Or, as R says, "I really feel like we are actual parents now, not just people with a cute baby."
For the first time we are encountering sleep problems with Sam. As I have said many times, she slept from 8-8 starting at about six weeks. Since then I could have counted on one hand the number of times we were up in the night with her. No longer. We put her to bed now and she is up and needs to be walked back about five or six times. She asks for her "DW book" and "another kiss" and "water" and "Daddy" and anything she can think of to avoid being put back to bed. Once she finally does fall asleep, she usually ends up in our bed around 3 a.m. at least three days a week. I don't really mind, I guess. It is so cute to wake up with her between us, but I do not like the fact that it is a very rare night now where we are not woken up by at least one of our children.
Potty training has been majorly, majorly derailed. I take the blame for this, really. R and I were too lazy to want to deal with accidents in public, so we kept putting her in diapers. Now it seems she has lost interest in potty training. I am not feeling too rushed about it, but it would be nice to have her completely out of diapers.
Sam has always been a voracious reader, but this month it has become kind of crazy. She has a little wagon she fills with books as well as two Lulu Lemon sacks. She insists on carrying at least one book with her everywhere we go. Favorites include, "To Market, To Market"; "Pony Books" (these My Little Pony books that came with a meal at one of our favorite places at the lake); "Brown Bear, Brown Bear"; "Dr. Seuss ABCs" and many, many more. She has most of them memorized word for word and can also read some of the smaller words. I am so happy she loves to read so much, but I worry that the reason is that, since birth (and this is no exaggeration) both R and I have spent/d at least two hours a day reading to her. With Alan? Not so much. I worry he will not be the reader she is.
Her behavior towards her brother is so much better to our immense relief. We are still following through on shrinkage because, really, she would not be my daughter without a professional analyst. My family loves us some shrink time. But also, I think it would be good for us to really learn what kind of kid Sam is so that we can best serve her. Honestly, she is such a dynamo and such a force and so damn smart, I just want to make sure that she gets the best possible encouragement and support.
Generally though she and Alan have started to play together and enjoy one another. In the car they make eachother laugh and talk back and forth. They conspire a bit to do things and she seems to enjoy helping her brother get toys he can't reach, go to bed and get out of his crib. I am sure when he walks we will go through another rough patch, but for now, this is a welcome change.
She loves, loves LOVES big kids. At the sitter's, her "fevorite friend" is a four-year-old named Molly who she talks about all the time ("Molly has a pretty necklace, but I don't want to break it"; " I so excited to see Molly!") Yesterday at the park, she met a big boy and just followed him all around, playing Firemen. If the big kids are climbing high, she wants to climb, too, but she is also starting to learn her limits. The big boy offered to let her use his bike and she said no. "I need my helmet," she explained. I wanted to kiss her.
Depending on her mood (and she is so moody like her mama), she can be so fun and sweet and solicitous or so dark, stormy and angry. I love both sides of her, but obviously find it preferable when she is in an easy mood.
She is really learning Spanish and at home says quite a few words, but in class she clams up. She also is really enjoying her art class, but seems to me more into the tactile activities--playdough, goop, jello painting--than the more paint-oriented ones. She does love to use her feet to paint, though.
Love this kid even though she exhausts me beyond belief. She is really something.
Some photos:
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