Eva's First Haircut!

We finally did it!  We cut Eva's hair!  It's been needing a trim for awhile but hippie mom that I am I am all about growing it down to her butt (which, Jason says I'm not allowed to do).  We figured right before her big 3rd birthday party was a good time to take the big-girl plunge so we went to Kidz Kuts in Coon Rapids.  FYI- I hate the Ks and Zs in their name but, moving on.

She sat wonderfully still and the whole thing was over quickly.  So quickly in fact that I forgot to take "after" photos!  I will be sure to take lots at her party this weekend for all to see.

Before shot

Waiting with Daddy

Still waiting with Daddy.... (welcome to being a girl and going to the salon Eva!)

Got to ride on a horsie and watch a movie during the cut

Finishing blow dry

Sucker for being a good girl

Made a friend; tell me these two couldn't be sisters!

Lap Dance Anyone?

Okay so it's probably 98% inappropriate to mention your almost 3-year-old and lap dancing in the same sentence but Jason and I can't help but laugh every time Eva insists on putting on my black boots.  On her they look like thigh-high dominatrix boots... and it probably doesn't help that she usually wants to wear them with no pants on as well.

Ahhh my classy little lady :-)

Eva's First Fort

Any of you who knew me when I was a little kid know that building forts under the dining room table was my favorite thing in the world to do.  I plan to pass that torch on to Eva in the coming year, so we made our first fort this week.  She's got a long way to go before she bests anything Mommy concocted back in the day- my forts had kitchens, separate bedrooms, vaulted entryways- but I'm sure she'll get there.

Picture Day

Pictures are in at Eva's school and while her photos are pretty cute, I am not paying $65 bucks for a few 8x10s considering we are having our annual photo session with Kelly Hesli soon.  So instead, I'll just do the ghetto fabulous version by scanning in the photos and posting them on here for everyone to see, since that costs me nothing :-)

Note: she had super cute white mary janes that I asked them to please make sure she was wearing for the photos...
it did not happen, hence the dirty white tennis shoes in this shot!

Class photo!

Switcheroo

After much debating and weighing pros and cons, we are going ahead with the switch to Montessori school for Eva.  Along with a more central location (because I don't think we'll always live so far north in Ramsey) and $2k a year in money savings she'll also have a friend at the school!  She'll start at the MN Renaissance School in two weeks and I'm really hoping that the transition goes smoothly.  I took a tour during the school day and then we went back for an open house and Eva had the chance to "work" at some of the things in her future classroom.  She seemed to really enjoy the challenge and the teacher was very engaging.

For anyone not familiar with the difference between Montessori and traditional preschool (which was me until a few weeks ago) here are some points:

1) Multi-age, family-like grouping. In a Montessori program, 3-6 year-olds are together in one class, and each child stays with the same teacher for a 3-year cycle. The younger ones benefit from observing the older children; the older children act as mentors. Children can develop at their own pace: the classroom will have materials appropriate for 3-year olds and for 7-year olds.
 
2) A deliberate selection of Montessori activities, and not the typical lego-blocks-barbie-trucks toys you have at home anyway. Over decades of experimentation, Dr. Montessori identified an assortment of learning materials, which share a few key characteristics: Children love to engage with them over and over again; by working with them, children learn certain skills - such as careful observation, hand strength, the ability to distinguish musical tones, the shapes of the letters, counting; the materials build sequentially, enabling children to progress from one to the next as their abilities evolve; they are self-correcting, so children can work independently of adults and learn to problem-solve on their own.

3) A long, unstructured, child-led "work period" - as against the typical adult-led schedule of 30 minutes of this, followed by 30 minutes of that (e.g., circle time, crafts, snack, outside time, story time etc.) In a Montessori school, children have 2-3 hours each morning and afternoon to pursue what interest them - and the adults respect and encourage this child-led exploration. Thus, children develop real interests - and learn to expand their attention span through chosen, self-directed activities.

The other big change that Montessori will pose is the switch to NO nap.  Nervous mom here!  She can take a nap if needed, but she's actually having such trouble getting to bed at night that I'm hoping by cutting out a daytime nap, she'll actually be tired by bedtime and sleep a good 12 hours at night. 

This is a common scene in our house; she knows better than to come all the way downstairs but she'll venture out of bed after we think she's asleep and wind up on the stairs!

 All prayers and crossed fingers welcome :-)

No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we haven't had a whole lot going on that required picture taking.  We did have a blast jumping on the bed with Bradley & Brookie the other weekend though and, as promised, I am posting photos to prove that LaRae is not all rules and order, she has a fun side too!

Happy St Patricks Day!

So the title is a little misleading since we did nothing even remotely Irish today despite Jason being nearly 100% and Eva being nearly half (I am proud to report I am 0% Irish- ha!)

I didn't even remember it was St Patrick's Day until I dropped Eva off at school and noticed all the other little kids wearing green.  Fail on my part.  Luckily LaRae was as equally unfestive so Bradley didn't have green on either.  Eva and Bradley formed the "too cool for green on St Pattys Day" gang in the Preschool 1 room today, or so I tell myself!

But here are some pictures of Eva rocking out on her new guitar, taking a bath and reading a book with Daddy- just so you don't go away empty handed.

Totally rocking out

Behind the head!

Gift-a-Paloosa

Everytime Mallori sees Eva she has lots of presents for her, and this weekend was no different.  Her haul included Barbie rain boots, a shopping cart full of play food, a pink electric guitar with microphone headset, a Shamoo whale puppet from SeaWorld, a pink poodle purse filled with lipglosses and la pièce de résistance... a Disney Princess Corvette!!!  The kind that Eva actually sits in a drives.  It's epic.

Thank you Auntie Mallori and Fawn! We love you!

Tired from so many gifts... must... lie... down