Devils or Angels?

The 52nd annual Chicago Air and Water Show just took place this weekend. For us Chicagoans, that means 4 days of feeling like we live in a war zone--or at least on a military base. (Two days of practice, two days of the show). And no, we did NOT go to the show. We only heard/saw from our house, the car, or a few times we got caught outside.

Poor Nicholas wants to love the Blue Angels so badly. He thinks watching them is amazing--through soundproof glass. He is terrified of their noise though. And I don't mean sticking his fingers in his ears for a moment. I mean he holds his hands over his ears, screams "hold me safe", suctions to me or David like a spider monkey, won't go outside, has night terrors where he does the same, and now thinks every plane going to O'Hare is a Blue Angel.

This is a problem.

We live in the flight path to O'Hare, and planes fly over us about every 3-4 minutes. It is so bad that after searching online and still being dumbfounded, I called the pediatrician. The boy has been traumatized--and I don't use that word lightly.

I usually only seek medical advice from the peds, but I need help--and hearing is medical, right? Help!

They are definitely devils, not angels.

A first for us

So after all these years in Chicago, we have just become members of one of the "Museums" for the first time ever. Most of you know, I am a big fan of utilizing free things in the city, especially the Museum passes we can check out at the library.

However, the Shedd Aquarium, has limited their participation so much, that you can only have access to a small portion of the place when using the museum pass. So when my parents visited a few weeks ago, it was literally almost the same cost to buy a family membership as it would have been to purchase tickets for all of us. So we broke down and joined. Mom and Dad even gave it to us as a gift, and we will be using it alot-thanks Mom and Dad! Both Gabriella and Nicholas love the aquarium. And I must admit over the past few years, they have made some great improvements, and the new show Fantasea is spectacular! I describe it as Cirque du Soleil with animals.

This winter, it will undoubtedly be a favorite destination for us. And since we can admit 2 adults and up to 4 kids, we can take friends. Let us know when you want to go...

Back to the grind

1st of school-on our deck with my beautiful rose plant

(birthday gift from Ella) in background.

So we've survived the first two weeks of school--hard to believe how quickly it goes. Ella is enjoying Pre-K again and has turned into quite the class clown and leader. According to her teacher she has been orchestrating puppet shows involving the whole class! Of course instructing everyone exactly what to do. She keeps telling me she plays "tricks" on the playground at recess. Still haven't quite figured this one out, so if anyone wants to enlighten me that would be great. Most of all she continues to be all about her birthday and is counting down to her party and then her actual birthday when she'll get to wear the birthday crown at school and bring treats in for her class.

Swimming started up again and we have had two sessions. Ella has the body to be a great olympic swimmer! She put the moves on at the end of a lap on Tuesday and wow did she go fast! I couldn't believe it. We also enrolled Nicholas in a parent-tot class this session so he has now been in the swimming pool twice. The first session he was a little hesitant for about 10 minutes but then warmed up to the idea and enjoyed the "jumping in". The second session he was so excited and loves it all. He "jumped" in, learned to blow bubbles, and can kick his feet like crazy. He now blows bubbles in the bathtub and asks every morning: "Jump? Go. Shoes." And I have to tell him not again until next week!

Next week Gymnastics and Ballet start and I will be sorry we are doing so much again. Ella will have Ballet and Gymnastics back to back Thursday's which means two hours of killing time with Nicholas (with a quick stop in to help her change and move down to the gym floor). Luckily it's right by the library and grocery store so we can make good use of the time. Then Friday morning's while Ella's in school I will take Nicholas to his parent-tot Gymnastics. I think he might even like it better than swimming. He's a climber. Will update on how it went next week.

In the midst of this all I'm trying to do the typical SAHM tasks and not remain too angry with the CTA. Though I have already reported on one belligerent bus-driver who was harassing myself with the stroller AND an old lady with a walker. Nicholas has big sister withdrawals while she is gone and also dislikes the commute on the bus. I've been trying to walk at least one or two of our four trips there or back. It's about 1.2 miles which isn't too bad except it's not the only walking I do on any given day and 4x can add up AND depending the direction I have to beat the clock and make sure we're on time. However, that said, my legs are much more reliable than the CTA anyday so while the weather is still nice I will walk as much as I can. Nicholas has also been thrown for a loop by our new schedule. Babies really do thrive on routine and he is so antsy in the morning when we get up that he won't eat breakfast and we have to put his shoes on right away so he knows he's going and will stop asking for them! He has also had a major set-back in potty training with the new schedule. I had already gotten spoiled with not changing pooped diapers so it's been an adjustment. Hopefully he'll bounce back soon... Update: between writing this post and now adding pictures and about to publish Nicholas has gone on the potty several times this weekend. Yay!

Birthday planning for David and Ella is at it's peak and our anniversary will sadly take a backseat as usual. That's what the triple-play will do for you. Though David's birthday usually gets lumped in with our anniversary in the shadow of Ella, since this is a SPECIAL one for him :-), I'm trying to avoid that.

We are having some wonderful late summer weather here in Chicago. Fall is coming.

Breakfast on the deck is a family favorite

Nicholas loves corn on the cob and is still teething miserably....

Forget me not-summer lovin'

So I've had some memory issues lately. The worst was my debit card PIN and the most recent my blogger password. I find it frustrating. I did eventually remember by debit card PIN but not alot of other things. I thought this was supposed to happen at a much older age! Ugh.

Anyhow, we've had alot going on around here. Today is the last day of summer for us. In the morning it's back to year 2 of Pre-K since the state of Illinois says Ella can't start Kindergarten because her birthday is 28 days too late. This hotly debated topic (at least in Chicago it is) has been close to our heart lately. The Illinois law is currently being challenged but won't come back for a vote until January I believe. It is feasible to say that the state should have some say in when a child must go to school, but alot of state's have much broader timeline's (i.e. age 5 by end of calendar year, etc.) Then the flip-side of the coin called "red-shirting" is the parents not enrolling their children who do turn age 5 by the required date. To them I say: How unfair to me. But good for you. It is sad that the state, who presumably has no knowledge of my child's school-readiness, mandates school start dates rather than the parents who know their child. As to the unfairness of red-shirting, I commend parents for not starting their August 29th birthday child if they know they're just not ready--but it frustrates me that I can't do the flip side of that with a September 29th birthday and put my daughter where she belongs. So I'll save the rest for the Chicago northside parents network message board where other's share our frustration....and here's to another year of "really, she's not even five yet--I thought she was at least seven!"

Our summer has been filled with alot of visitors, which we love! And alot of summer Chicago fun.

Nicholas keeps me very busy and is seeking independence in all ways right now. He also can't seem to keep his mouth safe. We're hoping his front tooth will make it for the next five years or so but it seems to constantly get injured. Usually when he wakes up the first thing he says is: "Truck? Bus? Plane?" Meaning do we hear any of those things right now. He has a huge fascination with large mechanical vehicles. He goes absolutely wild over trash trucks, planes, trains, buses, delivery trucks, fire trucks, etc. Thank goodness we live in the city! He is very well rounded though and also loves to dance in his sister's fuchsia tutu and wear my high heels around the house. And most notably Nicholas has now been medication free for almost one month. We met with his Urologist and got permission to try it without the meds. So far so good and we are thrilled and thank God for his health.

Ella has been growing taller and taller and is always drawing in her sketchbook. She has turned into quite the actress and we even sent her to Theatre camp because of her interest. This was a week called the "Enchanted Musical Forest" and she was in heaven. Singing, dancing, acting all the time culminating in a show on Friday for us to attend. They did a mini-version of the title song from Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods with full choreography and a few other Theatre games. The funniest thing to me is that I told Ella I had actually played in the musical Into the Woods when I was in college and she became star-struck over Mama for a brief moment. Ella also attended a week of VBS at the Moody Church which was over the top in all ways. It's so nice that they welcome anyone to attend since our very small church could never put on such a great kids program! Nicholas enjoyed getting his "sticker" (special visitor nametag) every morning when we signed her in to VBS. By day 3 he asked for it when we walked in the lobby. Too cute. Ella has also been continuing to learn how to read. It's amazing to me how well she does, and funny to think that's how we all started something that we do without thinking about now. And finally, today was historical. Ella had her very first haircut. Yes, at almost five years old. She still wants long hair but it needed to be trimmed, so I did the honors tonight and we put the first piece in her baby keepsake box! Remember, it took a long time to grow those golden tresses. (just look at Nicholas if you need a reminder!)

Other things we did this summer: Swimming lessons for Ella, zoo, Field Museum, Aquarium, Beach, Grant Park Orchestra concerts at Millennium park, Art Institute Family nights, road trip to Minneapolis for 4th ofJuly, alot of grilling and alfresco dining on the deck, playground palooza, Chicago History Museum, Dairy Farm trip, and stoopin' with sidewalk chalk and bubbles, water taxi.

Overnight Visitors we've had this summer (let's start in April since we moved here): #1: Jeff & Marion of St. Louis, #2: Jeff, Cheryl, Tori, Jin of Minneapolis #3: Faith, Jesse, Caelin, Christine, of Scottsdale #4: Karen & Ibsen of Caracas Venezuela #5: Nana & Pa of Oak Hills, CA #6: Andrew and Jackie of New Orleans . I think that's it. Ha! So really, you can see it is o.k. to come visit us!

Dancing Ballerina's

1st haircut!

Fancy Gabriella!


Andrew (my cousin), Jackie (his girlfriend), Ella and Nicholas

Fireman's carry at the beach

Keeping warm with Papa

Fun in the sand

Modern lounge chair

(actually a sculpture on the terrace of the new modern wing at the Art Institute!)

Suspended over Monroe street. The famed bridge to the Modern Wing.

Reading Glub! Glub! (King Bidgood's) with cousin Andrew

2 silly penguin's at the Aquarium

I love my new stroller

Jin & Tori Hudson & Ella at the Minneapolis Walker Art Center

My Aunt Faith, Uncle Jesse their kids Caelin & Christine, my cousin Raney's husband Chris, and sons Jaren & Conor Fleck

with us at the Field Museum

Shopping in my high heels

Stoopin'

Hangin' out in the swing while sister is at VBS

Riding the turtle statue

Fancy Gabriella found another use for the tutu.

At the park

Another family night at the Art Institute

making Japanese screens

on the bridge again
(Can you tell us Chicagoans LOVE the new addition to our already fabulous Art Institute?!)

Injured yet again...

Walking with Nana

Water Taxi on the river

We love Potbelly's!

swim girl jumping in

Nice kicking!

Breaking the silence

It's long overdue so here I am blogging for a brief moment in exchange for much needed sleep. Life has been very busy since I last posted about our then upcoming move. We are fairly settled in our new home now though it's taking alot of time to get used to so much space. It was surprisingly uncomfortable at first, but now the abundance of square footage is getting to feel somewhat normal for all. I'm still in love with my washer and dryer and we've christened our grill and deck properly with alot of alfresco meals! And did I mention I can practically float in my bathtub? Seriously.

Ella is having sleep issues and we think it's most likely emotions from the move, her recently acquired glasses and the unavoidable teasing that comes with that, as well as getting used to sleeping in a room without us for the first time in her life! Hopefully she can work through it soon because it's getting awfully crowded in our bed in the wee morning hours. BTW she looks gorgeous in her very stylish purple glasses--pictures soon.

Nicholas had his 1st birthday if you can believe it. Uncle Jeff and Aunt Marion came up for the party which was Easter weekend and we had a great visit with them. It was also good to host a party and house guests less than 2 weeks after moving so we had alot of incentive to get unpacked in a hurry. Nicholas took a few steps alone right before his birthday but about 2 weeks ago really decided to walk instead of crawl. I'm still getting used to that. He loves going down our long hallway.

Two weeks ago our friends the Hudson's came down from Minneapolis and stayed with us. The kids all had a great time playing together. Our friends the Hanson's also drove over from Grand Rapids on Sunday and the 6 of us adults went out to celebrate David's Architectural licensing and Craig's newly published book. We went to Alinea. That's a whole post needed right there coming soon. Let's just say: Spectacular.

Last night, actually this morning, we returned from a long overdue visit to California to see Nana and Pa. David traveled with us out there but returned earlier than us. We had alot of fun including a first trip to Sea World for the kids, a visit to the County Fair, Mother's Day, planting tomato plants, etc.. We were able to spend alot of time with my sister and nieces too which was very nice. Our trip home was a disaster and I'm in no hurry to get on an airplane again, but we are safe on the ground and successfully endured 10 hours aboard a plane with no meltdowns. I think I have a new issue with ATC that I will probably blog more about later. I'm just thankful to be home safely with my children.

Just wanted to break the silence. I'll be back soon with more stories and some pictures too.

A few pictures

I love prunes!

We got our tree the earliest ever!

Finding shaggie taggie on Christmas

Gabriella loving on brother while he takes
the opportunity to grab Clara's hair (her new doll)

I'm a big boy now

Shots all around

Sorry, but not the intoxicating kind....Since it's flu shot season David and I both received our flu shots and Nicholas got his flu shot and some of his regular (we will go back for a flu booster for him and the rest of his others next month) and Ella got some 4-year old boosters and a blood prick for hemoglobin check at the Dr. a couple of weeks ago when we had a double Pediatrician visit for Gabriella's four year old check-up and Nicholas's six-month check-up. Whew! What a run-on sentence.

We are always amused by the crazy things Ella will tell Dr. Clark when she asks her questions. For example what's your favorite thing to eat Dr. Clark asks her. "apples!" she says. Big fat lie. Apples tend to be one of those sensory issues that the wet slimy feel will keep her from eating on most attempts to have her eat apples....I mean apples are her favorite food! I could go on and on but won't. On to more interesting things. Ella measured in at a strong 44" and 40 pounds. She was the talk of the office. The debate was whether she will be WNBA or Super Model. I told them I would prefer a WNBA player that looked like a super model :-). By the way, in case you don't know, 44" for age four is TALL! Way off the chart tall! She seems to keep tracking the same in height and not dropping off so we expect a minimum of a six footer! It will be strange to have her look down at me someday.

As for the boy, well David is hoping his sister won't be taller than him in the future. Right now at 6 months he is where she was at 4 months for both height and weight. However, we're NOT comparing them, right?! And he's such a dashingly handsome, sweet, healthy with rolls little boy who cares about percentiles?

Enjoy the sad bandage photos and Nicholas swinging for the first time on his 6 month birthday!