Ellie

Going backwards through time so I can catch up on the blog ... on Sunday Ellie came over for dinner (with her parents of course). Casey showed her how to use the cash register and how to play her second favorite game, circle up the chairs and "tuffets" (that's what we call our ottomans) and walk on them. I'm not sure Ellie is ready for that one yet. To think that at one point in time I didn't believe Casey would need a little table and chairs.

Variation on the game

When I got to daycare to pick Casey up the other day the chairs were lined up in a strangely familiar way. Guess who wanted to rearrange the chairs and play "train"? Widest train ever. Looks like Casey is driving. The last two photos were taken by Casey.

Soup

Last night Casey and I went out to dinner with Katie and Marie. Luckily we know a Chinese restaurant that no one ever goes to for dinner. Or maybe people just get takeout. Unfortunately (for him) this time there was one person eating there. The girls were a little crazy. But somehow they can sit still for hot and sour soup. Can you believe she loves the hot and sour soup? As always, the girls were so happy to see each other.

Baby's first recital

This morning we went to the preschool Halloween recital. It has to be the cutest thing I've ever seen. We dropped the kids off at 9:00 and then were supposed to come back for the 10:00 show. We got there pretty early and got what we thought were pretty good seats. We had inside information that Casey's class would be on the right hand side.

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Five classrooms of three-year olds walked down the aisle. Casey's class was first and Casey was near the front of the line. She walked in like she owned the room and saw us as soon as she was near enough to see us (and we weren't even on the aisle) and she waved furiously and smiled confidently. We were cracking up, so relieved. Earlier in the morning she'd said she wanted to watch the show WITH us.

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The kids got on stage and she was still waving and smiling at us. All of the parents were waving and yelling out names while holding cameras, camcorders, and Starbucks cups. By the time the last class got up there one of the teachers from another class sat down with her kids and blocked our view of Casey! It was so frustrating. Casey did a few of the songs, including her favorites, "Scary Teleton" (Scary Skeleton) and "Arabella Miller" and then I could see that she was starting to suck on her hand the way she does when she's tired or stressed, and then on two hands, but then she'd start singing and doing the hand motions again. We tried to move around so we could see her better, and I could see her looking for us and not finding us.

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And then at the end, her class was the last to get off stage, and I went up a little closer to the front and tried to get a few better pictures (all of the ones from the beginning when she was waving are totally blurry -- I think I may have to buy and learn how to use a real camera) and she burst out crying. I didn't know what to do because we were under strict instructions not to take the kids before they got back to their classrooms for Halloween cookies with the parents. But then the director handed her to me and she calmed down by the time we got to the classroom and soon was happy again. I just felt so bad about it all day. I kept thinking about her looking for us in the crowd and not seeing us (after she'd seen us before) and I think she was just really tired. When I picked her up from daycare, Toni told me that Casey had said that she cried at preschool because she was tired. As WesleyMommy said, "the energizer bunny's battery wore out."

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On Tuesday when I picked Casey up from preschool aftercare, the teacher told me I should have a playdate with Casey's friend Nicole, who is in another class. (Nicole from Casey's picture entitled "With my friend Nicole.") At the time I didn't even know she knew a Nicole. Anyway, we sit down for the show and we start talking to the parents next to us and their daughter is named ... Nicole! And she knows my running buddy Kathy (and Kathy had actually mentioned her before ... we run together for hours so we talk about pretty much everything) and she also knows Hayden's mom Laura! It's such a small world. Casey had wanted to make sure we met Nicole, Logan, and Leia, all kids who aren't in her class but she knows from the aftercare. And also she wanted me to meet Mrs. Sickler, who I've never seen. She always asks me if I know her. I still haven't met her. Now she keeps asking me, "Mommy, now you know Logan and Leia? Now you know Nicole?"

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We all went out for Japanese food for dinner, and she loved it. Noodles, soup, edamame, and avocado rolls. And a little bit of pre-Halloween trick-or-treat candy (strawberry Nerds) that one of the stores was giving out on our way to dinner. Good stuff.

Kyle and Cami

Kyle and Cami joined us for music class yesterday. Cami really liked the violin. The class is ok, but I don't think Casey will end up learning that much Mandarin. We didn't get to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star this week, so I was a little disappointed because I was planning to learn one line per week! If Casey could learn to count to 10 and say hello, goodbye, and thank you I'd be happy. We can teach her those but I know we aren't pronouncing them correctly. If we could all learn Twinkle Twinkle, I'd be even happier, and if we could learn a traditional children's song, I'd be thrilled. But they sing along with the CD and it's kind of fast so I don't know if it could really happen. We do sing one called "Cute Little Duck" that I'm starting to get the hang of. Maybe.

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Afterwards Eric and I had to go to Kinkos to finally finish up our preschool class placemats (almost done) so we all stopped at Michael's Crafts store which was next door. The kids deliberated for quite a while before deciding on wooden snakes that came with paint and paintbrushes. I thought it would entertain them for a while but it ended up being about 10 minutes of fun and much more time spent cleaning up. But the snakes turned out pretty cute.

Banana mutton with Daddy

Casey loves to wear matching shirts with Daddy. We don't want to do the Turkey Trot this year, but we might have to so we can get more matching shirts.

Art show II

Here's some more of Casey's art projects. I always ask her if she wants to send some to the grandparents and she says no. Sorry grandparents! You'll just have to view them online. The first picture cracks me up because the titles are, "With my friend Tegan" and "With my friend Nicole." They are roller coasters, if you couldn't tell. I love the butterfly in the fourth picure. And the last picture, called "Friends."

Hayden in the house

Last night Hayden and Laura came over for Eric's special chili. The girls played together so nicely and told us all about their day at daycare. When Hayden arrived the two girls both squealed and jumped around. They had just been together for 7 hours but I guess that's not enough!

Announcement

Big news. Casey pooped on the potty tonight! She said she had to go, she went in by herself, and yelled out her announcement. Usually she asks for a pullup when she has to go. Her pediatrician said to start having her use the pullup in the bathroom so she'd get the idea, and I don't know if it worked or if she was just ready (probably she was just ready) but she did it. No one is happier than Eric, who ends up changing most of the poopy diapers. I had a present in the closet that I've been wanting to give her so I figured this was a great opportunity. She got a new, really really cool cash register. And her friend Hayden is coming over for dinner tomorrow. And a lollipop. Hooray!

Monkey on the monkey bars

Casey is getting better at the monkey bars. She is VERY determined. I didn't catch the one where she got pretty far but this one is cute. When she started preschool she could hang but that's it. I think she really enjoys playing on the playground for the after school care time. There are very few kids and she gets lots of individual attention and lots of time on the playground. When I arrived she was sweeping sand with a broom. Zen garden playground.

After preschool we went to the toystore to buy some birthday presents and then we went to Lucky to go shopping. She loves shopping at Lucky because they have the carts with a car in the front, and there are two steering wheels, one for her and one for DogDog. Those carts are hard to steer, but if you can get one, you can take your time because she is perfectly happy in there. And then, we got even luckier and we saw one of her preschool teachers. Casey could barely contain herself she was so thrilled. Her teacher stopped to say how much she loved Casey and what a fun and sweet girl she is. It's true. She's a happy girl and she loves her preschool.

Sometimes she has so many art projects I can hardly carry them all to the car. One time I kept dropping them because they were all different sizes. Tuesday when I dropped her off, one of her teachers told her they were going to make ghosts. She replied, "I can't make lots of because my Mommy can't carry them." I told her to go ahead and I'll bring a bag with me when I pick her up.

Brunch

Great party

We didn't get to take the party bus from the hotel to the wedding because we had to get there early for family pictures. So Casey and I took it on the way home and Eric had a moment of quiet in the car. The girl loves buses so we figured it would be fun for her. Yep, she loved it.

We flew home after brunch the next day and we couldn't get three seats together so Casey and I played PlayDoh for hours and hours while Daddy was stuck in the middle seat a few rows up. Luckily Casey took a nice long nap. But the plane ride is tough, even though she is really good. I'm staying home for a while.

Melanie and Andy's Wedding day

Casey spent Sunday afternoon playing with her latest bus hostage, I mean, her Uncle Andrew. The poor guy found himself sitting on the floor in the closet for a good part of the afternoon. You just never know where the bus will go. That's why I follow the only-if-the-couch-is-part-of-the-bus rule.

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We got to the wedding early for pictures. Everyone was lined up in a rainbow shape on the steps, and Eric and Casey and I were about four steps up. I was looking at the photographer and holding Casey's hand, and suddenly my hand is going up and I look over and Casey just couldn't resist jumping off of all those steps. It would have been funny if he had snapped a picture while she was mid-air but I don't think he got it.

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During the ceremony she was pretty good. Before it started, we practiced whispering and then by the end Casey was saying, "But I NEED to talk!" The only loud thing she really said is, "Is zat Melanie!?" But I don't think anyone else heard it. I brought a small bag of M&Ms that really helped, but I should have brought a few more. Uncle Andrew and I took turns holding the bottom of her seat down so she didn't fold up in her chair.

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She had the time of her life at the reception. She went back and forth between the babysitting room (there was a slide there) and the reception. The band was amazing and everyone was dancing and she had a blast dancing with everyone and even got on stage with the band for a while (she wasn't the only one). It was a wild and fun party.

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At one point she came over while we were eating dinner and said, "Mommy, I need someping." I asked what, and of course she answered, "DogDog." (Allison was going down the slide with a stuffed animal she found in the babysitting room so Casey needed someone too.) I told her they were about to cut the cake, and she said, "Oh, I have to go tell my sends (friends)!" And then she ran off to tell them. Big girl moment. Eric and I just looked at each other in awe. She was running all around with her friends and by herself, totally confident and independent. We followed her around at first because we were worried she might get lost, there were over 200 people there, but eventually we realized that she was fine.

Rehearsal dinner

At the rehearsal dinner we all told Melanie funny things we remembered about her and then sang her a song. One of the things my aunt remembered was when Melanie was in preschool and was a turkey in the Thanksgiving play. So Casey and Allison each wore turkey feathers and shook their tail feathers during that line. Right before it was my turn to read, Casey pointed to her runny nose. Of course I had tons of tissues in the bag at our table, but we weren't at our table. So I'm looking around for a napkin or someone nearby who might have a tissue, while Casey and I were fighting over who got to hold the script and then my cousin Josh was elbowing me because I missed my cue. Yeesh. Then I grabbed one of Casey's tissue paper tail feathers and subtly (I think) wiped her nose with it. It should be interesting to see the video some day.

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How cute does Casey look!?

All the apple pancakes you can eat

On Saturday we went to my Aunt Steffie's for brunch. Man they had some good food. I would weigh 200 pounds if I lived in Ohio. Nanna Micki was also in town, and she brought some art projects for Casey. In the picture they're making Halloween necklaces. Casey played cars with my cousins' kids and they all had a great time.

All the dessert you can eat

Friday night we went to Laurie and Ronnie's for dessert. Casey took a good nap and her reward was that she got to stay up late and eat all the desserts she wanted. For Casey, that meant eating a couple of M&Ms, a couple of cookies, and trying a few bites of other things.

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Unfortunately, Grandma Fagel fell off a step and broke her leg. We weren't sure if it was broken but the guys all started singing Hava Nagila and lifted her up in her chair and carried her to the car so she could go to the hospital. Casey was not happy about having Daddy carry someone else out to the car, and mentioned it more than a few times. Poor Grandma. Luckily it didn't stop her from going to all of the wedding festivities.

Ohio!

We're in Ohio for my cousin Melanie's wedding. We're having a great time seeing everyone. Somehow every time we're here we go to see a Chihuly glass exhibit. Either it's always here or we always come at the same time. Casey drove around in the do-it-yourself Chihuly-inspired kids' boat. She convinced Papa Larry, Uncle Andrew, Daddy, and DogDog to go for a ride. I'm glad the boat didn't sink.

Little maestro

Casey just got another birthday present. A baby grand! She started playing right away and hasn't stopped saying, "Daddy you dance! Daddy dance. Daddy, you please dance?" But multiply that by 100. She has DogDog sitting on the top and she pulled over a chair for Bubba and she's teaching him to play. Seriously, she's pushing his paws down on it.
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Blogging in real time ... Eric finally started dancing and she's yelling, "all around all around!" and he started dancing all around and she had to get up and demonstrate, "No, like this!" and started jumping. Heheh.

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Thanks Nanna Kathy and Papa Larry!

Punkin huntin

Casey spent some time finding just the right pumpkin. Then we walked over toward the petting zoo and the little pony ride. Really I've never seen a smaller pony. She soundly rejected him. I told her to tell him, "Maybe next time" and she yelled to the pony, "NOT next time." She wasn't interested in the petting zoo either. Then we went down the hill and she started bouncing as soon as she saw the bounce house. She went right in and it was teeming with kids. She met a little girl (in the fifth picture) and they were bouncing together and waiting for each other and going down the slide together. It was really sweet.

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She just came in here and looked at the picture of the pumpkins and said, "I don't like the ponies. My nanna took me off. [Flashback from last year?] Why? I didn't like Eeyore?" The questions I have to answer. I say, "You tell me." all the time these days.

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Today I went running and then to my taiko drum class while Eric and Tim took Casey to the boardwalk at Santa Cruz. She loved it. When I got home she was holding them both hostage on the stairs, I mean, the bus. She had the bottom of the stairs blocked off with the four chairs from her little table and two ottomans. The stairs were covered with fake food, little dishes, and zillions of buttons. They were cooking "eggies."