andrewandsamantha: relatives

Tuesday, April 8

abc 123

aviyah has started to count to ten in english and hebrew. i don't know how all this starts. one day she just busted out 5 through 10 in a rush, over and over again. she does not like to do her alef bet _at all_, but she loves her abc's. (by the way, i discovered that papa says lnmop for some reason.)

Thursday, December 27

florida 1

we forgot our camera at home, so there's too many photos that we missed already. aviyah has a love affair with papa. she wakes up first thing in the morning and asks for papa already!

our whole family was here for the first few days, and aviyah got to spend time and really meet sydney. shayna plays with her really really well. i think shayna loves having a big sister, but i think she loves playing with aviyah and sydney kind of like she has a little sister.

jordyn can read now, and she even reads some of aviyah's books to her. it's pretty cool.

it can also be hard, too. when you are at home, if aviyah is fussy about something it's easier to try to slow down and understand. we know to do that here, too, but it's always a little bit tougher when you're out somewhere and people are watching or other kids are involved or other things are going on. i think aviyah does a pretty good job overall. she can deifnitely slow down and listen, and she can definitely understand to share and not to steal. but, it definitely takes a minute sometimes to explain. i think, for me, the thing is is that i don't want to negotiate under fire, 1, so i want her to calm down. and, i also want her to understand that getting all fiery and upset doesn't help us. we can calm down, and then we can move on and that means still being able to play and eat.

i think she's generally gotten it overall, mostly for a while. for example, she always passes her bottle to us when she's done, no matter where she is, because she knows that it's not nice to drop it or throw it. she passes her food to us (even if she's started chewing it) if she doesn't want it anymore because she knows that we don't throw or spit our food. and, she can largely say please and thank you.

two big things she has trouble with still are sharing mommy and daddy with others. i think she's getting a bit better the more she sees it, but she still is bothered some when she sees us hugging on somebody else. and 2, she always wants her toy the minute somebody else plays with it. it can be laying there, you know, and then boom, if somebody else wants to play with it, she goes for it. so we're working on those things.

i definitely think, though, it's important to intervene and try to teach her. i know as she gets a little older it's important to let her work some of the things out, but first, i think we want to give her a base to understand the right way to go about it. sometimes i see parents just kind of let their kids go, and it's okay mostly, but i don't know, i guess it's hard to say.

i feel like one thing we're really trying to have her work on, too, is her words. i think when she does get frustrated, some of her frustration is that her mind is ahead of her language and she wants to express herself. i know school's been helping her, and we're trying to help to to get her used to using her words. for sure, she's getting more. i hope i'm able to stay ahead of her!

Monday, November 5

papa

papa, it really means a lot to us that you came to visit. i know it's not easy, but it really really shows how much you really really do love aviyah. and, she loves you!

it's really crazy when you think about how far you come from. you've made a really really big effort and it means a lot to us. thank you!

Monday, June 4

aviyah heart papa

aviyah's second word is papa. she knows how to do so many signs now. i don't think we thought about it this way, but i think the signs also help her to get the differences between languages. she sees the foundation sign, and she can translate in a way to different words. she's certainly got to know that mommy and daddy are speaking differently. . . oh, oh, she knows how to kiss and point!