Although Mio started preschool two days a week last month and we have playdates with her friends during the week, I wanted to do something special with her before her baby sister is born, because I know it’ll be a lot harder to give her my undivided attention. I enrolled her in a Mommy & Me arts and crafts class in which we learn ABCs and 123s through arts and crafts we do together at the local rec center, and today was the first day. It meets weekly every Friday morning for an hour for 8 weeks, and there are lots of other kids Mio’s age (between 2 and 3) there with a parent. At the beginning of class, we have circle time in which we get in a circle and sing each child’s name together, and then the instructor reads a book to the kids (today it was Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) and we work on a related art project or craft afterwards. I thought it’d be something fun and creative that we could together as mommy-daughter bonding time, and Mio seemed to enjoy her first class today!
Mio creating her Chicka Chicka Boom Boom tree… We worked together to glue down the tree trunk, leaves, coconuts, and then Mio got to place the foam letter stickers down all over the tree.
The finished product!
A bashful smile of accomplishment.
Good job, Mio!
Hanging out with the inflatable pumpkin in the lobby of the rec center.
As we left, Mio stopped to say “thank you” and “bye bye” to the instructor. Looking forward to the next class!
Gotta enjoy this one-on-one time with my first baby while I still can, during the quiet before the storm! Last night, Dan and I were looking back at photos from when she was a newborn, and we’re continually astounded at how much she’s grown up already. We’re excited to be having another sweet little baby to experience it all over again with, but we can’t forget to treasure each moment with our Mio too, as she grows more and more independent each day!
Mio is exactly two and a half years old today! Every day, she grows more and more independent and adventurous. I find myself pausing once in a while to take mental snapshots of her, trying to indelibly burn these moments into my memory forever so that I can look back on them always. It’s been a while since I wrote an update on Mio, so I thought this was an appropriate time to document the things she’s been doing lately.
The Rundown at Two-and-a-Half Years Old…
Stats: I used to be so good about jotting down your exact weight, height, even head size… Now visits to the pediatrician are few and far between so my recordings aren’t as precise, and most days I’m too busy chasing you around to be able to pause and get any sort of accurate measurements. You’re definitely over 30 lbs now, and it’s been impossible to hold you for more than a couple minutes these days, especially due to my growing belly.
Things You’re Doing Now: You are growing into quite the little lady these days! Your vocabulary has really started to take off in the last couple months, and while you rarely speak full sentences, you’re definitely starting to string multiple words together to express yourself. The words you’ve learned to say are a pretty evenly balanced mix of English and Japanese words, and you can recognize and verbally identify a lot of things by both languages now. Some of the more random and interesting words/phrases that you’ve picked up and obsessively say these days are “kyuu-kyuu-sha” (Japanese for “ambulance”), “dinosaur”, and “How ya doin'” (said eerily similar to how Joey from “Friends” does…). Lately, you’ve been pretty interested in vehicles (firetrucks, ambulances) and dinosaurs, and it’s kind of refreshing to see that you’re still immune to gender stereotypes and haven’t become as interested in the whole princess business yet. We’ve found that you can recognize and identify a good 3/4 of the alphabet, and I can’t help but smile when I hear you trying to count with your own jumbled array of numbers. We’re thrilled to see that you’re already developing good manners, and that you usually remember to say “thank you” (which in truth sounds more like “ank you”) to people when they give you something or do something for you, without us having to remind you. You’re a people magnet when we’re out shopping or at grocery stores, as you’re always greeting people with a “hi!” and readily respond with a beaming smile and “ank you” to all their compliments. You seem to be doing pretty well with your first month of preschool, despite some instances of crying at drop-off and being a little overtired at pickup time. You like to hug my pregnant tummy and give it kisses, saying “Hi baby” and seem to be slowly opening up to the idea of your soon-to-be baby sister… though of course, we won’t know for sure how you’ll react until she’s actually born! You’re more active than ever and are always climbing onto high places and jumping, and frequently running into things, too, resulting in the occasional bruising — but you’re quite the tough cookie and rarely cry when you tumble or fall. Though there are some occasional tantrums and meltdowns characteristic of this age, you’re overall pretty cheery and happy most of the time, which makes things so much easier for us! You’re more affectionate than ever these days and are constantly peppering Daddy’s cheek with kisses and enthusiastically nuzzle your face against mine. We feel so incredibly lucky to call you our daughter, and count our lucky stars every night for how sweet, healthy, and bright you are.