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Reading With The Kids, #2

3/19/2015

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Happy (almost) Friday! I hope all of you have had a great week so far. I finished my last day of teaching at Central today, and next quarter I'll be teaching an evening class at a different college closer to our home. I felt a little emotional driving to work today, thinking that I won't be making this drive to Capitol Hill as often anymore. There's something about working in the city that I just love, though I'm also extremely thankful (and a little nervous) for this new opportunity. There will be a new set of challenges and unknowns, but I'm trying hard to ease myself into spring break mode and not think about all that stress too much yet.

One thing I'm really looking forward to during break is to read with Z and N without having to worry about time. When our days get busy, we often rush through books and stories (most of the time, mama is too tired) but then I feel like we miss out on so many great learning opportunities that way, whether it be phonics, spelling, social skills, emotional management, etc etc. I've also been wanting to write more about books from Z and N's regular favorites. These are my favorites, too. I love children's literature, and that is not because it's the only thing I read nowadays ;) Anyway, these books will be great from the toddler years through preschool ages. If you know people who might be interested for book recommendations for the little ones in their lives, feel free to share it :)

1. A Day With The Animal Doctor, by Sharon Rentta. We were gifted a Mandarin copy of this book a few years ago, and it's become one of our favorites. I was thrilled to find the English version and other books in the same series at Barnes and Noble! Z and N were really happy, too and they love the other ones just as much. These are: A Day With The Animal Mechanics, Animal Builders and Animal Firefighters. The details in the drawings are incredible, and the content is very educational (I got to learn about how a house is built, too :)

2. Knuffle Bunny, by Mo Willems. Mo Willems is by far my most favorite author for children's literature. His humor is great and so relatable. Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny, Too are Zoey's favorite. It involves a favorite stuffed animal, school friends, communicating with parents and the difficulty and frustration that come with it. The storyline is simple, and it's definitely something a preschooler like Zoey can relate too. 

3. My Visit To The Aquarium, by Aliki. Well, this is quite self-explanatory. Nathan loves aquariums and ocean animals and so if your little ones are the same, they would love this book too :) You also get to learn names of different fish, which is helpful.

4. A Sick Day For Amos McGee, by Phillip Stead. This is a really sweet story that Naynay likes. Amos, the zoo keeper, visits his animal friends daily and spends time playing chess, reading a book, running a race with each of them. Seeing Amos is what the animals look forward to everyday, too. One day, Amos didn't show up. The animals waited and waited and finally they got on the bus to Amos' house and learned that he was sick. So the animals stayed to take care of Amos and keep him company. A sick day instantly becomes a not-so-bad day when you are around people who you love and love you :)

5. How Did That Get In My Lunchbox, by Chris Butterworth. I found this at Whole Foods Market and am glad I brought it home with me. It has different questions on each page, asking and explaining what our food looked like before they get to us, such as carrots, apple juice, and cheese. Most are simple concepts, but presenting them in a kid's book with cute illustrations grabs attention and interest from Z and N right away (especially Zoey.) I learned some stuff, too!

Alrighty, again, thank you for reading! Have a wonderful weekend, and hope you get to spend it with those you love :) 

xoxo, Piper
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A Morning Out With My Boy

3/16/2015

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Two weeks ago, when I took Zoey out on a tea time date, Naynay was really sad that he wasn't part of the plan. He whimpered and begged to come along (that afternoon Gary took Nay and Izzy to a park instead to do some hiking and play with sand, which Naynay really loved actually :) 

It really has been quite awhile since I went out alone with Nathan, though. We used to do it all the time when Zoey was in school and Izzy was still in my belly, and it saddened me a little realizing I haven't done it at all with him since Izzy was born (whereas I've taken his sister out quite a few times.) So this past week I've been thinking about different ideas for our mom-son date, and thanks to my loving and supportive husband, we got away for a few hours this Saturday morning. Naynay and I went on a bus ride together to downtown Seattle, and spent 3 hours wandering around town - I'm lucky I've got a great walker with me! 
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We missed the bus by 30 seconds so we had to wait for another 15 minutes at the bus stop. He was so patient and just happily waiting with me
We stopped by Cupcake Royale before we ate lunch (our excuse was it was too windy, haha. seriously though, we almost got blown away walking from westlake to pike place!) and then we came to The Bear and The Bee and shared a pulled pork sandwich. The whole morning everyone was commenting on how awesome his Husky hat was and just how cute he was overall. (I don't disagree ;)
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a chocolate babycake for him, a big carrot walnut for mama
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walked to belltown to try this sandwich shop! and nay's hat and those rain boots...his daily staple
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Being silly and taking selfies with mama
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he brought along some toys on our date out (a thermometer, a lego car and a tiger)
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a very guilty pleasure but we loved the onion rings in the sandwich. want to come back here with the other 3 sometime
Naynay's been talking about the aquarium and how we haven't gone in a long, long time (but really we just went 3 weeks ago). So we walked through Pike Place Market, checked out some seafood (ocean animals are his favorite), showed him the famous gum wall (he was like, can i eat some?!), and looked at sharks and seals at the aquarium.
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He asks me hard questions like "why are they dead? why do we have to kill them" while looking at these
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i promised him next time he could stick his gum on this wall too if he wanted to (chances are he won't want to spit out his gum though. it's his favorite thing to do...chewing gum)
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he could sit here and spot sharks all day long if we let him
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see that red thing naynay's holding? it's the toy thermometer. he kept that in his pocket and took out occasionally to take pictures for me. according to him, it's also a camera
After the aquarium, Gary and the girls came to pick us up and took us home. I love this man and how supportive and loving and considerate he is. Because of him, these precious dates with our littles are made possible. Also, have I mentioned how easy and stress-free it is to go out with just one kid? Such a nice break :) As for Naynay, he was so different when it was just the two of us together. So gentle, so sweet, and so easygoing. I think it was a date long overdue for him, too :)
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A Post-Bath Photoshoot 

3/13/2015

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I got off work early yesterday and got to spend some extra time hanging out with the kiddos in the afternoon. I had just finished feeding Izzy before Z and N came to find us in bed and then these pictures happened...
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Hi! Smile :) :)
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It's difficult to get Nay to smile for pictures lately. He either rolls his eyes, sticks out his tongue, or does both at the same time when I'm specifically asking him to smile
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Or he makes a funny face while his sisters are being all smiley and sweet...
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Izzy's hair, as you can see, is a crazy (but cute) mess. Gary and I both love brushing it with our hands
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Izzy, licking the comforter
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This is what 5, 3, and almost 9 months look like :)
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These two are best buds. Seriously. They get mad at each other sometimes but they have SO much fun together everyday. Legos, groovy girls, disney princesses, queen and king, hair salon, cars, trains, restaurants, doctors, teacher and students and so, so much more
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Giving Izzy kisses
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love watching them grow up together :)
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Tea Time With Zoey.

3/10/2015

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If someone asked me for a list of challenges about having 3 kids (and working part-time), the first and foremost would be time for my husband, and the second would be time with each of my babies. Compared to our lives 9 months ago, I am just not as available to Z and N whenever they want or need me, both physically and mentally. I know they are perfectly fine and very well taken care of by Gary, our nanny, and my aunt when I'm not there to play with them or do something for them right away. And I know they have adjusted fairly well with me being gone or unavailable at times: "mom needs to change izzy first before I can read to you", "let me feed izzy first and then I'll get food for you" - they rarely complain or get impatient in situations involving Izzy and her needs, which I really appreciate. (On a side note, though, I am a firm believer that not everything or every moment in our lives should be about the kids and what they want. I am always straightforward and honest with them when I need some occasional me time: "mom needs to eat breakfast too. let me eat in peace for 10 minutes at the table, go play first then i'll come join you." I think a healthy balance of moments like this in our lives with little ones can teach them to think about others more and that it's not always about what they want, even at home. Keeps a mama sane, too ;) 

Anyway, I digressed. I meant to say that it's a different story when I have to put Izzy's needs before Z and N's. As much as they are such understanding, loving, sweet little spirits, it is in every sense important and worth making a lot of effort to have quality time with them where I am 100% present and not distracted. Gary and I make a pretty great team about this at home, but we've been talking about planning something special with Z and N more regularly. 

So, last Thursday, I made a reservation at Queen Mary Tea Room for Zoey and I. I told her the next day that we were going to have a tea party together Saturday afternoon, and she was so happy that it made me so happy too! :) And truly, it was so. much. fun! We put on our matching shirts, navy blue shoes, and pretty necklaces. We sat across from each other, took turns asking each other questions and chatted for the whole hour without being interrupted by naynay or izzy. I loved watching her sipping on her chocolate peppermint tea, and she got to try cotton candy for the first time ever. 
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It was a beautiful, sunny saturday afternoon in March! Our kind waitress took this picture for us outside the tea room.
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lots of colors and florals in there :)
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a pretty small space, but perfect ambience for special occasions
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lots of little things for little girls, of course
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next to our table, there was a dad on a date with his son and daughter (both just a few years older than zoey). it was very cute :) and he kindly offered to take pictures for us
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little lady got some sorbet to cleanse her palate before her food came
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diving into her grilled cheese. zbear was hungry!
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watching her eat is a delight, haha!
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you want some too, mom? is that why you keep taking pictures of me?
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something about grilled cheese. it's definitely one of her favorite food
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we went to their little tea shop across the street afterwards. i told her she could pick out one coloring book so here she was carefully deciding :)
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sitting on the sidewalk waiting for daddy and her siblings to pick us up. she picked out a little chirping bird for Nay at the gift shop, too :)
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outside of the gift shop and satisfied with her picks :)
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Smile, Zoey!
Sigh, I feel so lucky to be Zoey's mom. Gary and I seriously lucked out (and very very blessed, of course) I pray that she'll still want to go on tea parties with me 10, 20, and 30 years from now! :) :) Love you, Zobee.
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    My name is Piper. This is my online diary where I share bits and pieces of my family's lives in Seattle. Welcome!

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