Autumn is Awesome in Austin.

Dear Hannah and Nathan, 

Aren't you glad to finally have a reprieve from this hot, humid weather that we've been having the past few weeks? The weather has been hovering around a balmy mid to high 80's with lows in the evenings ranging from high 50's to 60's. 

Hence, we've been spending as much time outside as possible. One morning, we just went to the school to play. Hannah, you pushed/rode your scooter for most of the way. You currently have a difficult time steering the scooter, but you have no qualms about flying down a hill (as long as it is straight). 

 You still LOVE the swings, but you are super cautious about it, never wanting to be pushed too high.


But when it comes to climbing structures, you have no fear of heights in this department.

 Nathan, I haven't forgotten about you. You love to go high on the swings and slide backwards down the slides. You also like to play pirate ship when we are on some sort of playground structure, booming the bad guys and pulling people out of the water via the slide.

 We've been laying low this week because on Thursday, annah, you woke up with a runny nose, which ended up being a mild cold. And then on Friday, after a playdate at the park, Nathan insisted on going home because you were tired. You ended up sleeping almost all day and all night. You must have caught a 24 hour bug because after waking up in the morning, you seemed to be completely better and have not showed any other signs of sickness then.

I'm so lucky to have 2 great helpers in the kitchen. Whenever I start cooking, I can anticipate the pitter pattering of little feet, followed by "help cook!" Then, almost always, comes, "I want to help too!" and then a little whimper comes out of Teddy as he longs for the little chefs to drop just one piece of food as they are cutting, or mixing. I will treasure these moments in the kitchen.

Hannah, you still love broccoli. You are able to eat about half a pound of cooked broccoli all in one sitting. In other news, you are also very particular on what color plate or utensil that you want to use. I entertain you most of the time, because you are always so good about saying, for example, "purple 'poon please!" I think I remember somebody else going through this phase. 

 I made candied sardines this week...I know, sounds disgusting, but these little guys are so packed with nutrients and I grew up eating them in Taiwan. I didn't use a candy thermometer when making these, so I don't think I got the temperature of the sugar high enough. It turned out to be more like a toffee or a caramel. Mixed with roasted sesame seeds and dried sardines, its' an interesting snack.

 Daddy did not like it. Nathan didn't even try it, but Hannah...

Loved it. Not sure if your sinuses were clogged and you just tasted the sweet and saltiness of the snack, or if you truly love it. You ate about 1/4 cup of sardines.

In school Hannah's teacher told me that you are speaking more. You only cried the second day you got dropped off at school Now when I drop you off, you go directly to playing at the table. The teacher also says that you hang around her at the playground, occasionally venturing off to play on the equipment, and then you return back to her. I think you generally like school.

Nathan, when I asked the teacher about how you are doing, your teacher told me that you exhibit leadership skills, but you need to work on not being so bossy. Some solutions include, perhaps asking instead of telling other kids what to do. Working on saying "Please" and being able to give and take/negotiate. I am seeing this at home when you play with Hannah, along with when you play with other friends. I don't want to intervene too much, but I don't want to regret not doing enough. It's a very fine line and I'm trying to figure out how far to go with this.

But other than this, Nathan, you are a great kid. You are super inquisitive, have a great attention span, come up with great ideas, creative, love to play games, you care about others, you want to help, have a good heart and you love, love, love listening to stories.

Well, as the week continues, and everyone's health is improving, we will be spending even more time outside, doing fun stuff, and making good memories.

BTW, Nathan, you had your annual check up today and you are close to the 50th% in both weight and height. You also had to get 2 shots, which you took really well. You whined when they poked you but you shed no tears! So proud of you. Hannah, on the other hand, did shed tears, but you quickly turned them off when the nurse handed you a glove balloon. We celebrated being brave with some Costco ice cream! Wahoo!

Until next week,
Love,
Mommy