Jeff came home today with a big news.
Antoinette’s teachers said our little girl is a charmer. She’s great in school and mingles well with the other girls in the room.
That was a first.
At home, Antoinette is often times on defense mode as she struggles to compete with her twin brother, Nicholas, all the time.
We’ve worked on a “share-share” system but there is always competition between the two and from Day One, Jeff and I have acted as referees and bouncers in every explosive situation.
Nicholas is a different boy. Not many people can understand him. More of him in a separate post. But he is very loving to Antoinette when he wants to. This is evident when he hugs and kisses her and comforts her when she’s crying.
I noticed the change in Antoinette on the very first day we dropped them off at a Play Care.
There were twin girls — around six years old — who were at the playroom. They were very friendly and invited Antoinette to play with them. But Antoinette pushed one of the twin and the poor girl told me: “Your daughter pushed me! That’s not very nice.”
I explained to her in simple terms how Antoinette is still not used to having other little girls around because he has a twin brother and a little brother. The twin girls, thankfully, were very accommodating and patient towards Antoinette. By the time I picked her up from the center, she was already holding hands with the twin girls… wearing a smile that can lit up an entire room.
Slowly, I witnessed her toning down her scowl face. She smiled more, she hugged me more, she became more affectionate towards Jeff. She tells stories to the baby, she says ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. She was calmer and gentler.
This is not to say that she’s over the temper tantrum stage. She’s still there. But she doesn’t throw herself on the floor that much often. She communicates with words and actions. She speaks Cebuano and English. And she sings! That sweet, little, angelic voice coming from her mouth that belts out the Alphabet Song and all sorts of nursery rhymes.
My unica hija counts one to 20 and is very keen to learn 21 to 30.
I was so proud of her when Jeff reported to the teachers’ feedback.
It’s great to hear from other people how much Antoinette has developed.
The only battle now on the girly side is how to convince her not to take off ribbons and hair accessories. Because as of 15 May 2016 at 3:35 P.M., strong-willed Antoinette told me: “I wear only a while.”
Which means, she will only wear the ribbon or any hair accessory for a short while… that’s usually 30 seconds.
More stories to tell in the next two months as she — and Nicholas – – is approaching her third birthday.
