Apple Picking

Last year we took a trip to Apple Hill and had so much fun apple picking, we couldn't wait to do it again this year. We've been studying apples all month in preschool - talking about them, coloring them, tasting them - so I was really excited to go. This time, we headed north to Watsonville to Clearview Orchards, an organic family-run apple farm.

Since we were by the coast, it was overcast and drizzling when we got there but we went ahead and started picking anyway. There were several varieties to choose from, but we went straight for the fujis. They were super sweet and crispy.

There were enough low-hanging apples for me to pick myself, although it was hard to find apples that didn't have any brown spots or bruises on them. Each person was allowed to sample one apple on the spot, so then I became more focused on eating my apple than on picking them!

After filling our bag, we went back to the farm stand for a refreshing apple popsicle and a ride on the swing. We also met Jethro, the resident turtle. I wonder if he gets sick of eating apples all the time.

I loved apple picking and have been eating an apple a day since we went! We're loving this new fall tradition!

Tutu School

A few weeks ago I took Kaitlyn to her first dance class and it turned out to be a disaster. I was bummed, but hoped that she would still give dance classes another try (after all, I just spent forty bucks on her ballet slippers and leotard). Another mom then told me about Tutu School in Redwood City, which sounded more up Kaitlyn's alley, so we went to check it out.

The studio is really cute and looks like everything a little girl would imagine about being a ballerina. It's a very calm environment and they play classical music and use cute props like flowers, fairy wands, scarves and bubbles. They also role play, have story time, and a coloring activity at each class. It seemed much less intimidating than other dance studios, and I was able to convince Kaitlyn to try it out.

First class. She's enjoying it!

She had a really good time, so I signed her up for the rest of the month.

Here they are acting out a scene from Cinderella.

Unfortunately, although Kaitlyn enjoyed the classes, she just didn't like them enough and after the first few weeks she asked to stop going. One week she even refused to put on her ballet shoes and made me sit with her on the dance floor for the entire class. I didn't want to force her if she didn't love it. Add to that the 45 minute commute home after class, it just wasn't worth all the effort, so I discontinued our membership. 

Four-year-olds can be really fickle. I guess my fantasy of having a little ballerina and watching her perform in a recital won't become a reality, at least not this year. At least we tried.

Miniature Golf

We were hanging out at Poh poh and Goong goong's house over the weekend with nothing to do so Mommy and Daddy decided to take me to the nearby miniature golf course. It was my first time playing golf! I'm an impatient person so once I figured out the concept of the game, I didn't care to learn any technique and just went after the ball, trying to sweep it into the hole with my club.

It was really hot outside so we didn't make it through all eighteen holes. I had fun, but the best part happened at the game area inside. There was one game where I simply had to spin a wheel to win tickets. I spun and hit the "Monster Jackpot" - 1000 tickets! I've never won a Monster Jackpot before in my life (nor have Mommy or Daddy)! We had so many tickets it took us forever to figure out what to redeem them for. We ended up leaving with a bunch of random toys and candy. I'll never forget my first miniature golf outing when "I won all the prizes."

So many tickets! And this was just half of them! 

Six Month Update

Wow, hard to believe that half the year has gone by already. It's amazing how quickly I am growing!

Stats: 
I weigh 16 lbs, 6 oz. and measure 26 inches long! I dropped to the 27th percentile for weight (vs. 50th percentile two months ago) and remain in the 25th percentile for height. I'm still in size 2 diapers but will move up as soon as we get through this giant box of diapers that Amazon sent. It seems like I went through a sudden growth spurt because one day, all of my 0-6 month clothes got tight on me! It's time to start wearing larger sizes.

Sleep:
I'm officially sharing a room with my sister now, as she finally moved back to sleeping in her own bed. I usually go down first at around 7:30pm, and then she follows about a half hour later (she does her bedtime stories and routine in Mommy and Daddy's room so they don't disturb me). So far it's been working out although there is room for improvement as I still wake up about twice a night. If I weren't sharing a room with Kaitlyn, I would probably be forced to cry it out to eliminate at least one feeding. But since we don't want to wake her up, Mommy will come and get me within minutes of every waking and nurse me back to sleep.

When the Tans came to visit over Labor Day weekend I was moved to the Pack n' Play in Mommy and Daddy's closet and I never slept so well! I even took three hour naps in there! Since then, I have been napping much better in my crib and less so in the car seat. I usually take a huge nap in the morning and then two smaller naps in the afternoon.

Developments:

The biggest development this month is that I have started trying to crawl! I will lie on my tummy and do mini push-ups, then stick my butt up so that I'm on all fours. Then I'll lunge forward and backward, but haven't figured out how to actually move anywhere yet. I am also very close to sitting up by myself. If I am positioned carefully I can sit and balance for a few seconds. But it hurts when I fall backward and bump my head on the floor!

Just like last month I want to put everything in my mouth. During bath time all I want to do is eat the washcloth. When we read stories all I want to do is eat the book. Even when Mommy is holding me I will clench a fistful of her hair and try to eat it! 

I'm also getting a lot more vocal and constantly squealing and shrieking. Mommy is pretty sure that I'm going to be that kid at restaurants and on airplanes that disturbs everyone, and they won't be able to take me anywhere. 

Eating:
I'm still exclusively nursing and feed about 5-6 times a day. I was introduced to rice cereal a few weeks ago, but was more interested in the spoon than the cereal. It got messy and Mommy got lazy, so we stopped for awhile. However I'm definitely showing an interest in eating, so we'll look forward to starting solids this month.

Likes: plush carpet for rolling around and trying to crawl, forward-facing stroller rides, anything I can put into my mouth!

Dislikes: delayed naps and being overtired

It was cute while it lasted

Here is Kaitlyn before her first dance class. She was SO excited!

Unfortunately by the time we got to the dance studio, she had fallen asleep in the car. I had to wake her up to get to class in time, and of course she was grumpy. Once in class, her shyness took over and she refused to participate, even with me sitting next to her, and finally burst into tears. I'll admit it was a little overwhelming for her first class. It wasn't a good experience and she declared that she doesn't want to take dance classes anymore. *Sigh* I guess we'll try again another time.

Butterflies!

A few months ago Kaitlyn started getting really into butterflies and the one thing that she wanted for her birthday was this Insect Lore Live Butterfly Garden. The older class at preschool had one in their classroom and she kept talking about wanting her own butterfly cage. She was so excited when she opened her birthday presents and received exactly what she had asked for. So...it was time to raise our own butterflies!

The butterfly garden included a coupon to order live caterpillars by mail. There were also instructions on what to do with the caterpillars and how to care for them as they became butterflies. I ordered the caterpillars online and a few days later, our box arrived!

Inside the box was this cup containing five little fuzzy caterpillars and food. I was scared that Kaitlyn might shake or drop the cup, but she was very good at just keeping them on the table and watching the caterpillars eat and crawl around.

They nearly doubled in size over the next few days and by the end of the week, just as the instructions described, they each crawled to the top of the cup and hung upside-down.

After a few more days they had hardened and formed into chrysalides.

We were then instructed to take the paper from the top of the cup with the chrysalides hanging and attach it to the side of the butterfly garden. Then it was time to wait...

After another week I woke up and looked into the garden to find that a butterfly had emerged! It was pretty exciting, even for an adult (at least for me). I wish I could have actually seen the butterflies emerge from the chrysalides, but I kept missing it. There were two times when I literally turned my back for a few minutes and when I turned around, they had already hatched!

Butterfly #2 hatched from the top left chrysalis as I was in the kitchen getting a cup of coffee. It happened that quickly.

Kaitlyn really liked seeing the butterflies in her cage and had fun gathering flowers and sprinkling them with sugar water to feed them. We kept them in the cage and observed them for about a week. They were really fun to watch and I'll admit that for most of the time, I was probably more interested than Kaitlyn was. 

Finally, it was time to set them free. Alex and Kieran happened to be visiting at the same time so they got to do it together. We stuck pieces of watermelon on some skewers to coax the butterflies out and so we could see them up close. I honestly thought the butterflies would fly away after a few seconds but they really enjoyed the watermelon and stuck around for a while.

Seriously, they did not want to fly away.

One landed on Kaitlyn's shirt, but she kind of freaked out and made me take it off before I could take pictures. 

Colin got in on the action too.

Any time now...

Eventually, even the kids got bored so we transferred the last two butterflies to a flower bush and left them there to fly away on their own.

Overall, it was a really fun project for kids (and grownups) of all ages. It took some patience, but in the end it was worth it to see the caterpillars transform and to set the butterflies free. I'm really glad Kaitlyn took an interest in this - I hope she enjoyed it as much as I did!