A bit more on our week in Bellingham, as I forgot to mention a few things. Firstly, Reina had her first dentist visit. We bought a new Bearnstein's Bear book about going to the dentist, which I think prepared her aptly. She was amazing! She did exactly as she was told right away and didn't complain at all. They actually cleaned her teeth, which surprised me. As soon as we talked about when she would be going, she immediately said, "we have to bring this [dentist bear book] with us."
As Kaiya goes through her seventh month, I am overwhlemed by her need to be involved in EVERYTHING. I would describe her as feeling entitled. Did I already talk about this? If I have, its simply because it is so apparent (and it wasn't with Reina at all). Kaiya sees us eating and throws a "fit" if she doesn't get food too or if Reina is playing with a game, Kaiya will crawl as fast as she can towards it so that she is involved too. I feel like she is already so much more of a handful than Reina ever was, but I wonder if that's just because we have so much more going on with other little kids around. Unlike Reina, she still loves to be held and cuddled by everyone (phew, that stranger phase of Reina's was NOT fun) and I am definitely appreciating her being a sweet baby more than I ever did with Reina.
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| Sparklers are scary and hot! |
As I mentioned briefly in my last post, Uncle Mike came up for the fourth of July. We bought sparkler's for Sydney and Reina and they loved holding them even though it wasn't dark at all (I think its like 10pm when it gets dark here). I got some cute shots of the girls holding their sparklers and if you look closely you can see Reina's expression, sheer terror. I was surprised when the first one was over that she wanted to do another. I think Sydney's desire fueled her on, so a little positive peer pressure worked out for us there.
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| Sparklers are fun now. |
Reina has demonstrated her great ability to adapt again this summer. She has been thrown into several new houses and families and happily played with many other kids' toys very well. This probably isn't as big of a step for her as it is for those kids' whose toys she is playing with. They have all done very well sharing with Reina their favorite toys too. But I do think gone are the days of us having to stay up singing to Reina before bedtime to get her to go to sleep. The last two summers, jet lag has been very trying and Chris and I are very thankful that is over. Reina happily lies down in her tent with her little sleeping bag and personal lantern to read books before falling asleep THROUGH the night. Yay Reina.
We've had a wonderful, yet very quick visit with the Meers' (Chris' cousins) in Tacoma, which I will update on next time (lots of good pictures of their kids playing together). Its been a bit crazy, since all together there are 5 kiddos under 5, two nursing, and several napping schedules, sharing or not sharing toys, etc. But I know its a time that I nor my children will never forget and that we will all cherish forever. Growing up, I know that I always looked forward to my summers with family and friends.
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| Some of the artwork I mentioned last blog. |
I can't thank Karen & Joe or Liliana and Celeo enough for welcoming us to their homes and barging in on their lives (and sleeping schedules). I hope we weren't too tough on them!
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| Bath-time was their favorite! |
We exchanged small gifts and were able to play with the rockets I got Will at the park one day. It was a first for Reina, and I think she thought they were pretty cool. We also had a last get-together with Uncle Mike, Grandpa Jeff (although we'll see him in LA), Aunt Debbie, and Uncle Jess at the Meers' house last Sunday. Reina got to have her first "show," in front of family, which I have a feeling we'll be doing again. Ironically, Jeff even accidently called Reina Liz, who as you know was very into dance as a youngster (and even as an adult). The Eastman's often say that Reina looks like Liz when she was little. Anyhow, the family show was predominantly Will and Reina singing. I have some video footage that I'll post one day, but for now, you'll have to see the pictures. What you may not notice is that Will is totally ending up in front of Reina during the "recital." I am pretty sure Will was not deliberatly trying to block out Reina, but as soon as we all gave him a reaction, he pretty consistently did it after that. Some of the things we got to see at our Will and Reina show was "ABC," "Twinkle Twinkle," and some very cool dance moves on Will's part (I'm hoping Aunt Liz can show Reina some new ones next time they see each other, as Reina clearly gets her lack of dance moves from Chris and I). 
