- She now sings her ABCs and for the most part knows all the letters, except when she gets to L-M-N-O-P. For these she just says "La-la-la-la-P!"
- We are potty training again and she's definitely getting the hang of it a bit more, but we're still switching between diapers, Pull-ups, and panties (or in her case...no panties, just a shirt 9 times out of 10). She likes her "Froggy potty", but lately has been wanting to try out the big potty. She needs a little help getting up and then she holds herself up. It only took her one time of falling in and getting a wet bottom to learn that she has to keep both hands on the seat to support herself. Now every time I put her on, she repeats this mantra to herself, "Can't fall down. Can't fall down."
- Her independent streak is growing stronger by the day! Now instead of "I do it" as her go-to phrase whenever we try to help her accomplish a task, she says "Let me try that." It's actually really cute to hear until it's like the 100th time that day and then it starts to lose some of it's appeal. But I'm proud of her for wanting to try to do things for herself.
- She's always been a polite and empathetic little child. I believe she really has a compassionate and grateful heart naturally. Her latest remark whenever she wants to express her gratitude to you is "Thankyousomuch" (said in one breath)! I don't ever tire of hearing this phrase, that's for sure!
- Maggie is also very observant. She knows when Daddy comes in from a run that he's "sweaty" and when he comes to get her out of bed in the morning sometimes that he's had a shower. She can probably use her sense of smell to help her tell the difference since both times Daddy's hair is usually wet.
- The little tyke is a huge follower of whatever Riley does. Every time he takes a sip of his drink at dinner, she'll follow suit. If he's making silly faces, she does it too. The other day (she also learned this from her brother) Chris and I started in singing the "God, Our Father" prayer before we ate dinner and she put up her hand and said, "Stop, just us! Just us!"
- Maggie had her 2 year old check up a few weeks ago and did a fantastic job talking with Dr. Lindsey. She was a brave little girl for her shot and finger prick and didn't even cry a bit. She's tough! She weighed 24.8 lbs (25th percentile) and was 33.5 inches tall (25th-50th percentile). We are working on keeping her eczema and a few other skin issues (like sties) under control.
Now Riley has had quite a few new experiences as well lately. Some of his memorable moments include:
- Riley took 8 sessions of swim lessons at the YMCA during the month of May. The first session was pretty challenging for him because it seemed like the other 4 kids were more comfortable in the water, especially with putting their heads under the water. With the promise of a trip to the park if he would try it on the 2nd session, Riley was able to find enough courage to dunk his head to eyebrow level and by the end of the 8 sessions, he was jumping in like a pro. Since this was just a Level 2 class, they mostly just worked on floating, blowing bubbles under the water, wearing a life vest and using their arms to scoop the water, climbing in and out of the pool safely, and how to kick their legs. I was pleased with his participation and he loved the last session being a free swim in the outdoor pool with his new buddies (Sam, Drew, and Nolan).
- For the first week of summer, we signed Riley up for a week of Tee-Ball Camp. It ran Monday-Friday for an hour a day in the mornings. While Coach Alex had a very relaxed style and didn't offer a lot of instruction to the group, Riley still had a great time learning how to run the bases, practice more with hitting off a tee, and what made me most proud was watching him encourage and cheer on other kids who were taking their turn to bat. Chris was able to help with most of the sessions (I helped on one of the days) and his favorite part was seeing Riley give him a thumbs up from out on the field when he caught the ball that was rolled on the ground towards him.
- Riley has been talking a lot about what it's going to be like when he gets big and has a son. Just the other day he informed us that he was going to name his son Carl Reuben Riley Fisher. I love the way he makes the name Carl into two syllables. It's almost like Car-rull. And I think it's pretty special that he wants his son to share part of his name as well just like how he shares the name Christopher with his dad.
- One of the favors that I got for the kids for their Dinosaur Train birthday party were some dinosaur tattoos. But Riley's version of the word is so much more enjoyable..."Mommy, can you put some tu-tus on my hand?" :)
- We had Riley's 4 year old check up with Dr. Cook this month and Riley did an absolutely great job. He had to get 2 shots and a finger prick and though he cried out a little, he was extremely brave. We were able to celebrate with icecream at McDonald's right after the visit. Riley weighed 42.4 lbs (85th percentile) and was 45 inches tall (in the 98th percentile). We are working on getting him to not suck his fingers which is proving to be quite a tricky task!
For Riley's official birthday, he got pancakes with sprinkles baked in and got to reveal his "big" present which was a new bike! Check out this adorable photo above of him wearing the watch Chris let him have, his helmet, and his sunglasses. He now needs all 3 accessories on before he'll even consider getting on the bike! :) Then later that morning we went to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time and needless to say, Riley had a blast!
Here's photo of a ride that all 3 "kids" enjoyed together!
Then later for supper we cooked one of Riley's favorite meals-ham and mac and cheese and they got to eat the orange cupcakes we blue frosting that we had made earlier.
I love this picture of King Riley and Princess Maggie using some of the clothes from the dress-up trunk that Grandmama gave to Maggie for her birthday. There will be hours of imaginative play in store from this gift I do believe!
Here's a fun photo with my little loves all dressed in their fancy "doggie" church clothes. Chris just couldn't resist these $10 pants from TJ Maxx and I couldn't turn down an opportunity to create somewhat coordinating outfits.
For Maggie's birthday on June 2nd, we went to Baxter's Bunch (since her big present was a Frequent Flyer Card) so that she could bounce to her little heart's content. Chris was able to meet us during his lunch break from school and later we went out to Golden Corral as a family because we know we'd be able to find several things for our grazing toddler to snack on at a buffet. Of course, the highlights of the meal were the cotton candy and the chocolate-covered marshmallows.
This is Riley on his first day of Tee-Ball camp last week. Please pay close attention to the SpiderMan gloves that he insisted on wearing as he got dressed. Luckily, we were able to convince him he didn't actually need them to play the game and he left them in the car. Gotta love that kid and his very unique sense of style!
We celebrated Father's Day this past Sunday and the kids and I took these pictures and put them in a frame along with a craft that involved their hand and footprints that had a golf theme and said "Just 'Fore' You Dad!". I sure am blessed to have Chris as the father to these two precious cargo. We love you, Daddy and always will!
