Archive for the '77.Two kids-November 12' Category

A (final) birthday celebration

Friday, November 30th, 2012

Zoe had a final birthday celebration today, with her class welcoming in the family of kids with November birthdays. Avery and I joined the class to sing Happy Birthday and eat popsicles.

We are now, I think, officially birthday’d out!

-M

 

Nap no more

Thursday, November 29th, 2012

We’ve reached a bit of a milestone with Avery, who has stopped taking an every-day nap. As our recent houseguests know, I wasn’t thrilled with the prospect of this happening: Her body still seems to need the rest (she sometimes sleeps on weekend afternoons for two or three hours), and it feels so early for her to give it up. (Zoe was just shy of four when she stopped napping at school and even older when she gave up her weekend naps.) Plus, of course, she’s my baby.

Still, after being nudged by Q and having Avery ask me several days in a row why she had to nap (“Zoe doesn’t have to; it’s not fair”), I agreed to try it out. And the truth is that it’s gone well: She’s super excited to get to play with the “non-nappers” at school, she’s not too grumpy by bedtime, and perhaps most importantly she’s so proud of the new development. She couldn’t wait to tell her teachers the morning we told her she wasn’t going to nap that day, and she kept telling me, “I’m a big girl.”

Big girl, indeed.

-M

All I Really Need

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

I mentioned last week that Zoe and her classmates gave a little pre-Thanksgiving recital. Below is one of their performances.

-M

Is it done yet?

Tuesday, November 27th, 2012

I made pumpkin bread for Thanksgiving one day last week, and Avery was very interested in tasting the final product. She camped out by the oven for quite some time!

-M

Six!

Saturday, November 24th, 2012

It was a busy birthday for Zoe, with opening presents, going out for breakfast, getting nails done (a birthday tradition), going to a musical (her first!) and enjoying dinner and cake with Safta and PopPop on the agenda. “This is the best birthday ever,” Zoe told me at one point. Not sure how we can top this next year!

-M

Six-year update

Friday, November 23rd, 2012

Something to place in the hard-to-believe category: Zoe is six years old today! A lot has happened in the last six months, with the biggest being her saying good-bye to preschool and hello to kindergarten. Here’s a bit more about what she’s like now.

Interests: Just like at her last update, Zoe loves playing make-believe games – particularly school and doctor’s office. Her new thing is to play PE (I love that she loves gym class) or pretend she’s Mr. Ferris, her kindergarten teacher. She loves performing, doing science experiments and also arts-and-crafts activities like drawing, painting, creating things out of scrap materials, and hand-stitching little things at school. She has been asking for a sewing machine for some time – so as a surprise, we got her a little one for her birthday. (Shhhh, she hasn’t opened it yet.) She still loves Star Wars (hence the recent themed birthday party), and she has gotten very into making Star Wars figures with LEGOS. Of course many of her activities, at least those at home, involve her sister.

School life: Her adjustment to kindergarten was fairly smooth – perhaps because she was already familiar with the building (which is attached to the preschool) and/or many of the kids that go there with her (1/3 of the incoming kindergarteners are from her old school). I’m convinced that her experience at summer camp also helped instill her with some pre-kindergarten confidence. Her best buddy remains Zachary, but she has developed new friendships as well. (The other day, we got an e-mail from the mom of a boy in her class asking if we could set up a playdate – because her son talks about her all the time. That made me so happy!) She really loves (real) school and is constantly coming home telling us stories or spitting out words she learned in class. She is showing a greater interest in reading and can read/spell more words (especially “sight words”) than ever before. The other day she asked if she could get a “word board” in her bedroom (like at school), and I was so proud when she wrote “Fenics” for Phoenix earlier this week. Her teachers have been working with the kids on sounding out words, and she did this one her own. Not perfect, but close!

Temperament: We sometimes call Zoe “Little Mommy,” because she is fairly responsible for her age and is often nurturing and looking out for others. (The other night I was sad about something and she ran over to ask if I was okay, and she also instructed Avery to come give me a hug. And then there’s that card she made for me a few months ago.) She sometimes says things that I do and she seems to share some of my characteristics – which was evident a few weeks ago when she came home from school and said she wanted to pack her lunch and pick out her clothes for the next day. “I just want to be really efficient – in case we don’t have much time in the morning,” she told me. While her mellow ways continue, she does still have the occasional meltdown – usually when overtired – and she can be sassy at times. She sometimes ignores me when I ask her to do something, which can lead to unpleasant exchanges between the two of us. And I should point out that though it’s easy to forget, she is still very much a little girl in need of TLC. She’s so tired after school on some days that she throws her arms around my waist and tells me, “I want Mommy.” And she still often wants to hear the “Good Night” song that I’ve been singing to her since she was a baby.

Other stuff: After months (more than a year?) of asking for a short hair cut, she finally got one – and we all love it! We took a break from swim class when she started school, but she has really gotten quite good in the pool. She is nuts about her new cousin Isaac; the other day when we were out and about and he was at our house she must have asked 10 times if we were going to be home in time to see him. (We were.) She loves her fish Talia and is often inquiring about when we might get another pet; she wants a dog. She remains tall for her age; as of a few months ago she was 55 pounds and just over 48 inches. The bad thing about the latter? She’s now too tall to go to one of her favorite spots, Hop-n-Play. (sigh) Because of her age and her temperament she often feels like a little girlfriend to me, and we both enjoy our adventures together. After we spent the day hanging out and shopping with Angela recently, Zoe told her, “I had the best day ever!”

-M

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thursday, November 22nd, 2012

Every Thanksgiving I reminisce back to our 2006 holiday – when I counted contractions while watching football and skipped a turkey dinner to deliver Zoe. I’m so thankful for my Thanksgiving baby, as well as her sister and the rest of my family! And as so for what Zoe is thankful for this year, see below.

-M

Overheard…

Wednesday, November 21st, 2012

“We’re going to be sisters forever – even when we’re grown up,” Zoe told Avery the other night while giving her a squeeze. “I love you soooo much.”

-M

Mahalo

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

Zoe’s class had a Hawaiian-themed Thanksgiving recital the other morning; the kids performed for their parents two songs, including Mahalo (“Thank You”), and said what they were thankful for. (Zoe’s answer? “Everything.”) Here she is with her class, me and Q, and her pick for president, Mr. Ferris.

-M

Bedtime with the girls

Monday, November 19th, 2012

A few funny bedtime-related quotes from the girls last night:

-At dinner Zoe commented that she wanted to be put to bed by Angela (who was visiting) and Daddy. “What about Mommy?” asked Angela. Repeating what she’s heard me jokingly say many times before, Zoe responded, “Mommy’s chopped liver.” 

-Not long after, Q, Angela and I were chatting in the dining room when I glanced at the time and asked Q, “Which girl should we put to bed first?” From the living room, came Avery’s booming voice. “ZOE!!!”

-When Avery was finally tucked into bed, I went to kiss her good-night. “I want Daddy,” she told me as I walked in the room. “Not Mommy?” I asked sadly. “I still love you, Mommy,” she answered. “I just want Daddy instead.”

-M

Wet morning at the zoo

Sunday, November 18th, 2012

We learned awhile ago that the zoo is a great place to be when it’s wet outside: When Gil, Avery and I went on Friday, when it was drizzling out, we practically had it to ourselves! We also had a lot of fun: Avery not only bonded with that little monkey but appreciated having some one-on-one time with Uncle Gil and liked going on what we called a “nature walk” through the zoo. I had to smile when I heard Avery tell Zoe that night all about our day; “I really enjoyed it,” she said.

-M

Avery’s new friend

Saturday, November 17th, 2012

When Avery went to the zoo with me and Uncle Gil (who was visiting from Israel) the other day, she made a new friend: a patas monkey. I couldn’t decide which video of their interactions was the best – so I decided to post them all.

-M

Avery’s leaf

Friday, November 16th, 2012

Some of you may have seen me write about this on Facebook, but when we were rushing to school the other day Avery stopped to pick up a pretty, large maple leaf on the ground. After inspecting it for awhile, she proudly carried it to Zoe’s classroom and then to her own – and seeing how happy the leaf made her made me happy. It also reminded me of one of the lessons we should take from children: to slow down and enjoy the little pleasures in life. Kids, especially small ones, are so good at doing that…

-M

Lucky that she’s cute…

Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

Avery has, as mentioned earlier, been a bit difficult lately: Aside from throwing more frequent tantrums and not going to bed as easily as she used to, she has entered a Daddy phase and often runs away from me if I try to dress or undress her, get her into the bath, or put her to bed. (Sigh.) But luckily all that is balanced out by the good, super-cute stuff, like when she runs around the house announcing she has just done a mitzvah or is a “responsible girl.” Or when she calls her feet “feets.” Or when she puts her little face in the window to peer out at me when (like yesterday) I’m volunteering at her school and just outside of her classroom. Or when at bedtime she sings along with me to my made-up “Button Nose Song” (lyrics below for posterity).

I often tell Avery – only half-jokingly – that she’s lucky that she’s cute. But I actually think we’re the lucky ones!

-M

Well, you’ve got a round face and a cute button nose
Two big eyes and ten little toes
You’ve got a big sister named Z-O-E
You’re Baby Avery… You’re Baby Avery!

The force was with her, part III

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

One last thing from Zoe’s birthday party: A video of our entertainer. The clip is a bit long, but it gives viewers a sense of how silly (corny) he was – and how the kids ate up his material. I also love how it captures Zoe’s authentic laugh and happiness, as seen at the :24, :39 and 1:25 marks.

-M