Berlin Update

I just read Berlin's update that I wrote around her birthday last year and it's funny because somethings have changed so much but other things are exactly the same!

One major change is that Berlin has gone from the kid who could barely sit down for 5 minutes to color a picture to a very studious child if she is really into whatever she is working on. Over the summer Berlin started coloring with a purpose. I took some pictures that I meant to put on my blog but now I am feeling pretty sure that I never did. Who knows, it's been a crazy year. Anyway, one day she just decided that she wanted to color the whole picture instead of just scribble on one spot, so she did. The funniest thing though is that she would very carefully, staying in all the lines, color the whole picture one color. Then she started doing "projects" which consist of any little art thing and she loves projects. Give the child some glue or tape, some paper, and something else (beads, jewels, string, puff balls, etc.) and she will be busy forever. She can use a whole roll of tape in one sitting. I have to hide it if I need my own tape for anything, otherwise it will disappear in projects.

Cooking is still a favorite thing for Berli. She loves to help out in the kitchen and has gotten much braver about making decisions for herself on how things should go. I have to watch her very carefully to make sure the correct amount of things get into the bowl if we are baking.

Berlin also wrote her own name all by herself for the first time the other day. One of the cutest things I have seen in a long time. She also learned how to zipper her own coat by herself the same week that Tryn learned. :)

She still loves Diego and baby Jaguar. Berlin also is newly really into small plastic animals. One of the things that I got her for her birthday is this big container of little bugs and crawly things. We were in Target several weeks ago and she saw this container sitting on an end cap (good job Target for marketing well) and got so excited about it she wouldn't put it down. She begged and begged for it and, being the terrible mom I am, I told her no. She carried it around the store with her the entire time we were there...which also speaks of how much determination she has developed over the past several months. :) Anyway, she got a similar slimy little frog from Sunday school a few weeks ago that she got to pick out of the prize box. Unfortunately, it started to fall apart right away. When I asked her last week what she wanted for her birthday she said she wanted a new little frog because the other ones head was falling off.

Berlin still loves to wear dresses every day. Now that she gets herself dressed every day I think that about 95% of the days this past winter she has been running around in a summery dresses - no pants, leggings, tights or socks to be found on this child. She can also wear clothes out like no one else. I am glad that I didn't have another girl after her because there would not have been much unstained clothes to pass on to the next one.

One way that I've noticed that Berlin is a lot like me is that she is really indecisive. If faced with a choice, say which sticker to pick out at the dr.'s office, it can be an almost painful decision for her. It takes so long. But I totally get it.

Oh, and Berlin is really good at the Memory Game. We play it almost every morning while Tryn is at school and I haven't won in a long time. The other day she beat me 11-5. Granted I was up 6 or 7 times that night and significantly lacking in sleep, but she is really good at it regardless. She remembers where cards are when I have no idea and she will even not get matches on purpose sometimes because she wants me to get them. She has a harder time playing it when there are more people, she gets distracted easily and then forgets where cards are, but she is really good. She has also started getting really interested in putting puzzles together lately and is also really good at that.

This picture is a great example of Berlin right now too. The other day Berlin got super excited because she thought it was time for Tryn to be coming home from school. I told her it wasn't, we still had two more hours. "No, Mom!," Berlin tells me, "Look at the clock! It's time for Tryn to come home."

"No, sweetie, it isn't." After arguing back and forth for a minute I show her on the clock where the hands have to be when Tryn gets off the bus.

Berlin pushes a chair over the wall and says, "Okay, I am going to watch the time until Trynie gets home then." She didn't last long though, because it really was going to be two more hours. :)