It seems unbelievable that the summer has come and gone. In reviewing the pictures and videos from June, July and August, I'd have to say that I see such big changes in Zoe. She has fully transformed to a toddler this summer. In looking at some of these pictures and videos from early June, she is so much older and more mature just 3 months later.
Zoe at 21 months
I'll start with a brief recap of June. During the month, the weather was relatively cool for that time of year. We were able to enjoy a lot of time outdoors before the oppressive heat of summer. The pool was delayed a few weeks in opening, so we had to wait until June to start our weekends of swimming. This year, both Rose and Zoe could play in the water with minimal assistance. Without a floatie, Zoe could touch the kiddie area of the pool only near the steps. Thankfully, she would keep her floatie on most of the time.
Thursday nights in June were all about listening to live music at one of the outdoor shopping plazas/movie theater. The area would be blocked off to cars and they would often have a "bounce house," face painting, bubbles, cotton candy, and sometimes popcorn. What more could a kid ask for? On one occasion, a chiropractor advertising his business brought dress-up props. Rose was in her element.
Rose with her face painted and props 3 yrs 4 months
We managed a trip to the beach in June before the pool opened. My favorite part of the day is around dinner, when everyone leaves and you have the beach mostly to yourselves.
With the nice weather, we made our usual day trips to either Pullen Park or the Durham Museum of Life & Sciences. With the Durham museum now open Sunday mornings, it's a great time to go with not many crowds. We've been going about once a month all summer, mainly because I'm obsessed with seeing the 4 wolf pups (born in April) grow. We've been lucky to catch a glimpse of them every time we go, though they aren't the easiest to catch on video or pictures. The museum has hired a biologist to talk about the wolves, and they do an amazing job providing updates on their blog and Facebook page.
Girls swinging at Pullen Park with daddy
To wrap up the month and as part of a visit with my parents, we drove about an hour west of the Raleigh area to check out a berry festival at a farm the last weekend of the month. We picked blackberries and blueberries, got to enjoy some sweet ice cream treats, rode the tractor, and had a nice outing with my parents. It was a very nice wrap up to a month filled with many local activities, and in preparation for a long week of travel to start the month of July.
Family picture at Millstone Creek Orchard
Rose rocking on the porch at Millstone Creek Orchard
Perhaps doing a monthly post of pictures will get me closer to catching up. May can be categorized by grant writing for me and several weekend and day trips for us all.
Thankfully, the girls are mostly agreeable during car rides.
Not to mention they are stylish
May started out like a lion and ended like a lamb for me. The first two weeks I did a lot of travel for work and my "volunteerism" as new President of the Raleigh Dietetic Association. These trips also fell in the last two weeks of writing a fairly large federal grant.
I did my usual Monday-Thursday trip to Asheville the first week of the month, and had about 24 hours to unpack, work a full day, and pack for the family to head back west. Saturday was a transition meeting of the Dietetics board in Charlotte, and we decided to bring the girls so they could see my parent's new place about 1.5 hours west of Charlotte. While Colin drove the 4 hours west (past Charlotte), I worked on writing a grant. When I drove the 1.5 hours back east to Charlotte myself Saturday morning, I used speech-to-text to continue putting ideas on paper for the grant. I couldn't muster any more energy on the grant driving back to my parent's Saturday night, but did get up early Sunday to work while the girls slept in. I used the 4 hour drive back to work once again. It turned out to be a productive weekend, and I was grateful my family was willing to all help me multi-task. We also did spend a nice Sunday together between breakfast and traveling back home after dinner.
Rose running at the Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site, Flat Rock, NC
A typical sight of Zoe chewing her left middle finger
Rose and Zoe playing in the water at Dupont State Forest, NC
Since the grant was due mid-May, we just did a quick day-trip to the beach for Mother's Day.
That final week of grant writing meant very little sleep, and once everything was turned in, it meant catching up on rest and neglected work and home life, and cleaning/organizing my home and home office. Our neighborhood pool took a long time to open due to new permitting requirements put in place by the county, so we enjoyed our hikes to the playground and listening to live music that was available often. Once I was able to pay attention, I noticed how much Zoe grew during the month. She has completely transformed to a toddler and has developed her vocabulary in both English and Spanish. We dealt with some food allergy issues at school in April and May and had to go for testing in June (more about that later). She had done so well without major reactions from October to April.
Zoe has completely transformed from a baby to a toddler
Zoe singing the alphabet
Zoe talking and counting. Video was cut off before fighting began.
I think we were all very grateful for a long weekend of rest and relaxation for the Memorial Day holiday. We were able to join my parents and brother for a trip to Myrtle Beach and stayed in a resort that had a shuttle to the beach and nice outdoor pools, a lazy river, and a splash pad. The weather was amazing all weekend and we couldn't have asked for a better trip.
Daddy has a lot of patience with Rose playing paddleball
Zoe works on her soccer skills at the beach with her uncle
All in all, we had an enjoyable month (mostly the second half for me) with two trips to the beach, one to the mountains, and many trips to the parks and outdoor music venues all month. Stay tuned for a recap of June, which offered some nice weather for going to the beach and the opening of the pool!
Miss Rose turned two on February 7th. This joyful, smart, spirited, and loving child keeps us on our toes, and has us laughing more times than we can count. Being a two-year-old means it's still difficult to communicate emotions, so we also have our fair share of tantrums. Thankfully they more than balance out with fun times. We continue to learn what works for Rose. Sometimes what works one day does not work the next. I'm always happy to see Facebook posts where my friends share how toddlers are emotional roller coasters. It's comforting to know we are not alone.
Smiling for the camera
Posing for her 2-year photo with her bear
There are so many things to share about Rose as a two-year-old, but I'll try to provide a snapshot.
At school, Rose transitioned from the 18mo-24mo old class to the 2-3year class. She's now the youngest, but seems to fit right in with many of her classmates (a few of which are only 1-2 months older).
Since Rose is now in the 2-3 year class, the teachers are able to help support potty training efforts. She goes to school in a cloth diaper, but wears pull ups during the school day. She has successfully peed on the potty several times at school (and does it often at home). This week (February 21-29), she pooped on the potty four times and asked to go to the bathroom to pee once. We are not at a point where she asks to go before she needs to. When she goes, she has often peed a bit in her diaper and then remembers to ask. We are getting there slowly, I think/hope.
Rose is such a smart girl and her vocabulary is impressive for her age. At her doctor's appointment, she has met all the 2.5 year milestones and has reached several 3 year milestones. One of the questions asked about speaking in four word sentences. Ha! The girl can sing her ABCs, count to (almost) 20, and sing various nursery rhymes and kid's songs in English and Portuguese. She has no problem telling you what's up in more than 4 word sentences.
Singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Singing the Alphabet
Rose also knows most of the words to "Goodnight Moon." We read it just about every night and she's got about 90% of it down. Sometimes she forgets that kittens rhymes with mittens and not socks. To her credit the mittens and the socks on the clothes line do look similar. She also still loves Green Eggs and Ham (aka "Sam I Am"), though she has lately been only "half listening" while we read books. She prefers to read her own while we read our books.
Our bedtime routine seems to keep increasing in length as Rose learns what strategies will delay her going to bed. Bath, brushing teeth, drinking (water or milk), saying goodnight, singing, and now going potty are all requested at bedtime. She often wants us to sing Rock-a-Bye-Baby (aka "Rock-a-bock-tic-toc"), substituting "baby" for every member of our family. Sometimes she throws in her school friends and teachers too. Where she has learned mommy will give her more time is when she says she needs to go "potty." I always let her get out of bed to try one more time. To her credit, she always goes, even if it is just a little bit.
We often struggle with nap time at home. At school, the kids take a nap around 12pm every day. On days at home, it's hard for us to get out of the house by 10am, so getting back by 11:30 to have lunch and go down for a nap is really difficult. We are often getting home to eat at 12:30-1p, and not getting to naptime until 2pm. At 2pm, she's overtired and fights sleep. If Zoe is awake, Rose also seems to fight the nap even more. She doesn't want to miss out on the fun.
Rose loves her baby sister and often wants to help care for her. Now that Zoe is 5 months and sitting up on her own, we have started using a double umbrella stroller. The girls love sitting side-by-side and Rose loves holding Zoe's hand as they stroll. It is the cutest! Rose still occasionally will be a little rough with Zoe, but we notice it tends to be when she is overtired.
Rose "nursing" her baby
She loves taking care of her babies the same way mommy takes care of Zoe
Rose walking her baby in the stroller while carrying her backpack
At her two-year doctor's appointment, Rose showed significant growth in her height. Between 12-18 months she had been between the 15-20th percentile for height. Now, at 33" tall, she is at the 29th percentile. Her weight has been consistent at the 30th percentile for the past year.
I've noticed her strength increase quite drastically as well. She seems to be able to climb places where she could not before, especially in the older kid playground areas. She stands up for herself at the park (and at home), letting other kids know when it is her turn. Unfortunately, she is fairly sensitive if others do not play nice, and is quick to cry if pushed over.
Rose is a lover and gives the best hugs and kisses. Most people are very surprised when she says goodbye and gives them a kiss. At school, she gives all her teachers hugs often. Perhaps she knows the way to getting what you want is to shower people with affection.
One of her favorite activities outside of the home continues to be seeing Mr Keith at story time at the library. Mr. Keith is awesome and his story time sessions are often way too crowded. But, she loves his songs, bubbles, and the stamp she gets at the end of the session.
Playing with Bubbles at the Library
If Rose has had a good night's sleep and we are calm with her in the mornings (ie not rushing in any way), she will often reward us with her best behavior and will be able to play independently throughout the morning and part of the day. Her babies are her favorites and she can spend a significant amount of time taking them for a ride in the stroller, putting them to sleep, rocking and singing to them, etc. She also sometimes gets really into her books or puzzles. Occasionally she'll opt for riding her tricycle in the house. At night, she loves playing chase around the house after dinner. Usually she prefers that we chase her. We haven't quite figured out the pattern to "clingy" days where she wants to be held most of the morning and struggles to help us get out of the house. We all have our days and Rose has a difficult time telling us why she's feeling down. Parenting on these types of days are difficult, especially since there is now another young child who needs care.
Rose is still a very good eater. We try to limit snacks and when we are successful, she eats a solid breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She doesn't discriminate against many foods, but still loves her beef best of all. Meatballs are probably still #1. She will eat various types of fish, chicken, turkey, beef, beans/lentils, and loves my mom's soups. For breakfast, oatmeal with different mix-ins is our go-to staple. We've cut down quite a bit on eggs, mainly since I am not eating them due to Zoe's allergy. If we let her, Rose would eat bread or eat crackers at every meal. She loves when someone has a bagel at breakfast, or a sandwich at lunch or dinner. She also likes dipping her crackers in her soup. Some of her favorite foods are hummus, tomatoes, raisins/craisins, cheerios, sesame sticks, cheese, bananas, grapes, and yogurt. We continue to provide her with kefir milk to drink, and now offer more low-fat kefir than whole-milk kefir since many companies don't offer the whole milk option and the American Academy of Pediatrics says we can decrease the fat content at this age.
Finished a meal and let mommy put in pigtails (that were removed 30 seconds later)
Creating art on a rainy day at home
I could write a long narrative of every little detail we love about Miss Rose, but I'll just share a few of my favorite things:
My little Rose is getting so big so fast. I think she's grown a lot in the past few months. I don't know if that has increased her size on the growth chart, but her 24 month clothing is getting too small and she is fitting better in the 2T clothes. Pants are still a big long, but her body is definitely looking more toddler-like than baby-like.
Rose at 21 Months
Beautiful smiles
Rose at 21 Months and Zoe at 2 Months
Though Rose does have her tantrums and we really struggle with getting in the car seat and putting on a diaper and pants at times, I love this age. She repeats everything you say. Her development is wonderful to see. She now strings sentences together to tell you what she wants, she knows pretty much all the words to "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," she can count to 10 (but often omits 2, 5 and sometimes 9), she can sing most of her ABC's, she knows many of the words to other favorite songs like "Ba Ba Black Sheep," "Skinny Marinky Dinky Dink," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," and a few others.
Rose counting at 21.5 Months
Over the past month, I've also noticed her ability to play independently. It's been really helpful when I have things to do or need to attend to Zoe. As long as I'm in the room, or close by, she can often play by herself for up to 30 minutes. She loves taking care of her babies, putting them to bed or taking them for a walk around the house with her stroller. She also loves sitting with a pile of books around her, looking through and reading some. When we go to museums or play areas, she gravitates to the trucks and cars more than the dolls, but at home she loves her babies and books. She also loves to chase, or be chased, around the house. Playing tag is one of our favorite activities before bed. We have also gotten into the routine of reading "Goodnight Moon" each night before bed. We often read a second or third book. The other staples are "The Giving Tree," "Brown Bear, Brown Bear", and "Sam I Am" (Rose's title for Green Eggs and Ham).
In addition to books, Rose also loves electronics. We skype often with family and Rose knows which button to press to get to the Skype app. If she finds one of our phones unattended, she brings it to us. We've given her one of our old smartphones connected to wi-fi to play with. It's her device to watch her "Aula de Portugues" (or "Portuguese Class"), which are kid's music videos in Portuguese. She loves "Avo Cantigas" and his songs, but frequently needs "help" getting the app back when she presses a button on the phone.
Rose loves electronics - here at the library
Rose will be out of school for half of November and all of December due to travel and family visiting. She has not forgotten any of her friends as she often asks me to sing "rock-a-bock-tick-tock" (or Rock a Bye Baby) replacing "baby" with the different kids at school. Rock-a-Bye-Baby is now our nighttime song after reading. Since she's been out of school, we've tried getting her some socialization by going to several museums and the park as much as we can. Unfortunately, she's still more strongly connected to her family than to other kids.
Enjoying one of our many fall farm visits
We continue to have success with Rose eating. She loves meals, and beef entrees still tend to be her favorites (meatballs, shepherd's pie, etc), though she also loves soup and fish. She often asks for cheerios, crackers, cheese, or raisins, which we limit to occasional snacks or after she's had most of her meal. This week she's been asking for hummus and actually ate a fair amount of it for snack today. We also continue to only offer water or kefir milk. We have given her regular milk, but she doesn't really like it now that she is so used to the kefir.
Rose also feeds herself just about every meal. She's coordinated enough to use both the spoon and the fork (it appears she is right-handed) and only resorts to using her fingers if she is very hungry and doesn't have the patience to use a fork, or if her attempts at using the fork have been unsuccessful. We still have to cut up some food for her, and she's good at telling us if something is too big, or if a spoon-ful is "too much." Most foods are fine, except for watery soups, which end up all over the table, floor, and Rose. Her top canine teeth have finally come in, so now we are waiting on the bottom canines and the two-year molars. When her teeth bother her, she is a very cranky child.
Sometimes feeding yourself is messy
We continue to cloth diaper Rose and haven't made any progress in potty-training for the past few months. The novelty and excitement of using the potty has worn off, but Rose does go every morning and when we remind her (pee only). She now lets us know she needs a diaper change when she's very wet or when she has pooped. She likes to help put her diaper in the washing bin, and to help dispose of her poop in the toilet. I hope that school will assist with potty training when she goes back in January, or when she moves up to the 2 year old class in February-March.
I love Miss Rose's personality. She's such a joyful child and makes my life more fun. She has her occasional meltdowns, which primarily take place when she's tired or when her teeth hurt. But overall she is a great child. She's a great helper most of the time and sure does love her music (to sing and to dance). When we go somewhere new or where there are older children, she is very shy until she warms up. If she is participating in a group activity, she is very good at waiting her turn and following directions. She is also very good at sharing and I have a difficult time seeing her surprised and somewhat hurt when others don't share in return. I've also noticed her act bored with programs that she goes to often (like storytime), but she is paying attention in her own distracted way.
Rose dancing at 22 Months - the girl has some moves!
Thankfully, Rose has remained healthy through these late fall months. She was a bit snotty early in November when she was in school, but since she's been out, she seems to be cleared up. I worry about her going back to school during prime sick season and hope she doesn't bring anything back to us (mainly Zoe), but I'm sure it is inevitable.
Stay tuned for updates on our winter activities and a 3 month update on Zoe. I'm catching up!!
