71 months! One more month and the girl is six years old! How amazing is that? Where does the time go?
[[image:2014-yaya71month-02.jpg:My baby girl:center:0]]
* Mouse over the pictures for captions
Where May was a very social and filled with travel month, June was quite the opposite. We sat at home while I worked like crazy to finish out my project and deliverables on time (30 June 2014). So I haven’t actually even done any of the extra entries from May and truth be told, am already crazy late for this entry (despite currently being in a period of unemployment for a few weeks in July). It seems I need to have proper deadlines to get anything accomplished. All that is just to say that we didn’t do very much in June, didn’t go anywhere, didn’t see anyone. So the pictures are pretty quiet ones.
That said, there has been continued progress in the Food Status. Yaya continued to eat carrots a few more times (which is very rare – usually she tries something once and never goes back to it). Carrots are a thing to be eaten at night, raw, and only cut into little thin disks. But we will take it! Also Yaya ate raisins. Plain raisins out of the box. She helped Vin make ants on a log (celery sticks + peanut butter + raisins) but refused to actually eat what she made. However she did eat the raisins, at least the ones that did not touch peanut butter or celery. But yay! Raisins! And even if you say, hey, she likes circle toast (cinnamon raisin english muffins) she has always rejected raisins on their own, so we’re counting it as a new food. And finally, she tried lemon-lime soda (sprite and sierra mist). She likes it! And has a small glass of it every few days. So we have a couple of repeat tries of the same things. Good food month! And yes I realize that I am celebrating the fact that my 6-year-old daughter is drinking soda, but given that she has in the past 4 years consumed only about 8 different things, I am going to celebrate this win!
Reading status: still the same. She is sounding out words and letters but it’s pretty slow going. She is responding very well to Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree series. We finished The Enchanted Wood and are now halfway through The Magic Faraway Tree. She has requested mystery novels so we might be starting some Famous Five stories at some point. I am hoping to inspire her to attempt reading on her own by reading her these books. Wish us luck!
Let us get to the pictures from last month, beginning with some fun with Adik:
[[image:2014-yaya71month-01.jpg:Having fun kneading bread dough while Adik plays with flour:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-05.jpg:Dance party 2014!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-06.jpg:Yaya and Baby Frog:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-08.jpg:Reading to her baby brother:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-11.jpg:Step 1-The Overly Aggressive Hug:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-12.jpg:Step 2-The Exaggerated Takedown:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-14.jpg:Coloring activities at Caesar Creek Visitor Center:center:0]]
They do enjoy playing with each other and shocking Vin and me with their shenanigans, but they do seem to enjoy each other’s company so we are encouraging their interactions. Literally, Yaya has never given Adik a choice in participating in her games. Even as an infant, he had passive roles in her games but there was always a role for him. He’s been dragged into practically every activity, whether he wants it or not. Reminds me of how Hisham used to be with me where I just tagged along and did everything with him without question. 🙂
And here are some of my favorite photos of the girl in the last month:
[[image:2014-yaya71month-03.jpg:Yaya built a very tall skyscraper tower:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-04.jpg:Super Yaya to the rescue!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-09.jpg:Another Super Yaya!:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-10.jpg:Yaya’s eyelid was bitten by a mosquito but she is still in good spirits:center:0]]
[[image:2014-yaya71month-13.jpg:Hanging out on a park bench:center:0]]
Happy 71-month birthday, baby girl! We love you!
[[image:2014-yaya71month-07.jpg:Crazy Frog Yaya!:center:0]]