Dear Lily,
What an amazing week this has been for you!
You've almost completely busted out of your little shell of shyness.
Last Sunday we went to an open house for a local Montessori preschool. It was in its own mini building, fenced in with grass and outdoor play equipment all around. Inside there was plenty of things to do and see, and I think the part that made you smile the most was the tiny toilet, just your size.
We stayed for about an hour and a half, inside and out, letting you and Lukasz both explore it, and you even talked a little bit to the teacher! That evening, we decided we would send you there part time starting in September (Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons). The morning sessions were full, so I hope you're going to be okay with afternoon sessions.
On Monday I took you and Lukasz to see the preschool in session; you sat down with one girl and drew a picture of fireworks and got to meet some of the other children, some of which will be in your class next year. When we left, the teacher said bye to you and as we headed to the door, a few of the kids yelled "bye Lily!" and then a few more chimed in until the whole class was calling out "bye Lily!" after us. You were a bit overwhelmed but I thought it was really sweet. I got a really good feeling being there, it's calm and quiet and safe (they lock all the doors from the inside when they are in there) and I think you're going to have a lot of fun and meet a lot of great kids.
On Tuesday we went to Circle of Friends for the first time in a long time. I was so glad to see that Karin was there; she is one of your absolute favourite people. They had a lot of catching up to do and you had so much to say. You always spends most of our time there at the craft table and today was no exception. You did a bunch of "rubbings", and when we got home I had to find something quick that you could use to do more rubbings.
On Wednesday, you had your first big girl haircut at a salon. The hair around your face really needed to be fixed up, I'd done a bit of a number on it while trying to get it to stay out of your face. You sat in the big chair and let the lady spritz your hair with water and were so good about not moving while your hair was cut. And... you got two pretty blue clips in your hair when the lady was all done. You sure walked out of that salon with your head held high!
Thursday was a momentous day. You've officially started potty training!!! We'd tried to start you now and then earlier, but you just weren't ready and I didn't want to force you and fight with you about it, because really it's something you just has to do when you are ready. We went out for a little hike in the morning and then when we got back at 11:30, I took your diaper off and you ran around bare-bottomed. You didn't pee and didn't pee and I wasn't going to take you guys out again until you did pee, just in case you were waiting for a diaper to pee into (which I think is what you had started to do the last time I tried to potty train you). Well, you finally went down for a nap around 4 p.m. without having peed, and stayed dry throughout the nap and then finally at 5:45, you said "I need to pee!", hopped on her potty, and peed! You peed a second time that afternoon, while I was on the phone with work and not even paying attention, so when you told me and I saw, I cheered, and my boss said "Yay!", too. (She has daughters of her own, so I'm sure she could relate!) In the evening I had some work to do and you just hung out on our bed beside me while I worked; it was past your bedtime but I wanted to see if you'd go one more time on your own before we put you to bed. Sure enough, you hopped off the bed, onto the potty and pooped! We are so proud of how well you are doing, Lily!! Keep it up!!
One of your new favourite things to do is to help me in the kitchen whenever I'm making anything. As soon as you see a measuring cup in my hand, you informs me that you are going to help me and you just needs a chair, which you then pull into the kitchen from the dining room. I decided to make some coleslaw and lemon potatoes for part of our dinner and you helped with both, putting all the ingredients in the bowls and mixing it all up. When we were making the lemon potatoes, I realized as we were mixing that I didn't tell you what the ingredients were. So when we made the coleslaw mix, I told you what the sugar, salt, vinegar and celery seed was. You even got to try the sugar and salt... and vinegar. You insisted that the vinegar was water, so I got you to dip the tip of your finger in the spoon of vinegar to taste it. Yuck. At least now you knows what vinegar is!
On Friday, we got to see one of your other favourite people - your music teacher, Jenneka. You showed Jenneka how you take your shoes off all by yourself and was just full of things to say. When it was time to leave you made sure to say bye to Jenneka: "Bye! Bye, Jenneka! Bye!" Last week Jenneka was talking to one of the other moms when we left, and you got upset that you hadn't gotten a chance to say bye, so we had to go back inside after I strapped Lukasz in the car and say bye to Jenneka.
After music class I realized I'd forgotten to bring a snack for the car ride home, so we went to the mall for a treat. I wanted to get some frozen yogurt but we ended up getting ice cream. Fortunately the sugar didn't interfere with naps at all! In the mall elevator, you showed a lady your shoes and her skirt and told the lady, "We are going upstairs and we are going to have a treat!" When we got home, I wanted to make a lemon square for Aunt Nicole before we went to visit her at her new house. Lukasz had his nap, so you pulled a chair into the kitchen and helped me pour and mix all the ingredients - you recognized the sugar right away from when we had made the coleslaw mix on Thursday.
When we visited Aunt Nicole, (who now only lives 5 minutes away, hooray!) you was a little shy at first, but warmed up pretty quick, even with Nicole's parents. You spent a bunch of time keeping an eye on Lukasz, and finding him after he'd scurried off into a different corner of the house. He loved being found; shrieks and giggles echoed through the house every time you found him.
Yesterday we went to Konrad & Dominika's birthday party. Lily, you were a bit shy for the first little while, as was I because I only knew half of the people there. There were a lot of kids (nine, including you and Lukasz), but once Dominika sat down to play with her new hair styling toy you were right in there helping and playing along. It was so great to see you off and playing with other kids and not feeling too shy. I love seeing how gentle and careful you are with other kids, you talk to them all in that little sweet, quiet voice that sounds like mine when I'm talking to babies. You often want to help other kids and offer to share, or give them a quick kiss. You are the sweetest of sweet!
We love you so much!
Mommy
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