Amanda Rachel
& Robin Beatrice
Amanda was born on Wednesday,
June 28, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Robin was born on Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 9:24 pm
January 2011
Happy New Year! We began the year explaining to Amanda that she was not going to Kindergarten just yet. We have been saying for months that she was going to Kindergarten "next year," but failed to explain that we were talking about school year and not calendar year. It took a few days, but she finally accepted that she will remain in preschool for a few more months and she was actually very happy to return to the Travelers classroom.
Robin has begun to assert her independence vocally and physically. She has begun throwing real temper tantrums now, involving rolling on the floor and kicking her feet. We go through that almost every morning when she does not want to wear her winter coat. Robin also has issues with her shoes. She has one pair of sneakers that she wears every day and has worn for the last few months. This month, it was apparent that she was outgrowing them and needed new sneakers. We took her to the shoe store and attempted to have her try on new sneakers. She would have none of it and threw quite a fit in the shoe store. Eventually, Stacey purchased the exact same sneakers in the correct size. She was none the wiser (until she reads this one day several years from now and gets mad about it in retrospect).
She also has a pair of snow boots that she had never worn. The first time Stacey tried to put them on her feet, Robin screamed and cried and Stacey wrote it off to Robin's initial aversion to anything new (especially shoes). The next time, however, it was actually snowing and Robin threw a colossal tantrum while we fought to put her boots on, while we tried to get her out the door, and once she was outside in the snow. Eventually, she realized that she could walk in them and then she loved them. For the next few days, she tried to put them on in the morning instead of her sneakers.
Amanda is making leaps and bounds toward reading and has begun spelling in her speech. She says things like, "I had N-O cavities" and "Mommy, S-T-O-P." She also spells out "Go," "Yes," "On," "Off," and "Robin" instead of saying it most of the time. She can also do simple math in her head, like counting by 2s (all the way to 100!) and division into equal parts (she figured out that 4 hypothetical party guests could each have 2 slices of an 8 piece hypothetical pizza).
In more development news for Robin, she has graduated from the highchair to a booster seat at the table. She much prefers to sit with us, as it is much more dramatic to throw your plate off of the table than off of the highchair tray. She has started to sing along with some songs including the ABCs and Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes. Of course, she's not very good at keeping up with the song, so she really only sings "Head" and then "Toes" and then jabs at her face trying to follow along with the next verse.
Robin is a great communicator, as well, though not with speech. She certainly is learning (unfortunately) that the way to get attention quickly is through the volume of your voice. So she screams a lot and makes a lot of noise. She is much more tactile than verbal, though. If she wants you to open something, for example, she will bring it to you, pick up your hand, place it on the lid, press your fingers around it, push your hand back toward you and then make noises insinuating that she would like you to open it. She is saying a few more recognizable words, as well, like "bubble" and "balloon." She also says, "Yeah!" to everything. It's one of those things that you don't realize how often you say it until your little parrot starts saying it just as much as you do. She also continues her love affair with dogs and, sadly for Aleck, "doggie" still comes out sounding like "Daddy."
Click here for a video of Robin making various animal sounds on command (video is 16 seconds and contains a growling zebra).
Playing with Scott and Meeting Baby Kate!
Stacey's cousin Tracey had her second baby, Kate, in late October. We were finally able to match up our schedules and avoid viruses (which thwarted previous attempts at get-togethers) and squeeze in a play date.
Scott and Amanda pose with Kate; Robin was not very interested in being made to sit for pictures.
Scott has a bouncy house in the basement!
This was Robin's first time in a moonbounce and she loved it.
Tracey cuddles with Robin; Stacey and Tracey pose in front of Grandma's buffet, just like they used to do every few months as kids (Steven and Billy are missing this time, though).
**Overheard this month**
"I bet she will be overjoyed to see it."
What's The Hurry? Amanda's Russian Dolls
Grammy purchased a set of Russian dolls (actually shipped from Russia!) for Amanda for Hanukkah.
Here's the entire set of 10 dolls; and here's the largest and the smallest (which is smaller than a mini chocolate chip).
They looked a lot bigger online.
**Overheard this month**
"If you fly from Ohio to California, I bet you’d have to take a plane. Yeah, it happens."
Get A Grip
Robin wasn't quite ready to let go of her baby doll stroller (currently carrying Orange Foot) when Aleck picked her up to go.
She Dresses Herself. It's Painfully Obvious.
Amanda picks out her own
clothes each day. As long as she's weather appropriate (long sleeves and
pants in the winter), she can wear what she wants. Let's deconstruct today's
ensemble. Her short sleeved shirt is worn on top of a long sleeved
shirt, which is itself a mock-layered shirt, so if you look at her collar, it
looks like she's wearing 3 shirts. Then there's the pink corduroy skirt
(that she refuses to admit is too big), which she's paired with her
multi-colored skull leggings. Oh and fairy wings. They go with everything.
(At least her socks match-- each other).
**Overheard this month**
When Robin’s cup fell on the floor: "Oh. What a bummer. What a funny bummer."
Robin the Faker
Robin had a fever on and off for a few days. She was feeling better and went back to day care. Later in the day, we got a call that her temperature was 102. We rushed to get her and found this happy, smiling, playful (and not at all feverish) child.
Click Here for a video of Robin decidedly not sick (video is 47 seconds).
Friends Party!
After weeks of Amanda planning a party (and asking us each morning if her friends could come over that evening), we decided not to make her wait 6 months until her birthday to have a party. Since it wasn't her birthday, she called it a "Friends Play Party" and invited all of the 4 and 5 year olds from school. 3 girls came and things went just as Amanda planned. They did a craft, they had pink cupcakes, they played in Amanda's little house, and they flitted around like fairies.
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Click Here for a video of Amanda and her friends playing in her little house (and trying to entice Robin to enter). (Video is 33 seconds.)
**Overheard this month**
"I’m thinking about some crafts and arts we can do together."
Under the Table
Our brilliant children hide from us under the coffee table. Not a bad plan, but it's a glass coffee table. *sigh*
**Overheard this month**
"I’m going to be 3 things when I grow up: a princess, a mommy, and an astronaut. I like to be in space a lot."
Planning for Camp. Already!
Amanda and Robin will both be at JCC Camp this summer. These pictures are from Camp Promotional Day.
Amanda makes a flower with Ms. Helen; Robin checks out a tunnel.
WHERE did you put that bead??
Amanda found a little white bead at school one day and, since she had no pockets, decided to stick it up her nose for safe keeping.
Here is a picture of her in the ER after the doctor instructed Aleck how to dislodge it (you don't want to know).
**Overheard this month**
"She didn’t kill the bug. She smushed it in a tissue."
Spidermanda (and Robin)
Snow Day!
Click Here for a video of Amanda playing in the snow (video is 1 minute).
**Overheard this month**
Singing: "I’m a little teapot short and tall."
Earlier that day... Robin threw quite a fit when we tried to put her boots on. She refuses to wear anything other than her sneakers.
Once she got used to them, she used those boots well. Her favorite part was splashing in the puddle at the end of our neighbor's driveway.
Amanda said: "Let's sit all the Barbies in a row and take a picture!"
OK.
**Overheard this month**
Spaghetti Dinner at the Temple
Amanda and Faren use their table manners (not necessarily their GOOD table manners, though).
Robin works her jaw in preparation to eat the plate whole; Amanda and friends do some coloring.
Eyes Wide Shut
How many cute pictures can Robin ruin by closing her eyes?
See all of these pictures and more at our photo gallery
