Turtle-isms

At bedtime:
Me: Do you know why I love you?
Turtle: Why?
Me: Because you're sweet, funny, kind, smart, a awesome big brother, and
Turtle: And Crazy!
Me: Yep, you are kinda crazy too
Turtle: And I'm gonna give Livvie crazies like me!

 

To random stranger at McDonald's:
"This is my sister we bought in China".

1 Month

It's hard to believe that Livvie's been part of our family for a month today. In some ways it seems like yesterday and in other ways it seems like forever. It's amazing how quickly she's settling in and becoming comfortable with us. We're learning our first impressions of her were way off. The naughtiness and stubbornness in China must have been a type of coping mechanism, because that's just the opposite of her personality at home. She is actually very easy-going, playful, sweet, and funny. She is very, very attached to me, but is also slowly warming up to Cale. She LOVES to play outside ("out-tide") and LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to take baths. When the water turns on, she takes off running like a banshee, stripping off her clothes en-route yelling "tubby!-tubby!-tubby!". She also loves Penny and always needs to know where she is.

Lucky went back to Kelly's today and it's been nice being able to spend some one-on-one with Livvie and try to fit in some "learning time" with flashcards and workbooks. She understands at least 50%+ of what we say already, but the speech is not happening yet. I made a appointment for her with Early Intervention through the school district and they will evaluate her to see if she qualifies for speech, occupational, and physical therapy through the district. Based on what we're seeing now, she's definitely not going to be ready for 3K this Fall. Our plan is to keep her and Lucky at Kelly's and start them both in school the following year. Lucky already knows everything they teach in 4K, and he flourishes at Kelly's, so we're going to skip 4K with him and just start him in Kindergarten when he's 5.

Livvie is quite the little peanut and even 24 month pants are too long on her. Size wise I would compare her to a just 2 year old. But she does need 2T or even 3T shirts because of her Buddha belly. The girl loves to eat!

She had her first MD appointment last week and Dr. P gave her a clean bill of health. All her lab work came back with no issues, so at this point we have nothing to be concerned with. Next big appt will be at the dentist and I know she is not going to like that.

Blades Hockey 2023?

Play-Doh

I hate Play-Doh. It makes a mess on the floor, sticks in the carpet, smells really bad, and when you play with more than one color they get mushed up together and then you can't separate them and get them back into their respective containers (I'm obsessive compulsive people - I NEED things back in original containers or I can't sleep at night!). I didn't like it as a kid and I don't like it now.

That being said, I still let the kids play with Play-Doh every day. Why? Because it's the one thing they play with really well together and it keeps them occupied for an hour at a time. An hour of heaven for Mom.

Here are my observations on Play-Doh:

#1. It's okay to read a magazine while the kids play with Play-Doh. It's about creativity and imagination (and I'm trying to find a creative way to afford the pair of shoes on page 38).

#2. It's okay if your dear daughter likes to lick all the Play-Doh. Yeah it's gross and weird, but we all have our issues.

#3. It's okay to let the dog eat Play-Doh off the floor. Less for you to clean up and let's be honest, multi-colored turds in the snow ARE a little funny.

#4. It's okay to "accidentally" throw away the Play-Doh accessories that create way too much work for you. You know, the ones that never stay clamped together and your frustrated 3 year old brings it to you 50 times begging you to "make it work again" or the ones that have teeny-tiny little holes and the Play-Doh gets stuck inside and all crusty and you have to use a toothpick to try to clean it out.

#5. When your 3 year old asks about said accessory, it's okay to say "Hmmmmm, I don't know where that could be - check the tote again honey."

#6. It's okay that the only thing your dear son makes with Play-Doh is "turds". Big turds, little turds, spaghetti turds, and turds on a plate. He's a boy. And from what I've been told,boys think turds are cool. Who am I too judge?