Playdate with Scotland

We met up with Lulu's friend from her old dance studio, Scotland and Scotland's aunt, Ginger this past weekend for a nice play day.  Ginger and I thought it would be fun to take them to the Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Ancil Hoffman Park for a bit.  The girls had a great time exploring the natural habitats around the nature center and looking at the displays inside.  They also rescue small birds of prey, so there were tiny owls and hawks to look at, too.

on the lookout for frogs

Afterwards, we went to a local park that was between the Nature Center and home to burn off a little energy before naptime.  I had brought along some fruit, etc. so the girls had a little "picnic" in between bouts with the monkey bars.

Pediatrician Appt

Dressed down for the occasion....

I took Lulu to her 4th year check-up this morning.  Yeah, yeah, I know--it was a little late, but when I called, the earliest we could get in was late September.

The good news about procrastinating was that it meant that the annual flu shot has already been released, so we were able to get that taken care of at the same time.  Before we left for Europe, I had her get her measles vaccine early, so we only had three to do today (in addition to the flu vaccine).  The poor kid had band-aids all up and down her arm, but the good news is there aren't any more until she's 10!

picking out her *4* stickers after it was said and done
(one for each shot)

So, here are her stats and how she stacks up against her peers:
Height:  43.3 inches, 1.1 meters = 96.83%
(meaning less than 4% of 4 yr olds are taller than she is)

Weight:  48 lbs 14.4oz, 22.18 kg = 97.88%
(meaning less than 3% of 4 yr olds weight more than she does)

She also had her eyesight and hearing tested which I found ironic since she's going to the optometrist tomorrow afternoon to get her eyesight checked and her glasses adjusted.

listening intently

And last, but not least, she had her blood pressure and oxygen levels checked for the first time today, too.  In the interest of full disclosure, her blood pressure was 111 over 63.

we had to do this machine twice
b/c she wouldn't stop squirming....

Her pediatrician emphasized the fruits and vegetables and getting lots of exercise, but he didn't sound particularly worried about her weight/height combo.  I was SO proud of her when he asked her how old she was and she answered, "Vier."  (Four for you non-German speakers out there)

Shaya's Birthday

We celebrated two birthdays on Sept 23rd--Tante Hellen and Shaya!  Shaya's birthday party was at the Crocker Art Museum in their artist studio.  Luckily signs pointed out the way to go, so we knew just where we were headed....

It's Shaya's Birthday!

the birthday girl herself, very grown up at 4.

It was a nice party--we got to see Shaya's dad, Kyle, whom we haven't seen much of since he and Tina divorced.  And Walter got to meet Renee, Kyle's girlfriend and Shaya's "Other Mother."  The museum had pizza and chicken tenders for everyone to eat for lunch.

Walter and Kyle from an awkward angle

the birthday cake with LOTS of frosting!!

After lunch, the museum guide/docent led all the children on a tour of the museum and left the adults to socialize and imbibe smuggled in wine.  Shhhh!  It was the best part of the party, in my opinion.  Lulu had a good time on the tour because she's talked about it since then--I guess all those visits in Europe and at the Kimball in Fort Worth over Christmas are paying off?

After the kids returned, they had some supervised art projects--everyone had access to the same paints and materials, but everyone's picture looked very different!

Lulu the Artist, foreground right, with her roller

Art is very serious work...

now moving on to her purple roller

entering her Jackson Pollack phase...

While we let the paint "dry" (I use that term loosely because Lulu applied the paint so heavily it didn't dry for the better part of 24 hours!), we had birthday cake but no candles (no fire in a museum, yo!).

kids gathered around the birthday girl

everyone's creative artwork

They didn't open presents at the party (whew!), but Lulu really, really wanted Shaya to see the card that we had picked out for her, so Tina opened that one while Lulu was still there to enjoy it, too.  It was a 3-D card with a goldfish in a bowl holding a sign that said "Happy Birthday!" to go along with the goldfish Japanese kite we bought her.  I hope we have some nice windy days this fall to enjoy it!

Shaya and her card

3-D pop-outs are always cool, no matter what your age!

the expressions on their faces are just funny in this one.
Lulu's favorite part?  the lollipop she's got in her mouth...
and that Shaya gave her a 2nd "for later."

 

Sleepover

Lulu had her first sleepover on Friday night with Shaya.  Tina actually asked if we would let Lulu stay over because Shaya had been begging her to let Lulu come over all week after we had a playdate with them last weekend at our house.

A photo Tina took with her camera phone last weekend.
I love the bunny in the background.

So, I took a deep breath and said yes because Lulu has been wanting to do a sleepover for a while, too. I remember my first sleepover taking place at a much older age than 4 (??!), but she proved that she was ready for it earlier in August when she had such a good time with her Tante Hellen and Onkel Derek.

her bags are packed, she's ready to go....

And she had a great time.  Tina made pizza and let the girls eat popcorn and watch a movie before collapsing on a queen-size blowup mattress on the floor together.  And what little girl wouldn't love to eat a princess breakfast, complete with strawberry pancakes?

Tina sent me this one the next morning.

And Lulu had such a good time that she cried (no, wailed) when I came to pick her up and take her home.  With actual tears.  So, we had a long talk in the car about how it's okay to be disappointed when something fun is ending.

posing for pictures

And in the meantime, Walter and I got to enjoy a night to ourselves without having to pay a baby-sitter.  SCORE!  I had a fractious faculty meeting earlier that afternoon, so we treated ourselves to a nice dinner at The Grange in the Citizen Hotel after Lulu was dropped off.

I think we're definitely gonna have to do this again sometime soon....and now I'm wondering why we waited so long??

More baby bunny photos

We dragged the exercise pen out of storage yesterday afternoon to give Ollo access to more grass and Lulu joined him/her for some loving after nap time.

Ollo came right up to her and wasn't scared at all!

By the end, that stuffed giraffe was sitting on Ollo's head and s/he didn't care one bit!

Ollo das Kaninchen

look at those feet and ears!

We drove down to Stockton this morning to pick up Lulu's new baby bunny.  I had arranged with a Flemish Giant breeder near Medford, Oregon to pick him up at the ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association) show at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds in Stockton from a friend of hers who was showing her lions head dwarf rabbits there.

Yeah, took just a few emails back-and-forth to get all that arranged!

Hi, Ollo!

But the look of surprise and excitement on Lulu's face was totally worth it when she realized that we were getting her bunny.  She promptly christened him "Ollo" (pronounced Oh-low) and announced that he was a she.  So, we have a transgender bunny rabbit.  And then she said that he she had two mommies.  Yeah, that's the way we roll in this household.

checking out the new digs and toys
(we have the swinging door propped open right now)

Ollo sat in Dido's cat carrier on the backseat next to Lulu on the way home and she sang songs to him her the entire time.  If I turned around in my seat to watch, I was promptly scolded and told to turn around.  And we weren't allowed to talk to each other for fear of scaring the bunny.

No matter what it seems like, we're not pulling on his ears, I swear!

Now that we're home, Ollo is settling into his her new digs pretty well.  We timed it so that Lulu would need a nap pretty soon after we got home, so Ollo has a chance to rest up as well.

Sunflowers, nasturiums, two types of parsley, cilantro, basil, and grass in the yard on the left
Play sand and cool floor tiles on the right

Welcome home, Ollo!

Learning our Letters

Lulu has been working on recognizing and learning to write her letters at school and I thought it might be helpful/fun to work on that at home as well.  So, when we were in Raley's the other day and swung past an exhibit of preschool workbooks, we picked out this one together.

Daddy looks thrilled to be working on letters before he's had his morning coffee.....

what is it about little kids and erasers??

drawing our As

look at that penmanship!

Now, what we could really use is a set of books like this in German, too.  I think it would be helpful to reenforce the German if she could see it written and practice her letters in German as well.

Gold Rush Days

the streets of Old Sacramento

some good lookin' mules!

Tante Hellen and Onkel Derek wanted to take Lulu to Gold Rush Days over Labor Day weekend in Old Sacramento.  They had gone last year with her nieces and had a great time and wanted Lulu to experience the fun, too.  Basically, it's one big historical reenactment in Old Sac with characters from the Gold Rush days of the mid 19th century.  The historical backdrop of Old Sac certainly helped make us feel more like we had stepped back in time.

Lulu posing with some folks who were kind enough to let me take their picture

Onkel Derek bought Lulu a balloon animal--don't ask me what it was supposed to be, I have no idea!

I think it's a monkey??

Lulu was quite taken by the mountain man because he had a cat on his head.

that must've been a HOT outfit this weekend!

And then Onkel Derek and Lulu panned for gold, just like in the olden days.  Lulu wasn't interested in trading in her gold for certificates to spend at the local "stores," so we just brought our vial home with us instead.

welcome to your first lesson about hyperinflation, Lulu!

showing off her gold

After that, she and Tante Hellen went to watch some local Indians being completely anachronistic by doing southwestern Indian dances while dressed up like Plains Indians.  Lulu had a good time, regardless.

rope-making demonstration behind them

Plains indians apparently lived in California, too??

But Lulu didn't care--she had a good time anyway!

Then, because it started to get hot, we all ate lunch at In-N-Out before Lulu took a nap while Onkel Derek helped Daddy take out a bush in the backyard to put in a new garden bed and Tante Hellen helped Mommy shop for fabric to make bloomers for Lulu to wear under her dresses at school.