Let's catch you up...

It has been a while since the last Ickler family update.  We have lots of reasons (and excuses), but let's just get down to business and share some stories of Summer 2012, shall we?

Maren's 3rd Birthday

Mae Mae turned 3 in style with a party, and what birthday party wouldn't be complete without an Easter egg hunt? Maren's special day was low-key, fun and full of family and friends. We all enjoyed sundaes for dessert because Maren doesn't appreciate carbs in the form of baked goods.

Maren update: Mae has done fabulously in day care/preschool. They decided to move her "up" to the next level with a slightly older age group because her teachers thought she was more "verbally advanced" than the other kids. The trouble is, she has been in her new class for a few months now, and she is so quiet that her new teachers haven't even heard her talk much at all! She has been really shy, but says she still loves her school. Oh well, she gabs it up at home constantly. She is leaning how to recognize and trace her letters now, and she knows which letter begins each of our names. She isn't big on recognizing numbers, but she can count well, so we aren't pushing it.

At home Maren is a complete sass -- she enjoys back talking to all of us, especially her big sister. She still carries a baby doll or stuffed animal everywhere. She loves to mother her babies -- she feeds them, gives them love and even likes to buckle them into her car seat. She has given up her B's (binks) and sucking her thumb due to a communication error on Mama's part. I told her that Addi sucked her thumb so much that she almost got an infection and had to get a shot. Well Mae kept saying "I don't want to get a shot" and refused to ever suck her thumb or a B ever again. I felt terrible, but the silver lining is -- it worked! She still requires rubbing her face on Brian's arm every night to fall asleep. She will say, "Daddy, can I have skin?" -- I think she has always been comforted with skin to skin contact, and it is sweet, so we are in no rush for her to outgrow this little quirk. Plus, Daddy loves being needed!

Our baby is getting bigger and we are loving every moment of it!

Kindergarten: done

Addi graduated from Kindergarten in May. She absolutely loved Kindergarten and couldn't wait to go to school each day. She loved her teacher so much that she cried when she learned that she would have a new teacher for 1st grade. During a conference her teacher told me that Addi is a complete joy and is friends with everyone in her class. She said that she is always so happy that when a kid came in to school in a bad mood, or feeling sad, she would send them to spend time with Addi because she always made them feel better. That just about melted my heart! By the end of the year she was right where she was supposed to be for most academic subjects, and she was already reading at a 1st grade level. We are so proud of our incredible little student and kindhearted friend!

Shhhh, we're hunting wabbits

This was the summer of rabbits, and the one living in the front yard next door was a daily source of excitement to both girls.  I don't think they have ever sat so still or been attentive for such a long period of time before now. The majority of this particular rabbit's appeal was due to the fact that it was an itty bitty motherless baby the size of a cotton ball. The girls felt the overwhelming need to feed, water, protect and "coo" to the bunny -- due to his general motherlessness, of course. Eventually the little bugger moved into the neighbor's backyard, so the girls weren't able to stalk him as efficiently. Our hope is that he is busy making more little baby bunnies and not coyote food, but you never know.

Happy Canada Day

The height of summer is annually celebrated in our neighborhood in the form of a Canada Day party. The Jones family across the street (they are from Canada by the way) throw a bash complete with yard games, a million squealing children playing, a ton of beer and poutine fries - if you are curious, go to en.wikipedia.org/wikiw/Poutine. This year the kids were all riding bikes and looked like a little biker gang ruling the street. They also had a water gun fight which ended in more of a bucket of water fight -- Addi loved it and was absolutely soaked!