Shasta

The University of Houston Cougars had a special event at the Houston Zoo this past Saturday.  When I started school, I noticed the Shasta cage on campus over my the Hilton School of Hotel and Restaurant Management.  There hadn't been a live cougar in there forever and it was eventually torn down.  This weekend, there officially became a live cougar mascot for the Houston Cougars, Shasta VI.  It is the first boy live cougar we have ever had and he isn't even a year old yet.  His mother was killed by a hunter when he was just 5 weeks old.  He survived on his own in the wild for nearly a week before he was rescued.  He is a gorgeous creature and will live at the Houston Zoo, but there will be a live webcam so you can see Shasta whenever you like and he can have a presence at sporting events.  Finley was excited to ride the cougar on the carousel and make a cougar tail before the ceremony.  Welcome Shasta and go Coogs!

Cheesecake!

Finley had a doctor appointment last week to diagnose the redness between her toes. Turns out, it was exactly what I expected it was, but I was still shocked that my three year old has Athlete's Foot. I assume she picked it up at either swim or gymnastics, maybe even both. The doctor prescribed some medicine and for Finley to wear sandals as often as possible, which won't be a problem now that it is warm. I had a couple of errands to run at the Galleria and decided to get my rings cleaned. While we were waiting for them to be cleaned, I decided to take the good patient out for cheesecake. And she loved it! I know you are very surprised.

Pizza Date

Last week, Max joined us for the day.  Tuesday is Finley's busy day, so they didn't get much chance to play together.  We started at gymnastics, the coaches were nice enough to include Max in the gym, but in a different class from Finley.  After that we shuttled down to swim lessons.  Max did great watching Finley swim, I am sure he was a little bored.  So after all that, we headed over to Center Court Pizza for lunch.  Each kid had 4 pieces of pizza, they were like pizza vacuums.  After that they wanted to dance and play with the hunting video game, which I was less than thrilled with.  We dropped Max off with his mom and Finley got hysterical.  Nearly an hour of crying about Max.  Those two kids...

Pack'n'Play

Finley has outgrown her Pack'n'Play at Grandma's house, but she still fits in her dolls' Pack'n'Play just fine. This is her pretending to sleep in it. The funniest part is that she makes the silliest fake snoring sound while she is 'sleeping.' We are so lucky to have such a good sleeper, tonight will be a week in her big girl bed and she is still doing fantastic. She calls for us to come and get her out in the morning, which is great. She hasn't woken up at all except for the night we tried to go diaper free...that was a bit of a fail.

Big Girl Bed!

Finley finally has her big girl bed. We ordered her mattress on Sunday and it arrived on Monday. She has slept without any issues every night. I am so proud of her. Naps are a different story, she has yet to take one. I told her that she has to stay in her bed until mommy or daddy say it is okay to get out (thanks for the tip Marianne!) and so far that has worked perfectly.

Christmas in March

It has been a very busy year, so busy in fact that we hadn't gotten a chance to exchange Christmas presents amongst the cousins.  This Sunday, the stars aligned and everyone was available to swap gifts.  Finley was so excited to open presents.  She especially loved her pillow pet Mater and Candyland.  After opening gifts, we enjoyed a Chinese lunch.  We all headed to the park where Zac and Josh had a competition jumping off the swings with Aunt Rose, Clifton and I working as judges.  Finley played in her red car, went down the slide and did some swinging herself, with no jumping.  We got back and the kids got into a game of Candyland.

Playdate at Max's

Our playgroup met up this past Thursday for a morning of fun.  The kids feasted on Monkey bread muffins and fruit, and I might have had a muffin or three.  The kids worked off the sugar energy by bouncing like crazy in the bounce house.  The best part was that it was spring break and that meant Izzy's big sister Kate was home from school.  And we had a built in babysitter for the kiddos.  Kate is truly wonderful with the kids and they love playing with her.  Max is especially taken with her, much to Finley's dismay.  The kids were having so much fun, Courtney whipped up lunch and we hung around a bit more.  It was a fantastic way to fill another day of Spring Break.  I am looking forward to a summer filled with playdates!

First Visit to the Dentist

Finley was so excited for her first trip to the dentist.  She already loves going to the doctor, so I was not too worried about the visit with the dentist.  We went to my dentist, Dr. Angie Dinh, for her first visit. Dr. Dinh has been my dentist for nearly seven years, I just love her. Finley was all smiles while we waited to be seen.  The dental hygenist let Finley select what flavor of toothpaste she wanted (blue raspberry) and outfitted her with special sparkly glasses to wear while she got her teeth cleaned.  She said that Finley was the best three year old she had ever seen.  Finley listened well to instructions and was so calm the entire time.  Once Dr. Dinh came in for the exam, Finley was super proud of herself and her clean teeth.  Dr. Dinh said her teeth looked great and we could come back in six months for another cleaning.  We went home with a bag full of toothbrushes, stickers, floss and cards.  Finley was thrilled with her first visit to the dentist and I was relieved that it went so unbelievably well...not to mention I was happy we didn't have to spend the extra money on a pediatric dentist.  Now hopefully my trip to the dentist next week goes as well.

Dinner at Mi Tierra

Whenever we visit San Antonio, there will be a lunch or dinner at Mi Tierra.  Look at baby Finley having dinner fun two and half years ago, she sure has grown.  Finley loves the mariachis and all the lights, same as she did as a baby girl.  She was treated to choosing a cookie from the bakery after dinner, she chose the pink, white and green cookie. Bear friend normally doesn't leave Finley's crib, but since we had a three hour road trip and Finley was such a trooper for it, so bear friend was able to join us for dinner.

Nap Mat Time

Finley has been home this week for spring break and her favorite playtime activity has been to play school. Finley plays Miss Juliana and I am Miss Jackie. We pack our lunches, coordinate playtime, make art and have nap time on Finley's nap mat. It's home this week from school so we could launder it. I am hoping playing nap here will encourage Finley to actually nap during school. It would be so nice to pick up a well rested child. I have even put her nap mat in her crib to hope that she gets used to actually sleeping on it.

Six Flags Fiesta Texas

Even though our day at Six Flags was rained out on Saturday, we were still able to visit for a few hours on Sunday before we had to drive home to Houston. The weather was absolutely perfect and Finley had so much fun riding all sorts of different rides. She was so brave and even rode a couple of rides by herself, but she wanted to ride with Auntie Hodder the most. We got season passes to Six Flags, so it looks like Finley will have more fun at Fiesta Texas and Six Flags Over Texas in Dallas.  I don't think she realized who any of the characters were, it wasn't like meeting Mickey Mouse at Disney World.

Natural Bridge Caverns

Our original plan was to visit Six Flags Fiesta Texas, but the rain and the cold put a halt to that.  Luckily, the Natural Bridge Caverns is always 70 degrees inside.  There are the occasional drips of water, but no rain like in the outdoors.  The caverns were breathtaking, I was really impressed by what we saw.  It was hard to take a good photo inside because of the lighting conditions.  If you are heading to San Antonio for a quick vacation, I highly recommend adding the Natural Bridge Caverns to your itinerary.  It took an hour or two to explore the caverns and Finley really enjoyed herself.  We headed for a pizza lunch afterwards per her request and she napped through the magic show at the hotel.  I think all the climbing in the caverns wore her out.

Animal Show

We headed up to San Antonio this weekend for a visit with Auntie Hodder and to go to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Sadly, the weather had different plans for us. It was rainy and cold on Saturday, so we checked out an animal show at our hotel, the Westin La Cantera. The hotel had all sorts of children friendly activities planned so Finley had fun despite the weather. Her favorite animal was the hedgehog and I have to agree, it was adorable!  There were more activities that we didn't get to take advantage of, the tennis courts were full of bounce houses and there were kid movies played each night out on the lawn.  Hopefully we can visit again soon and have weather that is nicer.

Rodeo Festival

Finley had a Rodeo Festival today at school.  Miss Courtney made her adorable Texas outfit and Finley wore the cowboy hat from Max's birthday party.  The festival was supposed to be outside, but cool weather and the threat of rain moved things indoors. There were wagon rides, a petting zoo, stickers, tattoos, stick horses and all sorts of rodeo themed fun. Finley had so much fun playing with all her friends and participating in the activities.  Such a cute cowgirl!

Here, Fishy, Fishy, Fishy!

 On Thursday, Grammy, Granddad and Finley explored the Houston Aquarium.  Finley was fascinated by the stingrays from her bubbly view and enchanted by the regal White Tigers.  She was sure to take Nemo, who was equally thrilled to swim with his friends, albeit on the wrong side of the glass.  Lunch and fun rides rounded out this delightful day.

We're Home!

Clifton and I have been in Singapore and Bali for the past two weeks. We arrived home on Sunday and were SO happy to see Finley. We were able to Skype with her almost every day we were gone. She had Grammy and Grandad spoiling her here in Houston, so I don't think she missed us terribly much. While we were gone she helped them pick out their new house here in town. It even has a diving board, which Finley is most excited about.  Finley is very excited to show off her swimming skills.