Helaina and Indigo

It's a fitting day for this post.  Mother's day encourages me to reflect on how blessed I am.  Don't get me wrong, life is very challenging with 2 toddlers.  They make me work hard for it every day.  Many days I throw up my hands and surrender, which is the way I believe God intended it.  However, in many ways, writing this blog is my way of taking time out to remember what is important.  To pause and note the good in the girls and the things that make me smile like a proud mamma.

Helaina (3 yrs and 4 months)

 She is way more of a girly-girl then I ever was.  She likes princesses, tea parties, shoes, purses and anything that sparkles.  She is really enjoying her tap / ballet class.  They have a recital coming up in June and I can't wait to see it and how she reacts to being on a stage in front of a large audience.  Helaina is very friendly once she knows you but not necessarily a jump right in kind of gal.  She is much like her daddy in that way.  I'm sure the cute factor will out weigh her classes ability (or lack there of) to follow cohesive steps to "Candy Girl."



She, so far, is also enjoying the swimming lessons that she and Indigo just started.  We have had quite the 1st week as day one was 60 degrees and torrential down pour.  Luckily they moved us to a pool that day that was heated to 80 degrees.  Day two she got to have the goggles (that mommy waited to invest in until I made sure we were all-systems-go). We were shifted to a different class and amongst the confusion, I didn't have time to adjust her goggles.  When I looked over from the mommy and me class, she was sitting on the side of the pool with her goggles barely over her eyes, kicking her feet in the water and a grin that would have made a Cheshire cat jealous.  It quite possibly was the biggest smile I have ever seen from her.  I so wish I was dry and had a camera but for now, I'm storing that mental picture in my happy place section of my brain.   Hopefully the goggles can bring that much joy this week when we move to the less heated pool.  :o)

1st official french braid.  There were better pics
of her smiling but this one shows the hair best.

She is a fully functioning bathroom user, wiping and all.  We still supervise wipe procedures but she's pretty thorough.  She is also very proud and has no qualms about yelling out what she accomplished, in detail, regardless of whether we are at home or in a crowded restroom.  Hopefully the mechanics of some of the public Chinese bathrooms (ie squatting into a hole in the ground) don't slide back her progress.

Helaina is showing signs of being very generous.  She is always willing to share snack, toys and so on.  Often when she and playmates are taking turns I find that many kids (like most of us) are not very eager to let it be the other person's turn.    If they start throwing a tantrum, she typically gives them whatever the item in question is or takes a shorter turn.   Often the result is the other kid becomes more open to sharing as well.  This kindness does sometimes makes it a challenge when I am trying to teach Indigo the beginnings of sharing but I do hope Helaina holds tightly to this very altruistic trait.

Like most kids, she is such a sponge.  Things get repeated back to you that are sometimes not so funny.  Many times I find myself striving to be better based on the "feedback" I get from her.  However, many times she repeats things that sound hilarious coming from her 3 year old mouth.  Recently she has taken to saying "by the by" and "Are you out of my mind"  There are tons of others at the moment but they are escaping me.  #mommybrain

We selected a school for her in China.  She will be attending the Sino European International Pre-School (SEIPS) for their 1/2 day program.  The school is mainly ex-pats but only 20% American so she will have a true international experience.  50% of her day will be taught in English and the other in Mandarin.  I am really looking forward to getting some assistance from her while stumbling over my own attempt at learning Mandarin, as I am sure she and Indi will pick it up much quicker than Chris and I.

Overall Helaina is at a really fun stage.  She is able to communicate, help, follow simple instructions (though she doesn't always wants to) and she is very much into being a big sister.  She is more times than not, a joy to watch and I am over joyed to call her my daughter.

Indigo (1 year 4 months)

This girl is a smiler (though not all together keen on smiling for the camera).  As long her daddy or mommy (especially mommy <3 ) are accessible, she is good to go.  She night sleeps like a champ and most importantly happily agrees with being placed in her crib after her bed time ritual.  She finally is into books (which was a huge switch from before).  I was actually concerned since I only had Helaina to compare her to and big sister loved any books (long or short) from a very early age.   I thought that Indi was way less articulate at this age than her sister but after reviewing some videos, I completely made that up.  Reviewing the videos did illustrate just how much they are starting to resemble one another.   Indi looks very much like Helaina did at this age with just a bit more hair.

Indigo at 16 months

Helaina at 16 months

Indigo eagerly watches the monitor and waits as her sister while Helaina is in dance class.  She often goes to the door that leads to the studio and tries to knock or open the door.  When Helaina comes out to switch from ballet to tap shoes, Indigo makes a Bee-line and runs and dances in the studio like she just won the lottery.  Unfortunately the studio starts classes at 18 months or we would have put her in.  Hopefully, we can find an appropriate dance program for her in Shanghai.

Indi got to go in last week for parents week.  Woop woop.
Not quite sure if the other girl loved having a shadow

Indi is so affectionate and most always loves to hold hands, be held, give hugs and kisses.  Despite this, she is can be quite independent and has no problems strutting into the other room to play by herself (again assuming she knows where mommy is) She has a few words down.  At this point she has mamma, dadda, Bebe, sister,  please, up and a few others.  An outsider would probably only understand the first three.  

She is really enjoying swimming too.  Mommy loves the perk of having two babies that are ready to nap afterword for a bit longer than normal.  

It seems that Indi is really good at fine motor skills.  She is opening containers and getting into things a lot quicker than we remember Heliana doing it (however, I can't be held reliable for my memory).  She is not scared to go down a slide or climb up on anything which can be nerve racking for me.



She is a bit more of a trouble maker than her sister was/is but I find myself not as irritated because she usually does it with a smile.  That is so going to come back to bite me but a pleasant smile will get you a long way.  She really is a treat.

It is really neat to watch the budding relationship between the girls.  Helaina is usually looking out for her little sister (pending she hasn't absconded a toy H was really into playing with at that moment.)  Indigo likes to hold Helaina's hand when they are walking down the hall or outside.  If Helaina is in time out, Indi is sure to make it her mission to try to entertain her sister while we try our best to keep her away.  I am so excited to see the relationship that will come of them.  What a special friendship.

note the figure four leg lock

Both love bananas and swing

Sharing play time with their dear friend Genevieve 

The Higgs girls love their yoga

I am overwhelmed with joy and sitting down to write this really re-calibrates me when I need it.  Thanks for reading.