Daddy's In Charge...

...for a couple days anyway as Mommy is in Chicago (Northbrook) for a work function. Also.. this post should probably be on Ellie & Calvin 365, but I just realized I don't have access to post on that one. Whoops. Maybe it can be slid over at a later date.

Anyway.. yesterday was Father's Day Happy Hour at Kid's Klub.. and they laid out quite the spread! Barbecued pulled pork, Swedish meatballs, chicken nuggets (mostly for the kids), King's Hawaiian rolls, a whole bunch of fruit (including watermelon), plus homemade brownies, cheesecake, and ice cream for dessert. All were great!

Calvin didn't seem TOO interested in taking a selfie with me...







...but he WAS interested in eating my food. I mean.. I shared willingly, but the kid has an appetite!


Here is a photo of the Father's Day gift Cal made for me. He painted the canvass and struck the Superman pose (or was surprised when crawling) all on his own!



Also.. those mountains SuperCal is flying over are his footprints. On the other side is a footprint and handprint superhero. Pretty clever!



This morning Calvin was a little unsure of the oatmeal he was given for (second) breakfast, but eventually seemed to get into it.






And this evening, after her piano lesson, Ellie nicely helped Calvin on his walk through Kids Klub as we headed out to the car.








It was a good couple days, but everybody is excited for Mommy to come home tonight!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Dance Recital

Among all the end of school year excitement, start of summer, piano recitals, etc we had one more thing...today Ellie had a ballet recital. It was a ballet choreographed by her ballet teacher and followed the story of Alice in Wonderland. Ellie was a rabbit in the tea party scene.

It was a bit chaotic and a long day, especially seeing as Nick is in Chicago this weekend and missed the shoe. There were two performances and we had to be there early for a rehearsal. The recital was held at PCC, but in the BIG auditorium this time. The stage was huge and there were plenty of seats for Calvin to run around. Calvin actually stayed awake through the first performance and then slept through the second one (so I got better photos from the second performance). Ellie's good friends are still taking ballet and were in the show. In addition, good family friends came to watch E and her classmates, which of course was awesome because I had extra hands to help with Calvin during the first performance and videotape the performance for Nick.

Everyone did so well and the whole performance was great. Ellie had a blast, especially hanging out backstage which made her feel like a real ballet dancer. My favorite photo of the day was when I captured her helping her friend with her ballet shoes.

Of course...she forgot my advice that if she could see the audience, they could see her and to stay back in the wings.

Calvin is 15 months old!

Our little man is 15 months old today. And he hasn't been to the doctor since our last visit after he was released from the hospital! (Its the small things...one month without taking Calvin to the doctor is pretty exciting in our household).

He has become pretty adventurous and is more sure on his feet, we even got him some kicks with real soles and not just thin soft leather that really feels like he is barefoot. He wants to find a way to climb up anything and get into anything. He got into the bathtub this morning by himself.

His teachers at school always tell me he keeps them on their toes. And they are surprised at his keen observation skills, like today apparently the phone in his room doesn't ring but blinks a light and Calvin saw the blinking light and went and got a teacher and kept pointing and yelling at the phone until someone picked it up. He makes people laugh and is super cuddly. Actually, he has been more cuddly and has more stranger fears since he got released from the hospital.

We all agree that once he has words he will not stop talking and once he grows a little bit more he will be difficult to keep up with as he will move faster and be physically able to climb more.

When Ellie was this age, it was a lot easier to get her to sit still for her dolphin photos. Actually, every dolphin photo with Ellie was easier than every tiger photo with Calvin. Different kids, different personalities and their respective monthly photos really reflect that.

Ellie's last day of kindergarten

 Today was the last day of school for Ellie, the conclusion of her first year of school and kindergarten. We are so fortunate that our neighborhood public school is such a great school with fantastic teachers, a hands-on principal, and awesome and dedicated parents. Also, we are fortunate that Ellie had such a great teacher this year and a fantastic introduction to school.

If I'm completely honest she was not challenged academically. But that's not what kindergarten is about. Its about learning and honing your social skills and adapting to this new world that is school. Its about learning to work with others. Developing self reliance skills, a sense of independence, and figuring out things at school without your parents being there. Its about responsibility and remembering your ID number when you buy lunch. And Ellie gained all of this and more this year. There was plenty of hands-on learning in the school garden and art loft. As well as five field trips. She gained computer skills as well as teamwork. She made some great new friends that I know will be a part of her life for a long time. She grew emotionally as well as a few inches in height. Her report cards this year were terrific. This last one she got an ES (exceeds standards) or O (outstanding) in every category except for mastery of grammar (I'll take that one) and math with higher numbers (let's blame Nick) where she got a MS (meets standards). Her teacher only has ever had good things to say about her and that she was a joy in class.

While Ellie is looking forward to the summer and everything that is planned, she is also looking forward to heading back to Webster for first grade. She's a little bummed that she will have a new teacher and that her friends may not be in her class, but she is so excited to be in first grade and all the benefits that come with that, including getting to be on the big kid playground.

Ellie's First Piano Recital

Today was Ellie's first piano recital. She started piano with her teacher in January and today, 5 months later she performed. She performed a piece playing with both hands and dynamics. We are so proud of her hard work to get to this point.

Grandma Pam and Grandpa Mike came down for the concert (which I'm sure brought back memories of watching me and Susie perform these same pieces). The recital was held at the Community Room at the South Pasadena Public Library which is a great space and terrific for the recital. All of the studio performed, approximately 35 students, ranging from ages 4 to 17 and with a huge range in experience. It was really great for all of the kids to see what could be next for them as well as to be reminded of where they started. We even ran into a family from Ellie's preschool who are part of the studio as well.

Ellie was in the middle of the program and the third of four kids who played the same piece. We took Calvin and he was well behaved until after Ellie performed when he, accompanied by Grandma Pam, left the building. Her performance wasn't perfect, and I wouldn't have expected it to be. However, she did really well. She played strong and had a perfect ending. Her dynamics were there. And she was confident and had fun, which is really all that matters.

 

Ellie really seems to enjoy piano and doesn't mind (well, sometimes she minds) putting in the hours practicing. She really likes her piano teacher. And I do too. She is an incredible player and is really good with the kids. She encourages them without being too pushy, but definitely holds them accountable. I'm so happy that Ellie likes piano and it is so much fun to watch her learn and perform. Although, I think I was way more nervous than she was for this first recital!

Spring concerts

On May 27th, Ellie performed in two concerts at school. One was during the day and was with her classmates. The second was after school and with her after school program (held at school, with her classmates too).

The program during the school day was directed by her school's music teacher and had a theme of world music. Ellie and her class sang three songs. The first was in English and Spanish. The second was a Moroccan song. And the third was Australian. It was really well done. The only downside was that she was positioned right behind the music teacher, so getting a good picture of her was tough. But she was pretty excited not to have to wear her uniform to school! The kids were asked to wear dressy clothes.

After the concert I took a moment and spoke to her music teacher and told her that I really enjoyed the concert and thought she did an excellent job. Ellie has enjoyed her music class all year. She asked who my daughter was and I told her Ellen, and then she smiled and said she was fantastic and a joy to have in class. I told her that we had started piano and then she said, "oh! that explains why she is so good!". So that was nice to hear.

In the afternoon the show was titled, "It Came From the 80s!". All the hits were there, Safety Dance, People are People, Who can it Be Now, Sweet Dreams, and of course, the well know and beloved, Never Turn your Back on Mother Earth. Yeah, the kindergartners got that one. I guess finding 80s songs that have elementary school appropriate lyrics can be difficult. Whatever, the kids don't know the songs anyway (unless they are the daughter of Nick who is 80s-pop culture obsessed). They all did a great job and some of the older kids really got all dressed up in 80s garb which was really cute. Calvin came to the afternoon show and was really well behaved...maybe he likes 80s music as much as his dad.

As part of the show all their work and art for the past semester. It was really cool to see everything displayed and collect her work. She was really really excited and happy to show us her work, as were her friends.

Its always fun to see Ellie hang out with her friends. They are such cute and great kids who are really friendly. She also loves her after school teacher and is really upset that she won't be in her class next year.

Ellie's school has an awesome auditorium that was just renovated. It is gorgeous and a really cool space to get to watch her perform in. As this school year comes to an end, there are so many things to reflect upon and realize that yes, our neighborhood public school is pretty awesome and a great place for our family.