Magical Princesses

The Title of this post in Spanish is “Magicas Princesas.” It is a song that brings me to tears by Jesus Adrian Romero. He writes it from a father’s perspective, but it is a song dedicated to his two daughters. If you see him perform this song, they always have a slideshow on the big screens showing his daughters going from babies to young women. As a parent of two little girls, it definitely strikes an emotional chord within me. I use this blog to record things I don’t ever want to forget, and this post is dedicated to the two Magicas Princesas that live in our home…

First of all, these girls can laugh and have the best time together…

1. I have a sister, but there is enough of an age gap that I never got to play with my sister like Ana and Maggie get to do. I have two older sister-in-laws that say that their best friend is their sister (both are very close in age to their sister). I absolutely adore seeing these two grow a friendship. They not only share a room, they share a bed. Some nights there is tickling and hysterical laughter coming from their room after bedtime, and some nights someone is crying. That is what friendship is made of, right? Tears of happiness and sadness.

2. These two love being princesses. Ana in her high heels, Maggie in her tutus. Maggie even calls her tutus her “princisas” (she is trying to say the Spanish word for princess). They love playing in their dollhouse castle, and right now Tangled and The Twelve Dancing Princesses are the favorite movie selctions. Ana has requested a “Princess” birthday party this year.

3. They love to help me in the kitchen. I have to admit that on some level I get annoyed with it somedays. I love baking and cooking and it is a way that I do something for me. But many meals, (Ana especially) they insist on doing something to help. I have to check my perspective and think, “One day they will be doing the cooking (hopefully for me!). And the more they learn now, the more independent they will be later.” Ana loves to help measure things. Since she knows her numbers she puts things into the microwave for me. She also is big enough to get my ingredients out of the fridge for me. Maggie likes to press the start button on the microwave, but her main job is turning the timer off when it starts beeping on my oven. I don’t want to forget the image of her dashing down the steps in when she hears that beeper! She is also a pro at putting a bag of pasta into a pot. I think my favorite team work between the three of us is snapping beans. We have that one down!

Anastasia

1. Some days I cannot believe how fast Ana Grace has grown. She still loves to crawl up in our laps, and when I look at those long legs I cannot believe how tall she is. Right now, Ana still loves art so much. We bought her art supplies with some of her Christmas money, and in the month of January, she used all of the paper. She loves making cards for others. She also draws me a picture about once a day. I am going to put an “art line” across the white wall in my kitchen so I can display more of her art. My fridge is only so big. What I love so much about this is that it shows a piece of what God is doing in her heart. She loves to give cards to others. If someone has a birthday, if someone is sad, her first thought is, “I can make them a card.” I love this about her. On a side note, this little artist made me a 3-D birthday card for my birthday. Greg and I were very impressed.

2. Speaking of art, she also loves music. I sing to the girls every night before bed, and there are some nights that Ana wants to share a new song she has made up. I love it. She loves to dance with the music in the kitchen with me. Her favorite requests are the Disney Princess album and Veggie Tales.

3. Ana loves being outside. One thing I really miss is a yard for our kids to play in. We have our rooftop, but it isn’t kid friendly. We have beautiful parks, but unless the timing works for naptimes I am unable to take all three by myself. This girl loves the outdoors. There aren’t too many days when Ana doesn’t ask to go to the park or go for a walk. She loves it. She also loves riding her three-wheeler she got as a 2-year-old. We are thinking this birthday girl (she turns 5 next month) may be getting a big girl bike. It is quite a sight to see those long legs peddling that small bike.

4. Ana is a bottomless pit when it comes to eating. She will finish any meal when it comes to getting dessert afterward. She also will eat her meal and be hungry 20 minutes later. I am thankful she likes fruit so much. She is one that will go in the kitchen and help herself to a whole apple. She chomps away until the core remains. Her favorite food right now is Tortellini Soup. She could also eat a “sandwich and chips” every day for lunch. For example, I might say, “Ana, do you want some left-over spaghettie for lunch?” She will answer, “Yes, and with some chips and a sandwich.” (She doesn’t get her request but she always tries.) Her favorite dessert is cookies crunched up in ice cream or an Oreo milkshake.

5. I love to work on school stuff with AG. She has loved reading her first set of Junie B Jones books with Greg. Greg has commented that with her short hair she looks like Junie B. 🙂 What do you think?

She is practicing her letters and reading sight words right now. She writes well, and has been learning things that I know she won’t get at school: days of the week, months of the year, English phonics. One day I may be homeschooling her full time, and I won’t mind it. I enjoy working with Ana. She starts back to school in March and will complete Kindergarten.

6. Ana is bilingual. There are words she only knows in Spanish. Their are phrases that she translates from Spanish to English. This is part of being a biligual kid living in a culture where they speak a different language than their parents. One phrase I don’t want to forget is Ana saying, “Things pasen.” Pasar is “to happen” in Spanish. She will tell Maggie, “It is okay Mags. Things pasen.” She also thinks of soccer whenever she hears football.

7. This girl loves her style. I have told Greg that if we really needed to punish Ana we would just need to tell her she couldn’t dress herself for the week. Her “thing” is a skirt with tights, boots or her sparkly shoes, a “cute” shirt, and a matching headband. Do you see that picture of Junie B?!?

Maggie

1. HOOT. That is the word I use to describe Maggie. She loves to get people to laugh, and once she figures out she is the star of the show, she milks it for all it is worth. I LOVE how that picture above captures Maggie’s smile. Her laughter is infectious, and she loves nothing more than for someone to be laughing with her. A favorite memory is of her running down the stairs in her tutu one Sunday when the house church was here. She came out into the middle of the room, held her hands out like she had just finished a gymnstics routine and shouted, “Hola!” to the same effect as “Tah-dah!” I died with laughter that day.

2. Maggie has been potty training and she has done very well with it. She gets an M&M whenever she does her business, and she is sure to cash in on it. I mentioned her liking her tutus. I think one of my favorite memories of late is of Maggie walking around the house in her tutu made of pink sheer material with no underwear. Quite a sight.

3. Her favorite food is soup or pasta, hands down. Today she asked me if she could have soup for lunch. I said, “You love soup.” She said back, “Yep. I love sopa (the Spanish word for soup).” She could also eat eggs every morning for breakfast if I allowed it. I make waffles about once a week. She can eat her wait in waffle, butter, and syrup. She also enjoys eating her “pan” (Spanish for bread) on Manuela days.

4. She pronounces her “C’s” like a “T.” It is really quite adorable. Her brother is “Tohen.” Her Daddy loves “Toffee.” And our teammates are “Shaye, Torah, Tyle, and Tarissa.” She also loves a special treat of getting to drink “Toke.”

5. Speaking of “hoot” and “t’s”, let’s make the word “Toot.” Ana was the easiest going child. ever. Maggie has been a little bit of a different story. She tests her boundaries quite frequently. And now, she just goes ahead and asks, “Do I get spankeens?” The answer is usually yes. She can be the sweetest child when she is well-rested, but if she has not slept well or lacks in the nap department, she is the moodiest thing. She takes a 2-3 hour nap every afternoon. We sing a song of her choice, she gets her baby and baba, and I have to wait to hear her say, “Don’t let the bed bugs get you!” She then giggles and waits for me to say, “Ok, I won’t. Don’t let them get you!” And then I have to let her say, “Night Night, I love you.” I have walked out of her room enough times without going through that ritual to hear her cry and cry until I say it. It is pretty funny to hear her all choked up saying, “But I didn’t tell you “I love you.” (imagine her barely getting that out.)

6. Right now Maggie loves books, playing with balls, dressing up, and play cooking. She will start school in March with Ana. She is starting a year too early according to the Peruvian calendar, but we will just have her repeat it. She needs the social interaction, and this is how she will learn Spanish. Right now I am working on her colors, basic shapes, and numbers in English and Spanish. I can’t wait to see how she like school this year.

7. Also one thing that I want to remember about Maggie living specifically here in Arequipa is what she does when she hears a whistle. Here in Arequipa, the night watch man that patroles the neighborhood is called a “watchyman.” He walks the streets blowing his whistle. Whenever Maggie hears a whistle, she will shout with excitement, “Watchyman!”

We love our princesses!