Arwyn is starting to imitate Leia more and more, both in good and bad ways. She likes to say, "What the heck?" She sounds just like Leia, it's a bit spooky. One of the annoying things she's picked up from Leia is screaming, "It's too tight! It's choking me!" when I put her in her carseat. Funny story from a morning drive to school this week: It was uncharacteristically cold outside, -2 degrees by the time we got to Truckee, and I had been watching the temperature drop as we were driving. The girls never really want to put their jackets on for the walk from the car to school, so I started to try to convince Leia that she should do it today. Of course she didn't want to, so I got very animated in my description of how cold it was, comparing it to Elsa's frozen castle, and saying if she stood still for too long her body would freeze like an icicle. By the time we arrived, Arwyn was so distraught from my stories. She kept crying out, "I don't want to freeze!" Oops! I had to reverse my story, and I told her we just had to keep hopping all the way inside because as long as we didn't stand still, we wouldn't actually freeze. Of course then I was worried that we'd all slip on the ice and get hurt while hopping. Arwyn had a bunch of bad nightmares this week. One night when she woke up screaming, she couldn't settle down and insisted on coming up to sleep with me. I never like this, but so far it's always been just a one night thing and then she's fine again for a few months. Unlike me, she did actually go right back to sleep, but then she woke up super early and started tracing my face with her finger. She seems to be very infatuated with faces, and has been since she was little. When she's in a good mood, she likes gently touching and tracing faces. When she's in in a bad mood, she likes ripping them out with he sharp fingernail claws! Arwyn continues to have a lot of tough lessons about not eating dinner and not brushing teeth, as I described last week. At first I was worried that she wasn't ready, but after realizing how much she learns from Leia, I decided that I was just babying her. She's definitely getting it, even though she doesn't like it. Arwyn always says something caring before I leave the room at bedtime. This week Josh was finally home for a little, and she insisted on both of us being in there to sing to her together. She wanted a 3-way family hug the whole time. And when we left to bap the yetis, she called out, "Mommy, you hold Daddy hand, ok?" It was so cute.
Leia impressed me with her problem solving skills this week. She was doing her usual bedtime art projects one night this week, and she kept coming out to ask for some tape. I shouldn't have given her anything because I don't like to encourage it, but stupidly I did. Then she came out a second time as well because she needed more tape. I reiterated that she shouldn't come out anymore, it's bedtime, and that she should make sure she has all the tape she's going to need because she's not to come out again, period. She actually stayed in that time. The next morning when she brought me her art project, she told me all about how she ended up needing another piece of tape, but was able to solve her own problem by using one of the stickers that she had with her in her room. She was definitely proud to be able to tell me that, and I was happy to hear it. I think the only reason that she didn't come out again was because I had put the responsibility on her to make sure she had enough pieces of tape before she left that last time, and when she realized that she'd messed up, she took responsibility for it. She cracked me up another day when we had our robot vacuum Baileywick cleaning the house. She put her My Little Pony on him for a ride, and was cracking herself up watching the pony ride all around the house like it was an amusement park ride. "I could watch this all day!" she laughed. Where does she come up with these phrases!? Josh always says that he doesn't think Leia actually believes in the yeti story, but she just goes along with it because she loves getting into a good act. The other night she finally said to me, "There's no such thing as yetis, Mom." Of course I reassured her that there were indeed real yetis out there, so she told me to take a picture of one that night when I went out to bap them. I said I would try, she didn't like that, just wanted me to get it done. One thing led to another, and next thing I know she wants me to poke and kill the yetis with a needle. I tried to get out of that too, I mean, they are pretty fast. I can scare them away, but I don't think I can catch them and kill them. And why does she want them dead anyway? "Mom, you need to kill the yetis so you won't have to bap them each night, and then you won't always be so tired in the mornings!" Smart girl! If only it was that easy, I would love to not be so tired every morning!! Leia's been complaining a lot recently about having a little sister, all the attention the Arwyn gets (especially when she's scratching and hurting people), and how Arwyn always plays with her toys. I had a long talk with Leia about the terrible 2's, and how Leia was just the same at that age. I wanted to convince her that being nicer, setting a good example, and not taunting Arwyn and setting her off would all help. It seemed reasonable to her at the time, but of course she can't do it in the moment. I definitely see that the majority of Leia's acting out happens in direct response to her feeling jealous of any attention that Arwyn is getting, so I decided to start the weekend off on a good note by picking Leia up from school early to have some special Mommy time. I knew she would feel really special, and I hoped we could talk a little about what's been bothering her. It was definitely a great 30 minutes for both of us, and to top it off Leia found a $5 gift card to the hospital cafeteria, so she dragged me down to get free ice cream for everyone! We got to hang out with Emmett a few times this weekend, and didn't want to come home afterwards. She decided that she's rather live there because their house is better and having a brother is better. By the end of the weekend, and after a bunch of fun play sessions, Leia finally admitted, "Actually, it's great to have a sister because she always laughs." Well, unfortunately I think her opinion on this subject will continue to go back and forth for awhile. Leia made me a special card this week, full of all the letters that she's been working on writing. She wanted me to read the card out loud, and I felt so bad because I had no idea what it said because it was just random letters. I asked her to read it to me, but she was so proud of her writing, and convinced that it really said something, that she really wanted me to read it to her. I finally just said I couldn't read it, but apparently this is what it said: "Dear Mommy, I love you so much. Thanks for being such a great mommy. You are the best. Love Leia." Or something like that. And finally, Leia officially learned how to write her name with a proper lower case 'e' this week!! So exciting. She's really making so much progress with writing and recognizing all her letters all of a sudden. She loves to practice writing them each day by doing her "homework." She loves doing her "homework," it makes her feel so important.
Leia impressed me with her problem solving skills this week. She was doing her usual bedtime art projects one night this week, and she kept coming out to ask for some tape. I shouldn't have given her anything because I don't like to encourage it, but stupidly I did. Then she came out a second time as well because she needed more tape. I reiterated that she shouldn't come out anymore, it's bedtime, and that she should make sure she has all the tape she's going to need because she's not to come out again, period. She actually stayed in that time. The next morning when she brought me her art project, she told me all about how she ended up needing another piece of tape, but was able to solve her own problem by using one of the stickers that she had with her in her room. She was definitely proud to be able to tell me that, and I was happy to hear it. I think the only reason that she didn't come out again was because I had put the responsibility on her to make sure she had enough pieces of tape before she left that last time, and when she realized that she'd messed up, she took responsibility for it. She cracked me up another day when we had our robot vacuum Baileywick cleaning the house. She put her My Little Pony on him for a ride, and was cracking herself up watching the pony ride all around the house like it was an amusement park ride. "I could watch this all day!" she laughed. Where does she come up with these phrases!? Josh always says that he doesn't think Leia actually believes in the yeti story, but she just goes along with it because she loves getting into a good act. The other night she finally said to me, "There's no such thing as yetis, Mom." Of course I reassured her that there were indeed real yetis out there, so she told me to take a picture of one that night when I went out to bap them. I said I would try, she didn't like that, just wanted me to get it done. One thing led to another, and next thing I know she wants me to poke and kill the yetis with a needle. I tried to get out of that too, I mean, they are pretty fast. I can scare them away, but I don't think I can catch them and kill them. And why does she want them dead anyway? "Mom, you need to kill the yetis so you won't have to bap them each night, and then you won't always be so tired in the mornings!" Smart girl! If only it was that easy, I would love to not be so tired every morning!! Leia's been complaining a lot recently about having a little sister, all the attention the Arwyn gets (especially when she's scratching and hurting people), and how Arwyn always plays with her toys. I had a long talk with Leia about the terrible 2's, and how Leia was just the same at that age. I wanted to convince her that being nicer, setting a good example, and not taunting Arwyn and setting her off would all help. It seemed reasonable to her at the time, but of course she can't do it in the moment. I definitely see that the majority of Leia's acting out happens in direct response to her feeling jealous of any attention that Arwyn is getting, so I decided to start the weekend off on a good note by picking Leia up from school early to have some special Mommy time. I knew she would feel really special, and I hoped we could talk a little about what's been bothering her. It was definitely a great 30 minutes for both of us, and to top it off Leia found a $5 gift card to the hospital cafeteria, so she dragged me down to get free ice cream for everyone! We got to hang out with Emmett a few times this weekend, and didn't want to come home afterwards. She decided that she's rather live there because their house is better and having a brother is better. By the end of the weekend, and after a bunch of fun play sessions, Leia finally admitted, "Actually, it's great to have a sister because she always laughs." Well, unfortunately I think her opinion on this subject will continue to go back and forth for awhile. Leia made me a special card this week, full of all the letters that she's been working on writing. She wanted me to read the card out loud, and I felt so bad because I had no idea what it said because it was just random letters. I asked her to read it to me, but she was so proud of her writing, and convinced that it really said something, that she really wanted me to read it to her. I finally just said I couldn't read it, but apparently this is what it said: "Dear Mommy, I love you so much. Thanks for being such a great mommy. You are the best. Love Leia." Or something like that. And finally, Leia officially learned how to write her name with a proper lower case 'e' this week!! So exciting. She's really making so much progress with writing and recognizing all her letters all of a sudden. She loves to practice writing them each day by doing her "homework." She loves doing her "homework," it makes her feel so important.
Enjoying one of her best "treasure" finds ever: free ice cream gift card!
It's not every day that someone arrives to pick you up from school with ice cream in hand!
That's a happy girl! (Not something that we always see at 5:30 pm after a long school day!)
Leia was my partner in crime for trying to get Arwyn to hold still for a picture!
There's a nice "cheese!"
Sister love!
Got enough hair clips there, Arwyn?
Says Leia, "This is hilarious. I could watch this all day!"
The more the merrier on this roller coaster ride. Leia was cracking herself up left and right.
All set up for a special sleepover party with Mom and sister.
Taking care of her little baby.
Love it when they actually take turns and play well together.
Watching the original Shirley Temple, and Leia loved it!
It's the middle of February, it's windy and freezing, but we are going swimming and the excitement level is off the charts. Therefore, clothing not needed!
We knew that Josh went off the Wyoming and Montana, but we didn't know he was sleeping at the base of these beautiful mountains every night! Brrr!
Future Moscow Mule drinkers in training? Hopefully not, but they are cool cups.
Fun party for Dash's 3rd birthday. Always fun when the next generation of our best friends are all friends!
You're freaking me out, Grandma! And why are all these people singing and looking at me?!
A little encouragement from Mom and the lure of a chocolate cupcake calmed him down a bit.
Really cool cupcake in a cone. Even Leia ate the chocolate again. Actually, both girls only ate the frosting and left the rest.
She loves her "chocate!"
Really cool abstract "Scarecrow" art by Leia. She just dove into our random art box, and came up with this. I love it when she gets to creative all on her own!
Help, it's some sort of mutant Cow-Leopard!
Finally got her to wear one of her new "soft shirts." Thanks Grandma!
Leia's next creative art activity. Make an animal out of floam, and then draw a picture of what you made. Seriously, she's like an art teacher in training! The pink is Leia's unicorn with wings. The yellow is my kangaroo with a baby in the front pouch.
The drawing version of Leia's unicorn. And did you notice that perfectly written 'e' in her name?!
Leia had a vision...if it's snowing outside, it should also snow in our kitchen! And a few seem to fall off each day, so it really does feel like it's snowing!
Waiting patiently by the front door to put on a show for Daddy when he walks in.
Party dresses were a strict requirement for this event, according to Leia.
These two love to get goofy!
Surprise Daddy! Welcome to a special performance just for you!
Leia put on a special show to welcome her Daddy home from work. All the animals were in the audience, and she made up all the songs herself.
Much to her father's delight, it looks like Leia will have a great singing voice. But it's her lyrics that just can't be beat!
Leia was so excited about her beautiful unicorn drawing that she decided to draw one to give to each of her school friends. She's really a generous, caring "super friend."
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