Hi Sidra,
You've had some significant events happen in the last month or so. You had your school winter program, your neighbor Jo Jo had a birthday party and you are on a family vacation in Sunriver with your east coast relatives. In the meantime you are starting to show some real independence.
In your school program you were a key part of several songs or poems. If you remember, last year in your first program you got overwhelmed by the size of the audience and left the stage to sit with your mom and tante Debbie after about a minute of the show. This time you lasted the whole show although you didn't sing much. We knew you knew all the words but you seemed to be watching the others do most of the singing. I'm only commenting about what I saw on the short video clip i've seen. I didn't get to go to the program as it was in the morning on a day I had to work. I am still waiting to see the full video we purchased. You were very cute when you spoke to me on the phone later that day, asking if I was 'bummed' that I wasn't able to be there. Of course I said yes. One of the songs you sang was called 'Channuka is here.' Your school meets in a church and is pretty Christian based but they asked your mom to talk to your class about Channuka and they included some songs in the program.
You are starting to do some more things on your own. You're getting better at doing bathroom stuff on your own. I wouldn't say you're exactly flying solo there but you're getting better. You are very interested in your clothing choices and can almost completely dress yourself. You haven't really made any attempts to do your own hair yet, but that's pretty complicated. At least I think it is. And I would really like you to do more of your own tooth brushing. That's something we should work on.
Another thing you've taken upon yourself is answering the phone. It works pretty well when one of your parents is nearby but you did handle one call on your own pretty well. I was upstairs lying down with your sister helping her get to sleep for her nap. I heard the phone ring but made no attempt to get it. You were working on your Playmobil wedding set downstairs right by the phone. So you picked it up and had a short conversation. You said that Carol wasn't there and a couple of other things and hung up. When I came down about 10 minutes later I asked you about it. You said that Dennis had called. I was skeptical. Your mom knows 2 people named Dennis but it seemed unlikely that either would be calling then. I checked the phone and found that American Tire had called. So after a couple more questions you said that Dennis said 'the wheels are ready.' So you got the message complete. Another time you answered before I could reach it and it was your doctor's office. You gave me the phone when they asked you for a parent. Anyway, we probably need to get you to be a little less exuberant about answering so that you don't end up talking to someone you shouldn't.
You had a good time at your neighbor Jo Jo's birthday party. It was at a pizza parlor that had a fun play area. You went down the slide many times, rode the carousel and played in the balls. You didn't like the pipe maze too much. You followed your friend Logan into it when you first arrived at the play area. You soon came back out the way you went in without following him down the slide to exit. I think you get scared in those things sometimes. Later, the other kids at the party started a game of Duck, Duck, Goose. You joined in and did pretty well for being the youngest there.
We've been at Sunriver for a couple of days but you haven't got to do much except go swimming once. You have been coughing a lot and have a low grade fever. So, we haven't tried ice skating or skiing yet. You did go out with your cousin Rachel and uncle Ben to build a snowman and do a little sledding.
Well, it's now a few days later and we did go ice skating. You did very well for your first time on skates. You were very comfortable with 'the glide,' the notion that you can move pretty fast without moving your feet. You were able to pick up one foot and glide on the other while I was holding you. Near the end of the session I convinced you to do the last 5 or 6 feet by yourself. Uncle Ben has videos we can post here later.
Next up is your birthday party. You will be four years old in three days. You have 8 friends joining you at your party.
Love, aba.
This was originally written on December 26 but I was waiting to get home to find some photos to go with the post.
