Millennium Park-Fountain Heads
We took the train downtown and had a picnic in Millennium Park. Afterwards, we watched Vivianne play at the Fountain Heads. She had an absolute blast!
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| Vivianne last year | Vivianne today |
Lake Forest Days, August 4-5, 2009
This was the first year we really partook in the annual Lake Forest Days’ festivities. We all went to the carnival last night. Vivianne had a blast! She and Thomas rode most of the rides together, although she and Isabel, her little friend, rode on the dragon ride by themselves! Isabel’s mom and I were more scared watching them go on it by themselves than they were actually riding the ride. It was so cute to see them holding hands as they would pass by us. We would all cheer and wave but they were pretty focused on the ride itself to pay us much attention. Vivianne’s favorite ride was the “pony” ride, otherwise known as the merry-go-round. Thomas took her on that one twice:-) He also won her her first carnival prize, a stuffed red puppy! She was over the moon.
Here is a short video of Vivianne’s first carnival ride, the tea cups…
We went to the parade this morning. The girls had so much fun! They loved the music and the fact that everyone was handing out candy and little trinkets ;-) One of the local pizza places gave away free pizza and pop so they were pretty excited about that as well!
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Last Day of Summer Camp...
Today was Vivianne’s last day of summer camp. She is really going to miss it! She grew quite fond of her teachers, especially Morgan. Here are a couple pictures from her last day!
What!
Yesterday morning, I was getting ready in the bathroom and Vivianne was in there watching me. Thomas is in the kitchen and yells, “Vivianne!” Assuming she would come, instead she responds by yelling, “What!”
We laughed so hard :-)
Milwaukee Zoo
| We all enjoyed the sea lion show! |  |
The elephants are always fun to see!
At one point, we would have gladly jumped in the water with this bear if they had let us…it was a scorcher!
Despite the heat, we all had a GREAT time!
Traffic Jam
So Vivianne and I had made a trip to Target this morning and on our way home our plan was to stop by the library. Target is maybe 10-15 minutes away at best. However, with the new construction coming back, it took us an hour from the time we left the Target parking lot until the time we pulled into the library. About every 2-3 minutes Vivianne would ask to go to the library and every time I would tell her, “Yes, Vivianne, we are on our way there.”
She asked, again, for probably the 20th time. By now my patience was wearing thin, so I said, “Honey, we are stuck in a traffic jam, and we can’t go until the cars in front of us start moving.”
It takes her a second to comprehend what I had just told her, and then she responds with, “Excuse me, cars, excuse me!”
Oh my dear child, if it were only that easy:-)
Cinderella
I took Vivianne to see the musical, Cinderella, yesterday at the Lincolnshire Marriott Theater. She of course wanted to wear her “Cinderella” dress as did the majority of all the other little girls who attended. It was so darn cute to see this sea of little girls in their princess costumes. Every time a little girl would walk by us to get to her seat, Vivianne would say, “Look, mommy, another princess!”
The musical was really entertaining. There was quite a bit of audience participation, which the kiddos just loved. I thought the fairy godmother stole the show. After it was over, I asked Vivianne what her favorite part was and she smiled and said, “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!” I guess she liked the fairy godmother too!
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I couldn’t get a picture of her looking at the camera for the life of me, so this is the best I could do. |
Botanic Gardens
We checked out the Botanic Gardens this weekend. It was unbelievable! Everything was so beautiful and peaceful. It was fun to just walk around and be outside. Vivianne found a water fountain…it’s like the kid can sniff out water. She loves getting WET!
Soon to be "not" the only child...
It’s crazy to think she’s approaching the two and half mark and even crazier to think she’s going to be a big sister soon! I still don’t think this child understands what is really going on. She can tell you mommy’s got a baby in her tummy and that she’s going to be a big sister, but let’s face it, her little world is going to be seriously rocked. I think she will enjoy bossing someone else around having a playmate. And I am sure she will not enjoy sharing mommy having to be second in line sometimes. However, I know without a doubt that after the jealously issues wear off eventually she will thank us for giving her a sibling :-)
Fun in the Sand
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I remember when she didn’t even like the feel of sand on her feet…how things change:-) |
The Transition from Crib to Toddler Bed
In the recent months, if I had a dime for every time someone would ask me when I planned on transitioning Vivianne to a toddler bed, I’d now be able to buy at least 10 toddler beds. Since ol’ #2 is slated to appear on the scene in less than 8.5 weeks, the urgency of this concern has been re-communicated to me (and God forbid if that child is still sleeping in that crib whatever will you do with the new baby!!!).
AHHHHHHHHHHH!
Well, the truth is, had we not been expecting another baby this whole ‘transition thing’ would not even be on my radar screen. Vivianne LOVES her bed. I know it may sound crazy, but this child actually likes sleeping in her crib. There are a handful of times when she has asked to come into our bed only to ask after a few minutes have passed to go back to her bed, she won’t even sleep in our bed! I think she may now have finally reached the point where she actually could climb out if she wanted to and hasn’t. She’s content.
But, being that her little brother/sister will be here soon, I felt somewhat pressured to move her out into a “big girl” bed. So we spent this whole past week talking with her about the switch. We checked out books on the subject from the library, had her pick out her new bedding, etc. We even planned a special celebration on Friday with cupcakes and all. She was STOKED! When we unveiled her new bed, she immediately jumped right in. We were so happy. She likes it, we cheered! She grabbed her babies, slid under the covers, and yelled, “Good night!” We asked if she wanted us to read her stories, get her pajamas on—“Nope! Lights off!” was all she said. So we closed her door and walked out to the living room in disbelief, it can’t be this easy, can it? I said to Thomas, “I’ll give her about 3 minutes.” Thomas laughed and agreed. Sure enough, it wasn’t much longer than that when we heard her call out for us. Apparently, she was DONE having fun in her new bed! She wanted to go to sleep in “her bed” and pointed to the crib. So after a couple more attempts of trying to get her to sleep in the toddler bed, we let her sleep in her crib, which she did gladly. Maybe tomorrow we said. We’ll try to encourage her to sleep in her “big girl” bed for nap, ease her into it, so to speak, that was the plan. Nap time came and went, and it pretty much mirrored the events of the night before and yet, again, later that evening as well. So it’s Sunday now, we gave her the choice once again, “Where do you want to take your nap?” She chose the “big girl” bed. After about 30 minutes, she’s ready for her crib.
At least the time spent in the “big girl” bed is increasing, that is a good sign, right??? We will have to wait and see what transpires over the next few weeks. We are hoping she feels more and more comfortable with it and eventually decides to actually sleep in it :-)
Here’s a pic from the beginning of the first night…I should have taken one of her in the crib at the end of the night!
(UPDATE) The Transition from Crib to Toddler Bed
She slept in her “big girl” bed last night without a problem!
Yea, Vivianne! We are so proud of you!
Lil' Swimmer ;-)
Here are a few pictures from tonight! It was the first time we went to the pool in the evening! The pool closes in one more week…she is going to be so sad!
New Buffalo, Michigan
We set out this morning to find this great little (u-pick) blueberry farm near New Buffalo, MI, that a friend told us about…but never made it there. Instead, ended up spending the entire afternoon at the beach, enjoying the unseasonably cool August temperatures, while watching how something as simple as a shovel and some sand could occupy a toddler for hours:-)
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Sunday Snaps
She says, “Push me, Papa! Higher than the trees, up in the sky!”
She’s knows I am taking pictures, but continues to ignore me, until this very moment.