flashbacks

No real reason, just a look back at Septembers with the twins.....


one year ago, Sept 8, 2008
and Sept 9, 2008


Sept 9, 2007

Sept 16, 2007 (Gretchen says, "I want to see Daddy, Mommy, Gretchen and Carl at the same time picking apples! I like that one!") Indian Ladder Farms.



Sept 9, 2006... this was at Critz Farms for a Charming Tails event. In case you aren't sure (and you better be sure, c'mon people) that's Gretchen.


Sept 10, 2006 ... is there anything cuter than a baby in zooba pants? and check out those feet! Oh!!!



Sept 13, 2006... this one was just too cute to skip over!

Sept 16, 2006

and finally, I came across this clip. Gretchen used to read to herself. Yes, listen closely - she is saying "read, read, read, read" over and over. She did it all the time! I had better sounding clips, but they were longer than blogger allows you to upload.

costume guilt

I have a friend named Ann Marie who sent cards to the twins when they were born. She told Carl & Gretchen that they would have the best Halloween costumes handmade by their mother. Alas, here we are, Halloween number 4 for us, and Thursday, we bought Halloween costumes! I get a little credit for making Gretchen's poodle skirt for Halloween #1, but after that, I haven't sewn one stitch. Year #2 was jungle animals handed down from Lizzy, year #3 we had wonderful handmade scrubs that my mom made them.

Thursday morning, after dropping Carl off at pre-school, Gretchen & I headed out shopping. We basically had 2 stops. Stop number 1 was JoAnn Fabrics to look at patterns and material for what she had been requesting... a nice witch costume in pink. Not a mean witch costume. She has been asking to be a Nice Witch. Well, we looked at patterns and didn't have anything grab us - did you know patterns are up to $12 each now? Whoa! So, slightly discouraged, we left there figuring we'd do a little more brainstorming and we headed out to stop number 2.

Old Navy for socks for Carl. He has outgrown the 4/5 age sized ones, but he doesn't have white sneakers for school - he wears low cut brown ones, like little hiking boots. So, I wanted some boys' tan socks. Turns out the cool Old Navy socks in colors stop at size 4/5 and bigger boys apparently only want white gym socks. Stop number 2 was turning out disappointing, too.

It did turn around considerably when we put a quarter in the machine and got a big red, white and blue swirled bouncy ball. Then, she spotted them... the Halloween costumes! Specifically, a tiger. All of a sudden, Nice Witches were Out and Tigger look-alikes were In! I asked her over and over if she was certain about this change of plans. By now, she had the jacket on and it was becoming harder and harder to deny her anything. When you see her curls sticking out of the hat, you'll see why! So, I ended up buying one tiger suit. I wasn't sure it would fit Carl, it was not too roomy on Gretchen. So, I thought we could try hers on Carl just to see. So, I only bought one. I kept thinking $22 was a lot to spend on a Halloween costume, but after having just looked at $12 patterns and material in the $6-10 range.... this price wasn't outragious. Plus, the elephant costume they wore in Halloween #2 is a hooded sweatshirt top (which is waaayyy too small for either one now) and they still fight over wearing it a lot! So, I envisioned this tiger coat for dress-up, too.

We added a stop to the teacher's store, then the grocery store for grapes for her lunch on Friday, met Lew for lunch, picked up Carl, got home and napped... and then, all hell broke loose in the jungle. I tried the suit on Carl when Gretchen was out of the room, so he was unaware that it was technically her suit. He loved it! Then she came in and saw him in her suit and immediately started yelling and pulling on him. He responded with screaming and fighting back!

I did what many of you would have done - whether or not you will admit it - I called Lew and told him to stop on his way home and buy a monkey suit!!! In my defense, they only had one 4T/5T monkey... and I checked ebay and people were paying up to $39 for this same exact suit that you could buy in person for $22. I didn't want it to sell before I could get back up there myself.

Well, aside from meals, baths and bed... Carl hasn't taken this suit off since it arrived in the house Thursday evening! This morning, I opened the shower door this morning and was greeted by a cute monkey! "Good morning, Monkey!" "Good morning, Monkey!" perfect exchange to start your day, don't you think??

So, I will surely take more formal pictures of these suits, but I can't possibly make you read this novel and not share the pictures, right??? I'll even throw in pictures from Halloweens #1, #2 & #3!

And, after writing this down... my store-bought costume guilt has completely faded!

costumes for 2009, almost 4 years old!

See the mittens? He has to have them on! He will throw a fit if you try to flip them off so he can do things - like read a book or pick up cars.

Halloween 2006, age 11 months, still in NY.

Our first NC Halloween - see the shorts? Halloween 2007, almost 2 yrs old. We walked next door, but no other Trick or Treating. Our neighbors have twin girls (named Kate & Claire!) and an older daughter- so we wanted to see their costumes, too!

Halloween 2008, almost 3 years old. My mom made the costumes and then sent them hats from the OR of the hospital where she works. This year was the first they officially went Trick or Treating. They did some houses on our street with Daddy while I stayed home and answered our door. Oh - get crafting credit for sewing and decorating their treat bags! If you could see them clearly - I put the same faces on the bags that their jack-o-lanterns Daddy carved for them had on them!

2010 calendar

Each year, one of our local news stations holds a contest for an annual calendar of our city's images. I have never had anything I felt was local enough and had no people shown or some of the other rules they have for entries. Except for this year. I entered my photo from last October titled "Pumpkins on Vacation" and guess what? I won! My image is going to be in the 2010 calendar!!!

I haven't told my camera club members yet - I was planning on doing that at the next board meeting. (I am the newsletter chairperson, so I attend the board of directors' meetings) I suspect many of our members would roll their eyes at me. We have some serious and professionals who I'm sure think a calendar is rinky dink. But, maybe not. I think the board people will think it is cool. I sure do!

I know you have all seen the image... but here it is again....

Gretchen's 1st Day of School

First Day of Pre-School, Part II!! Today was Gretchen's turn to carry a backpack and wear closed toed shoes to school! She actually posed a lot for me at home before we got in the car to head to school. That is not something she does often. Well, no, I should clarify - she poses for me, she just never looks directly at the camera.
We didn't get to park next to the beloved Green Buggy Car like she hoped, but neither did Carl yesterday. We did get to walk by it and say good morning to it - which seemed to be good enough for her. Phew!
We met one of her teachers, Miss Sharon on the walk into school. That was quite a treat - and Gretchen immediately began informing her all about how today was a Gretchen Day and Carl didn't have his back pack because he doesn't come to school on Wednesdays... I can't type as fast as she talks... but you get the idea. Once inside, Gretchen washed her hands and found her seat at the Rainbow Table quickly. Carl & I told her we'd be back, we love her and then we left. She was pretty engrossed in her alphabet letters, I don't know if she even noticed. Carl & I popped into his old classroom to give Miss Tammy a kiss and we were surprised to find Ashlie in there, too! She must be working with one of their students. Carl wouldn't give her a hug, though. It made her sad, but she settled for a low-five. After picking up Gretchen and learning she also had a great first day, we headed home. She chatted away all the way home, mostly about the water table. Apparently, at Free Play time she got to play there. From what I can gather, she never left it. I know the teachers do not make kids leave to give other kids a turn, so I believe if she was playing there, she would easily continue for the whole period. I am not sure how I feel about that rule. Today, I am happy it was in place because Gretchen got to play there all she wanted to, but yesterday, Ashlie said Carl wanted a turn and no one ever left. So, yesterday I felt that they should encourage kids to take turns. I learned from Gretchen that they had marbles in the water table! This seems to have been the highlight of her day!! She also made a very big point of telling me they played on the playground and it is the same playground they already know. The 2s and 3s share a playground, but at different times. So, that is the one place they were already familiar with before moving into the 3s classroom. She sure approves!

Yesterday, she gave him a kiss and a hug - today he went to give her a kiss, but she was bugged because I asked her to sit on the same bench he was sitting on. So, she was pouting before he tried to smooch her.
Just as yesterday's did - today's nap went well. Ahh!!! Mentally and physically challenged kids sleep well in the middle of the day!!

Carl's 1st Day of School

This morning, Carl started pre-school in the 3 year old room. Grandma and Gretchen stayed home, so I took Carl up to school by myself. His drop-off was easy - although, if you look at the picture of him at the table with some of his friends, he does have a pouty lip going on. When I picked him up, Diane said he had a great day! Yay!!! I just spoke to his therapist, Ashlie and she also said he did great! They do more sitting in the morning than his last class, but she said he did fine. He did say, "No thank you" when asked to go do each activity at first, but once he was told, "We're going to go potty then listen to a book" or "we're going to hear a story then play with trucks" he was fine. The art project today was painting with dog biscuits and apparently, Carl was really, really into it! How cool is that?

He did have to hear a small lecture type lesson from Ashlie about knocking down towers that other kids have built. But, she said he was very eager to help the little boy rebuild and it ended up being fun for them both. Phew!

She told me how he needed a bit of help staying on his name tape seat (on the floor for Circle and Group Times, they have spots labelled with masking tape) . Carl can easily find his name, but he wasn't really wanting to sit. So, Ashlie asked him a couple other kids' names... "Is this your seat?" "noooo" "Is this where you sit?" "noooo" and finally he eagerly sat on his own name. But, then she said this to me... and it seems like a perfect quote for not only Carl, but his mom as well:

"... just needs a little creativity to get there."

Here's Carl heading into school.

These are from pick-up time. Gee, do you think they missed each other during their morning apart???

Tune in tomorrow for the continuing saga of Twins in The Three Year Room......

the women in Carl's life

I shared a photo with Carl with Tracy the other day, so I thought I'd share some of Ashlie, too.. You know - maybe I should have asked them before putting their pictures up... Tracy says sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

This is Ashlie, she has been with us right from the start when Carl was 26 months old. She has continued to be his therapist, but has also moved to the role of his IEP coordinator when he turned 3....and we couldn't be happier!!

Grandma's visit to NC

Grandma came down to NC from NY to visit with us for a couple weeks. We sure kept her busy!!! The kids love having another playmate and Grandma sure loves playing! She got to play with playdough, play a game of Candy Land, do puzzles, read book after book after book after book after book, do the Hokey Pokey, eat popsicles outside, color on the easel and in coloring books, play dollhouse and cars and even accompany us to some of our favorite places to play! We brought her to Monkey Joe's, The Children's Museum, swimming, Fit For Fun and the beach! We actually didn't have time for the zoo or a trip to the playground... seems crazy, huh? Next visit!

OK, how about some shots of all this fun??? You can see swimming pool pictures here. Photos from the Children's Museum are here. We didn't bring the camera to Monkey Joe's - sorry! You just saw our pictures from the beach, but they are here. (I just love linking to things!)

We had to have some dessert, right? Gretchen & I made cake balls..... you are jealous, admit it!

Gretchen helped bring Grandma's suitcase into the airport. She thought it was pretty cool that we got to see a policeman with his German shepherd, too. When I picked Carl up from school, he got in the car and his first question for me was, "Where'd Grandma go?" He got to say goodbye and get kisses before school, but he was missing her already!