We haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, in case anyone was wondering. Sidetracked, yes, so the blog receives its fair share of neglect. Our apologies. (Mama’s turn to write today, by the way).
Natalie has been keeping us busy, as usual, and she’s been up to a lot lately. She’s started potty training, a great adventure in itself. Between my 15-year-old cat and Natalie, I’ve cleaned up more pee in the last couple of months than I ever thought possible. She’s getting the hang of it but still has a ways to go.
All three of us now go to gymnastics class once a week so Natalie can tumble and jump around with her BFF, Lily. Oh, and there are other kids in the class too. Her favorite part is jumping on the trampoline (seat drops, anyone?), but she also does pretty well on the balance beam and has almost mastered somersaults. Cartwheels and work on the bar are very much a work in progress, but hey, she’s only two so we’ll give her a break. It’s all just for fun anyway. She loves ’nastics day. Natalie and I also just started back at cradle school, and if I can get my act together she’ll go to story hour at the public library. Some days I have trouble getting motivated to get us out of the house; it’s so much easier and more fun to stay in pajamas together until noon. Before I blink we’ll be sending her off to school for the day, so I want these times together at home with her to last as long as possible.
I conducted a short interview of her favorite things the other day, and here is where we stand:
- Favorite food: broccoli
- Favorite song: “Boom Boom Pow” by the Black-Eyed Peas (no offense to the Peas, but she is also exposed to better music than this)
- Favorite color: orange
- Favorite animal: cat
- Favorite TV show: tie between “Ni Hao, Kai-Lan” and “Team Umizoomi”
No one prepared us for how fast she would grow, both physically and mentally. Since she first came home last August, she has grown at least six inches and gained just over ten pounds. She had a check-up this week and is now 36 inches tall. “I’m gonna be big like you, Mama” is something I hear a lot. She also says she’ll be as big as Stephen, but I haven’t seen many 6’5” women from China. Keep drinking that milk, sweetie, and we’ll see. Speaking of vocabulary, she pretty much says whatever she wants now. Her singing has also taken off, but I wouldn’t call any talent scouts just yet. Still cute though, and we love to hear it. The alphabet song is the most frequently heard song at our house these days, at varying decibel levels depending on her mood.
With upcoming pumpkin patch visits and Halloween, there are sure to be some supercute photos to follow. For now, here are a few to hold you over.
