Dahlia is Seven and We Live in a New House!

So on November 1, 2015, we moved from one side of town to the other. It was crazy and we are so happy in our new home.  Moving and new house projects makes us very busy so now it is February and we are almost a month past Dahlia Rae's seventh birthday. I did manage to interview the seven year old one day before her birthday so we have some accurate documentation (see below).

In addition to this little snapshot video of D, I will add that she is a profoundly thoughtful little human. Everyday she teaches me to be thoughtful. It comes natural to her in a way that I admire so much. She wants everyone around her to feel good and be content all the time and goes out of her way, naturally, to make it so. To know Dahlia is to realize this about her. It is deeply engrained in her personality and it is so beautiful.

Dahlia likes to do stuff. She doesn't play with toys much, or at all. She likes to draw, do crafts, dance, make up games, ride bikes, go places, listen to music, have playdates, help me around the house (dusting is her favorite) play piano, organize, and sometimes read. Fortunately for us, we, her family, are her favorite people. Having a little girl is something we are blessed with and not a day goes by that we don't thank our lucky stars we have Dahlia growing up in our little home. Happy seventh year to you, Bubba! WE love you. 

Milo Buddy is FOUR

Little dude turned four this past Sunday! He is so sweet and precious and I can't imagine seeing him as anything but my little baby boy no matter how big he keeps getting. When he sleeps he still looks like an infant. But he speaks like a preschooler and plays like a boy and can be a pest like a brother.

Milo loves Star Wars, I should put that out there right now. It happened just a few months ago. And it happened fast and hard. He knows more about Star Wars than most adults we know. Did you know that the Storm Troopers were originally cloned from Jango Fett, who is Bobo Fett's dad? Or that C3PO was made by young Aniken in secret? These are the types of facts you need to know to keep up in conversation with Milo. It's a good thing I am a Star Wars nerd myself or I'd have a lot of studying to do. He's seen episodes 4, 5, and 6 so far and we are trying to instill a holding pattern there at least for a while for those to sink in. Luckily Dahlia is also really into it, too.

So what else does Milo do besides make everything into" a "shooter" or a "blaster" or a certain type of "lightsaber"? He plays soccer and is starting to really like it and get into it. He likes riding his scooter down hills and he likes drawing and painting. He likes building things and playing with power tools. He's got great dance moves and rhythm and especially enjoys pop music hits like "Shut Up and Dance" or "What Does a Fox Say?" or "Everything is Awesome." He loves playing dress up, lately in his new Darth Vader costume but also in his Hulk costume or whatever else his sister suggests, sometimes still tutus and high heels but those are few and far between these days.

Some of our favorite sounds and isms of Milo's--
My absolute favorite is that he says "if" instead of "when" for everything. So every time he says this, it sounds very profound and philosophical:
"If we get home can I have a snack?"
"If we wake up I am going to play with my new toys."
"If we get to school I am going to show you my drawing."
He also is quite in touch with his emotions and anger. He doesn't completely know how to express it but he tries:
"I am very mad at you, mama. I am going to scream at you very loud."
"I am so mad and sad I want to take your ____ and throw it."
Or, let's be honest---sometimes just a plain, "I'm going to hit you and push you," or "I am going to spit."
And the best, "I love you a lot, Mama. No, like A LOT. I need you next to me." Heart bursts.

He is terrified of haircuts. Terrified. Irrationally and completely. It's sad. I was able to negotiate cutting just the bottom half of his hair the other day after 2 weeks of prepping him and 2 hours of getting ready. I am his mom and should be able to tell this but I don't know if it's more fear of the act of cutting (scissors/clippers) or fear of having shorter hair (change). I should probably let it just grow out...

In two weeks Milo will finally have a big boy bed (he is way too big for his toddler bed but his room is too small for a big boy bed). But we are moving and he will get his own room, like a big BIG boy. He is very excited. He is approximately 40 inches tall and 41 pounds, just 8 pounds less than his big sis--he's catching up!

We love you so very much, Mr. Man. So much it feels like my heart is being squeezed and exploding all at once every day. Happy 4th Year to you!!!

Milo (snuggling Curious George) in is room as it was before clearing it out for the Open House. On his walls are "scribble scrabbles," also known "volcanoes," "waterfalls" and "rocks," depending on the day.

Sprang into Spring

Spring whooshed by so fast I couldn't keep up with the blog. It's summer break now so a watered down version of Spring for the sake of bookkeeping is due.

In a nutshell, we visited the Juniors in Pittsburgh in April, we had our beach vacation with friends in May, Milo tried ballet, Dahlia had a ballet performance, Milo had a school performance, Matt and Milo built a fence, Dahlia started swim team, and finished Kindergarten, Milo started his first official swim lessons...and more. A quick blast of photos here so I can move on to summer without a gaping hole of happenings.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's Blue Slide Park was a fun start to our vacation. Though it did start to rain on us out of the blue. Raining when it's warm is always a little strange to us Californians.

We visited the Children's Museum twice because it was so much crazy fun for all.

Auntie and Reiss drove over from DC and spent a long weekend with us while we were in Pitt. Kgers made a beautiful seder and we felt/feel lucky and blessed to be able to hang and have so much fun with our siblings all together. 

We helped the juniors get their backyard ready for nicer weather by setting up a playhouse, a few swings, an easel...

The Science Museum as also a ton of fun for the kids. 

We toured the campus where Tio works a bit. The Cathedral of Learning was a highlight. It's a gorgeous building with students studying and bustling about. When we walked inside Dahlia exclaimed, "Oh my gosh. When I go to college I just HAVE to go here!" 

Milo (and D in the red hole) at the Natural History Museum


Go Pitt matchy-matchy cuteness.

Story time with the cousins. Leila Bird is an amazing little person. So chatty and strong and silly. We miss her so much every day and can't wait to see her again in Hawaii.

Back in California Dahlia tried skiing for the first time in Spring conditions. She did great and will be going again next year for sure.

Our annual long-weekend getaway with the Sieberts and Savilles took us to La Selva Beach, where I spent a lot of time as a kid myself. It was a great time, good food, we chillaxed in the sand and froze in the water.

Dahlia posing for me on a log.

We took the kids to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk on our way home. Milo and Theo got crazy on the thrill rides, too. 

Handy husband Matt built us a 70 foot fence in our backyard this Spring. Milo put in quite a few hours of help with cement mixing, drilling, and hammering. They did an excellent job.

Dahlia is a very focused, strong, and graceful dancer!

Dahlia did great at her spring ballet performance, her highlight being that two of her swim coaches were there unbeknownst to her (their sister performed, too) and they gave her flowers afterwards. It was very sweet and she rocked it solid on stage.

Milo also begged to take ballet like his sister. He loved the first two classes and then threw a fit and wanted to quit. I wouldn't let him. Tantrums were thrown. So he toughed it out for the session (gotta teach the boy commitment!) and I think he had quite a bit of fun though he won't admit it. We have videos where he's smiling, moving to a beat, and he often ended class sweating. But he says he's done. He does love being like his big sis in every way he can. He definitely has some dance and music passion in there we just need to find the right class.

Grandma and Grandpa were here during Grandma's birthday in May. Matt made her a cake she was pretty happy having these two to snuggle her all day.

These two are buddies.

Milo's loved his End of School Performance much more than he liked his Winter one. In the Winter he cried and I had to stay on stage with him and he mostly just stood there. But this time around he sang and did the movements and smiled a lot. I think it helped a little that his sister walked him up there and sat in the front where he could see her cheering him on. We are all so proud of him!

I hope Dahlia remembers Mr. Hotter better than I remember my own kindergarten teacher. She loved this guy so much and he made it very clear that he loved her, too. It was very emotional having this munchkin finish kinder. I hope she always loves learning as much as she does now, and continues letting us share in her experiences with open arms and smiles. I know these days are numbered and I just have to revel in it while I can. 

And now...summertime! 

/f/ = /f/

Our bud hit a milestone (for him) yesterday. He makes an f sound. I'm sad. I've loved how he said words with f. Twoot for foot and tinger for finger were my 2 favorites. He won't say them like that anymore ever again. Matt says it's good and that he has to grow up. But last night Dahlia and I both whined and groaned about how cute twoot was and how much we will miss it. Love you, Milo!

D's Camping Inside Sleepover Party!

For D's 6th birthday party she made a tough decision:  small slumber party rather than big blowout rager. For the social girl with lots of new school friends this decision was a few months in the making. But she got really excited about the idea of "camping inside" and realized a small sleepover with a few friends would be a super special and fun time. It was! 

As soon as we decided on the sleepover party, Dahlia began making stars for the ceiling. She made a few every day for a couple weeks, and with a little help from Milo and me and some added plastic glowing ones there were at least 60 stars for the kids to lay beneath. They are quite magical and we don't really want to take them down. 

The party got warmed up by getting crafty like the birthday girl loves: painting and decorating frames.

The crew: Marianne, Tula, Sophia, D, & Riley.

We now know what Elsa looks like with a brown dress (a little weird and still very well loved).

This birthday was the first year she read her own cards. It was so precious watching them help each other read them together.

The slumber party was complete with games gifted at the party! Milo loved being a part of the party. The girls were wonderful with him. All of them are big sisters themselves and they tolerated and included him exceptionally well.

Another game: Headbandz. They were so cute playing and giggling next to the...

campfire !

S'mores dip baked in the oven. (Does anyone throw parties without pinterest these days?)

One of the many benefits of having a small party is quality party favors. My mom and I (with some help from D) made these cute pillow cases. I also made sleep masks although sleeping at the sleepover was not high on the list of priorities. Everyone was asleep around 10, and up at 5:30am, including the parents. D and M both took 3 hour naps the next day.

Completed frames

The posse bike ride to the park where we ended the party. This was Dahlia's favorite part. Happy birthday D Rae! Glad you had fun! 

Dahlia is SIX!

Happy 6th Birthday to our practical, sensical, creative, beautiful baby girl, Dahlia! 

You like answers and you like things to be just right. We have to convince you often that it is ok if things aren't perfect or if you have to practice something a lot before you are good at it. You're learning to read and write and you seem to love math the most. For fun sometimes you like to make math problems and practice writing out different ways to add two numbers to make another number. You like it when people follow the rules. The other day your daddy gave you some leftover potato chips for your school snack (what was he thinking?!?!) and you came home a bit upset about it, tattling on him. I asked you if you'd eaten them and you said, "NO! I can't eat chips in the morning!" Talk about self control and rule following! You later lectured your daddy and he promptly apologized. I think many kids would have taken those chips as a special treat but you took them as a bad parenting choice. You also said another day, "That scared the crap out of me!" when we bumped into each other in the hallway, letting me know I say that all the time so therefore it is ok. So while you like to follow rules, you still have quite a bit of sassy attitude. We are infinitely proud of you and the genuinely kind person you are, Dahlia. Infinitely. 

2015 interview, similar questions to last year and many similar answers, which I suppose means these interests are really taking shape.

Favorite Food: Slippery noodles (udon soup) 2nd favorite: Chinese (chow mein)

Favorite dessert: Chocolate ice cream

Oh, so would you rather have chocolate ice cream on your birthday? No, I still want chocolate chocolate cake. 

Best friends: Weeeelllll, I have two kinds of friends: family friends I've had since I was a baby and school friends. My best friends are my school friends. But I love my family friends, too. But making friends at school is the best.

What are you proud of? Getting better at ice skating and hanging upside down on the bars by myself.

What do you like to do? Go to Hawaii! Also having playdates, going to the park, drawing, ballet, swimming

What is exciting about being 6? Going to first grade

What scares you? The dark, when it's like really dark. And when Milo gets hurt. 

What do you like learning about? The planets

What makes you mad? Going in time out. 

Do you go in timeout a lot? No!

What gets you in timeout? Not listening.

Fave song: Wide Awake (Katy Perry)
Fave movie: Frozen

Why? I like the songs!
What do you like about school? Learning

What do you like learning? Subtraction!

Are you good at subtraction? Yes!

What do you like about Milo? He's cute

What is cute about him? His drawings.

We think you and your drawings are cute, too Ms. Rae. Happy Birthday!

Fall in the Creek

Fall has been full of fun and activity, especially for D-Rae and we have just a few pics to show for it.

Our goobers before trick or treating 

D's musical theater show. It was sssssuuuupppper cute and very well done. D was "Sparkle" the Elf. She did great, made friends, learned about being an actor, and had fun.

D's line: "I have an idea! Let's make snow angels!" So they are making snow angels.

Adorable cast.

And then the last soccer game!

Dahlia Rae scoring a goal. She scored 5 goals at her last game! She's kind of awesome, I'm not gonna lie. She gives it her ALL on the field, and then some. 

Tough little chica.  

Yay Shooting Stars! Great first season of soccer, hopefully many more to come.

Celebrating with "The Kitchen Sink" after the game.  I think they finished it.

And celebrating Tita with a cake made by us four Laskies for the lady who makes everything better.

Happy Birthday, Tita! We love you and like you.