Saturday, November 26, 2016

Preston: 18 month update & Thanksgiving Fun

Happy 18 months Preston Bradley!
Here we are at another milestone age.  At your 18th month appointment, you weighed in around 30lbs and 32.28 inches long.  When it was time for those dreaded shots, the nurse commented on how strong you were.  Good thing Mommy has been trained to restrain unruly patients because those skills come in handy when the nurse asks me to hold you still.  Kidding...not kidding.  
                             
You are all Toddler Boy, all day!  Every 5 seconds, we hear, "No!" or "Mine!"  You are trying to figure out how to communicate with us more and more every day.  You do a lot of pointing and saying, "Dis...Dat...Dis." You officially moved up to the Young Toddler room earlier this month and you were more ready!  Now that you are playing with other kids your age and a little older, I can only expect your vocabulary to expand greatly.  
It was a hard transition to leave Ms. Tee who was his teacher since he was 12 weeks old.  He loves her so!  Last winter when Preston was battling ear ache after ear ache, Ms. Tee would hold him many days during his entire nap to give him some extra TLC. Every day since he left her room, he will walk past the door and stop to give her a kiss.  Ms. Tee will always hold a special place in our hearts for the way that she loved on Preston.  
There's a good chance that Preston is going to left-handed.  I have noticed on more than one occasion that he prefers to color and paint with his left hand.  You know who else is left-handed?  Professional athletes & Presidents.  Just sayin'...
This picture is a perfect example of the dynamic between Eloise & Preston.  He literally just wants to do everything that she does.  
 
As part of a project that the whole daycare was participating in, the kids each had to decorate a puzzle piece that reflected their personality and the things they loved.  Here were the final products:
 We started a Thanksgiving celebrations a little early this year.  We had some of beloved family in from California so we decided to do a proper Thanksgiving during their time here.  We used all of Great Grandma Fitz's recipes for the meal.  She happily watched over the final preparations. 
 Auntie Lo, cousin Emily and Eloise made custom Thanksgiving vests & headdresses for everyone.  Eloise loves to pick out her clothes every day and often walks down our stairs saying, "Mommy! Look at me!  I look so fashion!"
 3 Indian Princesses
 Preston is still smitten with Aunt Patti.  
He was playing doctor here and giving her a checkup.  
Of note, Eloise is not getting a new pet.  A girl can dream!


Saturday, November 12, 2016

Fall Fun - Part II


We have been so busy having fun the last few weeks that I have not had the time to sit down and highlight all the good stuff.  We have done everything from cookie decorating with friends to pumpkin carving to Trick or Treating!  Enjoy!
 Auntie Lo spent the weekend back at the end of October and brought all of her supplies to make her famous cake balls.  Eloise was happy to help and sample all the candy. 
 
Click HERE to watch the Cake Ball making magic!
This Fall has felt more like summer many days.  Eloise and Preston were loving the extra opportunities to run around in the background in the evening. 
 Even though there are tons of pumpkin patches around the Chicagoland area, we ended up at Cosley Zoo to pick out some pumpkins this year.  They have a cute Fall Festival throughout October that it just the right amount of fun for the kids. 
 What can I say?  It is in their DNA to look for deer. 
 Eloise kept referring to the pumpkin "guts" as brains.  Haha!
Halloween is so much fun for the Kalins kids!  They get to do a Halloween parade with daycare followed by a little party.  Preston was a perfect monster as he would growl on command.  Eloise was so excited to be a witch this year...mostly because she got to wear some of my makeup. 
 
After school, we went over Aunt Dina & Uncle Bob's house to trick or treat with Alex, Reese & Quinnley.  They all had a blast running from house to house.  
As soon as Halloween is over, it is Christmas overload everywhere.  Eloise jumped right on that train and was happy to start looking at the Target catalog for possible gifts.  
Click HERE to watch her in action.