Ivy rides a [peddle] bike!!

Ivy has been extra tired the last couple days. (recovering from family in town and a whirlwind vacation I guess)

Today she whined about going to soccer (not to play, just to watch Asher) because she was too tired. I took her in the bike trailer with a blanket telling her to nap.

While there she walked all over the park finding her friends (and the potato chips in their mom's basket).

When we rode home she said she wanted her bike to go ride with the other kids, instead of going inside to grab her bike (I thought she was just being lazy) she grabbed her "new" bike (the peddle bike without training wheels- Asher's oldbike) and said she wanted to "practice a little."

I got off my bike, grabbed hold of her shirt so she could balance and walked with her about ten yards as she peddled and then got a little wobbly.

Next go I gave her a little push, grabbed her shirt for a few steps and then let go and watched her go and... she rode!

We started and stopped a few more times along with me trying to keep Canyon out of the way and try to take a video on the phone to document. (it was pretty tricky and I was glad when John showed up)

It was so cute and exciting for her to realize that she could really do it!

She's so proud of herself and I'm so proud of her!

Hopefully she'll do it again tomorrow. (post edit: she did and hasn't looked back)

She told me she needed to "practice" until she was 4 so she could ride a peddle bike when she's 5.

but she did it all while she's still 3!

(now if we can just get her swimming!)

wobbly teeth

after the dentist visited Asher's school and did a quick check of all the kids' teeth Asher came home and said "guess what? The dentist told me I have a wobbly tooth"

I felt it

and then thought "wow- that dentist is being pretty generous calling that wobbly as it barely moved"

but I congratulated him, told him about the excitement of losing teeth and figured we were at least a month away from anything happening.

So.

I was quite surprised while eating shwarmas with Nanna, Aunt Lizzie and the kids at Global Village that Asher came to me with his eyes wide after his first bite and tooth in hand.

(love Global Village, love cheap schwarmas, and love having Nanna and Lizzie with us)

He reacted with a bit of confusion and apprehension, not sure whether something bad happened or if this is what losing a tooth really feels like! It was exciting. He was excited and even I was excited and feeling kinda proud- not that he did anything- I guess just the mom excitement of watching kids grow up and get big!

The tooth fairy was rather generous giving him 6 dirhams (a coin for every year of his age) in a cute little matchbox hidden beneath his pillow. (about $1.50 USD)

AND........

about 3 weeks later. We were all sitting in the Amman Jordan airport- eating another dinner of schwarmas and Asher came up to me with a mouthful of chewed up food, telling me he just lost another tooth. We sifted through the food and found the tooth- excitement all around again! And this time Grandpa and Dad (John) were also there for the excitement. Nanna pre-empted the tooth fairy and gave him a dollar.

who knew schwarmas were the secret to wiggling out teeth!

a funny side note: one of Asher's best friends also lost his 1st tooth the same day. When Asher brought his money to school his friend was apparently excited to find out about the whole tooth under the pillow-fairy-money thing. His parents weren't aware of what he was doing until the following morning when he was upset and frustrated, looking all over for money that was not under his pillow, or his brothers or anywhere for that matter. He even questioned his teacher at school about it. His parents are from Iraq and apparently the tooth fairy doesn't visit there. When I told the mother (who is one of my good friends) about the tooth fairy- she just laughed and said "he'll get over it- we don't do that." I had to laugh but also felt kinda bad- maybe next time he loses a tooth I'll have him give it to Asher to put under the pillow for him at our house- since the tooth fairy visits here :))

Canyon at 2 years

A little about this sunshine birthday boy for record keeping sake.

He's pretty easy going and independent. For the most part he just goes with the flow.

People often comment on how independent and just chill and even keel he is. I admit that he's he's like that about 95% of the time and the other 5% is the total opposite- to the extreme! He's screaming and wailing and not to be reasoned with and very strong willed.

Ever since the first of the year with the switch to morning church- his 5% has been the getting dressing part (why only on Fridays, I have no idea, other days he's fine). So, I my strategy has been to get all the kids fed and then I wrestle Canyon into his clothes and take him outside kicking and screaming where I buckle him into his car seat and have him wait for another 10 minutes while I finish rounding up our things and getting Ivy and Asher dressed. Usually by the time we pull out of the driveway he's calmed down and after our 30 minute drive to church, he's definitely in better spirits.

onto more positive things...

Canyon is coordinated. He can hold his own on the trampoline with the big kids, he jumps off curbs and steps and he throws a ball pretty hard.

He doesn't talk much, but he understands everything which is kind of fun when he silently responds to what I ask him to do.

He discovered the fun of trains and tracks under the Christmas tree and still enjoys playing (and destroying) the tracks his brother and sister make.

He enjoys nursery at church and is very enthusiastic when it comes to cleaning up, singing time and snacks.

He hums the Star Wars theme song and darth vader theme song (I find it kind of hilarious!)

He loves nutella. "tella"

He loves animals and isn't afraid like my other two. He'll pet any dog, and size and often seeks them out while in the park. He loves to let them lick his fingers and play with him. (definitely does NOT take after me)

He loves his siblings and is pretty good at making them laugh. He seems to know just what to do and keeps it going til the laughter stops and the joke gets old.

He's my little side-kick while the other two are at school in the mornings. He's a good little shopper. He picks out what he wants (and starts eating immediately), helps me get what I need, and lots of what I don't need (and don't buy- don't worry).

He loves throwing rocks in the fountain outside our backyard, and he enjoys playing on the playground at the preschool and the park.

I love this little guy- 5% crazy and all!

the boy who played with fire!

Canyon turned 2 on Feb 1st. I knew we would have Nanna and Aunt Liz with us here and I knew it would be fun to celebrate so I brainstormed different themes and party ideas during the month of January.

Unfortunately I never settled on anything. I got busy, and lacked enthusaism, and even got a little sick. Any plans of having a bunch of guests and other 2 year olds were quickly fading. I reluctantly decided against having a group over for a party, but still wanted to celebrate for Canyon (and for Asher and Ivy who were equally excited about his birthday). We couldn't quite settle on a theme, Canyon loves dogs so we considered a puppy party, or a ball themed party, or just make a cake and let him blow out the candles because that's really what will give him the most excitement. The kid LOVES to blow out candles and LOVES fire.

and then it hit me/us. A FIRE PARTY! We decided in the morning and by dinnertime we had a pretty sweet FIRE party thrown together.

A candlelit dinner of lasagna and salad.

Birthday banner and balloons (red, orange and yellow of course).

All the candles and tea lights we could find around the house. (scented candles, floating candles, tea lights, emergency candles and menorah candles)

A red velvet cake made by Liz and creatively carved and frosted by Nanna

And just when I was feeling bad that I didn't have any presents for him (poor 3rd child), I remembered that I bought a cute wood vehicle from Pottery Barn's after Christmas sale and it just so happened, it was a fire truck!

We played a few games:

Fire extinguisher (using squirt bottles and candles each participant used water to extinguish their candle's flame from a distance)

hot potato (with a football)

and I spy (always a hit)

It was such a fun night and amazing to me how a little extra effort and prep work made Canyon's birthday just as fun and special as if we planned and prepped for weeks and invited lots of guests.

Canyon was especially cute. He really loved blowing out the candles (multiple times and places) which didn't surprise us. He was especially cute that he knew to wait til the end of the birthday song and he loved every second of being sang to. He really recognized it was his birthday. The birthday was made especially fun with far away family here to play. Hopefully it's not the only birthday he gets to share with far away relatives.

super hero party

Asher and one of his school buddies teamed up and had a joint birthday party this year.

(Well actually the moms teamed up as she is one of my closest neighborhood friends).

Asher turning 6 and Lucas turning 5. When we first arrived in Dubai Asher and Lucas hit it off immediately. Because they haven't been in class together these past 2 years, they're not as close as the used to be, but I think they still enjoyed sharing their day together.

We had superheros everywhere. (I made almost 50 capes in preparation- yes crazy!)

we had lots of food (with thanks to my friends as well)

a super hero obstacle course

mask decorating station (that turned out to be a hit)

and a special visit from a GI Joe*/ superhero trainer/ magician!!! (what a combo)

It was a great party! of course there were things I would change or do differently, but then I tell my brain to stop thinking about it- it's just a six year olds birthday and the cake and presents and all the attention were perfection!!!

*side note about our celebrity guest. The week before Asher's party was our church Christmas party that included dinner and a casual talent show. One of the Filipino guys in the ward is great with kids and he did a few simple magic tricks that wowed the kids. Asher asked if he could come to his birthday party and sure enough, he not only came, he called a few hours before and asked if he could come in a costume. Since he didn't have any comic book superhero stuff, he pulled out the army gear and had all the kids mesmerized, especially the boys (and one girl asking if he was an astronaut- and Ivy was terrified- go figure). So sweet of him to take time to come to Asher's party especially since we hardly knew him up until then (he and his wife have been in the other ward for a long time, but are new to ours)

** sidenote #2: Ivy had "pajama day" at school and fell asleep after school while helping me decorate the park for the party. She stayed asleep as the party started and ended up as a pajama super hero for the rest of the day.