L&A Years 4&2 Week 25: Season's First Ski Day - 12/14/2017

Leia had her first day of skiing for the 2017-2018 season this week.  The last time we skied was on July 4th, so it hasn't really been that long, but 5 months is still a pretty good break.  She had a lot of fun skiing, and she remembered most of her skills (snowplow, turns, and stopping), but she didn't totally have her confidence back yet.  She insisted on holding onto the end of Poppy's ski pole the whole time, but I don't think that it was really doing a whole lot besides making her feel better.  We did manage to get out of the house to go skiing with full cooperation and no fussing or fighting, which was awesome.  She was very excited to go to another holiday ballet presentation at the theater with Nana.  She came home super happy and excited about the experience, but when I asked her about the ballet, she claimed it was boring.  I guess it was just the cookies and candy canes that she liked so much.  When we went on the airplane this summer, someone suggested we download the Skybrary App for Leia.  We never ended up using it, but I just figured out we've been paying for it the whole time, so I cancelled that right away, but I showed it to Leia before the subscription ran out.  She absolutely loved it!  She figured out very quickly how to pick new books out and return the ones she was done with.  And then the program just reads the books for her as she turns the pages.  Very cool.  Too bad we weren't using it the whole time!  This week was haircut time again, and Leia and Arwyn were so sweet and cute when we went in to see Stephanie.  She said we totally made her day!  It was also Audra's birthday party this weekend.  Both kids had a blast at the party.  Typical Leia made sure to get herself an extra cupcake, and then finagled a trade with Arwyn when the ear broke off of her little party favor.  Leia is always the one to pick out what TV show gets watched, but Arwyn is starting to want her own chance to pick.  Leia finally let Arwyn pick out their TV show one day this week after reneging on her agreement several times.  Leia was so bummed one morning this week when the Elf on the Shelf didn't change his hiding spot.  I didn't really know what to say, so I just turned it around and asked her what she thought could have happened.  She concluded that he must have been too scared to leave because of the yetis.  I concurred that yes, Mommy was sooo tired last night that I forgot to bap the yetis (aka, chase them away), so he probably was too scared to leave the house.  Afterwards, she showed a lot of concern about why I'm always so tired.  I think I need to bank on this concern and get her to do more work to help me!  I'm really impressed with Leia's ability to use the Christmas Advent Calendar properly this year rather than just pulling off and playing with all the little magnet ornaments like last year.  She's so good about remembering to pull off one each day.

Arwyn is not yet known as the hunter in our house, but she was the first one to find the Elf on the Shelf several days this week.  She is always a very observant girl, and she's not always looking on the ground for treasures like Leia, so sometimes she found the high up things when Leia got frustrated.  She's been cracking me up this week because several times after eating something, she looked up at me with a big smile and said, "It's delicious!"  Arwyn was really psyched to head out for our first ski day, but when we finally got out there, she didn't want to go without me holding onto her between my legs for a few runs.  Then I remembered our trick about having me go in front and having her try to catch me.  Now that was fun for her.  Biggest smile ever, having a blast, and wanting to catch me again and again.  She definitely loved the speed and the freedom.  She did fall over a couple times, but they were just little falls and she was totally fine, didn't even cry.  Then after an epic 2.5 hour nap (wahoo!) she woke up screaming and in tears, saying her belly hurt and her knees hurt.  She just wanted to be held and comforted.  Then on Monday she complained that her back hurt as well.   All that skiing must have really taken a toll on her (just like Mom)!  Arwyn had an excellent report at her very first parent-teacher conference this week.  Teacher Kara said she's so sweet and funny, and always goes to others who are crying to see if they are ok.  Yep, sounds just like my Arwyn!

6 months past the recommended size, Arwyn finally gets excited about wearing her space suit.  Hi Spaceman!

Nothing cuter than a little bear bum.

Snuggling sisters watching themselves in home movies.

Dec 8, Day 6. Bingle got scared of the yetis and had to stay in this spot an extra half day.

Front row seating in the garage.  Always fun to get distracted when Mom is trying to get moving!!

Time to see our friend Stephanie again!

Today was a wrap-around braid by request.

Big girl Arwyn sits on the chair all by herself these days!  Her hair was a little too short for a braid, so she got a fancy blow-dry.

Working on back floats again this week.

Password = Leia

Leia's Back Float 12.9.17 from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Leia's first session as a Seahorse is all about back floating and back swimming.  She's getting pretty good at the swimming, but the basic back float seems to be a bit more elusive.  But great progress each week!

Cutie patutie in her Lady bug party dress!  (By the way, who the heck makes children's clothing that says, "No washing, no dry cleaning, do not get wet.  Just wipe clean with dry cloth."  Really??!!)

Lunch time with their friends Shayla and Luna.

Audra likes to keep things organized and clean...make way for cake!

Cup cake time is serious business for these girls.

Birthday girl Audra turned 3 this year.

So much more fun can be had on a carpeted staircase!

Leia the ringleader.

Reading books by themselves with the new app on the iPad!

Dec 9, Day 7.  He made it out of the pots while we were gone from the house all morning and the yetis were sleeping.  Thank goodness!

Ready and excited for our first ski day of the season!

Shall we try to set a record for all smiles and no tantrums on ski mornings this year??

Poppy and his girls at the top of Mountain Meadow.  Nice corduroy today!

Password = Leia

Skiing Day 1 for the 2017-18 Season for Leia from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

First day back on snow after a short summer (it's only been 5 months since she last skied!), and Leia was doing great.  She remembered her snow plow, her turns, and most importantly she remembered how to stop.  A few more days and she'll get her confidence back as well.

My and my little Googs.  She didn't try to squirm off the lift today!

Password = Arwyn

Skiing Day 1 for the 201-18 Season for Arwyn from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

After a short 5 month summer break, Arwyn was back on snow and loving every second of it!  It took a little trickery to get her to go solo, but as soon as she did, she remembered how much she loves the speed and freedom!

Headed home and happy after a successful morning!

2 peas in a pod.

Dec 10, Day 8.  Hang on Bingle!

Dec 11, Day 9.  Riding the fish tail.

Dec 12, Day 10.  Just checking out the blinds, and watching out for good table manners!

Dec 13, Day 11.  Making sure they don't watch too much TV! (Not pictured, Dec 14, Day 12, top of a wall lamp in the living room.)

Fun morning making this gingerbread tree with Nana.

Yay, Diaper Daddy is home from Jackson!

If one child gets something special, the other needs it too.  I hope both those diapers were clean!!

L&A Years 4&2 Week 24: Arwyn Learns Her A's! - 12/7/2017

Arwyn is starting to recognize letters and her name for the first time!  We were looking at a book when she saw a word that started with the letter A and she yelled out, "That's my name!"  Now whenever she see's the letter A she points it out and announces "A for Arwyn!"  Even just the word "DAVIS" on my sweatshirt the other day drew her attention, and she pointed out the A for Arwyn.  Arwyn has also started saying our names for the first time.  "Hi Kafrine."  and "My Josh-u-a!"  It's really cute.  It was also really cute this week when she woke up in the morning crying that she missed her cousin Emmett.  Arwyn is so funny when we wash her hands in her bathroom.  Every time after we are done, I hand her the towel to dry off, and she immediately insists on drying the water drippings off the floor with it.  Then she tries to just toss the towel up in the air in the direction of the towel bar, like she might actually get it to hang back up that way.  It's hilarious!  It seems like Arwyn is still having lots of nightmares; I always hear her calling out in the night.  She must have inherited crazy vivid dreaming skills from me and her Poppy.  She's also back to waking up crying rather than happy, so she's no longer snoozing in late or playing happily in her bed.  Maybe that new language development??

Leia never ceases to amaze me with her insight into her own complex psyche, as well as her ability to verbalize it.  The other day she stopped right in the middle of a fit of whining and fussing because we weren't playing with her to her satisfaction, and informed me, "Mom, I just need some attention!"  Again, my teacher said they aren't supposed to be able to communicate about why they are misbehaving.  She's so smart to just tell us what she needs!  And another day, she flat out asked me why I was being so bossy.  And I was being bossy, and really in that instance it was for no good reason except that it's my personality!  I tried to change right there.  Again, my teacher's little quiz indicated that I have the personality type that need to work on being less bossy and giving up control.  Maybe Leia and I will be able to work on this together so we can bat heads less throughout our lives, which would be really cool.  We started the "Elf on the Shelf" Tradition at our house, which means that a little elf hides in a spot every day and the kids have to find him.  Then he watches them all day and reports to Santa about whether they are naughty or nice.  Leia found him pretty well the first day, but then she's kinda lost her hunting swagger because she's better at finding treasures on the ground.  She wasn't looking up and he's always hiding higher.  I finally talked her through the problem and some hunting strategies, and where else could we look.  Her little brain come up with the following reasoning: "Wait a minute, he's called 'Elf on a shelf.'  That means I should look on a shelf!"  Now every day when she gets upset that she can't find him, she repeats her mantra, "Elf on a Shelf, I need to look higher on a shelf!"  It's so funny.  Leia surprised me this week.  Each kid in her class got a balloon one day, but Arwyn saw it and was really jealous.  Teacher Joe said Arwyn could pick something from the prize box, and instantly Leia offered the balloon to Arwyn so that she could have the prize box treasure instead.  The prize box was filled with cheap crap, but Leia really wanted this little stuffed animal, which surprised me.  We took way longer than necessary because I wanted to make sure she didn't regret her decision.  Arwyn also wanted a prize from the prize box, and again gave up the balloon to another little girl, but then quickly realized that the balloon was indeed the best prize and through a fit about wanting the balloon back.  Luckily the little girl was also feeling generous, and gave the balloon back.  By the time we left everyone was happy.  But true to form, the second we got home, Leia decided she wanted her balloon back.  Kid works all the angles...got a balloon and a stuffed animal by being nice and then mean to Arwyn at key times!  If you know Leia, you know that she loves ballet.  The funny thing is, she still hates that ballet class.  We don't bother to drive there for it on Thursdays anymore, so she only goes if she's going to be at school anyway.  If she didn't go those days, she'd be jealous that she was missing out, but when I ask her about it, she claims it was so boring.  But then on Thanksgiving, she did the best little ballet performance for us (to some rocking background music), and when you watch her moves, her skills, and her obvious love of dance, it's so hard to believe that she doesn't enjoy the class.  I guess we should probably introduce her to some modern dance classes or something!

Always fun to have your best friend in your swim class.

Password = Leia

Leia's Successful Swim Lesson 12.2.17 from Katharine Transue on Vimeo.

Leia's new teacher Ryan keeps the swim class fun and full of laughs.  Leia is getting so much better at floating!

Is it still Trick-or-Treat time?

Excited to help Mom put up the Christmas lights!

Snow thrones for these silly princesses!

When you'd rather not wear clothes but it's a little too cold.

Leia decided it would be a good idea to paint the snow!

Didn't really work out quite as well as they hoped.

Leia kinda skipped the 2T winter size, so Arwyn is swimming in some of these ski clothes, but it's still cute.

The look of love!

Sister love!!

These two are just too cute!

Leia is so good at puzzles, and it's funny because she doesn't care about doing edges, she just does it by sections.

The proud puzzler, did the whole thing by herself!

Meet Bingle, our new Elf on the Shelf.  Dec 3rd was day 1, watching for good table manners from the chandelier.

This year Leia is actually using her Christmas Advent Calendar properly, taking off the ornaments one day at a time rather than pulling them all off all the time.

Dec 4th, day 2.  Making sure the girls eat their fruit.  It was a bit problematic though, because you aren't supposed to touch him, so how can you get your fruit out?!

Playing with Cousin Norman, Emmett's new kitty cat.

Arwyn at school with her best friends, Jennifer (mother) and Julia.

Dec 6th, day 4.  Bingle likes to see good oral hygiene!  (Not pictured: Day 5 - Tangled up in the Cactus plant.)