Look who's feeding himself!!

Well...kind of - I think.
"Oh...that's for me?? Oh...that's so nice of you...but no...no thanks, buddy. No. That's okay. Seriously. That's okay."

Side by Side Community School here we come!

Scarlett got something in the mail a few days ago. It's her new backpack for her new school. You see, Scarlett will be attending a Pre-K program at Side by Side Community School starting September 2nd. The school is right down the street from where I work. There were about 10 available spots in this particular program and there were TONS of applicants. We consider ourselves very fortunate to have gotten a spot. And the program is free which, as I'm sure you can imagine, will be a huge financial relief to Joe and me after the cost of daycare...about $600 a month of a relief. Whew. On top of everything, Holden will also get to go into this same program when he turns three thanks to their reserved sibling spots.
This program runs Monday through Friday from 9-3:30 for the length of a typical school year. Scarlett will get report cards and "hot lunch" and will have to wear a school uniform and Joe and I will have to attend parent/teacher conferences. And Scarlett will be continuing on to elementary school at Side by Side as well, so this "first day of school" really feels like her first day of school. It'll be hard to get excited about her first day of kindergarten when she'll have been going to this school for two years by then!
So look out, Side by Side! Here comes "SHA"! Be sure to check back for the first day of school pictures.

So long, two-tooth grin!

Holden's top front teeth have made an appearance. Finally. And, according to his Dr., we can expect three more top teeth any day now. So while I had grown very fond of this adorable two-tooth grin, I'm happy he is getting more teeth. Seriously. I was getting worried there for awhile.

Aunt Jane does it again

My Aunt Jane has this incredible knack for buying the coolest presents ever invented. Guess what Scarlett got from Aunt Jane yesterday? A Rapunzel dress-up dress. Words cannot describe how much she loves this dress. It's perfect for spinning. And if there happens to be a mirror nearby, all the better. Spinning is better to do in front of a mirror. This is a serious dress-up dress. In fact, I'm quite certain Scarlett will be wearing this dress to the prom. It is "beeeeau-tiful" (says she). Despite us owning the book, Scarlett didn't know about Rapunzel yet. I pulled her yet-to-be-discovered Rapunzel book off of her bookshelf (because, of course, we have about a million books that Scarlett has yet to discover because she wants to read the same book every. single. night.) and Nan got to reading. And after the book was over, I had to spend the rest of the night pretending that I was cutting off all of Scarlett's hair. And Holden put on his best Sunday bonnet just for the occasion. Scarlett wasn't the only one who got a cool present. Holden got a big-boy car ramp. The reason I know this is a big-boy car ramp is because the second I put it in front of Holden, he started sitting like a big boy. Observe. He loves this ramp. In fact, this is the first time he's really shown much interest in cars. When Holden normally plays with toys, he just follows Scarlett around and picks up whatever toy she's dropped - And it's usually a princess (much to Joe's dismay). But he just stands at this toy, and stands...and kneels, and then stands again...playing for a looooong time. And, all of a sudden, someone is following HIM around and playing with whatever car he's dropped.
Thank you so very much for the awesome presents, Aunt Jane! The kids LOVE them!

on this week's episode of the Scarlett Show

Scarlett has started to put on her own "shows" recently. I'm seriously amazed at how she is able to sing a ton of words and phrases that, individually, might be intelligible - but when strung together make absolutely no sense whatso-stinkin'-ever. When paired with some stellar dance moves - this kid has got talent!



And I have no idea where she gets the "thank you thank you" bow at the end. She never ceases to impress me.

Character Breakfast

We brought Scarlett and Holden to a special Character Breakfast recently. It was seriously adorable. There were about a dozen 7th and 8th graders hosting the breakfast, and they were dressed as various characters - some of which were completely unrecognizable, but they did have a Snow White; that poor, poor girl. Scarlett and her friend from school, Molly (who we bumped into at the event), followed this poor girl around for the entire breakfast. Neither of them actually talked to Snow White (star struck)...they just followed her around and stared at her adoringly. It was pretty cute. And funny. Holden drank juice (a rarity). We saw Spiderman.

Heard a story.
Ran around.

And danced....with Snow White and the other princess girl.

Beach days

It has been very hot this summer so we've been bringing the kids to Short Beach. It's somewhat surreal because it's the same beach Joe and I both went to as kids having both grown up in Stratford - and now we're bringing our kids there. Weird. But yeah...we get over it pretty quickly though. It's just too hot for surreality.

Beaches are a bit different with kids. There's not a whole lot of relaxation going on. Scarlett and Holden were quite busy. Observe...
Oh wait...what's this? A glimmer of hope? Is Scarlett...relaxing? Oh my. Her eyes are closed and she seems to be enjoying just lounging in the... Sigh. Nevermind.

Italiano Festival

We're back to doing stuff now. Stuff besides unpacking. We had an awesome time at the Italiano Festival in Westport last weekend. I won a family four pack of ride bracelets on a radio station (because, ahem, I was the 9th caller. Go me.) so we went on the three or four rides the kids could go on a bunch o' bunch o' times. This included the princess girl horses: The "Dizzy Dragons." (We're inside of a giant dragon that spins in a circle and makes adults who are too old for this kind of ride want to throw up, and also makes small preschoolers fall out of their seats on to the floor which, apparently, makes fathers laugh and mothers have a heart attack. Okay. Minor heart attack. These pictures were before the ride started. Needless to say, we only went on this one once.):
"Who is about to have mixed feelings about this ride once it starts? This guy!"There were helicopters:And Scarlett played the "pop the balloon with a dart" game where she actually popped 2 balloons with the first of three darts and was so horrified by the "POP!" that she refused to throw any more. But she won this cute puppy. The highlight of the day was the Ferris Wheel. Good thing that we rode the rides for free. It would have been $20 for a family of four to ride this ride. Craaa-zzzy.

Looking for our car.We let Scarlett get an airbrush tattoo.
Sheer heaven.

And that, folks, was our day.