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