Sunday, December 14, 2008

12/14/08 Party time!

Today I took all three to another Las Madres holiday party -- one that was far, far too big to be at anyone's house! It was held at a nearby high school, in a community room with a fenced outdoor play area, perfect for groups of 35 families.

I'm delighted and thrilled and relieved to say that Katrina was in much, much better shape today. Playing outside with other kids, other kids' toys, and occasionally, her brothers, made a world of difference.

Gabriel and Julian leaped right into a soccer game.


Katrina and Dylan did a little running together, which is amusing since Katrina still doesn't run very well and Dylan is a lot faster.


Julian found a way around my instructions not to shove Katrina flying down a slope on a tricycle she can't stop. "Look Ma, one hand!"

Katrina found a far superior tricyle playmate, except this one flew down slopes as fast as she could herself, and quickly left her new little fan behind.

I finally was able to coax Katrina indoors (it was chilly outside!), where she reluctantly shared a seat with Julian. Besides, it was time for the musical entertainment to start!

Andy Z is a popular kids' entertainer around here. It's nice to see that he easily engages very very young toddlers and first-graders alike. Lots of kids know his songs well and were singing along.


I wanted to clap along with everyone else, but Katrina decided this was the time for a power trip and a moment of appearances. She insisted on sitting in my lap, wouldn't let me clap, sing, rock, or take pictures, or even stand up. "Sit back DOWN, MommY!" she'd demand. She even started biting me at one point. Still, I have enough working-mom-guilt that I mostly gave in to her apparent demands for attention, which I think were really just trying to control me. Eh, she needed to do that at that moment, OK.

I was very surprised to see Julian with his hand raised at the conclusion of the entertainment, even though it wasn't really a Q&A format. Andy Z had said something about St. Nick being on his way, and Julian finally pushed through and announced, "St. Nick is Santa!"

Despite Katrina's little performance during the show, overall we had a terrific time. And then Katrina was downright delightful for the rest of the day. This evening, she played happily and joyfully, interacting with us from time to time, but other times cheerfully doing her own thing, for well over an hour.

The biting thing though....not good. She bit Dave tonight when she disapproved of the bath ending, and bit me today, several times. Not in anger exactly, but not just for fun either. More like, experimenting to see what will happen.

On the other hand, an adorable new habit that's started a few days ago is singing -- a lot. Sometimes it's a line or two from known songs, other times she talks in song. I'm sorry to say that her older brother does this too -- in class, a lot. Gabriel's teacher commented in hs Friday Folder that he's now losing free time and recess time for talking loudly, humming and distracting the rest of the class.

Overall a good Christmas weekend, with yesterday's tantrum transgression forgiven.

12/14/08

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