Arwyn added the word "bottle" to her resume this week. It also seems like she's gotten a little more stubborn this week, often refusing to wear bibs or sit in her highchair to eat at mealtimes. More often she seems to want to sit in a booster at the main table in order to be placated. She had a lot of early morning fun with her PopPop this week while Mom and Dad got to sleep in a little, but once Mom got up, you'd think that PopPop had been mean to her all morning, she wouldn't even let him near her again. It was hardly fair, but that's Arwyn, she just wants her Mama. Arwyn being as mellow as she is, we don't have too much trouble with her, but she is constantly watching Leia and all her tantrums and antics. She is definitely very concerned for her sister when she see's Leia so upset, and tries to bring her toys to cheer her up. Hopefully she is seeing that Leia mostly gets bad results with these tantrums rather than learning these bad tricks! Arwyn had a great Halloween this year. She participated in her school trick-or-treat parade through the hospital dressed as Tinker Bell to match Leia, and man did she have a blast. At first she was a little overwhelmed up in her dad's arms, but then she decided she wanted to get down and participate, and then she was just running through the halls like crazy, carrying her own pumpkin basket, and collecting her treats. Such fun! Our family all celebrated and trick-or-treated together the night before Halloween, and Arwyn was dressed as Mr. Smee (Captain Hook's first mate). I was Captain Hook, Leia was Tinker Bell, and Josh was a Jedi. She was a little confused about what the heck we were doing out in the cold snowy weather with not enough clothes, but she liked the whole process anyway. She kept dancing around every time we got back in the car with a new treat. Last week Arwyn showed us how fearless she was on the scooter, and this week she and Leia were dive bombing off the couch onto a cushion, "jumping into a pool" according to Leia. It was pretty funny to watch, plus Arwyn's athleticism as she scrambled around was amazing. Arwyn really likes to be included in all of Leia's projects, but often Leia gets upset that Arwyn is "ruining" her stuff. I'm just glad that Arwyn is interested and I'm sure they'll figure it all out soon. Arwyn really started liking reading books this week. Prior to now she's always been super distracted at reading time, but PopPop brought her a new book with hidden pictures under flaps on the pages, and she just loves the book! She's also liking the Beach book and Pout Pout Fish (which is my favorite), and now she gets pissed when I breastfeed her instead of giving her the bottle because we don't read while breastfeeding. Everytime we go to bed, she fusses and tries to reach for the book. This is of course very good news, despite the fact that my breastfeeding days are probably numbered. We are also starting to hear real phrases in Arwyn's babble. The other day Josh and I were totally amazed when we both heard her say "Let's go bike riding!"
As I mentioned above, Leia was Tinker Bell, or actually the Pirate Tinker Bell for Halloween. She was wearing her costume for a week straight before the actual event, and luckily she got several Tinker Bell costumes, so she had spares to wear to school and pee in without ruining her real one. By the time Halloween came along she was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She took a really short nap and then when she came up to find me after nap and I made her get in bed with me to rest longer, she was trying to talk to me while her whole body was shaking like she was on speed. It was incredible to witness! She was not shy at all this year, yelling "trick-or-treat" at every house, but also saying thank you. We had week number two of working on our new discipline skills with Leia. We were working on tightening up our bedtime routine so that she can't use her delay tactics to stall us, as well as getting her back into night diapers without a fight. Definitely several nights of fighting, both over diapers and other random requests that I denied, but I do see promise as long as we keep up with our mantra of staying "calm, clear, and consistent." Man, being the parent of a willful toddler is a lot of work! We still need to work on getting her to control her temper because she keeps pushing Arwyn down the steps (don't worry, just a short flight of them) when she gets upset at Arwyn. Luckily Arwyn is still ok, and clearly is building up some tough skin. Then on the other hand, Leia was so sweet and pep-talked up a storm to me when I was upset about being late for work and forgetting her sunscreen. She told me "it's ok Mommy, you're ok," but then she also told me that I should probably stay home so that the police don't come and take me away (because we always tell her that the police will take her away if she doesn't put on her sunscreen)! She also kept lecturing me about taking a "time out" and thinking about my decisions. Clearly she hears this stuff and understands it, but she's just not so good at implementing it herself. When she picks an issue to test and to fight about, she doesn't think about her decisions; she's just too smart, persistent, perceptive, and stubborn to give up...just like her mommy!
As I mentioned above, Leia was Tinker Bell, or actually the Pirate Tinker Bell for Halloween. She was wearing her costume for a week straight before the actual event, and luckily she got several Tinker Bell costumes, so she had spares to wear to school and pee in without ruining her real one. By the time Halloween came along she was so excited she could hardly contain herself. She took a really short nap and then when she came up to find me after nap and I made her get in bed with me to rest longer, she was trying to talk to me while her whole body was shaking like she was on speed. It was incredible to witness! She was not shy at all this year, yelling "trick-or-treat" at every house, but also saying thank you. We had week number two of working on our new discipline skills with Leia. We were working on tightening up our bedtime routine so that she can't use her delay tactics to stall us, as well as getting her back into night diapers without a fight. Definitely several nights of fighting, both over diapers and other random requests that I denied, but I do see promise as long as we keep up with our mantra of staying "calm, clear, and consistent." Man, being the parent of a willful toddler is a lot of work! We still need to work on getting her to control her temper because she keeps pushing Arwyn down the steps (don't worry, just a short flight of them) when she gets upset at Arwyn. Luckily Arwyn is still ok, and clearly is building up some tough skin. Then on the other hand, Leia was so sweet and pep-talked up a storm to me when I was upset about being late for work and forgetting her sunscreen. She told me "it's ok Mommy, you're ok," but then she also told me that I should probably stay home so that the police don't come and take me away (because we always tell her that the police will take her away if she doesn't put on her sunscreen)! She also kept lecturing me about taking a "time out" and thinking about my decisions. Clearly she hears this stuff and understands it, but she's just not so good at implementing it herself. When she picks an issue to test and to fight about, she doesn't think about her decisions; she's just too smart, persistent, perceptive, and stubborn to give up...just like her mommy!
Arwyn just graduated to the 18 month clothes collection...here we see her in one of our favorite Leia classics!
Tickle time with Daddy!
Love it when these two snuggle and make each other laugh!
Puppet show for PopPop.
All dressed up in her "wedding outfit" for a nice dinner at Nana and Poppy's.
Believe me, it's not summer here anymore, but we still have a few more new dresses to get Arwyn into before it's really too late!
Yup, such a little cutie pie hanging with her Nana.
"No more kisses please Cooper!" She's learning to say "Dog" and even "Coop."
Josh's Halloween Skull and Crossbones Pirate Pancake
Password = Arwyn
Watching Arwyn run around and laugh just makes you smile!
Getting festive in her Halloween suit!
Dancin' dancin' and more dancin'!
A little family time making some spooky Halloween eyeball cookies.
Hey you, gotcha!
Everyone is a good helper!
And after the cookies were done, Leia made her own scary concoction!
Ewww, eyeballs! It's a trick treat.
The proud chefs.
Modeling the new winter boots and jacket from our friend Alisa...can you tell how much she loves pink and purple?!
Cutest little hat model ever!
Getting into her "Mr. Smee" costume...we had to improvise on the spectacles.
Transue family does Neverland...Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, and Pirate Tinkerbell.
Both of them were getting goofy for the camera.
"Argghh mateys, we captured us a Jedi!"
First stop for Trick-or-Treating was our good friend Jan, and the little stone turtles were a huge hit!
Unfortunately it was a crazy snowy blizzard and each house we stopped at was about a quarter mile apart, so we did what I swore I'd never do...drive to trick or treat!
Mr. Smee wants her pirate booty please!
Yummy treats and glow-in-the-dark necklaces...MorMor never disappoints!
Jedi Joshua showing off his crazy Light Saber skills!
Princess Leia practicing a few Light Saber skills of her own!
Halloween Day trick-or-treat parade at the hospital...here are a few of Arwyn's friends from the Infant Room.
The Tinkerbell Sisters race down the hall for the next candy stop...so exciting!
Showing Arwyn about the art of trick-or-treat, because that's what good big sisters do.
Cute little pair of wings checking out the pumpkin carving contest.
Love those big smiles...are they having fun or what?
Some of the kids from Leia's Pre-3 Class standing in front of their second place Oscar the Grouch Pumpkin.
Winding down after an exciting day.
Ok, maybe we're not winding down so much; new matching jammies from MumMum are just too exciting!
Tinker bell, Witch, and scary goblin...And that's a wrap on a very successful Halloween weekend!
Password = Arwyn
Arwyn likes to keep that Jukebox rolling so she can dance dance dance!
Jealous of all Arwyn's new PJ's in size 18 months, Leia (size 5-6) insisted that they would fit her and that Arwyn wanted to share...no Leia, that is not meant to be a shortie suit!
My little baby!
Usually Tinker Bell flies, but today she decided to bike to the park.
As you can see from these solemn faces, it's never fun when you have to leave the park...well, until Daddy starts biking off-road and over jumps that is!
Turns out Arwyn likes hummus, playing with it and eating it!
