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Each winter my skin seems to get drier and drier. Now Savannah's is getting pretty bad. The weather's been very cold, several days in the teens. Now her hands stay red and quite rough, occasionally hurting. Now part of her arm is red and rough. She's starting to itch like I am.
Baby lotion isn't working, so I'm calling her doctor tomorrow to find something better.
About a week ago, I picked up a little hand me down kitchen for Savannah. Her 10 and 12 year old friends, sisters, played with it years ago. Now we're getting it from a 6 year old friend who has outgrown it. She's had a ton of fun lately making cookies, cakes, cupcakes and ice cream. ?? Then another friend gave us a lot of pretend food and dishes. I was going to have to buy most of these things. So we're getting free toys and also teaching Savannah that her toys don't have to be perfectly brand new.
I have started a playtime for Savannah by herself in the afternoon, usually less than an hour. I should've done this when she stopped napping this time last year. She doesn't want to go to her room to play alone, partly because she wants me as a playmate and partly because she associates it with a quiet time that I've done when she's been in trouble.
So I hope to make it positive. She has cried some during her playtime. She stops crying then starts up again when she remembers she's not supposed to be having fun. I got to look at my Southern Living yesterday while I nursed Seth.
I thought children became more shy and cautious as they grew up. Savannah has always been talkative and social with new friends, but she's gotten even more so. We've had several little "stranger" talks, and she holds back in certain situations especially with men, which I'm perfectly happy with. But today at Starbucks and running errands, she was really friendly, needing little encouragement. She told a girl named Tracy at the town clerk's office (there for Seth's birth certificate) that she was her best friend.
About 30 minutes later, as we parked the van in the social security admin. parking lot just down the road (there for Seth's ss#), Tracy was pulling out. She was really happy to see Savannah, and Savannah invited her to our house!
We've discovered that Savannah's funny faces, hopping around and jumping jacks can really give Seth the giggles.
Friday evening before dinner time, Savannah, playing with her refrigerator magnets, read her first word. We spelled it out for her, and she sounded it out all on her own! "Cup"
Just for the record, a few minutes earlier, her first read word would've been cat except for some reason she said, "capt."
From November 23, 2002
One way of diffusing a tantrum, we use (our attemp at) Queen's English. I am the queen, Savannah the princess, Brad the king and Seth is the prince. It works.
Savannah confesses her misdeeds. She used to say as I entered a room, "Don't see, Mama." I'd ask what, and she'd slowly come around to showing me. Now, she comes and tells me what she did. There's a balance I try to find. I have to correct it, but I don't want to overreact for fear she'll stop confessing.
My concern and prayer is that she doesn't learn things the hard way. Such as how she picks her dry bottom lip. (Seems harmless....) I can always tell afterward. I layed down with her one night at bedtime and fussed at her, "You can't go to sleep if you're picking your lip." I hugged up to her and pinned her arms down by her sides, which she thought was terribly funny and just kept her awake longer.
After being told a couple of times to stop talking and go to sleep, I heard Savannah whisper beside me, just before she drifted off, "Puh, puh, P starts is (with) party."
She has been doing this for a few days, off and on, showing more interest in the sounds letters make. Occasionally, I'll sound out a whole word for her to show her that it's not just the first letter. She repeatedly gets the letters right. (Of course, occasionally she's totally wrong like she's just throwing something out.) She consistently mistakes C for K. She says, "K starts is clothes." I correct her just for the sake of correcting. I don't try to drill it in too much, cause she'll catch on really quickly.
I'm guessing she'll start reading before her 4th birthday in August.
I consider Savannah a fairly strong willed child but a good heart. She tests me, and I feel disrespected. As my mother would put it, "We go round and round."
But this week has been special. A little snowed in and a little head cold, we stayed in and did more together. I sat down with her more: painting, puzzles, tinker toys, tv, laundry, the same things we usually do only more of them. Of course the house is a mess, but Savannah is manageable.
She's asking more questions, and we laugh quite a bit together. I'm trying to be more affectionate, because little brother is 4 months old, and she's really felt the effects of moving over and making room for him.
The challenges of the last few months are not looking so grim. My goal is to be a great mother now, so we can be great friends later.
She's not too fond of beans. She calls them all green beans, but even those, we can sneak a few in. I had baked beans on our plates a few nights ago. We told her they were toots. I got some on her fork and asked, "How many toots are on here?" She counted five, five toots. She ate them! and quite a few more.
