All About Jessica

10 random facts about our little girl...

1. When Jessica wakes up in the morning, she cries out "Mommy! Mommy!". As soon as I walk in the door, she turns into a giggly, snuggly, happy girl.

2. Her breakfast of choice: peanut butter sandwich (or peanut butter on toast), crusts removed.

3. She doesn't like to listen to me sing. When she catches me singing (like when I was talking the picture below), she says "Mommy, stop singing."

4. She loves "testing" batter just as much as Emily does.

5. She likes to snuggle when she's tired, she likes to snuggle when she's scared, she likes to snuggle when she's sad... The list goes on!

6. Lately she sticks out her tongue a lot.

7. She's a big fan of dressing up.

8. If Emily is doing it, Jessica almost certainly wants to do it too.

 

9. She's excellent at sharing and taking turns. Emily uses this to her advantage.

10. She loves to swing!

Nathalieland Update - Cutting/Learning/Playgroup/Gymnastics

Cutting and Sweeping. The girls are on a cutting craze right now which means they spend most of the day cutting up paper and I spend most of the day sweeping it up. Ha! At least they're getting some great practice with scissors and we're getting use out of our old colouring books.

Letters and Numbers. Speaking of practice, Emily's also enjoying practicing writing her letters and numbers. She's been "playing teacher" a lot too where she's the teacher and she gives me and Jessica all kinds of "fun activities" to do. I guess school is having a positive influence on her!

Return to Playgroups. We took a long break from going to the OEYC playgroups (busy with the move and summer), but now Jessica and I are going on Wednesdays while Emily is at school. It's been lots of fun!

Emily's First Crush. When I picked up Emily from school on Monday, she mentioned that there's a boy at school who looks like the glacier fairy (from Tinkerbell: Secret of the Wings):

Dreamy, right? :/

She wasn't sure what his name was (she guessed "Jason", but we later found out that's not his name), but she spent the entire afternoon/evening talking about "Jason"! She told me all about him, then we played pretend (I was Jason, she was Emily) and we even drew pictures of them together.

"Hey Mommy! You didn't draw our hands holding!"

Oh. My. Goodness. I had a terrible time trying to get to sleep that night, imagining the boyfriend years, having "the talk" with her, and even teenage pregnancy. Yikes! Slow down, Emily. ;)

Cancel that Gymnastics. Remember how I wrote that everyone's doing gymnastics? Well Emily has changed her mind! We could tell she wasn't as interested as she was in the summer. After the first class she said she didn't want to do it anymore, then she skipped the next class because she was sick. Yesterday she repeated that she didn't want to do gymnastics, so we said she would at least go watch Jessica's class (and have the opportunity to join her own). She actually loved just watching hers and Jessica's classes, so we unregistered her. Jessica still likes it so I'll just keep taking her.

Sweet Retreat

Emily's school hosted a "Sweet Retreat" event tonight which included a book fair, open house, and sweets/drinks in the gym. We baked some Nanaimo bars to bring and Emily had a blast showing us around. Jessica was so excited to finally see Emily's school!

Jessica wearing a backpack to go to school -- too cute!

(Waiting for supper to be ready) 

To school!

Emily showed us the work she's done so far

And we read some books together

Very happy about her cookie!

Emily: Daddy that's my friend! 

Daddy: Oh nice! What's her name?

Emily: I don't know. 

Jessica curious about how you pee at school

The book fair was a little crowded and Emily was just picking books at random (not very good ones), so we didn't end up buying any books. Other than that it was a great night of visiting the school, chatting with the teacher and other parents, and having some treats with the girls.

It's Spreading...

The sickness has spread to all members of our family... So we just had a very low-key, tired, stay-at-home kind of weekend. Emily and I are both on the mend (though Emily still has a stuffy nose and some coughing), but Jessica and Steve are just getting started.

Hoping y'all had a better weekend!

Nathalieland Update - Colds/Gymnastics/Showers/Offer

Sickies. We're just two days into school and Emily's caught a cold! Poor girl is feeling pretty miserable with her runny nose, coughing, aches, pains, and restless sleep. It also means she missed her third day of school (today). Looks like I'm next on the list as my throat's been sore all afternoon and I'm feeling pretty miserable myself.

Gymnastics for All. As per Emily's request, we've signed her up for gymnastics again this fall. We started classes last week and the best part is that at the same time as Emily's class, there's a "Tall & Small" program for me and Jessica to attend! Jessica is really enjoying gymnastics, even more than Emily!

Bath vs. Shower. Lately the girls have been preferring showers (in our shower) to baths! They actually haven't had a bath in weeks. It would be pretty funny if my two and four year olds were already past the days of baths. Only time will tell if this shower phase is going to stick!

An Offer! We finally have an offer on our old house! We made a small counteroffer, and the buyers accepted it today. Yay! The unfortunate part: the purchase is conditional on the buyers selling their home, so our house hasn't officially sold and the purchase could fall through. It's still a step in the right direction though -- we're thrilled!

Remember this old place??

Interview with (4-Year-Old) Emily and (2.25-Year-Old) Jessica

Nathalieland: Oh hi girls! Long time no speak. Sorry I never got around to interviewing you on your actual special days.
Emily: It's ok. I know you've been busy. 
Jessica: We still love you!

N: Lovely. Now since I'm so behind on my interviews and they take a lot of time to write, I thought I would do a combined one! How are you both?
E: I'm pretty tired from my second day of school (today). At the end of the day I had a big fall in gym class (ended up with a bruise on my forehead), so I'm not feeling my best. 
J: I'm doing well. I had a nice day with Mommy: playgroup, lunch and groceries.

This is the expression on my face when Mommy picks me up from school

Dazed and confused 

This is what I look like when I'm being silly with Mommy

N: Do you miss each other when you're apart?
E: Yeah, I guess.
J: Yes, definitely!

N: What are some things you enjoy doing together? Separately?
E: I like to play kitchen with Jessi (where I use my tongs to give her all the things in our play kitchen). I also like to play stickers with her (read: I like to play with her stickers while she watches). We love playing pretend, baking, running around the house, and watching TV/videos together.
J: We're not big fans of reading/bedtime together; we usually like to have a parent all to ourselves at that point. I've also noticed that if I don't want to do/play exactly what sissy wants me to do, then she'd rather play by herself...

N: What do you watch on TV?
E: I'm totally over Sesame Street now (though I watched it religiously until just a few months ago). I went through a phase of loving Caillou and Franklin & Friends, but I've moved on to my new favourite show: The Magic School Bus. I can't get enough of it. My favourite character is Arnold.
J: I just watch whatever she watches.

N: I haven't measured or weighed either of you in a while. How big are you, approximately?
E: I'm somewhere around 33 lbs and fit into 4T pants and 4T-5T shirts. I'm tall and thin.
J: I'm probably around 25 lbs. I wear 2T pants and 2T-3T shirts. I look at bit chubbier than sissy, but I'm definitely heading in the same direction: tall and thin.

N: Predictable, I guess! Any particularities in food/eating?
E: You bet!! Not only am I extremely picky about the food I eat (and where it comes from), but it also has to be the right temperature and cut in a specific way. For example, my bread-with-nutella breakfast must be spread by Mommy (Daddy doesn't do it right), and cut into two UNequal sized pieces, with the smaller half on the left and the bigger half on the right.
J: Nope, it's all good.

N: Wow. Interesting! Now tell me a little bit about yourselves... Something our readers might want to know.
E: I'm a quiet, sensitive introvert. I love reading, drawing, crafts (mostly cutting and gluing). I am absolutely obsessed with stickers. Given a sticker book, I will peel and stick every sticker, then take each sticker out and fold it, then cut each one up and cut up the book as well (all in one sitting). THEN I'll ask Jessi if I can have her book. Other than that, I love following the rules and get very stressed when others don't do so. I often don't like committing to having a 'favourite' of something -- I'll usually say I like them all. I've entered a whiny stage, so you'll hear me say (in a pitiful tone) "I'm tired", "I'm hungry", or I'm starving" throughout the day. School has its ups and downs; it's hard to know how I feel about it at the moment. When I grow up I want to be an artist.

J: I'm also quiet and introverted, though not as sensitive as Emily. I'm very artsy and love to draw, colour, and paint. I'm super silly and love to make my family laugh. I'm also smart and communicate very well. I love my Mommy more than ever and enjoy spending my whole days with her. I can be pretty clingy/snuggly at times, but I think Mommy likes it as much as I do. I've completely ditched my nap, which means I'm cranky at times and might fall asleep in the car. Bed time is at 7:00pm, though I'm always trying to find ways to stall it. If I wake up in the middle of the night, the best way to get me back to sleep is to lie down with me on the floor. I love sleeping on the floor! I have the sweetest smile and the most beautiful curly hair! When I grow up I want to be big like sissy.

N: Thanks a lot, ladies! I won't make any promises about the next time we meet, but I'll be back!
E: Au revoir!
J: À bientôt!

The First Drop Off

So it happened! We dropped Emily off at school for the first time today. She was quite happy and excited all morning before we left. Unfortunately the weather was unexpectedly cold, windy, and a bit rainy, so Emily's mood quickly changed to grumpy and uncomfortable by the time we reached the school. She was in tears as they walked inside -- probably a mix of nerves and discomfort.

I wonder what she was thinking as she stared outside, 

about to head to school...

Going inside, holding her teacher's hand

Funny thing is, as the teacher led Emily inside, she said she'd call us if there were any problems. Steve and I panicked when the phone rang at 9:30am (with Emily's school on the Caller ID)! Luckily they were just calling to let us know that Emily was doing well. Haha! We appreciated the reassuring call.

Jessica and I enjoyed our mother-daughter grocery shopping trip this morning. Now we're just chilling on the couch, waiting for 3:30pm to arrive...

Is it 3:30pm yet??