
37th Month
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Susanna's
37th Month (July
'11)
We got to see 4th of July
fireworks twice this month—once at Mercer County Park and again
at Etra Lake Park. Susanna wasn’t a huge fan of them. The first
time, she just sat in the car and cried, although Liam was a
great big brother and tried to comfort her the whole time. By
the second time, she sat in Mom’s lap with her ears covered and
her head down. She whimpered a few times but stole many looks at
the fireworks.
Mom took the kids to see Cars 2 in the
theater (Susanna’s first time)—enjoyed by all—especially after
Mom got everyone popcorn.
Susanna has fallen in love with the
Pinkaliscious books.
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38th Month
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Susanna's
38th Month (August
'11)
The weekend of August 27-28 saw Hurricane
Irene hitting us here in NJ. Many parts of the state were
flooded, but we were very fortunate—none of our trees fell, our
basement stayed dry, and we never lost power. We all slept in
the basement the night it hit us because there were tornado
warnings. The following week we were supposed to go to the
mountains in Bushkill, PA to meet Grandma Mel and Pop-Pop for a
few days, but the house they had rented lost power in the storm.
By Tuesday morning the power still was not back, so they came
here and stayed with us for a few days before heading back to
LA. We had a fun time with them—we took them to the Popcorn Park
Zoo and the Jackson Jungle. Grandma Mel and Mom had some craft
time with the kids. Their last night here, they decided to stay
in a hotel so that we could all swim in the hotel pool—that was
probably the highlight of the week for all the kids—it was
actually the pool where Rachael used to take swim lessons.
Susanna now also likes Splat the Cat
books.
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39th Month |
Susanna's
39th Month (September
'11)
Mom and Dad have just about given up on the
potty training for Susanna—she still has absolutely NO interest
in getting out of diapers—even after many bribery attempts. She
is proving to have a huge stubborn streak. She is just as
difficult about sleeping through the night. Hardly a night
passes that she doesn’t wake up Mom at least once.
Susanna is liking having time with just Mom
again now that Rachael and Liam are back in school. Mom is
liking it, too. But she does get excited to see Rachael and Liam
getting off the school bus.
LSU football has begun and we have
continued our tradition of watching it on the deck, grilling,
and glow sticks. And having Maw Maw and Pots come from NY to
watch with us.
Mom took the kids to see The Smurfs in the
theater. It was in 3D, so everyone had to wear the special
glasses. Of course, Susanna lost hers shortly after the movie
began, Mom let her have hers, and than had to watch a 3D movie
without 3D glasses. Shortly before the movie ended, Susanna
found hers and returned a very smudged pair back to Mom.
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40th Month
|
Susanna's
40th Month (October
'11)
A new backyard addition this month—a
treehouse (well, actually, a tree platform with a railing)—it is
being thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, even the neighborhood
kids. We wrapped the trees with Christmas lights and Rachael
made a “clubhouse” flag.
Mom and Susanna met Liam’s class at Lee’s
Turkey Farm for a field trip where we learned all about the
farm, got to see lots of turkeys, and took a hayride.
Unfortunately, because of all the rain we’ve have, Mr. Lee
didn’t have any pumpkins to pick.
Liam, Susanna, and Mom got locked out of
the house one morning this month. After running errands, we got
home to discover the power was out, so the garage door opener
wouldn’t work. Mom also realized the security chain was still
across the front door. Mom checked windows but didn’t find any
unlocked. The neighbor had a painting crew working at their
house, and they volunteered to help find a way to get us in the
house. We discovered one of Rachael’s bedroom windows open, so
the guys got their extension ladder and climbed up to try
popping out the screen—no luck. Mom had already been able to pop
the screen on the kitchen window, so one guy tried using a knife
to get the window unlocked—no luck. Then Mom mentioned that the
front door could be unlocked but not opened the whole way
because of the chain. So, the guys got a screwdriver, reached in
the partially open door and unscrewed the chain from the door
frame, so that the door could be opened. Liam had been very
concerned that we were not going to get into the house in time
for him to go to school.
Halloween weekend was busy with parties,
both birthday and Halloween. Susanna dressed as Raggedy Ann. The
big surprise for the weekend was that it SNOWED!! Two days
before Halloween, and we had several inches of snow—went
trick-or-treating in the white stuff.
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41st Month
|
Susanna's
41st Month (November
'11)
It finally happened! On November 14,
Susanna decided to start using the potty!! Woo hoo!! The first
couple days were accident-filled, but she quickly caught on
after that. She isn’t quite ready to poop in the potty, but
we’ll take one step at a time. She loves wearing her big-girl
underwear, and also loves getting her potty treats of Squinkies
and Hershey Kisses.
Thanksgiving was a fun-filled event, with
Grandma and Grandpa and Maw Maw and Pots coming to celebrate
with us.
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42nd Month
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Susanna's
42nd Month (December
'11)
Susanna loves Christmas! She loves playing
with all of the nativity sets, the stuffed Santas, and Mom’s
nutcrackers. She also loves the chocolate-filled Advent
calendars, although she doesn’t quite understand that she can
only have one chocolate a day.
Santa was good to Susanna this year, giving
her Duplo blocks, a Playmobil castle, and lots of books. Santa
had a bit of an accident this year, though. He had planned on
giving Susanna a Leapfrog Leapad, but it fell out of his sleigh
as he flew through bad weather over Iceland. (He wrote this in a
note to Susanna). He said that, as soon as he got back to The
North Pole, he would get his elves working on a new one for her.
Grandma Mel and PopPop gave the family a
wonderful gift this year—a membership to the West Windsor pool.
The kids are very excited.
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43rd Month
|
Susanna's
43rd Month (January
'12)
Susanna is now registered for preschool for
next fall—she will go to Little Friends, just like Liam, and she
will also have Miss Debbie for her teacher. When we got to the
school to drop off the paperwork, Susanna got upset and didn’t
want to get out of the car—we think she thought Mom was going to
leave her there right then. When she realized she didn’t have to
stay that day, she was a little happier.
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44th Month
|
Susanna's
44th Month (February
'12)
Winter is fast coming to an end, and we are
amazed at how mild a winter it has been. Of course, the kids are
a little disappointed that there hasn’t been any good snow to
play in, but Mom and Dad are quite happy
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 45thMonth |
Susanna's
45th Month (March
'12)
Well, it’s official—Susanna finally does
all her business in the potty!!
Grandma Mel came for a visit over Palm
Sunday weekend. It was chilly and rainy but it was still a good
visit. Grandma Mel even enjoyed Easter games at church with us.
She also joined Susanna in her own Sunday School class.
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46th Month |
Susanna's
46th Month (April
'12)
Hardly a week goes by that Susanna doesn’t
ask when she will get to go to school—it’s going to be a long
few months until September.
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47th Month |
Susanna's
47th Month (May
'12)
In addition to preschool, Susanna will also
get to enjoy going to her own dance class in the fall—she is
signed up to take a ballet/tap class.
We took a wonderful family vacation in
May—to Baltimore to the aquarium, to the Air and Space Museum in
Virginia, then we went to Richmond and Chester to visit all of
our old friends there. Many of them hadn’t met Susanna in
person. We also went to a couple museums in Virginia Beach and
came home via the Cape May-Lewes Ferry
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48th Month |
Susanna's
48th Month (June
'12)
School is over—now Susanna has playmates
every day again!
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4th Birthday Cake
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