Girlfriends!

Arya got to go to a birthday party for her friend Brenley last weekend, with friends Maggie and Maddie there too. Maddie and Brenley are cousins, and both in Arya's preschool class, and Arya has had fun getting to play with them at school lately. And of course Maggie has been Arya's friend for just about as long as she's been alive! (Plus, we're friends with all of the girls' parents!) The girls had a great time playing at the playground and eating cupcakes. Here are a few photos from the party that I snagged from Brenley's mom's facebook page!! I love the collage of photos above of the four girls all together. Aren't friends fun??!

Arya and Maggie having cupcakes...you know Arya LOVES chocolate!!

Arya and the birthday girl, Brenley!

Cooperation

A few weeks ago, Arya wanted to help me iron. She said, "Mommy, you hold the iron and I'll put my hand on your hand to help." I was a little hesitant because I didn't want her to burn herself, but carefully let her start helping. She then said, "That's called cooperation. That's what friends are all about. Maggie learned that." Me: "You mean Maggie taught you that?" Arya, "Yeah, Maggie taught me that."

Rajeev and I friends with Maggie's parents, but Maggie and Arya are also such sweet friends. She is a little older than Arya (about 10 months), but they always have so much fun playing together and always talk fondly about each other even when it has been a while since they've been able to play together. Apparently, Maggie has been busy teaching Arya some new things!! So cute!!

PS-The picture above is of Maggie and Arya playing at a recent birthday party!

Arya spends her "Fruit Dollars"

Last month, it was "Fruit Dollar Sunday" at church, where kids get to bring in all of the "fruit dollars" they've received for being good, participating, and attending Sunday School. They can then trade them in for little prizes. They're encouraged to think of others during this time too, and maybe get something for someone else in addition to getting something for themselves.

Arya didn't have many fruit dollars saved up because she'd only been in the 3 year old class for a short time and because we hadn't really realized we were supposed to be saving them until it was quite late. She only had one fruit dollar before class that day, but the teachers helped her earn some extras during class so that she would have at least a few to trade in for goodies!!

Rajeev took her into the little "store" they had set up and she bought a few things, including a juice box, some sparkly stickers and some lip balm. I met up with them as they were finishing and she excitedly handed me something! "It is some lip balm for you, Mommy! Yours was all gone so I got you some more!" She had picked this out all on her own, remembering that probably a month or two before, I'd shown her that the chapstick I keep in the car was all gone. She is such a giving little girl, and I can't believe how generous she is at times, sharing things with others. (She loves to share favorite treats that she gets - M&Ms, goldfish crackers, PEZ candy, etc. with others who she thinks might like them.) Anyway, her gift was so incredibly sweet and thoughtful that I wanted to be sure to write it down.

Alex is crawling!!

Alex has been on the move for the past couple of weeks and has been making steady progress toward crawling. I think that as of Sunday, September 20 though, it is safe to say that he is officially crawling. Over the weekend he started at a point where he would get up on his hands and knees and move a hand or two forward and then kind of thrust himself toward his destination. By the end of the weekend, he was moving 5-6 hands forward before making a "leap" towards wherever it was he is trying to go. Now, he can make it across the room and beyond. He is a very busy little boy!!

I will hopefully be posting some video clips soon. I've taken a few along the way so you can really see his progress. I still can't believe that he is only 5 months old and is crawling!! I definitely can't turn my back for a minute on him!! :)

Making Dora cupcakes

On Monday, Arya was playing on the nickjr.com site and watched a little video about how to make Dora cupcakes. She asked if we could make them, and it sounded like fun to me! So, on Tuesday we made Dora cupcakes. We didn't have fruit leather to make the mouth, and I ran out of red food coloring and could not make the brown icing that was supposed to outline Dora's features. Instead, we outlined them in green, the only color we could make using our options of yellow, blue, and green food coloring!! Anyway, Arya and I had a lot of fun. She did a great job making the hair out of melted chocolate chips. I squirted the melted chocolate around the outside and she used a toothpick to spread out the rest. Here are some photos of us making and enjoying our cupcakes!!

Arya's first day of preschool

Today was Arya's first day of preschool...wow, it is hard to believe she is big enough for that! We went for orientation last Thursday and she got to see her classroom, meet her teacher and some of the other kids in her class.

Today when we got to school, I pulled up toward the door where the teachers come out to the car to pick up the kids and take them in. They had said it was okay if parents took the kids in for the first few days, so I asked Arya what she wanted to do: "Arya, do you want Mommy to take you inside or do you want to go by yourself?" "I'll go by myself, " she replied confidently. Wow, so much for needing mommy!!

Show and tell is on Tuesdays, and this week's show and tell theme was circles. Arya decided to bring her bubble blower (the handheld kind with a little fan to blow lots of bubbles at once). She thought it was neat because the bubble blower had all kinds of circles on it (including the openings that the bubbles blow through), and it made bubbles, which were also circles. I told her she'd have to ask the teacher if she could actually blow the bubbles, and explained that she probably wouldn't be able to blow them inside. On the way home I asked her about show and tell and she excitedly told me that her teacher had blown the bubbles for them two times, and more importantly, "she even blew the bubbles INSIDE THE HOUSE!!!" (in other words, inside the classroom instead of outdoors).

Another highlight from the day included painting (which she loves). I asked her about seeing some of her friends, and she told me disappointedly about how one of the little girls didn't want to share. Arya: "She wasn't even thinking about sharing." Me: "Did you ask her nicely if she would share with you?" Arya: "Yes! I said, 'Share!'" Me: "Well did you share with the other kids?" Arya: "Yes! But I just played with the toys no one else was playing with."

Needless to say, it was a fun filled day for Arya and she was clearly excited to tell me all about what she had spent the afternoon doing.

As we were getting out of the car at home, I asked her one more question, feeling sure that I'd know the answer. "Are you excited to go back to school another day?"

Her answer surprised me. "No, I don't want to go back. I don't want you to leave me. I really missed you." I'm sure she'll change her mind and be completely ready to head back on Thursday, but it is kind of nice to know that she still needs me after all. :)


Above is my sweet Arya just before we left for school...and below is my silly Arya. :)


Here she is "getting her exercise" as she calls it, by trying to climb a tree in the front yard!

Alex eats cereal for the first time!

I wanted to post a couple of videos of the first time Alex tried solid food. He has been so interested in the food that we eat, and has been reaching for it and moving his mouth as he watches us eat. The pediatrician told us to try to wait a bit longer to give him cereal, so we gave him some once he had passed the 5 month mark. Here are 4 videos that show his first experience!! (My camera only takes 30 second videos, so that is why there are four of them!!) He kept crying whenever Rajeev took the spoon away to refill it!! I guess the rice cereal was a hit!! :)