Jumping Into January

Maliana ~

I’m not sure what it is, but I am exhausted this morning. I sure hope you have an easier time getting back into school this week than I am having getting back into work.

In looking back at the past week, I think the theme was “growing up”. From your behavior at home to your behavior at school…it’s really been evident how much you are getting older, maturing, learning, changing, and growing into your own person. Every single morning was a good morning. Daddy reported that you woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed, smiling, laughing, being silly, and generally ready to go. This was a HUGE help for Daddy and just makes a great way to start the day all around.

As for the “growing into your own person” part…you picked several of your outfits this week. You definitely have your own style. You wore your Sambas all week, strolling into school Monday like a big shot. When I picked you up that day I made a comment that I liked your choice of shoes (since Daddy had told me how proud you were of them) and you said, “Yeah, my friends looooved my shoes.” You also paired these same soccer shoes with your owl jammies another day, (yes, the same owl jammies that we got for you that first Christmas and are size 12 month!) They are a bit flooded both in the arms and legs, but that did not stop you from struttin’ your stuff! I guess you walked into school and your teacher took one look at you, smiled, and said, “Mali, I love you!” No one is immune to your unique style kid.

Ms. Brandi also gave me an update about your antics at naptime another day. Evidently, you had adopted the role of “nap monitor” and asked Ms. Brandi to get a pad of paper, sit down, and begin writing down your friends’ names who were acting up and not going to sleep. You wanted her to put them on the “naughty list”. Then, when they’d settle down, you’d tell her to go ahead and take them off the list because, “They’re making good choices now.” Ms. Brandi was cracking up at this. I asked how your friends were taking it, (afraid that you were becoming a bit of a narc), but she said the kids were playing right along and loved it too. This went on for about 20 minutes, until Ms. Brandi had to go back to her own room and you said, “Ok, you go on back. I’ll see you later.” You are so silly. She also said that one of the phrases you say at school lately, (which I have no idea where you got it), is “Chop Chop, Pork Chop!” I guess you say this while making a chopping motion with your hand when you want someone to hurry up. You’ve never said this at home, but I had to laugh when she told me you do this at school. Too funny.

Ms. Nancy also made the comment about how grown up you are at school as well, and I did notice this too throughout the week. For example, when you brush your teeth or wash your face in the bathroom, you will wipe down the sink saying, “Now, bathroom all clean!” There was also an instance where we were leaving school and you stopped in Ms. Brandi’s room on the way out to play with some of her toys. Another little boy wanted an oven mitt that you had, and began to throw a fit. Ms. Brandi and I were talking and she told him to play with something else until you finished with that toy. You took note of all this, and a couple minutes later had finished with the toy. All on your own, you walked all the way across the room and very sweetly offered the mitt to him. (Now, mind you, this is the same little boy who also has taken your teddy bear from you at naptime, and Lord knows what else.) But you still made a conscious effort to be very kind to him and do the considerate thing. As we walked out of the school, you also made sure to wait and hold the door open for some other people who were leaving. I was so impressed with these little signs of consideration for others. As we drove home, I brought these examples up again and told you how proud I am that you make such thoughtful choices and are so considerate of others. You literally beamed, saying, “Thank you Mommy!” It makes my heart so happy to see you being so good-natured and generous. Sometimes I worry that I will fail you in that department, by not providing the best examples, but at least for today, I can rest easy. You are “getting it” just fine.

We had a rare treat this week too with the snow hanging around for a few days. One day in particular we took some time to frolick in this winter wonderland as soon as we got home. You love the snow and we are both looking forward to when we have some solid accumulation!

all bundled

about to nail me with a snowball

This week has also brought with it a major spike in the amount of kisses that Daddy and I are getting. Oftentimes, unsolicited. It is MAGNIFICENT! When the kisses are solicited, I love how you know exactly what I’m asking for before I even say it. Like, when you wanted a popsicle the other day and I said, “Well, I just need one thing first…” and you immediately puckered your lips and stretched your little face up to mine. Other times you will side-swipe us with hugs around our legs or necks, kisses on our arms or cheeks while helping you with something. For a while you had gotten a bit stubborn about sharing this kind of sloppy affection, but now you’ve been giving it out a lot more freely and I am remembering how much I’ve missed it. I know someday when you are older you will again get embarrassed by us kissing you (and vice versa), especially in those pre-teen and teen years, so I will soak up all I can now and hope that it can tide me over during the lean years to come.

You got to spend some good time with Daddy this week, helping him fix the car in the garage for a few nights. It was so cute to see you grease monkeys under the hood. You really got into it and are fascinated by anything with pieces and parts. We got out your Tinker Toys this week too and you and I put together a pretty cool microphone (if I do say so myself). I wound up in the front row of your concert in the kitchen. You were so serious and kept adjusting the sound by turning the knobs on the kitchen cupboards between songs. It was very cute. I love your imagination!

grease monkeys

Tinker Toy microphone serenade

When Daddy came home that night, we decided to hide from him in our best hiding place yet. It took him a LONG time to find us, and he was even in the middle of texting our neighbor to see if we were over there when we finally clued him in. You LOVE hide and seek right now (and are very good at being quiet in your hiding spot)…I think we could play it for hours without you getting tired in the least.

The weekend was welcomed with open arms. We made an impromptu date to meet Mia and her family at World of Bounce and had so much fun! You girls were a little wary of the whole thing at first, but then quickly got into the swing (or bounce) of things. After working up our appetite, we all headed over to Red Robin for lunch and continued the merriment.

Below are some videos of some of our fun at World of Bounce!

http://youtu.be/r-LBzu7DMa8

The Mommies and the Girls Sliding the Big Slide

http://youtu.be/wGLOcPDBn7o

The Daddies and the Girls Sliding the Big Slide

checking out baby Freddy in his carrier

concentration

thanks for treating us to lunch Mia!

you are so kissable!

and so silly!

two cuties

We came home and rested for a bit, then headed over to Uncle Joe and Aunt Tina’s. While we were getting ready, Daddy and I smooched a few times. Given your rediscovered penchant for affection lately, you saw this and ran over exclaiming, “Hey! I wanna be up in that!” We both had a good chuckle, scooping you up and giving you big exaggerated kisses. It was pretty darn cute.

You wanted to bring your big makeup bag (e.g. all of my leftover samples from Clinique and Lancome), to Joe and Tina’s with us. You and Erin had a “makeover” party, which Uncle Joe was not too sure about at first. Then we all breathed a sigh of relief when we saw the result…Erin decided that she wanted to make herself into a zombie (evidently red Clinique lipstick is great for creating facial wounds) and eventually you wound up in a Spiderman costume (one of your favorite things at their house). While you may be growing up and maturing lately, tonight showed that it’s definitely not happening too fast yet.

the makeover begins

gorgeous, dahling!!

and then the "makeover" took a whole new turn

Later in the night, we got out their turtles and Uncle Joe let you inspect them up close. It was pretty cool and they are actually quite charming little guys. 

checking out "Tank" the turtle

meet Tank

you were very curious

We always take your jammies with us whenever we go anywhere in the evening. So as usual, you got ready for bed when Erin did and joined in with her for story time with Aunt Tina. After she read some books, she then told a story to you girls. You liked that and so proceeded to tell all of us a story too. It was very animated and obviously filled with suspense (judging by your mannerisms and inflections), even if I could only understand a portion of what was said (something about a boy losing a suitcase, I think). Regardless, it was adorable.

story time

You had expressed some interest in spending the night and so we even went so far as to roll out a sleeping bag in Erin’s room for you. While Erin was out like a light, you lasted about 5 minutes before calling out to me and saying you wanted to go home to sleep with us, adding, “I’ll see these guys later.”

Sunday morning you and Daddy went on a date to Gena’s for breakfast. You strutted in, ordered for yourself (“I want eggs and bacon, that’s it!”), chatted with the staff and patrons, and Daddy ran into an old acquaintance there too, whom you also chatted up. You told him, “I live in Ohio but I’m from China. I had a cleft lip but it’s fixed now.” Wow! Daddy was taken aback that you shared your story since we’ve never heard you do that before. When he came home and told me about it, we both were pleasantly surprised and impressed. I love that you are starting to get a more coherent understanding of your beginnings and can discuss it so openly and matter-of-factly. I hope it can stay like that. I hope you will always feel comfortable with yourself. I hope that your history will always be a piece of you but that it never has to define you. I hope. I guess we’ll just stay open and honest about it all and see what happens from there. 

mini me with Daddy this morning before going to Gena's...
I thought it looked like a possible album cover

Once you both got home, it was my turn to take you on a date of sorts. You wanted to come with Abby and me for a run, so since it was relatively warm (for January) I bundled you up and we hit the trail in your jogging stroller with Abby in tow. I wound up sacrificing about a third of my run so we could stop at the playground (your request) and had the best time climbing, sliding, and using our imaginations. When we finally left, you insisted on holding the leash and walking Abby the rest of the way back to our house. This ultimately turned my 3 mile run into a 2 mile run and a 1 mile walk, however it was well worth it to see the twinkle in your eyes, hear your laughter, and listen to your excited chatter the whole way home. Heck, even Hubey and Manna (your imaginary friends) showed up to keep us company. T'was a good time all around.

Love,

Mama