Leia totally surprised me, yet again, with her uncanny insight into her own feelings and behaviors. I was trying to stop her from washing my breakable ceramic sushi bowls, wanting to just do it myself so they wouldn't get dropped and broken. We were having a total power struggle when finally she burst out at me with this: "Mom, you never let me do stuff by myself, you always try to do it for me! You never trust me!" I stopped dead in my tracks, but this is exactly what the lady teaching my child behavior class said that kids were unable to verbalize! She said they would behave poorly instead of talking because they didn't know how to verbalize their needs. Well, not Leia! Unbelievable. And of course I had to grit my teeth, let it go, and trust her. And she did a great job, nothing broken. It's always been our joke/no joke, but seriously, she's so advanced! Of course, 3 hours later she's freaking out and sobbing that I won't go back down to the lawn to pick up her toys for her. I thought you didn't want me to do things for you?! One day I found Leia cuddled up quietly on the couch, no TV, and just staring at the little Polaroid of me and Josh from the wedding we went to. "I really miss my Daddy," she said. It was so adorable. Apparently we have a lot of work to do with Leia as far as getting her to learn that you can't always win, how to be a graceful loser, and how to enjoy a game even if you aren't the winner. She was so upset when Echo beat her in a little bike race down the street, crying and screaming that it wasn't fair. Then she decided that she'd rather race against Arwyn because she knew she'd win. Not winning that sportsman award with behavior like that! I'm implementing another new household policy about no second chances. I'm tired of nagging and repeating myself. You do what I ask the first time or you lose a privilege, and there's no do-over's when you realize afterwards that you should have done it the first time. There's no do-over's in many circumstances in real life, and kids need to learn to think fast and think critically the first time and understand that there really are consequences to their behaviors, and mommy can't always fix it. I, of course, picked a bad time to implement this new policy because it was right before nap, and she was so pissed and upset that she absolutely lost her mind. I ended up giving her a big long bear hug to calm her down, but I never did give her that treat. Later she asked me if I would hold her like a baby again if she cried. I said yes, but I've also been trying to hug her more when she's not upset so she doesn't start thinking that she needs to cry to get hugs! Leia's hit a new developmental milestone with her artwork. She's starting to paint and draw specific object that actually look like the objects they are intended to be (ex. cranberry, blueberry, lady bug with spots, rainbows). She's also really starting to comprehend about mixing colors, but she's also making a real conscious effort to keep her colors separate, and cleaning her paintbrush so she doesn't dirty one color with another. Pretty cool. Her imaginative stories and characters are as vibrant as ever, this week she made up a story about a Dr. Sudzo, which was quite hilarious. Leia asked me one day if we could do the science experiment where you "mix the food color with baking powder and water and watch it explode. Grandma told me about it." Of course I had no idea what she was talking about, so I texted Grandma. Food color, vinegar, and baking soda. And apparently Grandma only mentioned it off handedly one time at the very beginning of her trip, and Leia actually remembered and had the ingredients almost all right!
Arwyn is also making great progress on her color recognition milestone. She's especially good at naming the colors in her favorite "Put Me In the Zoo" book, but even random colors she can identify a lot of the time. She made Vivian's day when she said to her, "Don't go home, MumMum." She was clearly really sad, but then, like Leia, expressed her emotions in a mean way and a minute later wouldn't hug her or say goodbye. Like her sister, Arwyn is turning into such a good little actress. My favorite is watching her be the mommy or teacher when she plays house. I love how she looks at you so sweetly and concerned, putting her hand out under your chin and asking, "You ok, Honey?" We went to lunch at a sushi restaurant this week. Leia and Arwyn saw the bright orange "sprinkles" on top of the sushi rolls (aka roe eggs!) and insisted on eating them. Leia didn't end up liking it, but Arwyn did, and she kept on eating them non-stop. Arwyn's art tends to be a brilliant mash up of color and texture, which is actually awesome, but then she decided she wanted to make a new picture, like Leia's, with lots of separate little objects. She set out with that goal in mind, but had a hard time doing it, her hand just started mixing and swirling, which really pissed her off. Her little body seemed like it was hard wired to just mix!
Arwyn is also making great progress on her color recognition milestone. She's especially good at naming the colors in her favorite "Put Me In the Zoo" book, but even random colors she can identify a lot of the time. She made Vivian's day when she said to her, "Don't go home, MumMum." She was clearly really sad, but then, like Leia, expressed her emotions in a mean way and a minute later wouldn't hug her or say goodbye. Like her sister, Arwyn is turning into such a good little actress. My favorite is watching her be the mommy or teacher when she plays house. I love how she looks at you so sweetly and concerned, putting her hand out under your chin and asking, "You ok, Honey?" We went to lunch at a sushi restaurant this week. Leia and Arwyn saw the bright orange "sprinkles" on top of the sushi rolls (aka roe eggs!) and insisted on eating them. Leia didn't end up liking it, but Arwyn did, and she kept on eating them non-stop. Arwyn's art tends to be a brilliant mash up of color and texture, which is actually awesome, but then she decided she wanted to make a new picture, like Leia's, with lots of separate little objects. She set out with that goal in mind, but had a hard time doing it, her hand just started mixing and swirling, which really pissed her off. Her little body seemed like it was hard wired to just mix!
Happy MumMum snuggle time!
Another version because I can never get everyone to smile at the same time, and I don't have time to photoshop it!
Giggling and singing the "We miss our Daddy" song.
Password = Leia
Josh was gone to Colorado for a full 2 weeks this year, which was piggy backed on top of our weekend getaway. Even though we FaceTimed almost every day, the girls really missed him.
Big thanks to our neighbor Russel for this cool Gingerbread Turkey! He felt so bad that he didn't have any candy for the 2 cutest trick-or-treaters on Halloween, so he brought a few of these over!
Password = Leia
Leia loves the big waterslide at the local pool. And this day she even did it without her floaties after her swim class!
Big steps!
Scrunch face!
Password = Arwyn
Arwyn likes to jump and climb. This Lily Pad trail made her nervous at first, but after a few tries holding mom's hand, she was ready to do it alone!
The climber in action!
Password = Arwyn
It doesn't matter if it's up, down, or side to side, Arwyn just loves to climb! She very skillfully navigates this horizontal climbing bar, even with some fancy feet untangling!
2 years of tongue pictures and she's still going strong!
Leia's first time flying a kite!
It wasn't quite windy enough, so she had to run fast!
Password = Leia
The weather seemed to be getting windy, but when we got to the park, it just wasn't quite windy enough. But Leia was determined to fly a kite by herself for the first time, so through a lot of persistence and some fast running skills, Leia got that kite to fly anyway!
Chilly fall evening at the park!
Didn't have enough spare gloves in the car for everyone. If Leia ended up wearing these, guess who's hands went cold?
Nope, not Arwyn's.
A valiant attempt by Arwyn to get the kite up!
She does not like to see Arwyn wearing her old clothes. No Leia, that suit does not fit you anymore!
A little big for the Googs, but we'll have to make it work.
Time for our very first science experiment!
Acetic Acid (vinegar) + sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) = sodium acetate + carbon dioxide (bubbles!)
Had to try it in every color, of course.
And everyone had to get their own turn.
They were totally enraptured!
New alien goggles!
Dr. Sudzo and her assitent.
They think they are so funny.
They are correct, they are so funny!
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