Ballet

Both Gabby and Claire took ballet classes over the past year. They have loved every minute of those classes and were excited for their end-of-the-year performances, which took place in June. I was impressed that neither of them were shy about being on stage.

Claire's class of 2/3-year-olds.

Claire in her performance attire.

The photos of Claire on the stage were taken by our friend, Joshua Williams, who had a much better angle than we did. Thanks Josh!

Claire practiced her part at home so often that even Daddy knew how to dance to "This Little Light of Mine". Where is my video of that...?

Below is a video of Claire's performance. They did such a great job, thanks to Miss Kellie.

Gabby's ballet/tap class of 4/5-year-olds:

Don't ask me why they made her whole class pose like this for their individual shots. Is there a name for this difficult move?

They sell flowers at Gabby's show, so most parents end up getting suckered into buying something for their children who see everyone else getting flowers. We gave each of the girls a rose before the show, hoping to avoid purchasing an overpriced flower there. It didn't go so well. Gabby was disappointed that everyone else's flowers included a cheap plastic star on a stick. Next time I'll just buy a plastic star on a stick.

Gabby was eager to run up to be the first one on the stage when it was time for her class to perform.

I know this will likely interest no one except the grandparents, but below is a video of Gabby's performance. (Note: There are no staring contests going on this time.)

School Photos

Gabby recently had school photos, for her moyens (pre-kindergarten) class. She has had a great year and loves her teachers and friends! It is amazing to me to see how much she has grown since last year's photo.

In March, she had her school Spectacle (show). Her class performed a cute Romanian dance and seemed to have a lot of fun on the stage.

Claire is very excited to start preschool next year. In the meantime, she is content with the baguettes and croissants that the school sells every Friday.

Gabby's Ballet Recital

Gabby recently had her first ballet recital.  She performed a dance to Frosty the Snowman in front of a large audience.  She was very excited and did a great job.  Ballet is one of the few things that seem to break her out of her shyness.

What you have to watch is this video.  Even if you don't look at Gabby, look at the girl and boy in the middle around minute 1:00.  You will be laughing out loud - I promise.  I think it has to do with the fact that on the stage, they combined two different classes who "learned" the same dance.  Maybe they just don't recognize each other from class...?  [Please excuse the video quality and occasional clicks - I was experimenting with my camera.]

Gabby's 1st Ballet Recital from Jennefer Boyer on Vimeo.

Gabby's 1st Year of School

With June came the end of school, which for Gabby was a sad, rather than joyous event.  She LOVES school and everything about it, especially the friends she has been able to make.  Below are some of the activities she was involved in throughout the year.  (Her teachers were kind enough to send the parents photos from their year.)  

Here is her class photo, including the principal, her two French teachers and her English teacher.

Dans la classe.

In the classroom.

En bibliothèque.

Finding books at the library and reading books in the classroom.

En récréation & la salle de sport.

Recess & gym class.

Groupe bleu.

Gabby's "blue group" doing art, taste tests and following recipes.

Halloween, goûter Noël, concert Ammulette.

Halloween, Christmas celebration snack (a croissant of course) and dancing to the songs of performers who traveled from France.

La spectacle.

At her school show, Gabby performed as a ladybug and did a cute hip-swinging dance on the stage.

Sortie scolaire.

Field trip to the Seattle Children's Theater.  I was lucky enough to be a driver on this field trip and it was so cute to see them love every minute of the performance.  No one in the theater kept a single reaction to themselves.  :)  But they all behaved well and had a fun time.

La kermesse.

At the end of the year, the school has an annual carnival, with lots of booths and activities for the whole family.  Pictured here is Claire on a pony.  Gabby decided not to ride the pony again this year, which was not a huge surprise.

Gabrielle had an amazing first year of school and is looking forward to returning in September!

Moment of the Month

Gabby loves to say prayers, but lately they have taken an unusual twist.  Here are some quotes:

• "We are thankful we are safe from the Big, Bad Wolf."
• "We are thankful the big dinosaurs can't bite us."
• "We are thankful that we could go somewhere else to eat."
• "We are thankful for whatever."
• "We are thankful for everything as well."
• "We are thankful we can go all the places Mommy & Daddy tell us to go."
• "We are thankful that we can all pray together."
• "We are thankful that we can spend some evening together."
• "Help us to not hit each other."
• "We are thankful that we can live in houses."
• "We are thankful that we can be SO good."

The hardest part about some of her prayers is that they go on in a list like this for 5 minutes sometimes and Jason and I cannot hold in our laughter for that long.  The few times that we have burst out unexpectedly, she just looks at us the way that parents look at their children when they are out of line and have no reason to be so.  

Gabby's Song

Gabby's Song from Jennefer Boyer on Vimeo.

Gabby prefers to sing as she swings and it can get pretty entertaining.  In case you don't understand the words of this song, below are her lyrics (to the best of my ability).  If you are wondering why she refers to "Tangled" it is because she thinks that is the princess' name in the movie and she often calls herself that.

Just big girls are singing
Just big girls are singing
Just big girls; just big girls
Just big kids; just big girls
Just big kid girls
Just big kids and girls…

[Jason: What about babies?
Gabby: No. Just kids. Mommy said just kids.]

…Just kids are singing
All the time.

Here we go.
We’re going to put mud
We’re not going to put mud
On the counters
And counters like babies

Babies, babies, babies
Babies, babies, babies
Girls and babies, girls and babies
Girls and babies, girls and babies

[Jason: What about boys?]

How about Claire and Gabby?
How about Claire and Tangled?
How about Claire and Tangled?
How about Claire and Tangled?
How about Claire and Tangled and a boy?

[Jason: What about Daddy?]

And Daddy and Mommy
And all of our family
In our backyard.
Not really, we’re not in the yard
We’re in our family
Like [sic]
We are alive.

We are a family in the backyard
We’re not in our family
And this is a perfect thing
It’s so strange that we swing
Extra higher, extra higher
Extra higher, ex- ex-

Do you see me?
Extra. Do you see me?
Extra. Do you see me?

We don’t need our jackets
Like ice cream
We don’t need our jackets
‘Cause it’s not - we’re not too cold
To use, to use.

Tangled and Claire
Girls and Daddy
And me and Claire and Tangled
We’re all in the backyard
And it’s the whole park
In the whole park, whole park
We are magic….

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do I Owe You?

Brown Bear from Jennefer Boyer on Vimeo.

You've got to love when the kids start "reading" bedtime stories to themselves....

This is Gabby at age 2 1/2.

(PS  Yes, it is still light outside long after Gabby's 8PM bedtime these days in Seattle.)

A Happy, Jolly Soap

The day we returned from vacation, it snowed again.  Not a lot, but enough for the kids to have some fun.  Gabby is one of those that will play no matter how cold she is.  She loved that Claire could "join in" on the fun this time around.

 One of Gabby's favorite Christmas songs is Frosty the Snowman, so she was particularly excited when we could build our own Frosty.  This, of course, brought on more singing.  Then we realized that she was actually singing, "Frosty the snowman was a happy, jolly soap."  We attempted to correct her, but she informed us that she was correct, even when I tried to explain what a soul was.  A couple of days later, out of nowhere she suddenly shouted, "I'm a happy jolly soul!" which is indeed true.

2

Yes, our little girl turned two on October 27th (I am just a bit behind).  It is hard to remember our life without Gabrielle, yet at the same time, we can't believe she is already two years old and so independent.  She is an absolute sweetheart and we feel so blessed to have her in our family.

Some milestones Gabby has reached at age two:

• Weight: 31lbs 10oz (92nd percentile).  Height: 34 1/2 inches (65th percentile).  Predicted height as an adult: 5'9".  [Wouldn't you love it if someone posted your weight and percentile for your birthday every year?  Good thing she doesn't know that I am doing this yet.  Hehe.]
• Talking - really talking.  I am not sure if there is anything she can't communicate.  6-, 7-, 8-word sentences are not rare at all.  Most of her "r"s and some "l"s still sound like "w"s, but it is kind of cute that she calls Claire "Cwaire".  She has even mastered those confusing pronouns to use "I", "you", etc. and gets most prepositions right - "on", "in", "over"....
• She understands what I say in French, although she does not speak French very often anymore without encouragement, with the exception of some words that really stuck.  But she somehow knows the difference between French & English.
• She sings songs all day long.  She knows at least half a dozen songs by herself and sings others with me.  Here are videos of her singing the alphabet and "I am a Child of God" (taken the week of her birthday).

• She is completely potty-trained.  Hooray!!  Even at night.  She wears underwear 24/7.  Although, for a while she had us worried.  Remember how I posted about how she was totally constipated because she didn't want to go "caca" in the toilet?  Well, we found a reward that worked: fruit snacks.  She got a package of princess or Dora fruit snacks every time she went caca.  It began working so well that she literally would go caca every time she went pee, 7-8 times per day.  She is skillful like that.  I can't understand how, but voila.  She earned those fruit snacks!  We quickly had to downgrade to a Reeses Pieces chocolate each time she went before we made her sick.
• Gabby loves to draw and color.  Her favorite thing to do is use a real pen and make a bunch of connected w's to look like she is writing words.  Then she tells us what she wrote.  She also draws each member of her extended family.  The arms and legs are rarely in the right place, but apparently that's how we look to her.
• Physically, she loves to run and especially jump.  I am seriously hoping we don't have a future circus star in our home.  She jumps so high.  And everywhere we go.  We would get her a little trampoline, but that would be dangerous considering what she does without one.  She loves to slide, but hates to swing.  Stairs are not an obstacle for her at all, even without a railing.
• Gabby is very social.  Much more so than Jason or I ever were at her age.  She doesn't seem to notice that people are different ages and that a random adult may not want to play blocks with her or hear the details of her most recent experience on the toilet.  She invites all and tells all.  She counts down to playdates and other social events.
• Her characteristics include a bit of perfectionism and organization.  I certainly don't complain about these things, but Jason is convinced that she has OCD because she won't let him leave cupboard doors open or otherwise leave things out of place.  :)  She is very obedient and helpful.  She spends her day trying to help me sweep or getting things for me.
• She is also an amazing sister.  I am still in shock that she can be so good to Claire.  She calls Claire her "best friend" and everywhere we go she introduces Claire over and over to those we pass, "This is Cwaire.  This is Cwaire."  (Which can get a little old at the grocery store).  She is unselfish and so sincere with her sister.  They play and laugh together all day.  It warms our hearts.

Please excuse this long, boring entry.  Since I am a horrible journal writer, I am planning to have this blog printed once each year.  So this may be the closest Gabby gets to knowing what she was doing at age two.

We celebrated the day of her birthday by going to the park.

Then, when Daddy came home, Gabby got to open her presents.

Much better reactions this year than last.

Dentist

Gabby had her first dentist check-up recently.  She did AWESOME!  Seriously.  I thought she would not be cooperative about some stranger sticking their hands in her mouth, but she opened wide and did everything they said to do.  She loved that she got to wear sunglasses (to shade her eyes from the bright lights), got to choose some toys and her favorite part was that she got to bring home a new toothbrush and toothpaste.  She actually wants to go again.  I don't even know any adults who want to go to the dentist.

Gabby's 2nd Birthday Party

On October 23rd, we celebrated Gabby's second birthday with some of her friends.  We had a ladybug theme, complete with very strange-looking homemade ladybug cupcakes (sometimes I forget that I am not a very crafty mom).  For games, we had coloring and dot stickers on ladybug pages, a ladybug hunt (searching the house for ladybug cutouts with licorice on the back), and pin-the-dot-on-the-ladybug (which turned out to be a bit confusing for the two-year-old crowd).  All in all, Gabby had a great time and hopefully the other kids did, too!

Ice cream push-ups.  The cleaner way to go.

 Opening gifts.  She LOVES every single gift she received.

 Even Claire had a fun time hanging out.

Gabby with her new doll, a gift from Tori.

After the party was over, Gabby explained to Claire that one day she too will get to have a birthday party.

Potty Training

We prepared for the worst.  We even covered our carpet with plastic (the kind moving companies stick down to protect the carpet when you move).  Gabby selected her mini-toilet.  We stocked up on stickers and Reeses Pieces, cleaning supplies, and underwear.  I read 3 potty-training books and Gabby studied her "Once Upon a Potty" book.

Day 1:  We let her go free around the house in her "culotte"/underwear and a t-shirt.  2 accidents.

Day 2:  Still roaming free.  1/2 accident before she stopped and ran to the toilet.

Day 3:  No accidents.  In fact since day 1, she didn't even let a drop out overnight.  She has just been waking us up at 5AM to go pee then goes back to bed.

Day 4:  Did I mention any poop or "caca" yet?  No, I did not.  That is because our child has so much control of her bodily functions that she is now constipated.  She spent the day fighting her urges to go.  I even offered her a diaper, just to relieve the problem before she makes herself sick, but she insisted on sitting on the toilet... for hours.

Day 5:  At last, a bowel movement.  Not a pretty one.

Day 8:  She still has not had a pee accident since day 2, but certainly is not comfortable yet with the caca.  We spent the entire day (literally) going back and forth to her toilet every few minutes to try to poop.  (This is especially fun to do while you are simultaneously nursing and running up the stairs, by the way.)  It eventually comes, but not without a lot of effort.  Poor thing.  And (fun for us!) the 4-5AM toilet awakenings continue.

In summary, we are glad that we spent money and time covering the carpet with plastic since that meant she would never actually have an accident anywhere close to carpet.  Sigh.  We are pleased with her continued eagerness to go pee, without even being reminded these days.  We just hope that she recovers from the stubbornness she inherited from her parents.  

Yesterday, she was still sore and when I told her that I was sorry her bottom hurt she looked at me seriously, nodded, and said, "Dada fix it."  Well, why not?  He fixes everything else around the house and even her elbow when it came out of place (Nursemaid's Elbow).  Why wouldn't he fix her bottom, too?

First Haircut

Before & After

Gabby's first haircut took place about 3 weeks ago. Considering her attachment to her mullet, I think she did quite well at holding still while our friend, Crystal, chopped off the chaotic baby hair ends. Still more growing out to do, but in the meantime, I think it looks pretty cute.

A-B-C

Gabby has taken quite a liking to the alphabet. She can say all the letters (mostly in French), although "W" (pronounced "du-bluh-vey") is shortened to "du" and "Y" has always been "yo-yo" (thanks to the photos that go with the letters). Everywhere we go, she looks out the car window and shouts out letters she sees or finds letters around the store, etc. I am not sure where her excitement for the alphabet came from, but we are happy to go along with it. Now that she has the letters almost down, she is working on numbers and is doing pretty well at 1-10. Below is a video of her reading the alphabet that I promised the grandparents. It's not perfect, but we think it's pretty cute for a 17-month-old. :)

Easter Festivities

Gabby had a very exciting Easter weekend. On Saturday, she was invited to an Easter egg hunt and lunch at a friend's home. It took her several eggs before she realized that she was supposed to find the eggs and put them in her little basket, but once she figured it out, there was no stopping her.

Discovering another egg, but enjoying the flowers simultaneously.

The competition is on.

Sweet victory.

On Sunday, some friends had us over for a yummy Easter breakfast. Gabby and her friend, Tori, had a great time playing together and having another mini Easter egg hunt. They became so good at sharing that they kept putting their eggs in each others' baskets. Apparently Tori was better at this because somehow Gabby managed to come home with a lot more eggs than half!

We also watched General Conference and taught Gabby a little bit about Jesus Christ and what Easter is really about. (Jesus is one of Gabby's favorite words and I hope that with the frequency that she points out His picture everywhere and shouts His name, it isn't considered in vain...). :)

By the end of the weekend, Gabby decided she is a big fan of Easter!