Leia got a glowing report from Teacher Allison when I went for her parent-teacher conference at school this week. She said Leia is so well behaved at school, and very good at sharing. She always follows the school procedure of tapping the other child on the shoulder, and telling them she wants a turn. She waits for the other child to be done, without grabbing or hitting, and tells the teacher if there are problems. She said Leia is so sensitive to the emotions of her friends, and tries to help them if they are sad or upset. She reports that Leia is definitely a dominant personality, and likes to be in charge of the situation and runs the show. Leia has finally learned not to get upset when other kids don't want to do what she wants, and instead re-frames her words and ideas in a different way until the kids agree to do what she wants anyway. Allison thinks she'll be a lawyer, based on all these great negotiating and manipulating skills, and wants to keep in touch to see if Leia really does that in the future! She said Leia is always a good helper, good cleaner, and her most reliable kid as far as cooperating and keeping with the program. She pretty much said that Leia was her rock. Leia only gets upset once or twice a month when they deviate from the normal routine. She described Leia scrunching up her nose, stomping her foot, and telling everyone what they were doing wrong. That sounded very accurate to me! She say Leia is really good at her artwork, and especially loves cutting and gluing. She only loses interest in classroom tasks when they stay on the same activity too long, but regroups right away. She still needs work on her 6 person drawing, which is the same as last time (and not surprising since she hasn't been practicing drawing any people for months now). She also needs to work on her letter and number visual recognition, but she's doing great at counting and letter sounds. All in all, we were so impressed with her review, and greatly relieved to hear what a well behaved little girl she is. I guess all that good behavior needs an opposing outlet, so she saves the bad behavior for us at home! Can't say I'm not familiar with that in my own life!! We had a great learning experience with Leia at home this week. She was really whiny and upset when Arwyn wouldn't give her a turn to sip water out of Daddy's water bottle in the car one day, but she was strapped in her seat and couldn't do anything forceful about it like she might normally, so she continued to complain our ears off. I could see that Arwyn had a smug look, and was pleased with herself for pissing Leia off so well and for having the upper hand. I finally explained all this to Leia, saying she needed to learn to be in control of her own body and emotions, and not let other people's actions upset her. Just tell Arwyn she didn't care about that bottle anymore, don't get upset, and move on to something else. The second she did that, Arwyn handed the bottle right over to give Leia a turn. Ha! It was also cute this week when Leia excited rushed into my room one morning, exclaiming, "Mom, come look outside. You've got to see this! Look at those clouds. They're like Wisconsin clouds. It's a sun set. Isn't it so beautiful?" After we talked about how it was technically a sunrise, but they are very similar, and agreed it really was beautiful, she said "Daddy's never seen the run rise before." I couldn't stop chuckling.
Arwyn has been demonstrating her bravery and determination these days. She loves jumping, and wanted to jump off the end of the lounge chair, but everyone was too busy to hold her hand. Finally Dad just said to do it, so she did! She was so proud of herself for accomplishing something that had initially been a little frightening. Arwyn had her first trip to the dentist this week, and she did so well. She laid very still and cooperated the entire time the hygienist cleaned her teeth. After that she thought she was all done, so when we wanted her to lie back down for the dentist, she was not too happy, and not so cooperative anymore. Another week has gone by, and Arwyn is still tantruming a lot if she doesn't get what she wants or is too tired/hungry. You can see her change, her eyes go dark, and she goes straight in for a jugular pinch or hitting whatever part of you she can reach. We just have to keep trying to distract her before she makes that turn.
Arwyn has been demonstrating her bravery and determination these days. She loves jumping, and wanted to jump off the end of the lounge chair, but everyone was too busy to hold her hand. Finally Dad just said to do it, so she did! She was so proud of herself for accomplishing something that had initially been a little frightening. Arwyn had her first trip to the dentist this week, and she did so well. She laid very still and cooperated the entire time the hygienist cleaned her teeth. After that she thought she was all done, so when we wanted her to lie back down for the dentist, she was not too happy, and not so cooperative anymore. Another week has gone by, and Arwyn is still tantruming a lot if she doesn't get what she wants or is too tired/hungry. You can see her change, her eyes go dark, and she goes straight in for a jugular pinch or hitting whatever part of you she can reach. We just have to keep trying to distract her before she makes that turn.
Cool cat in her dental shades.
Very cooperative while they cleaned her teeth.
Precision planning for this special dentist outfit this morning...fur boots with a cute summer dress...so 70's groovy!
First X-rays!
We decided to have a family dinner out on the deck. Leia, the party planner, loved bringing out anything and everything she could think of to make sure the setup was perfectly elaborate!
Pinkies up for tea...so fancy!
Pond time, let's go!
Back seat drivers in the Park Jeep.
Everyone hates the booster seats these days, so I had the brilliant idea to use the adjusting counter stools at the dinner table. They loved the idea, and of course wanted to use them for everything else too!
First date day and first game of golf all summer! Yay for us!! Actually got two rounds in at Tahoe Donner.
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