Arwyn continues to be frustratingly needy, always crying and screaming when you try to stop carrying her around. It makes you feel good because she gives the best hugs (really tight, genuine squeezes) while you hold her, but sometimes you just want your arms back! She was, on the other hand, totally tough when it came to the 6 shots she got at the doctor this week. She screamed for the 2 minutes until I got her situated for breastfeeding, and then was completely fine the rest of the day. She slept well, she wasn't fussier than usual (kinda hard to be fussier than usual), and didn't wince or appear to be sore if you grabbed her legs in the shot area. Tough kid! Too bad she's not as tough with her teething as she is with her shots. The doctor said she's still anemic, so we are back to giving iron medicine every day. She's still waking up early this week, so I think we need to get her to bed earlier again. She took a pretty good fall this week, or more precisely, got a good dropping by Leia. Leia was trying to carry her up over a large rock to get into Audra's new teepee, and Josh didn't run quite fast enough to put a stop to it, so when Leia dropped Arwyn, she fell face first into a tree stump and took a tooth partially through the lip, along with a few face scrapes. It was very bloody for a few minutes, and she had a fat lip for a few days, but she seemed to get over it pretty quickly and didn't let it ruin her evening of fun. We've decided to try her on dairy again to see if she's grown out of her allergy yet or not, so more on that as the days unfold...
We decided to start buckling down on Leia's unruly behavior, implementing all the good parenting technics from our books (remaining calm, cool, and collected while disciplining, etc.), and while the whole experience was extremely trying, I think we are moving in the right direction and hopefully won't have to do it too much more. And when I say "it", I'm referring to a 40 minute "time-out" where I locked myself into the room with Leia while she had the most epic meltdown. I stayed totally calm while she screamed and hit and kicked me, and I didn't let us out until she could calm down and sit quietly on the couch. The whole thing started over her wanting a third squeezie (but really, it could have been anything), and I never did give it to her. The same thing happened a few days later when I wouldn't let her play with my fancy jewelry like she wanted. A few more times of her learning that melt-downs don't result in us "caving in" and hopefully she'll figure out not to go there anymore. We'll see... Leia has also gotten really excited about her art and her role playing games, but in a very intense/hyper/bossy sort of way that makes playing with her sort of overwhelming. Do not try to deviate from her idea of how the game should be going or look out! Sometimes I feel like I need to discipline or punish her about how she's playing, but then I realize that I don't want to punish her when she's technically being "good." We will just need to work on finding a way to bring down her intensity a bit so we can all have better balance in our play. She did write her very first letter to Santa this week. It consisted of one of her many recent "lists" of stuff that each person in the family wanted. She kept asking me what I wanted and would scribble it down onto her list; so cute. And when I said I needed to get a stamp for the envelope, she said "No Mommy, I got it!" and proceeded to stamp the envelope with one of her smiley face ink stamps. On the sister front, even though Leia always makes it clear that she loves her "baby", she continues to take cheap shots on Arwyn whenever possible. She will sucker punch her for no reason, kick her if she's frustrated, and always takes away her toys. We are still trying unsuccessfully to figure out a consistent plan for dealing with all this. Leia did wake up from her nap one day and spontaneously walked up to Arwyn to apologize for dumping sand on her head earlier in the day, so maybe she does have some bit of conscience working on her when she's quiet! Leia also had her flu shot this week, and she was tough as nails. Didn't even make a peep, just gritted her teeth and took the pain. As I mentioned earlier, she's been really excited about art, especially as she gains new skills to draw real world objects. Her current repertoire includes a man, a flower, the letter "L", "X" marks the spot, and sometimes "A." The funniest thing lately is her new obsession with talking about the times back when she was a "big girl." One day she told me, "Back when I was a big girl and you were in my tummy, I did..." She definitely had an amazing life back when she was a big girl!
We decided to start buckling down on Leia's unruly behavior, implementing all the good parenting technics from our books (remaining calm, cool, and collected while disciplining, etc.), and while the whole experience was extremely trying, I think we are moving in the right direction and hopefully won't have to do it too much more. And when I say "it", I'm referring to a 40 minute "time-out" where I locked myself into the room with Leia while she had the most epic meltdown. I stayed totally calm while she screamed and hit and kicked me, and I didn't let us out until she could calm down and sit quietly on the couch. The whole thing started over her wanting a third squeezie (but really, it could have been anything), and I never did give it to her. The same thing happened a few days later when I wouldn't let her play with my fancy jewelry like she wanted. A few more times of her learning that melt-downs don't result in us "caving in" and hopefully she'll figure out not to go there anymore. We'll see... Leia has also gotten really excited about her art and her role playing games, but in a very intense/hyper/bossy sort of way that makes playing with her sort of overwhelming. Do not try to deviate from her idea of how the game should be going or look out! Sometimes I feel like I need to discipline or punish her about how she's playing, but then I realize that I don't want to punish her when she's technically being "good." We will just need to work on finding a way to bring down her intensity a bit so we can all have better balance in our play. She did write her very first letter to Santa this week. It consisted of one of her many recent "lists" of stuff that each person in the family wanted. She kept asking me what I wanted and would scribble it down onto her list; so cute. And when I said I needed to get a stamp for the envelope, she said "No Mommy, I got it!" and proceeded to stamp the envelope with one of her smiley face ink stamps. On the sister front, even though Leia always makes it clear that she loves her "baby", she continues to take cheap shots on Arwyn whenever possible. She will sucker punch her for no reason, kick her if she's frustrated, and always takes away her toys. We are still trying unsuccessfully to figure out a consistent plan for dealing with all this. Leia did wake up from her nap one day and spontaneously walked up to Arwyn to apologize for dumping sand on her head earlier in the day, so maybe she does have some bit of conscience working on her when she's quiet! Leia also had her flu shot this week, and she was tough as nails. Didn't even make a peep, just gritted her teeth and took the pain. As I mentioned earlier, she's been really excited about art, especially as she gains new skills to draw real world objects. Her current repertoire includes a man, a flower, the letter "L", "X" marks the spot, and sometimes "A." The funniest thing lately is her new obsession with talking about the times back when she was a "big girl." One day she told me, "Back when I was a big girl and you were in my tummy, I did..." She definitely had an amazing life back when she was a big girl!
Not too psyched right now. Is it because Dad dressed her up like a big yellow banana or because Mom wants to document it?
Last spring we tested out the new tunnel, but today we tested out the new sidewalks on both sides of it. Leia's been looking forward to this day for months; Arwyn was again pissed that I had to put her down to document it!
Running through the big ditch...fun open space now, but we are all curious what it's going to look like in the end.
This was actually Mommy's report card the first day I sent her with her new bento-style lunch box. It was so stressful to change my whole packing method, so the positive feedback really made it all ok!
Arwyn's new spectacles.
Picnic at the park.
Big smiles from my big girl who can now hold her own sandwich and take little bites!
My junior firefighter looking a little concerned about the hot play structure temps.
Hey, who's actually driving that bicycle built for three??
Arwyn taking advantage of a great little spot for a ball squat workout.
Fun little playdate with Audra and Jesse on their brand new lawn!
Action shot of these two little buddies!
"Hey guys, did you see this cool new teepee thing over here?!"
Fought her way in for a turn with the ever popular shopping cart...tough crowd around here! Maybe that's why Leia "dropped" her 5 minutes later??
Pretty morning for fishing up at Stampede.
Josh had a fun morning out with the boys.
She said she wanted to be a lion...not a bad job actually.
First a lion, then a flower.
First ever letter to Santa. Even did her own stamps, and addressed it to "X marks the spot." Pretty ingenious actually.
The contents: a nice picture for Santa and the List.
Each scribble is a different list item for someone in our family. Mine says: "RoomBot Vacuum."
Serious sand sculpting session at the pond today.
Arwyn was a really good helper (well, when she wasn't being a really good smasher that is)!
Date night: fig, prosciutto, and mint toasts.
First Steelers game day of the season...the fans are getting pumped up in their uniforms.
"Steelers are #1!"
Sister swings!
Password = Arwyn
Arwyn has not even been walking for 2 months yet, and already she's a little soccer star. Her Dad showed her one time how to dribble the ball, and she figured it out instantly!
Love these two cuties!
Daddy even got Leia is a jersey for a bit!
Doing her "Happy Football Dance"!
Watching a movie, reading a book, and watching the game...at least everyone is in his or her own happy place!
Thanks to a required "drop off and leave" for picture day at school, Mommy got her first workout in awhile! First time exploring the Truckee River Legacy Trail...what a beautiful trail!
Dandelion fun!
Blow Arwyn, blow!
So happy when she can do cool stuff like her sister!
Arwyn actually got more hairs off the dandelion by running around fast with it then by blowing...she's cute both ways!
In case you ever wondered what it looks like when your toddler smacks your open jaw with her skull causing you to bite off your tongue with 8-10 different teeth all at once, well, this is it. Very painful!
School Picture Previews!
Are these two just the cutest little things ever or what?!
