Happy 5th Birthday Grace! Hard to believe that 5 Easter's ago you were born. I have lots of pictures from the party so those of you that didn't make it can feel like you were part of it...and those that did make it can relive the fun! First off, I have to start with this video. Our neighbors gave us a gift card for Holtz's 1st birthday and we just used it to buy a water table. Oh my, Grace and Holtz had so much fun with it yesterday! We've been spending as much time outdoors as possible when the weather is nice.
Grace decided, about a year ago (soon after her 4 year old party), that she would have a Strawberry Shortcake party for her 5th birthday. I can't think of where she would find out about Strawberry Shortcake. She doesn't really watch tv so I can only think that maybe it was from a McDonald's happy meal toy or an old lunch box of mine. Funny stuff. Well, after thinking she would surely change her mind in a years time, she kept strong and boy did we have a Strawberry Shortcake party! Enjoy the pics! The picture below is stick the strawberry on the vine...
Check out my cake! Yes, I made it!! Of course it was strawberry inside-
Strawberries on the floor...
Gift bags for the kiddos...
Grace in her fancy pink party dress! She was a little lady at her party. So sweet and wonderful! I took her to her 5 year appt last week. Our big/ little girl weighs only 33 lbs. (8th percentile- meaning she's only bigger than 8% of kids her age). She's going to be in a 5 point harness car seat until she's 10 (has to be 40 lbs.)! She's also 41.25 inches tall (26th percentile). Her BMI is 13.75 (8th percentile) = little girl!! (lots of smiles)!
The colors for Strawberry Shortcake are pink, red and green. So we did it up!
I blew up red balloons and drew black dots on them (strawberry seeds) and used green ribbon to attach them.
Dylan just stuck the strawberry on his dad... Whoops-
All the kids except Holtz and Ryder. From left to right, Kate Alvis, Dylan Milholland, Abigail Hiens, Grace, and Megan and Lauren Wedeking.
The Strawberry pinata-
Make a wish...
This year we had the kids decorate their own cupcakes. I had pink and green frosting and then pink, red and green sprinkles. Oh yea, and red m&m's. So, the kids sat in a circle and passed the light up spin toy...when the music turned off, whoever had the toy got to go decorate!
The party...
Opening presents...
Holtz finally has learned to entertain himself. He's a different little boy- such a joy now. Before, not so much (grin). New words, bup for cup, jeej for cheese, baba for baby, bubba for bubbles, says bye when I'm on the phone and when we skype he waves incessantly. He's really great at sign language now and gives hugs and kisses- so sweet!
Took Holtz for his 15 month appointment also last week. He is still following his path of being long and lean! He weighs 22.4 lbs (18th percentile) and is 32 inches tall (76th percentile)!
Yes, these are car air fresheners...our house smelled strawberry-licious! Below this picture is Holtz on one of his rocking horses. Grace got her old rocking horse out yesterday and Holtz new exactly how to do it- such a big boy!
I waited probably longer than I should have but I just hate to deal with the messes. On April 1st I finally caved and gave him a bowl and spoon. He did fabulously! I swear, 1st time, spoon in mouth! I couldn't believe it- no mess...pure perfection! On the 1st, I also gave him some crayons and paper and let him color- he again did great! So, he probably could have hit his milestones earlier but hey, better late than never.
Holtz still loves his little rocking chair that Grace gave him for Christmas. Other things he's doing is he dances to music, spins in circles, and walks backwards. He loves...LOVES...trying to put on shoes. Oh my! He likes to wipes surfaces with paper towels like he's cleaning- hope that sticks. He also helps to pick up toys. The other day his pants fell off (he's so skinny). I asked him where his pants were and he pulled the bottom of his shirt down over his legs trying to cover them up. Then, out of the blue, went in the other room, found his pants and brought them to me! Impressive!
The last video is of Grace and Holtz playing with a ball with Daddy. They were laughing so hard! At the end, Holtz decided to show off his mad foot skills. Maybe a future soccer star?
Exciting news...Grace was accepted in to Maxwell Elementary. Maxwell is a magnet school that is a Spanish immersion school downtown Lexington. 1/2 of the day is in English and 1/2 is in Spanish. So, she'll be fluent in Spanish in a year! It's an excellent school so we feel very lucky to have the opportunity to send her there. So cool! In order for her to attend kindergarten, she has to have a dental exam (she's been going since she was probably 2) and a vision exam. This was her first time and we've discovered she's farsighted. It's normal for kids to be slightly farsighted but I guess she's a little more than normal. We are just going to keep on top of it and who knows, in a couple of years Miss Grace might be in adorable glasses. Will keep you posted!
Hope you enjoyed the post. I will be posting pictures of Easter soon! Love, Us-
