St. Patick's Day and Easter

The Friday before Easter we went with Gabi's best friend Kaylyn (and her fam) to an Easter Bunny dinner.  We had breakfast food and then the kids got to meet the Easter Bunny!!!!  They were super excited. 

We dyed eggs the night before and Oliver slept horribly and was up for the day on Easter at 6:30am.....so Gabs did her hunt for the eggs around the house at 7am and got her Easter basket.  This was the first year that we really did stuff for Easter (last year we were in the car coming back from Florida) so it was pretty exciting for her.  She got a marshmallow bunny, some chocolate, jelly beans, a headband, a chick notepad and pen set, and a couple of books.

For Easter day we went to my parents' and my mom made a big dinner.

Gabi - 3.33 yrs and second pair of glasses

Because that's a normal thing to document, right? 

I'd like to preface this post with this article I saw -

10 Ways 3-Year-Olds are Much More Terrible Than Two-Year-Olds

1. At 2, they can barely talk.
At 3, they never shut up.

2. At 2, they cry.
At 3, they throw temper tantrums so epic, you become convinced that they are possessed by the devil.

3. At 2, they're happy to eat anything you present to them.
At 3, they eat only three foods (usually consisting of a starch and processed cheese).

4. At 2, baths are a 10-minute event, the result of which is a clean child.
At 3, baths take over an hour and result in a drenched bathroom, sopping wet mommy, and 16 used towels.

5. At 2, they wear diapers that can be changed on your watch.
At 3, they're potty trained and the world revolves around their bladders and bowels.

6. At 2, they are distracted by a box of Gerber Puffs at the grocery store.
At 3, they want to dictate your entire food list.

7. At 2, they let you dress them, looking innocent and adorable.
At 3, they insist on picking out their clothes, looking like pint-sized versions of mental institution inhabitants [or every Disney princess ever created, rolled into one "outfit"].

8. At 2, they don't like to get dirty.
At 3, they thrive on it.

9. At 2, you can do things for them, saving infinite amounts of time.
At 3, they must do everything by themselves, taking FOREVER.

10. At 2, manipulation is the last thing on their minds.
At 3, they own you. And they know it.

Everything [expect for #8 and #3 -she still eats about anything] describes Gabrielle right now.  Oh the attitude, mood swings, drama, and frustration that that girl brings to my life on the daily basis is enough to put me over the edge sometimes.  Ahhh!!!  But we love her.  :)

So not too long ago Gabs really started complaining that her eyes and ears were hurting from her glasses.  I was pretty sure the time had come for bigger glasses and her eye doc agreed.  She went in for another exam before we ordered new glasses and things seem to be the same.  They thought/hoped her eyes would start to improve but they seem to be the same, which is fine I think.  They evened out her prescription so she has +3.25 in each eye - actual deficit is about +5 and +7.  She goes back in a few weeks to see how that is working for her.  I've really noticed her eyes turning and wandering with and without her glasses (and she has been seeing double).  She had been doing great with her glasses up until recently, so hopefully the new pair of specs helps.  She has a cute new pair of big girl glasses!

Also, Gabrielle finally got her first ear infection.  I'm not sure if she had Oliver's RSV or just another random little cold, but she's had a cough and stuff for a few days.  Two nights ago she woke up at 12:30am screaming and didn't stop.  She is still a great sleeper - sleeps through colds, coughs, anything so this was truly weird.  At first I thought she had a bad dream because she was so upset but didn't appear to be really sick or anything.  She said her cheek hurt and eventually she said her ear hurt (through screams) so obviously she had an ear infection.  She (and I) were up the entire night.  She couldn't stop crying and I couldn't do anything to help her.  Tylenol, snacks, a movie...nothing helped.  She finally fell asleep at about 6:00am for 45 minutes.  Luckily Oliver's 4 month well-check was in the morning, so the doc said she would see both kids.  Yes, horrible ear infection in her left ear - doc said the ear drum looked close to bursting so beware, but it never did.  Gabi got her first antibiotic - amoxicillin.  She slept the next night just fine and in on the way to recovery. 

The night before her ear went to heck, her and I went to a free dance showcase.  A local company put together a show, Nick heard about it from his female gas station attendant friend, and so we went.  G was so excited!  She wanted to dance in the isles, but I contained her so she danced in the row instead.  She'd clap and yell "yay girls!! wooo!!!".  She even got to dance on stage at then end when they allowed the kids up to join the dancers.

She is the little purple girl on the left side!

 

Here's her big two-wheeler!

With Grandma Billie and Isaiah for G Billies birthday dinner.  Oliver and I were quarantined at home with his RSV :(

With her best friend Kaylyn

Gabrielle got to go to her first preschool holiday party on Valentines day.  The Halloween and Christmas parties happened to be on days she wasn't there, so she got princess Valentines and we [I] made pink heart shaped rice crispie treats for her school friends.

All her Valentines she got

 

She made her first snowman and snow girl with Dad

 Being super safe and "surfing" on the rocker...

Doing dot art with her shapes and her name

The Valenties day card she made her daddy at school.......hahaha.  She always wins at Candyland.

Her favorite toy at Grandma Jojo's....the ball of yarn that yellow B is made of.

 

Cutting up bananas and helping me make banana bran muffins

 

And a few Gabrielle-isms.......

 

"Daddy's being mean.  He doesn't want to play with me, he just wants to sit there and be boring."

 

And I got my first "Mommy, you're mean." for telling her to eat the chicken [that she asked for] before getting crackers. 

 

Me: "Gabs time for bed"

G: "It's not 8:00.  I can stay up."

It was 7:57.  I'm so glad she is learning to tell time......

 

G: "Daddy, I have to tell your something"

N: What?

 

G: "Gage hit me."

N: Ok, what do you want me to do about it?"

G: "......Just think about it for a minute....."

 

"I don't like dark pink.  I like beautiful sunshine pink."

 

Gabi snaps her purse shut then says  "Hey it sounds like your boob things!".  Referring to my nursing bras that snap open and closed.  Haha......

 

We're trying to talk to Gabi about money and how we get it and why we need it.  I asked Gabs "what do we do with money?"  She said "don't lose it."  Correct I guess?

 

 

I took the kids to the MSU butterfly gardens the other day and Gabs just loved searching for the butterflies and holding them. They had nectar the kids could dip their fingers in and the butterflies would come and sit on their fingers. She got all excited when one of the butterflies she was holding "smiled" at her. I have no idea. She was pumped though.

 

 

She got a hair cut last week and the lady was nice and put curls in her hair.  Nice until the next morning when Gabs insisted on "curly hair" for preschool......No, it didn't happen.  And no, she was not happy.

Grandma Jojo made new hats for them!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

 

 





Gabrielle's 3rd Birthday Party

We went to Gab's well check around her birthday and she is doing well! 
27.5 lbs - 17th percentile
35.5 inches - 17th percentile
They stop measuring her head at age three and start taking blood pressure.  Tear.
She is still smaller but perfectly perportionate.

She is also starting (finally) to brush her teeth like a big girl and learning how to spit.  We should have started this about a year ago....but I kept putting it off until Nick finally tought her.  Thank him.

And today Nick and I took Gabs to her first movie at the theater!  She really is into movies and she loved it.  We saw Rise of the Guardians about Santa, the Easter Bunny, Jack Frost, etc and she picked out Skittles for a snack.  She thought it was pretty cool and it was nice for Nick and I to get out with her together while Oliver stayed with a sitter for a couple of hours.

So we finally had Gabrielle's third birthday party on December 2 and it turned out well!  She has been very into her birthday and had her cake picked out for months  (seriously) and she got to pick out all her party decorations herself this year.  I took her to party city and didn't choose princesses, but chose fairies/Tinkerbell instead.  We had sloppy joes, macaroni and cheese, and grapes for lunch - all Gabrielle's current favorites.  She could hardly wait to open her presents, though, so she didn't get much lunch eaten. 

She got lots of Cinderella stuff, some clothes, and some doctor stuff for her birthday.  She also got a "Gabrielle" doll which she thought was so cool.  It has plastic that you can snap on and off which she likes to (and can) do easily.