First quarter report card!

Natalie received her first quarter report card this past week, and I had our first parent-teacher conference of the school year. She is doing really, really well! Her teacher says she loves having Natalie in class, she's respectful, organized and a good friend to her classmates. She is one of her teacher's three go-to kids for other classmates who struggle a bit socially - that makes me really proud. She's very sensitive and kind, and I'm so glad she's a friend to everyone. Academically, she's also doing very well. Grading scale is 1-4, with 4 being the highest. Her teacher said that she gives out very few 4s this early in the year, as that indicates mastery. Natalie's report card was all 3s and quite a few 4s! This Tuesday is her Student of the Month assembly, which Oliver and I are looking forward to attending!

Little Monkey

While in Chicago, Oliver taught himself to climb in and out of the crib at Grandma's house. It was hilarious, and I foolishly thought that since his crib at home is lower to the ground (it just seems deeper because of how low it is), that it wouldn't be an issue at home. Yeah, not so much. Not 24 hours after we got home, he was climbing in and out of our crib, so off came the front, and now he's in a big boy toddler daybed. I took him out to pick out new bedding - he chose Toy Story/Buzz Lightyear, and loves it. I'm not going into a lot of detail, most of the people who would be reading this know the hell we went through when Natalie switched to a bed, but so far, he's doing really, really well!

I just wasn't ready for this - not only the fear of having him less contained, but it's just one more baby thing left behind. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Chicago!

Two weeks ago, we went to Chicago to visit Jon's side of the family. Natalie was on Fall Break, so we had the whole week! Had a great time - the kids had so much fun with their cousins, Will, Maggie and Owen - Oliver is still asking to go to Owen's house. And of course, they loved all of the time they got to spend with Grandma!

The flight out was a little rough - Oliver had a hell of a time, and made his displeasure known. Mama Bear (me, duh) tangled with a couple of fellow passengers, but we arrived safe and sound, and I managed to avoid getting arrested. :-P Natalie was her usual excellent traveler self - she just travels so well. Settles herself down on the plane and sits back and enjoys the ride.

Aunt Lois and Uncle Don drove in from Michigan - which was such a nice surprise! And they came bearing pumpkins, gourds, and some awesome candy. Got the whole group together - I think there was 16 of us (?), and we went to Aurelio's - a great local pizza place in Jon's hometown, where Grandma still lives and works.

Checked out a pumpkin patch too, which was a lot of fun. They had a Moo Choo ride, corn maze, kid's area with animals, you name it, they had it. Great place in Indiana. Go figure though... We left AZ in 90+ degree weather, and that weekend in IL/IN, it was 90 degrees! Mercifully, it cooled down in the early part of the week - we really enjoyed the crisp fall weather. The leaves were even turning, and it was so gorgeous.

Got to take the kids to the Shedd Aquarium, and also the Children's Museum at Navy Pier. Went to the parks around Grandma's house a bunch of times. Visited Grandma at work, at got a full tour of the school, and met a lot of Grandma's colleagues. We also had a chance to see Aunt Elizabeth's and Uncle Matt's new house (gorgeous!) and neighborhood - where Aunt Annie and I nearly got into a brawl at a bakery. Don't ask!

We also took the kids to see Great-Great Auntie Annie, and took her out to dinner. Oliver was fascinated with her wedding picture.

Oliver cracked us up one day... I had gone out to get doughnuts, and I guess Little Man fancied a snack one afternoon, and thought he'd be sneaky. All of a sudden, he came out of the kitchen with a shit-eating grin on his face, rubbing his belly with one hand, holding a doughnut with the other - saying "Mmmmm mmmmm mmmm" over and over. He busted himself!

Natalie was great with her cousins - she and Will really hit it off, and she was so good with Owen and Maggie. Sometime that first weekend, she looked at me and said "It's really great being here with the cousins, isn't it Mommy?".

It was such a great time, and we're looking forward to seeing Grandma out here in December - just a couple more months!

Working on pics. Backlog - sorry!