No tears this morning at drop-off. I love seeing her when I pick her up. She’s always so happy to see me.
No tears!
This morning at drop-off, Janie sat down at the breakfast table next to Jenny and didn’t cry when it was time for Mommy to leave. She just looked up and told the teacher, “Mama go to work.”
making progress
This morning, Janie walked from the car to school today. It was her first time since her first day at school. I’ve had to carry her all the other days in between.
She also let herself into the front porch area without a fuss.
While I signed her in, she sat down and took her shoes off and put them away.
She was a big girl and also opened the door to let herself into the house. Unfortunately, the bravery ended there. As soon as she stepped in, she turned around with big tears in her eyes. Oh well, it’s a step forward in the right direction.
Look at how she darted toward the gate when I came back to pick her up that afternoon.
Tuesday at school
This afternoon, Janie spotted Mommy as soon as she arrived and came running.
Monday at school
We changed her schedule this week and Janie’s school days are Monday and Tuesday this week. She had a rough start at school this morning since she was up coughing in the middle of the night. She cried during the drop-off and I had no idea what he day would be like. So when I picked her up after work, I was pleasantly surprised to see her happily coloring at the table with a few other kids. When she noticed me, she stood up with a look of surprise and said “It’s Mama. Mama’s here.”
She colored a picture that we took home. When the teacher gave it to me, Janie said “It’s Dada.” Aaaw…her Daddy is her Prince Charming right now. So sweet. I was also impressed at her ability to color the picture.
28 months
Janie turned 28 months today and it has been a big month of changes. The most significant change is that that she started Day Care 2 days per week. Although it has been hard on both Janie and Mommy, the change is good and commuting with her has been nice. Another change is that she has become a full-fledged toddler with lots of strong opinions and wants to do everything on her own. She started to fight bedtime and makes up every excuse in the book to stay up longer. Just the other night, she stood in her bed and screamed “POOPOO IN THE TOILET!!” over and over and over again. She finally settled down on her own after 45 minutes of protesting. We also foresee some struggles with GG being detached from the pacifier. It fell off today and although the nipple has been cut down all the way, she still looks for the green part that remains. We will see how the next few nights go without it.
Here are some other things that happened this past month:
- New phrases: I don’t want it. KK do it! Mama go work. KK go to school. Better? I’m scared! Where are you? Good morning! What are you doing?
- In Spanish, she learned all her colors and I think she’s able to understand the teacher’s Spanish even with her being from Peru. Mirian is from El Salvador and apparently Spanish around the world varies a bit.
- Self-care: Janie can put on pants by herself now. She’s also working on getting toilet trained at school. The other day, the teacher kept her out of diapers all day and Janie had only one accident! I think we’re gonna go shopping for underwear this weekend.
- Gross motor: Janie still loves to climb and jump off of things. Her biggest accomplishment was learning how to pedal her tricycle. Now if she would figure out how to steer. She’s also getting a little better at catching and kicking a ball.
- Fine motor: Janie can now sign the ABCs on her own. She’s most proud of her ability to make Y with her fingers.
- Concepts: She learned about sharing and how to share. She still doesn’t like it but she’ s gotten better since her trip to Monterey where she had a hard time sharing her toys with Alice. Janie has also has a better understanding of Mommy and Daddy going to work and that they come back at the end of the day. I can hear her rehearsing “KK go school. Mama go work.”
- Pretend play: Janie imitates and rehearses everything. I often hear my words and tone of voice coming out of her when she’s playing and reenacting things with Big GG. She helps him go poopoo on the toilet, helps him jump off the curb, and she pointed out the rain to him at the window. She’ll even yell “NO” in the same way I do when she’s about to do something she’s not supposed to.
- Emotions: She has been telling us when she’s happy, mad, or scared. In Monterey, the whole family was watching Despicable Me 2 and she got scared of the purple minions. She clung onto Auntie Jia and said “Scared!!”
- Reading: Daddy taught Janie how to spell her name and she’s recognizing upper and lowercase letters all around her with increasing speed.
- Counting: Janie is learning 11-20 but she kind of makes it up as she goes along.
- Big Trips: Monterey and Lake Tahoe. She went to the beach during both trips and got really comfortable play at the beach by the end of our Tahoe trip.
- Her shoe size is still between 6 and 7 but we recently retired our favorite black Vans with the cherries on them. Those were the best hand-me-downs ever.
- The biggest thing that we’re dealing with now is our ever-increasingly-independent toddler. She expresses her opinions loudly and wants to do everything herself. Her stubborn streak has really emerged this past month.
Luckily, this kid is super cute and has enough charm to get us through the tough times. Happy 24 28 months, Big Girl!!
It’s time.
At school this morning, drop-off went a little better. She didn’t cry right away and even when she did it was more of a I-don’t-want-you-to-go-yet cry. I sat her down on the chair that we used last Friday and she was ok when I said “Mama has to go to work now.” When I picked her up, she was on the potty and the teacher said they left her out of the diaper all day and she only had one accident. I think I have to start buying Pull-ups for school.
When we parked the car in the garage, Janie handed GG to me and said “it’s broken”. Apparently the pacifier (already cut down to the end) had fallen off. Janie wasn’t upset but seemed confused. GG lasted right up until the day she turned 28 months.
When we got back to the house, I handed her the pacifier and told her to throw it away.
She very casually walked over and threw it in the trashcan. Hm. This might be easier than I thought. She already doesn’t use it during the day with Mirian and at school. The only time she really needs it is when I drop her off in the morning and to help her fall asleep at night. However, she doesn’t need it for her naps during the day.
When it was bedtime, I gave her GG and she walked over to the trashcan in hopes of retrieving the pacifier. When I said it was gone and that GG was broken, she didn’t get upset. She just walked away a little disappointed. Somehow she managed to fall asleep with broken GG in her hand and that was the end of it. I guess we’ll just have to see how the rest of the week goes.
getting better
This morning at drop-off, Janie started saying “carry you carry you” as we were getting out of the car. She didn’t cry but my co-worker who also takes her daughter there said she had a really big pout on her face. I placed her on a chair in the playroom and she look a while to start crying. The “good” thing was that it was more of a “I’m sad” cry rather than a total panicked cry. By the time I left after signing out, I didn’t hear any more crying. When I picked her up, she was sitting at the snack table eating watermelon with the other kids. When she saw me, she stood up and said to the teacher, “Mama’s here!” Before heading out, Janie gave Doggie Ninna a nice pat on the head and said “Bye, Doggie Ninna!”
back to the grind
After a long weekend with Mommy and Daddy, Janie went back to school today. She was super sad but it wasn’t as bad as last week. She cried but then sat in the stroller at the table with GG and calmed down as Mommy left. You can kind of see her through the window screen here. Tia Maria said that she was eating and playing very shortly after I left.
When Mommy came to pick her up, Janie was sitting at the snack table while listening to the kids practice their frutas (fruits) in Spanish.
Second Day
Janie had her second day at Day Care today and drop-off was not as easy as Wednesday. She was happy and singing on the ride there but as soon as we parked, she started to panic and kept saying “Mama, hug! Mama, hug!” When we got to the door, she began to say, “no no no!” Then when the teacher came around, she started to cry and said “I want stroller! I want red stroller!” They had a black stroller for her and we buckled her in and teacher wheeled her into the playroom while Mommy left. By the time I left, I didn’t hear any crying and it sounded like she had a pretty good day after she was done crying. She even slept on the floor mat like all the other kids and napped during the scheduled 1-3pm time! As an added bonus, she pooped in the toilet too!
When I picked her up, she was actually sitting on a potty and was so excited to see me that she stood up with her pants down and the teacher had to scurry to put her diaper back on. Sorry, no photos of that moment.
She also went home with some cherry tomatoes and grapes in a cup.
We got home early enough that afternoon to take a walk to City Target and then met up with Daddy for dinner.
