My Girls
This is an entry that I wrote on May 26th, but didn't feel like I was done with it when I got called away from the computer. Very typical of my blogging attempts lately, I'm afraid. Looking at it now (with a semi-awake Sophie on my lap), it seems complete enough to me to go ahead and publish - better than the nothing you've been getting the last couple of weeks. Joe has promised me some blogging time tonight, so hopefully I'll have some fresh new material for you sneaky readers by tomorrow.
Sophie seems to have decided that maybe evenings are not for sleeping after all, so I have had fewer chances to sit down at the computer and type this week. I haven't had any time to play with my yarn, either and it's a bummer. But it's hard to be too upset about it when you've got a baby staring at you with her gummy, drooly grin and just waiting for you to make eye contact so she can giggle with you. Joe's giving me a little break for a few minutes now.
I keep looking at my girls and wondering how they've managed to change so much since the last time I looked, so I figure it's time to write a little post about who they are right now. Let's start with Julie.
Julie just had her last day of ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education - sort of a pre-preschool program once a week) for the spring on Tuesday, so I took a few pictures. She loves doing the art projects they always have set up.
Over the course of the school year, she's made a lot of progress from just playing independently and mostly ignoring the other kids to actually playing with them, talking to them, singing the songs with the group, and generally making friends.
She loved her teachers and never seemed to have any trouble with saying goodbye to me when it was time for the moms and dads to go have our own discussion in the room down the hall.
Julie seems to be slimming down a bit, losing some of her baby chub. Her hair is getting longer again, and she asks me to braid it some days. I oblige when she's willing to stand still and Sophie is not too restless.
We've been outside a lot now that the weather is warm and the sun is out. Julie can't get enough of her sand box, and she loves blowing bubbles and drawing with the sidewalk chalk. She talks all day about meeting the elementary school kids as they get off the bus in the afternoon - the bus stop happens to be in our front yard, and they are very nice to her, usually stopping for a few minutes to talk and play with her.
We've been walking to the neighborhood parks several days a week as well, and she surprised me this spring by suddenly being able to climb up parts of the play structure that we didn't go near last summer. Rope ladders and regular ladders, she can get up them so quickly that I have to chase after her like a shadow in order to be there in time to spot her just in case. She's not yet 3, and even though she's done them many times now, I know her judgement of what's safe and her coordination are still pretty sketchy.
There are days when Julie drives me insane with the whining. Days when I just don't know how to respond when she never stops whining about one random, uncontrollable thing after another. Things like "I don't want to take a nap!" when no mention of naps had been made, or her food is not right when I put in front of her exactly what she requested. I know that this is typical for her age, and I try my best to simply accept it, ignore it when I can, move us on through the day. I am incredibly sad when the whining is valid and I can't fully meet her needs. The most familiar is "Mamma hold me" or "Mamma carry me". She can sound so pitiful at times, and it breaks my heart to tell her I can't right now because I have to carry Sophie. I try to find times to sit down and cuddle with her while Sophie sleeps or to hold them both together, but it is not always enough.
At almost 3, she is my big girl. I look at her and I see my own smile, many of my own sensitive personality traits.
Sophie, now. She is all Joe.
Sophie seems to have decided that maybe evenings are not for sleeping after all, so I have had fewer chances to sit down at the computer and type this week. I haven't had any time to play with my yarn, either and it's a bummer. But it's hard to be too upset about it when you've got a baby staring at you with her gummy, drooly grin and just waiting for you to make eye contact so she can giggle with you. Joe's giving me a little break for a few minutes now.
I keep looking at my girls and wondering how they've managed to change so much since the last time I looked, so I figure it's time to write a little post about who they are right now. Let's start with Julie.
Julie just had her last day of ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education - sort of a pre-preschool program once a week) for the spring on Tuesday, so I took a few pictures. She loves doing the art projects they always have set up.
Over the course of the school year, she's made a lot of progress from just playing independently and mostly ignoring the other kids to actually playing with them, talking to them, singing the songs with the group, and generally making friends.
She loved her teachers and never seemed to have any trouble with saying goodbye to me when it was time for the moms and dads to go have our own discussion in the room down the hall.
Julie seems to be slimming down a bit, losing some of her baby chub. Her hair is getting longer again, and she asks me to braid it some days. I oblige when she's willing to stand still and Sophie is not too restless.
We've been outside a lot now that the weather is warm and the sun is out. Julie can't get enough of her sand box, and she loves blowing bubbles and drawing with the sidewalk chalk. She talks all day about meeting the elementary school kids as they get off the bus in the afternoon - the bus stop happens to be in our front yard, and they are very nice to her, usually stopping for a few minutes to talk and play with her.
We've been walking to the neighborhood parks several days a week as well, and she surprised me this spring by suddenly being able to climb up parts of the play structure that we didn't go near last summer. Rope ladders and regular ladders, she can get up them so quickly that I have to chase after her like a shadow in order to be there in time to spot her just in case. She's not yet 3, and even though she's done them many times now, I know her judgement of what's safe and her coordination are still pretty sketchy.
There are days when Julie drives me insane with the whining. Days when I just don't know how to respond when she never stops whining about one random, uncontrollable thing after another. Things like "I don't want to take a nap!" when no mention of naps had been made, or her food is not right when I put in front of her exactly what she requested. I know that this is typical for her age, and I try my best to simply accept it, ignore it when I can, move us on through the day. I am incredibly sad when the whining is valid and I can't fully meet her needs. The most familiar is "Mamma hold me" or "Mamma carry me". She can sound so pitiful at times, and it breaks my heart to tell her I can't right now because I have to carry Sophie. I try to find times to sit down and cuddle with her while Sophie sleeps or to hold them both together, but it is not always enough.
At almost 3, she is my big girl. I look at her and I see my own smile, many of my own sensitive personality traits.
Sophie, now. She is all Joe.
posted by Shelly Kang at 9:55 PM
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