Can we talk about Evette, please? It's been a while since I've written an update on how she's doing... probably since her second birthday.
She goes to bed anytime from 7-8pm, depending on how tired she/we are :) and wakes up between 6-7am. We've tried pushing her bedtime back in hopes of getting her to sleep in more, but she still wakes up at the same time and just wakes up cranky - so early risers we are. She still naps everyday (95% of the time...) for 1.5-3 hours. She is insistent upon wearing pajamas for nap time and taking her ponytails/hairclips/braids out. It's tiring. So every day I have to get her dressed and do her hair twice - anyone with a toddler knows that that is quite an ordeal. But she still naps, so no major complaining over here. She also tells us about her dreams - which every night/naptime involves dolphins. It's funny.
She loves to eat and sometimes even eats as much as I do. In the morning she gets up with Daddy before he goes to work and they eat breakfast together while I savor the last 20 minutes in my warm bed. After Sean leaves for work and I feed Miriam I go to eat breakfast and she usually asks for breakfast again. She can put away 2 eggs and a piece of toast and jam for breakfast like it's nothing and then ask for more. Some of her favorite foods are tacos, eggs, sushi, and yogurt. She's a champ and loves to try new foods as long as their not too spicy - although she has a pretty high tolerance for spiciness.
Her verbal skills are incredible. She forms very complex sentences yet expresses herself very well. Some words that she uses frequently that I think is amazing are: probably, instead, and though. Who even knows what the word "though" actually means? It's incredible. For instance, she says things like:
"Where my Georgie? (toy dog) He prob-bly lost..... prob-bly lost at park"
"That makes me sad, though....."
"I don't want carrots! I want apples instead!"
Lately she's been very good about talking about feelings. Hers and others. It is incredible to get this little glimpse into her mind and soul. Here's a few stories/conversations to give you an idea of her verbal/social awareness.
The other day we had to go to a party store to buy some little dinosaurs for her dinosaur day at school. They had ittybitty grocery carts at the store - just big enough to cram the Miriam-filled carseat in it and so Evette had to walk beside me. Before we went into the store we had a good chat about the fun things in the store, but that we weren't going to buy anything but the dinosaurs and that she had to be an extra good listener. As I was looking around for the dinosaurs, Evette would find something cool, pack of bubbles, sunglasses, any other number of cheap trinkets, and bring it to me to see. I would oo and aww over it and then ask her to go put it back and she was always very good to do so. Right as we were leaving she found a ball that she loved. She ran down the aisle to show it to me. This was our conversation:
"Wow! What a cool ball! It's so colorful! Can you go back down the aisle and put it away?"
*looks at me in disbelief*
"Can you please go put it back? It's time to go"
*turns around slowly, her head drops, and she slowly walks down the aisle and drops the ball in the basket. She turns around slowly. Looks at me, with watery eyes, and then runs back to hug me*
"That makes me sad, mom!"
"I know baby.....I'm sorry. But look - we're going to buy these dinosaurs and we're going to dig for them in the garden with your school friends. Ok? That'll be fun, right?"
"YES, MOM! LET'S DO IT!"
I was so impressed with her! Even though it broke her heart to put the ball back, she did it, and she talked about how it made her feel. So sweet - so sad - and so quick to turn around :) I bought her some chapstick at the checkout counter to tell her how proud I was of her and for what a good listener she was.
She also has an incredible memory. She'll tell us stories about things that happened MONTHS ago that we haven't brought up since. It's incredible.
A couple days ago I woke up from a very very horrible, scary, awful dream - so much so that for the next few days I was sick to my stomach about it. When Evette ran into our room to wake us up, I was so shaken and told Sean that I had a horrible dream. I was basically in shock and just sat in bed. Evette came up to me and said, "You had a bad dream, mom?" "Yes, I had a very bad dream...." ".....do you want some snuggles?" and she came up and snuggled with me in bed. What a sweetheart.
She also likes to make lists or schedule of things for us - wonder where she got that from *cough justlikemom cough*. For example, I'll say "no, you can't have a snack now, we're going to first go to the library, then have lunch, then it'll be naptime and AFTER your nap time you can have a snack." and she'll respond with, "Ok, mom, FIRST I have a snack, then library...and then snack....and then.....lunch time!" as she is holding up her fingers one at a time as she lists them off :)
She's very friendly and loves to play with other kids. Right now she is running around outside and playing with the "big kids" in our quad. She's the only girl to about 7 boys all over the age of 5. She can hold her own with them! They play swords, and chase, or they push her on her trike, or catch...whatever. She is good and tries to figure out the rules to the game and they are very patient and understanding with her. We've also made a couple other little friends in the area and through church and she loves playing with them!
Books. Books. Books. Books. Books. Her favorite thing ever. Books. We can sit and read for 2 hours straight and she'll be engaged the whole time. Asking questions, pointing out things in the pictures, filling in the blanks.... She has a large number of our books practically memorized. She loves to read. Loves it. We've recently stepped up our game on reading the scriptures and every night we read them together as a family. We started the Book of Mormon and we read a couple verses each night. Evette LOVES it. We say a phrase and then she repeats it. She's very good and I love hearing her say long words that are found in the scriptures. She likes to get the mini hymn book and pretends it's her scriptures. She sits down, opens it up, pulls out the ribbon marker and says "Ok....where are we....oh here! and it camepass....." Seriously adorable. She also has pulled out regular books during the day and says to me, "Ok mom, ready? Ok - say 'please help...'" and wants me to repeat what she says. She's awesome.
Selective hearing. Yes - at this age already. It's killing me. How is it possible that you can love someone so much and yet they can make you bang your head against a wall? We've tried so many things....any advice that has worked for you other parents we'd be glad to hear it.....and don't tell me just wait til she's 16 because we're not sure at this pace if we're going to make it that far :)
She is an artist in every sense of the word. She watercolors like a champ - one of our favorite activities. She is so meticulous and purposeful about every brushstroke. They don't look like anything in particular, but the process she takes to get there is awesome. I can see her progress and it is truly inspiring. She has a vision and she is true to it. I love her paintings. She loves markers....I don't - so those are a rarity. Any sort of crafty thing, she loves - beads, pompoms, scissors, glue, pipe cleaners.....you name it. She also loves music. She loves to sing, although she rarely does so when prompted, and knows the word [or sounds lol] to every Frozen song and a couple dozen other songs. She loves to play the piano and to turn anything into an instrument. We've recently made a guitar and drum and she loves to march around the house while singing.
Evette is the BEST big sister ever. The best. I dare you to find two sisters who are better friends than these two. Evette cannot wait for Miriam to wake up each morning, sometimes she helps with that and then they are both all smiles and giggles. Evette loves to sing her songs, read her books, give her toys, cover her in kisses, hold her hand, help give her baths, everything.... Nobody can make Miriam smile and giggle like Evette and nobody can make Evette smile and giggle like Miriam can. Sweetest sisters.
She's such a big girl and I love watching her grow! She teaches me so much about myself and the world around me. I am forever grateful and incredibly humbled and kinda scared to be her momma.
She goes to bed anytime from 7-8pm, depending on how tired she/we are :) and wakes up between 6-7am. We've tried pushing her bedtime back in hopes of getting her to sleep in more, but she still wakes up at the same time and just wakes up cranky - so early risers we are. She still naps everyday (95% of the time...) for 1.5-3 hours. She is insistent upon wearing pajamas for nap time and taking her ponytails/hairclips/braids out. It's tiring. So every day I have to get her dressed and do her hair twice - anyone with a toddler knows that that is quite an ordeal. But she still naps, so no major complaining over here. She also tells us about her dreams - which every night/naptime involves dolphins. It's funny.
She loves to eat and sometimes even eats as much as I do. In the morning she gets up with Daddy before he goes to work and they eat breakfast together while I savor the last 20 minutes in my warm bed. After Sean leaves for work and I feed Miriam I go to eat breakfast and she usually asks for breakfast again. She can put away 2 eggs and a piece of toast and jam for breakfast like it's nothing and then ask for more. Some of her favorite foods are tacos, eggs, sushi, and yogurt. She's a champ and loves to try new foods as long as their not too spicy - although she has a pretty high tolerance for spiciness.
Her verbal skills are incredible. She forms very complex sentences yet expresses herself very well. Some words that she uses frequently that I think is amazing are: probably, instead, and though. Who even knows what the word "though" actually means? It's incredible. For instance, she says things like:
"Where my Georgie? (toy dog) He prob-bly lost..... prob-bly lost at park"
"That makes me sad, though....."
"I don't want carrots! I want apples instead!"
Lately she's been very good about talking about feelings. Hers and others. It is incredible to get this little glimpse into her mind and soul. Here's a few stories/conversations to give you an idea of her verbal/social awareness.
The other day we had to go to a party store to buy some little dinosaurs for her dinosaur day at school. They had ittybitty grocery carts at the store - just big enough to cram the Miriam-filled carseat in it and so Evette had to walk beside me. Before we went into the store we had a good chat about the fun things in the store, but that we weren't going to buy anything but the dinosaurs and that she had to be an extra good listener. As I was looking around for the dinosaurs, Evette would find something cool, pack of bubbles, sunglasses, any other number of cheap trinkets, and bring it to me to see. I would oo and aww over it and then ask her to go put it back and she was always very good to do so. Right as we were leaving she found a ball that she loved. She ran down the aisle to show it to me. This was our conversation:
"Wow! What a cool ball! It's so colorful! Can you go back down the aisle and put it away?"
*looks at me in disbelief*
"Can you please go put it back? It's time to go"
*turns around slowly, her head drops, and she slowly walks down the aisle and drops the ball in the basket. She turns around slowly. Looks at me, with watery eyes, and then runs back to hug me*
"That makes me sad, mom!"
"I know baby.....I'm sorry. But look - we're going to buy these dinosaurs and we're going to dig for them in the garden with your school friends. Ok? That'll be fun, right?"
"YES, MOM! LET'S DO IT!"
I was so impressed with her! Even though it broke her heart to put the ball back, she did it, and she talked about how it made her feel. So sweet - so sad - and so quick to turn around :) I bought her some chapstick at the checkout counter to tell her how proud I was of her and for what a good listener she was.
She also has an incredible memory. She'll tell us stories about things that happened MONTHS ago that we haven't brought up since. It's incredible.
A couple days ago I woke up from a very very horrible, scary, awful dream - so much so that for the next few days I was sick to my stomach about it. When Evette ran into our room to wake us up, I was so shaken and told Sean that I had a horrible dream. I was basically in shock and just sat in bed. Evette came up to me and said, "You had a bad dream, mom?" "Yes, I had a very bad dream...." ".....do you want some snuggles?" and she came up and snuggled with me in bed. What a sweetheart.
She also likes to make lists or schedule of things for us - wonder where she got that from *cough justlikemom cough*. For example, I'll say "no, you can't have a snack now, we're going to first go to the library, then have lunch, then it'll be naptime and AFTER your nap time you can have a snack." and she'll respond with, "Ok, mom, FIRST I have a snack, then library...and then snack....and then.....lunch time!" as she is holding up her fingers one at a time as she lists them off :)
She's very friendly and loves to play with other kids. Right now she is running around outside and playing with the "big kids" in our quad. She's the only girl to about 7 boys all over the age of 5. She can hold her own with them! They play swords, and chase, or they push her on her trike, or catch...whatever. She is good and tries to figure out the rules to the game and they are very patient and understanding with her. We've also made a couple other little friends in the area and through church and she loves playing with them!
Books. Books. Books. Books. Books. Her favorite thing ever. Books. We can sit and read for 2 hours straight and she'll be engaged the whole time. Asking questions, pointing out things in the pictures, filling in the blanks.... She has a large number of our books practically memorized. She loves to read. Loves it. We've recently stepped up our game on reading the scriptures and every night we read them together as a family. We started the Book of Mormon and we read a couple verses each night. Evette LOVES it. We say a phrase and then she repeats it. She's very good and I love hearing her say long words that are found in the scriptures. She likes to get the mini hymn book and pretends it's her scriptures. She sits down, opens it up, pulls out the ribbon marker and says "Ok....where are we....oh here! and it camepass....." Seriously adorable. She also has pulled out regular books during the day and says to me, "Ok mom, ready? Ok - say 'please help...'" and wants me to repeat what she says. She's awesome.
Selective hearing. Yes - at this age already. It's killing me. How is it possible that you can love someone so much and yet they can make you bang your head against a wall? We've tried so many things....any advice that has worked for you other parents we'd be glad to hear it.....and don't tell me just wait til she's 16 because we're not sure at this pace if we're going to make it that far :)
She is an artist in every sense of the word. She watercolors like a champ - one of our favorite activities. She is so meticulous and purposeful about every brushstroke. They don't look like anything in particular, but the process she takes to get there is awesome. I can see her progress and it is truly inspiring. She has a vision and she is true to it. I love her paintings. She loves markers....I don't - so those are a rarity. Any sort of crafty thing, she loves - beads, pompoms, scissors, glue, pipe cleaners.....you name it. She also loves music. She loves to sing, although she rarely does so when prompted, and knows the word [or sounds lol] to every Frozen song and a couple dozen other songs. She loves to play the piano and to turn anything into an instrument. We've recently made a guitar and drum and she loves to march around the house while singing.
This is a rock
This is rain
This is the world
The earth - California is the blue part
Evette is the BEST big sister ever. The best. I dare you to find two sisters who are better friends than these two. Evette cannot wait for Miriam to wake up each morning, sometimes she helps with that and then they are both all smiles and giggles. Evette loves to sing her songs, read her books, give her toys, cover her in kisses, hold her hand, help give her baths, everything.... Nobody can make Miriam smile and giggle like Evette and nobody can make Evette smile and giggle like Miriam can. Sweetest sisters.
She's such a big girl and I love watching her grow! She teaches me so much about myself and the world around me. I am forever grateful and incredibly humbled and kinda scared to be her momma.
I love you guys!
ReplyDeleteEvette seems like a champ!
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