L&A Years 4&2 Week 12: Arwyn the Budding Actress - 9/14/2017

Leia is slowly getting more confidence on her bike.  We never installed the pedals, effectively making her new bike more like a balance strider bike.  She seat is all the way down, so she can just scoot along by pushing with her feet, and get the feel for supporting and balancing the bike on her own.  She walked very slowly at first, but over this first week, she is getting a little faster every day, and working on picking up her feet off the ground for longer and longer.  She started at about 1 second of balancing, and is now up to about 5 after only a week!  Leia has embraced the roll of big sister, and has started teaching Arwyn about things around the house, and helping her with a lot of things.  She knows Arwyn is good at using the potty, so she's volleying for her to wear panties now sometimes.  She pulled out a pair of her own to lend to Arwyn, and helped her put them on.  And one day going down the stairs from my room, she pointed up at the large portrait of our Great Great Aunt Em, and says, "Arwyn, see that picture?  That's our great grandma.  She died.  Someday when we get old and turn into great grandma's, we will die too.  Not Mommy and Daddy, they won't die, but we will when we get old and turn into grandma's."  I cracked up at this statement on so many different levels, but especially at how I am immortal in her mind, whereas other people aren't.  So interesting.  When she's not busy teaching Arwyn the ways of the world, Leia is also busy snatching stuff right out of her hands.  It doesn't matter what object it is or if she hasn't thought about it in weeks, if she see's Arwyn with it, all of a sudden she has to have it.  And then she doesn't understand why Arwyn starts pinching or biting her.  So much commotion about something she doesn't really even care about.  Leia made Josh's week one day on the way home from school.  "Daddy, I told all my friends today that you are the best singer in the world."  He was beaming.  We finally were able to get in to see Leia's doctor about her acid reflux.  She hasn't actually complained about it much recently, but when we told Dr. Barta about it, she claimed that she does actually feel it every day, but she just doesn't always tell me.  Hopefully the medicine will help her.

Arwyn had her very first singing class this week.  She's been so jealous of all the classes that Leia gets to do, so when I told her she was going, she was absolutely ecstatic!  She spent the rest of the morning walking around telling us, "I'm going to singing class."  Leia was about to be pissed until she realized that she would have special Mommy time while Arwyn was singing with Daddy.  We also told her that Nana was going to take her to singing class when she got back from her trip, and that really made her feel special and happy.  Arwyn was so funny when we were trying to get Leia to bike faster.  She herself was zooming around so fast on her little strider trike, and clearly didn't understand Leia's hesitance, so when she got bored of waiting for Leia, she started entertaining herself by ramming her trike into the back of Leia's bike, and yelling, "I'm going to get you!"  That definitely got Leia to speed up a bit, and luckily both of them kept it fun, no one got upset about it.  Arwyn has been playing baby dolls really well with Leia.  The two of them set up beds and tables, and totally go through the day's routine with their dolls.  They are both enjoying themselves so much that I actually get some dishes done sometimes!  I took the girls to get their flu shots this week, and Arwyn was so excited.  She kept chanting "shot, shot, shot!" the whole way there.  Usually Leia is excited too, and she was for a bit, but as the time drew near, she remembered that it would actually hurt, and she started changing her mind about the whole thing.  Arwyn showed more signs of maturity this week when she had total cooperation for her haircut.  She sat in the chair all by herself, and didn't make any fuss when Stephanie was cutting her hair.  Of course Josh was the one who took them, and I had forgotten to warn him that it can be challenging, but I figured Stephanie would help him figure it out.  In the end, even she couldn't believe how well Arwyn did.  Arwyn has had a huge verbal explosion this week.  She's doing so much more singing, acting, and imaginative play, and we are so impressed with everything she's saying and doing that we can't stop videoing her.  She's totally on fire!

Sidewalk chalk art!

Helping Dad chase moles in the garden.

Arwyn likes eating chalk these days...we had to put the chalk away.

Cooper was a little sad and missing his parents, so we went to say hi.

The only dog that makes Arwyn smile.

Watch out for Arwyn, she's coming in hot for bumper bikes!

Password = Arwyn

Arwyn's Bumper Bike Ride from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

We kept trying to get Leia to be more confident and ride her new bike faster, but she was taking her sweet time.  Until Arwyn got fed up and took matters into her own hands.  Arwyn's chasing after Leia and ramming her with her bike finally got Leia to pick up the pace a bit!

Swinging sisters.

Hey big foot!

Bedtime story time!

Leia always finds the prettiest rocks.

Arwyn was not to happy about this little cold water adventure, and was pissed we left her behind on the island!

What a good big sister, rescuing her baby sister while Mom takes pictures.

Showing Arwyn how to save the pretty rocks in her bag.

Sharing rocks and helping each other find the good ones...love it when they cooperate!

There's a little girl who loves her Daddy.

Hanging out in Dad's arms, watching the day go by.

Password = Arwyn

Arwyn Leads A Neighborhood Music Class from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Arwyn attended her first music class this week, and that combined with a verbal breakthrough, has turned Arwyn into a little acting queen.  She's singing, dancing, putting on shows, and talking up a storm.  I this is a slightly longer video clip than usual, and I had to whittle it down from almost an hour of amazing footage, but it's totally worth the watch because Arwyn is on FIRE!

Taking care of all their babies.

Another successful haircut for this pretty princess.

Big girl Arwyn, all by herself in the hairdresser chair!

Tonight we have two Princess Leia's in our house!

I picked out Arwyn's pink pants this morning, but then she took over and found the matching red and pink sweater and red shoes...such a little fashionista!

She always wants to carry her lunch bag, but it's so heavy she can hardly walk!

Password = Arwyn

Arwyn's "Tinkle Tinkle T T R" Song from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Arwyn loves to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, but it's so cute that way it comes out.  It sounds more like "tinkle, tinkle, t t r, how I E T R."  She's turning into such a performer!

Preparing for her first 5 second long coast!

Password = Leia

Leia's Balance Bike Achievement from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

It's been one week since Leia got her new bike, and she's getting so much more comfortable and balanced.  She was so excited that she was able to pick up her feet and balance for a whopping 5 seconds down a little hill!  Watch me, Dad!

I love Arwyn's gliding technique: kick, kick, lift, one leg forward, one leg back.  So efficient and slick looking!

L&A Years 4&2 Week 11: Leia's New Bike - 9/7/2017

Arwyn is transitioning up to the next room at school, called Toddler2/Pre2 (T2/P2).  Her new teacher in that class is Kara.  She doesn't officially move over until 9/14, so we are still dropping her off in her old class, but they send her to the other room pretty promptly, and she does most of her eating and napping over there too.  But the funny thing is, every day she still likes to tell me that she went for a walk with Heather, who is her current/old teacher.  She really loves Heather and these walks because she won't stop talking about them, and she gets really pissed if you don't listen to her and acknowledge her story about the walks.  In reality, she hasn't been for a walk with Heather in a couple weeks, but she just won't quit talking about them like they just happened yesterday.  Despite her nostalgia for old class, she is doing very well in her new class because they keep sending home her daily report cards telling us that she's taking these crazy long naps in Kara's class, like 2.5 hours!  She's never slept that long at school since her very first day as an infant!  I questioned Kara, but she insists it's accurate within 5 minutes.  Arwyn had a bad night for the first time in awhile this week.  The kept waking up crying, and I finally went in to console her, and I was able to get her back down in her own bed, despite her instant request for "Mommy room."  Unfortunately she woke up again only an hour later, and this time we did end up in Mommy room.  We were lying there trying to go back to sleep when she tells me her mouth hurts.  Ah ha, teething!  No wonder she was waking up!  I was so happy and impressed that she was actually able to communicate the problem to me so that I could properly treat it.  When I looked in her mouth the next day, she did, in fact, have two new canine teeth popping through.  Ouch!  Ever since our trip to Wisconsin when I had to breast feed her on the plane, Arwyn has been so pushy about wanting Mommy milk when she's tired and cranky.  I had wanted to give her some occasionally, but she's forced me to cut her off cold turkey.  So sad.  Arwyn has all of a sudden started suggesting that we call Grandma and PopPop all the time.  She must really enjoy those FaceTime sessions!  She loves to show off her skills, this week it was big jumps off the couch onto a cushion that was rather far away.  "Watch dis pop pop!"  Finally, Arwyn made me so happy this week when she finally ate and liked the "Sugar Fish" that I cooked for dinner (aka, Salmon).  She's usually the less picky eater of the two of them, but until now, she would taste the salmon and spit it out.  So glad she's finally come around.

Leia loves to be Arwyn's biggest advocate for stuff she thinks Arwyn needs, sometimes whether Arwyn actually wants it herself or not.  Well now that Arwyn has been throwing tantrums over the lack of Mommy Milk, Leia has started trying to talk me into just giving it to her.  I haven't been doing that, so Leia decided to take matters into her own hands, and this week started offering Arwyn some of her "Leia milk."  All of a sudden I look over and see that Arwyn is trying to drink milk out of Leia's nipples!  I tried to explain to both of them that Leia doesn't have milk, but Leia has been insisting that since she's a girl and has breasts, she does have milk.  And Arwyn wants what Leia is offering, so she's staying quiet.  Never a dull moment around here!  Leia has been really good at sharing most of her stuff for awhile now, but all of a sudden this week, not so much.  We had a fun day playing at the pond with Audra, and everything was shared, all kids were happy.  Then Audra came to our house, and all of a sudden Leia decided that every single thing that Audra picked up and tried to play with was "really special to me," and therefore not something Audra could play with.  So frustrating when you have backwards progress.  On the same note, she keeps snatching stuff right out of Arwyn's hands, even if she hasn't thought twice about it before Arwyn picked it up.  Then she gets all bent out of shape when Arwyn bites her and hits her.  Well why do you think she's doing that, Leia?  We decided to use some birthday money to buy Leia a new bigger bike without training wheels.  It was going to be a surprise, so we kept trying to do little things to prepare her for it.  Like strengthening her legs by pedaling more often when on the back of Daddy's bike.  The only way we could get her to stop free-loading off him was to convince her that the only way she and Josh could beat me on their bike was if she helped pedal too.  Being the natural competitor that she is, that worked great.  Made the work out more of a game too.  When we finally did give her the bike, she was so excited it was pink, but then got bummed out when she saw it didn't have training wheels.  We had the seat all the way down, with no pedals on the bike, turning it into a balance strider bike to help her learn.  It was so frustrating though because she wouldn't push herself on the bike any faster than a slow crawl.  She kept acting like she didn't WANT to do what we were trying to teach her, but I finally realized that she was actually kinda scared and having a bit of a hard time.  When she actually did have some small balance success, she was so fired up, but still not able to move past that.  I was definitely a learning experience for us teaching her, having to be much more patient with slower progress than we imagined.  The good news was that she finished the first session happy with her progress and excited to do more riding, so that was the most important thing.  Being at the end of summer, the creek is way down, especially compared to the near flood levels we experienced most of the last 8 months.  The nice thing about that is that it's now very accessible to go exploring in the creek with the kids.  Leia and I had a fun rock hunting session together down along the creek bed.  And finally, Leia has started talking about what she might want to be when she grows up for the first time, which seems like it must be some sort of milestone.  She told me, "I want to be a singer ballerina riding a motorcycle."  To which I replied, "Sounds like you need to join the circus!"

There is always some sort of new lounging apparatus being created on a Daddy Day!

Fun dress up trampoline time with our friend Audra.

They love to line up all the furniture and create new Evil Knievel type jumping obstacle courses.  Good for the athletic skills, but scary to watch!

Creek is looking a little bit different these days...perfect for exploring!

They've finally figured out a way to share the swing in a way that makes everyone happy!!

Random cool picture that Josh found.

Afternoon slip n slide party and dinner date with Cousin Emmett.

Emmett just has the best smile, and more importantly, he loves to flash it!

So tired after a busy afternoon (and late night), that they almost fell asleep on the wagon ride home.

Password = Arwyn

"My Mom Is Cool" Song Sung by Arwyn from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Arwyn's new favorite song to sing is also my new favorite song to hear.  It's called "My Mom is Cool."  They learned it from a TV show, but it's a show about science, so it's ok.  And I love hearing Arwyn sing about how cool I am for 10 minutes straight!

She always has the biggest smiles when she's about to get a surprise!

It's a sizable object, and we are in a big, empty parking lot.  What could it be?

Wahoo, a new big girl bike!  Pink, light weight, hand brakes, and no training wheels.

Arwyn loves zooming around on her little bike.

Pretty picturesque spot to learn how to ride a bike!

Slow progress, but progress non-the-less, and we are ending the day with a big smile and a yearning for more!

Emmett's first day of ballet class!  Warming up with a little butterfly stretch, and sizing up the cute girls at the same time...this guy knows what's up!

I love how he decided he wanted to do ballet, such a cutie pie!

Leia loves ballet, but hates going to class (well, at least on Mommy days).

Arwyn wishes she could go to ballet, but also loves a little one-on-one Mommy/Daddy time instead.

Climbing maniac...she does get a little nervous, but loves the challenge of overcoming her fears and succeeding!

Password = Arwyn

Arwyn's Corkscrew Climb 9.7.17 from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Arwyn is so strong, confident, and nimble as she climbs up the corkscrew at the park.  By the end of the hour at the park, she was even jumping from the top of the corkscrew over to the play structure all by herself (which was a good thing since it's much harder for short little Mommy to help)!

L&A Years 4&2 Week 10: Tea Parties, Concerts, and Boats - 8/31/2017

Leia was cracking me up this week, per usual.  At school, the biggest insult they like to give each other when they are mad is to uninvite the person to their future birthday party.  They seem to get invited and uninvited from any particular party many times on the same day.  Leia came home one day this week telling me "Levi says he's not going to invite me to his birthday party."  "Oh Leia, don't worry about it.  He's going to forget he ever said that by next year."  "No he's not, because I'm Leia, and I'm going to destroy him!"  Wow, you go Leia, tell those boys who's boss!  We went to Arwyn's friend Julia's birthday party this weekend.  I told Leia about this party a couple months early because I knew she'd be excited to go to a tea party themed birthday party (Tea for 2 at 2...turning 2 years old).  Anyway, Leia asked me a week or two ago when we were going to the "Tea for 2," and the fact that she remembered the exact name of the party indicated how excited she was about it, despite it not actually being her friend.  The day of the party, she got all dressed up in her fanciest tea party dress first thing in the morning even though the party was not until after nap.  And she had a blast at the party, decorating tea cups, pouring tea, eating cupcakes, and jumping in the bounce house.  She totally made Jennifer's day (mom of Julia) when she spontaneously walked up to her during the party and said, "I really like your party, Jennifer."  After that party we went to Squaw for a free Dispatch concert, and the girls also had a blast there.  It was their first real concert of a big name band, and they danced and played the whole time, and even recognized and got to hang out with Piper, who they had met only once before earlier this summer.  It was so cute to watch them all play.  The next day we got to go out on the Matthews boat for a picnic on Lake Tahoe.  Leia had the best time.  She totally freaked out when she jumped in the water because it was so cold, and had to be helped back out.  I convinced her to try again, and she hung on me while I swam over to some rocks, refusing to swim by herself and practically drowning me the whole way.  Then she refused to climb out onto the rocks with me, so she had to actually swim back by herself.  She was doing just fine until she saw a shadow of a rock under the water, and not knowing what it was, she totally freaked out screaming.  It wasn't totally clear what the problem was, so I dove back in and rescued her, and she practically drowned me again while trying to get her back to the boat.  But as soon as we got her back in the boat, she calmed down and was happy as a clam again.  We even got her back in the water again later.    Leia tried to test us a lot this weekend, forcing us into many screaming time outs.  I try to be so loving, calm, and consistent with the rules, but this kid is just relentless; she just never quits being a behavioral scientist.

Arwyn continues to be a climbing wall fiend.  On Daddy Day she was doing endless climbs up to the top of the climbing wall and ringing the bell.  I tried to get her to show me, but I'm not tall enough to spot her, and she absolutely refuses to wear the climbing harness.  It was an all out battle of wills, trying to force her to wear it and her screaming in tears, refusing to climb.  Both of us were the losers because I ruined all the fun and didn't get to see her do it, and she was so upset and traumatized that she could no longer muster up the will to climb even after Daddy came out to spot her free climbing.  Hopefully she gets over it soon and starts climbing again, but I'm still not sure how I can do that with her if she won't wear a harness!  Arwyn also had a blast at Julia's party.  She was funny because everyone else (including Leia, who can't resist a good present even if it's not for her) went inside to watch Julia open presents, but Arwyn had absolutely no interest in that.  Instead she insisted on staying outside to play by herself, and kept trying to get me to come too.  She also was fired up about the birthday cupcakes.  She and Leia had front row seats at the cupcake table, and she just kept reaching in and grabbing "more kek!"  Arwyn had so much fun dancing at the Dispatch concert, and of course the first thing she wanted to do was take her clothes off!  When Piper wanted to totally baby her like a little sister, she ate up and was loving the attention right away, which I was surprised about. Arwyn was so excited to go on the Matthews boat, and kept saying she was going to jump in and throw Mommy in the water.  In the end, she was too scared to even get her feet wet, and insisted on staying safely inside the boat!  The surprise of the day was when she randomly latched on to Ally.  Ally was across the water on a rock island, and she was almost enough of a lure to get Arwyn in the water, but she came back before we could get Arwyn in.  But then Arwyn wanted to sit on her lap the whole way back to the docks.  It was really cute, but so strange because Ally hadn't done anything particularly special to gain Arwyn's trust, it was just some sort of invisible bond.  Arwyn did behave very well the whole time on the boat, except for when she was super pissed about having to put her life jacket back on.  Arwyn's vocabulary has progressed, and she now says "logurt" instead of "la-lo" for yogurt.

My little fashionistas both dressed themselves so nicely for school today.

Cute outfits, cute sisters, cute smiles.

Then they started getting hammy and silly for the camera...it's always a show!

Password = Leia

Goofy Kids 8.25.17 from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Leia and Arwyn were just dancing around, showing off, and being goofs.  But they sure are cute doing it!

Another late summer veggie box feast out on the deck.  Fresh fig caprese salad and beat cakes.

Arwyn was fast asleep wearing her beloved "San-nal shoes"!

Happy day for Dad, they are getting really excited about making fast hot wheels tracks!

Password = Leia

Leia's Ballet Improv from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

The music box started playing it's sweet little song, and Leia was totally inspired.  Her graceful ballet moves brought tears to our eyes.  And she was just making it up as she went along!

It's 2 pm on August 26th, which means it's finally time for "Tea for 2 at 2".  Leia just loves to play the part: pretty dresses, personalized tea cups, boas, and all!

When it comes to a good tea party, Arwyn is no slacker herself!

And here's the birthday 2 year old herself, Miss Julia and Mommy Jennifer.

It was a great little set up, and all her best friends were there.

So cool, I haven't seen one of these bouncy balls with the handle since I was in elementary school!

Leia was front and center for present time.  Arwyn quickly realized it was pretty boring and headed back outside.

Cake?  Now that's a different story.  These girls were both ready to provide any necessary help with decorating that cake!

Leia, Julia, and Arwyn in the Bounce House!

Yep, Transue girls are front and center, trying to organize the cupcake table!!

Yummy cup cakes.  Leia kept right on helping herself.

That's a mouth full of cupcake!

So pissed that I wouldn't let her have a 4th cupcake!

Better now that she helped herself to someone else's serving of "kek"!

Little cutie pie Everly trying to show off her first tooth!

What's better than jumping and sliding with your best bud?

They were having so much fun playing together!

Birthday hugs from Leia.

Group hug!

Walking in to her first concert with some serious sass!

Not a bad spot for a show.

Dancing with Audra.

Apparently wrestling is also part of dancing at a good show.

Me and my girls in our matching hippy sweatshirts.  Thanks MumMum!!  (I guess we'll have to try again for the shot when Arwyn feels like smiling.)

It always starts out so innocent..."no shoes!"

And then you know they are having fun when the rest of the clothes start coming off as well.

Arwyn loves dancing and playing with her Uncle Jesse.

It's an Arwyn Hug Train!

I hadn't listened to any Dispatch in many years, but they did not disappoint.  When you actually want to get up and dance to songs you've never heard before, you know it's good music!

Can't get enough of this little cutie tonight.

A little Leia yoga.

How is it that a little 4 year old knows that doing random scenic yoga pictures is such an "in thing"!?

I love her all the time, but especially when she's so happy and fun to be around!

Daddy love!

Are these two the cutest or what?

I think happiness was in the air (or maybe it was just 4 cupcakes worth of sugar?)

Heading out on our first Tahoe boat ride of the summer.

Daddy snuggles.

Cool cats.

Enjoying some East Shore beauty.

Jody never stops being the ultimate hostess with the mostess.

Arwyn made sure to dress in her best yachting attire.

Leia doesn't generally chose to clothe herself in your typical yachting attire, but we thought that her cute dress without any of her typical flamboyant accessories was a very classy and appropriate choice.

Finally got to hang out and enjoy the company of Jonathan and Ally.

Gorgeous blue water...pretty awesome place to swim, even if it is a little chilly.

Jonathan, Arwyn, and her new BFF Ally relaxing on the cruise back home.  

Leia couldn't stop laughing about all the bumps and wind on the way back...you'd have thought we were on a roller coaster ride or something!

The gang.

Arwyn was so calm and quiet, just relaxing in Ally's arms.

A nice day to be a bow princess.

After spending a fun-filled day at Camp Matthews, they were so excited to have their new matching camp shirts!

The Daddy Day forts get better and more elaborate all the time.

This one definitely looks like the most solid and substantial one I've seen.  And it even has a Steelers logo portal!

Arwyn was so excited that her hair was finally long enough for a single large "Leia Pony" (as opposed to the half ponies that I usually put in her hair).

Yummy summer tomato, lemon, and basil pizza!

And with the Wrath Saignée and eggplant salad, it was a date night dinner to die for.