Don't Give Up

Berkeley decided he wanted to take ice skating lessons this winter, as his end game is to be a hockey player.  Berke has never been ice skating, and I was hesitant to sign him up because he is so cautious and gives up on everything the second he cant do it perfectly.  But he was really excited, so I signed him up.  He had his first lesson this weekend; the size 8 skate may have been one of the cutest things that ever existed.  The rink is outside and at 9:30 a.m. is completely covered with shade, couple that with being 15 degrees, it was FREEZING for all involved.

Berkeley was super excited when we arrived, as we had been talking it up all week.  This lasted about 2 minutes until he got on the ice and realized ice skating is no easy task.  He was VERY cautious at first but did some marching and a bit of skating with the help of his teacher.  He basically LOST it after his first fall.  The teachers want the kids to fall so they can teach them how to get up, but Berke did not see this as a learning experience, not in the slightest.

 

When Berke gets frustrated he gets this look on his face, where his bottom teeth get infront of his top teeth.  This was the last "happy" picture we got of the boy.  It went downhill after 10 minutes on the ice.  There was a lot of, "I cant do this!" and "Get me off the ice" and laying on his back and front refusing to get up.  As a parent I want to teach him to not give up just because something is hard, so he stayed on the ice.  We took a break for a minute and then tried one more time, but the kid was pretty upset by this point.  Scared, cold and worked up are not usually a good combination for any kid.

 Overall he did okay with his first lesson and is willing to go back next week, because he remembered that Yo Gabba Gabba sings a song about "Don't give up, keep on trying." We are gonna get super bundled up even more next week and try to have some incentives in our back pocket.  We only have 5 more lessons left, so we will see how this goes.  Hopefully he listens to Muno and Tudy and doesn't give up.

Twenty Twelve

Two thousand twelve was a good year for the Gentry family.   

Here are the highlights:

 Berkeley (our little city boy): 

-All of his grandparents visit at various times

-Two camping trips

-Day at Canobie Lake Park

-He became potty trained

-He started eating vegetables and many more fruits

-He began eating and liking cake and ice cream (but only chocolate)

-Participated in a tumbling class

-Staying at many hotels (especially in New Hampshire)

Christian (Our Doctor):
-graduated from Brandies with his PhD
-surprise visit from his dad to hear his Thesis piece performed
-having his thesis performed with many friends and family in attendance
-landing two jobs at NEC and FSU
-graduation trip to NYC with his wife only
-Thanksgiving trip to NY to visit friends
-summer travels
-Parents attend his graduation
-spending the summer with Berkeley
-10 year anniversary

Laci (The Momma Bear):
-10 year anniversary trip to Rhode Island
-Two 1/2 marathons and two 5Ks ran (all the amazing runs developed close friendships)
-Watching the Hunger Games and the Last Twilight movie in fabulous company
-Having my grandma visit for a week and seeing the Blue Man Group with her
-The week spent on Cape Cod with my parents
-Berkeley's birthday spent with my dad
-Girls trip with fun hiking and friends in the White Mountains
-Vermont trip
-Watching Berke grow and listening to him tell stories
-Buying a new Subaru Outback

It was a wonderful year for our family.  There were a lot of great accomplishments and wonderful things that happened to us.  We were lucky to see all our parents this year, which we are always grateful for, being so far from any family.  We feel lucky to have such amazing family and friends near by and far away.  We are incredibly blessed in life.  We hope 2013 brings new and exciting adventures for our family!

Avengers Birthday Party (Part 2)

Berkeley's 4th Birthday Party was a Super Hero success!

Berkeley had 9 ridiculously adorable friends come celebrate with him.  The kids were invited to come dressed as their favorite super hero and more than half did (loved it!).  Berkeley's dad even got into the fun.

  

I love my Father and Son Captain Americas!

A very Super American clan.

Berke was SO excited when his friend Hunter came dressed as Iron Man.  Berke's new favorite Avenger is Iron Man; he asked me take his picture with Iron Man.  Captain America and Iron Man are besties after all. 

(This picture is adorable!)

I loved Soren's costume which turned  Dr. Bruce Banner into....

the HULK

Here are all of his Super Hero friends after they made their awesome shields.  

(SOOOOO hard to get a picture of 10 really excited kids with super hero powers and shields)

Top Left: Jonas, Soren (Hulk), Quentin(Word Girl), Isabel, Maddy(Zebra Girl), Hunter (Iron Man)

Bottom Left: Charlotte (Bat Girl), Berkeley (Captain America), Owen (Leonardo, Ninja Turtle), Gus Gus (Batman)

The Pin the star on Captain America game went really well.  We used a sweat band as the blind fold which worked PERFECTLY.

The kids were all excited about the cake, especially the birthday boy.

Happy Birthday little man

Berkeley was so excited to open all his presents.  He was spoiled with all sorts of fun things from his friends.  After presents, the kids all tackled Christian; it was so cute how all these 3-4 year olds just jumped on him; he was a great sport.  

Sadly, all good things must come to an end.  

Here is B and his pals hugging it out as they say their farewells.

After the kids left, the grown ups got a turn to play.

Hope my favorite little Super Hero had the best birthday party ever!  Love you buddy! 

Happy 4th Birthday!

Avengers Birthday Party (Part 1)

Birthday parties are a lot of work, and this year I decided I wasn't going to do one for Berkeley.  But then there is that moment when my kid says, What are we going to do for my birthday party this year?  And all of the sudden, you are planning a party.  I'm a real sucker and my kid can sadly talk me into nearly everything he wants (within reason).

Earlier this year Berke was all set for a Disney Cars birthday, but about 4 months ago that changed to an Avenger Birthday Party.  He learned about Avengers from his friends; we really knew little about them, but we went with it.  The last two weeks Christian and I have watched The Avengers, Captain America and Thor just to do some "research" for the party.  All of the sudden WE totally love all the Avengers too!

It's always hard to plan an indoor party in the middle of winter.  Avengers are so physical and so I had to figure out how to make this party work inside our small 2 bedroom apartment.  I am so thankful that Pintrest was there to be my BFF through the process.

Here's what we did:

I decoupaged Berkeley's name with Avenger comic books as a birthday present.  It turned out pretty adorable and he loves it.  We displayed this along side a picture with him dressed like Captain America.

We had our good friend Lauren make our cake.  She makes amazing cakes and did a fantastic job with this one! Captain America,  Hulk and Thor all in one amazing cake.  

This was how we displayed the cake and all the kids were excited to eat the cake the entire party!

For activities each of the children made their own Super Hero Shields.   We cut out cardboard circles, decoupaged colorful paper onto the cardboard.  I used spider man duct tape (found at Michaels) to make the handle on the back. I then purchased adhesive foam and stars.  The children were able to design their own shields  by cutting out shapes and letters with the help of their parents; they turned out really adorable.  I am proud to say this was my own idea, didn't get this one from Pintrest.  

Our small hallway was transformed into a photo booth for our super hero's!  Auntie G and Aunt Steffy made these awesome decorations with their paper cutter for the photo wall.  All the children got a their super hero picture taken once they had made their shields.  I had seen most other parties have a background of a city, which was adorable but I just didn't have the time to pull it off.  I thought this turned out amazingly adorable and took a lot less work than the city idea would have.  The bright colors really popped but didn't take away from the kids.

We fed the children a super hero lunch.  We had Captain America Shield sandwiches.  I made them on round deli thins and cut a star in the middle.  It was easy, fun and tasty.

This is how we decorated our kitchen.  Christian made and cut out these cute words on the wall.  He spent hours cutting them out perfectly; they were great!

Besides the sandwiches we had Spiderman fruit snacks, Spiderman Cheese Its, apples and carrots, string cheese and juice boxes.  It was a great array of Super Hero food that did not make a mess and were all finger foods.  I bought the Avenger plates and Napkins from Target, as well as the fierce Avengers cup to hold the string cheese (now Berke can use it to drink from).

We bought this Avengers Poster and had the children use the sticky foam stars to try to "pin the star on Captain America's chest" blindfolded.  It turned out cute and was also a nice decoration before the stars got pinned on.

As a party favor all the children received a bag of popcorn,

as well as these  Bottle cap "super hero medals" that I found on Etsy, which the kids loved and were super cool.

It was actually a lot of fun to get together ideas and execute them for Berkeley's 4th Birthday Party.  It turned out very well.

Birthday visit from Poppa

 My Dad flew in for a visit for Berkeley's fourth birthday.  We had a lot of fun playing with him; Berke was especially happy to spend time with his Poppa.

We all went candle pin bowling, where Berke basically kept up with everyone else because it is such a difficult sport.

Clearly happy with his last roll

We had a little birthday cake and sang a little tune to him.  Chocolate cake and chocolate ice cream was requested.

We got our first real snow storm on Sunday.  Berke doesn't have any memory of playing in the snow since we didn't really get any last year.  He was super excited to play in this cold wet white stuff.

"Poppa, make me a snow ball." was asked repeatedly

McDuff really loved running around in the fluffy white stuff; he was quite a character.

We also attended the Children's Museum, but didn't bring the camera with us.  Berkeley loves that place.

New Years Eve is this little man's birthday.  He happens to be on this lovely world 4 years this special day.  He woke up happy to find an array of beautifully colored balloons all over his room.

 This kid was spoiled again, just 6 days after Christmas.  His mommy and daddy and all his grandparents and aunts pulled through on making sure he had a special day.  Grandpa Sorrels made him this amazing Avenger blanket.  He got a lot of really cool Avenger toys.

 Poppa got him this amazing electric guitar and took him to Build a Bear on his special day, where Berke build a little doggie named Shep Shep.

 Grandma and Grandpa Gentry made B this awesome Super B cape (2 sided) and amazing Shield.

 We had a fun day playing with all of Berkeley's new toys.  We went out to eat at Jose's in Cambridge for some delicious dinner.

Christian slaved all day making a homemade Almond Joy Cheesecake which was AMAZING!!

 Berke stayed up late doing his CARS sticker book with his Poppa.

We were so happy to have a fun visit from Poppa.  He spoiled us all and Berke loved having someone new to play with!

FOUR YEARS

I just cannot believe my little man is four years old today. I still remember how scared and nervous I was to be this little guys mommy four years ago, when my water unexpectedly broke. There is so much responsibility in being in charge of a little life; sometimes I feel so inadequate, other times I feel so blessed.  The last four years have changed me; this little guy made me change for the better.  To be a better, healthier, kinder, more honest and giving person.  He teaches me daily what is truly important.  I love him so much and am glad I get to call him mine. 

Happiest Birthday sweet Berkeley Boo!

Interests:
Mickey Mouse and Friends
Yo Gabba Gabba
Lightning McQueen and friends
Avengers
The IPad
Lady Gaga and other "bad guy" music
Instruments
skateboarding (such an odd one for him, as he is the most cautious boy I know)
Wii Dancing games

Favorite Movies:
Cars
Cars 2
Monsters Inc.
Finding Nemo
Incredibles
HOP
Lorax
Toy Story (all 3 of them)
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (various episodes)

Favorite things to do:
Museum of Science
Children's Museum
Stay at Hotels
Go to the Park
Play with his friends
Go to the beach
Play with Auntie G and Aunt Steffy

Favorite: (an interview with the 4 year old)
color: orange
Avenger: Iron Man
Stuffed Animal: Minnie Mouse
Toy: firetruck
Food: string cheese (I would argue spaghettios as the top pick)
Dessert: M and M's
Letter: B
Drink: apple juice
Place: Disney World
Singer: Lady Gaga
Favorite Cars character: Toss up between Finn McMistle and Shu Toduroki

Berke has had a wonderful year.  This year his language development has grown leaps and bounds; he knows how to tell jokes, say things that are funny to get him out of trouble and (sadly) talk back.  He is making us laugh constantly with the funny things he says. 
The other day I got home from work and he was hitting me with a drum stick.  I told him if he kept hitting me I would take the drum stick away.  He then replied, "Listen Punk! If you take away my drum stick, I'll take it right back from you." I had to start laughing because I have no idea where he learns this stuff ( he never uses words like this).  My favorite is when he compliments me on my "cute shirt" or tells me, "You look pretty mom!" without being prompted.
He has done a lot better getting used to being with groups of children thanks to his day care.  He just adores playing with his friends and has even deemed his friend Lily as his girlfriend, whom he will marry when he gets big. She's a totally cute girl, so I'd be down with that.
Berke has been learning a lot, he does wonderful with all of his letters and had to work super duper hard to get his numbers down.  He struggled for months trying to get those numbers down, but with a lot of persistence he can now count to 10.
Berke has an amazing memory, especially when it comes to music.  He will hear a song at one place and then a few weeks or months later he will hear the song again and say, "Is that the song we heard when...." or "Is this song from this show?" It really is amazing how often it happens and it surprises us every time.  He really is a listener and is always listening to what is going on in his situation.
Berke has come a LONG way with his picky eating, while it is still an issue, he is now eating pizza and spaghetti (and LOVES it), and other normal kid foods.  He will now eat vegetables and many more fruits.  He is getting better at eating what we eat for dinner; I will admit this has been a tiresome task for us, but it has paid off.  He still doesn't like french fries or anything that is mixed together (no ketchup on hot dogs or sauce of any type).  He continues to be vegetarian with out even knowing it.  He has faux chicken nuggets and veggie dogs and that is all he has ever tasted; he has no idea he is different from kids who eat meat.
Berke is a child of the technology era, he loves his Ipad and knows how to use it well.  He would play with that or our Iphone all day if he could.  He tries to use the tv as a touch screen but it doesn't work.  He uses one of my old Ipods as his Iphone and loves listening to music on it.