Gabby's....I mean Larkyn's gymnastics

Larkyn has been taking gymnastics since January 2012 and has gained so much coordination and strength throughout the process.  Last January she was in the Parent/Tot class and Shea or I led her through the activities after the teacher explained them.  In March they said she was ready for the 3's class without a parent. It was fun to watch her listen to her teacher and interact minimally with the other kids in her class.  She worked hard to balance, hang from a bar and kick her feet up to knock off a bean bag, do a forward roll, learn the beginning of a cartwheel, and sit back up from a safety roll without putting her hands down to help her. 

We took the summer off and she started back up again at the beginning of September.  It didn't take long for her to pick up where she left off.  She is now interacting with her teachers and classmates, telling stories and making them laugh (I wonder who she gets that from?).  Her skills continue to get better each class.  I love seeing her practice her forward roll as she says "high, low, over I go!" Larkyn is able to do a cartwheel and land on her feet now!  She also enjoys jumping on the trampoline and doing tucks, straddles, and "seat to feet" jumps (bounce on feet, bounce on bottom, bounce back up to feet without the help of hands).

It is amazing to see the coordination and strength she has gained and how it has helped her in other areas, such as riding her bike, throwing and catching a ball, balancing and hoping, etc.

 

Many times when Larkyn begins a station she will start and then stop and look around at what all of the other kids are doing.  This is the case with the parallel bars. She is suppose to be doing a crab walk down the bars, instead she is watching the other group in the room and then me video taping!  She then goes on to try the single bar and pushing herself up proves to be a challenge!

This is one of the stations Larkyn was doing involving balance beams.  Her favorite walk is the Princess point where her hands are up over her head like a ballerina. However, this is a video of her doing "apart, together" on and off the balance beam.

Larkyn was told she needed to do "apart, together, apart, together" as small jumps.  She was trying very hard, but ended up doing a whole bunch of straddle jumps.  Looks like a future cheerleader???

Larkyn Kate starts Preschool!

Today was Larkyn's first day of 3 year old Preschool!  She was so thrilled to start school today.  Larkyn had her outfit picked out for weeks so she knew exactly what she was going to wear today and got herself dressed. She was so excited she raced through breakfast so she could go outside to take her picture.

Camdyn got in on the action too.  She wanted to be just like her big sister!

 

After dropping off Camdyn at daycare, Larkyn, Shea and I went to Caribou for a "coffee date" as Larkyn likes to call it.  On our way we passed our church where she goes to preschool and she was so excited to go that she wanted to go right away and be the first ones there. We convinced her that we should make a quick stop at Caribou and that it was a special treat!  When we got to Caribou she was teaching her own Preschool class how to write Dad and Mom.

Finally it was 9:00 am!  We arrived at Preschool and Larkyn connected right away with her buddy Luke.  They are both in the Sunshine room/class together.

 She got to explore the classroom and found herself spending most of her time in the kitchen. Hmm...not surprising! She fed the baby her bottle, made breakfast, and even dressed up with rings, necklaces and a skirt.  Another little girl came into the kitchen area and Larkyn asked her right away "What is your name?" Already off to a great start in making friends!

One of our tasks was to measure how tall she is and how much she weighs.  

Larkyn is 40 inches tall and weighs 36 pounds!

 

Luke loved feeding the monkeys bananas!

 

Larkyn connected with a gymnastics buddy, Tessa, who is also in the Sunshine room.  

They had a great time playing at the sand table.

Larkyn's Preschool Day...

Each child has the same bag for bringing things to school and taking things home.

 

The bright Sunshine room!

 

What a great first day!  The teachers were so warm and welcoming to the students and parents.  The classroom set up was great and the information was very helpful.  We feel very blessed to have Larkyn in such a caring place to learn more about Jesus, being a good friend to others, following directions and learning MANY new skills!  When we came to pick Larkyn up after the parent meeting her teachers said to us that she is Miss Personality.  We weren't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but they did follow it up with "She was social with the other kids and telling them 'it's okay, your mommy and daddy will be back in a little bit' after some of them cried when the parents left." Who would have thought...our little lady who once cried every time we dropped her off or left her is now the one consoling others and helping them through that process!

Mrs. Giildenzopf, Larkyn and Mrs. Trygstad

Larkyn's Sunshine room teachers

What a trooper!  Another one of Mom's crazy picture ideas from Pinterest!

 

We couldn't leave out the "baby"!  Miss Camdyn has been very into books lately. She loves to "read" and flip through the pages.  It wont be long and she will be off to Preschool as well! 

One day at a time...

 

"What are you looking at?"

 

A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday!

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May 2012

May Highlights:

*We redesigned our garden this year.  Shea and our neighbor Scott layered retaining wall block to build up the edges.  We extended it out a bit more than years past giving us more room to plant more vegetables including red, green, and orange peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, peas, onions, and strawberries.  The most fruitful plant this year was definitely our cucumber plant.  We probably got 50+ cucumbers from one plant!  I even learned how to make/can pickles so we ended up with at least 6 jars of those as well!
*Camdyn turned 6 weeks early in the month and still had a little baby acne hanging around.  She has been cooing and gurgling a lot lately.  Sleeps a lot and eats a lot. 
*We ventured out to the Cinco de Mayo Festival with Jessi, Hannah and Melanie.  We watched a parade, walked through LARGE crowds and tried tamales.
*We went to IGM Gymnastics Open Gym with Luke.  Camdyn slept in her carseat while Larkyn enjoyed the trampolines, balance beams, open mats, and balls.
*Celebrated (Granny) Janny's 60th birthday! We had a great time with family and friends. 
*We had a Subway picnic at the park with cousins Breally and Cayden, and played at the playground.  We also went to watch Breally play softball and had a girls night in with Breally and May May that night while Daddy and Grandpa Art went to the Brewer game.
*Larkyn took swim lessons for the second time.  She loved the water this time.  By the last few classes we were tying a noodle around her belly as a floatation device and she was swimming on her own.
*Camdyn turned 2 months old on the 21st.  At her 2 month well check she was 12 lbs. 15 oz  (95th percentile), and 25 inches (97 percentile).  She is a very happy baby.  She has found her hands and loves to suck on them.
*We began sleep training this month.  Camdyn started going to bed earlier, around 7:30 pm.  If she woke up around 4 or 5 we used the pacifier and sleep sheep and then she would usually go back to sleep until 7 am the next morning.  The pacifier and sleep sheep have been been her best friends lately!
*Shea built a wooden playset for the girls from scratch.  We watched him build the "clubhouse" piece in the garage one rainy day.  The rest of it came together a few days later.  The girls, especially Larkyn, loved the swings.  It took her a little while to warm up to the slide and feeling "safe" up in the clubhouse.  It also took awhile for her to get over the flies on the slide.  
*Larkyn has been attending Sunday School at church.  It has taken quite awhile for her to feel comfortable and wanting to stay without Mommy or Daddy.  Though each week seems to be getting better.
*Larkyn loves to sing her ABC's, as well as Mickey Mouse Clubhouse songs, Twist and Shout, and other wiggle worm songs.
*Larkyn enjoys having phone conversations with her family members.  She is quite the talker!  Her new filler word is "so".  "Yah, so, Mommy is changing Camdyn's diaper, so..."
*Camdyn and Larkyn's new best friend arrived in the world...our neighbor, Jena Kunze, was born on May 31st!

April 2012

April Highlights:

*Camdyn had her 2 week visit on April 3rd (Daddy's Birthday) and she weighed 8 lbs. 14 oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.
April 4th: 6th consecutive night in a row for Camdyn only waking up once to eat! This is 5 plus hours in between feedings.  (2 week old waking only once...LOVE IT!) 
*April 5: Camdyn's first bath in the kitchen sink.  She screamed through most of it! A few days later we put her in the small baby bath inside the bathtub with Larkyn.  MUCH BETTER!  Not sure who loved it more....Camdyn or Larkyn?
*Camdyn's first Easter.  We spent the weekend in Iowa with my family.  Larkyn went on two Easter Egg hunts and loved dying Easter eggs. 
*Larkyn is getting the hang of pumping like Mommy!  She insists on having her own bottles and shields to "pump".  She even makes the sound with her mouth.
*Larkyn is talking like crazy!  One of her newest phrases is "Oh Nuts!" (Thanks to Tracey:)) and "Hold Me" to Mommy.  By the end of the month she was using 8 word sentences and at dinner one night said "I want my mustard ketchup with my chicken."
*We went to Winona to see some of Shea's baseball buddies.  Larkyn loved swimming and going down the frog slide at the hotel with Cayden who surprised us by coming with Janny.
*The week of April 23rd: Many good 8 hour over night stretches for Camdyn...WAHOO!
*Camdyn gave her first smiles on April 24th.  One for mommy and one for Kayce.  Many big smiles followed for the rest of the month and so on...
*We had a couple playdates with Hannah and Melanie this month.  We met up with them at their house to see some of the girls from the church house clan and their family came over for dinner and play later in the month.  We love our time spent with the Brink family!
*We discovered 2 bottom molars in the back of Larkyn mouth on the 30th.  Could explain some crankiness?

March 2012

March Highlights:

*Larkyn loves to pretend to call people on the phone.  She will hold up my old red blackberry and have her own conversations with people.  My favorite part is how she says hello. "Hiyo!"
*We celebrated Larkyn's birthday on the 3rd with a Minnie Mouse Birthday Party.
*Our tech savvy 2 year old hopped up to the computer and started her Mickey Mouse CD using the touch pad.
*Larkyn and I spent her 2nd birthday on the 13th at the Zoo and had Subway for lunch.  That was after we went to her 2 year well check at the Doctor.  She weighed 28 lbs (50th percentile) and was 34 inches tall (75th percentile).
*Larkyn is still in love with "Mox".  She talks about him daily at daycare.  Tracey is convinced we are having a boy and going to name him Max.  (Boy was she wrong!)

*Camdyn Jean was born on the 21st at 6:25 p.m.  She was 8 lbs. 9 oz and 21 inches long. Larkyn enjoyed her time at the hospital but was so fortunate to have the care of Grandma Debbie, Kayce, Tracey, Janny and Charlie while at home.
*Camdyn and I came home from the hospital on the 23rd.  She left the hospital weighing 7 lbs. 15 oz.
*We took Camdyn to the doctor on the 24th for a weight check.  She weighed 8 lbs. 1 oz. and was gaining weight.  She checked out perfect! Later that day we went for a walk around the block.  It was 80 degrees.  The whole week prior to Camdyn's birth was extremely warm for March.  I was so pregnant and so warm. All I had was winter maternity clothes...no shorts!
*Larkyn loves to talk and sing.  One of her favorite words this month was "sometimes".  Her favorite activity this month was playing car wash with her little ride on car.  She would go through and then have us dry her off.
*Larkyn loves her baby sister and is adjusting to not always being the center of attention.  

Here are some pictures from Larkyn's 2nd birthday party. 

Back tracking to January and February 2012...

MY ATTEMPT AT CATCHING UP...

So the past few years (in December) we have created a calendar for our family of various pictures from the previous year.  Because I am SO far behind, I thought I would post the collage I made per month and list some highlights of each month. 

I was pretty caught up in January and February, but I felt that because it is a calendar of the whole year, I couldn't just start in March.  So here are the collages from the first two months.  I also started keeping a calendar on the fridge ever since Larkyn was born in order to write down various highlights throughout the month as they come up.  It is way better than any baby book either of my girls will ever have!  This calendar is sitting beside me as I update each month's highlights to ensure quality!

January Highlights:
*My cousin Kayce moved in with us for 4 months while student teaching for the spring semester.  It was so much fun having her, and Larkyn loved having an extra playmate in the house.
*Larkyn loves her shape puzzles and names many shapes including diamond (sometimes even calls it a rhombus), trapezoid, and hexagon.
*Everything is "Larkyn need that!" when we have something she wants or she sees.
*Larkyn was very excited for the baby (Camdyn) to come. Every night before going to bed she would touch my belly as she gave the sign of the cross to it and say "Child of God. May God bless."
*Larkyn came down with a cold mid month.  Poor girl had such a hard time breathing.  One night before Shea and I went to bed we went in to check on her and found her sitting up in the corner of her bed asleep.  (See the picture below...)
*When Grandma Debbie came to visit, we took a trip to the MN Zoo to show her all of the animals.
*Larkyn enjoyed playing in the couple of inches of snow we got last year!

February Highlights:

*Larkyn was potty trained at 23 months.
*A new song she learned this month was "The Days of the Week" to the tune of "Clementine".  She usually got "Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday" and needed some support for the rest. Another song she loved to sing was "inky do...I Love You!"
*"Mox" (Larkyn's imaginary friend) came to life in February. She claims he lives at Home Depot.  We heard a lot about Mox and Home Depot for many months.  The funny thing is Larkyn has only been to Home Depot maybe once in her life, but anytime we drive by it or come close to the sign she yells out "There's Home Depot! from the backseat.
*We took a trip to Wisconsin Rapids to watch Breally and Cayden play basketball.  Larkyn was very content for the games and loved watching them play.
*Larkyn loves to play at the park, play dress up and pretend, and color.

Awaiting the arrival...