{"id":338,"date":"2011-06-03T15:42:26","date_gmt":"2011-06-03T05:42:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/?p=338"},"modified":"2011-06-03T15:43:49","modified_gmt":"2011-06-03T05:43:49","slug":"anastasia-at-two-and-three-quarters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/?p=338","title":{"rendered":"Anastasia at two and three quarters"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/mistertim\/5792297336\/\" title=\"Anastasia at 2 and three quarters by Mister Tim, on Flickr\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5269\/5792297336_9cc6554072.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" class=\"alignright\" alt=\"Anastasia at 2 and three quarters\"\/><\/a>We are enjoying watching Anastasia grow and develop into a little girl.\u00a0 We love seeing her personality emerge and her understanding of the world expand more and more.\u00a0 She brings us so much joy!<\/p>\n<p><strong>A few of her favourite things\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>People<\/em><\/li>\n<p>Anastasia is a gregarious little soul who loves her people!\u00a0 Anastasia loves going to creche at church on Sunday and during ladies Bible study, often asking to go during the week.  The carers at childcare have told us that Anastasia is a happy, confident little girl who is very affectionate.  She does seem to enjoy her time there, particularly &#8216;Music with Miss Jess&#8217; on Mondays, and is invariably in a wonderful mood when we pick her up. She has formed consistent friendships with several of her classmates at childcare but she remains most closely attached to her family.\u00a0 Anastasia loves seeing, playing with, talking to and praying for her family.\u00a0 When looking at the family portraits taken over the years, Anastasia will excitedly announce, \u201cThat\u2019s my family!\u201d  <\/p>\n<li><em>Baby dolls<\/em><\/li>\n<p>These have been a constant favourite since she was about 10 months old.\u00a0 Where other toys have featured as favourites for a while and then been returned to the toy box, Anastasia has retained her delight in baby dolls.\u00a0 She plays with them at home, at cr\u00e8che and at childcare.\u00a0 Isaac\u2019s arrival has prompted an even greater range of activities, with baby dolls being tucked into bed, rocked to sleep and patted to calm their crying.<\/p>\n<li><em>Acorns <\/em><\/li>\n<p>After going through a phase of picking up sticks and rocks everywhere we went, Anastasia wholeheartedly transferred her affections to acorns.\u00a0 The lovely oak trees across the road have provided a ready supply but familiarity in this instance has not bred contempt!\u00a0 We find collections of acorns in the base of the pram, in Anastasia\u2019s handbags, her pockets and jewellery box, in her toy sink and under the couch in her room.\u00a0 We must have thrown out kilos of them!\u00a0 Thank goodness the season won\u2019t last for too much longer\u2026<\/p>\n<li><em>Toy trains<\/em><\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/MG_9545.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/MG_9545-300x240.jpg\" alt=\"Tim and Anastasia playing with her (their?) train set\" title=\"Playing trains\" width=\"300\" height=\"240\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-389\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/MG_9545-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/MG_9545.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Tim was diligent in expanding Anastasia\u2019s toy train collection in the months leading up to Isaac\u2019s arrival and she now has quite an impressive collection.\u00a0 Tim and Anastasia have spent a wonderful time creating an amazing variety of track designs and sending the trains around them \u2013 I\u2019m not sure which of them has more fun!<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_3118.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_3118-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Anastasia&#039;s train set\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_3118-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_3118.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<li><em>Music<\/em><\/li>\n<p>This has always been a favourite with her, only now she is much more vocal about what she\u2019d like to listen to.\u00a0 In the car we often hear comments on the music being played from the rear seat: \u201cWhat\u2019s this music called?\u201d, \u201cI don\u2019t like this music.\u201d, \u201cI like this music \u2013 this song is cool!\u201d.\u00a0 The Peter, Paul and Mary we used to play for Anastasia has largely faded in popularity, although she is still intrigued by identifying songs that we played for her \u201cwhen I was a baby\u201d. Dora the Explorer songs are always popular, but the surprising favourite is Bjork\u2019s \u2018It\u2019s oh so quiet\u2019.\u00a0 &#8216;Lah-Lah&#8217;s Big Live Band&#8217; has been a recent and very popular addition to her collection and we have very much enjoyed dancing along in the living room with percussion instruments in hand! Yo-Yo Ma still provides the soundtrack for each evening\u2019s descent into sleep with Bach\u2019s Cello Suites; Anastasia described this to us the other day as \u2018quiet\u2019 music.<\/p>\n<li><em>Books<\/em><\/li>\n<p>Anastasia has always loved books and her love of them has only increased.\u00a0 She loves looking at books and being read to and has recently begun pretending to read herself.\u00a0 She delights in \u2018reading\u2019 to us by reciting one of her favourite books \u2013 \u201c<a title=\"The Big Night Night Book\" href=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/?p=256\">The Big Night-night Book<\/a>\u201d by Georgie Birkett \u2013 from memory.\u00a0 Lately she has started \u2018reading\u2019 to Isaac, sitting next to his bouncer and telling familiar stories from her own books. She is starting to recognise numbers and letters and often gets frustrated when she cannot read for herself.<\/ul>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<strong>Imagination<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Anastasia has a very active imagination, keeping us entertained with her flights of fancy and role-playing.\u00a0 Everyday activities feature heavily \u2013 making coffee, cooking, going to the shops.\u00a0 She also loves the idea of going to school: she will dress up and put on hat and backpack and asks you to play along.\u00a0 Grandma Johnson once indulged her by actually walking with her to North Ainslie Primary School, which delighted Anastasia!<\/p>\n<p>We have been surprised at the directions that Anastasia\u2019s imagination has taken her.\u00a0 A few months ago, Anastasia seemed preoccupied with her apparent sensitivity to tomatoes.\u00a0 We have often told her that she should not eat tomatoes as they make her feel sick.\u00a0 For some time she engaged in imaginative play about her various toys being ill and Anastasia feeding them tomatoes to make them feel better.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5297.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5297-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"Anastasia playing on equipment at a park in Bateman&#039;s Bay\" title=\"I can do this!\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-344\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5297-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5297.jpg 533w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><strong>Independence<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Anastasia is continuing to develop her own personality and will.\u00a0 This is sometimes frustrating for her parents and entirely expected for her age!\u00a0 Anastasia has become more and more definite about her opinions on various topics and is keen to make decisions on her own.<\/p>\n<p>With such definite ideas about how things are (or should be), conversations with her can be entertaining at times:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Anastasia: What are you doing, Mummy?<br \/>\nTegan: I\u2019m looking at my beautiful baby girl.<br \/>\nAnastasia: I\u2019m not a baby anymore, Mummy, I\u2019m a little girl.\u00a0 And I\u2019m getting bigger and bigger every day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5293.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5293-240x300.jpg\" alt=\"Anastasia climbing on equipment at a park near Bateman&#039;s Bay\" title=\"Climbing!\" width=\"240\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5293-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/wpid-MG_5293.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>She has also startled us by her early attempts at lying, mostly around whether she needs a nappy change! A couple of months ago she took us aback us by her first attempts at manipulation:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Anastasia: Mummy, can I please have a glass of juice?<br \/>\nTegan: Okay darling, we can get you a glass of juice.<br \/>\nAnastasia: That\u2019s good, \u2018cause Daddy said no!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I\u2019m afraid that my initial response was to laugh!!\u00a0 Sometimes it is really hard not to laugh, even though I know it isn\u2019t helpful for guiding her longer term behaviour.\u00a0 She has a beautiful smile and readily flashes it when attempting to get her own way! Anastasia has also become an expert on extending her bedtime, with an impressive repertoire of delaying tactics.<\/p>\n<p>For those who are interested, here is a sample conversation between Tim and Anastasia last week, along with a transcribed version for those not used to listening to her every day.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href='https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Memo.m4a'>Recording of Anastasia Chatting<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href='https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Conversation-between-Tim-and-Anastasia-May-2011.rtf'>Transcript of conversation between Tim and Anastasia &#8211; May 2011<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the conversation indicates, Anastasia has a current preoccupation with growing up and has developed a long list of things she would like to do when she &#8216;gets bigger&#8217;.  A few times recently, when we have remarked that she has grown, Anastasia has then asked, &#8220;So can I drive the car yet?&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Anastasia and Isaac<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Anastasia holding Isaac by Tegan, not Teegan, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/teganjohnson\/5682832641\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.static.flickr.com\/5188\/5682832641_fae5858947.jpg\" alt=\"Anastasia holding Isaac\" width=\"350\" height=\"262\" \/><\/a>Isaac has been a joy to have but his crying has been difficult on the whole family.\u00a0 Anastasia has been coping remarkably well under the circumstances.\u00a0 Despite the inevitable irritation with him on bad days, she shows a remarkable amount of compassion and care for him \u2013 \u201cPoor Isaac. Is he settled now, Mummy?\u201d\u00a0 She also appears to have accepted his presence in our family, often asking to see him when they have been separated and wanting to kiss him good night each evening.<\/p>\n<p>We have been delighted to watch Anastasia taking on her role as a \u2018great big sister\u2019.\u00a0 It is something she takes seriously and she can\u2019t wait to teach Isaac lots of things.\u00a0 When Isaac was only a few weeks old, I came downstairs to see Anastasia gently clasping Isaac\u2019s hand around a little bouncing ball.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m teaching him to throw a ball, Mummy!\u00a0 He has to use a little ball because he\u2019s only little.\u201d\u00a0 Each time we remark that Isaac has grown, she eagerly asked whether he can do new things such as sit up or walk. We are so looking forward to seeing them grow up together!<\/p>\n<p>All in all, we are delighted to watch Anastasia grow and develop and look forward to the changes that the months and years will bring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We are enjoying watching Anastasia grow and develop into a little girl.\u00a0 We love seeing her personality emerge and her understanding of the world expand more and more.\u00a0 She brings us so much joy! A few of her favourite things\u2026 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/?p=338\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anastasia","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=338"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":408,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338\/revisions\/408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.johnsons.id.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}