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!

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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.