Arwyn is starting to turn into an independent little girl. The other day I asked her, "Arwyn, do you want cottage cheese?" I gave her one spoonful out of the carton, and she immediately ran over to the cupboard, took out a ramekin, and handed it to me to have it filled with more! She's also already figured out how to drag stools all over the house if she needs to climb up and reach things. She really has no problem taking matters into her own hand, but will still ask for help when necessary: "how, how!" (aka, help). We went to the Atkins for a Steelers game, and their son Axle was a huge Star Wars fan. Arwyn had so much fun running all around with Leia and trying to get Daddy (aka, Darth Vader) with all the cool Light Sabers they found. Her biting habits and bad temper are getting really bad these days, especially when she's tired. You can really tell when she needs a nap because she quickly goes from total patience with all her sister's annoying habits, to total anger, annoyance, and biting rage. However, she really loves winding down with reading at bedtime these days, and then happily falls asleep almost instantly no matter how pissed she was just prior. She's started that terrible "mine" phase now. The other day she walked around for almost an hour while trying to hold onto three water and milk bottles in her arms just to make sure everyone knew they were hers and not Leia's! She loves to come out and play in the snow with us, but despite her normal agility, she doesn't seem to be able to move or function very well once we are out in the snow. I don't know if her snow clothes are too tight and restrictive or if the snow just makes her uneasy, but for some reason she seems to just topple over and get stuck all the time. Skiing seems to be a different story though. She skied all by herself for the first time this week, and she even figured out how to walk a little in her skis! It was funny because at first she didn't want me to let go of her, but once I did and she got a successful taste of speed and freedom, then she didn't want me to touch her again at all! She even got a little to testy and independent on the chair after that, and kept trying to squirm away from me. She would have squirmed right off the chair if I wasn't holding on so tight. I didn't like that at all, and I told her we'd have to stop skiing if she didn't quit it, but of course you can't reason with a 19 month old so we did have to stop a little early. I think maybe she was tired.
Leia's imagination is growing bigger and bigger every day, which is so fun to watch. The night we went to the Atkins' house, she started off shy, but by the end she was having so much fun leading her crew of followers (me, Arwyn, and Nina) in a crazy game of Star Wars. She would lead us from "her castle" out to fight Darth Vader Daddy, back to the castle to sleep, then we'd wake up and go to the aquarium to feed the fish (which meant we took a little tackle-like box over to the little night light that looked like a fish tank and feed the imaginary fish), then we'd take turns surfing on the surf board, and then start over to fight the bad guys. She's a natural born leader, I just hope she soon learns how to follow a little bit because right now she has no tolerance for dissidence! I got a bit frustrated with her this week because she was driving me crazy with all her little extra needs and distraction tactics when I really needed her cooperation at a time when Arwyn was being a turd. She can be such a helpful and cooperative big sister at times, so it's hugely aggravating when she decides to get jealous and just make everything worse instead. I need to get back to giving her many more positive reinforcements in a day and see if we can get our helpful girl back. She's so funny when she gets home from school on Fridays (it's the only day I see her after school) because she is so excited to tell me about a million different things, and her mind and mouth are racing at a million miles an hour. It's actually rather dizzying to interact with her at that time, especially because it's the end of the day, and a time when you'd like to actually relax and chill out. But she's just winding up! Josh has come up with the most brilliant scheme to get her to sleep these days. He tells her that the Snow Yeti's are coming to get her, and the only way she'll be safe is to get in bed right away. She knows she has to stay all covered up under the blankets because otherwise they'll smell her, and she need's to hurry up and pee before bed because they really like pee and they'll come find her if she doesn't get it out. You might think this would really scare her, and most kids it might, but Leia seems to really get into the acting and drama of the whole thing, and doesn't seem bothered at all. I guess it helps that we run out of the room to go scare away those Yeti's, so she's confident in our protection. Occasionally it's annoying because she won't go up to get something from her room by herself because she say's she's scared of the Yetis. Frankly I think she's just using our own game against us to get the company that she wants anyway. It's a small price to pay for a quick and easy bedtime escape. The other day she clearly wasn't actually tired at nap time because she stayed up a whole hour singing, talking, and playing with her dolls in bed, but she didn't get out of bed a single time...yetis? Her favorite food to "make" these days is "strawberry Banilla" anything, which cracks me up, as well as the fact that she still likes to call me Katharine all the time. She had her second day of ski school this week, and she is doing so well. They took her group up to the longer (and slightly steeper) magic carpet, and she was able to make laps all by herself. She can do pizza, French Fries, make small turns, slow to a stop, and load and unload the magic carpet all by herself. I'm so excited to see her progress and her confidence...no more "Mommy, hold me!"
Leia's imagination is growing bigger and bigger every day, which is so fun to watch. The night we went to the Atkins' house, she started off shy, but by the end she was having so much fun leading her crew of followers (me, Arwyn, and Nina) in a crazy game of Star Wars. She would lead us from "her castle" out to fight Darth Vader Daddy, back to the castle to sleep, then we'd wake up and go to the aquarium to feed the fish (which meant we took a little tackle-like box over to the little night light that looked like a fish tank and feed the imaginary fish), then we'd take turns surfing on the surf board, and then start over to fight the bad guys. She's a natural born leader, I just hope she soon learns how to follow a little bit because right now she has no tolerance for dissidence! I got a bit frustrated with her this week because she was driving me crazy with all her little extra needs and distraction tactics when I really needed her cooperation at a time when Arwyn was being a turd. She can be such a helpful and cooperative big sister at times, so it's hugely aggravating when she decides to get jealous and just make everything worse instead. I need to get back to giving her many more positive reinforcements in a day and see if we can get our helpful girl back. She's so funny when she gets home from school on Fridays (it's the only day I see her after school) because she is so excited to tell me about a million different things, and her mind and mouth are racing at a million miles an hour. It's actually rather dizzying to interact with her at that time, especially because it's the end of the day, and a time when you'd like to actually relax and chill out. But she's just winding up! Josh has come up with the most brilliant scheme to get her to sleep these days. He tells her that the Snow Yeti's are coming to get her, and the only way she'll be safe is to get in bed right away. She knows she has to stay all covered up under the blankets because otherwise they'll smell her, and she need's to hurry up and pee before bed because they really like pee and they'll come find her if she doesn't get it out. You might think this would really scare her, and most kids it might, but Leia seems to really get into the acting and drama of the whole thing, and doesn't seem bothered at all. I guess it helps that we run out of the room to go scare away those Yeti's, so she's confident in our protection. Occasionally it's annoying because she won't go up to get something from her room by herself because she say's she's scared of the Yetis. Frankly I think she's just using our own game against us to get the company that she wants anyway. It's a small price to pay for a quick and easy bedtime escape. The other day she clearly wasn't actually tired at nap time because she stayed up a whole hour singing, talking, and playing with her dolls in bed, but she didn't get out of bed a single time...yetis? Her favorite food to "make" these days is "strawberry Banilla" anything, which cracks me up, as well as the fact that she still likes to call me Katharine all the time. She had her second day of ski school this week, and she is doing so well. They took her group up to the longer (and slightly steeper) magic carpet, and she was able to make laps all by herself. She can do pizza, French Fries, make small turns, slow to a stop, and load and unload the magic carpet all by herself. I'm so excited to see her progress and her confidence...no more "Mommy, hold me!"
Doesn't matter if they belong to Big Sister or Mom, wearing other people's shoes and jewels is always fun!
Leia worked very hard to set up a VERY elaborate tea party, complete with books, charms, activities, and several outfits. She's a great party planner, but clearly needs her own clean-up crew!
Arwyn chose to attend the tea party without an outfit, but enjoyed herself nonetheless!
Just chillin'.
We came to check out the Dinosaur Park in winter...it was a long, deep slog to get all the way in!
Feeling a little uneasy being left alone in the snow.
Password = Leia
So impressed to see Leia blazing the trail through thigh deep snow without giving up or calling for help!
Uh oh, a big tree fell and smashed the swings!
Roar! We found the dinosaur, not quite but almost buried!
Picnic lunch on the Snow Train!
Now she's having fun, "cho cho"!
Looking fabulous in fur again!
Leia is really funny when Arwyn isn't tired! Ha ha!
January 21st: the snow is really high all around our house these days!
Down to a one lane road, and the berms are high!
The road to Nana's.
Looking out at our side deck...looking pretty buried from this view!
The roof avalanched a few storms ago, and I just couldn't keep up with the snow removal. Half the deck is lost until summer I guess. Can't get out this way!
The snow is piled almost as high as the tall door on our bathroom balcony!
The snow on the stairs is as high as the deck railings...can't get out this way either!
Beautiful, untouched back yard because we have no way to get down there anymore!
Team coloring!
Password = Arwyn
Arwyn cracks us up with her silly "fake" laugh! But is it fake or is it real??
After Arwyn stole Frosty's nose to eat, Leia decided to build a snow castle instead! Arwyn was still in a demolition mood, so I had to keep building my own snow castles for her to knock down.
Taa-daa! Snow castle with a purple flag on top!
This shovel is not as efficient as mine, but help is help right?
When the snow walls get too high to throw the snow over, you just have to eat it off your deck instead!
Lounge chair!
It's fun to play in the snow!
It was too heavy and deep to make snow angels; her legs wouldn't budge!
Happy to be dressed just like her sister...it's Leia's signature "ballet outfit": twirly skirt with leggings for warmth!
Getting silly!
Little Miss Sophistication here...legs crossed, sunglasses on the head, and counting fingers out to recount the story.
Watching the Steelers playoff game with the Atkins' family...it's just all part of the Steelers Nation.
She happily agreed to put on Steelers clothes at the beginning of the game (like she always does), but was a little miffed 40 minutes later when she was ready to start her usual 5 outfit changes but discovered no one had brought any other clothes for her!
Fans in training.
Arwyn was really getting into the whole "attack Darth Vader Daddy" thing...watch out for her, she's quick with the light saber!
She's a lean, mean, sword fighting machine!
Taking the Yoga Warrior Pose to a whole new level!
The driveway was totally clear when we left for the game 4 hours ago...now the ruts are deep!
January 23rd: same view, 2 days later, windows are almost completely covered up now!
Yup, we are really tucked in there right now!
It's a beautiful winter wonderland!
Dining room...can't see out.
Kitchen...Josh can almost see out, but I just see a crack of skyline. I realized I really miss my nice view while I do dishes!
It's officially gone. This was Arwyn's last bag of frozen breastmilk. January 23, 2017 at 19 months old. She still gets one feeding of fresh breastmilk in the mornings, otherwise she's fully on whole cow's milk now.
Getting ready for Day #2 of Summiteers for Leia.
Today she hiked up to the upper Magic Carpet 2 times, and without being carried. Sometimes it's good when the Mom and Dad Taxi can't be found. (It was actually quite a good sized hike. Lower red fence all the way up to the blue fence mid picture.)
Password = Arwyn
At first Arwyn didn't want me to let go of her, but after a run or two of doing it by herself, she didn't want me to even touch her!
Password = Arwyn
Only 19 months old, and Arwyn is figuring out this whole skiing thing! Today she walked and skied straight by herself!
Password = Leia (below)
Day 2 of ski school for Leia and she can snow plow, stop, turn, and load and unload the Magic Carpet all by herself. Go Leia!
(Leia has the white helmet and blue jacket.)
Password = Arwyn (below)
Stand back when Arwyn's got her Light Saber...she's turning into a powerful force!
Managed to get in another nice dinner with my handsome husband this week.
My personal interpretation of this one is "Rainbow Snow."
I think it's a Picasso!
Cool melted bead clover.
I need to ask Leia how she made this, but it looks like some sort of string-slapping technique.
Really good "LEIA" letters, just not quite in the right order. I think it's her best "A" ever!
Arwyn, the budding artist.
I can tell Arwyn really gets into her artwork because she always comes home with more paint on herself then what I see on the paper!
I think this was either a wreath or a bracelet.
I love how Leia is starting to use such great combinations of colors!
Such great effects she makes with her brush strokes.
I love Leia's people, they are so cool looking! This one has hair, eyes with irises, teeth, a tongue, but no body. Sometimes you feel like a body, sometimes you don't.
Here we do have a body. I think this person may be lying down under the sun.
She's got the multi-media aspect down pat!
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