Some things they have said this year

We were at a public restroom and there was something different about the sinks/faucets. I guess she wanted to close it, but it was automatic (press on, but stops on its own). Lorena said, "look, that is quite a spectacle!". "Mira mamá, es todo un espectáculo".

I did not let her get her shirt off for a car ride. It was cold outside and I did not want her only in her undershirt. "Mom, you are destroying my world" (In Spanish she used the reflexive, so this was my best translation: "me estás destruyendo el mundo").

I prepared "cochinita pibil" some time ago, Arantxa loved and as she asked for seconds she asked, ""mom, can I please have the recipe?". "Mamá, ?me puedes dar la receta por favor?". She had suggested that it would be a good idea to keep hers and Lorena's favorite recipes handy for when they got married or went to live on their own.

Lorena, describing parallel play. After Arantxa's party.
- Hey, Lorena, what were you playing with C yesterday?
- We were sitting next to each other playing with Little People, but she was playing her game and I was playing mine. We were not really playing together. What a hassle! She did not want to play the same thing. "Estábamos sentadas juntas jugando con Little People, pero ella estaba de su lado jugando su juego, y yo de mi lado jugando el mío. No estábamos jugando juntas. !qué lata"! Ella no quería que jugáramos la misma cosa."

Lorena, being annoyed AND annoying. It was my turn to choose music on the car, so I turned to NPR. "Argh! No aguanto el radio, por favor, alguien, ayúdeme a quitarme la cabeza. (mientras se la jalaba para arriba) !AAAH! Por favor, quien sea, ayuden a que me quite la cabeza. El mundo sería MÁS MEJOR si no tuviera mi cabeza y no pudiera escuchar el radio"."I can't stand the radio, please, somebody help me pull my head out. "Remove my head! (while actually pulling her head up). Please, someone, help me remove my head! The world would be more better if I did not have my head, I wouldn't have to listen to the radio" Does anybody else thinks she might be slightly over reacting? Ah, the drama never ends!

The next 2 are Arantxa being profound and self-reflective.

1) Pondering on the conscience.
"We (humans) are made of 2 parts;l one is the voice that tells you what you have to do, like no hitting; but there is another part that just does the things. Sometimes the parts are connected, and one can stop the other one; but sometimes those 2 parts are completely separate". "Estamos (humanos) hechos de dos partes, una es la voz que te dice lo que debes hacer, como no pegar; pero hay otra parte que solo hace las cosas. A veces las partes están conectadas y una puede detener a la otra; pero a veces las 2 partes están completamente separadas".
And no, she was not trying to get out of trouble, I guess her 2 parts had been connected that whole day.

2) Pondering on personal space and explaining this to Lorena. Apparently it was a concept she though of herself, she had not read/heard about it. "It is like everybody has a bubble, and if someone else comes to close to your bubble it bursts. Voice can come in the bubble, and sometimes hands." We all then later elaborated on how very loud voices can indeed burst the bubble, and how everybody's bubble is a different size. "Lorena, es como si cada quien tuviera una burbuja, y si alguien se acerca mucho a tu burbuja, se rompe. La voz si puede entrar a tu burbuja y a veces las manos".

Did Lorena understand? Sort of. The three of us were eating out, and we were seated in a circular booth, Lorena in the middle. Arantxa had to approach to get Purell for her hands, so I explained to Lorena that Arantxa was going to get close. After all hands were clean, Arantxa scooted back, but not all the way to her original "place". Lorena turned to me and said, "Mom, Arantxa entered OUR bubble". "Mamá, Arantxa se metió a NUESTRA burbuja". I had to explain that bubbles were personal.

A final one from Lorena. "I don't need protein, there was Hawaiian pizza at my school's Valentine party yesterday, it had Canadian bacon; so I don''t need any protein". "Yo no necesito proteína, hubo Pizza Hawaiiana en la fiesta de San Valentín de mi escuela, y tenía lomo canadiense, así que no necesito proteína."

The last one from Arantxa. She was dictating thank you notes to me. "The flower you drew was very detailed and it looks like a real flower. I loved it! The way you drew the picture made me imagine myself in a garden with giant flowers and the sun shining down on me."

The birthday party and the castle cake!

We finally had Arantxa's 6th party on Sunday. With her b'day so close to Xmas and our trip, it is just crazy to do anything before that. However, later we have the Super Bowl, Valentine's day, and Winter break. I have to remember all of this for next year.

What she really wanted was to have the party at home, have some crafts, play, and especially a piñata. Since it is during the winter, she had to settle for about a dozen kids.

Last year, she wanted a "bear" cake. We ended up getting a fisherman's cake: it was guy fishing on a stream. We removed the guy, added some Schleich bears, kept the salmon, and voilà, a bear cake. This year, she REALLY wanted a castle cake. Not any castle cake, not a flat cake, but one that indeed looked like a castle. When we were in Mexico she and her cousin spent hours creating 3D cardboard furniture for a little house. This is then, a real interest of hers.

I started by baking 3 batches of carrot cake. I needed 2 for the bottom layer, and another one for the top layer. I had bought a kit that includes the towers, door, windows, etc. I prepared the frosting and set to work the night before. It was definitely a challenge, but overall I had fun doing it. I have been wanting to take a cake decorating class, and in the meantime I have learned on my own. I set up knowing that I would be unable to even come close to the one in the box, but that I could make something work that would impress the little kids.

First I figured out how to use "dowels" to stablize the cake and keep it from falling. Then, came the trickiest part: frosting the layers do that they would look smooth. Afterwards came the fun of actual decorating the towers and the rest of the cake. I knew my limitations so I decided toto simplify in some ways while still aiming for an "awe" factor. Oh,. by the way, Pablo helped me, not only bouncing off ideas, actually doing some frosting.

Here is the just finished product.

I joked with Pablo that the cake looked good from the distance, sort of like you have to see many a masterpiece in a museum: not too close.

The girls woke up early in the morning; well, maybe not that early, but definitely too much for those of us who had gone to bed late getting everything ready. We heard the girls excitedly talking and getting dressed. Half asleep I heard them speculate who would be the second guest to arrive (the first one was guaranteed to be Lorena). Lorena even came to our room to share the most exciting news. "Arantxa invited the twins! She said they could come!!!!". Which twins are we talking about? Lorena's teddy bear baby twins. Arantxa then asked if they could go downstairs to see the cake (no touching, not even with a finger!!!) and so they did. We just heard them ooh and aah over the cake. They were so excited!

Pablo took the girls out for breakfast while I made some sandwiches, and got the rest of the stuff ready. Here is the ever so important task of filling the piñata.

Most kids started arriving on time. This was our first party with "big" kids and we did not know what to expect. Most parents stayed. They got started by decorating their goody bag, scratching some "magic" picture frames, or other crafts.

The day was gorgeous (meaning sunny, dry from the night before, and not freezing); so pretty soon they all were outside. We were so glad they were able to enjoy the backyard. A lof ot them tried the scooters, chalk, sand table, and the play structure. It was really nice to mostly play in small groups or individually, but they all interacted really well. They were all in their best behavior. We really lucked out since that night it snowed and it was all covered in white! We had games planned in case they were going crazy or we had to stay inside, but they were playing so happily we did not have the heart to direct their play.

The Piñata was of course a big hit! Arantxa had 2 or 3 small drama moments, but she was able to move on. You can see some of the chalk creations.

We cut and enjoyed the cake. My favorite part of the party was while all the kids were sitting on the table singing silly made up verses to a song. You do need a teacher to go to school. You don't need a teacher to learn how to learn. You don't need a dolphin to say hello to you in the ocean. If you are in Jupiter you do need some place to walk on because it is made out of gas. They all giggled and were creative together.

THINGS ARANTXA SAID:

I heard Arantxa tell all her friends that she already knew how to fly. Since she continues to be obsessed with flying (remember the rule in our house, all attempts of flying must begin at ground level, and can't involve jumping off things); my mom ears are always detecting any flying reference. All I need to do is find a place with no gravity and then jump up and I will be floating and flying by moving my body.

A certain friend of ours called to apologize before they arrived since they had left the present home. We relayed the message to Arantxa who said: No problem, presents are the least important thing in a party. The most important thing in a party is to have your family and at least one other guest. you can't have a party unless you have one or more guests.

She later was talking about birthdays, so she started saying. When I am 8, I am going to be thinking, only 2 years away from 10; and then when I am 9, I'll say that it is only one more year. Then, the day before I turn 10, I will think, we are only a day away. I really want to be 10, but I don't want to skip the middle part. I love that!

As she was opening presents, a mom overheard her saying, Wow, all my friends got me things I really needed, I am so happy.

Finally, at night, after reading to her (yes, we still read to her every night), she gave me a great big hug and thanked me for making a special cake, organizing the party, and for letting them have cake for dinner.

So, there you go. From all of the above comments, it is clear to us that she is indeed growing and maturing.

Thanks for reading!

Theories on why Lorena is slimming down

You know how it is harder to see changes in people you see all the time. It seemed as if Lorena was slimming down a bit, but we were not so sure. However, it was unequivocal in Mexico. It of course helped that we were seeing much more of her in her swimming suit versus the layers of costumes and clothes she usually wears.

We wondered whether she had just had a growth spurt. Both girls looked taller so we measured them when we got back home. Sure enough, they had both grown almost an inch (2.5 cm). After their summer growth, we had measured them back a couple of months ago, but there had been no change. It has been really interesting, for a long time now, they seem to grow together. They both grew similar amounts in the summer, stayed several months in the same height, and then grew again. Their 28 months of age difference, has translated into a stable delta of 7-10 cm.

Arantxa now measures about 1.13 m (44.5") and Lorena is 1.05 m (41.3").

Back to Lorena, her baby belly seem to be practically gone. I know it is normal for kids to gain some weight, then stretch keeping the same weight, and back to gaining weight again. This has NEVER been the case with Lorena. When she started moving more and more as a baby, when she began walking, she still kept being chubby. Yes, she did slow her weight gain, she was off the charts for weight as a baby, but not as a toddler.

Getting them on the scale confirmed it. Not only had she stretched, but she was also weighing maybe one pound less. Last week, when she was sick, she got weighed at the doctor, and sure enough she was considerably lighter than last time.

So, why would this happen at this unusual age?

First theory.

Both girls, but especially Lorena, was extremely bad at turning off lights. Every time I walked past her room, I'd see the lights on. I turned them off, and kept asking and reminding them to turn off the lights when they left a room. I finally realized that my gentle reminders were not having any effect; so I instituted a new policy. Whenever I see a light on, I call the person, and they have to stop what they are doing, and immediately go turn the light off.

We started doing that in November or December. Every day, Lorena would be summoned back to her room. And, yes, I felt ridiculous waiting for her to come from downstairs, all the way up, when I was right there next to the switch. The weeks went by with no change in habits.

I am sure you, bright readers, have already figured out the first theory. Yes, she has been excercising MUCH more: up and down the stairs all day long, it is like her private "step" class.

I know, maybe that doesn't explain the weight loss. However, I am very happy to report, that it FINALLY made a difference in the light habits. I think at least a whole week has passed without her being called up.

Second Theory.

This brings us to the second theory. Lorena has realized there is a difference between liking and loving a food. A few weeks ago she did not eat pizza during lunch at her school because it did not have pinapples on, and she only likes pizza with pinapples. <: o

She is constantly saying "I am not going to eat this, it is not my favorite". Seriously, the girl who ate anything and everything, suddenly became super picky! It is SO strange! She used to gobble up a big bowl of soup. This week she hand-picked the kidney beans, carrots, and peas from her veggie soup. She now eats only the frosting and leaves the cake. We are still pushing her to eat a bit of everything; and we make a big deal, for both of them when they like something they did not before.

Now, I can't complain, I have met many real picky eaters; and she is not even close. She continues to enjoy a variety of foods, eats healthy stuff, etc. It is just that it is so unusual to have her follow through with her "I don't like this since it is not my favorite." Before, she would announce that she did not like salad, and 2 seconds later gobbled up all her greens and then asked for a second helping.

I asked the doctor whether she should be seen for this. We agreed that we are going to wait until her 4 year appointment. Just one more comment for reference. At the 3 year appointment we talked to the doctor about the opposite problem. We have always read/been told, that little kids know what they need in terms of food, that you should let them regulate themselves, etc. My question to the doctor was when we were supposed to start distrusting her body. She said this (3) was a good time. While we continued to let her eat, we, for example, gave her water after her cup of milk in every meal if she was still thirsty.

For anybody that keeps track; the girls are back to weighing the same; and Arantxa's feet are only a tad longer than her sisters'.

All this doctor talk reminded me to schedule Lorena's 4 year appointment. 3 months ahead is the perfect time to call. Isn't that crazy?