s part 2

More Simone!

Simone and mom....

...just kidding!

S, sharing a cupcake (the frosting part is her favorite) during our trip to DC:

S is always finding treasures when she goes out. She loves to pick up petals, or bits of used water balloons, or leaves and rocks...and seems to have a knack for finding pink beads.

Our dancer...we think she will really enjoy her preschool this year, the "Academy of Movement and Music."

From our day at the mini-amusement park in Central Park with friends from our Moms Group. Even today S was talking about wanting to sleep over at her friend Emma's house and how her favorite game to play with her is "kitty."

S's gym class ended in June but recently she has been making up her own gym moves around the house:

S has recently been a expert at making sulking/pouting/mad faces:

Fortunately, her great smile still makes appearances. Her newest for the camera smile is one I hope disappears quickly.

Saying good-bye to her room (with her new favorite doll) in NYC:

Making herself at home in Oak Park. Yesterday she said it was her favorite place to live (though she likes living in California, too).

That's my girl!

Other observations:

- She's been more jealous of Noemi and pointing out when things aren't fair. I think part of it is noticing the Thai relatives fawning over N more and even me doing things like tossing N in the air...that I can kind of try to do with her but not so much anymore. Both E and I have been trying to be more intentional about spending one-on-one time with her which has been good.

- She's always trying to negotiate and bargain...every meal it seems like she wants to eat only one of the strawberries and half of her rice or something like that. At the store sometimes she'll be like, "Can we go to Target and just look?" because she knows I'm amenable to that. When we do go to Target or somewhere else and she sees a toy she likes and wants to get it right away I'll sometimes say maybe later or maybe for your birthday or something like that. She'll try to convince me to buy it now by saying that someone else might buy it and it'll be gone.

- She's been whining and complaining. We're trying to nip this in the bud with the positive attention, time-outs, providing alternative ways to express her feelings, etc.

- She really notices/remembers things - from memories with people to details from the video she just watched. Her preschool teachers have always noted that she's quite the observer in class. It reminds me that what I do and say is really important.

- She's a good helper and big sister. She doesn't complain about getting a diaper for Noemi, picking up something N has dropped twelve times and even likes getting her hair pulled by her sister. Go figure.