O Canada - Day Three - Niagara Falls

***Picture Heavy Post***

Our plans for our third day on our road trip were centered around Niagara Falls and then eventually heading over the border to Canada.

Day Three:

- Niagara Falls State Park
     - Maid of the Mist/Observation Tower
     - Picnic Lunch
     - Aquarium of Niagara
     - Discovery Gorge
     - The Cave of the Winds

-Cross US/Canadian Border via Rainbow Bridge

- Canadian Side of Niagara Falls
     - Dinner
     - Skywheel

- Drive to hotel in Scarborough, ON

 

O' Canada! - Day One - On Our Way!

We took our first international trip as a family to wrap up our summer. Final Destination was Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Day One:
-Leave home & drive to Ithaca, NY.
-Swimming &  Lunch at Robert H. Treman State Park
-If time allows visits to Cornell etc.
-Drive to hotel in Niagara Falls.

Lucky #7

Happy Birthday Leah!

It is hard to believe, it has now been 7 years since our first born joined us. So many changes have taken place in our lives as the years have gone on. Our family is growing again and soon we will welcome another child into our brood. Leah is a remarkable young girl. She makes me proud to be her mother every day. She is compassionate, smart, funny and the joy of my life. Seeing her love for her little brother and her enthusiasm in welcoming another is one of the highlights of my day.

Leah celebrated her birthday at camp and the celebration continued at home with her family.





Leah loves Monster High and their dolls. It may not be for the mainstream family but the dolls suits our family very well.



Leah loves the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series


And who doesn't love a cute owl?

It's A Boy!

Today we welcomed the newest member of our family, Gabriel Leo, into the world.
You can read about his birth over at his blog.

Not long after he was born at home Leah was picked up at camp and brought home to meet her new baby brother. As we did with Louis, outside of myself, Matt and the medical staff (this case my midwife & birth assistant) Leah was the first one to hold the baby.

Proud Big Sister


Family photo


Loving on their brother together.

First Acting Gig

Leah had her first acting gig today. She had a small part in a scene for a short indie film. A friend, Sophia, who I grew up with, was nice enough to use Leah in the film. It was an honor to support Sophia in her film producing and a wonderful experience for Leah.

We woke up very early and headed to the Bronx for the shoot. She did very well. She is definitely a natural when it comes to these types of things.

Now that I know that she has the maturity and attention span to wait the hours it takes to shoot these types of things and the ability to deal with all the different people involved I am more willing to take her to casting calls and auditions.

This is small pic from camera phone of her practicing her scene. I will post when the movie comes out.

Recital Weekend 2010

Leah has been very busy with activities this past year. She took gymnastics once a week and two dance classes every week from September through May. For dance she took a combo tap/ballet class and a combo hip-hop/jazz class. Leah is great about making sure she is prepared for her classes and rarely misses them. She worked very hard this year at the routines she would be performing with her classes at the yearly recital. She performed each very well and made us all proud.



After her first recital we went out for a late dinner at a local Applebees. Leah finished off the night with a chocolate meltdown.

1st School Field Trip

Today I went along with Leah's class to see a production of Charlotte's Web at a local theater. Being a class parent is a rewarding experience and I am grateful for the opportunity. It was a lot of fun.

Spring Tease

Spring teased us a bit today. When Leah got home from school we went over to the park. She said she wanted to show me a surprise.

She can get herself swinging all by herself. She also goes pretty high now.

Countdown Complete!

Leah has turned 5!

To mark the big event Leah decided to get her ears pierced yesterday before officially turning 5. She was great. She sat still and let the piercers do their thing and viola! 2 pretty earrings.

She did cry afterward because the ears were sore but after a few minutes she was back to normal.

This morning she got all dressed up for school in her special birthday outfit.

All grown up!


She has more accessories to go with it but those are for tonight.

Nice days

We had a few nice days this week and because of Passover I was off from work. Leah and me spent Thursday and Friday outside in the complex. Plenty of room in the driveway for painting, bike riding and other activities.

On Thursday I put Leah's easel out front and she painted a few pictures for us. She stayed entertained for a straight hour with no complaints.



Friday we did some more painting and took out her bike, training skates and scooter.


It was her first time on the training skates. After about 10 minutes she had her balance down, another 20 minutes and she was off on her own. She did very well at learning how to fall. She learned on her own how to utilize her brakes in order to help herself not fall.

She will have a hard time adjusting to real skates (they move very quickly, not the like the pvc wheels on the training skates) but at least until we get a pair (probably next week) she will have the general idea down. We also have to pick her up some wrist guards. Matt used to rollerblade and I've skated since I could walk so I look forward to going to the skating rink, all three of us. Will be a lot of fun.








After the initial fear and bout of shyness this kid has a ton of confidence spilling out of her. You can see it in her face.

First Snow

4 Year Old Milestones

Motor Development: Gross Motor Skills

• running is more controlled; can start, stop, and turn
• turns somersaults; hops on one foot; gallops
• can easily catch, throw, and bounce a ball
• can brush teeth, comb hair, wash, and dress with little assistance
  

Motor Development: Fine Motor Skills

• copies crosses and squares
• prints some letters
• uses table utensils skillfully
• cuts on a line

Language and Thinking Development

• uses a 1,500-word vocabulary; speaks in relatively complex sentences ("Mommy opened the door and the dog ran out.") I am pretty sure that Leah's vocabulary is about twice this in English and half this in Spanish.
  
• understands words that relate one idea to another — if, why, when
• continues to learn through experience and the senses
• understands, mostly, the difference between fantasy and reality Except when related to trolls, fairies and anything involving Princess Annelisse & her best friend Molly.
  
• understands number and space concepts — more, less, bigger, in, under, behind
• thinks literally; starting to develop logical thinking
• begins to grasp that pictures and symbols can represent real objects
• starts to recognize patterns among objects — round things, soft things, animals
• grasps the concepts of past, present, and future but does not understand the duration of time She is starting to ask us about yesterday, tomorrow, last week, last year. Used to be everything was last year but lately she has been realizing when yesterday and tomorrow actually were/are.
  
  

Social and Emotional Development

• takes turns, shares, and cooperates
• expresses anger verbally rather than physically
• can feel jealousy
• may sometimes lie to protect herself, but understands the concept of lying
• enjoys pretending and has a vivid imagination

In addition to all of this she is beginning to read. Her teachers tell me everyday how much farther along she is coming. I suspect that by age 5 she will be more than ready for Kindergarten. Very proud of our little girl.

4 Year Old Milestones

Leah will be 4 in August. Today she is 3 years, 8 months, 3 weeks & 6 days old. Crazy how time has flown by. Less than 4 months until she turns 4. Today at school the teachers were discussing some of Leah's latest things. She has taken to telling stories, elaborate, drawn out stories. She has also created her own version of gibberish. She is getting very good at pretend play and can do so for hours on end. She is a delight. An imaginative delight. She has developed an imaginary play friend or two which show up every once in a while at home. Mostly when I am busy with chores and she is out on the porch playing. One thing Leah has never done much of is having a security object, lately though she has become quite fond and attached to a few of her toys.

Seems to be right on target with all the milestones 4 year olds should be meeting.


Milestones: 4-Year-Olds

Motor Development: Gross Motor Skills

* running is more controlled; can start, stop, and turn
* turns somersaults; hops on one foot; gallops
* can easily catch, throw, and bounce a ball
* can brush teeth, comb hair, wash, and dress with little assistance

Motor Development: Fine Motor Skills

* copies crosses and squares
* prints some letters
* uses table utensils skillfully
* cuts on a line

Language and Thinking Development

* uses a 1,500-word vocabulary; speaks in relatively complex sentences ("Mommy opened the door and the dog ran out.")
* understands words that relate one idea to another — if, why, when
* continues to learn through experience and the senses
* understands, mostly, the difference between fantasy and reality
* understands number and space concepts — more, less, bigger, in, under, behind
* thinks literally; starting to develop logical thinking
* begins to grasp that pictures and symbols can represent real objects
* starts to recognize patterns among objects — round things, soft things, animals
* grasps the concepts of past, present, and future but does not understand the duration of time

Social and Emotional Development

* takes turns, shares, and cooperates
* expresses anger verbally rather than physically
* can feel jealousy
* may sometimes lie to protect herself, but understands the concept of lying
* enjoys pretending and has a vivid imagination

* Speech is almost always understandable.
* Can usually count from 1 to 10.
* Can walk on tiptoes, climb a ladder and ride a tricycle.
* May name and match three or four primary colors.
* Knows his or her own name.
* Correctly uses the pronoun "I."
* Children this age recognize gender differences and will correctly say "I am a girl" or "I am a boy."
* Can dress and undress with supervision but still has trouble with laces and buttons. Children this age also begin to be selective about what they wear.
* Holds and uses a pencil with good control. Can copy a cross, circle and possibly a square.
* Can to draw a person with a face, arms and legs.
* Engages in conversational "give-and-take."
* Can sing a song.
* Talks about his or her day's activities and experiences.
* Can identify emotions such as sadness, anger, anxiety and fear.
* Enjoys the companionship of other children; plays cooperatively and shows interest in other children's bodies.



Before I know it she will be off to kindergarten.

We are currently working on Leah memorizing our home phone number, after that we will probably have her memorize her grandparents' home number. She has an excellent memory.

All in all she is a happy, healthy, well-adjusted girl. Can't ask for more than that.

Good Morning

Leah has officially begun attending Pre-school. Here she is with Matt all ready for school.

Leah the Bold

Leah the Scaredy Cat is diminishing and Leah the Bold is making her appearance. Over the last two months Leah has really come out of her shell. She is opening up more towards people and isn't nearly as shy as she used to be.

She will go on swings and even ask you to push her a bit faster and higher. She will go into a pool and the ocean with no qualms about it.

We went camping last week for a few days around Lake George. At first she was not crazy about the nearly mile walk to the cabin, or the lack of electricity. She asked us "Where's the fridge?" after we walked in. But after a few hours she didn't miss any of those amenities one bit.

She rode in a canoe without a bit of fear and wants to do it again and again. She climbed up and down and through these caves at the Natural Stone Bridges and Caves. She was a trooper and better at walking and climbing than some of the grown-ups.

On Sunday, on our way back to Long Island we stopped at Indian Ladder Farms for their local food festival. They had a sand play area for the kids, lots of free, and delicious food samples. They also had a petting zoo. Leah is usually quite adamant that she doesn't want to go anywhere near the animals but over this summer she has gotten comfortable with the concept of feeding and petting the animals. She feed the sheep and the alpacas and lamas.

Then she did something that surprised us. She decided she wanted to ride a pony. These weren't tiny ponies either. Usually she says she wants to do it but then in the end decides not to. This time she waited and waited, put the helmet on, climbed on and left us to ride the pony.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to get a ton of pictures due to the fact our digital camera broke before our trip. We have to develop some film and post those pics.

She also started pre-school this year. She loves her new class and has some awesome teachers.

AND she started taking dance classes as well. That was part of Ruth & George's birthday present. She took her first class and was scared to go into the room and leave us. But once she was in with the other little girls she was ready to dance her butt off.

She looks absolutely adorable in her leotard and tights. She even has her very own pair of ballet slippers and tap shoes.

New Family Addition

We went and adopted a kitten from North Shore Animal League.

She is a black striped gray tabby, who Leah has named Tiger Lily.



It is a good thing both Matt and I agree that having a pet is a crucial component in having a family, when you have the space & time to care for it. I know that I feel lucky to have had the barrage of pets we had growing up, everything from our albino burmese python named Samantha to a wonderful toy poodle named Chop-C. We got tons of enjoyment and learned a ton about responsibility. The lessons that come from caring for another animal are invaluable.

Leah loves her. It is a 15 year committment and one we are happy to make.