Colden is a Karate Dragon

We enrolled Colden in a 3-week trial karate class.  Saturday was his first class.  We got there a few minutes early so that he could meet the teachers and get his uniform (which he was so excited about).

(Colden waiting for class to start)


He learned that karate isn't just about kicking and punching. It's about discipline and respect


("Yes, sir!  I'm good, sir!")

(Colden bowing to his teacher at the beginning of class)

Now can you guess the real reason behind us enrolling him in karate class?  

It wasn't for the exercise!

"Mom, yes ma'am!"  …oh, I can hear it already.  Music to my ears.

But, he did learn some pretty cool punching and kicking moves…

The lesson of the day was "balance".  So, first they practiced kicking on the floor:

Then they practiced kicking on wobbly foam pieces:

It was fun to watch him - he had a great time.  I have to say, I really loved the atmosphere of the place.  In the 30 minutes he was there, he definitely learned the high behavioral expectations that they have.  At first he called out answers; he was quickly corrected by the teachers and told that he had to raise his hand and wait to be called on.

The other kids in the class were eager to help and show him how to stand properly.  Rude behavior was not tolerated and he quickly caught on.

I'm thinking of buying myself a uniform for the house so that maybe he will listen to me the same way that he listened to his karate teacher.  :-)

Colden Reading

I apologize for the long hiatus; we have a lot of catching up to do!

We will start off with Colden reading.

In Colden's class, the kids alternate being Star-of-the-Week.  During that week, the chosen Star gets certain perks: he/she gets to be line-leader; he/she gets to bring in a favorite snack to share…and a favorite book for the teacher to read at story time…

Here, Colden is up in front of his class talking about his poster that is all about him
(aka: a mommy homework assignment):

Shortly before his week as the Star, I asked what book he was going to want to bring in. He asked if he could read "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" to the class himself rather than have the teacher read it. We asked the teacher, and she was more than thrilled to let him.

On his favorite book day, he read to his Pre-K class and the Pre-School class
(as well as mommy, daddy, Nanny and Reese) :-)

(Click here for the video of Colden reading)

He did an amazing job!!! I'm not only proud of him for having the courage to get up in front of his class (so far, he is the only one in Pre-K to read to the rest of the class), but I am also proud of him for not getting completely flustered when he accidentally skipped a page (although I do love his "blah!" reaction that he gave).  :-)

My favorite part of the whole experience was seeing the huge smile on his face when he was done and his classmates clapped and said "thank you".  He was so proud of himself.

Way to go, Colden!

He has already been asked to read to both classes again during Dr. Seuss week at his school.  :-)

Halloween and Reese's 2nd Birthday

Being that Reese was born on Halloween, I think it's OK to combine the two posts.  We will start with Halloween:

HALLOWEEN

This year, I had a couple of friends agree to lend us costumes for Reese because I knew she wouldn't really want to dress up; so why spent the time to make a costume or the money to buy one?  I asked her if she wanted to be a dog or a ladybug (the two costumes that were available to us).  Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Reese you want to be a dog or a ladybug?

Reese: A ladybug

Me: A ladybug or a dog?

Reese: A dog

Me: Ah-hah. I see how this works.

Colden: I want to be an astronaut!

Reese: I want to be an astronaut!

Me: Don't you want to be a ladybug or a dog?

Reese: No! Astronaut!

Ugh.  I guess I will be making two astronaut costumes.  Good thing the costumes were easy, because as I suspected…Reese wanted nothing to do with it when it came time to get dressed up.  She settled for fairy wings and we called it a success.

(Someone was a little anxious to get the show on the road!)

If I may - a quick story about Colden's jet pack.  I gave him the choice when I was making the costume to either have an air tank or a jet pack (I was not making both).  At first he wanted an air tank.  When I put the "tank" (aka water bottle) on his back, he started breathing heavily and asked, "is air coming out of here yet?".  

Oh my son, please hold on to that innocence!  :-)

He was disappointed to find out that real air would not be supplied by his pretend air tank.  He changed his mind to have a jet pack (which I thought looked much cooler anyways!).

Both he and Reese had a blast walking around getting candy.

REESE'S 2nd BIRTHDAY

(3 days)

(1 month)

(2 months)

(3 months)

(4 months)

(5 months)

(6 months)

(7 months)

(8 months)

(9 months)

(10 months)

(11 months)

(12 months)

(13 months)

(14 months)

(15 months)

(16 months)

(17 months)

(18 months)

(19 months)

(20 months)

(21 months)

(22 months)

(23 months)

 

(24 months)

And if you are wondering why her hair is a disaster, it's because 2 seconds before the picture was taken, she was doing this:

For her birthday party we did a Minnie Mouse theme, and we just had family come over.

(She wouldn't wear the ears that came with her outfit, so I wore them instead)

(I had fun making all of the cupcakes. Especially the ones with the Minnie Mouse ears (Oreo cookies) and bows (made from a candy mold)

(When it came time to blow out the candles, Reese was a little scared. 

I had to blow out the candles for her)

(But when it came time to eating the cupcake, she did just fine!)  :-)

My 2-year-old love:

(Singing into her karaoke machine.  She is quite the performer!)