Ballet and census day.

Natty is a poodle in her first ballet recital.  I DID NOT do her make-up.  :)

 I will try to give a swift recap of the last few weeks, since Jubilee is threatening to cut her nap short today.  Yesterday, we signed Natty up for her first school!!  Kids start rather young in all-week nursery around here and it's something we decided not to do since Natty is so content at home and I wanted her with me as long as possible!  However, since starting ballet, I see how much she is enjoying other kids and we also recognize that her personality makes it tough for her to learn Spanish when she's not around Spanish speakers a whole lot.  So, at 4 1/2 (in February- the start of the school year), she'll be attending Emmanuel Christian school!  It's actually just a little place set up in a neighborhood near Scotty's office and is run by the sweetest Christian ladies.  Most of the kids are day-care age, but there is a pre-kindergarten and kindergarten class.  There seems to be very personal attention given to each child and a commitment to working closely with the parents.  We had seen one other school- a pre-K through 12, and it was big and scary and not what I was looking for.  After walking through this place with Natty and chatting with the staff, we felt very comfortable and I was confident it was much more suited to her tender personality.  I am thankful God led us there- it was something I had been praying about for quite some time!

Practicing before the show.

Natty had her first ballet recital(s) Sunday night and Monday.  She has grown from being terrified of ballet to walking in to the studio calmly and enjoying the other little girls.  She constantly dances around the house and mimics what the older girls are doing in their classes.  She encourages me to copy her and then praises me, "Good job, Mommy!" when I do it well.  We had a week full of rehearsals, lots of extra costs and then 2 fun nights of watching our daughter perform in front of a very full audience for the first time!  I think it was a bigger milestone for us than for her- I can't believe I have a daughter old enough to do anything on a stage!  I'd like to say she was the best dancer in the Baby Ballet class, but I have to admit that I was practically rolling in my seat as Natty missed her cues, had her hands often going in the opposite direction and generally got distracted as any other 4 year-old might do.  The second night, the ballet didn't start until after her bedtime and it showed in her performance.  The poor girl was so tired.

So exhausted after a long week and 2 performances.

We let her come home from her first night's show, after her bedtime, to an ice cream party with 2 friends and then they stayed up who knows how long playing in her bedroom before they finally fell asleep.  She's still making up those lost sleep hours.

Today is census day.  Every 10 years, a nation-wide census is taken and everyone is ordered to stay in their homes until 6pm.  This isn't like other days where you stay home but can roam freely.  They have threatened fines and even jail time if you don't stay inside your house- no walking!  Bummer.  However, it comes at a good time cause I can do all my Thanksgiving meal prep today and Scotty can write Christmas letters that we desperately need to get ready soon.  Tomorrow, we'll spend Thanksgiving with our beloved SIM team and have invited our pastor and his wife to participate this year, since it's an American holiday that Edgar has always been interested in.

Happy.

Jubilee is growing and continues to be a smiling, sweet baby.  She has popped out with some attitude here and there and seems to get disgruntled a bit easier.  I think it's that hard stage where they're interested in so many things, but aren't mobile yet.  She's eating lots of new things and hasn't turned away any new food that I've given her.  She's still not a big fan of nursing, and I've had to reconcile myself to that.  It's been tough cause I know breast milk is still best and she's so low on the weight charts that I worry when she doesn't drink much.  But, I'm doing the best I can and feeding her as much as I can and the rest I am learning to leave in God's hands and trusting that all will be well.  She's starting to roll all over the floor in order to inspect things around her, but hasn't made moves toward crawling yet- except to move from a seated position to down on her tummy.  She is a joy to us all and she and Natty have an especially sweet relationship.