Jog-A-Thon and Other Stuff

It’s been a long time since my last post. A long, busy time. Nothing very exciting happened during that time although we all had colds (some of us still do) and Fi had a high fever one night. But otherwise February has been a pretty quiet month.

We went to a movie night at the temple and Fi actually sat for about half an hour. She had to go to the bathroom and after that she was not interested in watching the movie anymore, so we left. The movie was “Hotel Transylvania” and I think it is her first experience watching one. We let her have a CapriSun.

While East Coasters were getting pummeled by snow and wind, we went to the beach:

 

Fi and John are the tiny figures next to the ocean. We had fun splashing around (mommy too) then had lunch. It was Super Bowl Sunday. We don’t watch football, so we didn’t care. I bought new running shoes (that I love) and that was that. It was a really pleasant morning and we learned that Fi likes pomegranate seeds.

One afternoon, it was actually cold (Fi loves to say the word “actual”) so we went for a walk with Grandpa:

 

Fiona picked out her own hat and coat, and insisted on wearing the glasses. She is very chic.

She loves to read and one of her new favorite books is “Once Upon a Potty”. She calls it the Potty Book. The little girl in the story is named Prudence. Fi will sometimes ask for the Prudence book. She pretty much has it memorized and will tell you the whole story if you ask.

Lately, whenever we go for walks, Fi insists on pulling the wagon. She stopped and posed for the last photo and told John that she had to stop so mommy could take her picture.

Fi enjoys reading to Baby:

I have a video of her reading to her dolls that I will upload soon and post. It is really cute.

Fi’s preschool had a jog-a-thon. Fi was really excited. She told me that Grandma and Grandpa will be there, and Grandpa will whistle really really LOUD and Grandma will yell “Yay Fiona!” She got a little medal and raised a little bit of money in the process:

The little boy in the red shirt is Fi’s friend Nano.

We took her to UCSB so that my friend Katie and I could go to the library. Fi had a great time and we left just in time for her to have a small meltdown in the lobby of the main university library. Here we are at lunch:

 

Fi drew this snowman on her MagnaDoodle:

One small bit of excitement happened when Fi burned herself helping me make pancakes. She was putting batter on the griddle and it wasn’t coming out fast enough, so she shook the measuring cup she was using and accidentally hit her hand against the hot griddle. We ran her hand under cold water and put yogurt on it. We put bandages and antibiotic ointment on it. A few days later I took her to the doctor and got some amazing burn cream. It is healing up nicely. I don’t think it mentally scarred her for life because she still helps me cook, although she doesn’t want to put the batter on the griddle anymore. Now she prefers to stir the batter in the bowl instead.

Part of the nightly ritual now is to change the dressing on the wound. Both John and Fi like this little ritual (they do it in the morning too) and I think they will both miss it now that she doesn’t actually need the cream. By the way, that blister in the photo above got a lot bigger later, then broke.

We took a trip to the Los Angeles Zoo last weekend. It was really fun to see animals that they do not have at the Santa Barbara zoo, although it was less fun standing in line to get in. The zoo was crowded upon opening, unlike Santa Barbara, when opening time is the best time to go.

Here are some of the animals we saw:

  

 

We also saw all sorts of monkeys and elephants, tortoises, otters, seals, gorillas, chimpanzees, koalas, and lot of other stuff I can’t remember. I was too busy having fun with Fi looking at the animals to take photos.

Fi had fun in a mist fountain:

 

Riding on Daddy’s shoulders:

 

Fi likes to pick out her own clothes. I think she does a good job matching:

   

I think some of these clothes make her look tall. Also, she knows how to open a lot of the locks and doors in the house. We have a safety device on the front door and I’m wondering where else we will need one.

So you see, nothing really exciting happened in the last month. We got a new light fixture for the dining room and our bedroom, and Fi found a way to give me even more mommy guilt. She asks me every morning if I am going to work, then asks me to stay home, and last week cried when I left. Yup, definitely knows how to pull at my heart strings. John and I talk about how amazingly blessed we are to have her and that she has the personality that she does. Before I had her, I never knew I could love anyone or anything in the way I love her. I hope if she ever reads this blog, she will know just how much she means to me and to her dad and how wonderful it is raising her.

 

Have a great rest of the month!

Parent Conference

Today we went to our first ever parent conference. It was interesting sitting on the other side of the table. Usually, I’m the one telling the parent how their child is doing (or more likely what the child is NOT doing) and ways to improve. Today it was my turn to listen and learn.

I am happy to report the Fiona is doing great. The biggest areas of concern are that she does not defend herself against other children and she doesn’t say her own name when asked. We discussed ways to encourage her to be more possessive of her things when another child tries to take them away and also that we need to teach her what her last name is and encourage her to say her first name. The name issue is probably due to her being very shy around people and not very comfortable in groups. Both teachers said she talks to them when they interact one on one with her, but she is very quiet when in a group setting. We know that she knows her classmates’ names, but at school, she does not say them. They are not at all worried about her and are trying to help her improve her social skills as well as communicating her needs, such as going to the bathroom or wanting a toy. Little miss chatterbox noisemaker is the silent type at school.

We were surprised to learn that she does not always participate in clean up at school. At home, Fi is quite fastidious when it comes to cleaning and neatening things, but apparently she is not so eager to clean up at school. If asked to put a specific toy away, she will do it without hesitation, but when they announce clean up time, she does not begin to clean up.

Her teachers said she follows directions well and does everything else that she is supposed to be doing. They said she loves doing crafts, gluing, painting, play dough, and anything involving music and movement (again interesting because at home, the only music I can get her to dance to is The Can Can). Both teachers noticed that Fi is very nurturing when it comes to baby dolls.

Fiona’s teachers told us that she has exceptional fine motor skills, listens well, and participates in all activities, and they love having her in class. We were given the applications for next year and have been told that two different teachers really want her in their classes next year. It is going to be a tough decision because both other teachers are great with kids and Fiona likes them both. We want her to continue three days a week with one of her current teachers, but we will need to pick between one of the other two for the remaining two days every week. Decisions, decisions. I feel like I am being asked to choose between a chocolate cake and another chocolate cake. In the end, I might just ask Fiona who she prefers. In the meantime, I think I will take Fiona’s current teacher’s advice and go check out the other classes myself to see what they are doing. It’s nice to know other people appreciate our little miracle. During the meeting I kept wanting to blurt out “She was a 31 weeker! She was nine weeks early! Look at her now! Can you believe it?!?” But I didn’t. It’s just nice to know other people feel she is special just as we do and that she is a desirable student.

All in all it was a great conference. We didn’t learn anything too surprising or shocking, other than her lack of cleaning. I am so glad Fi goes to this preschool. It has helped her so much in gaining confidence and social skills.  

What post is complete without a photo of silly Fi:

 

She found the hat in a dress up box and is spinning her vegetables and fruit from Ikea in her new favorite toy, the salad spinner.

Have a great weekend!

Nothing Much Going On

Fi continues to cling to me. Today she played with John for the first time in a long time and even went for a walk with him while I spoke on the phone to Krista.

Here is Fi on a bicycle (with training wheels), wearing her coat and her very own kiddie gardening gloves:

 

I let Fi play with finger paints:

She really enjoyed painting on herself, but then she cleaned herself off:

Amazingly, the paint stayed on the table and on Fi, and none of it got anywhere else. I’m very lucky to have such a neat and meticulous child.

We finally convinced John to join Fi in her crib after nap:

It rained for a few days and we went for walk. Of course Fiona insisted on carrying the umbrella:

That’s all really. Nothing exciting is happening around here. We went to a birthday party yesterday and were planning to attend one today, but Fi was having a tantrum so we went home. We have another party on Thursday afternoon. Work resumes tomorrow after a long weekend for me (yay finals week!). I’ve got class tomorrow night, a meeting on Tuesday, and Fi’s parent conference at her school on Thursday. I hope the week goes by quickly because it’s going to be a busy one.

It’s supposed to be dry and somewhat sunny, and we don’t have any complicated plans for the weekend. I hope Fi’s separation anxiety eases up and that I don’t get too stressed out in the coming months.

Stay warm and dry and have a happy week!

Planting the Tree

We planted the avocado tree on Sunday January 20.

 

Fi got in on the action:

 

 

It didn’t take long to dig the hole and fill it up again:

And there it is:

 

We thought it would take a really long time, but the soil was soft so digging was not as difficult as anticipated.

John took a rest:

 

Fi ate a snack while the tree was being planted:

 

 

She was excited to see the planted tree, ran out the door and fell:

 

My parents have an avocado tree now, and if the little tag on it is true, we will have avocados before Fiona starts kindergarten, and maybe even sooner! Matan loved avocados and I think the tree is a fitting tribute to him and Tu Bi’Shvat.