Growing Up

We experienced a couple of "firsts" today. 1. Claire has a loose tooth! We have not had anybody lose a tooth yet, so it's very exciting! She mentioned tonight that she was a little nervous about blood coming out or about losing her tooth if it came out at school. But she is excited about the Tooth Fairy's visit! 2. Jane wore big girl undies for the first time today! We had 4 accidents in 3 hours and no undies left! Jane said she didn't want to wear her diaper, but she did not want to go pee pee on the potty either....hhmmmmm...??? I didn't choose a very good day to begin a serious undertaking of potty training because she was awake until 10PM last night, thinking she was very funny (which is 2 hours past her bedtime), and she was up earlier than usual this morning. Needless to say, she was back in a diaper, feeling comfortable and safe, by 11AM!! Bribery didn't even work! Jane asks for gumballs all day long--really all day, before breakfast, after every meal, whenever I open the cupboard where the gumballs (and tupperware) are kept--all day. So, I told her I would give her a big gumball if she would go pee pee on the potty. She would promptly march over, pull down her undies, sit down for maybe 1 second, pop right back up and, beaming, say, "big gumball?" It was hard for her to understand that something actually had to come out of her while on the potty for her to get the gumball, so she didn't like that very well! Oh well! We're in no hurry!

Spring Break: Days 4 & 5

We took the train into Manhattan on Friday. It's the first time the children have been. It was a good learning experience! The children did very well, considering all the walking, but there was plenty of complaining (understandably) about tiredness. I had forgotten how really crowded the streets are, so Ethan and Claire had to hang on to one of us almost all the time--which was hard sometimes when there was so much for them to see and b/c it's hard to fit us on a crowded sidewalk side by side. It was good though. We're glad we went. We just won't make it a regular occurrence! The train ride is a little over 90 minutes. The children enjoyed the train for about 30 minutes then were ready to get off and do something. We arrived at Grand Central Station and walked to Times Square, then walked to Central Park, where we played on the playground and visited the zoo. FAO Schwartz is just a couple of blocks down from the zoo, and it was fun for the kids to see. We then grabbed an over-priced bite to eat and walked back to the train station! I really like NYC and haven't been in years and years, so it was great fun to be there and walk the streets and see the sights. It was the perfect day to go--the weather could not have been better.
Jane really enjoyed the train.

Times Square

This is as close as we got the the Statue of Liberty this trip!

Jane Loves NY!

Central Park

Central Park Zoo. The seal lions were fun--they put on a good show. Jane's favourite was the snow leopard. He walked right past Jane several times and we thought we might never convince her to leave. The highlight for Ethan and Claire was when a penguin swam right past them and pooped as he did so.

Ethan and Claire made a friend in Central Park!

5th Avenue--kiddie corner from The Plaza


Day 4--Ethan and Claire became superheros today. Claire was Black Cat and Ethan was one of the Fantastic Four...I'm not sure who though!

Spring Break: Day 3

Today was another sunny day in New Haven. We went to Sleeping Giant Park, roasted some hot dogs, played in the fields, threw rocks into the river. It was a very pleasant outdoor day. I think the highlight for Jane was throwing rocks into the river. She could sit on the bank, endlessly, and throw rock after rock after rock. As time passes she wants the rocks to be bigger and bigger, but her aim isn't very good and she almost pegged Claire right in the head! Luckily she didn't, though. She just got Claire nice and wet with her big rock splashes.

Spring Break: Day 1

Today was the first day of Spring Break for Ethan and Claire. We spent the morning jumping on the bed and at a park that we have never visited before. It was great fun. The tire swing was everyone's favourite.

Art Work

This week Claire's artwork was chosen to be on display at a city-wide New Haven Public School Art Show. Below, Claire is pointing up to her art---it's a flower at the very top. Ethan and Claire's family homework-which they receive each week-was to create a "garbage monster". I think they turned out very well! Ethan named his garbage monster Drachy and Claire's is called Bocce!

Gingerbread Houses

We made a gingerbread house together last Sunday. It turned out well. I think I've eaten more of it than the kiddies! Ethan and Claire also make gingerbread houses at school this week out of graham crackers. We also made gingerbread cookies a couple of weeks ago. Below, Jane is enjoying her cookie with green icing.

Happy Thanksgiving!