San Diego Zoo

Another post that is months late, but I have some time to fill up while we are without internet, so I am trying to schedule as many posts from our California trip as I can.  It was wonderful to visit the San Diego Zoo and see so many new animals.  Panda bears, polar bears and even a hippotamus.  Finley especially loved the hippos, there was an adorable baby hippo and then the mommy hippo pooped right in front of us and that made Finley laugh so much.  We bought her a stuffed hippo at the end of the trip who we named Diego.  Diego is still really high on her list as far as her stuffed animals go.

Most Adorable Video of Max

School Days!

Children's Museum with Sarah and Max

Last Friday after school we headed over to the Children's Museum to have some play time in the Mexico portion of the museum.  It is such a nice and quiet part of the museum, with all the fun of the Kidtropolis without the crowds.  The three kids had the best time playing with the cash register.  They took turns ringing things up for over a half hour, it was really amazing how they were captivated by it.  The cutest part of the afternoon was watching Max get so excited when the cash register drawer opened, it was pure joy.  Speaking of Max, Finley has been having Max carry her lunch box after school whenever we go home with him.  She has told him so many times, now he just asks to carry her lunch box when school is over.  She has him well trained!

Finley had off school yesterday for Columbus Day and kept asking all day if she got to go back to school.  She would ask what day it was, I would tell her Monday and then she would ask when she was going to school again.  I think she really misses it!

Back Dancing with Mr. Carlos

Finley made her return to dance with Mr. Carlos and her friend Ava Kate today. The best part about the new dance class is that there is a tap portion as well as the ballet instruction. Finley loved picking out new tap shoes and she didn't want to take them off. She looked adorable tapping around the room, she did really great with it. It was nice to be with Ava Kate again, Finley had a really great time in class. Now if her dance studio can get their studio space worked out, I will really be happy.

Open House at Finley's School

This past week Finley's school hosted an open house. Clifton and I got to spend an hour or so with Finley's teachers to learn what she did in a typical school day. Miss Juliana and Miss Jackie had the kids working with Play Dough while they went over what the kids did each day of the week; Motor Skills, Mini-Gym, and Musikgarten. Finley is certainly busy at school. We also sat in a circle with all the kids and learned about the songs they sing to start the day. After that, we met with Miss Brandi in the library to talk about the music portion of school. Finley just loves school, which is fantastic. And on Friday Finley actually napped at school, which made for a much happier Finley that afternoon. Progress!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

I made cookies and cream cheesecakes for our girls' trip to Galveston this past weekend.  I had extra and since Finley had helped me make them, I brought the extra home to give to her.  She ate a great dinner, so she was rewarded with a cheesecake.  She didn't even wait for Clifton to cut up her cheesecake, she stuck her fork in it and started eating.  Smart cookie!

Visiting the Zoo with Joe

Joe has been a friend of Finley from her baby days.  Joe was her first ever playdate.  I cannot believe that both of them have gotten so big.  On Sunday afternoon, I picked up Joe for an afternoon at the zoo.  I was worried about having two mobile kids at the zoo, but it ended up being much easier than I thought.  The two of them were content to hold hands with each other all over the zoo.  We visited the giraffes first, per Finley's request.  It was so cute to watch Finley and Joe interact with each other.    Finley was following him around like a little puppy, sometimes she was even chasing him.  And as always, a car ride with two kids is always entertaining.  You get a running commentary of everything outside their windows....helicopters, taxis, fire engines, etc...  Finley really enjoyed her visit to the zoo with Joe and can't wait to visit with him again soon.

Teacups Revisited

It's not as good as her first teacups video, but she is still pretty cute.

Happy Birthday, Grammy!

Sous Chef

Finley is such a good helper!  I am going on a girl's trip to Galveston this weekend and she helped me make the Oreo Cheescake Cups.  The funniest part was I offerred her an Oreo to snack on and all she wanted was a banana.  After she finished the banana, she was happy to eat a cookie.  I was amazed that she didn't even ask to eat a cookie when she was preparing the cupcake pans for me.  I think I would have snuck a cookie!  Today was our fourth day without a nap, neither at school or at home.  I am not sure what is going on, because she is exhausted.  Last night she started getting ready for bed at 6:30 pm.  School is wearing her out.  Hopefully this is just a phase and next week we are back on track. 

First Roller Coaster

Sorry for the lack of posting lately, we have been SO busy with school, swim lessons, gymnastics and dance class that we really haven't done anything else but school, swim lessons, gymnastics and dance class. So now seems the time to finally transfer the videos and pictures over from my old computer to my new one from our California trip. Yes, I realize the trip was in June, but right after the trip I got my new laptop and these pictures didn't make the transfer over. This was Finley's first ever roller coaster ride. She rode Gadget's Go-Coaster in Mickey's Toontown.

Happy Birthday, Lia!

Another weekend, another birthday party.  Lia from our playgroup is turning three and had her party at the Children's Museum, which is super convenient for us.  Finley had fun playing all throughout the museum until the party started.  The party was really fun, all the kids had a blast chasing the balloons around.  We were in the party room a little longer than expected since Pizza Hut had thought the order was for 11:30 PM instead of lunch time.  Um, really Pizza Hut?  A delivery to the Children's Museum in the middle of the night?!?!  Luckily, the kids were totally happy running around the room and snacking on fruit.  There were cupcakes as well, which made it Finley's kind of party.  We were so happy to celebrate Lia's birthday with her!

Gymnastics

Finley has been working very hard in her gymnastics class.  She can do a somersault by herself on the mat now, she doesn't even need the wedge to prop her up.  All the kids somersault across the floor during warm-ups, Finley will do one somersault and then walk the rest of the way.  She has now advanced to doing a somersault on the balance beam.  That is a huge accomplishment, considering jsut a few short months ago she wouldn't even get on the balance beam.  She loves her coach and there are only two other little girls in her class, so she gets lots of one on one time with Coach Leah.  I got Finley a new leotard, but she wasn't very excited about wearing it.  She still likes her pink leotard best, but it hasn't worn as well as I would have liked.  Finley takes gymnastics right before swimming, which has worked out really well until this week.  Finley has been so tired from school and all her activities and it finally caught up with her.  After no nap on Friday, we went out on the boat on Saturday.  We put her down for nap late, around 4:30 pm, after we got home.  She didn't wake up from her "nap" until 9 am on Sunday morning!  This girl likes her sleep (just like her daddy.)  On Tuesday after gymnastics class, she was a mess in swim lessons.  She cried for the first 10 minutes.  Poor thing is just worn out.  Does anyone have any tips for getting a toddler to nap at school?  All the other kids in her class nap.  Her teacher says she will lay down, but never actually falls asleep.  We talk about it all the time, but she flat our refuses to sleep, which means she comes home tired and then takes a late nap at home.  I am sure we will get on track soon!

Dance Class

Finley started dance class at her new school last week. King's Dance still hasn't found a permanent dance space and there wasn't a good class time for Finley. So we signed up with Houston Metropolitan Dance since it is so close to our house and I have heard great things about it. Finley isn't technically old enough yet, buy only by a few months, so they accepted her on a trial basis. She did great her first and second classes there, she adores her teacher, Miss Kendra. Turns out, our old dance friends are starting a class back with Mr. Carlos at Kings in the same time slot. So there is a little dilemma. Go back to class with Mr. Carlos and Finley's friends or stay with the new class?

On a random note, this is the same studio where Auntie Neon took her dance classes when she was a little girl.

Finley's Dream Visit to the Zoo

Last week, we actually had temperatures in the 90s instead of triple digits, so Finley and I headed over to the zoo to spend the day.  We did all of Finley's favorite zoo activities.  We fed the giraffes, rode the carousel and she even got a rhino stuffed animal to take home (she named him Horns.)  Finley loves animals so much, it is so cute to watch her run from place to place.  The cutest part is that she kept asking to go to all the indoor places because she was used to it being so hot outside.  So the reptile house, aquarium and Natural Encounters were all visited, even though we really didn't need a break from the heat.

Pewtunia

We visited Lois, the Houston Museum of Natural Science's corpse flower, last summer when it was getting ready to bloom more than once.  The Houston Zoo's corpse flower, Pewtunia, bloomed on Wednesday morning.  By the time we made it to the zoo that evening, the smell was gone.  Lois took days to open and bloom, which was the exact opposite.  It was 100 degrees, so we didn't stay at the zoo for very long.  I am really ready for some fall temperatures around here. Finley wasn't in the best of moods, I think she is still getting used to school.  Finley loves to sleep and waking her up for school three days a week hasn't helped things very much.  Especially when she has only napped at school one time. 

Finley Sings

Cute Video with Max

Texans versus Colts

This wasn't Finley's first trip to a Texans game. It wasn't her first time in a suite at Reliant Stadium (or even her second.) It was her first Texans game in a suite and she did amazing. She even got to see the Fighting Texas Aggie Band at halftime that she missed out seeing last week at the Aggie game. Two Texans cheerleaders came to visit the suite, Finley seemed unimpressed. She was impressed by the Texans win and more importantly, the ice cream cart that rolled by in the fourth quarter...helmet sundaes are a toddler favorite.  As long as she spoons the ice cream and M&Ms herself, no help from her mommy or daddy.

Any man who carries your lunch box...

...is a man worth keeping around!

Flowers at School

I believe I was in second or third grade when I did the science experiment involving carnations and food coloring. You know the one where the white carnations become whatever color food coloring you put in their water. Finley did this experiment today in school and was so proud of her yellow flower. It is hard to tell from the picture that it is yellow (and a bit hard to tell in person,) but Finley is already a science super star. The big even at school today was a fire drill. Apparently, Finley was screaming when it went off. I am not surprised at all, seeing as that was here same reaction to the smoke detectors at our house. I wonder how long I will hear about the fire drill for.  She still isn't napping at school, which means it is almost 5 pm here and she is still napping.  This isn't going to work on Monday since she has dance class at 4:15 pm.  I am going to take the plunge and send Bear Friend to school with her, I hope it helps her sleep.

A Visit to the Doctor

I was on the line with the doctor's office at 8:30 am in order to get Finley in as soon as possible since she is still running a fever.  The doctor said her illness is standard with kids who have never been to school before and it was going around: high fever, lasts for days and chest congestion.  Great.  And it is a virus, so there is no easy antibiotic fix for it.  She did draw some blood to check on her white blood cell count since her fever had been so high, but it all checked out and we were sent home with orders to keep on with the Tylenol/Motrin dosing.  We had to skip both gymnastics and swim lessons today, which has made Finley stir crazy.  The doctor's office for two hours just isn't the same as her usual fun activities.

Finley's First Aggie Game

Finley has been to football games before, the Texans, the Cougars and the Cougars some more. She does like to cheer on her Aggies (and the Cougars and the Cougars some more), but hasn't made it to Kyle Field until now. Clifton took her to the game last night, but she didn't make it for very long. She came home from school on Friday a little under the weather. She had a scratchy voice and by the evening, she had a small fever. On Saturday, she went to Grandma's house for an overnight visit and to celebrate Faith's birthday on Sunday. Clifton picked Finley up for the game Sunday afternoon and they headed off to College Station, which is about a 1 1/2 hour drive from here. Finley slept on the drive to the game, so he thought she would be fine. Sadly, her poor little nose was running like crazy and she was not a happy camper. They only made it through the first quarter and she slept the whole drive home. Her fever was up to 102.6 by the time they were back and she was miserable. After some snuggling and medicine, she was off to bed. Early this morning her fever was up to 103.8, more medicine and more sleeping (she is still sleeping now!) Hopefully, she makes a speedy recovery and is able to go to another Aggie game this season. Whoop!
I hope everyone is having a great Labor Day!

Still Loving Swim Lessons

Finley is still loving swim lessons. She has a new teacher, Miss Crystal, since Mr. Cameron is back in school for the fall. We have dropped to one lesson per week since she is in school on Wednesdays now. It is amazing how quiet the pool is now that school is back in session.  Hopefully all her swim lessons will be useful for vacation, we are headed to Nevis for a week of fun in the sun.  Finley already has her bucket, shovel and sand toys to play with.  We also bought her this Sea Window so she can join in the snorkeling fun on vacation.  The hotel has a kids program with the Sea Turtle Conservnacy, which I know she will enjoy. She is super excited to go to the beach (and so am I!)

Just Lounging Around

Finley's First Day of School

I picked Finley up at 2:30 pm and she was so excited about school.  Her teacher gave us her artwork and her daily report.  Finley "ate a lot of lunch", read "The Kissing Hand", did All About Me art and was "Cheerful, happy and played well.'  What a good little girl!  Finley had been taken to the potty three times, but didn't use it.  She was honest with me about it.  We had discussed she would get a treat at home after school was over and she said she didn't need one because she hadn't gone potty.  The teacher said she hadn't napped, she had quiet time, but hadn't slept.  Once we got home, Finley talked all about her day.  She was most excited about going down the slide with Max.  She loves her teachers and couldn't wait to go back.  Meerkat got left at school, which stressed her out a bit, but I explained that Meerkat was going to school and we would bring him home on Wednesday.  She ate a yogurt snack when she got home and then opened a package full of stickers from Grammy and Grandad.  She was tuckered out and went down for a nap, sleeping until nearly 6 pm!  And when she finely did wake up, she was still tired.  We are going to have to get used to this long school day.  Clifton and I gave her "Preschool Day Hooray" as her first day of school book.  We read it last night and it described her day perfectly.  Her elephant nap mat also arrived in the mail and she is excited to take "elephant sleeping bed" to school with her.  Hopefully, she will actually sleep tomorrow.