Ada has now been in the two year old class for about 4 months. Around the 2 year mark a lot of kids started up at the Kids Care Club - I'm guessing that their parents wanted them to be in a more pre-school type environment. At the same time the center separated out Ada's core group that she had been with since she was six months to the 'older' kids (Ada's group) and the 'younger' kids. Combine that with a normal amount of attrition and it leaves Ada and two other girls that have been together since they were 6 months old and a whole slew of newbies.
This could have wrecked some havoc on Ada's social networks and standing especially since she is now one of the younger kids and also on the small side. Of course two year olds are unbelievably accepting and probably don't have a bone in their tiny little bodies that think about coolness and popularity - they just like everyone. But you never know - kids are growing up much faster these days.
Well, luckily we don't have to worry. Ada and I had a difficult time getting out of the house yesterday morning so we arrived to her class around 9:10 am. All of her classmates were already there and most had already finished eating their snack. When Ada (and I) walked in all of the kids came running over saying 'Hi' to Ada and shouting "Ada is here" with a tune of Hooray in their voices. I hurriedly signed Ada in and put her lunch away and when I looked back, Ada was holding court by the cubies. Letting all of the other kids come to her with looks of anticipation as Ada would assuredly have some sort of great tale as to why she was soooo late for class.
And if Ada was telling the truth she didn't hesitate to mention that she had some very important tasks to do at home before she left and of course she couldn't leave without putting her makeup on or doing her hair. And let's not even get started on the outfit her parents picked out for her.
And yes, she is my daughter, I have the scars to prove it, but her complete embrace of all things girly is starting to make me wonder. :)
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
independence
One of Ada's favorite phrases these days is "I do it". We'll try to help her put her shoes on and she says "I do it", we try to help her into the shower and she says "I do it", we try to open a bag of goldfish and she says "I do it". You get the point.
So our newest tack is trying to figure out ways to convince Ada that it is her idea to do things, and to break down tasks that we would normally do for Ada into smaller tasks that Ada is able to accomplish on her own. For the most part this is pretty doable, but every so often we run into a task that Ada can't quite get her head around and then the course of "Elp, Elp, Elp" comes raining down.
Of course this doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it comes with a dose of - how could you think I could do this on my own - incredulity.
So our newest tack is trying to figure out ways to convince Ada that it is her idea to do things, and to break down tasks that we would normally do for Ada into smaller tasks that Ada is able to accomplish on her own. For the most part this is pretty doable, but every so often we run into a task that Ada can't quite get her head around and then the course of "Elp, Elp, Elp" comes raining down.
Of course this doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it comes with a dose of - how could you think I could do this on my own - incredulity.
Friday, October 17, 2008
empathy
Ada has always been very observant. In fact if you go back a year on this blog you will probably find a post about me marveling at how Ada just takes in the world and lets it sink in. And as she has started to grow up and mature a little bit so has her observation skills. Add to that the ability to communicate and we have tapped into something really cool.
Elliot and I are now able to watch Ada grow emotionally as well as physically.
The other night as I sat in the kitchen with Ada as she ate her dinner, counting down the minutes until I had to leave for class I put my head in my hands to rest for a second. Ada was preoccupied with something Elliot was doing and I thought I could steal a quick relaxing moment without much notice. But notice she did! As soon as I put my head down Ada turned to me and very astutely said, "Mommy tired". I confirmed this for her that yes, I was tired, but I would be Ok. And without even thinking about it, and despite the fact that she was actually so full of energy that she was close to bouncing off the wall she cocked her head to the side slightly and said in the most reassuring voice she could find, "Ada tired" and nodded. You could tell by her words and her body language that she was trying to let me know that it was Ok to be tired, and that sometimes, she gets tired too, and if it made me feel better she would pretend to be tired so I wouldn't be alone.
Empathy.
I probably responded more boisterously to the first time I noticed she could talk or walk or roll over for that matter. But the moment I realized that Ada was developing real human emotional skills - I melted.
Elliot and I are now able to watch Ada grow emotionally as well as physically.
The other night as I sat in the kitchen with Ada as she ate her dinner, counting down the minutes until I had to leave for class I put my head in my hands to rest for a second. Ada was preoccupied with something Elliot was doing and I thought I could steal a quick relaxing moment without much notice. But notice she did! As soon as I put my head down Ada turned to me and very astutely said, "Mommy tired". I confirmed this for her that yes, I was tired, but I would be Ok. And without even thinking about it, and despite the fact that she was actually so full of energy that she was close to bouncing off the wall she cocked her head to the side slightly and said in the most reassuring voice she could find, "Ada tired" and nodded. You could tell by her words and her body language that she was trying to let me know that it was Ok to be tired, and that sometimes, she gets tired too, and if it made me feel better she would pretend to be tired so I wouldn't be alone.
Empathy.
I probably responded more boisterously to the first time I noticed she could talk or walk or roll over for that matter. But the moment I realized that Ada was developing real human emotional skills - I melted.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
smarty pants
Our weekends have been feeling a little light recently (insert sarcasm here) so we decided to add a Spanish class for Ada on Saturday mornings. We didn't intend to start this at her age but we went to a free class sponsored by the Mom's group at HP and she LOVED it so we decided that since we don't do anything special for Ada on the weekends we would sign her up and start to learn Spanish as a family.
Elliot and I are doing a great job picking up the words we learn each day and Ada's favorite thing in the world to say these days is Adios! She says Adios Papa to Elliot in the morning, and Adios to the house at night before bed. Adios, Adios, Adios.
Yesterday morning Ada took one of her bath toys, a blue foam number 8, out of the bath and was holding on to it while I was getting her dressed. She seemed really into it so I asked her what color it was, expecting her to say Red or Yellow like she normally does, only this time she looked at me and said AZUL!! (Which is Blue in Spanish for those that are like me two weeks ago).
Our little smarty pants!
Elliot and I are doing a great job picking up the words we learn each day and Ada's favorite thing in the world to say these days is Adios! She says Adios Papa to Elliot in the morning, and Adios to the house at night before bed. Adios, Adios, Adios.
Yesterday morning Ada took one of her bath toys, a blue foam number 8, out of the bath and was holding on to it while I was getting her dressed. She seemed really into it so I asked her what color it was, expecting her to say Red or Yellow like she normally does, only this time she looked at me and said AZUL!! (Which is Blue in Spanish for those that are like me two weeks ago).
Our little smarty pants!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
my day with ada
Due to a work emergency Elliot had to spend Sunday working, so, with a little help from Grampa, Ada and Mommy spent the day hanging out and seeing some of Ada's favorite places around San Diego.
We started out the morning with our routine Sunday trip to Starbucks with Elliot. Ada has started to drink coffee (chocolate or vanilla flavored milk - sometimes steamed) and these trips are pretty funny. Today she decided that she HAD to wear her Mickey ears and carry two of her stuffed animals (the 2010 Olympic mascot and her new lion). After our morning refresher we made a quick stop at home to pick up my soccer stuff and some snacks and headed to the Zoo.
We have passes to the Zoo and have made a few quick trips, mostly hanging out by the monkeys and the elephants, but today Ada insisted on taking a swing by the bears. While we were hanging out watching one of bears play in the water a camera crew from ESPN (and a nosey crowd of onlookers) showed up to do a shot for this week's Monday night football game. So if you see a shot of a bear playing in the water with a Jets and Chargers helmet in front of it, imagine Ada climbing up and down the railing, paying no attention to the camera guy saying over and over again, bye bye bear, hi bear, bye bye bear, hi bear - just off to the right. This was pretty much the highlight of the trip to the zoo and we were soon off to our next stop - Mommy's soccer game.
Ada managed to squeeze in a quick nap between the Zoo and soccer. I thought she might stay asleep while we walked down to the field but she sensed fun and popped awake. Shortly after we made it to the field Grampa showed up to babysit while I played my game and from what I could tell they had a wonderful time together. Each time I looked for them they were in a different spot, reading by the bench, exploring the side of the track, tracking down soccer balls, climbing the stadium stairs, riding the tackling dummy, and using the stair railings as a jungle gym. It is important to note that Ada got very excited when I told her she was going to hang out with Grampa today, but didn't realize it was at soccer. So later on when I said we were on our way to soccer Ada demanded, "No no soccer, Grampa!" When she realized she got to hang out at the stadium AND play with Grampa her day was made.
As if this day had not already been full of tons of fun, we decided to get some Jamba Juice and head to the beach after the soccer game. Elliot's office is down by La Jolla Shores and there was an off chance that he would soon be done with his weekend work, plus Ada has a newly discovered love of the water so this seemed like a good trip. Once at the beach we finished up our smoothies and Ada insisted on stripping down to nothing but her diaper. After some initial clingyness she started darting into the water and then quickly darting out of the water running away from the waves. I have never seen Ada have so much fun in such a close proximity to water. She LOVED the muddy sand, and the shallow water. She even stopped her fun for a little while to try to show a younger boy how much fun splashing was. Finally, after about 20 minutes of this I coaxed her over to the shower by the beach bathroom to clean up, letting her out of her diaper. Once I had her cleaned up I got her shoes on but before I could get her clothes on she proudly walked out of the shower area nekkid from head to ankle, nothing but her shiny pink sneakers on. I love this kid!!
Our lives have gone from busy to insanely busy these days and I do not get a lot of time to hang out with Ada one on one so today was extra special for me. I wasn't sure if she was having fun all day but I got my answer as we started our bedtime routine. She started screaming, flailing, and trying to out muscle me to get back to the living room. It wasn't until we got to her bedroom and I made eye contact with her and asked her if she had had fun today. She didn't answer me. She didn't nod her head emphatically. Instead she stopped fighting me, snuggled her head deep into my neck and gave me a big hug. That was all the answer I needed.
We started out the morning with our routine Sunday trip to Starbucks with Elliot. Ada has started to drink coffee (chocolate or vanilla flavored milk - sometimes steamed) and these trips are pretty funny. Today she decided that she HAD to wear her Mickey ears and carry two of her stuffed animals (the 2010 Olympic mascot and her new lion). After our morning refresher we made a quick stop at home to pick up my soccer stuff and some snacks and headed to the Zoo.
We have passes to the Zoo and have made a few quick trips, mostly hanging out by the monkeys and the elephants, but today Ada insisted on taking a swing by the bears. While we were hanging out watching one of bears play in the water a camera crew from ESPN (and a nosey crowd of onlookers) showed up to do a shot for this week's Monday night football game. So if you see a shot of a bear playing in the water with a Jets and Chargers helmet in front of it, imagine Ada climbing up and down the railing, paying no attention to the camera guy saying over and over again, bye bye bear, hi bear, bye bye bear, hi bear - just off to the right. This was pretty much the highlight of the trip to the zoo and we were soon off to our next stop - Mommy's soccer game.
Ada managed to squeeze in a quick nap between the Zoo and soccer. I thought she might stay asleep while we walked down to the field but she sensed fun and popped awake. Shortly after we made it to the field Grampa showed up to babysit while I played my game and from what I could tell they had a wonderful time together. Each time I looked for them they were in a different spot, reading by the bench, exploring the side of the track, tracking down soccer balls, climbing the stadium stairs, riding the tackling dummy, and using the stair railings as a jungle gym. It is important to note that Ada got very excited when I told her she was going to hang out with Grampa today, but didn't realize it was at soccer. So later on when I said we were on our way to soccer Ada demanded, "No no soccer, Grampa!" When she realized she got to hang out at the stadium AND play with Grampa her day was made.
As if this day had not already been full of tons of fun, we decided to get some Jamba Juice and head to the beach after the soccer game. Elliot's office is down by La Jolla Shores and there was an off chance that he would soon be done with his weekend work, plus Ada has a newly discovered love of the water so this seemed like a good trip. Once at the beach we finished up our smoothies and Ada insisted on stripping down to nothing but her diaper. After some initial clingyness she started darting into the water and then quickly darting out of the water running away from the waves. I have never seen Ada have so much fun in such a close proximity to water. She LOVED the muddy sand, and the shallow water. She even stopped her fun for a little while to try to show a younger boy how much fun splashing was. Finally, after about 20 minutes of this I coaxed her over to the shower by the beach bathroom to clean up, letting her out of her diaper. Once I had her cleaned up I got her shoes on but before I could get her clothes on she proudly walked out of the shower area nekkid from head to ankle, nothing but her shiny pink sneakers on. I love this kid!!
Our lives have gone from busy to insanely busy these days and I do not get a lot of time to hang out with Ada one on one so today was extra special for me. I wasn't sure if she was having fun all day but I got my answer as we started our bedtime routine. She started screaming, flailing, and trying to out muscle me to get back to the living room. It wasn't until we got to her bedroom and I made eye contact with her and asked her if she had had fun today. She didn't answer me. She didn't nod her head emphatically. Instead she stopped fighting me, snuggled her head deep into my neck and gave me a big hug. That was all the answer I needed.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
kisses
Ada has been watching the our daily morning routine now for almost two years and she knows that after Elliot gets us set in the car, he shuts her door and then gives me a kiss goodbye. This varies some, but that is the routine 90% of the time. Well, Ada has now decided that she wants to be more involved in this part of our daily routine. The other day as Elliot leaned into the car to kiss me goodbye Ada declared, "I want kisses". This was funny enough all by itself, but then we looked back and she was sitting there, strapped into her seat, leaning forward, head tilted back, eyes closed, and lips pursed waiting for a kiss. We tried not to laugh too much and Elliot of course obliged with a goodbye kiss.
This was just the start of Ada's kissing frenzy. She will now decide that she wants kisses just about any time of day. And if she is around Elliot or I and she wants a kiss she will grab a hold of our cheeks and bring our face down to hers and once again declare, "I want kisses!".
Yet another tale I am tucking away for the days when she wants nothing more than to pretend that she is an orphan roaming around the streets of San Diego with nothing as embarrassing as PARENTS to hold her down.
This was just the start of Ada's kissing frenzy. She will now decide that she wants kisses just about any time of day. And if she is around Elliot or I and she wants a kiss she will grab a hold of our cheeks and bring our face down to hers and once again declare, "I want kisses!".
Yet another tale I am tucking away for the days when she wants nothing more than to pretend that she is an orphan roaming around the streets of San Diego with nothing as embarrassing as PARENTS to hold her down.
Thanks!
Wow, where did August go! We had a great month. Ada turned 2, had her first trip to Disneyland, Elliot and I enjoyed another year of wedded bliss (5 years!!), and this blog celebrated one whole year of activity!
Thanks to everyone who tells me that they check on a regular basis for new content, this motivates me to write more. I started this blog as a way to let all of you into the life of Ada and hopefully my descriptions are enough to let you see her joyfully bopping through life.
Thanks to everyone who tells me that they check on a regular basis for new content, this motivates me to write more. I started this blog as a way to let all of you into the life of Ada and hopefully my descriptions are enough to let you see her joyfully bopping through life.
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