I now have a seven month old and a three year old! It's been a big week around here! Of course James is taking it all in stride. He thinks he can not only cruise the furniture but go from piece of furniture to piece of furniture, like the couch to recliner, without falling down. Most of the time he can too. We were stopped today and asked if he was 11 months old. Um, no. He's just barely 7. Yes, he's enormous. Yes, he's advanced gross motor skills wise. Yes, we are very lucky. That much we know. We also know that we have a weird child. He still doesn't like any fruits! He will eat any vegetable and bread product you put in front of him but fruits or anything sweet and he'll gag or put his hands in front of his face or turn his face from you, basically anything to not have to eat something sweet. What is with this kid? Kris even gave him a tiny taste of a chocolate shake today and he gave Kris the gaggy, "that was gross, do not do that again" face. We keep trying though every day, hoping he'll come around. I mean, really. He's going to be begging me one day for fruit snacks and cookies, right?

Today is Annika's birthday. Happy birthday baby girl! Mama loves you so much! I'm so glad I was able to take today off work. We woke up this morning and I helped Annika get ready for her first day of preschool; pack her backpack, pick out her clothes, etc. Then, Kris, James and I walked her across the street to her school. Yesterday and today I really stressed that Mommy and Daddy were leaving her at school where she would play with friends and her teacher and then when school was over we would come back and get her. She seemed to understand and was fine with this. I walked her into her classroom and showed her again where her cubby was for her jacket and backpack. She was excited to get her treats out of her bag (she brought Rice Krispy Treats for the class to celebrate her birthday) and give them to her teacher. Then when she was done with that we took off and hung that up. She was eyeing the toys and the art project a couple other kids were working on. I told her to wave good bye to Daddy and James and she did. Then I told her to give me a kiss good-bye (I was already kneeling down at her level) and she did and then gave me a hug good-bye and then she turned around and walked across the room to play with some toys. She never looked back. Every instinct in me wanted to be that stereotypical "helicopter mom" and hover for a while to make sure she was okay. Kris said it was time to go so we walked out instead. I admit I got a little choked up. I was leaving my baby! Kris was happy about it though. He's looking forward to having some one-child-at-a-time time while Annika's at school. He said something about naps....for him. :) It looks like Annika has a set of triplets and a set of twins in her class! And even though she may be the youngest or really close to the youngest in her class, she is no where near the smallest. There are some tiny kids in her class! We keep thinking about that kindergarten question. Kris is adamant that she will be ready academically for kindergarten at 4, almost 5 but I'm not as sure she'll be ready socially and wonder if we shouldn't wait until she is 5, almost 6 to start school. We'll keep an eye on her the next year or two and keep thinking this through while also talking to the professionals (her pre-K teachers, our neighbor Katie who is a Kindergarten teacher in a different district, my cousin, Lindsay, who is an elem ed student doing her student teaching now, etc.).

When we got home, James went down for a nap (He's starting to stretch his naps out. He used to be a 45 minute napper and now he'll stay down for up to an hour and a half! Woo!) so Kris and I took that time to wrap Annika's birthday presents (and assemble "the big one") and clean up the house for her party tomorrow. When it was time, we walked back over to pick her up. Her class was out for a walk in the building so we waited in the hall for them to come back. When they did it was so cute! Annika was wearing a little crown hat that said "Happy Birthday Annika" on it and all the little kids were holding a rope to help keep them in line as they walked. I, uh, took a picture. I couldn't help it! The cuteness! Anyway, they went back into their classroom and were only let out when an adult was there to claim the child. Annika came out and honestly? She was not that excited to see us. She didn't want to go home. She wanted to stay and play some more. I guess she likes her new school. We told her she would be coming back again but that it was time to go home and eat lunch and open presents and get ready for pictures this afternoon. Oh, and something about ice cream too. The presents and ice cream were enough to ward off a tantrum and she agreed to go home with us. Independent much? And, uh, bribery much? I mean it's not like ice cream and presents are in the cards for every school day! At home she immediately went for the presents. We got her some fingerpaints, CandyLand, a Cinderella dress and a bike. All were big hits. She has already finger painted twice today. We have played an entire game of CandyLand where she beat me fair and square, she has already torn a hem on her Cinderella dress and the bike has been rode around the house numerous times (with her helmet on - it's the rule). She like her Cinderella dress so much that we actually took it with to the mall and had some pictures taken of her in it. Annika insisted. She also insisted on walking around the mall in it too. We got so many "She's so cute!" comments. Yes, I have to agree. She is! Her pictures turned out really cute by the way. My girl is a pretty one, I do believe. And she did get her ice cream. It's kind of become a little tradition to go get a treat while the pictures are printing. It was Cold Stone Creamery for us today. Yum! And then it was back home so Daddy could go to work. Tomorrow is the big birthday party day. I'm sure Annika will be spoiled rotten as usual. I'll report back on how it goes! I hope we have enough food! At least I know the cake will be good...