It's only been a few months since my last post but I have so much to share.
First, Luke's Birthday! We took a super mini family vacation, including my mother- and father-in-law, to San Diego for Luke's 2nd birthday. We spent one day at the San Diego Zoo and the next day at the Scripps Aquarium. The zoo was a bit underwhelming for the kids. Luke spent the whole day spotting pumpkins instead of animals, while Makayla was cranky all day long. In fact, the highlight of the day for them was checking into the hotel.
Second, Halloween! Makayla really wanted to be one of the my little pony characters for Halloween this year. After an unsuccessful search for the right costume, I stumbled upon an amazing DIY my little pony costume-making website here: http://www.sugartartcrafts.com/2013/09/my-little-pony-costume-sew-along.html. This site inspired me to make the kids' costumes this year, Makayla as Twilight Sparkle and Luke as her pet dragon, Spike. Surprisingly, I pulled it off just in the nick of time and they turned out great! I also learned so much through the tutorial. Special thanks to Eric who helped me figure out how to use the sewing machine and helped with parts of the costumes.
Since Halloween was on a Saturday this year, we traveled back to South Pasadena to go trick or treating. OMG I had no idea how amazing it was to go trick or treating in this city! We might just have to make it a tradition!
Luke is continuing to amaze me with his verbal abilities. He forms really full, mostly grammatically correct sentences. He also says so many funny phrases/sentences including "That's not nice!" or "Why is the baby crying?" "I did it!" All throughout October, he kept saying "Spooky Halloween" when he saw anything that reminded him of Halloween.
Related to his verbal ability growth is his socio-emotional development. He is constantly trying to engage with others. He'll take people by the hand and say "Come on". He'll also order people around "Open it!" "Stop singing!" "No picture!"
Everything that comes out of his mouth is an actual word, no more babbling.
His nos mean no and his yeses mean yes.
Luke wants to do whatever M is doing. When she's practicing piano, he comes and says "piano lesson!" and tries to play along. He follows her around the room, playing with whatever she is playing with at the moment. Of course this causes quite a bit of fighting in the Chang household.
Luke obsessions:
- Christmas songs
- It's a Small World song and ride
- Disneyland (he asks to go everyday)
- pumpkins
Makayla has been great at expressing how she feels. What she says also reflects a more advanced way of thinking. When I read books to her she is really focused on the story being told, and when probed with more difficult questions, for example questions asking her to predict what will happen next, she is able to provide very thoughtful responses.
Her teacher at school observes that she learns things quickly and is very social.
At night, she spends some good one-on-one M/Daddy time coloring, drawing pictures, and writing. She really looks forward to this time and has created some really fun artwork :)
Her piano playing is going great. She seems to have a natural ability to learn music well-- it doesn't take much effort to teach her new songs. More importantly, she is getting much better at practicing. We've established a designated time for piano practicing and a simple rule of "5 times per song" before leaving the piano. This consistency has really helped her be less resistant to practicing.
Makayla says funny things during potty time:
- "Come on, butt!"
- "Yes! I made it!"
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