Family Photos 2018

So many great ones!

Halloween 2018

Johanna dressed up as Mal from Descendants (Maleficent's daughter).  Walter was Captain America, minus the mask.  Although he did enjoy the goofy glasses from Grandma K.

We decorated several pumpkins.  Tony carving, Michelle with polka dots, Walter abstract art, and Johanna did all the rest.  Johanna also helped Tony build the light for his pumpkin.

Walter got to be in the Halloween parade at daycare.  Johanna was on a mission to find the best trick or treat candy.  And we all went to the Downtown Halloween parade - a little too scary for the kids and no candy but luckily Michelle was smart enough to bring some along.

We were able to get together with the cousins for a group picture and some pre-trick-or-treating fun.

We went to Schuester's Pumpkin patch and got to see some Kluesners there and pick pumpkins together.

Only Johanna made it to Vesperman's this year for a birthday party which included high winds and some snow, but the low attendance meant MANY rides on the zip line.

Johanna is 6

Favorite to eat: dessert, french toast, ice cream, pesto
Favorite to do: softball, swimming, coloring, Vertical Jump, playing Guess Who
Favorite to watch:  Hotel Transylvania, Mama Mia, DuckTales
Favorite to read: Descendants comic, My Name Is Not Isabella book
Favorite to help with: Help daddy make pesto
Favorite to learn about: learning about animals on Wild Kratts, learning letter sounds at school
Favorite to hang out with: All my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents
You are good at: skipping bars on the monkey bars
Want to get better at: learn the alphabet
Makes you laugh: Walter doing something funny
Makes you upset: Walter saying “ha, ha”
Favorite happening this year: starting at Bryant
Looking forward to next year:  Finishing a parent picture coloring
Future adventure: Go to the North Pole
Future learning: How to climb a mountain
Future living: Behind a mountain like the Berenstain Bears
Future want to do: Be a teacher
Future not want to do: Change diapers
Future spend time with: My friend Daisyella

Walter says….
I play outside with Johanna and eat popcorn. She plays. She says “Woooo!” Hannah get me shows.

Dad says …..
I enjoy Johanna’s excitement and inquisitive nature. I enjoy watching Steeler games with her.

Mom says …….
Johanna likes to do many different things including swinging, coloring, playing dollhouse, riding her scooter, playing board games and helping with projects.  I like that she is willing to go out and do things together, she is definitely not a home body or couch potato.  I also like that a hug or cuddle fixes anything.  I am looking forward to her learning to read because I think she will really enjoy it.  And I am looking forward to her gaining confidence to overcome setbacks.

She really wanted a repeat of her 3 year cake and wanted to help again.  Are we going to do this cake ever three years???

She chose Culver's for her birthday dinner and ironically this was the number we were given

She is really enjoying the old dollhouse with some new accessories!

Walter Begins the Orange Room

Walter began the Orange Room with Sharon and Bitzie.  He has grown so much in the first few weeks - talking more, engaging more, and putting thoughts together.  He is one of the youngest kids but also one of the tallest (90s percentile for height and 70s percentile for weight).

He has been pretty stubborn about trying to use the potty at home.  For a few months he had been wearing underwear at school but not at home.  Finally, about September something click and he didn’t want to wear diapers at home anymore either.  He has done very well with very few accidents (fingers crossed)!

Walter is NOT a morning person.  He often closes his gate and door, turns off the light and gets back into bed after we try and wake him up.  He is obsessed with watching his favorite shows the whole house knows when the morning show changes from Wild Kratts to Nature Cat by his cry of “NOOOOO!”.

We get to see more pictures of Walter at school thanks to the HiMama app they use.  In the pictures, we is often next to his friends Abel and Amelia.

Johanna Starts Kindergarten

Johanna was so excited for Kindergarten, she was ready to go and got frustrated when we said we couldn’t leave yet!  It was very exciting to get a poster in our yard from her teacher to welcome her to class.

The first day was actually just a partial, practice day.  She got a little nervous as they were getting ready to head in the door and was glad to see we got to come with her for a bit.  When we asked her about the first day, she mentioned the teacher talked a lot.  Johanna said the teacher kept telling them about the rug rules, which frustrated her, “I know, I know the rug rules!”

The real first day, we took her to school once again and she was eager to be on her way without us.  We walked to school and had visions of walking everyday but Mom doesn’t move fast enough in the morning so the walking was short lived.  She has wrap around care in the Bryant Gym through Y-Care and enjoys the extra play time.

Johanna had a big milestone in her first weeks of Kindergarten - she lost her first tooth!  (Sept 13, 2018) It was wiggly for awhile and she asked if I could try to pull it out which was exciting for both of us when it came out! She didn’t cry or fuss and was just so excited to have lost her tooth.

Johanna had been asking for MONTHS to get her hair cut “above her ears”.  We finally made an appointment with Pam who cuts Michelle’s hair.  Johanna liked it, then didn’t like it (nearly too short to stay tucked behind her ears), then liked it (after she got so many compliments at school.  We all enjoyed the reduced number of snarls and brushing drama.

Milwaukee Trip

In late July, we took a long overdue trip to Milwaukee. The kids enjoyed seeing and playing with Guster. We used the nice weather as an opportunity to enjoy the parks there.  I spent a lot of time holding on to Walter for dear life as he wanted to run all the way out into the lake.

On our way home, we stopped in Madison, had a picnic and visited the zoo.