Monday, October 06, 2008
Another growth spurt on the way?
Natalie's taking a nap right now which, I have to admit, is quite unusual for her. Especially as she has been taking quite a few naps lately and eating more than usual. This little girl would eat applesauce and yogurt all day if you let her (especially if there are raisins in it). But yesterday, John made pancakes and she downed a number of those (helped John eat his too) on top of what she had had earlier for breakfast! So who knows! I guess I better keep watch over the few 24 month items I have as if she does hit a growth spurt, she'll be out of them for good and maybe even out of some of her 2T clothes. How in the world does any mother keep up with her kids clothes-wise?! And shoes! Oh my goodness! She's in a size 8 now but I think it's time to go up to 8 1/2 or even size 9! It makes me SO glad I got her boots already in a size 10, I think that is going to work out just fine by the time the snow flies. I remembered being worried about the size when I got them but for $2, I thought it was worth taking a chance on them not fitting when she needed them.Right now, we're still preparing to depart Beaver Dam before the end of the month so that has meant paring down her toys BIG TIME. And, even though I have cut down on her toys drastically (especially the ones that are out in the living room), she has managed still to make a huge mess. But I think that is going to change once I pare down even more this next week. By the time we get to next Monday, I want her to be down to just a few items. I know that seems almost mean but I really only want to have to worry about a few things to pack that I have to keep track of. If she has her Dora house and all that paraphernalia, the doll set (that I plan to be giving away anyway), her three ponies, stuffed cats, dump trucks, and other vehicles that should be enough, I think for her to play with. Everything else can be packed to go or given away. I hate giving away things but most of it she has outgrown anyway and the rest she more or less ignores or just really can't be taken with. She'll have PLENTY of toys to play with while we are at my sister's and once we get over to Korea, we'll have her 3rd to prepare for and there should hopefully be plenty of money there to fund it including a decent chunk for lots of toys. Plus, I do plan to stock up on little things like My Little Ponies and small dolls and I'm still hoping we can pull off having John take the doll house with. Still debating that one but darn it, we got that for her right after she was born and I had planned way back then to give it to her for her third birthday. I would still like to. After two years we can either try to take it back with us or give it away, whatever works better.
I need to start packing clothes too and all of her supplies and things. Right now, we've been working on getting laundry done and I have gone through some of her clothes and have sent a few off. Still have a lot on hand though and would like to get a few more things including another set of fleece pig pajamas in a larger size since she is SO attached to the ones we have now. I'm also working on getting some more cloth diapers and have three more on the way including a couple more of the Green Acre Design diapers. I like how they look and feel so far though I haven't had a chance to test them out yet. Waiting to have access to a washer and dryer before I do that.
With all of this going on, it can be easy at times to not pay as much attention to her as she needs. It is also a struggle for me to keep even tempered with all of the stress which I tend not to do well with in the first place. But she does have her moments where her personality just shines through and I can't help but smile or laugh, especially as she is very quickly picking up a sense of humor. The other night when we were at Wal-Mart, she happened to be running around (since she is a girl who likes to run around and just be very active) and was running full speed down one of the aisles when she fell down onto her front. That kind of stopped her for a moment but she picked herself up, looked up at us and said very clearly, "I fall down all the time!" before taking off again. John and I both had a good laugh over that one.
She's quite a little actress these days too. Since she has seen Annie about 20 times now, she likes to reenact the scene where Annie is hanging from the railway bridge. She's done it with her doll, with her stuffed cats (Have I mentioned she has a think for cats, ducks, and pigs right now?), and even did it herself one time by sort of hanging over the chair or something. I kind of wonder about that since that is kind of a scary part but then remember the days where I used to reenact the scary scene from The Wizard of Oz where the witch had threatened Dorothy with her demise once the hour glass emptied so it must be that whole dramatic thing there or something. She is showing signs of a very vivid imagination which can sometimes come in handy when she wants to ride the horse at Wal-Mart and we're out of quarters. She rode anyway, shouting, "I'm a cowboy!" I sort of reminded her that she's actually a cow-GIRL but I'm not sure if it made that much of an impression on her.
Still, at 33 months now she has become QUITE a character! Here's her most recent couple of pictures:
Here she is pretending to iron her jeans with a cement truck. A iron did come with her kitchen set but she decided, I guess, that cement trucks are more effective or something. Probably, it's just more fun to use. lol She has always had some fascination with vehicles just as I have (though mine was with airplanes and helicopters because we lived by Fort McCoy) and I don't believe in just giving her girl toys.
She got her bangs cut again too. They grow really fast so I cut them a little shorter this time. That seemed to work out well and they look pretty even...for the most part.So that is what is going on for the moment. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some more fall pictures soon. The weather here hasn't been the greatest though, lots of rain which Natalie doesn't mind too much as she LOVES to jump into the puddles but us adults are not so fond of it. lol I'm starting to wonder when I became such a...parent. lol I used to like a lot of the stuff Natalie does now but somehow in the last oh 15 years, I've become practical, boring, and somewhat of a clean freak at least in the sense that I'm just not big on squishy things anymore. I guess it happens to all of us when we grow up. I guess that's one attraction to having kids, it's at least a little bit of an to be a kid again yourself.
| posted by Janeen at 4:31 PM
