Arwyn Jean was a very angry little girl this entire week. She kept grabbing my neck and scratching me everywhere. It was very painful and I had many scratches. Still not sure what pisses her off so much, because this week it seemed to happen whether she was tired or not. Arwyn climbed out of her bed one final time (and at the time of this posting she had not done it since). It happened one nap when she stayed in her bed a really long time while I was shoveling. I kept checking on her, and she was still happy. But at some point she decided she wasn't going to wait any longer. She took off her sleep suit, climbed out of her crib, but then just waited on the rocking chair in her room in the dark until I came in. It was too funny, I guess she just wanted to prove that she could do it. I keep telling her not to, and I don't get mad at her, so maybe this time she'll listen (as long as I go get her in a reasonable amount of time). I tried to take the girls skiing at Squaw this weekend, and Arwyn started off happy, but decided she wasn't into it by the time we got the skis on. She was a total rag doll, and I had to completely hold her up between my legs. Besides being mad at me all the time, she had so many fights with Leia this week. They did have a good time playing babydoll together after they got their new baby blankets in the mail from Cousin Jordan. She was so cute just prancing back and forth doing her own imaginary thing. Arwyn loved making chocolate brownies with Poppy this week, but my goodness did she make a mess! Arwyn is really doing well with her potty training, and had her first full week of underwear every day at school. She had 2 days at school with no accidents, and the one accident at home was my fault for not remembering to remind her when we went to play with our friend Ben. It was a strange place for her, so we were out of our normal routine. Arwyn was so excited to have Daddy come home this week. He got home earlier than we expected, and surprised her by being there when she woke up one morning. She wanted to be carried by him every single moment until we left for school, and wouldn't let him out of her sight!
Leia had a really huge accomplishment this week: it was her first time skiing down the mountain run all by herself, and without any little bit of help at all! It was all the more impressive because before we even went down, she was super whiny because I was helping Arwyn and there was no one to help her, even though we were on an easy run where she didn't need help. Plus, it was a super busy weekend day, there were lots of people flying by us, there were lots of slightly icier patches, and it just wasn't really groomed anymore. I thought it would be a big mistake to even go down, but she was whining so much, and the line on Big Blue was enormous, and I just decided that I'd had enough. I offered them the choice of waiting in the huge line and going to our normal lift, or going to the Magic Carpet but she'd have to ski down the mountain run all by herself. She jumped on the Magic Carpet option, and didn't even think twice about having to go alone. We took turns playing follow the leader, and one the harder parts I led her the easiest way possible. She did great, no whining, no issues, so impressed! We never did make it to the Magic Carpet because by the time we got down, I knew that everyone was done. And I was right, the meltdowns ensued as soon as we sat down on the locker room deck for lunch. But hey, I got them both off the mountain safely, and my heart only stopped a few times! Even when we were off the mountain, Leia was especially whiny all weekend. I think both girls reached their max tolerance of having their Dad gone for so long. Leia is also on a major taunting kick these days, pointing out and bragging any time she has something and someone else doesn't (especially Arwyn). It's really contributing to a lot of their fights, and become such a constant thing that I asked her teacher to talk about it at school (she always seems more receptive to concepts from school). We had another no-nap experiment this week. Leia apparently came downstairs to the living room couch for her nap after I went up to my bed to sleep. But then she never really fell asleep, and she came up to my room like a crazed monster and hour and a half later, freaking out because she'd been waiting for me to come down for so long! Definitely still needs a nap because if she'd been thinking straight, she'd realize that I never come down, she always comes up after she's woken up! She also freaked out on Sunday because I wouldn't let her watch TV after nap because she'd already watch so much in the morning. There was lots of crying, whining, and begging (that I tried to ignore), but we finally were able to communicate our needs to each other and strike a deal: there was no way to "earn" extra TV but she chose to watch the one additional show that I was saving for bedtime right now after nap with the understanding that the TV would be off the rest of the day. It worked out great, and I was so glad that we could make such a good compromise that satisfied both of our needs. But unfortunately the whole thing taught me a lot of hard lessons: 1. We need to establish a set amount of TV that both she and I can track during the day so that everyone is on the same page and there are no let downs (which sucks because then how can I sometimes allow extra TV if it suits my needs??) and 2. In the end I negotiated after a long period of whining, thereby enforcing the whining. Since there actually was one more TV show viewing on the table, I should have stated my goals and needs a lot earlier so that we could negotiate right off the bat. Oh well, lesson learned. Being a Mom is so hard! Leia was also so relieved to have Josh home. She actually woke up and came out to talk to me when I got home from work, a few minutes before Josh got home. I didn't tell her he was coming because I wanted her to sleep. But he went in to see her anyway, and she was so happy just to know he was there that she told him one quick story, let him leave, and went right to sleep. She saved her freakout excitement and present wanting for the morning like a good girl.
Leia had a really huge accomplishment this week: it was her first time skiing down the mountain run all by herself, and without any little bit of help at all! It was all the more impressive because before we even went down, she was super whiny because I was helping Arwyn and there was no one to help her, even though we were on an easy run where she didn't need help. Plus, it was a super busy weekend day, there were lots of people flying by us, there were lots of slightly icier patches, and it just wasn't really groomed anymore. I thought it would be a big mistake to even go down, but she was whining so much, and the line on Big Blue was enormous, and I just decided that I'd had enough. I offered them the choice of waiting in the huge line and going to our normal lift, or going to the Magic Carpet but she'd have to ski down the mountain run all by herself. She jumped on the Magic Carpet option, and didn't even think twice about having to go alone. We took turns playing follow the leader, and one the harder parts I led her the easiest way possible. She did great, no whining, no issues, so impressed! We never did make it to the Magic Carpet because by the time we got down, I knew that everyone was done. And I was right, the meltdowns ensued as soon as we sat down on the locker room deck for lunch. But hey, I got them both off the mountain safely, and my heart only stopped a few times! Even when we were off the mountain, Leia was especially whiny all weekend. I think both girls reached their max tolerance of having their Dad gone for so long. Leia is also on a major taunting kick these days, pointing out and bragging any time she has something and someone else doesn't (especially Arwyn). It's really contributing to a lot of their fights, and become such a constant thing that I asked her teacher to talk about it at school (she always seems more receptive to concepts from school). We had another no-nap experiment this week. Leia apparently came downstairs to the living room couch for her nap after I went up to my bed to sleep. But then she never really fell asleep, and she came up to my room like a crazed monster and hour and a half later, freaking out because she'd been waiting for me to come down for so long! Definitely still needs a nap because if she'd been thinking straight, she'd realize that I never come down, she always comes up after she's woken up! She also freaked out on Sunday because I wouldn't let her watch TV after nap because she'd already watch so much in the morning. There was lots of crying, whining, and begging (that I tried to ignore), but we finally were able to communicate our needs to each other and strike a deal: there was no way to "earn" extra TV but she chose to watch the one additional show that I was saving for bedtime right now after nap with the understanding that the TV would be off the rest of the day. It worked out great, and I was so glad that we could make such a good compromise that satisfied both of our needs. But unfortunately the whole thing taught me a lot of hard lessons: 1. We need to establish a set amount of TV that both she and I can track during the day so that everyone is on the same page and there are no let downs (which sucks because then how can I sometimes allow extra TV if it suits my needs??) and 2. In the end I negotiated after a long period of whining, thereby enforcing the whining. Since there actually was one more TV show viewing on the table, I should have stated my goals and needs a lot earlier so that we could negotiate right off the bat. Oh well, lesson learned. Being a Mom is so hard! Leia was also so relieved to have Josh home. She actually woke up and came out to talk to me when I got home from work, a few minutes before Josh got home. I didn't tell her he was coming because I wanted her to sleep. But he went in to see her anyway, and she was so happy just to know he was there that she told him one quick story, let him leave, and went right to sleep. She saved her freakout excitement and present wanting for the morning like a good girl.
Made the mistake of taking these two skiing all by myself today. Started out fine, they were holding hands and helping each other into the Funitel. So sweet.
Oh the leg burn after a long, steep snowplow down the Mountain Run!!
Literally collapsed to the ground every time a let go of her.
That, my friends, is the proud smile of someone who just made it down the mountain run all by herself for the first time!
Let's be clear, the priority is always eating snow.
Had to stop for a little rest and mouthful of snow.
Successful ski run ended on the deck of the locker room with nothing but whining and pain again. Too bad.
Arwyn's just glad to be done skiing and get some food. Leia's having a hard day all around that was only postponed for the duration of her amazing ski run.
Yep, this is how we "roll" to the cookie shop.
Official documentation: this was how I found Arwyn waiting for me (except the lights were out) after her nap one day this week.
Homemade volcano snow cake delivery for Nana!
She liked her cake and the special decorations.
Likes cooking brownies, and likes getting messy!
New princess dress from Cousin Jordan.
Not sure where she picked it up, but it's absolutely hilarious when Arwyn announces that what she's eating is "da-licious"!
Had to get these two outside before we all killed each other!
We didn't find Nana, but we did find the little rubber flower charm that Arwyn lost last night!
Arwyn's new picture and frame to mark her hook at school.
Thank goodness someone invented the magic carpet because the whole pony tow thing is pretty tricky.
Chilly day, but we finally got our snow and our Dad back, so life was good.
She's definitely got the "french fries" down pat.
It's the whole "pizza" thing that's not so easy. I tried calling it an "A Arwyn", but that didn't really help.
Walking is no problem.
Successful loading, also no problem.
Big Darth Vader and little Darth Vader. (See video below for explanation.)
Arwyn loves the independence of skiing on the magic carpet. She's doing so well with her loading, unloading, and walking. Now we just need to master the snow plow...
Unbelievable, and you saw it here first...actually caught Josh smiling a legitimate smile on candid camera!
Yep, it was these little goofs that made him smile. I think he really missed them.
Fun with mustaches!
Arwyn makes the best faces!
Pretending to be Teacher Joe.
Thank you Jordan for the silly fun.
When Leia's in a good mood, she likes to be photographed, and she's got the modeling pose thing down.
You're a lion, you're a tiger...
Hard to believe she hasn't actually seen the movie Austin Powers!
Arwyn's first time going to bed with a flashlight...we'll try to avoid the second for a bit longer! Let's just say it kept her very intrigued for a lot longer than your standard bedtime toy.
