Litle Fish in the Big Pond

As you know, Kendall is a big fan of the swim lessons. Well, at least she is once you get her out of the house and into the pool. For the last 6 months to a year, we have been the big fish in the parent tot class - Kendall could swim on her own and all the other kid were, well, babies. So, with the new baby on the way, we started to work hard to get her ready to move up to the next class. The one that does not involve mommy getting into the pool.

Boy, will I miss every Saturday morning in the pool (heavy on the sarcasm). I now get at least 8 months off before kid 2 will be ready for the pool. Yay!!!

So, we worked on Kendall swimming on her own, and listening to the instructor. At the end of the June parent tot session, we brought Kendall over to the next class to "test the waters". I walked over to the other side of the pool with Kendal and our parent tot instructor, and we introduced Kendall to the new class. In under 5 minutes Kendall had ditched me, started talking to the other kids and following what the new instructor said. Interesting since she fails to listen to me most of the time. Needless to say, my worries that my little girl would not be able to make the emotional jump to the big kid class were all for naught - she jumped right in and never looked back.

We have been in the big kid class for about a month now, and although she is shy initially an needs a little push to go join her class, she get into it after a couple minutes. Kendall is he youngest in the class - this class is for 3 - 5 year olds before they go to the big pool (she is in about 2 and 1/2 feet of water for the current lessons. The other kids in the class are closer to that 4 - 5 year old mark, so, for once, Kendall looks like the little kid at 2 and 1/2. So used to seeing her as bigger than her classmates, so it is a bit of a shock. We see her taking to the older kids, they don't seem too thrilled by this little chatty kid. I'd love to know what she is saying to them.



The thing about this new class is that there is a lot of standing around. There are usually around 10 kids in the class, and 2 instructors, so the kids hang onto the side of the pool while the instructors work with the kids one-on-one. This leads to Kendall getting in trouble a lot. There is the splashing, which was encouraged in the parent tot class, but is not so well looked upon in the big kid class. Kendall tends to instigate this and gets the other kids doing it with her - definitely frowned upon. And then there is the whole, hold onto the side thing.

All the kid are instructed to hold onto the side of the pool when they are not working with the instructor. Pretty boring stuff  -especially when you are tall enough to stand with your head above the water. Kendall must think so too, because she has made a game out of angering in the life guard. There are several life guards that monitor the pool area, but there is this one boy, must be 16 or 17, who takes his life guarding job very seriously. Every time he sees Kendall with her hand off the side of the pool he comes over and yells at her. After Kendall got talked to the first couple of times, Nate and I started to notice her waiting until he would turn around, taking her hands off the side of the pool, waving them around, and then putting them back on the side just as the life guard turned back around. Bad behavior, yes, but extremely funny. Remind me to put bars on this kid's windows, she will be the one sneaking out.

Greaney invasion of the Botanical Gardens

Kendall and I have been very busy taking advantage of our Friday's in May together, and the nice weather. One Friday we had a fun adventure with the Quaid's and some other friends at Wagner Farm. Although the other kids checked out the animals, Kendall had the most fun running through the industrial sprinklers. Oh, and dragging the other kids along to do it too. She is an instigator.

The next week, we set off for the Botanical Gardens with Grandma & Grandpa Greaney and Aunt Nell. This adventure was filled with lots of things Kendall loves, water, fountains, birds, flowers, and trains.

It was a very warm day, and a lot of walking for expectant mommy, but we had an excellent time exploring. Aunt Nell ran around with Kendall and took her exploring through the grounds while we all checked out every fountain and flower.

I had known the Garden's had trains, but I did not know the extent of the setup until we explored it. Lots of model trains, including Thomas and Friends (which Kendall was all excited about), as well as replicas of landmarks in the US. There were monuments and mountains (an exploding Mt Saint Helen's), as well as ball parks and homes (the White House and Frank Loyd Wrights). Everything made out of plants or bark. Trains above and trains below, with and without cars carrying all sorts of things. It was a pretty cool display, especially if you are 2 and love things that move.

We hope to go back soon and wander some more. I'm kind of slow these days so we did not get too far, but I think there is a lot more in store for us, especially as the seasons change.

New Adventures in Old Milwaukee

Milwaukee. Vacation mecca of the mid west. Well, we sure like it there. Could be the nostalgia of returning to the scene of many a college memory for Nate and I, or the fact that we can get away to another city with Kendall - and it only takes an hour to get there.

This past April, Kendall and I got Nate a weekend trip to Milwaukee, complete with tickets to the Cubs v. Brewers game. As opposed to how Nate and I usually do up Milwaukee (which is usually a basketball game, dinner, and hitting up some local establishments we used to frequent) we did a nice relaxing family trip - just the 3 of us. We went in thinking we would hit the usual family destinations - Milwaukee County Zoo, Marquette Campus, maybe the lake shore, and of course, Pizza Shuttle for Nate's BBQ Pizza fix. The 3 of us ended up on a slightly different adventure taking in a lot of sights we had never seen in a city Nate and I lived in for 5 years.

We were staying downtown in a nifty suite hotel on Wisconsin Ave. Although not the swankiest of digs, Kendall LOVED it. Every time we left, she would ask "Go back to the ho-towel?" She explored the whole room over and over - just being somewhere new was exciting. This love of the hotel ended up shaping out trip, because Kendall never wanted to leave. Thus, no zoo, and we needed to come up with a new plan closer to our hotel home base.

We hit up campus first to see all the changes and just wander around. This is where our doing something new adventure in Milwaukee began. When we got onto campus, we noticed that the Joan of Arc chapel was open. Although we walked past it daily when going to and from our jobs in the library (not studying mind you), neither Nate or I had ever been inside. So, we went in and had a tour. All sorts of history about the move from France and restoration. It was definitely something new we had never done.

We were also in luck that the semester had ended the day before so we were able to get into the buildings. Felt a little like trespassing since campus was empty, but it was nice to run in and let Kendall do some exploring.

But after that excursion, we had to go back to the "ho-towel", you know to check it out again. Make sure the bed was made. So after naps, we set off on another new adventure in Milwaukee and did the Milwaukee River Cruise.

Now, if you have ever been to Milwaukee during the summer, you know the river is kind of icky, and stinky. Mostly due to the heavy industry. That should be reason enough to avoid getting on a boat and floating down river. I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.

The tour was neat and took us down the River from about a block from the hotel, through the 3rd Ward (which is way more trendy than I recalled), and out into the harbor. It was a chilly, but beautiful, sunny day, and Kendall LOVES boats. This made for an enjoyable tour, and Nate and I saw Milwaukee from a different side than we had before. I could have skipped the tour of the industrial part of the river though.

We even got to see my old apartment from the water - which was a different view. I miss that apartment.

Since this was Mother's Day weekend, I did get to choose one of our destinations. I wanted to see more of the 3rd Ward and the Milwaukee Public Market, and since we were on a new things in Milwaukee adventure, we checked it out. No fish throwing in the Market, but it was still a cool place to explore. Especially the lobster tank we had to drag Kendall away from. I think it was just in time too, the lobsters were mobilizing for an escape and had gotten themselves into a big pile, and one was climbing his way up to freedom.

Last on our tour of Milwaukee was Miller Park. This was a new one for Kendall since Nate and I were there when it opened. Kendall enjoyed her first baseball game - Cubs v. Brewers. Even though we did not nap prior to the game, Kendall was a trouper and made it all the way through the 7th inning before we headed out. Of course, no trip to Miller Park is complete without the Sausage Race, so that was definitely a highlight (we always root for the Hot Dog since it shares Nate's birthday, but the Italian won). Kendall seemed to really dig the game - she has asked to go back to a baseball game many times since. But next time will be a White Sox game.

We really enjoyed our new adventure in Milwaukee, and plan to back soon.



Easter and the visitors from Seattle

We were lucky enough to have our cousins from Seattle visit us over Easter. This was possibly the most exciting thing EVER for Kendall. With her cousins a bit older than her (Madeleine is 7, Margot is 5) Kendall was in heaven following the girls around.

We celebrated Easter here at our house with a fun dinner. The girls all got to run around outside since the weather was nice and we enjoyed a huge meal. The leftovers never did get eatten since we had all our visitors in town - and we were on the move.

Every morning of the week the Wallace family was in Kendall would wake me up and ask to go see her cousins. She was so excited, and would run to get dressed and get ready, even if momma wanted to sleep for a few hours more. It was like Christmas, but there were 2 living, breathing cousins to play with all day.

We hit up the American Girl store (which is possibly the most frightening place I have ever been), as well as saw Sue at the Field museum.

I had never taken Kendall to the museums before since I thought she was too young to enjoy them, but she really got into things at the Field. Especially the underground exibit. The kid loves dirt.

Kendall had such a blast with everyone in town, she was hartbroken when they left. She continually got up in the morning and asked to see her cousins. Nate and I had to explain they went home, and when that didn't work, we bought a puzzle map of the US and let geography help us. Oddly, she picked it up pretty quickly and if you ask Kendall where her cousins live she will point out Washington State as well as where she lives in Illinois. Good memory that one.

Either way, that US states puzzle eats a lot of time - that's a lot of states for a 2 and 1/2 year old to put back into a puzzle!

January/February/March 2012

Although my New Years resolution was to catch up on the blog and keep it updated, I failed miserably. You would think that I would have a lot to show for January, February, & March, lots of things that were keeping me from blogging, but you would be wrong! I think we hibernated most of the winter.

Nate built his latest and greatest Lego model of Robbie House.

Kendall continued to play "Where's Kendall?" in her bed nightly.

And then it got really warm in March. Unseasonably warm in the high 80s. Which was fun for about a minute. But it was really interesting to see our world in bloom so early - heck, it was still winter and the grass was turning green.

Kendall started to picked out her own clothes as well, leading to some outfits rather reminiscent of Punky Brewster.

And through it all, Kendall kept up with her swimming. Somewhere in this time frame Kendall took a good turn at swimming and actually started to enjoy herself again. She likes to participate with the class, to a point, and swims on her own the whole class (with the help of her trusty backpack). We are working on moving her into the big kid class without momma over the summer. Momma is looking forward to not having to jump into the pool ever Saturday morning as she has for the past 2 years.

Here is some video of our spinning swimmer (sorry for the lens cleaning partway through). A few weeks ago the swim teacher asked one of the older girls from synchronized swimming to come over and show Kendall a few moves, now that is all she does in the pool.

The last bit of news for this time frame was that we had a big family announcement. We found out back in November, and told the immediate family over Christmas, but in January it was time to announce that we were expecting another Greaney in August. In March, we were lucky enough to find out that the new baby will be another girl. Kendall will be a big sister to a little sister sometime around August 1st! We are all super excited to expand our family.

I'm using this as an excuse to my lack of blogging - I'm a tired momma these days gestating and running after this crazy Kendall!

Christmas 2011

Christmas may actually still be more exciting for Nate and I than for Kendall. Thing is, we get to spoil our little girl rotten and buy all those cool toys that we've been seeing. That and spending Christmas Eve having a few drinks and putting the toys together is just a good time.

Christmas Eve always starts out with Grandma & Grandpa Gorman joining us for dinner. This has been our tradition since before Kendall was born, and now instead of going out we have dinner here at our place.

Those aprons were a birthday gift from Nate to me. Aren't they cute?

After helping me make dinner, we all settle down to do presents.

After we say our good nights, Nate and I get down to business getting the tree ready for Christmas morning. This year there was not much Christmas Eve assembly required. Nate took care of that as he built Kendall a fabulous kitchen set - a replica of our kitchen. It is huge and awesome - and definitely a very cool Christmas present all stocked full of cooking utensils and food.

Isn't Nate crafty?

The brand logos on the appliances say "Kendall"

Once we got this all setup in front of the tree we could sit back, relax, and wait for Kendall to get up and check it all out on Christmas morning. Lucky for us, Kendall still doesn't really understand Christmas presents and doesn't wake up super early. So, on Christmas morning we all ambled into the living room to check out the loot - and got this video of her reaction. This is a long one.

This was not only the Christmas of the kitchen, but also of Rapunzel. Tangled is Kendall's favorite movie and she was thrilled to have her very own Rapunzel. She went everywhere with us for a while - and as a result, these pictures of Rapunzel are the best that will ever be taken. She is a bit worse for the wear now.

Overall, a successful Christmas morning.

We spent Christmas Day with the Greaney family enjoying a relaxing time at Grandma & Grandpa Greaney's. Kendall loved playing with Grandma & Grandpa and her Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. Nothing like some quality family time to round out a holiday, and tire out a very active 2 year-old.

December 2011

Remember how I mentioned Kendall was in a toddler bed? This came with a few unexpected pitfalls. Most notable was the fact that she is now free range. This is great in the mornings when I don't want to get out of bed and she just walks in and climbs into bed with me. Free range is not so good when she has a lot of toys and clothes in her room that she can entertain herself with until she falls asleep.

Let me walk you through a typical evening after Kendall has finally settled down and fallen asleep. First, this all starts off around 8 when we get her into her PJs and tucked into bed. Then, depending on how tired she is, you will hear banging coming for her room for up to an hour. Once it gets nice and quiet for an extended period of time, you know, after you finish watching that show you DVRd, you open the door and find the following.

All the dresser drawers are open, I could have sworn I closed these before putting Kendall down...

Where is Kendall?

All the stuffed animals and books are removed from the bookshelves...

Oh, there's Kendall, amid all her clothes, animals and books.

I think the funniest night that this happened we actually could not find Kendall. We could hear her snoring a little when we went into the room, but the blanket was pulled up over her head covering the pillow. Or so we thought. When we pulled back the blanket to get her some air we found that she had created a dummy Kendall out of stuffed animals and covered it with her blanket. Took us a good couple of minutes to find her asleep behind the chair. Can't say she isn't inventive.