Jason has been busily working on our "main" bathroom. Within the past month or so, he has ripped out the useless laundry chute (it became unusable when the previous owners finished 25% of the basement, as it leads into the ceiling tiles of the finished portion), ripped out the toilet paper holder that was affixed to the wall (it was located on the wall ACROSS from the toilet, which is not an issue for someone with adult-length arms but would be not accessible for a small child), dry-walled both those holes, prepped the bathroom so it looks like a Dexter scene, primed the walls, and is just now mixing up the paint. We have been very proud of all his hard work, and even though Jason actually LIKES these home projects, I think he'll be ready for a little break after this one. It's been keeping him quite busy! Here's a picture of Miri critiquing her dad's progress today.
Miri is totally acclimated to her new classroom at daycare and seems to be really enjoying her new teachers and especially the more structured play and learning activities in the toddler classrooms. Every week, there is a new theme, and the daily story time, song or finger-play, and small group activity fit the theme. She has done some really neat art projects; here are few recent ones.
I hate to brag, but Miri once again seems to be a favorite of her teachers. I've had each of them tell me how much they love her and are enjoying having her in their class. She had to stay home sick with Daddy on Valentine's Day because of the cellulitis, but I dropped by her school on my way to work as I had volunteered weeks earlier to supply the fruit for the Valentine's Day party, and as I'd already done all the work of cutting up fruit for 16 kids, I didn't want my hard work to go to waste! So when I dropped by with the fruit and to let them know she was home sick, Ms. Gerri, one of her teachers, said "Oh no! Just yesterday I told Ms. Ginger (another of Miri's teachers)'Yay, tomorrow is a Miriam day!' We are all SO in love with her!" It makes me feel good that Miri has teachers who truly do care for her and enjoy spending time with her. The other day, Jason and I went together to pick her up from school, and we spied on her through the window for a few minutes. The teacher only had 4 kids left, so they were all sitting around a table. She had a big 3D tiered birthday cake made of stuffed fabric (kind of like a stuffed animal, but it was a birthday cake) and all the kids had several different shaped felt pieces to place on the cake to decorate it. It was amazing seeing these tiny little toddlers patiently wait their turn, and then put ONE piece onto the cake. Miri will do some structured things and turn-taking with us, but it was really cool to see her in a bigger group context doing something like this. When she did see us, she didn't even want to get up and come with us, because she still had one felt piece left to put onto the cake. So we let her take her last turn, of course! At any rate, it is just really neat to see her growing and learning at school.
At home these days, we read a LOT of books. She definitely takes after her mommy in that regard! My parents always talk about how, even as just a young toddler, I could sit with a stack of books, look at one book page by page, then move it to the other side of me and pick up a new one. And repeat and repeat and repeat. Miri does the exact same thing. Her books are probably her favorite activity these days. Here is a video Jason shot of Miri earlier this week in her room with her books.
She is also much more interested in songs and finger-plays these days. Her favorites are Old MacDonald, The Wheels on the Bus, Row Row Row Your Boat, and Ring-Around-the-Rosie. I also need to ask her teachers at school if they've taught her a song about bubbles, because lately she has been frequently singing "bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, POP!" and each time she sings "bubbles," she moves her hands wider apart and then claps them together on POP! Jason and I have no idea where she got this from, so I'm figuring it must be a school song. She now has at least 63 words and is beginning to very occasionally put two words together, e.g. "Hi Daddy," "Mama read," "no-no Prescott", etc. She has mastered running and climbing and would desperately like to learn how to jump like Mommy and Daddy, instead of just bouncing on her toes and bending her knees. She is more and more interested in helping to dress herself, although sometimes this is what happens:
(yes, those are her jeans on her head) She generally hates being spoon- or fork-fed by us and is usually very insistent on self-feeding. She is working on mastering her utensils, although she oftens decides to just use her hands instead, for efficiency's sake.
She still loves her fruits and veggies, but she's unpredictable with her "main courses." One day, she will turn her nose up at something, and the next day she'll eat an entire portion of that exact thing she rejected yesterday and then ask for more. Overall, she continues to be a pretty good eater and has turned into a really good milk drinker, now finally drinking the recommended 16 ounces or more of milk each day. This pays off in good continued weight gain, at a time when many toddlers' weight gains slows drastically. At urgent care last week, she weighed in at 20.1 lbs (clothed). Even if she's not quite 20 lbs (they weigh her in just a diaper at the doctor's office), she's still clearly gained at least a good 2.5 lbs in the past 4 months since her last appt. Yay for a growing little peanut! We are such proud parents... Miriam is just such an incredible blessing, a true joy. Nothing brings me more happiness than simply seeing her smile.
