daphne {three and a half years}

{three & a half years} It has just occurred to me that the entirety of the past six months (since Daph’s three year update) have been in (COVID) quarantine. Crazy.

Life in the past six months changed pretty drastically for everyone, and our family is included in that. Shortly after we celebrated Daphne’s third birthday, we started slowly “quarantining” ourselves without really realizing what the extent of it would be. Aaron started working from home the first week of March, and Eloise’s school closed a few days later. Daphne’s preschool remained open for the remainder of last school year, but we opted as a family to keep her home (given the seriousness of the COVID pandemic in our county and my pregnancy).

While Daphne has definitely missed her two mornings at preschool, and often asks to see her teachers and friends, being at home most days was not really a drastic change for her. What did change though is that both Aaron and Eloise were home all day. Honestly, I think Daphne has had the BEST six months of her life!

Daphne’s preschool is/was completely play-based so doing “school” at home for the rest of the school year didn’t really have a lot of structure. I introduced some preschool-level workbooks (we love the ones from Highlights) to give her something “academic” to do while I was attempting to do “school” with Eloise this past spring. Mostly our “school days” were filled with me trying to help Eloise with some type of reading/math/writing and then finding an activity to distract Daphne until lunchtime. There was also SO MUCH outdoor time from the start of being at home and we got lucky with a mild and warm spring. Aaron started taking the girls outside for a walk, scooter, or bike ride at least three times per day (sometimes more if he had flexibility between meetings and work) which ended up being a Godsend for our family.

In her three year update I mentioned that Daphne was just learning to ride her balance bike and was doing well on her scooter. Well, fast-forward six months and Daphne has learned how to ride a two-wheel pedal bike! She has always been physically strong for her age and size, but Aaron and I have both been blown away by how quickly she has learned how to ride a bike. Just a few months into quarantine this spring Daphne started doing tricks on her balance bike (like standing up on the frame) and we thought maybe we could introduce a pedal bike. We were able to find a tiny pedal bike (a 12 inch which is really hard to find!) and she taught herself how to pedal within a few minutes. No joke. And no training wheels at all. Her balance is extraordinary, and she has just this past week graduated up from her tiny little 12 inch bike to a 16 inch bike. It looks WAY too big for her, but she manages it quite well.

With the cancellation of school and everything else came the inevitable cancellation of swim lessons. We managed just one weekly lesson for Eloise between school closing and the swim facility closing, but Daphne never had the chance to get started on her own lesson. It was really sad, actually, since the week Daphne was supposed to start her weekly Wednesday lesson was the exact same week the swimming facility closed it’s doors. Swimming is definitely a priority, in terms of extracurricular activities, but with COVID and the baby’s pending arrival, we are expecting it will be into the New Year before swim lessons are a possibility. But if Daphne’s ability to ride a bike is any indication of her swimming ability, she will be a fantastic swimmer by next summer!

Another big thing that happened over the past few weeks has been that we turned Daphne’s car seat around to forward-facing. The girls have barely been in the car since quarantine (really, just a handful of times) but Daphne finally reached the maximum weight limit for rear-facing in her car seat. I don’t think she really understood there was any other way for her to sit in a car until Aaron flipped her seat around. And now she is SO excited about her seat facing “the same way as Eloise!” In the few times we’ve been in the car since, she asks me, “Mama, is my seat still facing like Eloise’s seat?” It has been a funny adjustment for her, though, to be facing forward. She loves to look at the front windshield and exclaims “Woohooo!” but also doesn’t like when other cars are driving close to ours.

And to wrap-up, Daphne is SO excited about the baby to be joining our family. We brought up the idea with both girls a few weeks ago about what could happen if Baby Lower was born before Grammie comes (in mid-September), and that one of two friend families would help and stay with the girls overnight. And now every day, at least once a day, Daphne asks if we can talk about the baby and the neighbors and how they will help. It’s SO sweet to see her so excited about this new sibling (whose gender she doesn’t care about!) but a little frustrating for everyone that we really don’t have a lot of specific answers (about the birth). Daphne loves to see the bassinet we have set up in our room along with a few other baby things, and talks fondly about all of the things she wants to share and teach the baby. I can’t wait for her to be a big sister!

And here’s the latest Things Daphne Says:

Looking at a workbook: “Mama, can you help me learn?”

Daphne was sitting on the potty before bed. She noticed on the ceiling about the sink that there’s a (blank) outlet cover. “What’s that, Mama? I think it’s to keep monkeys out. And you should lock the door so they don’t come in the house! What do monkeys eat, Mama?” I told her, “Probably bananas.” “How Mama? Do they eat the wrappers? (Peels)” I said, “I don’t know. But maybe we could ask someone.” “Yes, a grown-up. Not a monkey, because they can’t talk.” I said, “Maybe someone at the Zoo knows? We could ask.” “Yes, Mama, maybe we could ask a giraffe? Do they have a voice? Or maybe they do yoga!”

If she wants to do something and you aren’t letting her do it at that very moment, she says “We’ve talked about this!”

“Oh man gosh!” (Oh my gosh!)

“He’s such a dirty little fella!” (This has got to be from a movie or a show, we just haven’t figured out which one.)

Eloise was whining about a toy. Daphne walked by and says “Why are you fake crying?”

Daphne wanted to play with the new label maker: “Can I boop-y it?”

Me: “Daph, you left some graham crackers on the front stairs. Are you going to eat them or should we save them for later?” Daph: “Mama, I’m going to eat them in 12 minutes!”

Daph woke up upset in the middle of the night: “Mama, there’s darkness all over!”

“Do works have googly eyes on their faces?”

All eyes are “googly eyes” when Daph talks about them.

“Mama, I miss Eloise (while she was gone at Grammie camp this summer). I can’t be a sister when sister isn’t here.”

“Hi Roomba. You can’t come outside because you don’t have shoes.”

Pointing to a hydrangea bush: “Mama, what kind of flower is that? Is that a rosie?”

Holding up a book: “I am doing my research!”

Tummy throat = means that you are sick.

“I feel something in my brain, Eloise!” Eloise says, “What?” “Hot cocoa!”

The girls lined up all of their dolls and stuffies in chairs. Daph stands in front of them and says, “Hello my fair ladies!”

“Mama, I don’t like Roomba. Because he’s not an awesome robot.”

Piano = Pinano.

We have a neighbor family down the block whose daughter is one year older than Eloise at the same school. Her name is Sadie and Daphne is slightly obsessed with her. We couldn’t remember Sadie’s dad’s name one day, and Daphne exclaimed that it was Barnold! So now we call him Barnold.

Daphne says “Grrr!” when she’s frustrated or mad and calls her hands “paws” thanks to Daniel Tiger!

{weight} 39 to 40 pounds, 39 inches tall.
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} four bottom teeth, top four teeth, four molars, four canines, four two year molars.
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} fits into 4T but prefers the fit of 5T or 4/5.

And here’s Eloise’s three and a half year update, if you are interested!

Happy Half Birthday Daph! We are celebrating with ice cream cones (at home) from Molly Moon’s – strawberry in a cone with sprinkles!

M