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Outside after dinner

June 8, 2006

Well it's good to be back.... I've decided that I'm going to just jump right in and figure that soon enough we'll be chatting like old friends. If you're reading along and need some context or want to ask me a question, please feel free to talk to me.

John has been working on a very big, all consuming case (he's an attorney) that finally was filed on Friday. He has been working some really long hours, distracted at home over the past couple of months. Of course I've gone through busy times at work myself, so I'm not being critical when I say it's really nice to have him back! His summer should be pretty standard work hours and then he begins his new, permanent job with a law firm in town the beginning of September. No doubt the work-life demands will pick up steam again at that point. Friday night John's brother rolled in for a quick overnight so they could run a big 20K road race together the next day. Ava, Meghan, Lane and I all went to the race to cheer them on, then to one of our favorite hole-in-the-wall breakfast spots for a big, greasy breakfast. (Because watching a 20K race with a 3-year-old is as hard as running one, right?!)

Now that summer is here, in full force, a new trend is developing in our evenings and weekends. We live in one of those neighborhoods that has about 50-60 newly constructed homes that were all punched out of the same 6 or 7 floor plans. Completely un-original, but good starter homes, especially for families with small children. Consequently our neighborhood is quite literally teeming with children. Each night and much of the weekend Ava gathers with her friends in the neighborhood and they kind of go back yard to back yard playing outside. And John and I roam around in the pack of parents that are out with their kids. It is a nice, congenial group. I can't say that I have just a ton in common with them, but I do really enjoy the fact that Ava spends practically every waking moment she's at home outside playing. She comes in each night kicking and screaming, filthy and exhausted. It makes getting things like the dishes and laundry done a little bit more difficult, so John and I will occasionally take shifts outside. One night a few weeks ago John was working late and I was trying to make dinner. Ava was chomping to get outside and I was literally bribing her with Dora. "Come on Ava, don't you want to watch tv? I have a new Dora on Tivo!" Its all fairly ridiculous. I am hoping we get to a point with the neighbors where we can kind of take turns supervising the kiddos. Right now I don't really feel like I can ask one of the other mommies to keep an eye on Ava and I'll be out in a little bit. I suppose all it will take is one of us breaking the ice with that...

Ava had her three year old well child visit on Monday. It was a very relaxing visit – Ava is doing just awesome and she didn't have to have any shots. I can't, for the life of me, remember how tall she was except that she's in the 75th percentile for her height. Both John and I are tall, so it comes as no great shock that we would have a tall child. Her weight was just over 31 pounds, also putting her in the 75th percentile. I was a little bit disappointed to hear our pediatrician recommend that we keep Ava in a car seat until she reaches 40 pounds or after her fourth birthday. I was really hoping he'd green light the booster seat. Our sweet girl was just delightful at the doctor's office. She was tickled to put on the examination gown and seemed very eager to show off for her pediatrician. When he walked into the room she said, "Hi doctor. I have one of those (a stethoscope that was around his neck) at home. But mine is blue and yours is black." Her doctor looked at us and said "Well, I guess that answers the question if she's speaking in full, understandable sentences." Ava takes a Spanish class at her child care center so as her doctor was asking her to identify colors she would give him both the English and Spanish answers. She is precocious as can be.

A couple of months ago our basement flooded. It was a very odd set of circumstances caused by a malfunctioning hot water heater. We were quickly on a first name basis with our friends at Servicemaster through that whole process. One half of our basement is finished with a bedroom and a room that used to be John's office, but is now a small family room. The other half is laundry and storage – unfinished. We have completely restored ordered to the finished parts of the basement, but our storage and laundry is still fairly cobbled together and frankly a big mess. John and I have agreed to take the day off work tomorrow and clean out the basement. Fun, huh? It will be nice to get it done though. It really is one of those things that just starts to grate on you. We've gone through the big stuff, but we really need to spend some time sorting through what's left down there. I really think we could throw 2/3 of it away and never miss a thing, but until we get a look at it we just can't be sure. We're going to take Ava to child care so we can have a whole, uninterrupted day. With that as a weekend kick-off it can only go up from there. We don't have a single thing planned except to probably take Ava to see the movie "Cars."

In the time I've been 'away' Ava has blossomed into the most delightful little creature. Parenting her has always been a joy, but there have most definitely been times that it has been more work than I could have ever anticipated. I was talking with some girlfriends who also have children and we were comparing notes on the 'terribles' stages of our kiddos. It varied across the board. I would say Ava's 'terribles' were not at two, but from about 18-24 months. Man she was a handful. She still is not terribly patient, she can certainly be opinionated and stubborn, but nearly all the time she is clever, charming and delightful to be around. Taking her places like out to dinner or to the grocery store once required quite a bit of planning and strategizing, but no more. She is agreeable and curious as can be most everywhere we take her. Her personality traits are becoming more recognizable and understandable. For example, I am quite a planner and organizer. A trait I have passed on to my daughter in spades. (Is that a good thing?) Each night before she goes to bed she wants to talk about what we're going to do tomorrow... What are we having for breakfast, is tomorrow a school day etc... And as I get to know her better I know how important it is for her to have that kind of information, to always know what's coming next. If she does, she is able to relax in the moment.

When Ava was a baby we made a big point of talking to her all the time. I had read a book (was it "The Baby Whisperer" I can't remember) that said we should essentially narrate our days for our children. They would learn language, tone, colors etc... I felt a little foolish, but I liked the idea. So I'd take my 2 month old Ava grocery shopping and I'd be telling her 'this is an apple, apples are red and crunch' stuff like that. Today Ava has internalized that and is continually narrating her days back to us. She talks non-stop. Her observations are so insightful and honestly make me look at the world a little differently each day.

Well, speaking of my sweet girl, I am off to collect her a bit early today. I think we're going to spend the afternoon at the pool before we head home for dinner and more outside time.

Thanks for reading—

--Kate

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