I did a big clean-up of Matthew and Kayla's bedroom this past week, and Kayla re-discovered a journal/diary that she had received as a birthday gift and brought it downstairs, to open and read later.
The next afternoon, she opened it and was reading the only entry she ever made, just days after receiving it:
"I am 7 years old. And today it is tuesday. My name is Kayla. And I have two brothers and one sister. And their names are Matthew Nathan and Olivia. Nathan is 4 years old. Olivia is 2 years old and Matthew is 7 years old. He is my twin. Matthews favourite game to play is super mario world."
After she read it, she looked up at me, a bit horrified. "Mom, I can't say "and" there!"
"What? Why not?"
"Because it's after a period!"
"You're right! How do you know that? Did you learn it in school?"
"Yeah, we just learned about that today," she replied and proceeded to start erasing any "and" she saw that at the beginning of the sentence.
Fast forward to tonight...
Kayla had been in bed for about 45 minutes and then came out and called to me from the stairs. "Mom! You know the 'Magic' book I read from the library? In one part it said Mr. and Mrs."
I had been in the middle of watching a movie on the laptop so was only half-listening to her. I pulled one headphone out to respond. "Yeah. The period after the 'Mr.' means that it's the short form for "Mister, M-I-S-T-E-R".
Jon added, "Or just like doctor can be D-R-."
"No," she retorted. "I thought that you can't say "and" after a period?"
I have no idea what made her think of that section of the book hours after she read it, but at least she's paying attention to what she is reading and what she is learning in school!
After struggling with infertility for three years, we were blessed with the birth of Matthew and Kayla in March 2011 (by in vitro) , Nathan in October 2013 (by frozen embryo transfer), and Olivia in August 2015 (naturally!). We are loving every moment (well, almost!) of our lives as parents.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Olivia is 32 Months Old
At 32 months old, Olivia is 38 3/8" tall and weighs 30.8 lbs.
Olivia is both a really easy child and a really spoiled child! She is easy because she plays extremely well independently. She absolutely loves playing with dolls or Barbies (or anything she can act with) and Play-doh. She typically eats completely independently and goes to bed without a fight. HOWEVER, she can get into moods where she only wants to be carried. Being the baby of the family, I have no other children I have to carry so I typically end up carrying her.
Olivia transitioned really well to her big girl bed (the lower bunk, shared with Nathan). She has so much room that she hasn't even come close to falling out.
Olivia's favourite foods to eat are apples, oranges, strawberries, roasted potatoes, sausage, chocolate icing, hagelslaac, chips, and candy.
She loves Nathan (most of the time) and absolutely idolizes Kayla.
Olivia still loves her baby (and other babies). She now sleeps with her baby and a doll bottle filled with water at night.
Potty training has gone pretty good for Olivia. She is 100% dry at night (and has been for the last couple of weeks) and so she just wears panties to bed. During the day she is pretty good, considering I don't ask her to go to the bathroom too often, and just rely on her to let me know.
Olivia is both a really easy child and a really spoiled child! She is easy because she plays extremely well independently. She absolutely loves playing with dolls or Barbies (or anything she can act with) and Play-doh. She typically eats completely independently and goes to bed without a fight. HOWEVER, she can get into moods where she only wants to be carried. Being the baby of the family, I have no other children I have to carry so I typically end up carrying her.
Olivia transitioned really well to her big girl bed (the lower bunk, shared with Nathan). She has so much room that she hasn't even come close to falling out.
Olivia's favourite foods to eat are apples, oranges, strawberries, roasted potatoes, sausage, chocolate icing, hagelslaac, chips, and candy.
She loves Nathan (most of the time) and absolutely idolizes Kayla.
Olivia still loves her baby (and other babies). She now sleeps with her baby and a doll bottle filled with water at night.
Potty training has gone pretty good for Olivia. She is 100% dry at night (and has been for the last couple of weeks) and so she just wears panties to bed. During the day she is pretty good, considering I don't ask her to go to the bathroom too often, and just rely on her to let me know.
Oma vs Grandma
Nathan had an interesting conversation with my Mom today (she was babysitting him while I was working).
He said that his children would call me "Oma" and his wife's Mom "Grandma". When my Mom asked him why, he said "because that's how our family does it."
Crazy thing is that it's true! Jon's (the husband's) parents are Oma and Opa and my (the wife's) parents are Grandma and Grandpa.
Even when my Mom said that I probably liked Grandma better, he was pretty confident in his "plan".
How does he even think of these things?!?!?
He said that his children would call me "Oma" and his wife's Mom "Grandma". When my Mom asked him why, he said "because that's how our family does it."
Crazy thing is that it's true! Jon's (the husband's) parents are Oma and Opa and my (the wife's) parents are Grandma and Grandpa.
Even when my Mom said that I probably liked Grandma better, he was pretty confident in his "plan".
How does he even think of these things?!?!?
Nathan is 4.5 Years Old!
Nathan. You are now 4.5 years old, but I feel like you are six.
You are as big as a six-year-old.
You are socially confident like a kindergartner.
You are as smart as a six-year-old.
You have grown up far too fast for my liking. Every time I see a really cute baby/toddler picture on the digital picture frame I say, "Awwww! You were so cute!". You hate it!
At 4.5 years old you weigh 47.4 lbs and are 46 1/8" tall. You wear size 6 clothes and size 12 or 13 shoes.
We have started teaching you how to read. Since Matthew and Kayla started learning to read 1.5 years ago, you were exposed to what sounds letters make and how to spell words. You have been listening and absorbing everything they say/do/learn, and so it wasn't surprising when reading started coming quite quickly for you. Matthew and Kayla's teacher allows Matthew and Kayla to take the beginner book-in-a-bag books home for you. We never make you sit down and read with us. When we do read, you initiate it and it's only for a few minutes at a time. I don't want you to learn too quickly! You are looking forward to pre-kindergarten day and then kindergarten in the fall.
You enjoyed playing soccer this year, and did well at swimming lessons in the fall.
Your favourite things to eat are:
Breakfast: Corn Pops and a banana
Lunch: Two (or three, on occassion) slices of bread with either chocolate icing, hagelslaac, or dutch cheese.
Dinner: Rice and "Chicken on a Bone"
Anytime: Any fruit. Homemade cookies and muffins. Seriously...you ask for them non-stop when I make them! You easily eat three muffins for snack or five for breakfast/lunch if I let you.
You love Parker. You smother her, which she despises so she "growls" at you, and you don't even seem to notice.
You love Olivia, too. She is usually accepting of your hugs and kisses, which is nice for you. She hates it when you try to put your arm around her in the car and so it sits on top of her carseat with your fingers dangling in her hair.
Nathan, you were pretty excited to get a bunk bed and to sleep on the top.
You love playing with your cousins, but can be quite moody and so sometimes you just would rather play by yourself. You still have a soft spot for Carly.
You always choose the blue cup and plate.
You have been doing really well at eating during dinner time. For a while you only wanted to eat with help. We were helping you for a bit, but since then only will help you with one bite. You seem to have gotten over that phase and typically feed yourself your whole meal.
You still have a tough time getting along with your Dad. You have a lot of fun with him, but you don't like to listen to him when he's serious. If I'm around we can manage that fine, but when I'm out, you are out of luck and so there is more conflict.
You have the worst habit of biting your nails! Your nails are about half the size of what they should be, and it's disgusting!
You love to watch Matthew play on the Wii, and then play yourself, too.
Nathan, you love the Avengers and have recently developed a love for Star Wars. You love dressing up like a super hero and reading about them, too.
You know what "N", "E", "S", and "W" mean when you read the cardinal direction display in vehicles.
You can easily count past 100.
I think you know how to form almost all of the uppercase and lowercase letters. They may not be formed by the right procedure, but the end result looks the same.
You still sleep with your baby blanket, your baby, your puppy and a handful of other stuff animals.
You are as big as a six-year-old.
You are socially confident like a kindergartner.
You are as smart as a six-year-old.
You have grown up far too fast for my liking. Every time I see a really cute baby/toddler picture on the digital picture frame I say, "Awwww! You were so cute!". You hate it!
At 4.5 years old you weigh 47.4 lbs and are 46 1/8" tall. You wear size 6 clothes and size 12 or 13 shoes.
We have started teaching you how to read. Since Matthew and Kayla started learning to read 1.5 years ago, you were exposed to what sounds letters make and how to spell words. You have been listening and absorbing everything they say/do/learn, and so it wasn't surprising when reading started coming quite quickly for you. Matthew and Kayla's teacher allows Matthew and Kayla to take the beginner book-in-a-bag books home for you. We never make you sit down and read with us. When we do read, you initiate it and it's only for a few minutes at a time. I don't want you to learn too quickly! You are looking forward to pre-kindergarten day and then kindergarten in the fall.
You enjoyed playing soccer this year, and did well at swimming lessons in the fall.
Your favourite things to eat are:
Breakfast: Corn Pops and a banana
Lunch: Two (or three, on occassion) slices of bread with either chocolate icing, hagelslaac, or dutch cheese.
Dinner: Rice and "Chicken on a Bone"
Anytime: Any fruit. Homemade cookies and muffins. Seriously...you ask for them non-stop when I make them! You easily eat three muffins for snack or five for breakfast/lunch if I let you.
You love Parker. You smother her, which she despises so she "growls" at you, and you don't even seem to notice.
You love Olivia, too. She is usually accepting of your hugs and kisses, which is nice for you. She hates it when you try to put your arm around her in the car and so it sits on top of her carseat with your fingers dangling in her hair.
Nathan, you were pretty excited to get a bunk bed and to sleep on the top.
You love playing with your cousins, but can be quite moody and so sometimes you just would rather play by yourself. You still have a soft spot for Carly.
You always choose the blue cup and plate.
You have been doing really well at eating during dinner time. For a while you only wanted to eat with help. We were helping you for a bit, but since then only will help you with one bite. You seem to have gotten over that phase and typically feed yourself your whole meal.
You still have a tough time getting along with your Dad. You have a lot of fun with him, but you don't like to listen to him when he's serious. If I'm around we can manage that fine, but when I'm out, you are out of luck and so there is more conflict.
You have the worst habit of biting your nails! Your nails are about half the size of what they should be, and it's disgusting!
You love to watch Matthew play on the Wii, and then play yourself, too.
Nathan, you love the Avengers and have recently developed a love for Star Wars. You love dressing up like a super hero and reading about them, too.
You know what "N", "E", "S", and "W" mean when you read the cardinal direction display in vehicles.
You can easily count past 100.
I think you know how to form almost all of the uppercase and lowercase letters. They may not be formed by the right procedure, but the end result looks the same.
You still sleep with your baby blanket, your baby, your puppy and a handful of other stuff animals.
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