Quite the entertainers, the girls put on a little show for Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Sandy when we were in Madison; here were two of their songs. (I giggled so hard over Avery’s dancing at one part that the camera began to shake. Couldn’t help it!)

-M

Some readers know that we had bad luck (again) while flying home from Madison: Because of fog in San Francisco, our flight was delayed by nearly 3 1/2 hours. The bad, aside from being stuck in the airport for that long: We got home at what felt like the middle of the night to the girls (whose bodies were on Central time), and all of us were really tired the entire next day. But the good: No one (not even me – I mean, not really) freaked out about the delay. The girls, once again, impressed with me with their ability to roll with the punches and to even enjoy themselves. In fact, when I told Avery that we were delayed yet again, and that meant she would get to go to bed on the plane, she literally skipped down the airport, crying out, “I get to have a sleepover on the airplane! I can’t wait to tell my friends!” As much as airplane travel can stink, it really helps when you have an enthusiastic five-year-old by your side.

-M

Per tradition, we met up earlier this week with Cousins Tanner and Brock at the Splash Pad near my parents’ house. The little ones were a bit shy with one another (and Avery wound up hanging out on the bench more than running around), but Zoe and Tanner loved the water and had tons of fun together. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen Zoe that bouncy-happy – and wet!

-M

As mentioned, we spent some of our time in Madison showing the girls downtown. Before heading to the lake, we took the girls on a tour of the state capitol – and though Zoe was at first very unhappy about being there (see first pic) she quickly perked up. She got to admire the artwork, visit the governor’s office, sit in a Senate chair, and explore the Supreme Court. Something that impressed both of us about the latter: Women make up the majority of the seven justices. I told Zoe that if the whole doctor or teacher thing didn’t work out, she could always pursue being a judge…

-M

We’ve been in Madison for the last few days; during our annual trip the girls ran around and splashed in the sun (it was hot!), went on the Slip & Slide and a lawnmower ride (again), explored downtown (pics to come), and just hung out with Grandma, Grandpa and Sandy. And Avery added another celebration to her birthday month, with gifts and a cake with candles. (Thanks, Grandma.)

-M

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After a particularly tiring day at camp recently, the girls came home, got on their pajamas, and shared a blanket and TV show. From the other room I heard Avery tell her sister, “I love lying like this, Zoe.”

-M

Not long ago, prompted perhaps by my complaints over a chronically messy room, Zoe and Q underwent a massive room-improvement project. They moved her bed and table, bought a reading bench (which doubles as extra storage), went through her toys and books and put together a huge garbage bag full of things to be given away, and added shelving for Zoe’s Giants bobbleheads. (Sitting there now is also an award – for math achievement – given to Zoe by her teacher the last week of school.) Zoe is super proud of her new room (which, I’m happy to report, has remained almost spotless since the re-design), and this photo took me to back to the very first we took of her in the space!

-M

Now:

Then:

Avery’s summer camp is animal-themed, and she cracked me and Zoe up with a little story about a recent session on giraffes. When the teacher asked her group why the animals had such big tongues, a little boy responded, “To wipe their nose.” Though very funny, Avery knew that wasn’t quite right and said she gave the more sensible answer: “To reach their food.”

-M

Zoe has taken only a few yoga classes, but she still loves the practice. Below was the scene in our living room not long ago.

-M

I used to have a birthday weekend (or, often, week) when I was a kid – but Avery’s fifth birthday has felt like a full month! It started early, with Safta’s visit and a few Frozen-inspired gifts (below), then there was the party itself, followed by 12 days of anticipation and opening presents. (We didn’t want her to open presents all at once so spaced out the opening; Q made me laugh by pointing out it was the Hanukkah vs. Christmas approach to gifts). The whole thing slightly confused Avery, who kept saying she was five when she was actually still four – and the other day she even commented, “I have too much birthdays.” But it has made for a fun few weeks!

-M

And here are two short videos of Avery opening the previously mentioned presents.

-M

Shortly after waking up on her birthday, Avery opened up a few presents; big hits were her Frozen books (thank you, Safta) and a little sparkly dog-purse that Avery spotted a few weeks ago at Nordstrom Rack. (Cute story: Zoe saw how much her sister loved the dog and asked us if she could buy it for her birthday. Q took her back one night last week.) Before heading to camp, where she got to wear a birthday crown and share zucchini mini-muffins – her request – with her friends, she combined the two by “reading” to her new friend.

-M

So, our sweet, silly and sassy girl is five today! Is it even possible??

These last six months have brought so much growth in Avery. Yes, her interests are mostly the same as our last update (playing “pretend” with her sister, playing with her dolls, and running around and dancing and generally acting goofy – plus belting out Frozen songs and obsessing over anything Frozen), but she seems just so much more confident in herself these days, and I feel like her true personality has finally really emerged.

When Avery had her kindergarten screening six months ago, I thought she would be ready for kindergarten – but now I know. She loves school, she really absorbs things she learns (she remembers Hebrew songs in a way that I don’t remember Zoe doing at her age, for example), and she has taken a recent interest in reading. (She has been able to read names of friends at school for many months, but she recently said she wanted to start reading books. The one she chose as the first to tackle? A Frozen one, naturally. Oh, and she loves it when Zoe reads to her – which happens often.) Like her sister before her, she seems to like numbers and math – we do flash cards at dinner sometimes, and she has a good grasp of simple addition and subtraction. Bonus: the proud look on her face when she gives the right answer.

She, like many other children her age, is very imaginative. It’s common for her, for example, to point out that an ordinary object looks like something else. She’ll be eating a waffle or sandwich and say (based on the odd shape she created with the bites she took), “Look! It’s a bunny” And she loves using a flashlight in a dark room to create shadow objects on the wall. (Q suggested we take her out and have her stare at the clouds someday. Unfortunately, those big puffy clouds don’t appear that often in San Francisco.)

Though she has at times had difficulty with transition, or been clingy with us when we drop her at school, that is now the exception and not the rule. And it’s also encouraging to me that, while she has historically been shy in public and especially in new situations, she’s now more comfortable in new settings and more likely to respond right away when someone addresses her. (I’ve been working with her on saying “hello” when a teacher or parent greets her in the mornings, as example.)

Despite her somewhat quiet public persona, we consider Avery our wild child: At home, she’s usually running around, being silly, dancing, belting out songs, telling jokes and/or climbing all over her dad. She has a funny sense of humor and likes making people laugh; she’s been known to call me “Silly Billy” and also say “Mommy is chopped liver” (after I asked her once, when she wanted her dad instead of me, if I was chopped liver. She thinks it’s hysterical). If she had a catch-phrase, it might be, “Are you KIDDING me?” (which she says in response to many things) – and she makes me laugh by asking, almost every time I call her one, “What’s a drama queen?” She also has a naughty streak – let’s just say that talk of certain bodily functions (though she knows she shouldn’t do it) give her fits of laughter.

She’s been known to be defiant and get in trouble, and she also can get antsy/jealous if she thinks we’re paying too much attention to her sister (as discussed here earlier). But in general she’s a great kid who gets along really well with her sister (something others have taken notice of) and who often showers us with sweet words and big hugs.

Some random things: She really likes swimming and, after a few months of classes, finally began swimming under water. Despite her love for water, she hates taking baths and often gives us a really hard time (running through the house to avoid us, crying and complaining, etc.) when she has to take one! She loves listening to music (especially in the car), and we alternate between the Frozen soundtrack and our Alphabet Rockers CDs. One of her new favorites, though, is “Five Bears in the Bed” (which reminds me of Aunt Sandy, since we also liked this when we were little). Avery does help around the house, but she’s not the natural helper that her sister is – let’s just say I get a lot of dragging the feet or heavy sighs when I ask her to make her bed or empty the dishwasher. We’ll work on that!

-M

Look who’s five today…

-M

Angela came to town last Friday, which marked Zoe’s first day of summer break.  In honor of the event (and sunny day), the four of us girls went exploring a neighborhood we rarely visit (Hayes Valley) and got amazing, made-to-order ice-cream at Smitten. As Zoe’s shirt said: Hello, summer!

-M