Where o' where did the month go? Phoebe has been racking up the new tricks this month.
She's been talking more and more. She is saying daddy and mommy more clearly. She has added her name as well. In addition, she can say baby, me, moo, blueberry (sort of), Hi, gama (for grandma), "sh" for fish, and buckle. Phoebe's also learning more signs for "more", "thank you", "milk", "I love you". Of course the pointing. She tries to repeat words, and can generally communicate what she wants through nods, shakes, hand signs, or words and grunts. She can point to her body parts on herself and others. We finally got Phoebe a baby of her very own to play with. She loves to carry it around and hug it. We let her drink out of a regular cup, and she did a great job. As far as gross motor skills, we've been talking about how much Phoebe climbs, but she really climbs everything. We put the plastic house back up, and she can climb through every hole that she can fit through. She has no fear. She also learned how to climb up on our bed over the foot of the bed by watching Ellen do it just once. She's just amazing. She is really learning how to be a good helper, and she really tries to help as well. She'll put her clothes in the laundry basket, and push the laundry basket to the laundry room. She also plays with the magnetic letters. She's already learned how to put the letters on the correct way on the fridge or dish washer. She also really loves shoes and hats. She loves her bike helmet too...even though her head isn't quite big enough. Phoebe had her 18 month check up too. Here are her stats.18 month check up:
Weight: 23 lbs. 12 oz. (50 %)
Length: 32 3/8 inches (50-75%)
Head Cir: 17 7/8 inches (10%)
The doctor said that she was perfect as always and not to be concerned about her head size percentage. She didn't want to point to her nose during the checkup though.
Ellen has made some interesting developmental changes as well. Ellen has decided that she is now afraid of the dark. We started out by putting the nightlight from the hallway bathroom in the hall and leaving her door open. Then we found a nice purple star nightlight that matches her room so she has one in the room now. Ellen has been wearing some of the same pairs of pants for the over a year. The interesting part is that they are suddenly starting to fall down on her. Is it the lack of pull up or the sudden upwards growth spurt? Probably a combination of both. This girl is growing in so many ways: language, fine motor control, hair length, you name it. She is very excited to begin preschool this month. We are all looking forward to it. However, all the changes at this time of year are also wearing on her and causing other issues to pop up. So, you all thought you would have a break from the potty training reports until the Phoebe 2005 event? Oh, no! Ellen seems to be regressing and the accidents abound. She also often refuses to use the potty. Now we are trying a new potty strategy on the advice of our pediatrician. It seems that little kids have only three things they can truly control in their lives: what they eat, if they sleep, and whether they use the potty or not. In other words, we can't actually make them do any of the aforementioned activities. We had a talk with Ellen, explained that she is in charge of her body and that we would let her make her decisions. (Sometimes we hint or mention subjects that remind her of her need to go.) It is driving us nuts watching her do the potty dance, but we haven't had a screaming fit over the potty in a week. Ellen continues to scream about sharing, keeping her hands off her sister, and obeying rules around the house. At least we have reduced the amount of bathroom screaming. One of the more fun developments is her interest in music. She's always liked music, but now she's actually starting to listen to the words and picking up on them. She likes to sing along to the Barenaked Ladies "If I had a million dollars". She also enjoys They Might Be Giants "No". In particular the songs, "Violin", "Don't cross the street in the middle of the block", and "Four of two". Pete's mom and dad gave Ellen and Phoebe "Where the Sidewalk Ends". Ellen has already listened to the entire book. She really seemed to enjoy it. Pete's folks also gave Ellen a preschool practice workbook. Ellen loves it! She writes in it all the time.
Other things occurred this month too. In Portland, August is Rose Pedal bike month which means the 2004 Providence Bridge Pedal was going on. To prepare for this, we put the kids in the trailer and went on rides to parks on the weekend. Phoebe had some screaming fits in the trailer because she didn't like being cinched down by the straps, and she's not quite tall enough for her helmet to be above the couch back so she was perched on a towel (like we did with Ellen at this age). This had us worried for the big day. And this year was Phoebe's first time to get to do the ride. We got downtown to the line-up right at 7am just before the first riders went off. Our start time wasn't until 7.30am this year (next year we need to be at least 7:15am) to accommodate possible melt-downs, but everyone was happy. Phoebe and Ellen endured the wait to start like champs. They played with their bells and smiled at all the bicycle riders (yelling "yea, bicycle riders!"). They really seemed to have a good time for the whole trip. There was only one problem after the first turn of the course towards Hawthorne Bridge that caused quite a mix up, but we were back on course and on our way without too much trouble. Pete joined us again this year. He did the long route (24 miles), but we decided that riding up near the St. John's bridge (it's still closed for repairs this year as well as the Broadway bridge) and back wouldn't be worth it. So we cut our ride short for the family fun route (14 miles) and called it an early day. Then we went back home and had pancakes and omelets for brunch.
Jada decided that a quick trip to the beach was in order for the girls and "Gram." So, early on a Tuesday morning, Jada packed everyone up and drove to Seaside, OR. Although it was a bit foggy to start out, the sky cleared up and everyone enjoyed swinging on the beach, walking in the sand, and digging. Jada purchased a few more sand toys and Ellen and Phoebe spent a while scooping sand into the buckets using shovels, trowels, and even a funnel. When everyone's stomachs began to growl, it was off to Pig 'N Pancake for pancakes! After our tummies were full, it was time to load back into the car, where at least our oldest and youngest passengers were able to nap. Jada and Ellen sang along to "No"-They Might Be Giants CD-as well as "Rhinoceros Tap" and "Philadelphia Chickens"-two of the Boynton CDs. At home, all the girls needed a real nap, since Tuesday is also soccer night.Ellen had a new instructor for her second set of swimming classes. Mary's group had only two students. Two days Ellen enjoyed one-on-one instruction-while she also missed two days herself. Ellen worked on her floating skills and is getting more proficient. She is finally able to jump into the water without holding onto anyone, and she will go under water and let her ears get wet. We will be signing her up for Saturday classes beginning in late September. We hope that her skills will continue to grow. We hope to get Phoebe in class as well at the same time so she can have some water time.
The soccer classes have been a mixed bag. Ellen really enjoys wearing shin guards and soccer shoes. She enjoys the warm up exercises and adores Coach Elizabeth (she has been really lucky in the way of instructors this summer, including soccer, swimming, and the ever famous Mr. Bob and his music class.) As for the game portion of soccer, sometimes Ellen chases the ball or helps to kick it toward the goal, but she is hesitant to take it away from any of the other kids. She also gets bored and likes to watch what the spectators are doing. All of the kids seem to run the fastest when it is time for a water break. The saddest thing about August was that as it came to an end so did Ellen's classes. Not to mention the loss of Mr. Bob from the Tualatin Valley Parks and Rec center. So Phoebe won't get to spend the next couple years in his class while Ellen moves up.
THPRD also had Big Truck day this month where they bring in all manner of trucks to setup and let kids crawl around on. Ellen sat in several and even scared herself when she honked the horn on one of the big rigs. Phoebe had a really great time looking at the trucks, but it was really hot that day so we didn't stay very long. I don't even remember taking any pictures...
One personal note, I completed my last century of the year in the Mt. Hood Challenge, the last of the Rose Pedal events. I completed 104 miles and 11k feet of climbing in 7hours of pouring rain.
Oh, and that's the last thing. We lost my camera somewhere, and Jada's just seems to have stopped working. We managed to get the film re-wound and out of her camera though, so at least I'll have a few pictures to post. I also finally got the scanner working again, as you may have already noticed. So please bear with us through our technical glitches.
Journal Entry: September 2, 2004