Field Trip to the Fun Center

For this month's field trip, Bridget got to go with her preschool class to a nearby Fun Center. At first I was a little skeptical about how educational this trip would actually be, but it ended up being a good mix of learning and fun.

The kids started off learning a little about bowling. Each child bowled a couple of frames, and then they got to go behind the lanes to see how the machines work. I even learned something new. Did you know bowling balls come without the finger holes in them? They drill the holes into them themselves. The also got to hold a bowling pin to check out its size and weight.

The next part of our tour was going into the kitchen to see how they make their pizzas.

While they waited for the pizzas to bake, each child got to sample a flavor of ice cream. Bridget chose birthday cake and seemed happy with her choice.
I didn't take any pictures of the next part of the tour - walking through the glow-in-the-dark mini-golf.

At this point, the kids finally got to eat their pizza before heading to what probably ended up being the favorite activities for everyone - the bounce house and trampolines. Thankfully, they didn't eat too much beforehand.

Bridget had a blast and can hardly wait to go back as a family.

Valentine's Day

We certainly don't go all out when it comes to Valentine's Day at our house. In fact, Nate and I never have and probably never will go fight the crowds to go out to eat for the occasion. And I've made him promise to never waste the money to pay the outrageous prices they charge for flowers. We don't even exchange gifts. BUT...I do like to do some simple things as a family and make it fun for our kids.

We started off the day with some heart-shaped raspberry pancakes. Nothing fancy really. I just blended up some raspberries and mixed them in with the pancake mix and some water. I had visions of doing something a little fancier, but Bridget had preschool that morning so we kept it quick and easy. We all thought they were delicious - even Felicity.
Bridget was also pretty excited to give Nate the Valentine we made for him the day before. I found this idea on Pinterest and loved how cute and easy it was:
Bridget was also excited for her Valentine's party at preschool. I found a bunch of cute ideas on Pinterest yet again and let her choose what she wanted to give out to her classmates. This cute dinosaur valentine filled with conversation hearts and white chocolate covered pretzels was her final pick:
For dinner that night, I also didn't do anything fancy - just some heart-shaped grilled cheese sandwiches with a copy-cat recipe of Zupa's Wisconsin Cauliflower Cheese Soup:
I had plans of making a fun treat, but we had too many other treats around so I opted not to. Maybe next year.

10 Months

Little Miss Felicity is quite the busy girl these days toddling from room to room and making messes faster than a tornado. She gets into cupboards and drawers that Bridget never even touched as a baby or toddler. So even though I have to watch her like a hawk and am grateful for a second pair of eyes (a.k.a. Bridget) to help me, she continues to be a very good baby - just really, really curious.

I love her expression as I caught her getting into that cupboard for the millionth time. It's like she just wanted to say, "What? I just need that bottle of corn syrup again." And I've just completely given up on the plastic containers. That drawer will remain a mess, and all containers and lids have to be washed prior to use.

She's definitely improving on her walking skills and holds her arms up for balance a little less. Falls are still frequent though because she likes to go faster than her little legs are ready for at times. At least she's now able to get to a standing position by herself without pulling up on anything. I've put shoes on her a few times, and at first she just cried and refused to move in them. She still doesn't like them much and falls a lot more in them, so hopefully that will improve soon. Here's a video of some recent walking action and standing up on her own:

In the past month, Felicity's also acquired 2 more teeth (one on each side of her top front teeth) for a grand total of 6 now. And she also survived another cold. After the cold ended and the teeth popped through, she finally started sleeping through the night again. Wahoo! She generally goes to bed around 7:30pm and sleeps for 12-13 hours. If she does wake up, it's only once after she's been sleeping for at least 8 hours, and she goes right back to sleep after a diaper change and a bottle.

As we continue to see more of her personality emerge, I have to laugh at how she is so much like me and Bridget is so much like Nate. For example, Bridget is a total morning person like her dad. If Felicity wakes up for the day before 8am, she's going to be crabby most of the day. I'm also not a morning person and am in a much better mood when I get to sleep in until 8:00 as well.

She's also starting to like books and will actually sit still and listen to a board book for a minute or two. She has a particular favorite:

She loves looking at all the animals and feeling them. We call this her puppy book. I was shocked and amazed a few days ago when I was finishing up with Bridget in the bathtub and told Felicity to go get her puppy book in an effort to keep her away from the tub. She toddled off to her bedroom and returned a couple of minutes later with it in hand, ready for me to read it to her.

Another cute thing she does at nap time or bed time, is wave bye-bye. She doesn't always do it on command, but if she's really ready to go to sleep and you ask her if she's ready for a nap or to go night-night, she'll start waving and/or put her head on your shoulder.

We are so blessed to have this cute, smart girl in our family.