Visit to great grandparents' house 2-16-11

2/16/11

On Sunday “O” got to meet Uncle Jeff via Skype. She has seen pictures of him but was her usual, serious self when talking to him on the computer. After skyping, I showed her his picture again and she said, "that my uncle Jeff? Him your brother?" Man, she's so smart.

She also got to meet Eva, Julian, Auntie Jill, and uncle Reni for the first time in cyberspace. Once again, pretty serious and observant for the most part. She talked a laughed a little, but mainly rested her head in her hands staring at the computer screen and watching their antics. She is fascinated by Julian. She likes to look at his pictures in her photo album. Could her first crush be on her cousin?

She painted a dragonfly for great grandma and grandpa ("Nana" & "Papa") and got to deliver it to them yesterday on Valentine's day. She did really well at their house. She wanted to touch many things, but was pretty good at asking before touching. Great grandpa played ball with her and showed her the toys he keeps for all of his grandkids. She ran circles around from the TV room to the "Christmas room" (as all grandkids have done, apparently) fascinated by the fact that the rooms were connected. When great grandpa put on some music sung by a 10 year old girl in opera style, “O” danced slowly and sang along in falsetto trying to mimic the girl's voice. She kept asking for more when he turned it off. I see some dancing lessons or gymnastics in her future!

Last night she played 'house' with Cash and Dolly by closing the 3 of them in the laundry room. We could hear her talking to them and 'reading' to them from a piece of paper. Anytime I opened the door, she was sitting on the dryer platform talking to them. They were excited at first to be in there with her, but then eventually looked at me with worried, pleading eyes anytime I opened the door.

Bedtime was awesome last night. No complaining, no sitting by the door. Ah! I guess that's what happens when she doesn't sleep for quiet time. Oh! And she also gave herself a shower last night. I ran the bath, and she sits on the side like I do with her feet in the water. She is still resisting a bit with getting in the water. I never force her or tell her she has to. Inevitably she gets in, though, bathing with toys is too irresistable. So after playing a bit, but not really wanting to be washed, Blaine told her to lift the lever on the spigot. A bit surprised by the flow of water on her head, she pushed it back down, but then did it again. We think she liked having the control over whether she had it on 'shower' or 'bathtub' mode. When on 'shower' mode, she got all the way underneath with a smile and proceeded to wash herself. We're discovering that with a 3 year old, you have to know your goal and somehow get there creatively without them realizing that they are doing what YOU want.

We are trying to move away from 'joni-mommy' to just 'mommy' or 'mama', and from 'daddy-blaine' to just 'daddy'. So...if you skype or talk with her, please refer to us as just 'mommy' and 'daddy'.