3 Years, 1 Week, and 4 Days

Charlotte & Ruby are 3 years, 1 week, and 4 days old today. We have not done too much the past week as cold rain has kept us inside for the most part. They finished their first month of pre-preschool. Each time we arrive to get them when class is over, they are always happy and have an art project to show us. Charlotte loves gym time best, as she was the first to start and last to leave. Ruby is slowly getting over her shyness with everyone there and seems to like singing the songs during class best as she performs them at home now. Enjoy the photos!

Heading out to play in front of our home:

Grandpa Jay captures them for a hug:

Charlotte gets chased by Grandpa Jay:

Ruby stops to smell some flowers:

For their room decor, we took our inspiration from this comforter set (which was in the laundry when I took the photos):

Charlotte's bed:

Ruby's bed:

New bookshelves (made from Ikea spice racks and white spray paint):

Charlotte at her first dentist appointment (it did not go so well after the first minute, only about 3/4 of her top teeth were cleaned as she resisted so much):

Ruby at her first dentist appointment, where all of her teeth did get cleaned but only because she cried with her mouth wide open while laying still:

Despite it being an unhappy experience for them, the dentist said their teeth are extremely healthy with no cavities or staining, though we are still waiting on 2 molars to break through from Charlotte, and 4 more for Ruby. At this rate, the dentist does not think they will get an adult tooth until they are 7 or 8 instead of the standard 6 years of age.

3 Years and 4 Days

Charlotte & Ruby are 3 years and 4 days old today. For the next year of chronicling their lives on the blog, I've decided to make the photos larger. We have been in a whirlwind of activity the past week, with visits from family, adventures at farms & parks, and more birthday celebrations. At their 3 year check up, Charlotte weighed 32lbs 4oz and measured at 36" high. Ruby weighed 29lbs and also measured at 36" high. They are on target for development and meet or exceed all milestones for this age. They currently wear 4t, 5t or girls size 4/5, depending on the brand, and their shoe size is 7, almost ready for 8. Enjoy the many, many photos!

Another visit to our favorite apple farm (to actually pick apples this time):

Charlotte, Ruby, and Great Papa Arlen:

Charlotte giggles as she picks an apple with Great Papa Arlen's help:

Charlotte ate more apples than she put in the bag:

Ruby tried biting into an apple, but decided it was not for her and asked where the raspberries were:

Picking apples with Grandma Doreen:

Exploring the pumpkin field next to the apple orchard:

They remembered Great Papa Arlen's words of "If you can carry a pumpkin, I'll buy it for you" and so they brought some back to him from the field:

Charlotte loves to play in the dirt and let it fall through her fingers:

Great Papa Arlen caught a runaway Ruby:

4 generations of the Conner family:

Collecting fallen leaves next to the Fox River:

Family photo with Grandpa Jay & Grandma Peggy, at the same park on the Fox River:

In an old boathouse:

More of Charlotte playing in the dirt (and getting quite dirty in the process this time):

For their birthday party with their friends Ava & Jacob, I made favor bags that were much simpler than last year's to go with the Peep and the Big Wide World theme:

I attempted to make cutouts of the characters for their cakes, and introduced myself to the world of fondant:

But failed to realize that whipped cream on warm carrot cakes make a poor base to put the fondant pieces on:

They loved them any way, and both blew out their candles this time:

Balloons were the biggest hit of the party:

Our focus was experimenting with color and reflections for the party (the Peep and the Big Wide World show teaches science through exploring and discovering new things, along with showing real kids experimenting with different concepts).

Trying out their color mixing glasses with different lenses:

They made their own kaleidescopes:

Ruby plays with the colored water to see how light goes through it and combined different colors to make new ones:

Glueing colored sequins onto wooden stars to show light reflecting in different colors:

Opening gifts with Ava & Jacob:

Ruby loves her new Viewmaster (and so does Bob):

Bob made paintings of their initials with the characters from the show to hang in their newly decorated bedroom (more on that another week):

3rd Birthday Photos

This year, as they continue to dislike most standard cake flavors, I created my own strawberry banana cake recipe with whipped cream in place of frosting and it came out delicious:

They inspected their cakes:

This is the first year we lit candles for them to blow out, and while Charlotte blew hers out right away, Ruby was a bit unsure of the flame:

Charlotte happily dug into her cake:

Ruby took a more delicate approach at eating it:

Charlotte reached over and took a swipe of whipped cream from Ruby's cake:

Unwrapping their gifts: