Take that, June photo sign!June was craaaaaaaaazy bussssssssssssssssy! I had reading assessments, math assessments, report cards, articulation meetings, parent conferences, an observation, an evaluation conference and I had to pack up my entire classroom to get my stuff moved to my new building and pack up all the stuff that didn't belong to me but that I used during my tenure at that school. In all, that was close to 60 boxes! I am so glad to finally be done!
Yes, I had to pack up my classroom because got a new job! I am so happy! It's still teaching K instead of being a full time writer or photographer (maybe one day) but as far as teaching jobs go, it's not bad. There are three great things about this job:
1. My commute will only be 10 minutes! I used to have to drive 45 min. and now it will be 10!
2. It is much more diverse - both staff and students. Love that!
3. They have on-site day care!! YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT! How awesome is that?! (Don't know if they have space for my pumpkin but I hope so as it's also $100/wk. cheaper!!!)
June was very, very busy and add to the mix both of us celebrated our birthdays in June! Almi turned two on June 7th and I turned, um... well, I had a birthday on June 22nd! Those details will be in a separate post.
Stats
Height: 33" (25th percentile)
Weight: 29 lbs. (75th percentile!)
Head Circumference 47.5 cm (normal as far as I understand)
After she showed me her percentile ranks on her laptop, I asked the doctor if that was a problem. "Should they be the same?" I inquired. "Ideally," she responded. She elaborated to say that if she is eating healthy foods then I shouldn't worry that she is gaining weight at this rate. I certainly feed her very healthy foods at home. She rarely has dessert (and when she does it's rarely refined white sugar), no dairy, fried foods infrequently, rarely given juice even. But when I mentioned my girl loves her carbs she said I should monitor her intake of those and focus on fruits and veggies. Easy for me, but daycare? Oh daycare. I have a love-hate relationship with you. She eats tons of carbs there (white sugar, white flour) and they give her dairy against my instructions. It happens too often to fight with them about (I've already reminded them 3x) and for the most part I am really happy with her there so I have pretty much let it go. I try to have her on a healthy food regimen when she is with me full time but it annoys me to no end that they introduced her taste buds to non-nutritious junk.
New Signs
juice
potty
fish
(this amazes me since she hasn't watched the Signing Times video in over a month!)
New Words
no (said for the first time on her 2nd birthday!)
ello? (hello, when playing with the phone)
appoo (apple)
joo (juice - for juice or water)
you (for pee-ew, for stinky feet)
chee (cheers! when we clink my glass to her sippy cup. i have my friend Roz to thank for teaching her that! lol. it's really cute when she initiates in a restuarant with one of my friends!)
mmmmm (for moo when I say, "What does a cow say?")
Yes, I had to pack up my classroom because got a new job! I am so happy! It's still teaching K instead of being a full time writer or photographer (maybe one day) but as far as teaching jobs go, it's not bad. There are three great things about this job:
1. My commute will only be 10 minutes! I used to have to drive 45 min. and now it will be 10!
2. It is much more diverse - both staff and students. Love that!
3. They have on-site day care!! YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT! How awesome is that?! (Don't know if they have space for my pumpkin but I hope so as it's also $100/wk. cheaper!!!)
June was very, very busy and add to the mix both of us celebrated our birthdays in June! Almi turned two on June 7th and I turned, um... well, I had a birthday on June 22nd! Those details will be in a separate post.
Stats
Height: 33" (25th percentile)
Weight: 29 lbs. (75th percentile!)
Head Circumference 47.5 cm (normal as far as I understand)
After she showed me her percentile ranks on her laptop, I asked the doctor if that was a problem. "Should they be the same?" I inquired. "Ideally," she responded. She elaborated to say that if she is eating healthy foods then I shouldn't worry that she is gaining weight at this rate. I certainly feed her very healthy foods at home. She rarely has dessert (and when she does it's rarely refined white sugar), no dairy, fried foods infrequently, rarely given juice even. But when I mentioned my girl loves her carbs she said I should monitor her intake of those and focus on fruits and veggies. Easy for me, but daycare? Oh daycare. I have a love-hate relationship with you. She eats tons of carbs there (white sugar, white flour) and they give her dairy against my instructions. It happens too often to fight with them about (I've already reminded them 3x) and for the most part I am really happy with her there so I have pretty much let it go. I try to have her on a healthy food regimen when she is with me full time but it annoys me to no end that they introduced her taste buds to non-nutritious junk.
New Signs
juice
potty
fish
(this amazes me since she hasn't watched the Signing Times video in over a month!)
New Words
no (said for the first time on her 2nd birthday!)
ello? (hello, when playing with the phone)
appoo (apple)
joo (juice - for juice or water)
you (for pee-ew, for stinky feet)
chee (cheers! when we clink my glass to her sippy cup. i have my friend Roz to thank for teaching her that! lol. it's really cute when she initiates in a restuarant with one of my friends!)
mmmmm (for moo when I say, "What does a cow say?")
toe
eye
no (nose)
tee (teeth)
iluhlo!! (can you guess what this is?)
and...
mommy!!! On June 20th I was walking down the street with a friend of mine who was holding her hand. She looked up at me, said "Mommy!" and gave me her hand to hold. Oh, so sweet!!
Likes-
Chicken McNuggets. Sigh. Sometimes I am just too tired to cook. I'm not even a fan of McDona!ds food but I am a huge, huge fan of drive thrus.
steamed spinach
steamed broccoli
watermelon
blueberries
Popsicles
kidney beans
garbanzo beans
corn on the cob
Dislikes -
nectarines
apples
oranges
cucumbers
Latest and Greatest
She is oh, so two. OMG.
Tantrums. Short (usually under a minute) but I think I can still classify them as tantrums.
Hitting.
Kicking while getting her diaper changed.
Throwing food on the floor.
tee (teeth)
iluhlo!! (can you guess what this is?)
and...
mommy!!! On June 20th I was walking down the street with a friend of mine who was holding her hand. She looked up at me, said "Mommy!" and gave me her hand to hold. Oh, so sweet!!
Likes-
Chicken McNuggets. Sigh. Sometimes I am just too tired to cook. I'm not even a fan of McDona!ds food but I am a huge, huge fan of drive thrus.
steamed spinach
steamed broccoli
watermelon
blueberries
Popsicles
kidney beans
garbanzo beans
corn on the cob
Dislikes -
nectarines
apples
oranges
cucumbers
Latest and Greatest
She is oh, so two. OMG.
Tantrums. Short (usually under a minute) but I think I can still classify them as tantrums.
Hitting.
Kicking while getting her diaper changed.
Throwing food on the floor.
Throwing things in the toilet.
Whining.
Shrugging her shoulders (do other babies do this??)
Crossing her arms and turning her back to me when she's mad.
I can't help but to partially blame day care. Oh, daycare... But she is learning what is acceptable and what isn't. And she's a smart girl. And I'm a fairly consistent parent so I am hopeful it's not going to last long. No more than a year. :-) But in reality, I am very, very lucky. She is a good eater and a good sleeper and social and easy going and most of the time she is very happy.
What else?
She called 911. Oops. Phones are now officially off limits.
She got her first school pictures!
She had her first school performance!
She loves books. Here she is reading with Grandma.
Four non-diarrhea diapers!
She loves stickers. She will pull them off and on her body and mine.
She loves to climb on me and have me chase her around the house and play Hide and Seek.
She likes to hold my hand and the hand of whichever friend I am with as we are walking down the street.
She says please all the time. We'll be driving down the street and I'll hear her saying, "Pee? Pee?" from her car seat and I'll say, "Please what, baby?" but she won't answer me cause she doesn't know the words and then starts crying because I don't give her what she's so politely asking for. It makes me feel bad! :( Poor little muffin.
She calls me Dada most of the time (when she's not upset). In the morning if I am near her room I will hear her waking up and talking to her stuffed animals. "Kitty!" "Ishy?" and playing quietly. And then after about 5 minutes she will call for me: "Dada?! Dadaaaaa?!" I will go into her room and she will babble on and on about who knows what, pointing to things in her crib and around her room. She will hand me Kitty or Doggy to kiss and say good morning to. (This is something we do each night before she goes to sleep as well. After I sing to her and lay her down she will hand me Kitty and Doggy to give kisses to before she snuggles one under each arm and goes to sleep). When she's upset she still calls me Emmay.
She is very funny. She loves to try to make me laugh. One thing she will do will put on hats in any crazy way and then look at me with a serious face waiting for me to laugh. It cracks me up each time. Another thing she and I do will make serious faces at each other with our heads bowed a bit and try to not to laugh but eventually both of us will crack up. She has good comedic timing. I think she is going to be a funny, funny girl. Love that!
She has so much to say! She talks so, so much. I just wish I could understand her. Her speech may have some Amharic words in it but I think most of it is just babbling and nonsense words. It's going to be so cool when she starts putting everything together and talking. I predict by Christmas she will be able to communicate.
She is noticeably more bonded to me. I'd almost like to say completely bonded but that may be a bit presumptuous. In any event, she seems very happy and comfortable and knows exactly who momma is.
She says please all the time. We'll be driving down the street and I'll hear her saying, "Pee? Pee?" from her car seat and I'll say, "Please what, baby?" but she won't answer me cause she doesn't know the words and then starts crying because I don't give her what she's so politely asking for. It makes me feel bad! :( Poor little muffin.
She calls me Dada most of the time (when she's not upset). In the morning if I am near her room I will hear her waking up and talking to her stuffed animals. "Kitty!" "Ishy?" and playing quietly. And then after about 5 minutes she will call for me: "Dada?! Dadaaaaa?!" I will go into her room and she will babble on and on about who knows what, pointing to things in her crib and around her room. She will hand me Kitty or Doggy to kiss and say good morning to. (This is something we do each night before she goes to sleep as well. After I sing to her and lay her down she will hand me Kitty and Doggy to give kisses to before she snuggles one under each arm and goes to sleep). When she's upset she still calls me Emmay.
She is very funny. She loves to try to make me laugh. One thing she will do will put on hats in any crazy way and then look at me with a serious face waiting for me to laugh. It cracks me up each time. Another thing she and I do will make serious faces at each other with our heads bowed a bit and try to not to laugh but eventually both of us will crack up. She has good comedic timing. I think she is going to be a funny, funny girl. Love that!
She has so much to say! She talks so, so much. I just wish I could understand her. Her speech may have some Amharic words in it but I think most of it is just babbling and nonsense words. It's going to be so cool when she starts putting everything together and talking. I predict by Christmas she will be able to communicate.
She is noticeably more bonded to me. I'd almost like to say completely bonded but that may be a bit presumptuous. In any event, she seems very happy and comfortable and knows exactly who momma is.
Finally starting to feel more like a mom. Not 100%, though I did dream about her twice this month. Sometimes I wake up in the morning and it kind of hits me like, 'Oh yeah, you have a daughter in the next room!' Weird.
Yes, her two year old, toddler behavior and limited expressive English make it hard on me--especially with a demanding job, lack of sleep and other stressors--and I get easily frustrated. But the summer is here and I have my much missed free time back. I am able to get some things done and that helps so much. I also hired one of the ladies from daycare to babysit and have a neighborhood teen who has expressed interest in babysitting this summer. I am looking forward to regaining some balance. If I have learned anything about single parenting, it's that it's not meant to be done alone. LOL
I think by fall I will have things pretty much worked out. I should have a sitter or two I can call on, I will have a shorter commute and (hopefully) have her in daycare in my building and we will have been together six months. I hear that you shouldn't judge this experience (being a new parent) until you have been in it for at least six months and I would have to agree. When we arrive at the six month mark I expect to be in a really good groove.
Now, here's to a great summer!
** Oh, and if you didn't guess it, 'iluhlo' is I love you! ** Awww...
9 comments:
I love that picture of her looking up at you. She knows her mama alright! And congratulations on getting a job close to home. I'll pray that a spot is available in the daycare on site. Have a great summer off, relaxing and hanging out with your favorite girl!
Happy Belated birthday to both of you. Glad to hear that you and Almi are doing great. Congrats on the new job and Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Wow she's doing great and it sounds like you are doing so much better too. As for the comment about the percentiles (which I've found out the ones used at the Dr. offices we go to are based on Caucasian formula fed babies in the USA- oh so helpful) none of my four kids are anywhere near to having theirs the same. Our oldest has always been off the chart for height and was usually in the 5th percentile for weight (has at 9 years now gotten close to the 5oth percentile for weight but still off the chart for height). You are doing a great job at feeding and loving Naomi- don't do the Mommy guilt thing where you beat yourself up! She is growing and that's what counts. And she is smart and learning so much!
It was good to see Charles on the last post too- say "hi" to him from me. I still repeat his words of wisdom from at the Weygoss when he told me Meki probably won't cling to me and want me to hold her when she's 14... She's a TOTALLY different child already too! I wish our girls could play together.
Take care and enjoy your summer break,
Ramona
Adorable!!! And...I too love drive-throughs. I think the post office needs one next!
Becky
so sweet I love the updates and I also love the pic w/her in the rain boots to sweet
Loved this one. And the one above. So glad to see your blog appearing again! M
Another fantastic update. I love to read how well you guys are doing. And to have Almi call you Mommy like that is so precious!
Congrats on the new job! It sounds like you guys are doing great, keep up the good work!
Congrats on the new job!!! I'm just catching up on blogs since starting my new job. Hope we can get together soon.
Post a Comment