LeVines

We just knew it. Our sleep karma was too good to be true. For the last week or two, Allison has been sleeping 6 hours (once even 7!) before waking up at night. Then she would sleep another 1.5 – 2 hours before waking up again in the morning, followed by a couple hours awake and another 2 – 3 hour nap at 10AM.

The “opposite” reaction started happening 3 days ago when Katherine gave up her afternoon nap. For non-primary caregivers, this may be surprising but not impactful. For those who spend all day with Katherine, this means 12 straight hours of managing very busy and somewhat cranky behavior. I tried several times unsuccessfully last Wednesday to put her down for her nap. This happened again on Thursday, and Friday we didn’t even try. Ironically she fell asleep in her jogger late afternoon on Friday, and then in the car on Saturday – but both days she had a lot of physical exercise.

So, on one hand, we’re lucky and optimistic about Allison’s sleep pattern. On the other hand, I’m a bit bummed to lose the mid-afternoon break with Katherine – at least for now!

Strawberry Season

Katherine and I went to a local patch two Thursdays ago with some friends. We had such a fun time that we decided to do it again last Thursday with the grandparents. (Say what you want about minivans, but we fit all 6 of us in the Odyssey!)

One of the main attractions happens to be a pair of enormous pink rubber boots that we bought for Katherine at Target to take to the patch. Katherine can barely walk in them but insisted on wearing them both times.

Allison went the second time – at first held by me in a Bjorn and then by Grandma Chang. Picking strawberries with Allison in the front pack was kind of like doing squats at the gym. 🙂 Allison was a total trooper and slept through the whole thing!

We now have several pounds of frozen strawberries and freezer jam for the winter. Katherine loves both. She spent 15-20 minutes tonight eating 4 frozen strawberries. Grandma Chang has been making crepes or “special pancakes” up a storm for Kathering (and me).

Uh…why are you wearing that?

I woke up this morning to find Katherine in her blue swimming floatie vest and a pair of swim diapers, and nothing else! She informed me “I am going swimming!” We had asked her last night if she wanted to go, and she was sooo excited. She even remembered to ask “Can we bring doughnut and bumblebee?” (inflatable toys)

We met Grandma Chang at her clubhouse this morning and spent an hour or so at the pool. Steve followed Katherine as she would walk from one end of the pool to the other, drop in her inflatable doughnut and bob around in the pool. The rest of us (me, my mom and Allison) socialized at the end of the pool. I should say that Allison took this opportunity to take her mid-morning nap.

We headed off to a local teriyaki restaurant afterward to have lunch. Allison had perhaps one of the biggest blowouts ever. I must have spent 10 minutes in the car cleaning her up with wipes, putting her in new clothes while Steve and Katherine ate. While Steve bathed Allison at home, Katherine then managed to have an accident right in the bathroom (happens pretty rarely). Needless to say, it was an eventful morning.

Cooking Class

Katherine is a cooking enthusiast…to the extent she can snack on the ingredients. For instance, she’ll run to the pantry to get oatmeal and brown sugar for cereal and then surreptitiously put her hands in when I’m not looking. (She’ll also open the fridge now for snacks!)

Since many of her activities are winding down this summer (Toddler School & Gymboree), I enrolled her in a mini-chefs class. Katherine was very intrigued, as was I, by the concept of cooking in an old community schoolhouse in downtown Redmond. The first class was a pleasant surprise. The kids made everything from scratch in 45 minutes for strawberry shortcake – Bisquick biscuits, washed and cut strawberries and whipped cream!

She didn’t eat very much at school but insisted on “seeing it” in the fridge and having some for dessert. She didn’t seem to mind that it was a big mushy mess and almost polished it off with help from Dad.

Getting Stronger

Allison is getting much stronger. She can lift her head for extended periods during tummy time and grasp a shirt, finger with her little hands. When she’s really upset, she’ll arch her back and let out some really nice screams!

Unfortunately for the parents she’s still wheezing. While it’s cute during the day, she can get really loud at night and keep us up. Probably the only good news is that she’s learning to sleep through a lot of noise…not only her wheezing but also Katherine’s incessant talking. We’re so looking forward to the soft cartilage issue going away in a month or so…

Lots of people have asked if we think Allison looks like Katherine. If you check out the picture from Katherine at 6 or 7 weeks, it’s pretty clear that she was a bigger child. I think Katherine has a rounder face, but lots of the same facial features. Grandma Chang thinks both girls look like Aunt Sharon.

It’s Mine!

Interestingly enough we don’t hear this very often when Katherine plays with kids her age. But it really surfaces when she’s with younger kids. Last night, she kept taking away toys from a 9 month old “it’s mine!!” At gymnastics, she’s been known to take away toys from a younger baby who comes with her older sibling. What’s amazing is that she understands the concept of sharing and selectively decides who she wants to share with vs. not. Even faced with the prospect of a time-out, she can be very stubborn and hold on to toys for dear life.

Next week will be a big milestone for Katherine. She’ll be attending preschool summer camp with older children in a Montessori environment. I hope we’ve armed her with the basic skills but know that the older children will definitely put her in her place!

Working Out

There are definitely benefits and drawbacks to being a stay at home parent. One benefit is that I can work out more than I did with Katherine. I started running about 3 weeks ago with the realization that I have a long way to go to get back in 20/20 (or pre-children) shape.

Running with Katherine this past Sunday really hit this point home. Somewhat naively, I put Katherine in her blue jogger and set out on my usual run. About half a mile into the run, I was really hating life – pushing a 28 pound child in a jogger that must weigh at least 15 pounds. Needless to say, I will be running sans child for the next couple months. Maybe I’ll try the jogger again then…