Summer Glass Half Full

Pool pals!

Well, it's July. Summer is half way done. Or, on the other hand, I have half a summer left. Let's be optimistic here. And we're still having a good time. Here are some things we've been up to... Violet had her friend Taylor spend the night. The girls played in the pool for hours. Annie watched them jumping in from the side and decided she was a big girl too, so before I knew it, she had cannonballed right in, totally dunking under before bobbing back up in her floaties. Once I realized she had no fear of going under, I figured she was ready to tackle the waterslide. (Truth: I didn't want to take her on the waterslide myself.) You know, it took Violet years before she was bold enough to do the slide solo. Annie, on the other hand, marched right up the steps, hurled herself into the darkness of the enclosed tube, and came out the other end grinning. She's so bold. She's going to steal my car when she's 13 just because Violet will be old enough to drive and anything Violet can do, Annie is going to do 3.7 seconds later.

Rocking the water slide for the first time.

First King of Pops popsicles at food truck night.

Annie was very sad she could not take a ride.

Foot bath.

So one evening after dinner, Violet was running around barefoot and somehow got a thorn stuck in the top of her toe. Oh, the agony. You would have thought someone was about the chop her toe off, the way she carried on about it. "I'm just so scared it is going to hurt!" she kept crying when I told her the thorn had to come out. It took 10 minutes and her dad's company to convince her to take a warm foot bath, and Matt had to physically restrain her when I approached with the tweezers. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were conducted some type of torture. But it did eventually come out, along with the admission of "that didn't hurt so bad".

A special guest and Madeline's birthday party.

Our neighbor Madeline turned five this summer, with a lovely Frozen Fever-themed bash. Violet wanted nothing to do with Elsa, but Annie was all like "I'm going to sit next to her!" and had no qualms at all about snuggling up to the frozen queen. Little things like this constantly remind me how different my girls are.

Princess Annie!

My pal Jen had a shower celebrating her baby girl!

Leather push button reclining seats, popcorn kids meal... fanciest dollar movie ever!

Cumming Aquatic Center for the win!

I have to admit, this summer has been pretty sweet when it comes to water action. At the pool, I can actually sit in a chair and observe from the sidelines and the girls play in the water. Violet is a strong enough swimmer to make it all the way across the pool and as long as Annie has her floaties on, she's good to go. And they were awesome again at the aquatic center. Annie has no problem taking off on her own, and Violet was able to hang with the big boys. They were so busy it was almost hard to keep track of them all!

Happy Birthday Annie!

Watch out, world! I'm 2 and ready to party!

This girl. Annie is two! She can count to ten (with one-to-one correspondence, no less!), knows her colors, asks for apps on the iPad by name ("I pay doodabuddy!") and insists on sleeping in Violet's bed. She is a total chatterbox at home, but the silent type at school. Her favorite things to do = anything Violet is currently doing. She likes to vacuum and sweep anytime she sees me get started and so badly wants to sit on potty (we'll get there, kiddo). She falls asleep holding her seahorse every night. Regardless of what chaos has ensued during the day, Matt and I generally reflect that she's a pretty good kid, pouty face and terrible two tantrums and all. "Yah you" sweet Annie!

The real party is still to come, but Annie's actual birthday was on Wednesday. Matt was out of town, I had laryngitis, there were no decorations or presents, but I couldn't let her actual birthday go by without at least a cupcake and candles. Poor thing, the minute we started singing, she burst into tears. She even refused to take a cupcake (until I picked one for myself... that one she deemed okay to steal!)

She cheered up enough to eat her cupcake.

When it started raining this weekend, we just couldn't keep her presents from her any longer. Forget the wrapping paper; we just forked them over, and she is absolutely in love with her new ladybug rain boots and matching umbrella!

Mazel Tov!

Mozel tov, Brooke!

My lovely niece Brooke had her bat mitzvah this past weekend in Williamsburg, Virginia, and we were there to help celebrate! I missed my nephew Will's bar mitzvah because Annie was just three weeks old, so I was excited to experience this one, my first.

Initial impressions: bat mitzvahs are just like weddings, minus the groom. We received a fancy invitation six weeks ago. We had to RSVP with our dinner preferences (steak, chicken or fish). On the big day, the family was asked to be dressed and ready for professional pictures ahead of the event. The ballroom was rented and decorated according to the chosen theme (pink and princess). After the ceremony, there was a cocktail hour (open bar for the adults, pink punch bar for the kids) and tray-passed hors d'oeuvres.

The seated dinner featured a kids buffet of hamburgers and hot dogs in addition to the adult plates. The DJ brought glow sticks and sunglasses for everyone. A father-daughter dance took place. Seeing as the show centered around a 13-year-old and her friends, the dance floor was hopping! There was even the official cutting of the (birthday) cake moment.

Seriously, it was fancier than my own wedding.

Pretty in pink!

The ceremony itself was quite moving. Brooke led what is essentially the religious service, complete with reading the Hebrew Torah. Special family members stood up with her at various times to offer blessings, she gave a little speech explaining what she had learned through the process of studying the scripture and how she could apply it to her own life. She thanked her grandfather for helping her practice the Hebrew reading and her parents gave sweet little tributes to her.

The girls were exhausted from our time at the waterpark, and Annie was itching like crazy from the chlorine, even after the benadryl we gave her. She slept on my lap for most of the service and I think even Violet dozed off. Which was good, because it meant they were ready to par-tay!

The reception was so fun. Everyone hit the dance floor, wolf ears and all! Even Matt, who I'm pretty sure didn't even dance at our wedding, had no problem taking the girls out for a spin. Overall, the entire event exceeded my expectations. Not that I wasn't expecting the bat mitzvah to be great, but I figured my girls would be difficult, I'd spend half the event in our hotel room trying to get one of them to fall asleep, etc. But I got to enjoy it just as much as anyone else, so win!

Sippin' some punch from the kids' bar.

Apparently these two little girls can inspire Matt to hit the floor!

That's right, people. Table 1!

Don't mind Greg. He's just hungry like a wolf.

Party's getting started!

We Loughmans know how to get down!

Their first slumber party!

A Whole Hand

My first-born is turning five. 5. A whole hand. It's amazing. Unreal.

It's always stressful coming up with party ideas. Violet's birthday falls right at the beginning of party season - it seems like all her school friends have parties in January and February. Having a winter birthday presents its own challenges - must be inside, etc. Plus, I tend to be more low-key when it comes to birthdays. I didn't grow up with elaborately themed parties; usually a group of friends just came over to hang out at the house. (The notable exception being my old-fashioned dress up tea party for my 12th; we made hats. It was awesome.)

I still think the best party I've thrown was Violet's second. Ah, the birthday breakfast party. There was a doughnut cake, everyone wore pajamas, the kids decorated pillows to take home. I even splurged on custom designed invitations hand-painted by my artist friend.

Things went downhill after that. Birthday three was going to be a Build-a-Bear bash, until the birthday girl came down with the stomach bug the night before. We were able to reschedule, but by then most of the guests had other plans. The next year Violet wanted one of those inflatable jumpy places. It was nice having a place to go and other people to handle the details and clean up, but that's about all I can say for that party.

So this year, the big five, I wanted something different. (We've been to plenty of Frozen-themed, gymnastics/dance, dress-up parties already.) I wanted something easy. I was even willing to have it in my house. I needed a decent, easy-to-execute theme, and I wanted it to be something Violet was genuinely into. Right now, Violet's two favorite things are Hello Kitty, and watching tv. She loves tv passionately. At any given moment, she knows exactly where our iPad is and can navigate Netflix blind. I'm not proud of it. But it got me thinking.

Movie Night Pajama Birthday Party! I'd have it on a Friday night, our traditional family movie night. There shouldn't be too many conflicts, because who plans anything for a Friday night? An evening event means I could kick everyone out of the house at a fairly decent hour. No one has done it before. There are plenty of Hello Kitty themed decorations to be had. My house looks awesome with new floors. Piece of (birthday) cake!

The grandmas had "fun" getting these ready one babysitting night.

It's all about the cake.

So Friday evening, nine little girls descended on the house under heavy, gray clouds, dressed in their pajamas and slippers, ready to celebrate my little girl. I was stressing the weather (more snow/ice/cold forecast, after school activities cancelled, general panic starting to ensue again) and reassured parents they could come back early if they were worried. I really just wanted everyone to show up (visions of the rescheduled Build-a-Bear fiasco danced through my head). Most moms gave me a "are you sure you're okay with this?" look as they dropped their daughters off. I responded with my best "dude, I handle 26 on a regular basis - 10 girls is nothing" look in return.

But wow, can ten little girls get loud! There was much running and shrieking and laughing and jumping on furniture. So while it was loud, I guess that means that everyone had fun. I can't say how much pizza or cake was consumed. Popcorn was refilled numerous times, however. I know that less than half the crowd lasted the entire movie (Violet had no trouble with that) but the rest of them enjoyed the playroom. And since they found all the Tinkerbell fairy toys, at least they stayed with the movie theme! The evening was relatively drama-free, no one cried, Violet seemed happy with the proceedings, and Matt and I had the house put back together by 8:15. Success!

Her face is priceless!

Happy birthday to you!

Settling in to watch the Tinkerbell movie.

Violet and Emma, BFFs!

Happy Halloween!

This was how our Halloween dawned. That is one sick kiddo right there. I should have realized things were amiss when she fell asleep in the highchair the night before. We gave her medicine for a fever and put her in bed, fingers crossed. Well, the fever was worse the next morning. Fortunately, Matt had already planned to work from home, so I got this pathetic update a few hours in. I even had my room mom pick up extra medicine for me at the store (we ran out that morning, and she was stopping at the store anyway to pick up our Fall Rotations aka Halloween Party cupcakes).

Matt was supposed to go to Violet's Halloween party at school, and when I explained that neither of us would be making it now, she was understandably bummed. Poor thing. She already knows she draws the short end of the stick by being a teacher's kid. "But Daddy has regular work, so he can come!" she said. So I juggled things at work and begged for a substitute for the last 20 minutes of the day so I could sneak out and surprise her at her party. I'm glad I did - her face lit up when she spotted me.

Pretty pretty princesses!

Snow White and Superman!

Ms Courtney and Ms Megan! Love them so!

Trunk or Treat!

Ready to get some loot in the neighborhood!

Once home, we got ready, had our annual chili dinner with our neighbors, then got ready to head out. I opted to stay home with Annie, poor girl. The meds would kick in, she'd perk up, then fade again. We spent a lot of time on the couch, in between passing out candy.

It ended up being a cold, rainy night, so perhaps I got lucky. Not the most memorable of holidays. Oh well, we'll try again next year. Here's hoping this little pumpkin gets better soon!

Let Her Eat Cake!

Loving her new baby doll and stroller!

We had Annie's birthday party this weekend. Nothing too crazy - the grandparents all came up for lunch, the neighbors joined us for afternoon cake. Annie opened her presents (or rather, Violet opened Annie's presents), everyone had a good time.

Birthday photo bomb.

The highlight of the day was definitely the smash cake. Now, based on the cupcake she had on her actual birthday, we all know Annie can handle a little cake and icing. And my friend did not disappoint. She loved every second on that cake and did her best to get as much in her mouth as she got on her face!

Cake: destroyed. Mission: accomplished.

I still can't quite believe she is one! At this point, she walks more than she crawls, only gets one bottle at night, can blow kisses, finds her tummy on command, knows where mommy's nose is, wears 18 month clothing, and is in the 98th percentile for both height and weight (25 lbs).

Happy Birthday Annie!

The approach...

Taking matters into her own hands...

Cupcake love!

It does not even seem possible I have a one-year-old, toddling, yammering, laughing, buggy-boo of a child! Why, just a year ago, we were all marveling at the chubbster that finally made her way, a few hours before she was due, into our world. First years are amazing. From completely helpless to having an opinion about everything, from a total liquid diet to grabbing food off our plates, from communicating through cries to... well, still communicating through cries, but laughs and sounds and words, too (if "bah" counts as a word)... Wow. We've come a long way, baby girl.

A year ago...

...and today.