by before heading to our 2nd birthday party of the weekend. (birthday party extravaganza posting coming later)

School Days

As mentioned before, Will loves school. In the morning, we cuddle when we first wake up and Mom tells Will what we are going to do that day. At exactly 7:24am, Will started asking, "School? Ready? Miss Ginny? Ready? Mommy get dressed. Ready?" Over and over and over again. School starts at 9am.

Finally, it was time for school. Phew. Will is always the first one there. Mommy brought the camera to capture some parts of his morning at school. First, we had free play. Then circle time with some songs and the big introductions. Will was so loud and clear this time. He said his name "WILL!" and answered, "What is your Mommy's name?" with a loud, clear and proud, "MEGAN!" He was the only kid to do both unassisted and so clearly...without an interpreter.

After circle time, it is activity time. The kids move about the room playing with play-doh, make-believe play, various toys, and there are always two crafts to complete during the time. Will hit all the stations, but his favorite of the day was dressing as the mail carrier and then delivering cards and "heavy boxes" to people. After all, that's what comes in the mail around here.

Activity time is follow by music time. Will's favorite. He especially enjoys the song, "The Freeze" by Greg and Steve. We're on a mission to find it on CD now. New Englanders, please don't laugh at the California "snow". The theme of this session is "winter". An abstract concept here.

After snack, it's potty break time for the big boy in undies and then he joins everyone else on the playground. We hardly ever stray from the airplane see-saw.

We end the day with snack time and a closing story time and circle time and then Will refuses to leave. Today he gave his sticker back to the teacher and tried to join the next class, declaring, "Will go class A-gain!"

I love his enthusiasm.

His recent accomplishments include: counting to six unassisted and spelling his name. He can also recognize his name if he sees it written somewhere.

Tickets and Play-doh

As predicted, today was a big California "winter storm". We were shakin' in our boots. Our rain boots, that is. Oh, California, we will miss your interpretation of "weather".

After some morning errands, Mommy and Will got out the play-doh, which is in abundance at our house. Despite our request for no gifts at Will's 2nd birthday, he received a few gifts, all of which were either play-doh or sidewalk chalk. We have a lot of play-doh. Did you know they make a brown play-doh? Not the one I want to find on the carpet later. It does make a pretty convincing Hershey kiss, though. Yum.

Will has been wanting to make train tickets for a while now so we picked up a hole puncher at the store and some paper. Will went to town making and punching tickets all morning. It takes a lot of muscle to punch those tickets.

After naptime, that weird thing called the sun was trying to peek through, so we tested out Will's rain boots for some puddle stomping. Every good firefighter needs rain boots.

A Nothing Weekend

Well, we didn't do much this weekend, but I managed to take a few pictures of our "nothing-ness" since I haven't taken pictures lately and Daddy is probably itching for more updates on the blog. Right, Daddy?

So...here goes. Saturday, we went to a church about 40 minutes from here for a baby shower thrown in honor of those wives of the 2/4 battalion and CLB-11 (Josh's unit) who are pregnant during this deployment or who already gave birth. It was quite a drive, but the church had very nice gift baskets, food, and prizes for the women who made it. We played a variety of 'shower games' (not necessarily my favorite thing), and enjoyed a morning of free food and a gift basket for Kylie. Oh, and cake. It was really nice of that church to think of the ladies in this position as it isn't easy...not even the 2nd time around.

Sunday is our normal chore day. We do our grocery shopping while the store is still empty in the morning and then we do a bit of cleaning and organizing around the house.

We managed to play outside, too. We blew some bubbles, relocated some snails to safer locations, and made goofy faces at Mom before literally crashing for a nap time. Nap time lasted almost the rest of the day (thank goodness!) for both of us...and then we had breakfast for dinner. Yum.

Books, a Bell and Bears...Oh My!

First, we should start by saying welcome back to the blog, Daddy! You see, for almost 4 months now, the blog has been blocked on the ship, but yesterday, Daddy was able to get back on and see us and read all the comments. Welcome back to the internet, Daddy!

And now... Will, Mommy and Kylie got a box in the mail today! Despite Will's disappointment that it didn't contain chocolate covered strawberries (Gram had some delivered for Christmas); he was happy to find some little treasures in the box.

There were some bear slippers...which he is currently wearing in bed.

There was a whole library of Curious George books...which we read every single one of before bedtime tonight...

And there was a new bell for his bike...which he tested out in the entryway, in his best biking outfit, with his best sidekick. Thanks, Gram and Gramps, for the fun package to make us smile!

In other updates: Will is a champ at preschool. Even though yesterday was only the 2nd day, he didn't need Mommy's guidance at all during class. Every other child sits on their parent's/grandparent's lap during circle time. Not Will. He sits on his own little rug and follows all the directions and hand motions for the songs. Even though it was only the 2nd class, he told the teacher what was coming next and he cleaned up exactly when he was supposed to. He can identify his name on his play-doh container, and he helps other kids get their supplies. Mommy was torn between feeling proud of him for being such a big kid and feeling a little sad he's already so big!

Good thing we have Kylie on the way! Kylie's update is that she only has about 80 more days to bake. Mommy is really feeling the third trimester, and was recently diagnosed as anemic..which explains the whole hit by a truck feeling. Hopefully the new vitamins will help this feeling, but let's just say that some chores aren't being done to completion (Marine Corps standards) anymore. We'll just keep hoping for Daddy to appear before April! We miss you, Daddy!

Will played with play-doh at home the other day, making cupcakes for Mommy and using toothpicks as candles...yummy yummy.