Communication Sensation at 17 Months

Dear Hailey, 

You are just a little sponge as you soak everything around you in. I only have to show you once and you learn the names of things, sometimes even signing things like strawberry when you see it in a book after having some strawberries earlier that day. 

Right now your signs for "strawberry," "poop," and "banana" and really, "more" all look the same. You will say "Mo" when you sign it, so that's when I know that you really want more. And when you sign poop, you will also point to your tummy or diaper and have this worried look on your face. You will also blow air out of your mouth as if you are trying to say "poo." With Nathan and Hannah, I would've just rushed them to the potty, but I'm going to try to be more laid back about it this time around and maybe you will be potty trained sooner. 

We went to the wildflower center yesterday and you were so excited to see other kids and just toddled around, exploring everything and saying "hi" to everyone. My, my, you are my social butterfly. 

 And you are also so very independent. You want to do EVERYTHING by yourself. It almost seems like you don't trust Hannah right now because every time she comes near you, you will push her away, almost protecting whatever you are interested in at the moment.

 You are eating *slightly* better. I've been just giving you random things and you have been surprising me with what you end up liking and eating. Spinach, chestnuts, and bell pepper have been interesting to you. You will put them in your mouth, chew it and then spit it out. And then you will take another bite and repeat until you finish what you have in your hand. Frustrating? Sure is!

But one cool thing that you always do is that you hand me your plate/bowl/cup when you are finished and then you say, "Ah-dah."  This has been a nice deviation from what Nathan and Hannah did, which was to push said items onto the floor.

When you come across a lunch box, you will pick it up and mimic Daddy as he is leaving for work in the morning. You will walk towards someone and go "mmmmuh" as if you are kissing them goodbye. I think all three of you have done this.

Hannah,
You have been going through a rebel stage lately. I will ask you nicely not to do something, and then you will sneakily do what I just asked you not to do. So then I yell at you. Do you like it when I yell at you? It makes me frustrated when you don't follow what I ask you to do, but it makes me mad when you do it anyways. I've been trying to keep my cool when I catch you rebelling, but there must be something going on.

Yesterday, we went to the wildflower center and we asked for the scavenger hunt that they usually have for the kids. The lady at the desk crossed off a garden gnome and said that he is resting right now and we won't be able to find him. Well, the whole time we were there, you were insisting that we find that garden gnome. No matter how many times I told you that he was either getting fixed, or stored away in a building somewhere, you kept on telling me, "But I want to find it!"

Grrr.

 Both of you enjoyed playing in the sand pit. We acted out an episode of Nailed It and Hannah made a spread of different types of breads.

  I wasn't sure how Hailey would've responded since Nathan hated playing in sand when he was younger, but she loved it and kicked her feet back and forth to feel the sand between her toes.

 And of course, every time we are there, I always take these butterfly pictures just to document their growth.

 Seriously, the weather has been amazing the past 3 days and then today, we went back to being cold and drizzly. But we were able to install a bunch of metal edging both in the front yard and the back. I am almost done with the back so I'll be sure to post a picture of it when I'm all finished with it. I've been taking advantage of Hailey's long naps in the afternoon to get the yard work done. After Hailey wakes up the girls will play on the patio and yesterday it was even warm enough to play with the water table.

 Last Wednesday, we celebrated the last day of Chinese new year by making rice dumplings filled with sweet sesame filling. I'm really enjoying our Wednesdays off from school. I love exploring exotic restaurants with you and doing all sorts of crafty things with you. You truly are my mini-me.

Nathan,
You seem to be doing better at school these days. You come home and usually it's been a good day. (Unless you guys skip science, which then, it becomes the worst day ever.) Your music teacher stopped me the other day and told me how good of a student leader you are in the class. I'm liking this much better than when you were refusing to participate in class.

This past weekend I got a chance to attend my Mothers of Preschoolers group retreat. There I was inspired to live my life with joy and above all, find ways to bless and bring life to others around me. I was reassured that it's ok for me to be pursuing my own passions because it's good for you guys to see me as a person who is pursing my life to its fullest. I hope to be a testament of what it looks like to try and persevere.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm going to try to get to bed! Until next week!

Love,
Mommy

Week 72.3: Fun Times with a 16 Month Old

Dear Hannah, 

This is the golden age of being a little kid. You are exploring, learning, communicating, and are becoming more independent. Sometimes you will throw your head back in a tantrum, or complain by pretend crying after I tell you "no." 

You have been eating a bit better now that I'm limiting the amount of milk that I give you. You love your dairy products, but they are messing with your appetite for other nutritious foods. 

This week you have been into eating cereal in milk. Before you just ate dry cereal, but one day while you saw Hannah eat, it took you awhile, but you finally were able to communicate that you wanted cereal in a bowl, with milk, sitting on a regular chair, not your high chair. 

Call me the toddler whisperer! 

You guys have been pretty interested in playing with the duplos. I took them out of the closet and you guys have been building all sorts of neat things with them lately.

Hailey, you like to sit in the middle of a pile and just kick your feet back and forth to make the duplo pieces clang and clatter against each other.

On Wednesday, our friends came over and we decorated sugar cookies and brownies for a nursing home. We had keep some of the cookies for ourselves because someone got a little crazy with the finger licking...

Right now the dynamic between you guys is as follows:

Nathan and Hannah: Love/hate relationship. One moment you are best friends, and another moment someone's feelings get hurt (or physically gets hurt) and someone wants the other person to move with another family. Ouch...you guys are harsh!

Hannah and Hailey: Hannah you love to play with Hailey, but you sometimes annoy her by being too overwhelming. Hailey will definitely let you know when you are doing something that she doesn't like, but sometimes it seems like you don't get the clue. 

And Hannah, you aren't exactly being the best example for Hannah. Between your screaming, grabbing things out of her hands, and climbing into the crib, I have a feeling that the two of you will be a little bit of trouble makers together. Just yesterday morning, I heard you go into Hailey's room, so I checked the monitor, only to find this:

Nathan and Hailey: Nathan, you like to do things to make her laugh, but most of the time you just don't want her near you because she will mess up whatever you are working on. We have various barricades set up throughout the house solely to protect your stuff from Hailey. 

The weather has been absolutely amazing the past few days. Friday the weather reached 90 degrees! One day I decided to trick you guys into going on a hike through the woods behind our house. Of course when I mentioned it, Nathan was very against the idea of a hike and Hannah was exactly the opposite. So then I suggested that we bring some nets to see if we can catch the fish in the creek. 1) I very well knew that there was not going to be any fish but I knew that it would be the carrot that would entice you both to come outside. 2) It worked. 

 The nets got snagged by the pokey shrubs, but you guys eventually got the hang of walking with them. I just had to take this picture, but I couldn't get Hailey (who is on my back) in the picture. Can you believe that this is behind our house? This time of the year is really the only time I would go back there because 1) there are no mosquitoes, 2) the water is flowing, and 3) most of the brush is dormant, so it's fairly clear to walk through the woods.

 You guys looked and looked, but no fish. We did, however find a deer skeleton. Overall, Hannah loved the hike and Nathan you pretty much complained most of the way but deep down inside, I know you enjoyed it.

When I suggested that we go out a few days later, you both were pretty excited, and this time, we actually caught a little minnow in the lake!

On Friday we went to Zilker park in the morning. Hailey, you are quite the dare devil and was completely happy with swinging super duper high! I was paying close attention to look for the slightest sign of fear, but you just held on and smiled as Nathan pumped you both higher and higher. At some point, you were pretty much suspended at an 8:00 position (with 6:00 being at rest) and finally started looking slightly nervous. Nathan read the face and slowed down and immediately you were OK again.

Well, this week will be a bit more low key as we have a break in the martial arts schedule.

With Love,
Mommy

Hailey Signs and High Fives

Dear Nathan, Hannah & Hailey, 

It's been over 2 weeks since I last posted. I think this may be the new norm, but I'm going to try to not let things go any longer than that. 

Seems like Hailey is now eating better. Last week the only way you would eat was if Hannah fed you food. This week, the same trick doesn't work anymore, but you seem to be more hungry, so you want to eat by yourself. Feeding is no longer acceptable. 

 Hailey, you are quite the dare devil. You love to go super high on the swings,

you love to slide down big slides on your own, 

and this week, you started doing assisted forward rolls on the couch. You will bend over and put your head down to signal that you need a little push on the tushy. We support you and roll you onto your back. You absolutely love it and can repeat this forever. 

You seem to have made another leap recently as you are signing even more and with more intention. You will sign "more," "book," "cracker," "eat," "milk," "sleep," "baby," "bath," and nod or shake your head. Between pointing and walking to where you need to go, I'd say you are able to communicate most of your wants. 

Just last night you finally slept through the night, like really sleep though the night from 8pm to 7:10 am. You have been waking up around 5 and then going back down, but last night was amazing! I even felt a pep in my step this morning and made berry pancakes for everyone! 

You love giving high fives. At the end of martial arts, all the students run around the room, giving high fives to their senseis and observers. When it's about that time, you wriggle off my lap and run towards the mat. And then you assume the stance: 

Every time someone gives you a high-five, you turn around and show me how proud/excited you are. It's definitely the highlight of your day.

Nathan and Hannah, you both have been going to martial arts for about a month. Nathan has 3 stripes on your white belt and Hannah, you have 2. You both love attending and are always eager to practice your skills on each other at home. Hailey will even start to imitate you guys. In fact, when you two are kicking in class, she will stand up and try to kick herself. It's adorable how much she looks up to you two.

Sparring: Hannah's favorite activity.

 Last week, I was so glad to be able to go on a field trip with you Nathan. We went to play at the park for a bit and you showed me all of your friends.

 And then afterwards, we went to the Thinkery. While you explored with your friends, I had a chance to hang out with Hailey and let her explore for a bit too.

Last week was also the science fair. We stopped by during family viewing to look at all of the projects. You are very proud of your work and you didn't want to leave school without it. You did an experiment to find out what ingredient makes pancakes fluffy.

 And then last weekend, we got together with a few Chinese families and celebrated the Chinese new year, Texas style. The original plan was to have hot pot at one of our homes, but then the thought of 7 little boys running around anyone's house helped us decide to take the celebration out. We went to Rudy's for BBQ, the kids played outside and afterwards, each child received some red envelopes.

 One day I had to make a quick trip to the market. Hailey since you are now walking so well, I grabbed a little cart for you to push. Your facial expression when I first put you down was like you were saying, "really? that's...for me?" After a few encouraging nods and words, you quickly took off. It took awhile, but soon you mastered steering. Meanwhile, the other shoppers just looked down at you with adoration at your cuteness... at least that's what I'd like to think.

 Hannah you stay home on Wednesdays now because you want to spend more time with us. So, we went to the Thinkery to explore for a bit, and it was cool to see you show Hailey all of the things.

 Afterwards we went to the Chinese market, which you love going because I bribe you guys with being able to pick out your own Asian snack item. And then we went to Kura sushi, AKA the caterpillar sushi place where they have food on a conveyor belt.

 On Friday we got some hail/freezing rain/sleet...not sure but while I was working, Daddy stayed at home with you guys and I guess there was enough accumulation to go outside to play for a bit.

With Valentines day coming up, a piano recital for Nathan (I forgot to mention that Nathan, you have been going to piano club after school for about a month), a 4 day weekend for Nathan, things will get busy, but fun. In the meantime, stay warm and don't get sick!

Love,
Mommy