4 + 1 week

A week ago, the girls turned 4. Four years ago, I was nursing/pumping for two tiny newborns around the clock. Today, I have two active, happy, intelligent and hilarious 4-year olds.

The birthday festivities lasted for about a week. They started with a birthday party at an indoor playground with all of their friends. The kids had a blast, running, climbing and jumping. That was followed by some pizza and cupcakes. And that was followed by our car almost being towed. Jenn went out to load it up, to find a crowd around it as it was being lifted onto a tow truck. There was NO reason to tow it. We were in a legal spot and had paid, however, the meter had run out 15 minutes prior. That's reason for a parking ticket, not a tow. The crowd was apparently telling the parking cop that he had no good reason to tow the car. They asked if it was stolen. Thankfully, he put the car down. Jenn bit her tongue….hard. We went home to open presents and eat more cupcakes :)

For their actual birthday, May 29th, I set up a few things for them the night before and made them some breakfast cupcakes. As with most little kids, balloons are the greatest thing ever, so I picked out a few of their favourites.

Smiles for Lightning McQueen

Chocolate moustache!

We gave them their birthday present a few weeks ago. They got to pick out new "big girl" bikes from the bike store. We then took them to a nearby cemetery to ride without traffic. They're getting the hang of it. Quinn's totally fearless so she will definitely be flying in no time. T's a little bit more cautious. Not a bad thing!

Rob, Kelly, Michael, Paige, Jenn's parents and Jenn's sister, Chrissie and her husband all went in on a new bouncy castle for the girls. HUGE HIT! My parents got them some tennis racquets, so we've got to get them out on the court soon! We were a tennis playing family growing up!

After preschool on their birthday, we met up with some friends at the park for a picnic and some splash pad fun. We ended their birthday with a family dinner at a local gastropub.

Here are a few random updates on the "ladies", as my Dad calls them!

• Teagan is a fantastic communicator. The kid is a sponge with the most incredible memory. She will remember random details from months ago and remember every word to stories or songs. She also does a fantastic job of expressing how she's feeling. She can explain that something makes her happy, sad, frustrated, angry and why. She seems to be quite in tune with her needs and will sometimes say that she needs some time alone. 
• Quinn is a Chatty Cathy. She has lots to say and will often say it in the form of a song. Perhaps she has a future performing in musicals?! She has a bit of trouble expressing her feelings. She can be quite moody, but when asked what's wrong, she doesn't seem sure. I try to ask her how she's feeling about certain things, without being too pushy. I was quite proud of her the other day when she told me that she was feeling nervous about going to kindergarten in the fall. When I asked why, she said that she feels nervous because there will be a lot of kids. 

• And on that note, they are registered for junior kindergarten (I think it is similar to preschool in the US). We went to an information night a few weeks ago. The principal and two JK teachers spoke. The kids then got to check out one of the classrooms. Last week, we got to go into the actual JK classroom and meet their teacher and early childhood educator. Both seem fantastic. The girls had fun exploring the classroom and playing at the stations their teacher set up. They're both feeling nervous about moving to the big school. They adore their preschool teacher. Teagan woke on the weekend and told me that she dreamed about her preschool teacher and misses her already. 

• The girls just finished their ballet class for the year. They finished with a bang -- the recital! We made it a family affair. My parents, Rob, Kelly, Michael and Paige came too. Jenn and I managed to snag 8 seats in the front row. Nothing but the best for our fam. We wondered how the girls would do up on stage in front of a sold out crowd. They ended up performing amazingly well. For the little ones, one of the teachers stood at the corner of the stage performing the routine so that the kids could follow along. The girls were extremely serious and very focused, following everything that their teacher did. 

Typical over the top ballet costumes that
little kids ADORE!

After the big show - with Uncle Michael
and Auntie Paige

• Both girls continue to love music. Teagan's current favourite song is Life is a Highway - the Rascal Flatts version (from Cars). Quinn loves Story of my Life by One Direction. We play a variety of different music for them, from classical to country to rock and pop. They seems to love it all and will bop their heads to the beat. They're participating in a music study right now. Participation actually gets them a week of free summer music camp - this Mommy isn't complaining! They had to do two cognitive tests 7 months apart. I sat in on Quinn's tests both times because she was a little nervous to be in there alone. They are asked to identify a variety of different objects, complete puzzles and play games. At the end of their second test, they were asked to sing the ABC's or Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. Apparently, Teagan told the testers that she didn't know either song (she does). When they asked her what she wanted to sing, she stated, "Life is a Highway. But, you need to pull it up on your phone so I can hear it first. Then I'll sing."

• Recently, we regressed in the potty training department. Both girls are fully trained during the day. They still wear a diaper or pull up at night. However, Quinn has been known to take hers off before she falls asleep and sleep through the night without an accident. A few weeks ago, both girls started having several accidents per day (pee and poo). I was throwing out underwear constantly because I'm not scrubbing poo! We don't know what caused the regression. Nothing major had happened in our lives. No big changes. I started a sticker chart and miraculously the accidents stopped. It's amazing what stickers can do!

• Teagan, in particular, is loving legos. She and Jenn will build all sorts of cool buildings. Quinn will often join in, but her quiet activity is colouring/drawing. She loves it and is definitely getting more creative. Quinn can now write her name quite well and knows the first letter of many names and words.