Ainsley started a new daycare yesterday. There were many reasons for making the move, but it didn't make the last day at Grace Covenant any less bittersweet or the first day at Skipwith any easier! Ainsley did amazing! She jumped right in on the first day when we dropped her off as if she'd been going there forever. It helped that when we got there the kids were all eating french toast, pineapple and milk. Ainsley's first syrup - please no one tell her that it also goes on pancakes. I think this new school is going to cause us to need to take out stock in spray 'n wash - she was a mess when she came home! A little syrup, a little paint, a little of an unidentified substance - all means, lots of stain treatment by mommy. Miss Joy is her new teacher who will be with her every day. The schedule is a bit different - an earlier lunch and not as long of a rest/nap period. Hopefully we'll all learn to adjust quickly to everything.
Last weekend Mommy and Daddy decided it was time to put some effort into shortening the going to bed process. Over time, it had crept up to taking over an hour to get Ainsley into a deep sleep and transferred into her crib. We knew that she fell asleep on her own at daycare, and it was time to work on that at home. The first night was rough - about 45 minutes of crying (we checked on her multiple times), but she fell asleep. Same thing the next day at nap time. Amazingly, that night, we nursed, cuddled, mommy said goodnight and transferred Ainsley to her crib, told her it was time to sleep, she rolled over and we didn't hear a peep until the morning. It has been the same way ever since. Sometimes she does still wake up at night and we have to go in and calm her for a few minutes, but she's been doing great. We tried to do this before, but we (both Ainsley and Mommy) weren't ready. Now we know she can do it and it's been great for all of us. My little girl is growing up!
The weather turns cooler and fall starts soon. We're hoping to get out more and enjoy the outside while it's not too hot. Over the weekend, Daddy took Ainsley out in her new bike trailer. She LOVED it. I see many more bike rides in our future this fall. The only downside to all the outside time - mosquitos love Ainsley and she ends up with huge welts from the bites. They don't seem to bother her much, but mommy feels bad!
Ainsley has learned a number of new signs. She can now sign (and say) "more," "please," "thank you," "all done," "eat," and "sleep." It really helps with communication. Her favorite sign is "more" which many times means "I want". We're trying to introduce "diaper," "water," and "drink." Last night mommy signed "book" to Ainsley and asked her if she wanted to read - Ainsley immediately signed back "book." It was so amazing!
As for talking, boy can Ainsley talk. Mommy and Daddy can't remember all the words she knows now there are so many. In addition, Ainsley really likes to mimic what people say to her. Sometimes she's really close to the pronunciation, and sometimes it's very unique. Some of her words: dog, ball, cat, more, thank you, please (pees), potty, mama, dada, yiayia, nan nan, pop, water, help, no, yeah, shoe, baby, "whatisit," "igetyou," boob boob, boo boo, head, eye, ear, nose, hair, belly, toes, knee, butt, and bath. She knows animal sounds for a cow, horse, dog, cat, lion, alligator, monkey, bunny ("hop"), giraffe (hands in the air), elephant, snake, and owl (maybe more). She knows where her head, hair, nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, belly, butt, knee, toes, shoulders, and belly button are. She likes to point out other people's noses and raise their shirts to find their belly buttons.
Ainsley obviously understands much more than she can say now. She can go get items if you ask her to go get it (bring Mommy purple puppy) and can take things to someone (take this to Daddy). Her recent obsession is trying to put on her own socks and shoes. She has the idea, but the exectuion isn't there yet.
We had a great visit with YiaYia over the end of August and the beginning of September. Ainsley learned how to stomp her feet from YiaYia and loved to read and try out new words with her too. It was fun watching them interact, especially now that Ainsley is so much more into conversations and interacting with people. Of course, there was just a little bit of spoiling going on too! We had pictures taken of the family and I hope to post some of those soon. School pictures are next week, so we'll have to pick out an outfit for then!
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