Basketball, Braids and a Caterpillar

Last weekend was a busy one! Mzee started "basketball clinic" and was very excited. Of course he got a new t-shirt and learned to dribble, pass and shoot. Well, he already knew how to shoot...though he needs a lot of practice in the dribbling department. It's so interesting to watch him try to dribble. It is such a learned hand eye coordination, so we are practicing with him quite a bit.
Also last weekend, Milan got braids for the first time! A friend of mine, Clyde, came over to braid her hair for me. This is as a result of me asking every non-caucasian mom I know for tips on how to better care for Milan's hair. I can honestly say I was not prepared for the work her hair is going to be. Thankfully, Clyde gave me some great tips, great product suggestions ( I can't believe I'm already using product on my baby!) and she can braid well, i.e. fast. Neither of us were sure if it would even be possible to braid her hair as she is pretty determined when she does or doesn't want something. Milan was busy playing while Clyde followed her aroudn putting braids in quickly. I wish Milan was so accepting of me working on her hair! Here's a picture of her with her new braids....unfortunately, her hair texture isn't conducive to long wearing braids, so they were out by Tuesday and she's back to pigtails for the time being.

Milan with her new braids!

Grandpa and Grandma sent Milan a package over a week ago, and we finally got it on Saturday. Unpacking it was interesting as it just kept going as I took it out of the box. It is a six foot long, multi-colored caterpillar! It is adorable and Milan immediately laid down on it like it was a cozy body pillow! Mzee loves it too of course, and they have had a blast playing with it! I've never seen anything like it, it is so cute! Grandpa sure knows how to pick gifts!

Milan and her new caterpillar!

We love our new caterpillar, Grandpa!

This week Mzee has had a very busy week. Yesterday he and his class went to our favorite pizzeria and they got to make pizza with the owner! He was so excited about it and told me he got to help put on the sauce and the cheese! Today they walked back to the pizzeria to deliver a thank you note. Yesterday was a beautiful day, so Don picked Mzee up early from daycare and took him to the playground to ride his bike. The playground was very busy with the after school crowd and Mzee made some new friends and even let a couple of "big boys" ride his bike.

Last night when we were eating dinner, Mzee started a phrase with, "Mom, let me tell you something..." Such a grown-up thing to say, I thought.

Milan is loving school and says "bye bye Daddy" and "bye bye Mommy" as soon as we put her down in her classroom! She really loves it there. When we ask her who she played with today though, she still says "Cole", one of the boys from her daycare in Omaha. She has also now added "Ian", a boy from the part time daycare she was at most recently. She does know the names of all four kids in her current class too.