We have a local splash pad that is free and super fun… or maybe not! Last year Veronika was terrified and Natasha had a lot of fun… this year, essentially the same result. Although Natasha was not impressed with the larger “palm-trees” that sprayed water, she did enjoy the smaller sprinklers.

But it’s the perfect place to go on a super hot day!

It’s hard to believe that my little baby will be starting school in the fall and travelling on a school bus. Where did the time go? On the weekend, I saw these cute mini-backpacks and decided to buy her one (especially since it’s sort of purple – her favourite color). She loves it! She and Veronika have been playing “school” all afternoon today which was super cute since Natasha has never been to school, yet she pretended to do all the things I explained she will do in school… they went to the library, and had a sandwich from their toy kitchen, and sat at a desk. Veronika thinks she is going to school too and demands to wear a backpack as well; poor baby needs to be included in everything!!

I haven’t updated in a while because the last few days have been rather eventless. With all the classes out of the way, the girls & I are just taking it easy. Enjoying the summer. Because once summer ends, our schedule will become quite hectic once again with Natasha starting school (AHH!), starting a new dance school, and both girls attending gymnastics. And we might squeeze swimming somewhere in there too! But we’ll have to see since I have no intension of overloading Tasha with too many classes.

Tasha is doing GREAT overall. She is still napping 9/10 afternoons which is very nice. She’s a good girl and she’s absolutely hilarious. I don’t know whether it’s the age or her personality, but every single day she says things that have me laughing for hours. She’s been lately trying to chase squirrels outside and when they run away in horror and try to climb the nearest tree, well… so does Tasha. A couple days ago she ran after a black squirrel and tried to climb a tree and got frustrated because she couldn’t. She then looked sadly at her little hands and said, “I need FEET here!”

And Veronika is a cookie monster all the way! The child has a horrible sweet-tooth and loves anything from cakes, to cookies, to ice cream, to donuts. If it has sugar or icing, she loves it! She has also turned into a typical 2-year-old and throws anywhere from 1-3 full-blown tantrums every day. But at the same time, she is also self-disciplined and puts herself in time-out when she knows she’s done something naughty. But for the most part, she is the cuddliest baby ever. She is very smart, talks in 4-6 word sentences and even uses many tenses correctly. Potty training is still a hit & miss, but she’s working on it!

Natasha is finally done with ALL 3 of her classes. Today was her dance recital and she did really good… She did the best she could do and we were proud of her. We both agreed that recitals for 3-year-olds are not ideal – it was a bit disorganized and the children did not know where their parents were, and after Natasha’s part was over, I wasn’t able to find her right away, and eventually found her sobbing in some strange lady’s arms because she didn’t know where I was and felt abandoned and lost.

She will be staring a new dance school in the fall and will be doing a dance/jazz/acrobatics program and she’s really excited about it, too. She’s really looking forward to it.

Natasha has finished her second year of gymnastics and first session of swimming (preschool-1) and had a blast in both classes! She’s not quite done with dance class yet. She got cute little progress report cards in both and ribbons – she was very proud. In the fall, she & Veronika will be attending gymnastics together so that is really exciting (same time, but different age-groups). With the start of school, everything will be a bit different.

Swimming:

Gymnastics:

Natasha is now hanging between the lovely age of 3.5 and 4, and her – what used to be – tantrums, have turned into these so-called pity parties. When she is extremely unhappy, she no longer screams & yells (as a 2 year old would), but she rather goes on & on about how upset she is. The pity party can last anywhere from one hour, but usually lasts the entire day! Sometimes more…

Several days ago she lost a little toy garbage truck at a local playground. She did not realize this until she got home (and neither did I), and then, boy, did I get to hear it. “I lost my garbage truck. I lost it. I lossssst it at the park! Some kid took it. Some kid took MY garbage truck! It’s MY garbage truck. I was going to sleeeep with it today. And I lost it. I lost it at the PARK and some kid took MY garbage truck!” … this is the short version. The long version lasts several hours.

She did this on several other incidents over the last few days. Sometimes it’s hard not to laugh because it makes you wish your own problems were as big as hers. But at the same time it’s a pity to see her so miserable and upset. Poor Tasha.

We attended Natasha’s Junior Kindergarten orientation session today and it was pretty fun for her (she said so herself!). The kids got to walk between 5 different craft stations and play with play dough, read a book, search for ABCs, do a craft with glue (she made a crown!), and play with some magnetic letters and numbers. Overall, she had a lot of fun but I think she was overwhelmed as well.

We also got some general information on what the kids should be dressed in, what kind of backpack to buy, what sort of snack to bring, etc etc. It’s going to be a huge huge change for all of us, and especially for Natasha, but I know she’ll adjust. Veronika had fun as well, but she was even more overwhelmed with all the noise.

Each kid got a canvas bag filled with craft supplies, and random information for the parents, so overall it was a fulfilling session… September will roll around before we know it.

For the past 3 days, Veronika has been using the potty and been diaper free during the day! This is very exciting for us because we’ve been changing diapers pretty much non-stop for the past 3 1/2 years and are excited to see an end in sight.

Potty training Natasha was HARD… I started at age 2 and got nowhere. I kept retrying, but in the end I learned that just because I was ready, did not mean that she was. And once I took it slowly, she potty trained over a 3-day period at 2 years and 9 months. It was a breeze once she was ready!

Veronika is a different story entirely. Veronika has been watching her sister use the potty for months & months now, and about three days ago, she started using it too. She’s only 2 years and a month. MUCH younger. She’s very excited about her new achievement, as is her proud older sister. She still has the occasional accident, but they’re becoming less frequent with each day. We’re REALLY hoping to be completely diaper-free soon and just use the occasional pull-up… that day shall come. My baby is growing up!

My girls love arts & crafts… anything, really: markers, crayons, paints, water-colors, play dough, and anything in between. It can get messy but it’s really worth it. And the best place to buy supplies is the dollar store, of course. They have such a huge selection for so cheap ($1-$1.50/item), and you can get so much without spending a fortune.

On my last trip I bought them each a little wooden box, acrylic paints, brushes, and a paint tray. They had a blast painting their little boxes and spent the entire afternoon playing with them once they dried.

And although the boxes were finished and left to dry, the girls were NOT done. They wanted to paint more. So we got out their tube-paints. These are amazing because the paint is inside the tube and only comes out if you squeeze, so the mess is limited!

I am both looking forward and dreading September because our daily routine will change so much. We’re preparing Natasha for Junior Kindergarten and her school orientation is actually next week! We’re all very excited about it and are going to attend together; Natasha is especially excited because she knows she’ll receive a bag full of crayons, play dough, magnetic letters & numbers, and other fun items.

Also, Veronika will begin her first sports class in September – gymnastics! She & Natasha will be attending at the same time, just in different groups. So that is something to look forward to. And today, I registered Natasha for a new dance school which is minutes from our home – it seems very sophisticated and I am excited for her. This dance class will be part acrobatics, part jazz, and part ballet and they’ll have a show where she’ll perform at year end (June). Natasha will probably continue swimming classes as well because she loves it so much!

So yeah… very busy upcoming September and onwards.