Lexi goes to art class

Because her friend from school Ana Lu was going, Lexi agreed to be signed up for a 4 week art class that would mean for one hour on Saturday mornings.  She went to the first one today - still feeling a little nervous but she had a great time.  They made monsters out of tissue boxes. Lexi's monster is pink with orange teeth, circles, hearts and a name tag. One hand is also holding a valentine's card.

Her monster's name is April.

Sleep Troubles

Natalie has not wanted to go to bed the last 3 nights. She just refuses to get into bed, gets out if you put her, opens her door if you close it.  So that Lexi can fall asleep without screaming from next door, we have let Natalie stay up until we go to bed.  She doesn't act tired at all.

Last night, when it was time for us to go to bed, I took her to her room and then blocked the door so she couldn't open it. She was so incredibly mad at me. She did finally lie down - crying - but didn't want me to put the blankets on her, touch her or turn the small heater we have in her room on. Every time I tried to do something with the heater or the blankets, there was crying again.

I think she woke up probably 4 times - about every 1-2 hours.  She would come into our room, I would take her back to her room and she would lie down. But didn't always fall asleep right away.

This morning, she has a slightly crusty nose so I am wondering if she is getting a cold and not feeling 100%.

Hoping that normal sleeping returns soon.

Natalie and her friends

Natalie's friend Bobby wanted to give her a hug when she left today. Natalie wasn't having it. She ran into the corner and turned face in. Then when Bobby approached her in the corner she said "I don't want it." Poor Bobby was a little hurt. Hope that Natalie accepts a hug tomorrow.

Coming from the child who recently hit her friends, it is a wonder that anyone wants to hug her at all!

Where does time go??

Hard to believe February is almost over.  Lexi is now six and a half and a bunch of her classmates are turning 7. 7! Hard to believe.  Supposedly several girls in her class are going to have sleepovers.  Not sure if that is true or just talk as Lexi hasn't been invited to any sleepover yet.  Not sure how she would handle it either.  She tends to cling to me in strange places - maybe she doesn't understand that I wouldn't be staying?? Time will tell.  Her reading and writing continues at a great pace but math doesn't seem to come as easily to her.

Natalie continues to be strong willed. Last week, she hit her friend at day care and then had a royal tantrum where they could hear her screaming outside of the building. I feel like there is no progress on the potty training but I think she is controlling it...crossing my fingers that she is potty trained by August 11th. That is when she will start pre-k.  Don't know what I will do if she is not potty trained. We will find out the first week in March if she has a slot at Lexi's school. It will be so nice to have them both at the same place (same building for 3 years) and on the same break schedule, etc.  Much less coordination required.

Both girls do things that we think "we need to write that down" but rarely happens...sigh.


 

Update on Natalie's speaking

Last week, while Baba and Lolo (Stephen's parents) were still with us in D.C. the week after Christmas, Natalie suddenly offered to say the table prayer before dinner one night. Even before we all sit down at dinner now, she launches in with this: "God is great, and God is great [instead of good], and we thank Him for our food. Amen."

Natalie has had a fascination with buses for a few months. Lately, when we've all been in the car together going somewhere, she sees a bus and then proceeds to say, "Mommy see the bus? Daddy see the bus? Sasi (Lexi) see the bus?"

A few weeks ago, Sarah remarked on her Facebook page that Natalie had entered the "Why?" stage, and she was intensely asking that for two or three weeks. She was also asking "Mommy/Daddy, what doing?" all the time. She isn't asking these questions as much now - only on occasion. But now she's actually answering her questions when they are asked back to her. The other day, she asked what I was doing (it was something like eating my breakfast), and I told her, and then I asked it back to her, and she answered in a complete sentence!

And my mother gave me these details of an incident when they were visiting: Lexi and Natalie were in the basement TV room watching videos. It became Lexi's turn to choose a video. Natalie slammed the laptop shut and threw her little body across the computer, yelling, "It's my turn!"

Her speech is still getting better by the week!

What Natalie is up to

I often think - I need to write on the blog - and just don't get it done.  Feeling slightly guilty that we did a good job documenting Lexi's growth when she was this age but haven't been able to keep it up for Natalie.  Woe being the 2nd child.

Cute things Natalie is doing are:

Asking to go upstairs for her nap.  After lunch this weekend, she initiated nap time herself.  This is SUCH a blessing. 

Saying "I love you." Sometimes she says it back to you and sometimes she just says it herself.

"I do it myself!" is said proudly ALL the time - after any accomplishment, big or small.

Copying her sister exactly - Lexi whispers "can I go watch a video?" And then Natalie whispers the exact same thing.

Saying "Bobby (from day care) is my friend" - over and over again.

She picked up a book the other day, said she was going to read it and then starts out "This book is about..."

She loves Christmas lights: points them out and comments on how pretty they are.

Natalie is also asking lots of questions and sometimes seems to be in constant motion as well as chattering constantly.  She is a busy little girl.

We did get a little bit of snow on Tuesday (about an inch) but Natalie wasn't so sure about it.

Still working on potty training though not progressing too much from my way of thinking...

Natalie's speech

Lately Natalie has become quite the talkative 2-year-old. For a while now, she has understood us when we've given her instructions, for example. We can tell her to throw something in the trash or recycling, and she has understood the difference and acted accordingly. But now she is doing a lot of imitating of words and sentences and telling us a lot of thing on her own. Some examples:

• "Daddy, the baby is sleeping." - when she has put her doll to bed in the living room
• This morning she sat at the table with us at breakfast and went back and forth between me and Sarah saying, "Read it" while holding up cards from a deck of go-fish cards with an aquatic theme.
• "I have pockets!" she has declared after putting on a certain top in the morning.
• When we're in the car at a stoplight, she'll ask, "Why stop?" or say, "Stop."
• Also when we're in the car and Sarah or I sing to a song on the radio, she'll tell us, "No sing. Listen, Daddy/Mommy."

This means her vocabulary has taken a huge leap. We still often have trouble understanding her, however. Here are a few of her latest words and phrases:

Vos                  (get) dressed

I can (can’t) do it myself

Sasi                  Lexi

Pants

Hat                  Hat/helmet

Tha’one           That one 

For the last several days, she has been quite chatty almost constantly. 

Many times a day, when she is with either Sarah or me, she asks, "Mommy/Daddy, what doing?" We answer her, and often she'll ask again a few times. Or we'll tell her what we're doing (flossing our teeth, eating dinner, washing our hands) and then ask what she's doing, but she doesn't respond.

We're so impressed by her recent gains in speaking abilities, and it's great to have a new level of interaction and understanding with her.