Monaloca

Recently, Melina told me “I want to be a mommy when I grow up, just like you!” She and her gang of girls play endless hours of “family” (in addition to “haircut” and “ballet class”) at school My favorite, though, is when she takes this aspiration to daily tasks, and starts pitching in with family life all on her own. She will fold laundry without prompting, and in the morning sometimes apologizes, “Sorry it took me a while to come out. I was making my bed.”

This is probably also due to her temperament and innate desire for organization as much as it is her mimicking me. We also recently hired cleaners to help clean the house twice a month. The first time they came Melina freaked out: “My bed is all mixed up!” (I.e,., it was made, but the pillows were in the wrong spot.) Now, she looks forward to cleaner days. Last week she even made her room a little extra messy and moved her night table, just to see what they would do.

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Even with a recent bout of cold winter rain, spring is definitely the vibe chez Rapoza. Now that Nalani is one, I’m either going to post as we have news or give monthly updates on the whole family, especially my two little crazy monkeys. (Hence the name “monaloca” – should be monas locas, huh?)

Spring is birthday party season for us. It seems that when kids are little all their friends’ birthdays cluster around each other, and we have three spring babes – two who are still small – so it’s especially crazy. In fact, at last count we have one birthday party per week to attend from the first weekend in May through the third weekend in June. That’s a lot of cake and goodie bags.

Melina had fun at Connor’s Adventure Playground party, where she got to paint and hammer into a chair (no nails needed, apparently). Last weekend we all joined Lily at Head Over Heals gymnastics studio, where the kids had fun on an obstacle course and three of us (Joey, Kai, and me) took turns on a trapeze that lands you in a giant foam pit.

Between parties we’ve had time to take bike rides around the block and to meet friends at the park just down the street. Nalani is borrowing a trike with a push handle (for mama) from a friend, and she loves it! Now that the weather’s warmer and we’re out more, we’ve also met some new neighbors – mostly those en route to the park. Melina is also continuing swim lessons with her friend Emma at the Y.

At home and school, Melina has been practicing the sounds all the letters make, and has gotten very good at spelling her name on a piece of paper. Sometimes she writes it backwards, but the letters are always in the right order. She also loves telling us what letter random words start with, and continues to “read” huge stacks (she calls them batches) of books each night before going to sleep.

Nalani is a full-on walker now. She only crawls when she wants to get somewhere really fast and happens to be on the floor already. She loves following her brother and even moreso her sister wherever they happen to go. If they’re in the play tent or their bedroom, she’ll make a beeline towards them, ignoring Daddy and me in the next room.

Our baby (or as Melina calls her, waddler) doesn’t seem to be talking much but we may just be so busy we’re missing words. (Poor youngest child!) She does say “mama” and “dada” quite frequently, and usually associated with one of us but not always the right one. She sometimes says “mo” for more, and seems to be calling milk and water “nana.” She’s also done the sign for milk a couple times, but not consistently.

Our waddler is still one stubborn cookie when it comes to nap time at home. She’s been napping beautifully – a full two hours around lunchtime – at daycare since 11 months. But at home she screams in her crib for 45 minutes then sleeps for 10. And that’s on a good day. She tends to work herself into a state instead of eventually calming down. Nonetheless, we started trying to nap train her (letting her scream it out until she conks out for at least 5 min) but when Joey talked to the doctor about it he just laughed and said “my kids did that too.” Hmmmm.

Well, she’s an awesome night sleeper (8pm to 7:30am, consistently), but still. After we went through Kai only napping in the car I swore I’d train any of my own children to nap in a crib. I did it with Melina. I don’t know if we missed Nalani’s window, or if she’s simply a different kid. In any case, she inevitably ends up napping on one of us (in the Ergo carrier) or in the car or stroller on weekends.

Reports from daycare are that our little girl is also one tough cookie in terms of holding her own. She fights back anytime another kid tries to take a toy from her. (Go figure, she has two older sibs.) But the teachers at daycare also caught her rocking a smaller baby in a swing. She has her sister’s maternal instincts, too! But sorry babe, no little sister for you.

Daddy’s favorite Nalani discovery this month is that she loves having her back scratched, and it’s especially useful for calming her down. Funny thing is, now whenever she gets a little fussy we’ll find Melina with her hand under Nalani’s shirt, scratching up and down her back, saying “Look, I’m calming her!” It’s nice to have little helpers.

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Nalani had fun practicing her walking at playgroup today. This video shows a turn and 17 full steps in a row. She did even more – including quick balance recoveries – but I didn’t catch it on video. She sometimes still walks sideways (just like when she cruises), which I love.

In any case, she’s off!

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Nalani’s definitely taken more steps in a row than in this video, but not frequently. We figure she needs a batchi (Melina’s name for small lovey blanky) in her mouth to help her balance. From May 2, and yes, it’s sideways.

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