Princesses

Gillian loved meeting the princesses in Disney World.  I know what you are thinking, we haven't been in Disney World in almost two months, but Gillian was just talking about the princesses the other day.  So I figured I would write a little post about Gillian meeting all of her favorites. 

The first characters we met were Pluto and Minnie Mouse.  Gillian was VERY afraid of them.  I'm not sure if it was the awe of meeting them or because it was early in the morning or just by their sheer size.  Anyway, she was afraid of them, and didn't want to go near them.  The next characters we met were Chip and Dale.  They were awesome.  They took the time to interact with Gillian and she lost her shyness.  But our very first princess we met was Belle.  We went on the Enchanted Tales with Belle attraction.  Gillian got to dance with Belle and have her picture taken.

Later that night, we went back to the Magic Kingdom to see a parade and the fireworks.  We didn't end up seeing the parade.  We ended up going on a few rides and we got to meet Ariel!  Ariel was super nice, even though Gillian was super tired and cranky.  She loved Gillian's autograph book and kept saying that she was happy that Gillian picked a page that matched the color of her tail!  Unfortunately, the pictures we took with Ariel didn't make it on my PhotoPass, but I did get one quick shot on my cell.  It's proof that we met Ariel! 

The next day we spent in Animal Kingdom.  Unfortunately, we didn't meet any princesses there.  But the following day we went to Hollywood Studios.  In Hollywood Studios, we met Princess Sofia!  Sofia the First is one of Disney's newest princesses and Gillian loves watching her show (so does John).  Gillian waited patiently for her turn to meet the princess.  John, on the other hand, was not so happy.  He kept saying "Do I have to meet her?  I don't even like the show!"  But he still asked Sofia for an autograph and posed for pictures. 

The next day we went back to the Magic Kingdom.  Daddy scheduled a fast pass so that we could meet Cinderella and a visiting princess.  Gillian loves "Rella" and was happy to see that the visiting princess that day was Sleeping Beauty.  We first met Cinderella.  Gillian was a little shy at first, but Cinderella showed Gillian her beautiful blue shoes.  And Gillian showed Cinderella her t-shirt.  Gillian happened to be wearing her Cinderella shirt that day.  They talked about Cinderella's mice and Gillian told her "I like Gus-Gus."  I will admit it, I got a little teary eyed watching my little girl talk with her favorite princess.

After meeting Cinderella, we met Sleeping Beauty.  We really got lucky.  Sleeping Beauty is another one of Gillian's favorite princesses.  Even to this day, Gillian says "Her was wearing pink.  The red fairy make her dress pink.  But the blue fairy want it blue!" 

After the Magic Kingdom, we went to Epcot.  In Epcot, we saw Snow White.  Daddy and I think that Snow White was headed for a break, but when she saw Gillian and a few other girls, she stopped to take some pictures with them.

In Epcot, we also got to meet Belle again!  Belle was super nice and loved Gillian's autograph book.  If you listen carefully to the video below, you will hear her compliment Aunt Missy on making such a nice book.

 
As you can tell, by this point in our visit Gillian is very comfortable meeting a princess and talking to her.  She loved meeting Belle again.  Now she says "I meet Belle in her beautiful dress and again in her blue dress!" 

We did try to meet Jasmine while we were in Epcot, but the timing just didn't work out.  I think that Gillian had a wonderful time meeting all of her favorite princesses in person!

Silly Gilly

Gillian cracks me up. She is a lot like John and just says the first things comes to her mind. Here are a few do my favorite Gillian comments from the past couple of weeks. 

Daddy brought Gillian home and told her to wait on the front porch. When Daddy joined her on the porch, she said "It's not Christmas anymore. You need to take down the wreath."

One morning, I was walking down the hallway with her. She told me "It's so dark. I can't even see my hooves."

I told Gillian that I was going to take her to get her hair cut. She said "Ok. But I don't want the train. This time I sit in the tractor!" I don't know how she remembers that. It was months ago when she last had a hair cut. 

On Saturday morning, I was leaving the house to go to my hair appointment and Gillian stopped me and said "But I don't have my shoes on!" I explained to her that we were going later for her hair cut. She said "Fine. Whatever."

I took Gillian food shopping with me today. As I was buckling her into her car seat, I said "Thanks for coming with me." She said "I didn't even want to come. I just wanted donuts."

When we got home, I gave Gillian one bag to carry in the house. As I carried a bunch of bags, Gillian told me "I can't carry anymore. My hands are full!" 

Sunshine

On John's first day of school, he came home and told us "We are going to have a music concert in June!"  (check out First Day of First Grade).  Well he was wrong, the concert wasn't in June, it was in January!  The concert was on Friday.  John has been talking about the concert for weeks now.  And I was very excited to see him perform.

Grandma was going to join me at the concert, but Daddy wasn't going to make it since the concert fell on a Friday.  But in a last minute maneuver, Daddy was able to get off.  We told John that Daddy wouldn't be able to make it so that it would be a nice surprise.  Grandma, Daddy and I met at the school and found seats inside the cafeteria.  John was all smiles when he saw us.  At that time, I thought he saw Daddy but we found out later that he didn't know Daddy was there until the end of the show.

The show started with the pledge of allegiance and then the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.  The first song the kids sang was "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows."  I got videos of all the songs.  (As a disclaimer, I took the video with my phone, so it is not great quality and you see a lot of peoples heads.  John is right in the middle of the screen.  He is wearing a blue long sleeved shirt and khaki pants.)

  
Next was "On the Sunny Side of the Street."  John has been singing this song for weeks.  He even sang it for Grandma at dinner one night.

The next song was "You are the Sunshine of my Life." 

The next two songs, I recorded in one video.  They sang "Why does the Sun Shine?" and "Why does the Sun Really Shine?"  Clearly these were the kids favorite songs to sing.  John and his classmates really got into all their dance moves.  I am impressed that they were able to sing all the words to these songs.  I am not sure I could remember "the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma."

They finished off the show with "Walkin' On Sunshine." 

John and all the first graders at MFA did an awesome job at their concert.  I am very impressed and proud of my little man.

The amulet

Gillian loves Sofia the First. It's a show on Disney Junior about a princess. Sofia wears a special amulet that helps her talk to animals. Yesterday, I picked up the kids from school. Gillian had her stuffed bunny Clover. Clover is one of Sofia's best friends. Gillian told John "I need my amulet. I can't hear Clover!" All through dinner, Gillian kept telling us "I need to find my amulet!" After we ate dinner, John worked on his homework while Gillian went to find her amulet. I even helped. But we couldn't find it anywhere. John helped us but we still couldn't find it. Finally, I searched in the cushions of the couch and there it was. Gillian was so excited. I put on her amulet. She got all sad and said "My amulet isn't working! I can't hear Clover!" John said "Let me try." He took off her amulet and put it on. He held Clover and said "Oh. Ok." He smiled and said to Gillian, "You need to hold him close to your ear. Try it now." He gave Gillian back her necklace and Clover. She held Clover to her ear and she said to us "My amulet is working now!" 

The tooth

Gillian and I picked John up from school today. In the car he said "Guess what? One of my tooths is loose!" I said "No way!" He was so excited and told me "The first time I noticed it was at lunch. My tooth hurt and I asked someone to look at it. And they said that it could be loose. And then I told a teacher and they said it was bleeding and I put a paper towel on it!" When we got home, he show Gillian and I how it was wiggling! I text Daddy to let him know and Daddy said "I'll get my pliers." I told John what Daddy said and John said "No, no, no!"

We ate dinner and when John was almost done he said "I can't eat anymore. My tooth hurts!" I took a look and told him that I thought his tooth would come out tonight. John said "Well I'm going to stop eating." 

He played with the tooth during homework and bath time. Every time I caught him, he said "I can't help it!" 

When Daddy got home, he jokingly brought in some pliers. John screamed NO and ran from him. But Daddy put down the pliers and John showed him the wiggly tooth. We put the kids to bed and as I tucked John in, I said "I bet it falls out in your cereal tomorrow." John giggled. About fifteen minutes after we put the kids to bed, we heard someone get out of their bed. John ran into our room saying "It fell out! Look!" Daddy and I checked out John's new smile and Gillian joined us. She said "I heard noise and I get up!" John showed Gillian his tooth. We put the tooth on his nightstand for the tooth fairy and put everyone back to bed. Gillian resisted at first "I don't want to go to bed. My teeth fall out!" 

I still can't believe that my little boy lost a tooth! He is growing up too quickly!

Sentences

John gets a spelling list every week. He is given a list of activities to complete with the spelling words.  And you only have to complete 3 activies. A few weeks ago, John told me that he wanted to write sentences with his spelling words. I told him I would write them down after he dicated them to me so that he could rewrite them. Every sentence he said was ridiculous and a run-on. I got frustrated and told him to do another activity. He wasn't happy with me. I told Daddy about the horrible night of homework and I think he laughed at me. 

Tonight, John got his new list if spelling words. This week everyone in John's class had to write four good sentences. Daddy worked with John while I was moral support. John picked the word "white." He suggested "Snow is white and if you put something white in the white snow you will lose it." Daddy nicely said "I think you may be over thinking it." They settled on a shorter version. The next word John picked was "snake." I thought he was going to suggest "My dad is afraid of snakes." No, John had other ideas. He said "Snakes can be really long and snakes can be really short." Daddy was once again very patient with John and suggested a shorter more concise. Daddy was excellent with John and helped John get four good first grade sentences. I hope Daddy will help again next week too!

basketball

We signed John up to play basketball with the Tinton Falls Recreation.  It was supposed to start the first Saturday in January, but it got cancelled due to the snow.  Luckily this Saturday the weather was perfect and John got to have his first day of basketball.  It is an instructional program four first graders, and the kids get to practice for 45 minutes and then they get to play against another team for 45 minutes (there are a total of four teams).  Daddy took John this Saturday and the first text I received said "Not the smallest one on the team!" 

 



John had a hard time mastering dribbling (I think a lot of the kids did), but John listened to his coach and followed instructions.  John made some new friends and was very strong.  Daddy told me that one of John's teammates threw him a ball and the ball bounced off of John's fingers and hit him in the face.  John grimaced but didn't cry.  He was very tough.  He brushed it off and moved on. 

 

When I saw John, I asked him about his first day at basketball.  He told me "I met a new friend.  His name is Daniel.  Like my second name!"  I am so happy that he made a friend and remembered his name.  He also told me "I do not like the buzzer!  It's loud."  Daddy told me that every time the buzzer went off John would cover his ears. 

 

Below are some videos of John playing basketball.  He has some good intentions, but most of the time, he is just all over the place.