The Recital

It was the moment they had prepared for all year…a whole lot of hoopla for four dance numbers! It was time for the neighborhood dance class recital. Lexie has been taking dance this year with all her friends in the neighborhood right here in our little community. (It has been nice just to walk across the street to take her to dance every Thursday.) So there are two age groups, and each one performed a ballet piece and a tap piece. It was really cute and Lexie did a great job. She really tried to do the dance herself and not watch her teacher much. And from this photo, you can see that Lexie is old enough to where she wants to get rid of me because something else is going on. (I just wanted one picture of her before the show started, and she wouldn’t smile or sit for it because she was missing out on joining her friends.) The show was cute and all based around “Stars.” Lexie’s teacher says she always did well in class and paid attention. This is her third year in dance, and while it is not the professional company her other studio was, it has been a really fun experience for her. She really likes to dance and has felt bad when she has had to miss it.
We have a bit of Lexie’s little bossy streak captured on video…at the end of her ballet performance, all the kids were supposed to hold a pose and then walk off holding hands in a line. Some of the kids just kind of took off, and we hear her say, “Stop! You’re not supposed to go!” It’s pretty funny!
So as the dancers left the stage it signaled that one more thing is wrapping up, and people we have met this year are moving on. I guess it’s good to know one year of law school and the whole experience we’ve had so far in Omaha is one more chapter completed!

Lexie shows us her stuff!

The dancers perform their tap piece.

Soccer Dude

More giggling than trying to kick a ball, but what do you think a 3-year old does at soccer anyway? Gavin has been trying out his first go at team sports. We signed him up for spring season soccer for 3 and 4-year olds through the YMCA (or, rather, I signed him up. Danny wasn’t sure 3-year olds were ready to play soccer or not.) The first practice and game were a bit rough. Gavin had never played soccer before and he didn’t know why he should chase a ball around a field with a bunch of other kids. Danny tried to practice kicking the ball with him and trying to get it in the goal, but Gavin just wanted to go over to the playground and had no interest in soccer. Well, he has come a long way since that first game, where I was running around on the field with him, holding his hand and directing him. By the second game he wanted to do it all by himself, and was really good at chasing after the ball. He is still pretty small right now, so it is hard to get in there to kick the ball with the bigger kids going after it. But he has a happy attitude during his games now, and looks like he’s enjoying it. I guess that’s really what soccer at 3-years old is all about, right? Just associating it with an enjoyable experience. One day maybe he’ll quicken his tactics and get in there after the ball, but now he is just happy to giggle and run hug his friends on the field.

The 1st day of soccer, March 24: parents helping kids run around on the field. (Danny at left.)

Gavin learning how to kick the ball around on the first day of soccer.

Gavin's soccer team today "The Navy Seals"

Puddle Jumping

This week I have been pretty out of it and haven’t been feeling great…pregnancy does that to you towards the end, right? I am having a lot of contractions and have this pain in my lower abdomen, probably where the baby is putting pressure. My hips are aching again and I am exhausted! I guess I thought I’d have more time before all this happened! (I did go to the doctor to make sure it wasn’t anything serious. They just think I am overdoing it. Surprised?)
Danny has been studying nonstop for his upcoming law school finals, and we haven’t really seen him this week. So Lexie and Gavin have been really bored most of the time…they have been enjoying our large DVD collection! Today was a beautiful day though and they spent most of it outside, and the neighborhood kids were all out enjoying the weather as it kept warming up throughout the day. We had errands to run, so I wouldn’t let Lexie and Gavin get in the water fight that was going on outside earlier in the day. But after dinner, I spied the kids dipping their toes in this giant puddle that had formed from the water fight. I decided that since it was time for a bath anyway, they should go “seize the puddle” and enjoy it. They were both pretty hesitant that I thought it was okay! It ended up being a fun way to end a nice day.

Here is Danny, studying like mad! Finals are so long and hard, we wish him good luck!

As you can see, the mud puddle is everywhere! (I am going to name Lexie's pink pants the "Mud Pants" because Lexie always plays hard outside in them and gets them covered with mud.)

The Things Kids Say
Today while we were running errands, I promised the kids they could have a treat. Gavin wanted chocolate chip cookies and Lexie wanted Vanilla Wafers, and I was trying to get them to both agree on one item. Finally I just said, “Okay, we’ll get them both.” After we left Target, Lexie was quite enjoying her Vanilla Wafers and said, “You’re the best mom in the whole wide world!” It made me smile! (I just have to give them a little bribe, right?) She later asked how big the world is. She has been trying to figure this out for days. A couple of days ago she said giants are bigger than the world, but I asked her where giants lived then. She asked how big it is, and I said the earth is thousands of miles around. She is still working on how it all makes sense. She said today that there is a “billion kazillion people in the world.” I told her there are not quite that many. (A “billion kazillion” is the number she uses to quantify just about everything.) She then said, “Dad can count to a hundred. A billion kazillion is right after that.” Her logic is fabulous!
I have to mention something funny Gavin said when I was getting him out of the tub. I always put lotion on them because we all have dry skin, and I can’t bend over to apply it anymore because of my big preggo belly. So I asked Gavin to lift one leg at a time so I could reach them to rub lotion on. He had a hard time standing on one leg and said, “Mom! I’m not a tree!” I guess I thought it was funny because it was so unexpected!

Accomplishment for the Week
Gavin is potty trained! I have been hesitant to move Gavin to big-boy underwear because I didn’t want to clean up gross messes. But Monday we started the underpants, and he only had one accident each day for 3 or 4 days! Today and yesterday he didn’t have any at all. It was so much easier with him than with Lexie, I think because all of Gavin’s friends are potty trained, he is now 3 and old enough to get it, and he is super independent and wants to do everything himself. He has been playing outside a lot this week, and would still come in and go potty every couple of hours. Today’s errands were the real test, to see if he would still keep them dry even though we were out and about. He told me right when he needed to go! “Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo! Gavin went potty!” I’ll sing our potty-training song! He loves wearing big-boy underwear and being “big.”

Spring Break

This past week Lexie has been out of school for Spring Break. We have tried to do lots of fun activities to keep the kids entertained. We have a membership to the Henry Doorly Zoo here in Omaha, and of course we took a trip to check out the animals. The zoo is so big that we try to see different things each time, and Tuesday we checked out the amazing all-indoor rainforest, as well as giraffes, zebras, the aquarium, and “Kingdoms of the Night” where the alligators are (Gavin’s favorite.) I didn’t take any pictures this week, because we have been so many times and taken pictures in the past! The kids love the zoo and animals, and it is such a good way to expend some energy.
Wednesday we wanted to go swimming at the YMCA (where we just got a membership last month.) The pool downtown here was closed that day, so we ended up driving out to the Sarpy County YMCA in Papillion (20 minutes away,) that has a shallow entry area. It is a fairly new building and the kids now have a new favorite place to go swim. Lexie is used to jumping in with her buckle-on flotation device to buoy her up…so this time she thought she was an expert swimmer without it and just started taking off into the deeper area. Despite her paddling, she started to sink. She spluttered for a second before I grabbed her and we decided we still need flotation belts for a while. Lexie and Gavin both got swim goggles for their birthdays, and it gives them new courageousness in the water. Gavin likes to play “Whale” or “Sea Monster” and have me support his belly and have him surf the water while he dips his face under to blow bubbles and then come up to take a breath, then keep doing that like he is on a wave. Yesterday was the last swimming lesson for us. Lexie is moving up one class and Gavin is moving out of the Parent-Tot class and into the first level swimmer with a teacher. His teacher told Danny a couple of weeks ago that Gavin was ready for the next level and “had no fear.” We have had a lot of fun swimming for the last couple of months indoors. It gives us a great way to go play while it’s cold outside. I signed the kids up for one more 6-week session of swimming lessons…it will end the last Saturday in May, and then we won’t start up again for a while until after baby brother is born!
And the rest of the week we have spent running around doing lots of other activities…never a dull (or relaxing) moment! We are glad there are so many friends and activities around!

The kids and I in the rain forest last summer at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha.

Top: The sharks swim over our heads in the walk-through aquarium tunnel.

Mr. Independent

So Gavin has changed. I know, you wouldn’t think that in the two weeks that he has been three years old that he has changed… But he is starting to act like a mini-teenager. He is quite defiant all of a sudden, and everything I ask him to do he either says no or disagrees with me on whatever I say to him. He is hit and miss with potty training, and doing a lot better but not anxious to be all there yet. And he wants to do everything himself. He has been saying prayers all by himself for two weeks, with no help on words from us. (I must say, they are very cute prayers!) And he must always pick out his own clothes, especially the pants. His favorite are these khaki-green pants, he much prefers those over blue jeans. And if I pick out the shirt, it’s not good enough, he has to find a different one. Well, I miss my “Agreeable Gavin,” but I think this is just a phase and he might come back in a few months to a year… as for now, I hope we can let Gavin grow and gain his independence in his own way. (I just hope he can stop yelling at us all!)

Gavin was trying to put on his pajamas by himself tonight, and insisted the pants were supposed to go on his head, but struggled to find the head hole for quite a while! (It was really amusing to watch.)

An Ode to Pregnancy

I am officially in the third trimester of my third pregnancy: 28 weeks! Only 12 more to go, and yet that still is quite a stretch. No, we don’t have any names picked out yet, we will probably have to see what he looks like to name him. But I have been thinking about being pregnant and all of the things I have gone through so far, so I thought I should commemorate with a note, maybe even a poem…

Pregnancy
This way I feel, what could it be?
My head is swimming, I’ve got to pee,
I am so very tired all of the time,
Exhausted’s more like it, I fall asleep on a dime.
My belly is stretching, what are these marks?
They itch…and in places my skin’s turning dark!
And then there’s the hair, it’s growing so fast
My mane is so thick, not to mention the last
Places I want hair to grow in, but it has, oh, well.
I need to eat all day long or shaky I feel!
You would think I should not be surprised by all this,
After all this is the third time I’ve found things amiss.
I’m pregnant! Not quite glowing, I’d say,
I sweat and I’m hot for most of the day.
I get winded going up and down stairs
I can’t get out of reclining chairs,
Bending over makes me feel like I’ll puke
(And hopefully I won’t, it’s not quite a fluke.)
My hips, oh how achy! I waddle walk now
And the swelling is making me look like a cow.
I’ve gained lots of weight, and have more to put on,
I feel like a blimp with maternity clothes on.
Now I need to have blood and urine tests to boot
Do you think I am making this all up to be cute?
Why we women do this knowingly, I can’t quite say
But I only offer my best reasons, if I may:
The very first time you hear that heartbeat,
Or how the tiniest kick is a flutter of feet,
And you see that small image on ultrasound and know
There is a child inside, starting to grow.
It is sometime this feeling takes root in your heart
And you know that this feeling is only the start.
Soon this child will enter this world so new
And I will stare in his eyes and remember how true
That it is all worth it, to bring him here
My baby, my child, I love you, my dear.

Here I am today, 28 weeks pregnant!