Lexi and Aunt Michelle go to a Baseball game

Written by Michelle, August 2014

Lexi took me to the Nationals v. Diamondbacks game tonight, and even treated me to dinner! Lovely nutritious ballpark fare. She wanted cotton candy but agreed to eat it after she had eaten some real food (pizza and peanuts). Then we split a shaved ice and some funnel cake.

We sat in our seats for the first two innings and the top of the third. But shortly after the game began, Lexi looked at the "action" and leaned over to say in a low, rather surprised voice, "It's kinda boring." She rated the game at a 1 in terms of level of "interesting" (1=really boring and 10=really interesting). I think the snacks as food were the most interesting.

Nevertheless, Lexi wanted to know who we should cheer for. After explaining home v. Visiting teams, she decided we should cheer for the Nats. We watched the Nats score a triple play in the 3rd inning and then we left.

Leo wanted a hat. The hawkers were selling caps for $5 outside the park. So we decided to get one from them. As w exited the park, a man sitting on the sidewalk was rattling a cup. "They're homeless!" Lexi exclaimed. "We can't get anything from them." but a man in a wheelchair sitting beside the man with the cup (he was rattling the cup to draw attention to some CDs he was selling) had some caps that he sold for $5. So, Lexi chose a blue hat.

We got free tote bags as giveaways when we entered the park. So there was one for Lexi and one for Natalie.

As we walked to the metro, Lexi shared a secret. "My daddy wouldn't have let me eat cotton candy or buy the hat. That's why I chose you to go with me."

Earlier, I asked her how she felt about being 7. She said that she still feels like she is six, but she is getting too big to sit on my lap. The metro ride to the ballpark was a bit crowded, so she said she would sit on my lap in order to make space for someone else to sit down, but "you owe me for sharing the seat when I paid for it and I'm buying you dinner!" Imagine that?! Thankfully, the lady we offered the seat to said she wanted to stand Bc she had been sitting all day.

Summer Reflections

The summer has come and gone. Over all, it was pretty good - not unbearably hot and humid 100% of the time and we had two great vacations where we got to see family.

Highlights include:

-Seeing the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam
-Getting together with Sarah's family and the cousins having some great quality time together
-Spending 11 days in Seattle with Baba and Lolo and for 7 of them, Stephen and I were on a cruise to Alaska - without the girls(!)
-Lexi learning to ride a bike - she really does get it now - still a little wobbly but she could definitely do trail riding now
-Natalie mastering potty training. Unlike her sister, Natalie seems to have mastered it all at once and only 1 accident in the first 4 weeks of Pre-K
-Lexi started 2nd grade and continues to be a great reader - don't think she slipped at all during the summer.
-Natalie started pre-k and is now in the same place as Lexi. Great to have them on the same schedule and less pick up/drop off headaches. She was a little hesitant to start but seems to have adjusted fairly rapidly to her classroom. Before care, where they meet in the cafeteria, took a little more adjusting to.
-Can now do kiss and ride with both girls, Lexi proudly opening the door for her little sister
-Natalie's words have come a long way and most people can understand her. She says her name when asked as "Natalie Padre". :)
-Lexi continues to grow taller and taller but is still skinny as a rail.
-Natalie is big for her age, comfortably fitting into 4T clothes.



First Day of School - Natalie

First Day of School - Lexi

So many milestones

Don't know where the time goes...obviously not spent blogging about what is going on in the Padre household!

Natalie is - almost- potty trained! Yeah! She has been in underwear every day since the beginning of May and is doing great. She was going through the night without having a wet diaper so I switched her to underwear in late April at night and then transitioned to underwear all day. The first couple of days at day care she went through 4 pairs of pants but this last week, Natalie came home from day care in the same clothes that she went there in! Very, very exciting! I am no longer worried about her starting pre-school the week of August 11th.  She does have accidents still and the bowel movements tend to be a bit tricky - she knows they are coming but wants to get off the potty before she is truly finished.  But we know she will get there.

Her language continues to improve and she has become a real chatter box. Lexi spent the night at Auntie Michelle's house and Natalie talked our ears off! Now we can't get her to stop! We can't understand everything she is trying to say - sometimes it is the words and other times the context...we will get the words but can't figure out what she is referring to.

Lexi is reading chapter books to herself and doesn't want to put books down! It's SOO wonderful.  She really loves to read. Math, on the other hand, is kind of a struggle for her.  And Mom and Dad don't know how to help her   - they aren't doing it the way we dig - so there have been several tantrums thrown.

Stephen and my goal this summer is to teach Lexi how to ride a bike.  We didn't get very far last summer and she tends to get so nervous. I hope we have the patience to make it through.

Lexi and Michelle as weather reporters

Two weeks ago, Michelle took Lexi and Natalie to a science fair in town, and Michelle and Lexi made this video.

An example of Natalie's weekly "report card"

Natalie's daycare sends home a sheet every week on which they have evaluated her behavior every day. It's titled "How Well I Do With Classroom Rules." Here is last week's report - the portion where the teachers have added their comments. It's a mixed bag of a report for the week, which is pretty typical for her.

Monday
Enjoys and participates in the morning meeting, though reminded to stay with the group and wait for her name to be called.

Tuesday
She's a little bit fussy today. She whines whenever things doesn't get her way (sic). Reminded to use words to say what she wants.

Wednesday
She cuts with scissors so well and able to follow lines while cutting. Reminded to wait for instruction before moving to another activity.

Thursday
She always show (sic) pride in her accomplishments by demonstrating it to teachers and friends. Though reminded to keep hands to self when others don't agree with her.

Friday
No notes

Yep. She's her parents' daughter!

Recent Pics of the Girls

Very, very bad at taking pics of the 2.5 year old though I usually remember on her birth "day" each month.

Natalie's Sleep Schedule

For probably the last 4-6 weeks, Natalie hasn't wanted to go to bed. She wants me to stay in her room, rub her back, rock with her in the chair, redo the blankets, etc. She screams and runs after me if I try and leave the room.  She can easily be awake until 10 pm, totally ruining my chance at any me time.  Last Friday, I was out in the evening and Stephen put her to bed - with no problems. If got her settled, then left the room and even though she wasn't asleep yet, it was not a problem. Last night I went to yoga and came in late so Stephen put the girls to bed again.  Same story with Natalie.  I must be the problem! Not sure if I can manage to disappear at bedtime every evening....wish we knew how to break Natalie of this habit she has developed when I am home.

Natalie's Growing

Natalie at 2 years 3 months

Natalie at 2 years 4 months

Natalie at 2 years 5 months

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!