Grey Update

It has been forever since I've updated on Greydon.  So here are a bunch of random things about him.  He is in love with trucks, babies and lipstick.  If he hears anything that sounds like a truck he goes running for the window.  He could watch the garbage truck all day.  When the garbage man comes Greydon wants to be outside, sitting on the driveway and waving.  He also loves to look at his car and truck books.  When the Cars 2 movie previews come on the TV he starts squealing in excitement.  Greydon also loves babies but not dolls, he loves the real babies, it's hard to keep him away from them sometimes.  And last he has a love for lipstick, I think he gets this from his sister.  He loves anything that resembles lipstick so usually I just give him chap stick to keep him happy.

 Poor kid got stuck playing beauty parlor with his sister, but from the look on his face he was having a good time. 

Greydon is already showing signs of being very opinionated and wanting things a certain way.  He likes to pick snacks out on his own and hates sitting in his high chair and hates being in his car seat. He gets so upset and can throw quite the tantrum if I don't let him have something that he wants. 

Greydon is still such a great sleeper and sleeps at least 12 hours at night and then takes a 3+ hour nap in the afternoon and usually doesn't make a peep when he wakes up, he'll just hang out in his crib until we come in to get him.  I think he likes being in his crib because he knows it's the only place he gets his binky. 

Greydon loves being outside and thank goodness for our backyard, I can just let him out there to play with the water and it keeps him happy and content for a while.  He also loves swimming and going to the pool.  He mostly just plays on the steps and doesn't try to venture into deeper water but he does love when I take him out to swim and has no fear of the water he even lets me dunk his head under.

Greydon is talking up a storm right now, he pretty much repeats everything we say to him and has begun to put two and three word sentences together.  The other day I told him the Danimals were all gone and then later that day we went grocery shopping and as we walked into the store he said, "animals all gone" as if he was reminding me to buy some more.  It's nice to be able to communicate better with him and understand what he is trying to tell us. 

Greydon loves books and now won't let us put him to bed until he's gone into Leila's room for story time before bed.  And he wants several books in his crib with him at night, I think he looks at them in the morning before we come in to get him up. 

Greydon is a major climber.  It drives me absolutely crazy.  Every time I turn around he is on top of something.  I have found him on top of the kitchen and bathroom counters, on bookcases, tables, chairs, toys and the latest is the toy kitchen.  He knows how to push the kitchen chairs around and then use them to climb up on whatever he wants.  Luckily he hasn't tried to climb out of his crib and I hope it stays that way for a while. 

(This about gave me a heart attack)

And finally one of my favorite things about Greydon is how cuddly and loving he is.  He loves to give hugs and kisses and is always so concerned if someone is upset.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Camping at Lee's Canyon

Last Wednesday we decided to go camping.  Paul had several days off and we wanted to get out of the heat.  I tried to be all packed by the afternoon so that we would be ready to go when Paul got home from studying but of course I was a little behind.  We headed to Lee's canyon which is about 45 minutes away, we unfortunately got pulled over and Paul got a ticket, boo! Leila also had a little bit of a cold and all the mucus running down her throat caused her to gag and throw up in the car.  So our drive took a little bit longer than expected. The campground was completely empty when we got there so it was nice and quiet.  It was already a little chilly when we arrived, so we quickly got camp set up and a fire started. 

We roasted hot dogs for the kids and Paul and I enjoyed tin foil dinners.  Leila for some reason was eating everything in sight.  She ate two hot dogs and then dug into my dinner, which surprisingly she loved.  We then roasted marshmellow and then started getting ready for bed.  We didn't bring the pack n' play for Greydon and just tried to put him to sleep on our bed but he wasn't having any of it.  He kept standing up and bugging Leila.  Leila fell asleep quickly but Greydon ended up sitting on my lap by the fire until about 10 PM.  By this point it was getting really cold and it was freezing unless you were right by the fire or wrapped up in blankets.  We laid Greydon down next to Leila and went to bed.  I was freezing and Greydon kept waking up so finally I pulled him in bed between me and Paul.  Greydon and Leila slept great the rest of the night but I just couldn't get comfortable and froze the rest of the night. 

 We got up bright and early and got another fire started.  Leila said she slept great and was nice and warm.  I somehow forgot our propane for our little stove so we had to make breakfast over the fire.  It turned out great but was just a little bit more difficult to make.  Paul was our great chef and made us pancakes, sausage and eggs.  We hung out for a little while and enjoyed the cool weather and beautiful surroundingsnd then packed up and headed home.  It was a fun camping trip and the kids had a blast.  I hope to make it up there again this summer.



Self Portrait

Leila got a hold of my camera and decided to take some self portraits.  The pictures gave me a good laugh!

Spring dance recital

Leila had her dance recital on May 31st and we couldn't have been more proud of her.  Earlier in the month Leila had her dress rehearsal and it didn't go well.  She didn't want to leave my side, and refused to go out on stage unless I went with her and wanted me to stay by her side through the whole performance but didn't want me to look at her.  So I was a little bit worried about how she would do for the actual performance.  The other things that were stressing me out were her costume and doing her hair.  She has refused to wear leotards for the last couple of months and getting her hair done is all dependent on her mood.  Well the day of the performance came and she was already telling me she wasn't going.  She went swimming that morning and really needed a bath.  So that afternoon when I began to get her ready she had a major melt down.  I decided to take her to the store and let her pick out some makeup to get her excited.  That did the trick, she came home got bathed, let me do her hair and put costume on with no complaint.  It was a miracle!  We got there a little early so we could get decent seats and we did a lot of talking about walking out on stage all by herself. 

(she loved the lip gloss I bought her and spent about 30 minutes just putting it on)

When it was her classes turn I walked her back stage and she started to freak a little.  When the girls went to lineup and all the moms left and I just told her that I had to go.  She kind of freaked so I gave her a few more minutes and then she finally yelled at me to leave.  She walked out on the stage like such a big girl and did her entire dance.  We were so proud of her and so excited for her accomplishment. 

(she is the second from the left, sorry the picture is aweful)

She came off stage just smiling and so excited.  When it was time for her second dance she went back stage easily and just waved and smiled at me as I walked away.  I knew she was proud of herself when she finished and she couldn't stop smiling and telling me how much she loves dance.  Good job Leila girl!

 Leila backstage with her friend Alyssa

 Jazz dance to "Good day Sunshine"

Tap is her favorite to do but she loved dancing to this song and her teacher told me Leila knew the routine better than anyone in her class (so I'm glad she actually did it)

Back stage with her friend Daisy

May

May was a really busy month for us, we had family in town, lots of parties, school stuff, dance stuff and church things but we did manage to have some fun.  So here are a bunch of random photos of some of the stuff we did.

Leila had a princess day at dance class.  She chose to wear her tinkerbell costume, she's on the front row.

 We went to the ice crream festival at the Springs Preserve and ate way too much ice cream and got air brush tatoos.

 We spent a lot of time at the the splash parks

 And a lot of time at the swimming pools

And this is pretty much how we all felt by the time the month was over.  Stay tuned for posts about Leila's dance recital, our new backyard and camping.

Little Graduate

Leila had her preschool graduation last Saturday, May 27th.  She will be going back for another year a preschool but it was fun to hear all the songs and things they've been learning in preschool.  Leila will rarely ever tell me what she learns at school, I usually have to drag information out of her, like who did you sit by, what did you eat for snack, who was the class leader.  Sometimes stuff she has learned will just sneak out in our day-to-day conversations and Paul seems to be able to get more out of her then me.  She has loved school this entire year and all the kids she went with.  She never had a problem going to school and most of the time didn't even want me to walk her in.  I love that her teacher always met her outside with a great big hug.  There were a couple of times I was able to catch her interacting with her preschool class and teacher without her knowing I was there and it made me so proud to see how independent and outgoing she was with her class.  Because when she is with me she is very shy and needy, which brings me to her program.  She told us several times she didn't want to participate in the program and didn't want us to watch her.  When we got there she wouldn't go sit up with the rest of her class and just wanted to be with me.  I finally had to tell her that if she didn't participate in her preschool program she wouldn't be able to participate in wacky Wednesdays with her preschool class this summer.  I felt really mean for punishing her because she was scared but I feel like if she is old enough to participate in preschool she is old enough to partcipate in the program and all that goes along with preschool.  Plus the confidence she gets after she actually does things like this is so wonderful and it makes her so happy.

She finally decided to go sit with her class but wanted me to stay up there with her, I ended up sitting behind the podeum for most of the program but then she finally said I could go sit down.  She just sat there for the first couple of songs but then participated in the rest but I don't think she smiled the whole time.  

 After the program Mrs. Joy recognized each of the children.  She said Leila was her Loving Leila and was always caring and nice to everyone in the class.   She also recieved her progress report and recieved excellent in every category.  At the half year she was still struggling to recognized several numbers and shapes but now she's got it down.  Mrs. Joy also said she could work on her patience, because sometimes she gets a head of her when following directions.  Which is totally Leila, I'm always having to tell her to be patient, she just has a hard time waiting.  We loved  preschool this year and loved Mrs. Joy and can't wait to go back next year. 

I wanted to get some pictures of Leila at the end but she was very anti having her picture taken, she wouldn't even put on the cap and gown and I figured making her do the program was enough pushing for one day so I didn't force the picture idea.