My baby is growing up!

Chris and I recently noticed that Vivian has gotten taller. She can stand on her tippy toes to see over the kitchen counter and can get on and off the toilet without her step stool. She is also finally out of her 2T pants! I took her to the ped this morning for her first well visit in PA and she HAS grown. Here are her stats:

November 3, 2011

• Height: 34"
• Weight: 27 lbs 12.8 oz

September 19, 2012

• Height: 36.75"
• Weight: 30 lbs 12 oz

She's doing great and loves Pre-K although she's really only gone for 8 days now because of the Hand, Foot, and Mouth. She's also missing the next three days because we'll be on vacation. 

Her general likes: She's really into dressing up (I just bought her a chef's outfit to go with her doctor's outfit), playing with her magna-tiles and Duplo blocks. She really likes her new Light-Brite. She can identify all of her letters (uppercase and lowercase) and is learning the sounds for all of the letters. She is also doing very well with writing her letters. She's also doing extremely well in Spanish. She knows all of her colors and numbers from 0-10. She's curious about everything and wants to learn about new things. She loves looking at the stars and the moon and talks about becoming an astronaut. She likes riding her two wheeler and proudly tells everyone that she has a two wheel bike. She likes going to Pirates games, the dinosaur museum and the science center. 

My baby is definitely growing up. We're starting to look at kindy options for next year. GASP!!!

First week of school

This should be a continuation from my last post because about an hour after I wrote it, I received the dreaded phone call from Vivian's school. Vivian was running a temperature of 101 and needed to come home. So, I called Chris at work so he could come home and I went to go pick her up. All of her friends were eating lunch and there was Vivian, all bundled up in her blanket and hooded sweatshirt (which she wears everyday at nap) laying on the couch. She looked awful.

When we got home, I gave her some Advil and water and she just laid on the couch. Chris came home about an hour later, which means I wasn't able to go into work (would have missed my meeting) for my  meeting. Vivian slept a good part of the afternoon and her fever kept spiking up at about the 6 hour mark. A few times in the middle of the night, she needed to be dunked in the lukewarm bath to get her temperature down. She kept screaming "No Thank You." It wasn't fun for any of us.

Yesterday, Vivian was supposed to go to the dentist. Instead, we swapped out the appointment for a ped visit. Vivian woke up complaining of a sore throat, so of course they did a throat culture. Good news: No strep. Bad, bad news: Hand Foot and Mouth!

Hand Foot and Mouth is highly contagious! Vivian doesn't have the blisters on her hands or feet, but she has the awful ulcers in her mouth. The only treatment is to make her comfortable through pain management. So, we spent the day on the couch. She took a couple of long naps and thankfully slept through most of the night. She woke up this morning with a lot of throat pain again.

So, in the first week of Pre-K, Vivian has only been able to attend one day. I feel so bad for her. She was really upset about missing her first gymnastics class last night. I hope that spending a weekend at home in confinement will help. Sadly, she'll be contagious for quite awhile but it seems like the fever finally broke last night when I had to change her soaked-through PJs. So hopefully she's on the mend and hopefully, Chris and I don't get it. Apparently it's absolutely miserable for adults. UGH.

Pre-K

A lot has happened this past month -- mostly related to sports! Chris and I skipped out of work early one day to take Vivian to a Pirates game, which she loved (of course). Her favorites players are Andrew McCutcheon and Joel Hanrahan. Chris and I also attended two Pirates games. We took a tour of PNC Park a few weeks ago. It's a beautiful ballpark, but it's so peaceful to be there when no one else is there. The views from the press box are quite impressive. Chris and I are heading to another game tonight. We're sitting in the club seats, which is different from our usual behind home plate lower-level seats. It should be a blast!

Chris attended a Steelers pre-season game with his brother, Sam. They sat way, way up in the 500 level seats but had a good time.

We took Vivian putt-putt golfing for the first time. It didn't go so well. It was super hot outside (felt like NC) with no shade and Vivian's putter was much too long for her! :( We're definitely going to try it again next year though!

Last week was Vivian's last week in preschool. Yesterday, was her first day in Pre-K!! She did really well with the transition. I can't believe how quickly the time has flown by. We are still trying to figure out what to do next year because she misses the birthday cut-off for kindy by 3 1/2 months.

Our Labor Day weekend was fairly uneventful, although on Saturday we attended two separate 4-year-old birthday parties which was a bit crazy. The kids are all in the same class together and they seemed to have a great time. On Labor Day, we had one of Vivian's friends over from her class. The family recently transplanted to Pittsburgh from NC - so we have a lot in common being total outsiders here!

The rest of September is going to be a bit crazy. Vivian is starting gymnastics tomorrow. Several of the girls from her class are going to be there, so it should be a lot of fun for her. Chris and I have two additional Pirates games planned. Our Broadway season is starting up here, so we're off to see Jersey Boys next week. We're also planning a trip to Niagara Falls and (maybe) Toronto in a couple of weeks. Niagara Falls is just a few hours away, so we're going up for a few days. It should be a lot of fun. I'm excited to see the falls and head over into Canada! I don't think Chris has ever been to Canada and I've never been to the Eastern part...so it should be a great experience for all of us.

The rest of the fall should be busy with Broadway shows, children's theatre, gymnastics, and maybe post-season baseball (Let's Go Bucs!!!). It feels like you have to cram everything in while the weather is still good -- otherwise when it's 10 degrees outside you never want to leave your house!

Here are some pics:

In the Pirates dugout

Uncle Sam and Vivian in the PNC Park Press Box

View of PNC Park and downtown Pittsburgh skyline

First Day of Pre-K