Astrid has a ‘big’ Valentine’s Day shindig at her pre-school today. She wanted to come dressed up to the gills with her favorite outfit of all times … Hello Kitty Valentine hearts in RED. Her favorite color is red. I snapped some photos of Miss Cutey Pie.

She will have a party at 2:30 today and the kids will be handing out Valentine Day cards. How sweet

Astrid is doing well. I am guilty of not updating boatdrinx. So sorry. She just turned 4 on January 6th and she thinks that she is such a big girl. She is still at Stratford; this is her 2nd year. She is really thriving there. We were having some difficult times because she was being teased and treated like a ‘real’ baby but I kicked butt and she is doing much better. Since she is so small, the kids were literally picking her up and carrying her and pretending to bottle feed her like a doll. Or, she was getting tossed around on the playground by the bigger kids. Kids can be so mean. So anyway, those days are over and the teachers know not to turn a blind eye anymore.

So, she is still small. very small. she is 25 lbs and 36 inches. She can still fit her little butt into a size 24-month size but she is so fashion conscious that she tells me … ‘mom, those are baby clothes’, ‘I want big girl clothes’. So, it’s 2T for her She is VERY girly. She loves pink and Red is her favorite color. She wears lipstick everyday and carries a purse. I just bought her this cute little red patent leather purse to accesorize with her red valentine day clothes. She has about 10 princess costumes that she loves to wear. She loves barbies and dolls. She is AWESOME at art. She loves to draw and paint. She’s very creative. She likes to read with me. I have to allow for ~5-7 books before bedtime. She really loves to get inside the pages of a book. She has a very creative imagination and will play for hours by herself, in her room. She has 3 imaginary friends named FooFoo, David, and Amy. She is a master at puzzles. She is up to 200 pieces. She can ride a bike and is getting better on her inline skates. She likes music a lot and dances up a storm. She went skiing for her first time 2 weeks ago. She did pretty well.

She is just a joy!! She is stubborn and manipulative and talks like an equal to me but she’s a pretty rad kid. She says that I’m her best friend, but 20 minutes later she says that she hates me. She is going to be a leader some day, I can say that much.

Astrid participated in the Halloween parade at Stratford.  Although she was out of school all week with this cold she was a tough girl and made it through 1 hour of parading, singing and eating.  What a trooper!!  Because Halloween is my favorite holiday, it has become Astrid’s favorite day of the year too.  She wanted to dress as T-Rex, barbie, Santa Claus … but T-Rex was the one that won out.

Another Halloween in Willow Glen.  It was pretty fun.  It seems like the amount of trick-O-treaters multiplies every year and there were thousands gathered for the festivities down by the gates.  Astrid was a T-Rex (her pick) this year; unfortunately she was sick with this nasty cold so she looked like a wan little dinosaur.  Poor thing.  Just last week she had the stomach flu which wiped her out for the week, and this week’s cold had her so angry and frustrated.  I was wiping her nose every minute.  Her lip is red and chapped … it looks like it hurts.

Amy, Steven, Jack, Sue & Paul joined us for the walk down Cottle Ave.  Even the doggies were in costume.  Good times!

Astrid had her 1st visit to Dr. Kliger, her dentist. She did awesome. No crying. No stress. I have been building her up to this event all week, so she was prepared. Her teeth are great! I was told that I’m doing a fabulous job in keeping her teeth super clean and they are merely perfect.

In the photos, the sunglasses are for the bright light from above. She had to wear the latex gloves to be ‘the same’ as the hygenist. She was relaxing to a cartoon of Sponge Bob pants on the TV. I took the photos from a BlackBerry so they aren’t the best photos.

This post is exceptionally long; I haven’t written progress for awhile and need to catch you all up to speed.

 As most kids are gearing up to start school, Astrid finished Summer school.  She has 2 weeks off until she starts up again September 1st. 

The last week of school was troublesome for Astrid.  She (and I) had to go to the principal’s office.  She slapped a teacher.  She got frustrated because her dress got dirty; she wanted to walk around with no clothes on.  The teacher was wiping her dress clean and Astrid flipped out … she slapped the teacher.  I’m not sure how intentional it was, or if it was a reaction, but it landed her in the office and I had a firm talking to from the Principal.  We have taught her that hitting is bad, but she is who she is, and she is feisty and strong willed. 

Tonight, while putting her to bed she said to me:  ‘Come Mommy.  Come.  Come here and give me some milk.’  She motioned to me as if she was calling a dog.  Not cool.  She tests me every day.  If I say ‘no, don’t do that’, she will continue with the action to get a rise out of me.  Bedtime is dreadful!!  It takes her 45min-1 hour to get her in the bed with lights out.  She says, ‘one more book’.  ‘I have to go poop’, ‘one more hug’, ‘I’m hungry’.  Now that she is in a big girl bed she has a lot more freedom to roam and will get out of her bed, turn on the light, and open the hallway door and call for me.  Ugh!  I have learned to let go and give the responsibility to Eric.  When Eric takes over putting her to bed, Astrid knows it is time to go to sleep.  I’m a little softer and compromising.  But, when ‘I’m done’, I am seriously done.

She is talking non-stop!  I didn’t think that I would ever say, ‘I wish that she didn’t talk so much’.  She talks all of the time, very loudly, and very demanding.  Her nick-name is Veruca Salt.  She is a born leader (we believe) and it appears that she is 3 1/2 going on 50.  She knows what she wants and is determined to get it.  I don’t believe that she is spoiled, or that we give her everything that she wants, but she has a way of getting what she wants.  It is quite brilliant how she is so damn strong and actually thinks before she talks.  She knows what actions will get a certain reaction.  She knows that if she is very sweet and loving that she can manipulate me (and most others) to get what she wants.  I have seen her teachers cave, I have seen her aunts cave, and I have even seen Eric give in; that is HUGE because he is so stern and makes it a point not to spoil her.

As mentioned, she is now in a toddler bed; we finally got her out of the crib because she was starting to climb out.  Her new sense of freedom is liberating and she feels more at comfort relaxing, reading and playing in bed.  I have only told her once not to jump in bed because the curiosity of cause and effect overwhelms her.  No jumping is interpreted as, ‘I wonder why I shouldn’t jump in bed so I will jump to find out why it is so bad’.  I have learned how to cope with a strong-willed child.  It challenges me every day, but in the back of my mind I am always saying, ‘relax and enjoy these early years because they will be gone very soon’.   

Astrid is a very affectionate person.  She loves to hug and kiss and I believe that there is definite heart and compassion behind her affection.  She gives the biggest hugs for such a little person and demands Eric and I to hug.  She has even brought us together by saying, ‘family hug’ (not sure where that came from).  Family hug is all 3 of us hugging in a circle.  She is very casual and friendly with strangers (scary), and will take a perfect stranger’s hand and lead them where she wants to go.  She has gone into neighbor’s homes by telling them, ‘I want to see your house’.  She has gone into my neighbor’s homes as if she owns it herself.  I don’t EVER let her get out of my sight, knowing that she is so trusting and demanding with unfamiliar people.  It scares me to think that she is so open with people that she doesn’t know, but at the same time I don’t want her to fear people and feel uncomfortable.  I have always been with her as she’s going into someone’s house and I do know my neighbors (Megan’s Law). 

Here are her latest stats on growth:  she is now wearing 24 month-2T (depending on brand) and she is about 4-5 inches (1.5 heads) shorter than kids her age.  I haven’t weighed her lately or measured her height so I don’t know, quite honestly, what she is on a scale.  I am more relaxed about her growth because I know that she is 100% +++ intellectually complete.  She is a little immature socially and it has been recommended that she complete another year of pre-school, than pre-K before she enters kindergarten.  I’m very okay with that.  I think that she needs it.  Astrid is VERY conscious of her size.  She is always telling me that she is small or little; she says that she needs to eat more so that she can grow.  I know that she is getting this shit from school, and it bothers me a bit.  She already gets teased and bullied from what I have seen on the playground and I just want to bully those kids right back.  She holds her own and is very strong and diplomatic when the intimidation occurs.  I have observed all this behavior.  She walks away and snubs her nose at the bully.  I hold myself back from getting too involved because I want her to learn; I don’t want to smother her and for her to think that mom is always going to be there to help her. 

Charismatic is how I describe Astrid.  She is, like I say, a born leader and is very smart and funny and can light up a room like no one I know.  She has such a strong personality and she is very stubborn.  Tonight, things weren’t going right for her and she said, ‘I’m going on timeout’.  WOW!  The reasoning behind her actions intrigues me.  She can be a pain in the ass at times, and I have lost my patience and have had many anxious moments, but I love the girl.  I am doing all that I can to lead her in the right direction, giving her top-notch schooling, and giving her little boundaries so as to not inhibit her growth mentally; I don’t let her get away with things, and teach her right from wrong.  She is a free spirit and very independent.  She is perfectly happy sitting on her bed dressing paper dolls and playing with her imaginary friend, ‘sister’.  She is a voracious artist and has already created a style for herself.  I can pick her drawing out from a classroom of 50.  She has her own flair in apparel and will have a fit if her clothes don’t match; she has to wear pink panties if she is wearing a pink shirt.  She is very girlie-girlie.  She loves to dress up and wear make-up.  She loves to carry a purse and she plays with Barbies.  She sings and dances and loves the color pink (and purple).  But, there is this side of her that is rough and tough and very analytical.  She is a perfectionist and things in her world have to have a certain order.  I have always been a little freaked out by her precision and even the teachers have noticed it and told me about their concerns with her compulsive behavior.  I will continue to monitor it, but I do believe that she has a very strong tendency to be compulsive.  I have seen her build houses out of blocks and it scares me; the colors are in a certain methodical order and the blocks are stacked completely straight.  She will spend hours perfecting her house.  If it doesn’t work out … hold guacamole!!  She will throw the blocks across the room and rant and rave.  She has to have her blanket on her bed (as she tells me) perfect.  She will go back and forth straightening out her blanket until there isn’t a crease and it is perfectly aligned.  After she goes potty, her toilet tissue has to be a certain length; not too short and not too long.  She will freak and ‘do it again’ until she has found the perfect length.  Astrid can draw the perfect circle! 

She is a peculiar kid, but one that is very interesting and always new.  I am so amazed how much she is learning and all the things she comes up with.  I always ask her, ‘how did you know that?”  She grins and gives me the most confident posture.  She is very wise for her age.  She is immature (compared to others) but she has this knowledge that is beyond me. 

I hope to continue writing more.  With my career it has been very difficult.  I work 8 days a week and I am continually searching for time to write.  I am writing for a real estate blog, which exhausts me from my personal writing.  I have instructed Eric to post pictures!!  I have compiled them all for him.  He needs to get on the ball and post about 100 photos!!

Astrid dressed up for Pirate week at Stratford. It was really cute. Here she is with her wickedly cute outfit. She was the only authentic pirate. I hope that I didn’t embarrass her. I just couldn’t resist dressing her up. It’s the Jimmy Buffett fan in me. One kid in class said, ‘Astrid looks really silly’. Ohhh … maybe she shouldn’t have come to school so spirited. I was just so excited. Astrid is in ‘Camp Socrates’ for summer school. She is having a good time. Although it isn’t academic school, it is a lot of socializing with older kids and arts and crafts. Enjoy the photos

The Greenwood family had a safe and fun 4th of July.  We just had a very low-key barbeque with Sue, Paul, Amy, Steven and Baby Jack.  Astrid was thrilled to have family over to her house and play with her cousin (they have a love-hate relationship).  We were able to stay outide until 10pm because it was nice and warm and very comfortable.  Astrid was able to see fireworks for her first time and had a lot of fun holding the sparklers and watching the ’snakes’ grow.  They aren’t the most exciting fireworks, but what do you want for legal explosions and fire toys.  We also had a small kiddie pool which was hours of entertainment, as well as bubbles, music, ribs and beverages.  Everyone had a good time and went home tired and full.  Astrid went to bed exhausted, but it didn’t stop her from doing her most recent and favorite activity … stall.  She is the queen of stalling when it comes to going to bed.  She wants you to read 5-6 books, will say that she has to go poop so that she doesn’t have to get into her bed, says that she’s feeling sick to stall the going-to-bed process even more and even asks me to come back into the room to give me more hugs and kisses and tell me she ‘loves me’. 

Astrid\

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13225854@N04/sets/72157605732362556/detail/

Today me, Astrid, Grandma & Grandpa, Cousin Hannah, Marghi & Damon went to the Children’s Discovery Museum in DT SJ.  We had a good time.  I couldn’t get Astrid out of the water area of the exhibit.  She just loved it!!  By the end of the day I was over-stimulated and unable to calm down.  There was a lot of kids, too much noise and a ton of colors and moving objects. 

Afterwards, Aunt Cathy took Astrid out for dinner while I have the chance to sit down, relax and write about the day and download the photos.