Hi strangers!
Sorry it has been so long since I've updated. As you've probably guessed, we've all been a bit distracted by the new school year beginning (and thus, my going back to work full time) and all the adjusting it is requiring.
And when I get behind on blogging, it becomes really overwhelming. Because there is just so much to catch up on that I don't know where to start. Funny things she has said? Pics? I have LOTS of video to sort through, so that's not coming anytime soon. Things we've done? New things she has learned? The challenges of full time work for me, full time child care for Carson, full time mess-cleaner-upper for Brandon (C & I are often the messes requiring assistance)? Do you really want to hear about that?
All-in-all though, just as a summary, it is going fine. Carson is still adjusting to day care and to just not being at home/with us all the time. It's a good adjustment in many ways. It does break my heart though that every time we give her a hug & kiss, she assumes we're going to work and says, "Bye, Mommy go to work," even if we just got home from work/day care. Ugh.
Anyway, I decided to just pick a place and start catching up.
C's Skills
By the end of the summer, Carson knew all of her letters, colors, and shapes (well, the dodecahedron and burnt sienna might still give her a run for her money, but she has the basics down). And she is so proud of it. She loves the ABC song and might be a kinesthetic learner, as she HAS to be moving to sing the ABCs.
Speaking of singing, she sings! It's so amazingly cute to hear her little voice singing the songs we've crooned to her since she was born. It's hard to get video of it, becasue she is still generally self-conscious about singing on her own--add in the camera and she clams up. But we're trying!
Conversations are emerging, as she learns common phrases and tones used in everyday speech. She'll hold a phone to her ear and straight-up CHILL on the couch or in a chair, like she has been chatting on the phone since birth. She asks questions like, "How was your day?" and then answers them, "It's pretty good." She also expects the person on the other end to be able to see everything she sees, which can be confusing when she's not just pretending to talk on the phone. Too funny.
She also whips out little phrases like, "Hey Beans!" and, "How's it going, Katie?" that she hears Brandon and I say to each other. Earlier today, she was VERY emphatic about something she did not want. She tried saying, "No Mommy." When that didn't work, she said, "No Katie, NO!" Hilarious. For now.
Self-control is another skill we have been working really hard on with her. She is definitely at a dramatic stage (or is that what raising girls is always like?), where the slightest inconsistency or undesired response will SEND HER OVER THE EDGE. What this usually looks like is her in a puddle sobbing, reaching, sometimes stomping, often wailing and generally being a disaster. So we've been working on teaching her that it's totally okay to cry when you're upset, but that she cannot expect us to understand what she is saying/screeching/whining as she does so. We practice asking for things calmly, such as saying, "Mommy hold you (she means 'me') please," instead of, "MASEDFMMYYY!!! HAAAALLLLLDDDDD!!!! YYYEWOIUEREWIOOW!!!!" And it's so amazing when she does this on her own, catches herself before having a mental breakdown, and in her sweet little voice calmly says, "Eat please," or some other adorable desire.
What's tricky is when her desire is an unreasonable one, like, "Hold Ernie on the TV please," or, "Write on the table, please." She'll try saying it several different ways, "Write on the table please," "Please use the pen and please write on the table please." It is both funny and heartbreaking to try to tell her that Ernie is stuck on the screen/in the book and cannot come out to hug her. It's a tough lesson that, even when you do everything right, sometimes the answer is still no.
We've also decided she is a very compassionate little bear. She takes care of her dolls and animals, comforts them, and puts them down for naps. She always asks how we are doing and tells random babies, "It's okay." She has a big heart, this little girl.
In the video below, she is helping me get Kaila up off the ground (a big task these days), and she's saying, "Come on Kaila, you can do it!" She encourages Kaila anytime she climbs stairs, gets up, or struggles in any way. So sweet.
Okay, that's what I have for now. I promise I have a list of other updates rolling around in my head. Just need to get the time to shake 'em out :)
