Play Dates and Best Friends

Even though we are in the midst of packing and getting everything ready for our vacation on Sunday, we still found some time this week to meet up with friends and play together. The kids love meeting their friends and getting out of the house and I do too. This gives me a chance to wear something else than workout clothes and have real conversations with other adults. Although, most often we do talk about our kids.  

The 3 Amigos: May 2012 (9/10 months old) and August 2014 (3 yrs. old)

On Thursday, Amelia met with her two best friends, Jaxson and Noah, also known as the THREE AMIGOS, at a children's gymnastics facility for an open-play session. Amelia is always excited to see the two boys as they have been best friends since they were 6 months old. It is so cute to see them grow up together and develop a true friendship. They always ask for each other and it doesn't feel quite right when one of them is missing for a playdate. Also, Jax has a baby brother, Jeb, who is just 2 weeks older than Elliot and thus, the babies have someone to play with too.  But before they could play, they had to have some lunch.

Baby Jeb, Jaxson, Amelia and Baby Elliot

And then they were off running, jumping, tumbling, and having fun. Since not many other kids were there that day, our kids had plenty of room to run around and have fun.

Elliot playing peekaboo, Elliot and Jeb roaming around together.

Amelia on the trampoline, Noah and Amelia doing the monkey bars.

Everyone loved the ball pit.

Elliot trying the balance beam. He is such a big boy.

Jeb, Jaxson, Noah, Elliot and Amelia

And today, Amelia and her girlfriend Sofia had a playdate. The girls played very nice together in her room and just had fun doing girly things. Of course, this involved playing dress-up as a princess and playing with Barbie's and horses.  

Amelia is a very lucky girl to have such good friends and playmates and she loves seeing them. I bet she will miss them dearly in Costa Rica but hopefully she'll make some new friends there as well.

Growing BIG

I can't believe that my little man is already 9 months old. Time for sure flies. I remember just bringing him home from the hospital and now, he is crawling, talking (even though most of it is incoherently), eating on his own and having a mind of his own as well. It is actually pretty funny that he understands when I tell him "No". He then stops what he is doing, shakes his head and once I turn my head, he continues with what he was doing. Here is a little video clip of him showing of his "skills" :)

He also tries to get in to trouble by climbing on furniture, getting the dirt out of my flower pots (which I now have moved to the outside), chasing down the cat, taking Amelia's toys away or being in her room for that matter (she now closes the door when she wants to play by herself and then he sits outside of it and cries). Yes, he is doing a lot of things little boys do and I never had to deal with before. 

On the other hand, he is really good playing by himself in his room (with a gate blocking off the door) when I need to clean the house or cook. The other day, he was in there for an hour happily playing. Every so often I peek around the corner to see if he is ok and smile when I see him play in his ball pit like a mad men. His big sister showed him how to act crazy in there and how to throw out all the balls. He loves playing with her and unconditionally loves her. Lately, his newest friend is the cat who lets him come real close and as soon as he is ready to touch her she moves on. It is funny to watch them interact and the fact that he tries to meow at her but it sounds more like a seagull instead.

Elliot also likes to help me, especially with the laundry. He usually pulls out the dirty laundry from the washing machine or helps with the folding. It may take me a few minutes longer when he helps, but I think a boy can never learn early enough to take care of him and a household. His future bride will thank me for this one day.

Of course, his favorite time of the day is tubby time/ taking a bath. Normally, he only takes a bath every other night unless he is extra dirty. But if he could he would be in that tub multiple times a day. I now have to close the bathroom doors since he crawls in there all the time and stands at the bathtub and trying to climb in. 

My baby boy may not be that little anymore and he is for sure on the big site in terms of measurements (at his 9 months checkup he weighted 21lbs (9.6kg) and was 30.5 in (78cm) long), but he still loves to cuddle, being kissed and being with his Mommy. Especially now with the constant teething, he is extra needy at night and often nurses still every 2-3 hours. Even though all that nursing and constant waking up at night drains me, I still love holding and cuddling him at night when the house is all quiet and dark and it's only the two of us.

Fall in South Florida

Even though this week was the official start of fall season, it doesn't feel like it at all here. It is still hot (93F today) and rains almost every day. But to celebrate autumn and explore what this season has to offer, we ventured out today and visited a fall festival at a local nursery. There were hayrides, a big pumpkin patch, a kids' corn maze, and seasonal delights such as frozen apple ciders, roasted corn, caramel apples and popcorn.

When we arrived an antique tractor pulling a hayride was waiting for us to chauffeur us around the nursery. It was sunny and hot but a great ride. And at the turning point, they served us with fresh pressed apple cider. Yummy.

After the hayride, we went to see the pumpkin patch. They had pumpkins and gourds of all shapes and sizes there. Elliot enjoyed his first time visiting the pumpkin patch very much, especially feeling and tasting the hay.

 A stop to see Tow-Mater from the movies "Cars" was a must as well.

Resting in front of the harvest market where they sell plants, hay bales, cornstalks, scarecrows and anything else one needs to decorate for fall. They also have a farmer's market with fresh and organic produce, specialty foods, and baked goods.

We even bought some fresh fish, oven-baked baguette and Halloween cookie from the  market and enjoyed a delicious lunch at home. It was hot for sure but the kids and even the adults had fun.  I love those little outings with my family and experiencing different things each season has to offer. Even though there is no crisp fall weather here or change of leaves, there are still a lot of fun activities to do and to enjoy them together.  

Learning is Fun!

It has been a few weeks since the new school year has started and with that, we have been doing some fun learning activities with Amelia too. She enjoys learning a lot and constantly asks us about letters or numbers or how to spell something. As I mentioned in a previous post, I have bought the book: "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons" and we have been using it daily. It is a great tool and Amelia is really learning to read. She likes doing her daily reading sessions, which last only about 15 minutes. And I'm very proud of her accomplishments so far. After 30 lessons, she can read 2 full sentences with 3- and 4 letter words. Her favorite words are: rat, cat and sock.

Reading session (She loves standing next to me while reading). And her Lammies are right by her side

 

Each session also includes writing some letters. Amelia likes to write her letters with me and then practices a couple of times on her own. The other day, we sent a thank-you card to my mother in Germany and Amelia addressed it by herself to "OMA". Oma was very surprised when she opened it and saw that Amelia had written it. And today, she wrote "dad" for the first time. We are so proud of you, little girl.

After each reading/writing session, Amelia chooses a sticker for her reward chart and happily puts it on there. As you can see, we only missed a couple of days so far. It really doesn't take much time to practice our reading every day and we most often do it while Elliot naps in the mornings. That way, the house is nice and quiet and Amelia's concentrations is the best. And I love having this one-on-one time with her. It's just us girls and a little learning and a lot of love.

Next to reading, we have also been doing some math activities. Her favorite part has been to practice her math skills with these reusable Elmo booklets. She loves that you can do the activities over and over again since they wipe off easily after each use.

I also printed a few worksheets from the internet and we have been playing quite a few matching games: roll a dice, count the numbers on the dice and then cover the matching numbers on the sheet with stickers. As you can see, Amelia loves stickers and using them wherever possible. She also loves doing her ABC floor puzzles and singing the ABC sing while doing it.

 



Now you must think we doing a lot of school related activities, but honestly we don't. It's only 20 minutes a day and the rest of the day we play, run around,  meet friends or do other fun activities. Just trying to keep those two busy, takes a lot of energy and patience. Lately so, the cat helps out and has some daily cuddle/ patting sessions with the kids.

 

 

Fun Facts about Costa Rica, Part I

I accumulated some fun and interesting facts about Costa Rica and wanted to share them with you. Once we are living there, I probably have more fun facts to share. So stay tuned :)

 

1. Costa Rica is sometimes referred to as the "Switzerland of Latin America" because it has a peaceful democracy without a military for more than 60 years, offers free education through the 11th grade as well as health care for all citizens.

2. Costa Rica is a relatively small country with 19,700 square miles and ranking only 129th in worldwide landmass. It is slightly smaller than Lake Michigan or can be compared to West Virginia or Denmark.

3. Costa Ricans are commonly called "Ticos" and "Ticas".

4. Within a single day, one can see a volcano, go zip lining in the rainforest, hike in one of the many nature parks, and swim at the beach.

5. Costa Rica has the most diverse environment relative to it size in the entire world while covering only 0.01% of the surface of the Earth and containing five percent of the planet’s plant and animal species: With 850 species of bird, 209 mammal species, 13,000 plant species (including 1,500 trees and 1,400 orchids), 220 species of reptile and 163 species of amphibians.

6. Costa Rica also has the highest percentage of protected land (more than 25%) in the world so seeing wildlife in it natural environment is only a question of will. Costa Rica has preserved these lands and natural habitats in such a way that they are more accessible to tourists than those of any other country in the region

7. The average Tico earns $6,810 per year compared to $47,390 in the U.S. But to purchase a new car in Costa Rica (2011 Toyota RAV4 is $36, 000) costs 40% more than in the U.S (only $22,475).

8. The average life expectancy in Costa Rica is 79 years (32 rank in the world), pretty much the same as in the U.S.

9. Costa Ricans are famous for observing Tico time, known locally as "la hora tica." Costa Ricans habitually arrive late, often by 30 minutes or more, to dinner, appointments, and get-togethers – anything but the movies or the appointments at the public health clinics, for which they line up hours in advance. Many Costa Ricans do not view late arrivals as rude – and their tardiness is not meant to offend – so it's best to adjust your expectations and tell your friends to arrive earlier than you'd like. 

10. It is common to say hello and goodbye to friends and acquaintances with a light kiss on the cheek – or an air kiss accompanied by a kissing sound.  

11. Costa Rica has one major brewery named Cerveceria de Costa Rica which, unfortunately, is now a conglomerate of Florida Ice and Farm Company. Eight different beers are brewed there. Imperial is the most popular. It is similar to an American Pilsner. The company has been brewing this all-natural beer since 1924 and has now started distributing it in the US, Australia, and Gran Cayman.

12. Road conditions throughout the country are quite variable. With the tropical climate and mountainous terrain, many roads are difficult to maintain, and many have never been paved. Relatively short distances can take many hours due to poor road conditions or traffic, and some roads are simply inaccessible during the rainy season when rivers swell.

 13. Supposedly if one gets pulled over in Costa Rica, the police may be paid off for around $40.  

References:
http://www.anywherecostarica.com/questions/geography-weather/how-big-is-costa-rica
http://costarica.com/culture/customs-etiquette/
http://www.anywherecostarica.com/travel-guide/vacations
http://costarica.com/relocation/cost-of-living/
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/country-health-profile/