Off to the Circus

Last night, we went to the Circus. It was Baby Bear's first time at the Circus.



The circus was a lot of fun, it was a small circus and we had great seats. We had front row seats just behind the VIP section. The show started with a ballerina and that just seal the deal with Baby Bear. It was a great show and we all really enjoyed it. It held Baby Bear's attention the entire two hours.



Baby Bear with the Ring Master



She loved the motorcycles in the cage and the trapeze artists. Everything about the show was really great. Daddy and I enjoyed it as well. It was fun evening at the circus.

Swimming lessons

Last week, Baby Bear started swimming lessons last week. Baby Bear has had swim lessons every summer but this is the first summer where she is not taking mommy and me lessons and she is getting in the pool on her own without me.

The first class went well, she was hesitant at first but as soon as she got in the pool with her two instructors she had a blast. She now loves her instructors, Anna and Michael. She really loves them since they are very playful.

She has been doing such a great job at doing so much independently. First, ballet lessons and now swim lessons. There are two other kids in her class with two instructors. A great ratio. She has been having so much fun and getting so comfortable. Starting with the second swim lesson, the instructors got the kids on diving board and jumping off.

Here she is waiting her turn on the diving board.



Here she goes, ready to jump!



She has done such a great job. We have another week of swim lessons and fun! It is so fun to sit back and watch her do so well on her own. She just loves it. As they swim across the pool, she will call over to me, "Look at me, Mommy!" and I give her thumbs up and she tries to give me thumbs up too. It is adorably cute.

Her first ballet lesson

For the last 6 months, Baby Bear has been talking about ballet and taking ballet lessons. I had called around and I only found ballet classes that started at 3 yrs old. So I told her once she turned 3 we would get her in ballet classes. Just after her birthday I called the studio that a few friends send their daughters' for lessons and got the information and registration forms I needed. We headed to a local dance supply store and bought Baby Bear her first pair of real ballet slippers and some ballet gear using some of her birthday money. She was so excited.

Saturday was her first class and she just could not wait. All dressed and ready for class. Doesn't she look like an angel.



Practicing a few moves before going to class.



Doesn't she look like a natural already.



We all headed to class. It was a family affair. We were all pretty excited, I don't know who was more excited; daddy and me or her. At first she was a little shy.



We weren't quite sure how it would all work out. They told me not to pay until the end of the class in case she didn't end up going into the class. I guess they have done this before with 3 yr. olds. It was hard to know how she would react since she would be on her own in class. But she went in with the instructor and hesitant at first, she did pretty well.



We watched from the window and it was so adorable to watch her and the other little girls twirling around. It did take Baby Bear a little while to warm up and she didn't always follow instruction, but all in all she did really well. I was so proud of our little ballerina. She said she wanted to do it again, so we signed up for 4 weeks and we will see how it all goes. I have a feeling we will be spending some time in the hallway watching her dance through the window for the several years.

Swim party

Trying to catch up with some blog posts. Last weekend, we headed to a friend's first birthday party in Carlsbad. It was a lot of fun to see our little friend and to swim. Baby Bear really enjoyed swimming.



I couldn't believe she would go out on her own!



We start swim lessons on tomorrow. She has done them every summer since she was a 1 yr old, but this will be the first time that I don't go in the pool with her. We will see how it all goes. I hope she enjoys it!

Congraduations to the Graduate!

A couple of weeks ago, my cousin, Nicole, graduate from High School!! So proud of her. We weren't able to attend the graduation ceremonies since it was early in the afternoon on a Wednesday. But we did get to celebrate with her during dinner.

Unfortunately, we didn't get many pictures and it was a little dark in the restaurant. But Baby Bear enjoyed being with family and celebrating.

A little gift for the graduate:



Pictures with Grand Aunt



Grand Aunt and Great Lola


 

 

Congradulations Nicole!!

3 year check up and 3 feet tall.

Baby Bear went to her 3 year check up and all is well. Luckily there were no shots scheduled for this visit, which made it even better for Baby Bear.

There is so much that she is able to do:

• She talks up a storm.
• She can tell pretty detailed stories and often makes up stories.
• She has a wonderful imagination.
• She is wonderful at pretend play.
• She is very loving and kind hearted.
• She loves to dance and has good rhythm. She has been asking to take ballet lessons and can't wait to do so.
• She likes to perform and does so with emotion.
• Her best friend is Anna, who goes to her daycare with her.
• She loves princesses and is definitely a girlie girl.
• Her favorite colors are pink and violet (not purple, but violet).
• She likes to wear skirts and dresses and anything pink.
• She knows all of her ABCs and can count to 10.
• She loves school and is very sad that it is summer.
• She no longer takes regular naps (because she says she is too busy playing).
• She loves water. She loves to swim, play with a water table or anything with water.
• Her vocabulary amazes me, she is able to say so much.
• She is 95% potty trained!! Wohoo. She is still working on going poo poo in the potty, for some reason that is taking longer to click and she has an occasional accident. But she is dry for the most part. I love being diaper-free!

She has definitely grown a lot and I can tell from her clothes and shoes. She also just looks taller.

Her stats:
27.8 lbs (13 percentile)
36.25 inches tall (18 percentile)

The pediatrician was very pleased to see that she had gained a good amount of weight and she seems to be holding steady percentile wise. She is growing and healthy. She may be on the small, petite side but this mama is not so tall (to say the least).

It is amazing how much she has grown. This was a year and half ago (Dec 2010) at the doctor's office.



This was her just last week at her check up.



Look at how long her hair has grown as well. Can't believe that my baby is 3!

Quality time

I am a bit behind in my blogging. Last week, I took some time off to spend some quality time with Baby Bear. We went to lunch in Claremont and had a nice time with just the two of us. She played in the fountain, while I had the opportunity to just sit and relax. It was great.







Drying herself off in the sun.

Great Lola

Great Lola was not able to attend Baby Bear's birthday party. She actually had to go to the hospital that morning, but all is well. So we headed to her new home for a visit.

Baby Bear wanted to dress up for the occasion and put on a new princess outfit she received for her birthday.



Baby Bear also decorated a couple of tiaras for her great grandma and her grand aunt.



She had a wonderful time visiting Great Lola.



We had some lunch and Baby Bear helped to set the table for lunch time.




I love that my lola is wearing her tiara while setting the table.


She visited with a little dog named Prince. Very fitting for our little princess to meet Prince.



We love Great Lola very much!

Mama's yellow tutu

Lola Bear gave Baby Bear my old yellow tutu as a part of her birthday gift. I had forgotten that she had kept the tutu and actually thought we had gotten rid of it long ago. My mom had kept it all these years. I wore the tutu at one of my dance recitals when I was about 6 or 7. I loved to dance and so does Baby Bear. In fact, she will start ballet classes very soon since she is now 3 and the classes around here start at 3. I can't wait and I know that she is very excited. We used some of the birthday money she received to buy her some ballet slippers and a new ballet leotard. So cute!!

39 Years: Happy Anniversary Lola and Nono

Today is just not Baby Bear's birthday. It is also important because it is the 39th anniversary of Lola Bear and Nono Bear. They were married 39 years ago on this same day. They started this all and are the reason that both Baby Bear and I are around. They show us what love truly is about, when you see them together you see that they love each other and that is something that I have always seen growing up as a child. I always saw how much they loved each other. Not only did they love each other they respected and cared for one another. They are a great model for a long and loving marriage.

Happy Anniversary!!

3 Years Old: Happy Birthday!

Today, my baby girl is officially 3. We celebrated yesterday with a huge party and spent today with a quiet and restful celebration with just the 3 of us. A little birthday fairy took the party decorations from the park and decorated the house.



Yes, there were more tulle puff balls for decor. I also had made a tulle garland that was hung at the park gazebo as well.



The birthday fairy also had balloons all over the living room floor. That was a busy fairy the night after a big party.



Baby Bear woke up and went into the living room. From the bedroom, daddy and I heard her say "Wow, it's so beautiful." Then she ran into our room and dragged me out to see.





 

She recognized the banner from the party at the park and the other decor. She wanted to wear her princess dress again. And this was all before 8am.



We finally got ourselves up and ready for breakfast. With her tiara.



Baby Bear's birthday breakfast request: steak and eggs. Yup, that is my girl. Basically, we shared steak and eggs and she ate half of my steak. I've heard from my parents that I was the same way. After breakfast we headed home to open her birthday presents.

She received quite a loot.



She was so excited about each and every gift. That is the truth, everything was so great to her. She would say "wow, that is so beautiful." or "oh look how cute." She would "read" the cards, it was so cute to watch her and her reactions to everything.











My parents gave her my old tutu. the yellow tattered top went along wiht my tutu from one of my dance recitals when I was a little girl. I started to cry when I saw that. I couldn't believe we still had that. I thought I had gotten rid of it long ago.



What a wonderful day. Baby Bear really enjoyed her birthday. It was a very special birthday weekend indeed.

Princess Party 2012

The big day was finally here. Baby Bear was so excited, she had been talking about her party all week and couldn't wait. Just after she woke up that morning she was ready to go in her princess dress. She had been waiting all week to be able to wear her special princess dress. She would look at her dress on the hanger and not ask to wear it. She knew it was for her special day and she was waiting. She would ask to hold the dress up to her so she could look at herself in the mirror, but she wanted to wait to put it on for the real deal. We it was finally that day.

 

She is truly my princess. So sweet. I dropped her off at Grandma's house in the morning so that Daddy and I could get ready for the party. On the way there, I told her that we would get ready for her party. She told me, "Mommy, I can help if you want. Grandma and I can help." Such a kind girl.

I dropped off supplies at the park while daddy and our neighbor, Shawn began to bbq the 30 lbs of tri-tip. Then I ran around to pick up the cake and balloons drop the cake off at home, then back to the park to decorate. Then back home to pick up the salads just before the party would start.

It was a busy day and we didn't get a whole lot of pictures taken. I am thankful for my friend, Becki Cloud, who was there to take pictures. When I get those pictures I will post more pics. I thought everything looked great. I didn't go too over board with decorating. I guess that is the good thing about having it at a park, you are limited and I did want to keep things fairly simple. I was very happy with how it all turned out.

Our chef cooked up a storm.



There was more than enough food.



I think everyone enjoyed the spread.



We had just a few people. I don't think we know how to throw a small party, LOL. We had 100 people at the party. It was great.






We had a craft table for the kids to decorate their own tiaras (for girls) and crowns (for boys).



The playground was a hit with kids of all ages and kept them very busy.





Baby Bear enjoyed having all her friends there. Friends from daycare, friends from school, and many other friends.



All the kids were so busy playing, we had to round them all up for cake. (A snafu happened with the cake. I had ordered the cake from Costco and instead of checking "princess crown" I accidentally checked off "clown." When I saw the cake I was so upset with myself. My other cake was the pink and purple flowers, which was fine. I looked and they had another pink and yellow flower cake, so I grabbed that since it was the best that they had to go with our colors and I needed two cakes. The clown just didn't fit with the theme. I added a little tiara and wand to the pink and purple cake and some flags that I had made for the brownies that I never baked at the very last minute. It all worked out and Baby Bear was so happy about the tiara and wand on the cake that it was perfect. She was happy and that is all that mattered. She loved it and that made it perfect.)



The kids were ready for some yummy cake and they didn't care or know that the pink and yellow cake didn't match everything else, LOL.



At her 2nd birthday party, she clinged on to me the entire time. I pretty much had to carry her for the entire party and she barely played on the playground. How a year changes things. She was running around, every now and then I had to look around to see where she had gone off to. She was having a blast playing with all her friends on the playground only coming back to check in with me when she needed something to drink.

 

We are so blessed to have so many people who love and care about Baby Bear. Thank you to everyone who was a part of this special royal celebration. Our little princess really is loved by so many.

Baby Bear had a great time at her party. She even told me "This is the best party ever." That made all the hard work so worth it.