August 22, 2011 by Dad.

Special breakfast, ready for school !!
John Green Elementary School - Kindergarten
Meeting Mrs. Bowen, in class, day 1 ends…

Cezanne started kindergarten on August 22, 2011. A major milestone in both her and her parent’s lives. Such a change !

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June 20, 2011 by Dad.

It will certainly not be remembered as the greatest birthday ever, but due to conditions outside our control we had to celebrate Cezanne’s milestone 5th birthday in a hotel room with a cupcake and candle. The little darling did not let any of this spoil her day, she enjoyed every minute of it. The circumstances causing this less that ideal birthday had to do with our relocation process, the fact that we were still waiting to hear if we had secured the bank owned home we had made an offer on more than 3 weeks earlier…

Cezanne you were a superstar for not making a fuss about how or where we celebrated - we did it together and that is what made it special !!

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June 4, 2011 by Dad.

After many hours spent at the Naperville Gymnastics Club over the last 3 - 4 years we reached the 2011 Spring Showcase which was our last with NGC. We had managed to delay our departure just long enough to be able to stay for this event. Cezanne and her team worked really hard all year preparing for their presentation.

Cezanne was a little nervous because there were some things she was not completely comfortable with but she showed that she could do it when she really wanted to and tried her hardest. All the girls did a great job and we wish those going on to try out for team all the very best ! We will miss you all !

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June 1, 2011 by Dad.

First to arrive, Cezanne picks her dress, tests out the thrown.

Check out the makeup ! She is in a world of her own…

The princess and all her ladies. Finally its time, cupcakes & tea !

With the move just around the corner we figured it made more sense to have Cezanne’s birthday party early before we left so that she could celebrate it with all her friends.She and her mother planned this for months and every week it was a different theme or was going to be at a different location until she finally settled on a princess tea party.

As it turned out the party and her graduation fell on the same day and that day just happened to be my birthday so Cezanne and I decided to trade birthday days this year. The day was going to be all about Cezanne anyway

Happy 5th Birthday !

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June 1, 2011 by Dad.

Cezanne the Munchkin	Cezanne’s Kensington 2011 - Graduation Production - The Wizard of Oz
Cezanne Graduation	Mrs Spears & Cezanne	Graduated !	A happy bunch !
Mrs Shelton & Cezanne	Cezanne & Mrs Spears	Cezanne & Gracie (BFF)

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June 20, 2010 by Dad.

The big day finally arrives and after opening a gift every day for a week it was finally time for the big haul, the mother load, the pile or presents…

Cezanne got a bike ( which needed a princess basket ) and she got another collection of princess stories to read with daddy at bed time, and she got the ladybug pillow pet she all ways wanted…

Note the cake was a ladybug as well - a lucky find at the local food store while doing some shopping.

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September 11, 2009 by Dad.

This time we remembered to take photos, and feel better about the whole thing. Last time we were so worried about getting her to school and making sure she was ok with the whole thing that we never took a picture so these are the official “first day of school” photos.

We are now in the big 3 year old class and we love our teachers.

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August 15, 2009 by Dad.

Well I was away for a week and when I returned I got the most precious welcome home. It was nice to see that she did actually miss me and that it was not just Lanelle prompting her to say it over the phone when we had spoken during the week.

On Saturday we decided that we were tired of Cezanne’s art projects being done and left to dry on our kitchen table, so we hatched a plan to create an art space for her so that she could help herself and make the mess in an area not used for eating.

The plan involved a few new furniture items that we decided to pickup at IKEA. When we arrived we both remembered that they had a kids “play zone” and took a fat chance by asking Cezanne if she wanted to shop with us or go play in the kids play zone. With no hesitation she answered that she wanted to play with the kids. We both took a breath and then explained nicely that we would be leaving her there while we went shopping to which she replied that was fine and she was a big girl.

We took her to potty and checked her in and off she went, not looking back for a moment.

Lanelle and I stood there, shell shocked for a few minutes before it really sank in.

We were given an hour of freedom to show and were almost finished when we heard a page that we should return to the kids area. We did and expected to find Cezanne in tears or worse, but all she needed was to go potty and she wanted Mommy. Turns out she could not make it onto the potty and had a little accident on the floor which she says she did clean up.

After finishing what she started, we asked if she was done or if she wanted to go back and play for the rest of the hour - how dare we even think she was done yet !

We checked her back in for the remaining 15 minutes and finished our shopping…

So either shopping with us is really so terrible she would rather endure the uncertainties of a foreign kids play zone, or she has really figured it all out and knows that she is now big enough to get by without us around all the time…

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June 20, 2009 by Dad.

Hooray ! Cezanne is 3 today !

We started the morning with a new gymnastics class and we had a blast, a nice new coach and so many other little girls to talk to and do gymnastics with, it was a treat ! Cezanne even told the coach when she needed to go potty and we made it without any accidents. Cezanne had really impressed us all with how quickly and how well she has done with the potty training !

Home after gym and then off to the zoo ! We decided that this would be a nice way to spend the day and again one of her best friends (Chloe) and family joined us for the day. Cezanne and Chloe had a wonderful time as they always do when they are together and not too tired or hungry

It was the first super hot day of the summer so we took swimsuits with to the zoo and the girls cooled off at the splash park. I had to stay close to ensure they were OK which was not all bad, I got to cool off too

It was a wonderful day out but so hot that when we finally got home we decided to open gifts in the basement where it was nice and cool. Here is a selection of some of the gifts that Cezanne received, thanks again to everybody !!

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June 13, 2009 by Dad.

 This year we ( Lanelle ) decided that we just could not do another “over the top” backyard birthday party. We resorted to a party at Bounce Town, an indoor inflatable party venue that we have been to a number of times for some of the older kids parties and they all seem to have a good time so I figured I would just give in and agree. We then ended up sharing the party with a friend, Bianca, who turned 4 earlier in June.

The party started with a lot of crying - Cezanne jumped off one of the slides onto the hard floor and must have hurt her foot but she moaned about it for at least 30 minutes. I was about ready to call it quits, load her in the car and return all the gifts. I took a few ( 500+ ) deep breaths and pretended to be “Father of the Year” and just ate up her whining until she stopped and we had fun playing basketball / football - see photo below.

Eventually it was time for cake and candles which ended off a really nice party. OK, Lanelle, go ahead and say it (”I told you so !”).

Its my party, I’ll cry if I want to !	Now I am all smiles..	A happy party girl !
All my friends !	Climbing up to…	…slide down with friends
Weeeee !	Playing Football w/ Dad	My Mickey Mouse Cake
Cezanne & Bianca	Blowing Candles	Happy Birthday Cezanne
Mmmm ! Cake !	Cezanne & Chloe

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