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August 2010
August 8, 2010
I can't believe it's been so long since I've updated you all. Things have been hectic!
Zane has discovered he can wheel his sister around in the dollie stroller. Both kids get a big kick out of this. And both kids are bookworms, much to my delight.
Zane pulled this book off my bookshelf and starting looking at it, pointing to the letters and babbling about them.
We've had a round of birthday parties that won't quit! The first was for one of her cousins, and we all visited a wildlife center/zoo. To see most of the large animals, we drove through the "sanctuary" part. I think Anastasia's favorites were the giraffes. Zane - ever the observer - even clued us in to some of the better hidden animals by pointing and babbling.
Delighted, watching animals in the wildlife center. We had to get up early to get there in a timely fashion, and when Anastasia saw the sky outside, she said, "Mommy! Why is it still dark outside??"
A few small animals were in more zoo-like enclosures. Look at Zane's expression. Both kids loved this place!
The missy at the flamingo display and pretending to be a sheep in the petting zoo. Anastasia said, "This place is awesome!"
A huge highlight: Riding a camel.
After a couple more parties, it was time for Anastasia's 5th birthday party. My girlie girl chose to have a pirate party, and it was a huge hit. Anastasia declared it the "wonderfulest party ever," and said her favorite part was the treasure hunt. I was really proud of her. She was so polite and thankful for everything.
Left: The Miss decorating "Pirate Pops" (Rice Crispie treats) for her birthday party. Right: Walking the plank.
Blowing out five candles!
Lessons from her uncle, using her new guitar.
Zane spent a lot of time perched up in the fort of the swing set, just observing.
A few other tib-bits:
* Zane doesn't say much. No "hungry," "down," or "now" for him. He only says the really important things, like "backhoe" and "pickup."
* I dug out the kids' GeoTrax train set this month. They both still love it. Zane so much so, he can often be found kissing the train.
* Zane recently learned to say "happy." A few weeks ago, I said, "The pizza's ready!" and he replied, "HAP-py! HAP-py! HAP-py!"
* Anastasia: "I'm a pirate and I found this gold coin can I keep it?"
Me: "Well, can you find the person who lost it? If you can, you should give it back."
Anastasia: "No, Mom! I'm a pirate and pirates steal things!"
August 12, 2010
Five years ago today, Anastasia was born 3 1/2 months early. My husband and all our family were sick with worry, but God gave me supernatural peace. And now look at our girl!
Today Anastasia had her 5 year checkup. Overall, she's doing just fine. She weighs 36 1/2 lbs. and is 3 feet 6 inches tall. That puts her in the 25th percentile in weight and height, but when you look at her growth curve overall, you see only a slight flattening off in height (which may be temporary). She whizzed through her hearing and eye exams, wrote her name for the doc, and copied shapes onto a piece of paper. The only really negative news is that Anastasia was also diagnosed with exercise-induced asthma.
The past couple of months, whenever the Miss runs around, she stops and coughs. It doesn't seem to make her uncomfortable, but the pediatrician says I should give her a puff on an inhaler if she coughs more than a couple of times. If she ends up using the inhaler two or more times a week, then we need to discuss medications that do a better job of controlling the asthma.
Given Anastasia's background - notably, her lung problems caused by her extreme prematurity - it's not surprising she has asthma. (Her daddy has asthma, too, and the disease is often hereditary.) What's surprising, really, is that it didn't show up sooner.
Anastasia and Zane playing in a box.
Zane, incidentally, is nearly as tall as Anastasia and must weigh as much or more than she does. He is climbing everything and he now sits through some long books, especially The Little Engine That Could. He is already playing make-believe - I'm sure because he's copying his sister. (He does get a bit confused when Anastasia offers him pretend food to eat. He grins and laughs, but then tries to really eat it. He'll then usually offer me the food, and he watches closely while I pretend to eat it.)
And have I mentioned Zane is super-neat? He often pulls out the toy vacuum or the real mop if the floor is dirty. And the other day, I could hardly believe my eyes when he carefully carried a bowl of banana slices into the family room (where his daddy was), ate, then got up and took his empty bowl into the kitchen--and put it in the sink!