This has been a week full of check-ups for Sonia, not the least of which was our first ever parent-teacher conference yesterday. Sameer and I were actually a little bit nervous (I kept waiting for them to reprimand me for being the only mother not actively involved at the preschool, but it never happened). In general, the whole event was somewhat anticlimactic. The overall feedback was that Sonia is doing well, seems to really like school, and is coming out of her shell slowly but surely. She knows her colors, shapes, numbers, etc. as a kid her age should, and is increasingly participating in circle time and sing-alongs. That said, there were a few areas to work on in the gross motor skills category suggesting she has perhaps inherited my coordination, or lack thereof. Specifically, she needs to get better at throwing and catching (once she does, maybe she can teach me), using scissors (not surprising since we have never let her use scissors at home), and hopping (jumping on one foot). Needless to say, Sameer will no doubt be purchasing all of the items they mentioned (child scissors, a nerf ball to play catch with, triangle-shaped colored pencils to practice the right writing grip, etc.) within 48 hours since he is bound and determined to fight genetics on this front. We did learn that a story Sonia had related to me about getting a timeout at school because she knocked down someone else's tower had in fact happened to a different little girl (it did seem somewhat out of character), so apparently she is advanced for her age in lying. :-)
Today was her 3-year-old check-up at the doctor, which she passed with no issues. The vision test took a bit longer than usual as it involved her saying outloud which shapes she was seeing, which of course required actually uttering words in front of strangers. Only Sameer's threat that she would not get the purple lollipop she had seen in the waiting room finally made her speak. She also did not do very well on the "draw a circle" test (reference the gross motor skills comment above), so no doubt that will set off another new set of activities at home (when she isn't busy trying to throw a ball while hopping on one foot). Apparently she is a bit tall for her age and marginally on the thinner side...kind of surprising given her recent discovery of candy at Halloween. But, everything normal, so nothing to worry about.
For posterity, here were her stats:
Height: 37.75 inches, 61st percentile (last year was 34 inches, 55th percentile)
Weight: 29 lbs 8 oz, 38th percentile (last year was 26 lbs 1/4 ounce , 41st percentile)
BMI: 15th percentile
Blood pressure: 97/43 mm Hg
Pulse: 63
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Turning three
This past weekend, Sonia turned three and is officially a "big girl" by her own account. We had decided not to have a birthday party for her (a combination of realizing that it was more of a party for us, and also an acknowledgement that Sonia is not a big fan of 25 "strangers" staring at her and singing). But, as the day approached real parental guilt sent in that maybe we were just being lazy, and it did not help that we received invites to other kids' birthday parties and Sonia seemed oddly fascinated with a book she has which features a birthday party. Oh well, we will definitely ring in year four in style!
Perhaps to compensate for our guilt on that front, we ended up have a multi-day affair of mini celebrations. First off, Sonia celebrated at school on Friday (the day before her birthday) with cupcakes which were bright pink with purple sprinkles, as requested...or should I say demanded. She received a cardboard crown that she wore that day, and then insisted on wearing for much of the next two days. She also insisted on wearing her fanciest dress (a gift from Dada and Bebe earlier this year), which is just another milestone on her path to increasing fascination with all things girly, including wanting to wear a dress every single day. Here she is with some of her preschool classmates enjoying being queen for the day (or, no doubt, princess).
The next day (her actual birthday) we started the morning with presents from Mommy and Daddy. Sonia remains a marketer's dream in that she received (as requested) all things Minnie Mouse. Here she is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, wearing Minnie Mouse PJs, drinking milk from her Minnie Mouse cup, wearing her crown from school (non-Disney, but apparently still okay), holding her Minnie Mouse socks, and sharing the couch with "big Minnie" and "big Daisy". Yes, we are those parents. But, you only turn 3 once, and we did draw the line at giving her Minnie Mouse candy at the same time.
Later that morning, we went to the Stanford / Oregon football game (Sameer somehow convinced Sonia that this was what she wanted to do on her birthday, which is a testament to his sales skills). We were joined by Sanjay, Melissa, Maya, and Kai -- all sporting green, but we sat with them anyway. Stanford unexpectedly won, so the day was off to a great start, and got better when we all went back to our house and met up with Dada and Bebe who joined us for more celebrating. This time we had cake and the fancy animal candles she had picked out herself (I should note that Sonia specifically requested "pink cupcakes" for school and "pink cake" for home...we decided to agree since it was cheaper than the party we skipped). She still did not actually smile when we sang happy birthday, but at least this year she participated in trying to blow out the candles (with some help from Daddy and Maya) and actually ate one bite of cake, all of which is a big improvement over last year.
Finally, on Sunday we trekked up to the city to visit the California Academy of Sciences which is one of Sonia's favorites (but since Chuki always takes her, we never get to join her). Sonia showed us "big fish" which is her favorite, and we ran into the Glotzbachs who were also at the museum, so Sonia got an impromptu lessons in ring-around-the-rosy from Reese and Alex. Finally, we returned home, ready to collapse. Sonia was up for one last sugar high, so here she is closing out her birthday weekend by "eating" one more cupcake (which mostly involves just licking it).
Until next year!
Perhaps to compensate for our guilt on that front, we ended up have a multi-day affair of mini celebrations. First off, Sonia celebrated at school on Friday (the day before her birthday) with cupcakes which were bright pink with purple sprinkles, as requested...or should I say demanded. She received a cardboard crown that she wore that day, and then insisted on wearing for much of the next two days. She also insisted on wearing her fanciest dress (a gift from Dada and Bebe earlier this year), which is just another milestone on her path to increasing fascination with all things girly, including wanting to wear a dress every single day. Here she is with some of her preschool classmates enjoying being queen for the day (or, no doubt, princess).
The next day (her actual birthday) we started the morning with presents from Mommy and Daddy. Sonia remains a marketer's dream in that she received (as requested) all things Minnie Mouse. Here she is watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, wearing Minnie Mouse PJs, drinking milk from her Minnie Mouse cup, wearing her crown from school (non-Disney, but apparently still okay), holding her Minnie Mouse socks, and sharing the couch with "big Minnie" and "big Daisy". Yes, we are those parents. But, you only turn 3 once, and we did draw the line at giving her Minnie Mouse candy at the same time.
Later that morning, we went to the Stanford / Oregon football game (Sameer somehow convinced Sonia that this was what she wanted to do on her birthday, which is a testament to his sales skills). We were joined by Sanjay, Melissa, Maya, and Kai -- all sporting green, but we sat with them anyway. Stanford unexpectedly won, so the day was off to a great start, and got better when we all went back to our house and met up with Dada and Bebe who joined us for more celebrating. This time we had cake and the fancy animal candles she had picked out herself (I should note that Sonia specifically requested "pink cupcakes" for school and "pink cake" for home...we decided to agree since it was cheaper than the party we skipped). She still did not actually smile when we sang happy birthday, but at least this year she participated in trying to blow out the candles (with some help from Daddy and Maya) and actually ate one bite of cake, all of which is a big improvement over last year.
Finally, on Sunday we trekked up to the city to visit the California Academy of Sciences which is one of Sonia's favorites (but since Chuki always takes her, we never get to join her). Sonia showed us "big fish" which is her favorite, and we ran into the Glotzbachs who were also at the museum, so Sonia got an impromptu lessons in ring-around-the-rosy from Reese and Alex. Finally, we returned home, ready to collapse. Sonia was up for one last sugar high, so here she is closing out her birthday weekend by "eating" one more cupcake (which mostly involves just licking it).
Until next year!
Monday, November 02, 2009
Happy Halloween! (and lots of other updates)
Despite the lack of posting since July (!), lots has happened in the Dholakia household. First off, let's skip to the most recent activity...we had a great Halloween here in the 'burbs, much better than last year where Sonia was generally unaware of why she wore a strange outfit for one day. This year Sonia anticipated dressing up as Minnie Mouse (her current obsession) for literally months prior to the big day. It was a multi-day affair, starting the weekend before when we went to a pumpkin patch near our house. Sonia was terrified of the animals in the petting zoo, but decided to put on a brave face and tried a pony ride for the first time (no smiles, but later she claimed to enjoy it). Next, on Thursday her preschool celebrated by having everyone come in costumes (including many princesses, and Sonia has already declared that next year she is going to be a "pink princess" for Halloween as a result...thanks, preschool). On Friday, Sonia came to my office's annual Halloween party for kids (more pony rides!), and finally on Saturday she went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Here are some photo highlights:
Sonia's first pony ride (at the pumpkin patch near our house)
All dressed up and ready for trick-or-treating!
In addition to celebrating Halloween, needless to say we've been up to quite a bit since last July. Apparently so much that we can't be bothered to post on our blog. First and foremost (and it is truly embarrassing that we haven't posted this yet), we found out we are expecting child #2 in February! Needless to say, we are thrilled, albeit still in shock to learn that it will be a boy (so much for my "mother's intuition" which was sure it would be another girl). At first Sonia claimed that she would not love a baby brother (her strong preference was for a little sister), but after some blatant bribery ("if you say you'll love your little brother, you can have...") she has come around. And I already feel bad for poor, neglected second child who has received absolutely no love on this blog, and in general we have not yet really done anything to prepare (I think we own maybe 1 article of baby clothing that is not pink, and no we have not decided on a name). Somehow we are planning to deal with everything over the holidays. Despite a lack of focus on the topic (and Sameer and I, both being 2nd children, should know better!), I promise we are very excited, and I can confirm that the grandparents are excited too. :-)
A few other highlights from the last few months:
Sonia's first pony ride (at the pumpkin patch near our house)
All dressed up and ready for trick-or-treating!
Meticulously sorting her candy by size and color afterwards...
In addition to celebrating Halloween, needless to say we've been up to quite a bit since last July. Apparently so much that we can't be bothered to post on our blog. First and foremost (and it is truly embarrassing that we haven't posted this yet), we found out we are expecting child #2 in February! Needless to say, we are thrilled, albeit still in shock to learn that it will be a boy (so much for my "mother's intuition" which was sure it would be another girl). At first Sonia claimed that she would not love a baby brother (her strong preference was for a little sister), but after some blatant bribery ("if you say you'll love your little brother, you can have...") she has come around. And I already feel bad for poor, neglected second child who has received absolutely no love on this blog, and in general we have not yet really done anything to prepare (I think we own maybe 1 article of baby clothing that is not pink, and no we have not decided on a name). Somehow we are planning to deal with everything over the holidays. Despite a lack of focus on the topic (and Sameer and I, both being 2nd children, should know better!), I promise we are very excited, and I can confirm that the grandparents are excited too. :-)
A few other highlights from the last few months:
- Sonia gained a new cousin -- welcome baby Kai! It is somehow shocking to remember how very tiny new babies are, but already we are having fun hanging out with Kai and Sonia is watching Maya to learn about being a great big sister.
- We had a fun trip up to Oregon to celebrate my mother's birthday and hang out at the beach. Sonia had an ill-advised encounter with the water (which is shockingly cold in Oregon, even in August), and will probably not venture back in for years to come. Also the sea lions at the Seaside Aquarium were a bit traumatic. But, it was great to see everyone (even if Sameer had to spend part of the trip in East Texas, but that is a story for another day) and get some real R&R for a change.
- Sonia has been taking "swim lessons", which near as I can tell mostly involve her being propelled around the pool each week and no actual swimming, but she does love her purple goggles and at least is no longer afraid of the pool. I guess that counts as progress.
- We bought season tickets to Stanford Football and have been to four (!) home games so far. Sonia actually loves going, mostly because our seats are very close to where the visiting team sits, and as a result she has a good view of the mascots (by far her favorite part of attending). While "Woof" (her name for the UW Husky) was an early favorite, the fact that UCLA had *two* bears (Joe & Josie Bruin, per a quick Wikipedia check) has caused them to be the new favorites. At least until this weekend when she sees the UofO duck for the first time. (And, rest assured Stanford fans, she also likes the Tree, but he is at the other end of the stadium so receives less notice).
- As she is fast approaching her 3rd birthday (this Saturday!) and we have another one on the way who will need a crib, Sonia made the transition to a "big girl bed" last month. I think I have put more work into this effort than my own job, but the end result is that we have a pink-intensive setup in our former guest room and Sonia is happily sleeping through the night. I don't think she has figured out she can get out of the bed and come and find us in the middle of the night, but that is only a matter of time.
- Finally, we had lots of fun this past weekend (in addition to Halloween) celebrating Sudhir's 40th (!) and getting to see some out of town friends...props to the Roystons for motivating to come to our neck of the woods. We almost felt like socially adept people for a while, but have since retreated back to our suburban enclave where a big night out is that we get through two episodes of House on our DVR before falling asleep. :-)
I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of things, but at least those are a few highlights. For those of you who are visual people, below are a bunch of photos from the last few months...as always, included here with promises that we will post more often going forward!
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