Library

Big kids at school, we headed to the library. She loves to browse the movies and I force her to pick out some books as well!

A busy day

Some days are busier than others. This morning Asia and I went to school to watch Bryttain's class during dance. They were so cute.

 

With all the budget cuts subjects like dance, PE, art, music and the like would be non-existent, but here in Mill Valley an organization called Kiddo raises funds from parents and local businesses to keep them in our schools. We're very fortunate.

Then after lunch Asia had soccer class. Even cuter. I think she did really well and more importantly, she really enjoyed it.

Day 2

The second day of school was just as successful and much easier and less traumatic than the first. Arran was happy for me to walk him to his classroom and leave, then the girls and I headed over to Bryttain's for Read and Greet time. I love that this is how the day is started, for the first two years, with parents and children reading together for 20 minutes.

Read and Greet time. Yes, thank you for noticing the toll that the new early morning routine is taking on me. I know I look far from my best...and the girls would much rather be reading than looking in a camera. Has to be done though :)

Once we had left school, I raced down to San Anselmo to pick up my camera, which I had taken in for cleaning. We arrived a little before 9::30am, only to discover that the store would not be open until 10am. Oh well, it was the perfect excuse for Asia and I to have a little date as we waited. She chose hot chocolate and a little mini-cupcake, while I opted for tea with my cupcake. We sat and chatted together and she drew some flowers on napkins and her paper plate. It was a sweet time.

I am looking forward to all the time the two of us are going to spend together and am a little sad that I was not able to have that same time with Bryttain. We will see how quickly she tires of me though.

Reunited!

Well when I wrote about Asia's roly poly the other day, it was a cute little conversation she had had with her daddy that I did not take seriously at all. Today, however, that changed. I was in my room when I heard Bryttain yell out excitedly

"Asia! I found your roly poly!" which was followed by delighted squeals from them both.

"Mommy! Mommy! Bryttain found my roly poly!" and she spent the next hour plus, letting roly poly climb all over her, gazing at him/her sweetly, being oh so gentle as she would hand him over to Bryttain for a turn. Lunch was no longer a priority as she could not bear to put him down! It really was the sweetest thing ever.

Cubbie Bear visits again!

This past week Asia was absolutely ecstatic to get to bring Cubbie Bear home from AWANAs. She has thoroughly enjoyed her first month at Cubbies and is so cute reciting the bible verses she learns, with big words that she can barely pronounce. She was pretty good at sharing, but there were a few nights with shouting and tears regarding whose bed Cubbie would sleep in, or shortly into the night as she would demand to have him back with her. The limited understanding of a barely three year old!

Big girl starts ballet

I am so behind on everything. My computer has been in the shop for the past eight days and I finally got it back.
December 12th, Asia had her first ballet class. It was a much anticipated event! For her birthday we had bought her a leotard and ballet shoes, all of her own, not hand-me-downs. She was so cute with her little black gauzy skirt, so excited and I was just amazed at how well she did.

The reason I had moved Bryttain up from the 3-4s class to the 4-5s class (even though the time worked better for our schedule) was that each time a brand new three year old would come in, the class seemed to slow down while the new student adjusted and the teacher worked on getting her up to speed. Some of the new students showed, quite clearly, by their lack of focus and ability to follow direction, that this was probably their first exposure to any kind of organized activity. But Asia astounded me...she was so attentive and worked so hard, following instructions and she looked like she had been having classes for months.

Of course, she has been watching Bryttain in her classes and Bryttain 'teaches' her at home, but she was truly amazing and she LOVED it.

There was a moment at the end when my heart broke a little for her though. This class had already started working on dances for the Christmas recital and their little leotard dresses had been ordered and were handed out that morning. With it being Asia's first time, she had missed that cut-off. She was not aware of all of that and as the dresses were handed out she saw one lying on the floor and excitedly grabbed it and came running to me to show me. I of course had to take it back as it was not hers and tried to explain to her that she would not be in the upcoming recital, but could next time.

She was SO disappointed, but she really tried to hold it together, she did not want to cry and was trying desperately to be brave! She turned away from me and wiped her eyes, smearing her stamped hand all over face as the ink merged with her tears. I could feel her pain and it was heart wrenching.

I know it is just a part of growing up but I so wish I could spare my children some of these moments.

I love this little girl more than words can say and am incredibly proud of her.

Our birthday princess

Asia is now three years old. This is my sweet baby girl and yet she is baby no more; her beautiful chubby cheeks are reducing in size, she no longer wears nappies (diapers), she speaks clearly, in full funny sentences. SHE tells ME that she is not by baby anymore and that that makes me sad, she is right and she knows it. Of course, it is also hard for her to understand that she will, in fact, always be my baby.

Wednesday was the big day, and there had been much anticipation. Turning three came with some big changes, which we had been talking about daily, for weeks. The biggest hurdle was going to be giving up her dummy (pacifier), but she would also be able to start ballet classes and get to go to Cubbies.

I had no plans (I am not sure why exactly) for a party, but at the weekend as we had been talking about it almost being her birthday she asked

"Mommy, on my birthday can I go to my party?" and I realized that she was expecting to have a party.

It was then that I started to scramble. We needed to keep it small, as at this time of year it is too cold and dark to do anything outside and our house can feel very full very quickly. So we invited her two little best buddies and the cousins and one other family in town and we had twenty five people, just like that. It was a little crazy as we had fifteen children ranging in age from six months to seven years, but the important thing is that Asia (and James) got their party.

My three kids love dinosaurs these days and their favorite show is Dinosaur Train, so I was pretty happy when I found this cup cake mold on sale a while back.

My lovely, gracious husband whose own birthday will forever for the next few years, at least, be overshadowed by his own daughter's. His cake may not look like much, but I can guarantee you it was dark chocolate goodness, dense and rich. As you can see, he was celebrating his first birthday! We just could not risk the house being set on fire, had we used the correct number of candles :)

Asia handed over her dummy to me before even opening any presents on Wednesday morning and we bagged up all the spares which (as far as she is concerned) were then thrown away. She has not asked for one again. Nap time was hard and she kind of whined and fussed for quite a long time, but she did not beg or plead or ask for it even then. She has totally surprised me. I am so very proud of her.

Riding her new pink bike at her party - yes she was riding it indoors :)

Happy birthday Asia.

Happy birthday James!

Pure Mischief

Saturday morning started off innocently enough. Arran's soccer practice was at 9am and James took him, with Bryttain joining the excursion, to hang out with daddy and watch her big brother. I finished my breakfast and decided I should tackle the mountain of clean laundry that needed folding, I had, after all, procrastinated long enough. Asia was busy playing, but had transferred the play stable with some other toys to our bedroom floor so that she could play and be with me at the same time.

She is such a sweet, chubby-cheeked nugget of love. As the piles of folded clothes grew larger on our bed I remember her saying

"Mommy, I found a bead!"

I did not think too much of it, she is after all my third child and we have never had any untoward incidents with beads. Of course, all of that was about to change. I have no idea what went through that little girl's head, or why. It would maybe have made sense if she had snuck it into her mouth, would a pink bead taste like strawberry, or some other tasty pink morsel? But no! The next thing I hear is her crying and it was then that she informed me that the bead was stuck up her nose!

I felt so bad for her, she was obviously in pain, but I could not see it. I spent the next half an hour trying to get her to blow her nose, no, not sniff, blow (two years old, remember), sneeze, cough...anything. I wanted to see if I could gently massage it down from the outside, but she complained that it hurt. The tears were increasing.

I went online and found it to be quite a common problem, although it seems raisins and peanuts are equally as popular with young children for sticking up noses. Several pages I found suggested a simple CPR type maneuver where you press on the empty nostril and gently blow in the mouth to see if that will dislodge the blockage. That did not work either and she was none too impressed. Soccer practice was due to be over so I called James; I needed fresh ideas.

We tried all the previous suggestions again, with one of us (trying) to hold her still this time. By now we could see the evil bead, as daddy had brought his flashlight in from his truck, but that thing was not budging. With the flashlight we could clearly see the hole in the bead, so her airway was not being badly obstructed and James thought that with a thin enough piece of wire he could maybe hook it out, but she was pretty freaked out and very much over the whole ordeal. She did not want anything else going up her nose.

I finally decided that we were probably going to need some professionals, so got on the phone with an advice nurse to see if we could get her in to the Saturday pediatric clinic. I had no desire whatsoever to head to an ER where we would be kept waiting for goodness knows how long and (this is America after all) end up paying who knows how much? There was an appointment available for later that afternoon, so I took it, but I was still reluctant to declare defeat. I knew it would be way more traumatic for her to have some stranger poking around her nose and to be honest it was not exactly how I had envisioned spending our Saturday afternoon together.

As James made the kiddos lunch I had the bright idea to hunt around for one of our bulb syringes. We had used them when the children were smaller to suck out mucus or snot when they had colds and were too young to know how to blow. But could I find one? No! Of course we have not needed to use one in years.

Some good friends live nearby and I figured I would try them as a last resort - they had one, and more importantly knew where it was in their house (amazing)! I jumped in the car and drove over there immediately. They also offered a saline rinse, which sounded like it would be an ordeal to try on a reluctant child, but anything would be worth a try. Their 'grandma' mentioned a sheet wrap if we needed help keeping her still.

I tried sucking the wretched bead out, but she was pretty nervous and would either try to bat it away, or turn her head at the last moment, even with one of us holding her, it was not happening. We both tried. Finally I decided we needed to use a swaddle. I had a piece of stretchy fleece which I lay down on the floor and told her to lay on top of. What a fun game! I put her little arms down by her sides and wrapped her up tight, then as James held her head still and I blocked her legs, her arms contained, four good suctions and that sucker came out! Her panic turned to relief and the ordeal was over.

Lots of hugs and kisses later, the doctor's appointment canceled, we think a lesson was learned. I asked her later that afternoon if she will ever put another bead up her nose and she was very emphatic with her

"NO!"

What a big girl

Asia's potty training has been very self-paced. We had the usual incentive (one M & M for a wee, two for something more substantial!) but other than that, have not pushed it. She was never very interested in the little potty and went for the regular toilet, which was more than fine by me. One less thing to empty and clean!

It is so different than when Arran was a baby. Of course at that point it was me and him at home and I could give him my undivided attention, but I think the truth is that although he did great, it was more a case of me staying on top of it, I would set the timer at 30 minute intervals and ask him to try, we had stickers and rewards, we went from nappies to pull-ups and finally when several MONTHS later he was there, underwear. It was a lot of work.

I was WAY more relaxed by the time Bryttain came around and waited for her to be pretty interested.

Now Asia is finally there. I have known for a while that she got it. She could produce every time she went to the bathroom, half the time she was taking herself, but I had just left her in nappies (diapers), and occasionally tried a pull-up. She knows the difference though and would just get lazy.

She could run around naked though, for hours, with no accidents, so today I decided, out of curiosity more than anything else, to just put her in regular underwear. Not one accident! She told us each time she needed the bathroom and even fell asleep in her bed at nap time, before we registered that she was not in a pull-up...and stayed dry the whole time. You could have picked up my jaw from the floor at that point (we will not be trying to repeat that one for a while though).

Anyway, I am INCREDIBLY proud of her...and here she can tell you the news for herself.

A cause for celebration!

It was a big day today. My little Asia did her very first wee-wee in her potty! You may be wondering, what has this blog come to...but such is the life of a mother...and I would not have it any other way.

Daddy bought Asia her very own pink potty last Summer and she would occasionally sit on it, while I would sing "If you're happy and you know it..." or "Jingle Bells" or whatever else took her fancy, in the hopes that if the songs lasted long enough she might accidentally deposit something in the potty and would get the idea. No such luck. Since her second birthday I have tried to more actively encourage her to sit on it, but it got more use as a footstool or a stepping stone, that she would tote around the house to aid her in reaching whatever was out of her reach, in most cases deliberately out of her reach, I might add.

Well the last few days, of her own accord, and probably with the encouragement of Bryttain, she has been taking off her nappy/diaper (with Bryttain's expert four-year-old help) and sitting on her potty whilst Bryttain was doing her business.

Today at precisely, 1:28pm Bryttain came running out excitedly to tell me

"Mommy! Mommy! Asia did a real wee in her potty!"

Yup, I wasn't even there to witness the event...such is the fate of a third child I guess.

I went racing in to corroborate the facts and was overjoyed. Asia was looking a little bemused but I clapped and gave her high-fives and did a little song and dance and showered her with kisses and she suddenly lit up. Hopefully that was a light bulb moment for her...we shall see. We washed her hands and emptied the potty, then gave her an m & m to seal the deal and further encourage more successful potty encounters (with a promise that poo-poos would result in two m & ms). We called daddy on his cell phone to join in the celebrations and then she decided to take her nappy off again and sit on the potty for another five minutes, after all this was all fun and games.

Of course her empty bladder yielded no further fruit, but I hope that this is but the start of a short, successful journey :)

Too cute not to post

So as it was Bryttain's birthday yesterday I really wanted to post photos of her for my last day of the photo challenge (I was having all sorts of problems with the formatting on here yesterday and now can't go back and fix it, but oh well).

I managed to get some cute ones of Asia too, so I'm posting them today. It is SO hard to capture Asia on film and truly represent her personality. She is such a fun, fun-loving little girl, just full of life...but she really does not like me pointing a camera at her. I have maybe a couple of photos which show her genuinely smiling, most of the time she just looks serious, or moody and that is so not her. She is precious and charming and loves to make others laugh. She is my little sweetheart.

...and no she is not an amputee, she has full use of both hands, just her left was swinging round behind her as she ran towards me :)

Photo a Day: Day 25

We have had a rough week with poor little Asia. It all started on Sunday with an accident at church, where she tripped and smashed her face into a table leg, resulting in many tears and mouthfuls of blood as well as a nasty bruise, fat chomped lips and bitten cheeks. Add to that a cough and a cold and she (and I) have been feeling pretty sorry for her. The rule is normally that she is only allowed her pacifier/dummy at nap time and bed time, when she is in her bed, but I have been a bad, inconsistent mommy this week and given way on multiple occasions. I have felt sad for her, plus I have grown very tired of the whining. Next week we will return to square one.

February 25, 2010 4:49pm

Photo-a-day: Day 14

We all love the beautiful portraits, but then there is real life. Do you ever have one of these days? At all of two years of age, one might believe that Asia has a very hard life, truth be told she has entered in to a new phase these last few weeks, wherein she cries or whines at the drop of a hat. She is testing us to see how much we can take before giving in. She will not win, but it is a daily battle. Of course there are times when we are all genuinely upset, but this is the I-can-turn-it-on-and-off-at-will-cry.

I love capturing these real moments and do not do it nearly enough. Happy Valentine's day, I love you baby.

February 14, 2010: 12:00pm

Photo-a-day: Day 11

I love to see my baby take care of her baby. It blesses my heart.

February 11, 2010: 5:46pm

Photo-a-day: Day 7

Asia loves her Word Whammer and even though she just turned two she is already working on her alphabet. It is not always easy going, but she will get there.

February 7, 2010: 6:25pm

My Girls

Weekday mornings are girl time; daddy is at work and Arran is at school.

I love to see the relationships between all of my children. Arran and Bryttain were such good buddies before Asia came along and they still are, but now Bryttain and Asia are best friends too. Of course, they both adore their older brother and are SO excited to see him when it is time to get him from school, but their own bond since he has started school has grown so much stronger. They play 'Mommy and babies' together, sometimes with their dolls, sometimes with Bryttain being mommy whilst Asia is the baby and I think Bryttain really does think of herself as Asia's second mom! Yes, at all of three years old, she tries to take that role upon herself.

Yesterday morning I was able to snap a few photos of the two of them. I finally have a decent flash and it has been too cold to venture outside too much so it is the perfect time to be practicing. (Disclaimer: Bryttain styled her own hair).

They are too precious and just continue to take my breath away!

Exclusive downtown time!

Our little Asia is growing up so quickly. She is such a sweet, precious blessing, but there is less and less baby left. She is trying to say more and more and do more, exerting her independence. At the same time, she loves to be with us and Thursday evening, for maybe the first time since we brought her home from the hospital, almost two years ago, she got to spend some time with just James and I. We had dropped Arran and Bryttain off to AWANAs and for once James did not have music practice, so the three of us went for a wander downtown.

She loves, loves, loves water, so we walked over the river. She is a big girl now (don't you know), so insisted on walking on her own in front of us for a while. But in the end, who could resist holding daddy's hand, so sweet!


Then she got in some good daddy time, complete with cuddles and kisses, (the best!) and some more water, at the fountain in the little square.

Our children's lives have each been so different. Arran had a whole two years of our undivided attention before having to share us and of course our other two have not had that luxury. Sometimes I feel sad for them for that, but that is how life is. They have had the benefit of having an older brother, which he never had.

We just need to take these opportunities and use them to the best of our abilities, be purposeful with the time we have. These days are passing all too quickly and I for one, do not want to miss a precious moment.

Precious moments

I love moments like these! This is what I walked in to see the other morning. Nobody had asked Arran to read to his little sister, nobody had asked Asia to go and be with her big brother, they just love each other and were doing it on their own. It truly warms a mother's heart.

I didn't make a big deal of it, or congratulate them, or make a fuss. I just ran for my camera to capture their preciousness, then left them to it. No posing or staging, just real life!

MY baby

I look at Asia now, my baby, but it seems there is not much baby left. She is growing up so quickly.

I adore everything about her; her big blue eyes, her chubby cheeks and legs and belly, the way she reaches up her little arms when she wants a cuddle. She is my little shadow, always with me. She loves to be with me, sitting on my lap, grabbing my legs, whenever I sit down, she is the first to clamber up.

She loves to dance, any time she hears music, she instinctively starts to move. Her little shoulders start to shimmy and a grin breaks out across her face, before you know it her hips are moving and she's twirling or jumping.

She is determined and adventurous and resourceful. She does not expect everything to be done for her, she figures out ways to help herself, to achieve what she needs. She is full of laughter and joy and I cannot help but smile when she is around.

I am SO in love!

Our little black cat :)

I forgot to put up a photo of Asia, dressed up for the Harvest Festival we attended here at a local church. She looked so freaking cute, that I had to quickly add it. We didn't have anything planned for her, after all she's just a baby and wasn't asking to get dressed up. I pretty much threw this together in a few minutes...black top and trousers, black sock for her tail, eye liner for her nose and whiskers, all we had to make were her ears.
She's SO precious!