Church Camp ~ Pirates, Princesses, and Fairy Tales

Last week the kids had church camp.  The theme was “Pirates, Princesses, and Fairy Tales.”  Next week is another church camp on “Beach and Ocean Fun” and I know the kids are going to be really excited.  The kids loved getting to spend some time away from home this summer while school is out.  Here’s what the kids’ camp teacher had to say about them in some notes at the end of the week:

To Piper’s Mommy & Daddy – I have really enjoyed getting to know Piper this week :) !  She is such a talker and has enjoyed camp, and has really enjoyed puzzles too!  I love hearing her say “I need help!”  :)  She is doing great on the potty – keep up the great work and I will see you in a couple weeks! 

To Henry’s Mommy & Daddy – What a sweet soft spoken boy!  Henry has been so much fun to have this week – I am glad that we only had a few tears initially :) !  He had a great time – and is doing so good on the potty.  What a big boy!  I can’t wait to see you at camp in a few weeks!

To Rosemary’s Mommy & Daddy – Rosemary has such a sweet smile – she has been such a joy to have this week :) !  She really enjoyed sitting with Piper and working on puzzles – and also was the first to check on her friends!  Keep up the great work on teh potty – you are doing awesome :) !

The kids had a great time, and brought home lots of loot that they made during the week.  The favorite were some magic wands that Piper and Rosemary made. 

But I eventually had to take the magic wands away.  See, the kids started using them to turn each other into frogs and bunnies.  Sometimes one of them didn’t want to be a frog or bunny, and they were really upset when they all of the sudden became a frog or bunny and the person holding the magic wand refused to reverse things.  After much screaming and crying, I took away the magic wands and turned everyone back into little boys and girls.  Problem solved – for now!

Three-Year Check-Up

Today we had the kids’ three-year check-up.  I think it went really well.  No one had ear infections, and everyone was declared healthy!  Henry was particularly funny.  Each time the doctor tried to examine Henry, Henry insisted that it was Piper or Rosemary’s turn, which was quite entertaining.

The biggest news is the kids’ height and weight changes.  We’ve always kept a close eye on the kids’ growth and, consequently, the food they eat.  I think it’s probably just how one reacts to having three really small babies.  Basically, we had a 4-pounder, a 3-pounder, and an almost-2-pounder when the kids were born.  For a while we looked at the growth charts and developmental milestones based on two ages -- the kids’ actual age (how old they really are) versus their adjusted age (how old they would be had they been born at their due date).  By around 18 months, the doctors expect that they should be mostly caught up and adjusted age should be disregarded.  Our kids have been slowly, but surely, moving up their curves on the growth chart.  Rosemary was 2 before she hit the growth chart (meaning she was above the 3rd percentile for anything other than head circumference), but she is definitely moving up.

Based on last year’s statistics, the kids have fallen on the growth chart for height.  But they’ve gone up the chart for weight!  The way I see it, the only thing that we can really attempt to control is weight, and that’s going well.  The kids certainly have the genes to be not-so-tall anyway.

So, without further ado, here are the stats from today:

Piper: 
35 inches tall (10th percentile)
30 pounds (50th percentile)

Henry:
36 1/4 inches tall (25th percentile)
29 pounds (25th percentile)

Rosemary:
34 inches tall (3rd percentile)
27 pounds (25th percentile)

Now, according to the pediatrician, Rosemary’s 34 inches puts her in the 3rd percentile range.  I’m not saying that’s not right, but I saw that chart.  It only went down to the 5th percentile and Rosemary was waaaaaaay below that line.  But we’ll go with the 3rd percentile for now!

Their next check-up is when the kids are 4 years old.  If only we could go that long without trips to the pediatrician’s office. . . .

Happy 4th!

I hope you all had a great 4th of July!  We had an amazing weekend.  The last couple of months have been really busy:  packing and vacation, kids’ birthday party, potty training, some big work stuff going on. . . .  And I knew that this weekend could be a laidback weekend – the first in a long time.  I hoped to do some laundry and some cooking, and I did.  I hoped to avoid work, which I’ve almost done.  I was so looking forward to such a great weekend that I just knew something was going to happen to ruin it – for instance a day in the ER.  But, nothing ruined it.  It’s been a great weekend.

We went to our neighborhood pool twice – Saturday and today.  We went to Costco.  We grilled out.  We played in the yard a lot.  We painted toenails.  We took some great naps each day.  I managed to make a dent in the piles of stuff sitting in the kitchen and I think I’ve mostly stayed caught up with laundry.  Sure I forgot to make that breakfast casserole that must be made the night before every single night, and I completely forgot to make the dinner I’d planned for tonight, but we managed.  Mostly, we just had fun being together as a family.

Sunday afternoon I pulled out some red, white, and blue pinwheels that I thought would be a good photography prop the kids would enjoy.  Henry was hilarious.  He kept trying to blow on the pinwheel to get it to spin, but he had a hard time getting the angle just right.

Poor Penelope was not happy about not being able to climb up the slide like the big kids.

All day yesterday Rosemary kept asking to go “pimmin’.”  It took us a while to figure that one out, but she was saying that she wanted to go swimming!  She is definitely our little fish.  Today she had an inflatable ball that she refused to put down.  She will swim by herself, and Piper will a little bit as long as Gary or I are close enough for her to grab.  Henry prefers to play outside of the pool or on the pool steps, but Gary swam off with him today and Henry really enjoyed it.

We stayed at the pool for about two hours, then went back home for a late lunch and baths.  Then the storms set in.  I know that the storms probably disappointed a lot of people and ruined some holiday plans, but I was thrilled to have some storms move in for our afternoon naps.  Unfortunately the electricity went out, but it was only out for about two hours and didn’t get too warm before it came back on.  Perfect napping conditions. 

Gary and I watched some fireworks on the television tonight.  Maybe next year we’ll get everyone out to actually watch the fireworks, but this year we thought the late bedtime would be too much for Penelope to handle. 

Now back to work tomorrow. . . .

Work Phone Call

This past Thursday Miss Sally had to leave early so I came home from work to watch the kids.  A couple of hours in, I got a call from someone at work saying that a client – who I had never spoken to before – needed to talk to someone that afternoon and I was the best person for the call.  Piper and Rosemary were asleep, and Henry was watching television while Penelope played quietly, so I quickly called.

A few minutes into the call, I saw Henry go into the hallway to use his potty.  Not long later, he yelled, “I teetee’d in the potty!”  Henry was not that nearby, so I decided that my client probably didn’t hear him and tried to continue my call.  Then, while standing at the potty with his underwear (or “panties” as he calls them – we’re working on that) around his ankles, Henry yelled, “MAMA!  I teetee’d in the potty!”  I gave him a big smile and held up the teetee treats to let him know that I was on it.

But that wasn’t good enough for Henry.

He started shuffling to me, underwear still around his ankles, yelling, “MAMA!  I teetee’d in the potty!!  I TEETEE’D IN THE POTTY!!  MAMA!!  I TEETEE’D IN THE POTTY!!!!”  At this point he was standing right next to me, and my client on the phone cracked up laughing.  I said, “I’m sorry, but I’m working from home this afternoon . . . and my son just teetee’d in the potty.” 

The list of things that I say that I never thought I’d say on a work call is getting longer and longer. . . .

As an aside, potty training is going extremely well.  In fact, I think we can go so far as to say that the kids ARE potty trained except for naptime and overnight.  We felt confident enough to take them in panties and underwear to Costco today, and last week at church camp we did the same and they just had a few very minor accidents while they were standing in line to use the potty.  There have been several naptimes when Piper or Rosemary wake up dry, so we may be on our way to naptime independence as well.  I’m pretty shocked at how well – and quickly – this has gone.  Fingers crossed this continues.

Partying It Up

The day after the kids’ birthday party, we drove up to Laramy’s second birthday party!  It had an Olivia theme, and my sister-in-law Kimberly did an awesome job with the party.  I especially loved the cake!

The Whole Family at the Birthday Party

Cathy took this photo of us toward the end of the birthday party.

All six of us, looking at the camera, and no one is crying.  A huge success!!!  I absolutely love this photo and know that I will cherish it for years to come.

And this concludes the third birthday party blog posts!  We all had such a great time.  But I am so ready for a nice, boring, three day weekend. . . .