Makael is 2!

We had a pretty laid back celebration for Makael this year.  A couple of balloons, some presents, and a cupcake with a candle.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to find the candles I could have sworn I had in my kitchen, so we had to reuse his candle from last year...which is a huge #1. He may wonder why it looks like he turned one twice when he looks back at pictures, but I'll just let him know he didn't care one bit on the actual day.  He was fascinated by the attention, presents, and the single lit candle on top of his cupcake.  Definitely enjoyed the whole event much more than his first birthday.  I still can't believe he's two!

He had his two year check up this morning. The little peanut will NOT move up in his percentile for weight! He's in the 4th percentile for weight, 30th for height, and above average in everything else developmentally. I guess I don't need to worry too much. His pediatrician still wants me to bring him in for weight checks every three to six months just to keep on eye on him though.  He wasn't too cooperative during his appointment though.  He knows all too well what goes on in that office, and he doesn't forget, no matter how many stickers they give him! So our appointments was pretty quick, and thankfully there were no shots this time.

We spent the rest of the morning at the mall killing time until Gemma got out of preschool.  He's pretty obsessed with the carousel (horsies) so we made a pit stop there before going to buy him some new shoes.  He got his first pair of light up tennis shoes!  He wore them out of the store, and made the entire trek back to the car staring at his feet and saying, "a light", over and over and over...

A few pictures of his 2nd birthday :)

Our first week

What a week! It's been a fun one, but a busy one. Gemma and Makael are officially sharing a bedroom now. We decided to get bunk beds for Makael's room for the purpose of having an extra bed for Gemma when guests were staying in her room. I knew we would get a lot of good use out of bunk beds, but I had no idea how excited Gemma would be about them.  So, per Gemma's request, we decided to let them share a room.  Last weekend the bedroom got a full make over.  I cleaned out anything and everything that Makael didn't need, painted the room, took out all of his furniture, went through both of their clothes, put the bunk bed together with David, and put the room back together (Gemma's things included).
It has been somewhat of a transition at bed time, but other than that, I love that they're sharing a room. They spend a lot of time in there playing together, and Makael especially likes climbing up and down... pretty sure he's quicker at it than Gemma.  I love walking in to kiss them good night and having them both there.

Playing on the top bunk.

Gemma had her first day of preschool last Tuesday. I was a little emotional the night before, but Gemma and I were both troopers on the first day.  No tears!  She loved it!  After I picked her up, we immediately headed to dance class.  She did remarkably well with such a long day, but then fell asleep on our bedroom floor at 3:30 in the afternoon.  David and I both tried really hard to wake her up a couple of times, but it just wasn't going to happen.  So we put her to bed and hoped she wouldn't be up all night from sleeping all afternoon.  Not an issue...she didn't wake up until 7:00 a.m. the next day!! She wasn't the only one worn out... Makael fell asleep at 5:30, and I was in bed by 8:00.  We're clearly rookies at this whole preschool thing.
Her second day went well too.  She got to be the "leader" for the day and boy was she excited about it (imagine that). She got to be the leader for various activities, and the rest of her classmates got to line up behind her anytime they were asked to stand in a line.  And guess what? The leader for the day also gets to provide snacks for the rest of the class. How nice to include the parents right? The pressure!! I think we did okay though. :)

I promise she was excited...just not so much about all the pictures.

Hugs on her first day :)

Walking in like a big girl.

I don't know how Makael feels about one on one time with me for two whole mornings a week, but I'm loving it.  I forgot how much you can get done with just one kid!  We've been spending our time running errands and going to the park. We took advantage of our time last Thursday by heading to the jumpy toys at the mall and then getting his first hair cut! Boy was I nervous about it.  He doesn't sit still for me when all I'm doing is brushing out his hair after a bath. How on earth was he going to sit still for a complete stranger while they CUT his hair? Thankfully, after he refused to let the nice lady put the plastic cover over our shoulders, he did great.  He sat really still and squeezed his eyes closed the whole time.  I was so relieved when it was over and done with, and so proud of how well he did, that I didn't even care that we walked out of the mall COVERED in hair.  Those plastic covers really are useful!

So handsome!

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Gemma has taught herself how to write her name, so she spends most of her time these days making pictures or letters for people and including her name as often as she can.  She's also super into organizing things.  Several times this week I've walked into a room and found things like this...

Meanwhile, Makael has been getting a lot of practice drinking out of the water fountain while waiting for Gemma to get out of dance class.

I think he's also a little jealous that he doesn't get to go to school too...

That's it four our first week of preschool. I'm loving our new routine!