And a good evening to you from the Queen City, where another month is in the books. Plenty to
2/1 - So I was in Vegas on this day, but the girls made the weekend count! JT picked Kaitlyn up from BPS and drove south of the border, arriving at her parents just in time for dinner. They had a good meal and a fun night, and then JT tried a new experiment - putting Bear and the Goose to bed in the same room at the same time. Oh dear reader...it must have been quite the experience... :-)So as the story was related to me, about 5 seconds after both of them laying down, Cora just kept yelling, "Yaya! Yaya!!!! Yaya!!!!!" K came out after about 5 minutes, and then she went back in and tried to lay very still (no dice). Ultimately it took Cora almost 90 minutes to settle, with the net result being Kaitlyn sleeping in JT's room (on the floor on the toddler bed mattress).
2/2 - It was another really good day, complete with parks, sunshine, good food...and The Wizard of Oz! The girls had never seen it, and Kaitlyn LOVED it! I came home from Vegas to find her singing, "We're off to see the Wizard, the wonderful wizard of Oz..." Too cute! They also watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...which was every bit as weird as Jenny and I remembered. Let's just say the girls were far more impressed with Judy Garland than they were with Gene Wilder. :-) But the best news - they slept until after 7 AM on Sunday!
2/3 - The girls went to church with Bob and Jan, and Kaitlyn got to come into the sanctuary for the kids sermon (I think she was the only one :-)). Side note - Kaitlyn LOVES the story of Esther (the "Brave and Beautiful Queen") - she says it's her favorite Bible story at present! Personally, I am THRILLED that my daughter has a favorite Bible story in kindergarten. And what's crazy - when I was a kid, Esther was the first story that I really remembered (it was Easter Sunday at Trinity with Pastor David Hodge). Funny how that works, huh?I got home about 5:30, and the girls were in great spirits. Kaitlyn had brought home a cute craft from school, which listed out her goals for 2019. They are as follows:
1. Ride a bike without training wheels
2. Learn how to jump rope
3. Start reading chapter books
I like the goals, I like the attitude, and I love that she has "written the vision and made it plain." Exciting to see where we go! I am quite confident those goals will be accomplished. :-)
2/4 - So today was a fun one and a special treat for Kaitlyn - sitting in the teacher's chair! On Friday, she'd cashed in $20 Bradford Bucks, earning her the right to sit in the teachers chair all day - the first person to do it! She was very proud of that fact and must have had a blast sitting in Ms. Pate's seat. It was cute at dinner when she talked about how other folks were spending their Bradford Bucks: "Camden is bringing a cuddly friend tomorrow." I love the innocence - it's so sweet and so special. Time slow down!!!
The girls played really good again today, and can I just say I continue to be AMAZED at Cora's vocabulary! So many classic word have been added:1. Cheese stick!
2. Orange (sounds like earring)
3. All done, mama!
4. More milk, please!
5. Computer (pooder)
6. Chik-fil-a!
And now when it's time to stop reading at night, she will say "One" and do the finger point. Oh, and much like Kaitlyn, she gets FURIOUS when she has to read with Dada vs. Mama. I mean...I have feelings too! I'm a person! :-)
Side note on Bear - she woke up with some crusty snot around her nose after nap, has been quite clingy, and seems a bit off. JT made her an appointment for 10:30, so we'll see what's up. She JUST got off a round of Cefdinir, but Ashley said there was already some fluid in one ear. Watch this space!
e day before).
Kaitlyn played like a champ with the other kids at Prosperity Park, but on the way home I noticed she looked wiped out. In the car home, she mentioned that her throat hurt at school and that Dr. Pate took her to see the nurse (who wasn't in her office). K said it hurt to swallow at dinner - she couldn't even eat a slice of pizza! Now THAT is saying something! She was able to eat some yogurt, but she looked absolutely exhausted. JT and I gave her some meds and agreed - doctor on the morrow.
2/6 - K woke us up about 2:37, saying that her throat hurt. JT gave her some more meds, after which time she slept until after 7. And get this - that girl emptied an entire box of tissues!!!!! I was amazing - she just KEPT blowing snot (and we're talking serious amounts of the yellow stuff - not just some clear fluid). We are trying to teach her to use a tissue more than once, as otherwise the Amazon rainforest will be depleted by March. Poor thing...The doctor checked her and confirmed it was strep, but the good news - she's not running a fever. She seemed to have pretty good energy today (watched the live version of Beauty and the Beast and was actually outside playing when I got home), and the plan is for her to go to school tomorrow. This was the first day she's ever missed, and while she wasn't thrilled about it when the day started, she seemed to be in good spirits about it. The key for us - she didn't miss art (it's on Thursdays), which is very important to her at the moment (they are working on penguin homes for their penguin drawings).
Neither girl was super hungry, and Cora was pretty clingy throughout the day. We got them medicated and down by 7:30, so hopefully they will sleep soundly all night.
2/7 - The Goose was back at school today. Honestly, it's AMAZING what a difference a dose of medicine makes! She felt great at school and even went to the park afterwards, where she was able to do the monkey bars! I got to watch her in action - she's really starting to get it! Also, last night she went through an ENTIRE BOX OF TISSUES. Tonight, however - not a single blow. Amazing! Side note - when this is done, we have decided we're going to try Claritin and see if that helps keep the post nasal trip at bay. Either way, the amoxicillin is DEFINITELY doing the trick right now!Bear is in great spirits as well and is running around all over the place. Her nose isn't running any more, and she seems totally back to normal. THANK YOU, JESUS!!!
2/8 - Today was an exciting one for the Goose - Coupon Day at Bradford! This is where K gets the chance to spend her Bradford Bucks, and she decided to double up today! She spent $10 for bring a cuddly friend, and another $5 for "Lose the Shoes" (she gets to be barefoot or in socks all day in class). She's already decided that she's cashing both in on Monday. I gotta tell ya - I think BPS was BRILLIANT with this, as K is always SO EXCITED to go to school on Monday morning! It's so cute - she is basically counting the minutes until she can bring her furry friend in and show him/her off. The winner has already been selected - Lollipop (the rainbow colored bunny), wearing a stylish pink sock.
So something fascinating today - Ms. Teresa gave the girls a Disney Princess Castle (think Little People House but a castle), complete with 3 princesses. Cora. Is. OBSESSED. Seriously - it's all she wants to play with! You have to DRAG her out of the house to go somewhere, and she will NOT go quietly - all she wants to do is play with the princesses. No matter where you are in the house, she'll run up to you, take you by the hand, and say, "Play." You'll start walking, and she'll say, "Princess!" Her diction is improving SO rapidly! Once you're over there to play princesses, she will NOT let you leave without a protest. She will let them lay down and then grab them out of bed, saying, "Awake!" She just laughs and plays with it constantly, opening the doors to the palace and saying, "Out!" We can't even get her to eat dinner, as after a few bites she just starts repeating "Princess" and then storms off. Craziness!
On the Kaitlyn front, she is REALLY improving with her reading. It is MIND BLOWING to watch the pace of learning and progress. Tonight she started reading "Make Way for Ducklings," and she did AWESOME! I mean, sure, she didn't know every word, but that book is WAY beyond a kindergarten level, and she nailed some big words! More importantly, she is doing a tremendous job sounding them out and taking a good guess. It is just so neat to watch and be a part of it. She reads about 15-20 minutes at night, which oddly enough is also the recommended amount of reading kids should do at home. The difference now, however, is that she is LOVING it and actually wants to read (vs. us trying to encourage her). It's SO exciting to watch - we are so proud! Go get 'em, kiddo!
One thing I do want to keep an eye on - Kaitlyn has been saying, "Oh my gosh" lately and has at least once taken the Lord's name in vain. We don't do it here, so I'm sure it's happening at school. We have had some fairly stern conversations about it, and she even prayed, "God, please remind me to say 'oh my goodness.'" I am happy to report that, since then, she actually hasn't said it and has been really good about it. Hopefully we've headed that off at the pass.
2/9 - So Cora is hilarious right now in the car. As we pass ANY gas station, she will say, "Gas!" And if there are like 10 or 15 in the space of a mile, she won't stop - you can count on hearing "Gas!" 15 times. Also, Cora is really loving to read, and right now we're reading a Leap Frog series. One of the books is about opposites, and Cora actually calls them out! Big, Little & tall, short are the two she always gets, but it's just amazing to watch those pistons firing. Proud of you, wee one!2/10 - Today was a fun day just chilling at the house, where K absolutely ROCKED me at Monopoly Junior - she was uncatchable out of the gate! She also did her Valentine's Day cards and her Valentine's Day box (dedicated to Knuffle Bunny) - it was pretty cute (and the art work was really, really good!
That night at bed she read "Splat the Cat Takes the Cake" and did a tremendous job - I mean, that girl is really getting it! The highlights however, were just before bed, and they are two moments that I think are going to live with me forever.
1. The Golden Book: I am warming myself over by the fire when K picks up "Everything I needed to know in life I learned from a Golden Book." This books is about 100 pages, and K had NEVER tried to read it before. Well, she just sets to reading and starts CRUSHING it. Seriously - it. was. AMAZING. I was so proud. And the bigger moment for me - I was pretty far away from her, and I was helping her (in the rare moments where she needed it) by working off each page from memory. It was one of those moments where the stories my mother had read me and the brain/memory God had blessed me with fed into helping my own child (whom God had blessed me with). I got a little teary eyed as she worked through the pages - I honestly didn't want it to end.2. That night before Dinner, K asked JT: "How do you spell 'picture?'" We spelled it but didn't think anything of it. Well, 5 minutes later, Cora runs over with a picture that K has just drawn, and on the backside is a note that says:
Dear Cora,
I love you, and I drew this picture for you.
Love,
Kaitlyn
Again - tears. I mean...how could you not!?!?!?!? LOVE THESE GIRLS!!!!!! What an amazing way to end the weekend!
2/12 - So tonight was a really, really special one for me: Daddy-daughter Valentine's Day dinner! So here's the deal - I have been thinking lately about how I can make the holidays more special for the girls. True, every day pretty much feels like a vacation, but there is also a cadence that we fall into, and I have been feeling lately that I need to make a bigger effort to do various special things around each holiday so that we can a) make them more memorable, b) set them apart from other days, and c) build some traditions. Well, this year I decided I would start by taking my oldest out for a date. Don't worry, Cora - your time will come, too!I put on a coat and tie (K didn't see this since I wore it to the office and left before she got up), and I showed up at the house with sunflowers and a chocolate bar. She was quite excited (and put on a cute little dress), and we went for dinner at a surprise destination - Panera! She was SO excited, as they have "the best mac 'n cheese on the planet, dada - I love the white kind." Too cute!
Honestly, it was SO great. When we went in, we had to run because of the rain. She put her jacket over her head to "protect Lollipop from getting wet - even if my arms get wet." I mean...pretty cute. When she walked in and saw the treats, she looked at me and said, "Do you think we can get a treat, dada?" I said, "Sweetheart, get whichever one you want." You would have thought I'd just handed her the keys to a new Mercedes. She SPRINTED to the counter to pick it out.
I got her an adult mac 'n cheese (it was Valentine's Day, after all), and when she went to pick the side she said, "There's the fruit cup." I told her she could get chips if she wanted them, and she looked at me and said, "Wait - you are saying I can have mac 'n cheese with chips - no fruits or veg?" When I replied, she just exclaimed "YESSSSSSSSSS!"
She picked the seat (the half booth with a coach) and requested I sit beside her. We then ate and had a wonderful hour just enjoying our food and chatted. I don't get a lot of focused time with either child, so it was ver special. The highlight was when K curled up to me and said, "Best date night ever." I already fast forwarded in my head to our last meal together before taking her to college and got teary-eyed. TIME, SLOW DOWN!!!!
It was a perfect night, and I even made it back in time to play with bear some. She is now saying "Critters!" and playing with the Calico Critter tree house all the time - she loves the slide! It's too cute. She's also saying, "I want see" and "I want more" - it's amazing! She was trying to open something the other day and said, "Op...hard!" I mean...genius...
2/13 - Today was the 100th day of school, and the gang had a good time. This evening K finished reading "Sam and the Firefly" - she absolutely CRUSHED IT!!!!!2/14 - HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! I got to take K to school, where she had her Valentine's Day party and made out like a bandit. She even received a monogramed tic-tac-toe kit. WHAT?!?!?!?!?
When I got home, Bear ran up to me, said, Dada!, and then ran to grab the cards that had arrived for them. Jenny said, "We can open it when daddy gets home," and she didn't forget that! The girls had 5 cards and presents from all the grandparents - they made out like bandits!2/15 - So not sure if I mentioned it earlier, but K had been telling me that she was going to save her Bradford Bucks for something big ($200 is a movie for the class, for example). However, last night after opening the unicorn, she said, "Dada, I think I'm gonna do one more cuddly friend." She wanted to bring Uni! She's taking it everywhere at the moment. Luckily Cora seems to have forgotten about it...otherwise there would likely be blood. :-)
Jenny and I had date night tonight (Kingdom Builders Dinner at the new campus), and so Cheryl and the McLaren girls were over at our house for awhile. They girls had a blast (Kate came over after school, so they had a good 4+ hours together), and it was a fun night. I felt like they hadn't seen each other much lately, so that was a nice treat. That being said, Cora was apparently NOT happy that we left her with Cheryl, as she must have screamed like a banshee for 20 minutes after Cheryl put her down (promptly followed by an hour of singing...).
We did have one scary moment at dinner. Jenny was upstairs getting ready, and I was moving the cars outside. I came in and Kaitlyn was clearly distraught. She said, "I choked!" and then broke down crying. I was able to piece it together (she still had a mouthful of mac 'n cheese), and it sounds like she was laughing and then swallowed too much. She was able to gulp it down, so the good news (PRAISE JESUS) is that she was fine. However, it definitely rattled us all. 
On the Cora front, I have to relate that her vocabulary is EXPLODING! Right now anytime she sees your phone, she'll say "Cheese" and then "I...want...see," and will go CRAZY if you don't yield your phone (terrible two's, anyone?). She is saying "More Milk, Please!," "all done, mama," and is now starting to string together multi-syllable words. Also, whenever she sees our church she says, "Free...house!!!" It's really cute how she pauses between syllables (i.e. lady...bug, rain...bow). Also, whenever we get out of the Xterra, she'll always say, "Bye...Rex!" I mean...pretty cute... And for the record, that girl was up this morning at 6:06 AM. When I went in there, she was hugging a bear and happy as a clam, just saying, "Ri Ri."2/16 - K won at bingo!!!! It was AWEOME - she won a $10 CFA gift card and a DIY stress ball...which she loves! I mean, this is a big deal, as they only do this 2x annually and only play 8 or 9 rounds while in there (Allison actually won twice!). K was THRILLED.
One thing to note - K came into our room at 1:08 AM this morning saying that her throat hurt. JT gave her some ibuprofen, but we are worried that the next round of something (gotta be viral this time) is coming. Praying for health!
2/17 - Today was another great one. We had 2 services at church, and K even got to join me in Arrows! She was wonderful, and it's just so great to see how sweet, attentive, and well behaved she is - especially when you stack her up against older kids (she was the youngest kid in the class today). She was clearly not feeling great (the pouch burned her throat), but she rallied when we went to AJ's 6th birthday at....Chuck E. Cheese!So this is one more reason why Wife Muffin is AWESOME - she had saved all of K's ticket receipts AND the leftover play pass from last year! That meant that K was able to play double the games she played last year, and she had a BLAST! She played a mixture of all kinds of games, but her favorite was definitely the Nicktoons Nitro, where she got to race against various Nickelodeon characters in various other worlds. And get this - SHE ACTUALLY WON TWO ROUNDS!!!! She loved it - we must have played it 7 or 8 times. She also loved Jet Rider - she thought that was a hoot.
Unfortunately, she was definitely winding down due to the illness (throat was definitely hurting), and I could tell that she was flagging. We left there a little after 3:30, making it home in time for a round of Monopoly (she crushed me) before K had tablet time and I sat down to catch up on some stuff (I'm not feeling great either). Cora was cute this morning - I heard her singing in her crib again, and then I heard her playing with her animals in there, yelling "I want hug!" Too cute...
2/18 - So we took K back to the doctor today, where it was confirmed - Strep round 2! Apparently this is quite common, but we certainly weren't expecting that. Did you know that you actually have to boil toothbrushes during this period so they don't "re-infect" themselves? We did boil them and she took her meds, but alas - we were in for another round.
An interesting note - K had been saying yesterday and this morning, "My throat doesn't hurt anymore," even though it was still clearly bothering her. JT knew the reason, and sure enough - K came clean in the morning before the doctor's appt. She broke down in tears and said, "The testing!" The throat swab the previous time was apparently very painful, and K did NOT want to go through that again. But the good news - K was a ROCK STAR and didn't even cry during the testing! She was great and said that it didn't even hurt (nice job, Dr. T :-)).
Not a whole lot else to report from this day, but I will say that Kaitlyn (and Cora, who is now sitting in her chair and LOVING Netflix) is all about 2 new shows: Mia and Me, and "Ladybug and Cat Noir." The second one is CRAZY and seems pretty advanced (Egyptian gods and such), but she loves it! I had to get onto Wikipedia so I could learn about the characters. Priceless...
2/19 - a not great but very memorable moment tonight - Cora's first pump knot! So here's how it went down. We were doing our normal run around the jack and jack (the after tooth brushing, pre-bath thing that both our children now think is TOTALLY normal in American households), when suddenly I heard a THUMP...followed by an extended silence. I think heard the wail of a siren...only it was from my youngest. That poor girl (whose stride is SO CUTE as she wiggles around at her waist) had fallen and smacked her forehead RIGHT INTO THE CORNER OF A WALL. I picked her up, and I could actually see the knot SWELLING in front of my eyes - crazy! We knew she was okay since it was swelling outward, but MAN was it bad. Luckily it had actually split the skin a bit in the middle, allowing it to breathe. Needless to say it was an Advil night!
Bear's bruise went through about 97 different color changes today, but she seemed fine and in good spirits. She still made it to the Y, where they have informed us that she is very good at puzzles. It's amazing - just like her sister in that regard. The Y staff specifically commented on how quickly she picks things up and is able to assemble them - gotta always love praise about your kid from someone else! :-)
That being said, that kid is FULL ON into her terrible 2's. MAN! She is great as long as she's getting her way, but when she's not, it is quite the temper tantrum. Stuff gets thrown, screaming ensues, people get hit, etc. It's crazy! We've actually had to start enforcing some discipline, as we definitely need to bring it under control. So far the rules are simple - it you throw it, it's gone. If you hit someone, that toy you were fighting about is no longer an option. If you are rude, we cut your reading time. They are small moves, but you can see there is a flicker of understanding in there somewhere. :-)2/22 - So something cute at the Y - Cora is playing with Jude every day! It's so cute - when you ask her how the playhouse was, she'll say "Jude" and smile. It's too cute!
And Kaitlyn is starting to "pray" for things, which is great that she is acknowledging the Almighty but suboptimal when she's saying things like "please give me a 6 when I roll this die." That being said, more often than not it does happen, so maybe she's onto something... :-)Oh, and how is this for absolute cuteness. Cora has a little Leap Frog dog (Buddy) that will read stories to her if you push buttons. She likes it so much that she won't even let US read to her before naps or bedtime right now! It's so funny- she'll say: "Buddy...read...to...me?" And if you try and do it instead, you WILL get the eye roll (and might even get the book knocked out of your hand!). Too funny...I guess you really an outsource everything. :-)
2/23 - Another big milestone for Team Taylor - K started Dance Class at the Y today!!!! She was SO CUTE in her little leotard and dance slippers (all pink, of course). We wanted them stretching and dancing for a bit - they were BLASTING "It's a Small World in that Room." Love it! K seemed to really enjoy it, and I am really excited for her. I do think we'll need to watch her posture, as she is starting to slouch a bit. I am sure part of it is being so much taller than most of the folks around her, but I do want to watch it, as I don't want a habit to form there.
A few other items to note from this day. First off, I am a BIG FAN of going back through my Amazon pics and looking through the "Memories from this day" section. What has been AMAZING to watch is how much both girls have slimmed down over the past year. Incredible! If you look back to our time last year in Jacksonville Beach for Pattie's tournament, it's just wild to see how much they have both changed. I credit Bradford for a lot of it with Kaitlyn, as they are GREAT about getting them outside for exercise twice a day. You just honestly can't put a price tag on that - SO important! 
Another item - you know how I always talk about being a cast iron dictator. Well, lately it's felt somewhat true, and it's started wearing on me. I know it's my job to tow the line, and I certainly want to do that. However, somewhere along the way I think I've forgotten that you don't have to legislate every single second of the day with your children. Simply put - I have been trying to control too much lately, and I think it has affected my relationship with my kids. Jenny and I were talking about it tonight (in front of the kids, as I want to be open and honest with them), and she gave me an AMAZING piece of wisdom: "Just try to say yes as much as possible. If they won't get hurt and it doesn't really matter, just say yes." I gotta tell ya - I took that to heart, and it has made a TREMENDOUS difference over the past week or so. As I type this (March 4), I can already feel myself slipping back into old rhythms, so I am determined to fight back and "say yes" whenever I can.
I was blown away. Here I was puffing up my chest and feeling so chuffed, but then she followed it up with, "I want a boy like you because you speak English, and I want a boy who speaks English. If they speak another language, then I won't be able to understand them!" Oh well...it was fun while it lasted... :-)
We went to church that night, and Kaitlyn was THRILLED because...she gets to go to Arrows on Saturday nights! She absolutely LOVES Pastor Michael, and she often gets called on when I'm not there! She won a round of word freeze, played air hockey, and even learned to play 4 Square! The last one was huge, as she's really been wanting to learn to play and has been trying to learn it (and getting frustrated) in the sessions I've brought her in there. Pastor Michael told me that she's really starting to come out of her shell. Love it!
2/24 - We went to church today as well (JT and I were serving - our first time sharing our story at Get On Track), and then I took Bear home while JT and Kaitlyn headed uptown for another big first - their first ever Mommy-Daughter Life group! They went to Amelie's, and the day was just AMAZING! Seriously - the weather was perfect (sun popped out), the temperature was fantastic, they got to eat a fun treat, and they all had a good time playing and talking about life together. They stayed around in Uptown to play in the parks there, and you could tell they just had a blast - SO HAPPY for them! It was really, really cool.
2/25 - So I was heading to Minneapolis today, and I was up before 5 to get out the door and catch my 7:30 flight. Get this - I am ON THE PLANE, and Jenny sends me a photo of Cora's crib. She has vomited ALL OVER IT, and that is the image I'm left with right before I shut down and takeoff. Poor wife muffin!!!! But the good news - Cora never spiked a fever, and she was honestly pretty normal minus the occasional vomit and diarrhea. It lasted for about a day and a half, but it didn't slow them down much! They still got out for walks, K still got to gymnastics (did the rock wall to kick off a new session!), and by Wednesday JT was able to get back to the gym and even make her life group. Praise Jesus!
2/28 - Not a whole lot else to report during my time in Mpls. I was thrilled that I got to FaceTime with my ladies every day, which was awesome and really helped a lot. I landed to find a letter from the tooth fairy, as apparently she visited K's classroom today. I didn't get the story until the weekend, but family, let me tell you - it is AMAZING how true it is that kids will listen to ANYONE but their parents. Seriously - this girl is rattling off FACT AFTER FACT about brushing, flossing, cavities, you name it. And even though her parents - the ones who PAY FOR HER HYGIENE AND TAKE HER TO THE DENTIST - have told her all this, she clearly never retained ANY of it until a lady dressed as a fairy walked into Bradford. Priceless!
K loved this - she got to hug the tooth fairy, talk to the tooth fairy, and listen to her speak. K can now tell me how many teeth I have, how many she has, how long you should floss, how long you should brush...you name it. Unreal! And honestly...pretty cute... :-)
Okay, that's February in the books - fast and furious! Chat with you all next month!
Love,
Sam and Jenny
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