Dear Kiddos,
The photos loaded chronologically, and I'm exhausted, so I'm just going to follow the pics and start writing.
Hannah, as you get older, I'm finding more examples of how you have more of my genetic material in your body than your siblings. At our last dental visit, we both were surprised with the appearance of 2 cavities. Now, before the pandemic I had not had a cavity in over 15 years (except for the 2 that I got while pregnant with Nathan). But when I asked the dentist if the pandemic was causing more people to get cavities, without hesitation, she said, yes! So let this be a PSA to all. Make sure you are brushing twice a day and flossing! It's too easy to forget that morning brush, at least for me it is.
Hannah, you took it like a champ. You did so good, but afterwards, you told me that you did not want to go through that again. Yep, me neither. Writing this down for the record.
Cedar pollen levels are finally at a tolerable level so we've been spending more time outside. One morning I took the 3 of you to the Blue Hole in Wimberly. It looks different from when I came before kids, but that could also be due to how empty it was compared to peak season.
There were gorgeous cypress trees and the water was crystal clear blue.
And the hiking paths were short enough that even you, Hailey could walk most of it without being carried. We built several teepees along the trail.
Just to note that since we don't take car rides often anymore, you 3 get carsick super easily. Either that, or my driving has gotten pretty bad. But when we arrived at the blue hole, Hailey you were in the middle of a tantrum, complaining about your neck. When we finally parked and I unbuckled your seat, you immediately lost your breakfast, projectile style and then you calmed down.
Nathan, you spend a lot of time reading on your own these days, so I never have a lot of pics of you. One afternoon, we had a brief moment to just jump outside, the 2 of us and I tried to capture a few of your crazy stunts.
Hailey, on occasion, you will join Hannah for martial arts. Sometimes you are great at following along, but then there are times when I hear Hannah's voice, trying to redirect you, so I go upstairs to rescue her.
And then I see you doing things like this. It's ok. You are 3. It's funny and cute. So I just pick you up and we read a book together or you help me get dinner ready.
So I've noticed that Hannah doesn't play with her dolls much at all anymore. I've actually put them all away for now, but then it hit me. Why play with dolls when you have a 3 year old sister to dress up?
Hailey, you've been asking for princess hair every day and apparently only Hannah knows how to do it right. I think my styles are too functional for you. Who wants their hair in a simple braid, out of their eyes, when you can have a hairdo made up of an intricate network of ponytails and faux bangs ?
We still spend about 1.5 hours a day doing school. Hannah, this is your language arts outfit. You have claimed that the math curriculum that I got for you was too easy, so I got the simplest book for the curriculum that Nathan is using. It's for advanced 2nd graders and with some coaching, you are able to complete the work. It's a perfect challenge and it gives you plenty of opportunities to practice your math facts, but in a sneaky way. You are now ready simple chapter books and have beautiful handwriting. We've come a long way, but I'm happy to see the progress that you've made. It's still a struggle most mornings to get you started on school, but once you get going, it's not so bad.
Hailey, you still love to cut paper. Now you are making things for people. You even brought up your friend from gymnastics class and you wanted to make him a present. You made him a butterfly out of paper and asked Hannah to wrap it with wrapping paper so that you could, "Give it to my friend, E__."
Another afternoon we went to a local park to skate/scooter. At the first bend, Hailey, you tripped over a big crack in the sidewalk and got a huge elbow booboo. The rest of the mile was a constant effort of pushing you forward. In hindsight, I should've just had us all go back right after you fell. But, nonetheless, we made it and at the end, you emerged from the forest looking like a princess who had a long night.
Here's a picture that perfectly summarizes three-nager Hailey. Your awesome hairdo, dress (you are in a dress phase) and hand crafted paper item (in this picture, you made a bracelet).
Another morning, we went to go explore the lake in our neighborhood. It's getting pretty dry, but there is still some water flowing into it. It was fun getting to walk around in the lake bed and jumping across little streams cut cut by erosion. Great geology lesson opportunity that day too.
You 2 big kid are set out on building a wooden boat. You two have this grand idea that your boat, made out of sticks and twigs will float and be able to carry you guys across the lake. I've explained to you how it's not going to work and I've even showed you what wooden boats look like, and you still want to try to make one. Ok, not going to fight you on this one.
Hannah, we have to be careful around you because you see a piece of trash like an opportunity to create something. It's cool to see you create away with paper and a roll of tape. I just can't even imagine my parents ever letting me do that. Tape was stored hidden away at my house growing up. Anyways, you made an ice cream topping dispenser...pretty cool. (haha)
Our awesome neighbor also dropped off a few little gifts for you guys. One of them was a bird book and she had prepared a little ring of twigs for us to get started on a bird nest/basket. We spent all afternoon collecting twigs yesterday and then this morning, we started to make it.
Hailey, you helped with material prep as you studiously cut away the leaves from each of the branches.
After about 20 minutes, you both got bored, so I finished up the frame of the nest and started weaving some of the twigs.
Hannah, you came back to finish up the weaving and you laid some soft leaves and dryer lint in the nest. Now we have a nest ready for a bird to come and customize to their liking.
I still find that 3 is a crowd. Any 2 kids can play together well for a good amount of time, but anytime a 3rd tries to join, drama follows shortly. Not to say that when 2 are playing, it's always awesome, but there are definitely moments where you 2 are ready to rip each others' arms off, but then there are times where you are falling over each other giggling your hearts out.
Hailey, you are getting really good at coloring inside the lines...with paint too! And after 3 weeks of Daddy doing a great job at tracking your diet, we've confirmed that you can't have dairy and acidic fruits in excess. Grapes for some reason cause your digestive system havoc. So now, for most of the time, you are actually a really pleasant little human being. You are great at using your words and will often even say your "please" and "thank yous." I was just telling Daddy that we have a terrific three on our hands.
Today when Hannah was sad, you happened to be on the couch and you told Hannah, "Come here, I can give you some hugs" and then you proceeded to talk her down from her emotions and even stated what Nathan did wrong.
Well, until next week,
Love,
Mommy
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