Heading to Preschool!

Yesterday when we dropped off Rory at school the director, David, stopped us and wanted to talk to us about Rory. Apparently he and Rory's teacher, Lupe, had met and think that Rory is going to be ready for preschool early. The plan was to send her in January (right before she turned 3), maybe even November. Now, the plan is SEPTEMBER! She will have just turned 2 1/2 in August, which is their absolute minimum age to start at the preschool. Her school includes an infant/toddler community, which is what she's in now, and a preschool, which is a separate building down the block, run by David's wife, Suzie. I think we've ironed out which class she'll go into and who her teacher will be, and from what we know, we are excited about this class.

The markers for being ready include: being able to recognize primary and secondary colors; being able to express yourself verbally; being able to follow 3-step sets of directions. I forget the rest of it right now. Anyway, Big Girl is going to preschool this fall!!

Botanical Garden

Rory's new favorite place in the world is the Missouri Botanical Gardens. She went for a school field trip when we first got here, and we've taken her twice since. She asks EVERY nice day if we can go. Her favorite thing... riding the "sheep". Here are some pics from the various trips. And she loves to finish the trip with a giant apple on the way home (how happy can one kid look??).

Tea Party

For those who have never actually seen a little girl having a tea party, it is a sight to behold.  Rory starts her tea parties with this little song, which they sing before meals at school.  After she sings this with her friends, that's the last time she sits down the whole time.  After that she is constantly running back and forth between the table and her "kitchen" getting people another utensil, cup, or more lasagna or soup, which are her favorite things to serve at tea parties.

A Long Hiatus

Wow, we've taken a long hiatus. On the day of the last post, I got a job offer from Washington University in St. Louis. After that, the days got crazy as we planned a move, met with a real estate agent, I changed jobs, we found a new school for Rory, and we moved. We've now been here a month. So, now we'll start catching up on what we're doing.

First Haircut

After over two years, Rory was finally due for her first haircut. The whole family gathered up for a trip to a crazy-colored kids haircut place. She LOVED it and of course the trip was followed by ice cream!!

Moving to STL

Here are photos from our move. If you click on the photo, it will show you a slideshow. You'll have to be sure to go to the beginning. Captions are included!

Last days in the Big Tub

One thing Rory will miss from our house in Houston is the "Big Tub". We say, "Rory, it's Friday. What does that mean?" and she screams, "Bath in the BIG TUB!!" Our master bath has a giant garden tub and Rory believes she gets to swim in it on Friday nights.

Go Texans!

It's Go Texans Day, so here is Rory all decked out for school.

Cool Wheels

OK, here are her new cool wheels. Thanks, Mimi and Poppy, for the new bike. Thanks, Daddy, for putting it together. And Mommy is patting herself on the back for picking this bad boy out!!

And thanks to Ella for the new "suitcase", as RoRo calls it!

Warning: Do Not Try This at Home

My Birthday Cupcake

Birthday trip to the zoo

Jason and I both took the day off work to spend with Rory on her birthday. We went to the Houston Zoo, where Rory fell in love with a baboon! She wanted to spend the whole day with her new friend. After the zoo, she and Daddy took a long trip to the park by our house to play. In the afternoon we made cupcakes to take to school, then after dinner we went to Sesame Street Live, which opened on her birthday. Though she doesn't know that we left at bedtime (she was getting tired), I think she was about to cry she was so excited to see Big Bird and Elmo walk out on that stage!

Rory's Birthday

 
 

Rory is TWO! The first picture is her favorite dress, with her favorite hair, in her favorite chair, watching her favorite show, "Signing Time"!

Spanish Dancing

The woman who cleans our house leaves every radio tuned to the Spanish stations, and Rory has decided it is her favorite dancing music. Turn up the volume on your computer a bit so you can enjoy the party along with Rory!

"I'm wearing UNDERWEAR!"

Last week, Rory officially began her journey to becoming a big girl. She declared that she was ready to wear underwear to school, so the plan rolled into action. Daddy talked with Miss Mary to find out what she had to wear/pack, etc. Mommy went to the store to buy loads of new undies. Daddy bought extra easy-up, easy-down pants for her.

The next day, Rory walked into her classroom with Mommy. All three teachers stopped and looked at her. Mommy nudged her to share her big news, so she yelled, "I'm wearing UNDERWEAR!!"

She's done a great job thus far, with accidents becoming fewer and far between. The biggest accomplishment has been getting her to stop wiping her face with the tissue when she's done.

Christmas in Dubuque 2007

Below are pictures from our trip to Dubuque. It's a slideshow, so click on the picture in the middle and you can view them all as a slideshow and see the captions.

Thanksgiving in STL

We spent a week in STL for Thanksgiving, with four generations of Lustberg under one roof. Grandma Cam and Grandpa even stopped by for a day from Iowa! We saw some friends, ate a lot, enjoyed the cold weather, and started the annual tradition of wearing ugly holiday sweaters for Thanksgiving Day.

Really Halloween

For school all day, Rory went as "Baby Einstein". That night, our wonderful bumble bee was a very polite trick-or-treater and had a great time with her candy stash!

Almost Halloween

Just a few pictures. Click below and you can see all the pictures along with the captions.

Almost Halloween

Twenty month pics

Celia Lewis, a photographer here in Pearland, took some pictures of Rory yesterday. Here are some of the shots. Of course, they are "fall pictures", but in Houston, that means Rory was wearing a tank top and was barefoot! By Christmas we'll have her in short sleeves and shoes!

Bobbing for Baby Ruths

There is NOTHING worse than this. Think through it... it gets complicated. Where do you go from here in your quest to put a clean, stink-free child in bed in just a few minutes? Not to mention the Ultimate Rock Paper Scissors Championship to decide which parent has to clean the tub while the other reads stories to a sweet pajama-clad child.

EDIT: I have to add an edit. I wrote the text above first, then added the title later, and realize how it sounds. Let me be clear that our child was NOT putting her face in the water! She just happened to look down and we snapped a picture, and it looked funny. Goodness, I can see someone calling CPS right now!

The Barney Song

27 seconds. For you, at least. We hear it over and over.

Pudding Wars

48 seconds of pudding goodness

Pizza and Grapes

Rory has incorporated a new piece into the nighttime routine. Every night, after her bath, one of us reads her books and puts her to bed. When the other is saying good night, it now goes something like this:

Daddy: Night night, Rory.
Rory: Night night, Daddy.
Daddy: I love you.
Rory: Wuv Woo.

pause...

Rory: Pizza and grapes!!
Daddy smiles and says "Pizza and grapes, Rory".

Yes, she says "Pizza and grapes" as part of her sign off at night. We have no idea why, but she is very comforted by you saying it back at night.

Field of Dreams?

Guess what's going to be in my diaper later.

38 seconds

August Pictures

"I was born a poor black child."

One of the great things about having a kiddo this age is that there seems to be a new phase of some sort about every three days. I can't possibly document them all, but once in a while I'll give you a glimpse into our odd world.

For the last few days, Rory has become a collector. She can't go anywhere without at least one object in each hand from the location she's leaving. If we are in the living room and are going to walk to her bedroom, she must look around and decide one item, then two, and possibly three if she can handle it that she absolutely cannot survive the trip without.

If you've ever seen the old Steve Martin movie "The Jerk", it's the equivalent of Navin Johnson saying, "I don't need anything but this ashtray. Just this astray. This ashtray and this thermos are all I'll ever need. And this chair."

We leave the living room to go take a bath and she's carrying a book, two legos stuck together, and dragging a blanket. Then to leave the bathroom to go to bed, she has to take a ducky from the tub, her toothbrush, and Abby (her doll). They say that people who have collections of things are more likely to be psychopaths and serial killers.

We are slightly concerned.

More Sprinkler Fun

Another hot day in Houston, so more time in the sprinkler for Rory.

58 seconds

Oops-si-day-zee

Daddy had his tonsils out last week and Mimi is here visiting to help out. This is what we are considering the "highlight reel" of Rory tricks, all displayed at dinner.

56 seconds

Birthday Butterflies

Today for my birthday we went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science's Butterfly Center with our friends, the Wires. They were having Adopt-A-Butterfly Day, where you got to release a butterfly. Here are a few pictures of Rory and I releasing her butterfly. The last picture is a zoomed shot of the previous picture, of her butterfly leaving it's cup. And of course, a picture of cutie pie Elsie Wire and her daddy Jarad.

Unfortunately, during this little trip, Daddy was in the car, sick, feverish and sleeping. He's on antibiotics and we think a tonsillectomy may be in his very near future. He started feeling much worse on the drive there so couldn't go in with us.