Painting

This morning our electricity went out. We had errands to run, but mommy couldn't get the car out of the garage so we decided to go outside and paint. The weather was perfect, so why not enjoy it!

Well, I think Gregory ended up with more paint on himself than his paper, but they both had a great time. They both seem to love art projects and painting is at the top of their list. Thank goodness for easels and sunny days. Clean up is so much easier when we paint outside! :)

 

Bailey's painting is on the left and Gregory's is on the right.

Firsts

Today we had a couple of firsts!

After running errands this morning we went to the park by our house and both Bailey and Gregory climbed up this ladder type structure all by themselves! It took a few tries before they were confident enough to do it alone, but by the end of our stay they were both going up all by themselves! Whoo hoo!!

Our errand this morning was to buy some nail polish for Bailey. We were celebrating a GREAT following directions day with her physical therapist and she wanted to paint her finger and toe nails as her reward. She picked a light pink shiny polish and I gave her a manicure. Her first manicure! She spent the rest of the day admiring her beautiful nails. What a cutie pie.

Bailey Loves...

 

Bailey is growing up to be a young little lady who loves to be our little "helper bee." She especially loves to help in the kitchen - cooking, setting the table, clearing the dishes, even feeding Gregory when he has troubles. She isn't too keen on cleaning up her toys and often has Gregory do all the work, but we are working on that.

Bailey loves to play with her calico critters. She can only play with them when Gregory takes a nap since there are too many small pieces, but she loves to throw them parties! Has me make party hats and cakes. Sometimes even decorations!

She also enjoys playing with all her small "friends" - animals and people. Our living room gets covered with little toys daily. I need to invent a toy vacuum to clean up after them.

Bailey loves to eat and doesn't really have any favorites. She's starting to get a little picky about the veggies she eats - not crazy about zucchinis at the moment, but she'll still eat the mini zucchinis from the farmer's market. She LOVES noodles and serving herself. I need to watch out when we eat family style since she can't tell when she's full and will continue to serve herself whatever is near her.

She still goes for physical therapy once a week. Her therapist is Kevin and he is contracted through the school district. We go to a motor room at Mauzy where she'll be attending preschool in the fall! She also goes for occupational therapy at the Children's Hospital in Oakland with Nina. We only have two more sessions though. Insurance covers most of her OT, but I don't think they'll be approving any more. We'll miss Nina.

Bailey is going to start summer school next month. I'm hoping this will make for an easy transition into preschool. We'll see. She talks about going to school quite often and seems to be looking forward to it. For a while she kept telling me she was going to school with her cousin Emma, but I think she is now realizing she'll be going alone.

I think that's about it for our Bailey update. She still follows her daddy around like a shadow. She tells him he's her sweetie pie and he tells her she's his sweetie pie too.

Gregory Loves...

Gregory is growing up so quickly. I can't believe he's already 20 months old. He definitely isn't a baby anymore. He wants to do everything on his own. Including the things he can't! He is starting to give up his nap, but I'm fighting him on this one. If he doesn't take a nap we have a rough time between 4pm and 7pm!

Gregory loves ~ his pull toys and any toy that sings, moves, dances and/or makes noise. Clark hates them all. He tells Gregory they have to go to sleep when he gets home. He also loves to spend time outside.

He's starting to get picky about what he eats. LOVES miso soup with tofu. Actually he loves anything with tofu. Likes bread, all fruits and slurping up noodles. :) We're trying to get him evaluated for Speech and Language since he isn't talking much. Unfortunately they are booked for the next 4 months! I'm looking into getting him evaluated through the Regional Center now. A lot can happen in 4 months! Actually, I'm not too concerned. Bailey didn't talk until she was two, so we have time before I need to worry.

We found out Gregory is allergic to peanuts. Apparently quite allergic. Normal is below .35 and he's 11. something. But his pediatrician tells me he has seen worse so we'll see... He has never had peanuts so we don't know what type of reaction he'll have if he ever gets his hands on some.

Basically he's a heathy, strong, adventurous kid.

Lindsay Wildlife Museum

This morning we decided to go to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum in Walnut Creek. We go there all the time since we get in free with our zoo membership. It's a great place to take young kids since they can stand right next to the glass and really see the animals up close. There isn't much to see, but it keeps them busy for an hour or so. Bailey loves to see the rat. She actually likes to pet him, but this time we were only able to watch him in his cage. When they decide they are ready to leave, we go to the park behind the museum to play on the play structures. This time they had a new train slide they both had fun playing on. They finally will go down a slide again! Clark traumatized them by sending them down that water slide at Paradise Pier!


They love to just push all the buttons in the place.

Gregory looking at the frog and salamander. 
Actually, he's looking at the lady who just moved
the frog that was sitting right in front of him.



Bailey looking at the iguanas.




Playing at the park.



Blowing dandelions...



...making wishes...



Going home...

...actually,
we're waiting for daddy to get his burrito!