And then she was Three!

My goodness, she can't be three years old already, can she? Yes, yes she can.

Petra had a big party at home on Saturday (sandwiched between visits to Kaiser Wednesday and Monday, more on that later). She had about a dozen kids at the party (Jessica and Katie and Jenna and Eden and Erik and Landon and Bennett and Andres and Sophie and Jeremy and Julian and Jan and Tamryn) as well as assorted parents, and a couple of grandparents (hers and theirs). Quite a houseful. And mercifully un-themed. Just lots of kids playing and having fun and eating "strawberry heart cake" (Petra's pick), and beating the heck out of a giant Strawberry Shortcake pinata (a gift from Uncle Guillermo at year one, which has been waiting for Petra and gang to grow up big enough to really wail on it with a shovel handle).

It was a very busy Saturday, because her school also managed to schedule "Beautification day," when all the parents are expected to come and help do cleaning/building/painting for the school. Alison and I scrubbed the urine stains off 26 cots, stained (a different kind) wooden blocks, scrubbed bikes and generally had a wet time of it. Petra played with her friends, and left early with the grandparents (lucky they were there! They kept her (and napped) while we finished the party preparations, and brought her home just before friends began to arrive in the afternoon).

There was also a nice party for her at school Monday. She is well loved at school, and has lots of friends. Gold plated or not, she is loving her school and learning a ton (human body parts and the skeleton at the moment).

Now the doctor's visits. Remember the toe? Well, it was healing nicely, with 1/2 the nail grown back, when Petra and I went to the park (she was "sick" so stayed home, and the second Alison was gone, she was well again. I thought we had years before she figured out that trick!), where she played barefoot - up to the point I noticed blood and gore all over her toe! I cleaned and bandaged it (apparently stubbed badly, and tore the nail a bit), and she seemed fine until the evening. Then she was playing in her room when I heard a clang and a scream. She managed to drop a frying pan (toy) on her toe, and it exploded again, instantly soaking her sock in blood, and smearing Alison and I both in it as she struggled against getting bandaged up. Again, she was fine, and off she went to school the next morning, where she did movement class, and started her toe bleeding again. The teachers freaked and had us come pick her up early. Though I was pretty certain what the doctor would say, we felt we better take her in to urgent care. As expected, after a soaking and a cleaning, the doctor said "keep it bandaged. Soak it when you can." One amusing part of the trip- obviously the computer system was reporting her age as two. The nurse and doctor both took a look at that and asked cautiously "how long has she been two?" She is WAY to big to be just a two-year old anymore! Petra's been pretty much fine ever since (she actually insisted we go to Target to shop after the visit).


Today was the usual 3 year check up, and she gets all gold stars. Well, except for the "borderline obesity" warning. That was actually a glitch; when we came in for the toe, they weighed her but didn't measure her, so they had her 2 year-old height with her current weight (which happens to be 37.5 pounds, 38 inches tall). That made for an interesting BMI chart!

Now the fun stuff:

Somewhere, she picked up a southern drawl. All her vowels became vowel-Y-vowel (Hayat for hat, Miyine for mine etc.) Certainly funny to hear, especially since we don't know anyone with that speech mannerism!

When she and I were on a walk on her "sick" day, she said "I love spending the day with you Dada."

I walked into the dining room the other day, and was puzzled- where were all the chairs? She had moved them all into the kitchen to build a doctor's office where she was examining Linny, Tuck and Ming Ming too.

Did we mention that Petra is potty training herself? She decided that she wants to wear big girl underwear, and has pretty much stopped wearing a diaper. A couple of accidents in the first days, but she's pretty much dry now (even slept in underwear last night without mishap).

We've had a great month of arts and crafts at the Santa Monica farmer's market at Virginia park. Petra's made treasure chests and pirate maps, jewelry boxes, pirate hat, etc. It's nice living so close to the People's Republic!

Petra's planning on being a robot for halloween. We've got all the makings of a costume, and Petra even has picked up talking like a robot (how do you type to represent a super cute little girl saying "I-AM-GOING-TO-BE-A-ROBOT" in robot-speak?).

We had another visit to Disneyland to see Minnie. Petra had a great time (more rides this time, including flying in Dumbo with Dada). Minnie was a bit of a disappointment for her though. Last visit, she took Minnie by the hand and went for a walk with her, and had lots of hugs. This time Minnie was goofing off with Goofy (get it?!), and didn't really pay much attention to the kids, who the handlers herded through lines like cows at a slaughterhouse (OK, maybe that's not quite fair). A small stuffed Minnie to take home made up for it though, and her love is unbowed.

Why us?

Dada, why haven't you updated the blog in months?

Because we've been very very busy, sweetie.

Why have you been busy?

Because we've been doing lots of things, like traveling, going to parties, doing arts & crafts, recovering from colds, crushing your toe, and going to your new school

My new school? I love my new school! Are we going to my new school now?

No honey, we're going to your new school tomorrow morning.

Why are we going to my new school tomorrow morning?

Because now we're at home. Hey look, I see your friends outside; do you want to go say hi? Wait, come back here Petra!

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While the above dialogue is completely made up, it's certainly true that Petra now asking "Why?" endlessly. Sure, we want to encourage a culture of inquiry, sometimes we also just want her to STOP ASKING WHY! "Why do you want me to stop asking why?" would be the response of course.

Loves her tricycle and will get up & ride it from her room to our room first thing in the morning (California baby - already into the car culture). 6 months after getting a tricycle at Xmas, she still didn't seem able to ride it. Then one day she wanted to "ride" to the bakery. With a sigh (expecting to have to push the whole way) I put the trike out for her, and she climbed on - and took off like a shot down the street. I had to run to catch her. apparently she's been practicing at school! Sly trickster!

Did we mention that on the second day of school she was sent home with a notice saying a kid at school had hand, foot & mouth disease? Well, we thought we dodged the bullet but then while on a flight up to the bay area she started crying and holding her tongue whenever she tasted juice or fruit or yogurt. I was able to spot a blister under her tongue, and thought perhaps it was a burn from soup she had at school. She hardly ate a bite all weekend (COMPLETELY out of character for her). We were even considering taking her to the hospital, when on the 3rd day she suddenly started eating again. Turns out, another round of HFM was going around school. Lucky us! On the upside though, it also eliminated the Nuk in a relatively trauma free way. She wouldn't suck one while she had the sores, and never asked for one again afterward. Hooray!

We were in the bay area for Grandma Judy's birthday party. There was a band on a stage, and Petra decided that it was for her. She got on stage with the microphone and sang "Baa baa blacksheep" and "ABCD" until the band played her off. She also did the "Jump" dance and the Macarena (yikes!) with her cousins. She had an incredible pouty lip because she was removed from the stage after the dance.

We've had a couple of trips to the Getty this summer. One family crafts day where she made a crown of leaves with bobbly bugs on it, a picture frame, a postcard, and a butterfly. Another trip was for a kids concert with Elizabeth Mitchell. The music was fun, but Petra had more fun playing with other kids, like the girls on the next blanket who practically adopted her.

Loves her new school - lots of arts & crafts. Came home with a collage with pipe cleaners and googly eyes and told me "It's an insect. It has three body parts - a head, a thorax, and an abdomen." So smart and arty!

Petra's teacher says she is "the welcome wagon," introducing herself to everyone she sees and asking "what's your name?" She learned the names of all the new kids right away and has a good friend who she talks about all the time. She was sad though when some kids "graduated" to a different class in a different part of the facility.

Petra is in the Panda class, and is a "Blue panda." We'll hear her sing the class songs now and then ("If you are a blue panda, blue panda, blue panda; if you are a blue panda, time to go to lunch"). Riding home with Mama, she was singing it for the red pandas, and orange pandas, and blue pandas. But then we realized she was pointing at the banners for the Chabad telethon, which were like iPod ads - red, orange, and blue backgrounds with dancing Hassidim in black and white. Funny girl!

We're still working on potty training. She went most of one day in "big girl panties" without any mishaps (though she asked for a diaper around 4pm, she was getting pretty tired of the effort by that point I guess). Every night she goes before bed, and occasionally wears panties over her diaper (thought sometimes they are worn on the head rather than the bottom).

Sometimes, Petra is just too busy to even take a nap (gasp!). On that rare occasion, she did fairly well, but was obviously tired and fell asleep next to Mama listening to nursery rhymes around 6:30. Not a peep out of her all night, and she woke up at her usual time. Sleepy muffin! We run her ragged.

Petra is definitely a pre-reader. Especially any word with "P for Petra" in it. Her new favorite show is "Word world" and she sometimes follows along with words in her books. We swear there are times when she reads signs, but there is always some doubt because she remembers EVERYTHING, and if we read the sign to her a year ago, she'll remember it.

Over Labor Day weekend, Petra pulled my expensive, delicate, and heavy digital SLR camera off the desk and down onto her toe. Lots of tears, black toe nail. She was walking fine though, so we figured it wasn't broken. Two days later Petra and I were playing catch with a baseball, and it landed, of course, right on that toe. Splat! Blood on ball, blood on sock, crying baby. The good news though is this seems to be exactly what the toe needed to heal, and while the toenail is still black the toe is healthy pink again. I consulted with a pediatrician at work, and she confirmed that if we took her in to the hospital, they probably would have drained it themselves. Hurray, homeopathic medicine! She has worn a sock day and night for two weeks, crying "I might see my owie!" if we try to change it. One day we had to resort to a paper bag over her head to get the sock changed.


I sit by her bed and tell her a story with the lights off at night. I was lounging back on a pile of stuffed animals during the story one evening, and when I sat up to kiss her goodnight, I smacked my nose good on the headboard. Clearly it made an impression, because a week or two later when I dropped her off at school, her teacher said "I heard you hit your nose on her bed."

I don't think that word means what you think it means

Petra "adopted" one of Mama's crochet hooks today, and took it with her in the car to preschool.

She calls it "Hooky."

Preschool, by the way, is going very well now. She LOVES it, and especially all the activities she gets to do (dance, music, art, science etc. etc. etc.).

Book Learning

Things are going pretty well at the new pre-school. Petra has tons of fun with all the activities, and is starting to make friends (she talks about them at home sometimes, which is a good sign). There are still some tears when she is dropped off in the morning, and a little clinging at pickup, but we're doing pretty good.

I don't know if it's related to the school or not, but we have a super reader! Well, she says "I'm just chatting," but it looks good!

Growth Spurt

Seems we are in the midst of another growth spurt. Petra said "I'm Hungry!" about every 40 minutes yesterday, which piqued our suspicions. We measured her and she's grown nearly an inch in the last month! This might explain some of the transitions difficulties as well, as the food is less frequent than she is used to at pre-school.

Today was the 4th day of transition, but in many ways was like starting all over again. A long weekend (lots of fun, museums, playing with friends, beach etc.) made her pretty much forget about the new school. She was pretty upbeat about it this morning though, and wasn't upset about going (and Dada taking her). I gave her lots of warning that I would be "going to a meeting" in a bit, but that didn't cut it when it was actually time for me to go (after her 2nd breakfast). There were big tears and clinging. I distracted her with a quick scavenger hunt to find the cots in the classroom, and then some sea-creatures bingo, and snuck off. I could hear her crying as I fetched my things from the car though, and that felt bad.

I spent the morning in the school conference room with another transitioning parent (child also in Petra's class) who was literally in tears several times about the transition, and who couldn't help but constantly go to peak into the classroom or play yard. I didn't get any work done, but I certainly feel better about myself as a parent of an independent girl!

Around 11, the teacher let me know that Petra had been OK, on and off sad, but easily distracted into new activities. Part of validating her feelings (one part of the 5 step conflict resolution method they use, and a phrase Petra has already picked up- "she didn't validate my feelings!") included Petra dictating a letter to Mommy:

"Dear Mommy:
I want to go home. When you pick me up I want to eat at my house. Then I want to play with you and Daddy. I want to do it NOW!!! I love you. Are you here yet?
Love, Petra"

Poor girl!

Just before lunch, the teacher told me that she wanted to send Petra home just before nap again. I offered the counter proposal of coming to the room after lunch, and tucking Petra in to see if she would nap, because I think she really wanted to sleep in the cots, and if she was comfortable enough to do that, she'd be making a huge leap. The teacher accepted this (Yay! Reasonable people!). When I got the call to her room, I got to the door, and the teacher said she was already lying down in the cot to nap. I decided to just wait outside, and if Petra wasn't sleeping, I'd come in to help her. But our girl is a champ, and after about 25 minutes, fell asleep! Good girl!

I immediately ran out for coffee and a burrito. I was starved and sleepy. The other parent had left before nap, and I needed a break!


I got back before nap ended, so waited outside until I saw Petra up (so cute taking her sheet off her cot and putting it in her bin to put away). She looked a bit sleepy, and even looked at me and then away before looking back smiling and saying "Dada! You're here!"

We stayed around for a bit, I helped her decorate a label for her bin, and sat with her during snack ("I'm still hungry!" was repeated at least 4 times between servings). Then she washed up and was ready to go.

We had a good drive home, and then read some books, and took a walk around the block with her riding in the wagon. We played some hopscotch and chatted with local friends until Mama got home. When a neighbor asked how school went today, she said she had fun and told about things she did. Yay!

We'll see what happens tomorrow with Mama in the room!

Third day

The third day of pre-school was somewhat better. Mama was on duty again, but was able to step back a bit more and let Petra play with the other kids more. Petra is still not interested in circle time though. When the kids went outside to play, Alison stayed inside and out of sight, and Petra was fine (though at one point, Alison could hear her asking a teacher "Excuse me, have you seen my mother and father?"

There was a bit of a meltdown, but Alison secretly stuffed a graham cracker and some grapes into Petra, and she was fine again. Alison was able to get away again for an hour or two all through lunch. It was Splash day, and Petra had lots of fun out playing though she really wanted a "water park with big waves" rather than sprinklers. She introduced herself to "those shy girls," and made some new friends, so that was a good sign. Though she initially says she doesn't like school, when we talk about it, she certainly has lots of good memories of fun activities and nice people. I'm hoping the good outweigh the bad soon!

Again, though, Petra was ready to nap with the other kids, but the teachers said "No" and sent her home. They've decided that we'll continue transition (and us missing work and burning vacation time) into next week. This doesn't seem like a great idea to me, as we now have a 4 day weekend, in which Petra will forget all about the routines she has been learning.

At least Petra took a good long nap, so she and Alison were happy when I got home (whew!). Thursday I'm staying home with her ("staff development day" at pre-school. Hmmm, they always seem to be just before long weekends. Go figure!).

School Daze

Mama was on call for this second day of pre-school transition. It doesn't sound like it went well. Petra is considerably more clingy with Mama than Dada, and wouldn't let her leave at all. The teachers were also not particularly helpful, not giving any guidance or talking to Mama about how best to help Petra make the change. It didn't help that when Petra started melting down at mid morning, Mama tried to help by giving her some apple. Of course, non-sanctioned snacks are not allowed, and a reprimand was delivered. Not particularly helpful, as they had no other advice on how to handle a hungry baby.

After lunch though, Petra got her second wind and was happy again (gee, think she was hungry?). She played a bit, and then helped get the cots out, and was yawning and saying she wanted to nap, but the teachers said, no nap, take her home instead. I assume that they have some sort of transition plan, but they did not make any attempt to share it with Mama. Petra promptly fell asleep in the car, but woke up and wouldn't go back to sleep after getting home, so she was pretty unruly all afternoon.

Tomorrow, the teachers REALLY need to talk to us about what the plan is. We are pretty easygoing parents, we just need some guidance. Today they apparently started saying that transition would run into next week (which was never mentioned before), and we're going to have to scramble to find a way to do it when we're running out of vacation time! I can't say this has been the most pleasant experience for any of us so far!

Dada did take Petra for a long walk after dinner (her suggestion), and we talked a lot about her day, and she clearly did enjoy a lot of the day, and remembered songs and stories, and some of the kids she met. We're getting there, but it isn't easy!