Kuiper's Farm 2010

More pumpkin farms! I love how October is all about visiting pumpkin farms! Here's pics of Andrina from Kuiper's Pumpkin Farm:

Gotta play on the jumping pillow

Andrina has to play on the train of course!
"Driving" a tractor

Playing in the corn box

Driving a pink tractor

at the top of tractor tire mounain!

Going down a slide

By lots of pumpkins

Making Ghosts

Andrina with two little ghosts that she made hanging in in of our trees

And here she is making them
And proudly showing off her work!

New Skills

Andrina has been changing by leaps and bounds lately. Here's a summary of her development I've noticed over the past month:

Listening/Paying Attention: I remember months ago watching Andrina at preschool while a book was being read. She paid no attention to it. Today I picked her up from preschool and the teacher was reading a book to the class. So I stayed in the hall and watched (Andrina's back was to me so she didn't know I was there). Andrina paid attention to the book through the end and then even answered a question correctly that the teacher asked about the story!

Emotional Development: I have not seen Andrina suck on her fingers for about a month now. And yesterday when we were together I had something on my mind and I was not paying attention to her because I was too wrapped up in my own thoughts. Andrina came up to me and said, "Mommy, are you ok?"

Physical development: Andrina has much better balance on a balance beam. She can walk several feet and stay on it. She pursues and accomplishes climbing up the ladders and rock walls that are for the "big kids" on playground equipment. They are about 6 feet of climbing. Andrina is also now comfortable to jump off of equipment onto thick mats by herself at Gymboree.

Social Skills: A few months ago various kids that were not much older than her tried playing with her at playgrounds. Some would tell her their names, others would come up to her and try to take her hand to lead her to go play with them. I would tell Andrina that it was ok to play with the kids and that she could say to them, "I'm Andrina. What's your name?" Well two days ago not only did she do this but we were the only people at a playground when I girl about 7 years old came and was playing by herself on the monkey bars. Andrina said to me, "look, there's a girl over there!" and then ran over to her and said, "I'm Andrina!" The girl was not interested in playing with her but I was impressed with Andrina's progress. It was very cute too!

It's still surreal to me to see her grow and develop before my eyes. Just these changes feel like they happened overnight.

"Go Away Please"

Apparantly, not only can Andrina say the sweetest things that melt my heart, but she can also say things that are borderline heartbreaking. Case in point, tonight after her usual bath, milk, brushing her teeth, reading a book, and cuddling routine that we share this is what happened:

Me: "Goodnight Andrina, I love you"
Andrina: "go away please, it's time for me to sleep"

Wow! She's getting so independent. Oh well, at lease she said "please"!

Hello Big-Girl Bed!

Here's Andrina's big-girl bed:

When I looked at it all put together with her blanket & toys on it, it looked right. It looked like this is what Andrina is supposed to be sleeping on. That it was time let go of the crib since she really is a little girl now. And then I cried a little bit. I lost a little bit more of my baby. Loving my child and watching her grow is so bittersweet...

But here she is, loving her big-girl bed!

Sweet dreams my happy little love...

Bye-Bye Crib!

Here's Andrina at 3 months old in her crib:

and here she is today at 3 years old next to it!

My baby has turned into a little girl. And she climbed out of her crib today so we are turning it into a bed!

3 Year Old Preschool!

First official day of 3 year-old preschool today! Look how happy Andrina is and how cute in her school outfit!