Leia creative juices have been really been flowing lately. When she and Arwyn play "Family," she comes up with the greatest names. This week was "Ravisa," "Ravadeé," and "Eichley's Store." I just love it! We had another fun ice skating adventure, this week Nana and Poppy joined us. Leia is really fast and confident on the ice skates, and she could totally go without the helper bar, but it gives her so much confidence that she's too afraid to give it a good go without it. She did fall, but if she just gave it a little chance, she'd make her balance adjustments quickly. Leia had been waking up so early every morning, ugh! And we had another big fight this week. She decided to ignore the snack that she had just requested before nap because she was too busy playing, and I gave her lots of warning before putting it away and heading up to nap. Then right when I'm putting her to bed, she says she's hungry again. Big fight because I said no, too late, you missed your chance. She wouldn't give up, so I tried to just walk away from the fight, but she followed me up to room and whined to my back when I rolled over and tried to sleep. Finally she gave up, it got quiet, and she walked away. I figured she had to be doing something sneaky, and worried it was something damaging, but she I looked up, she was curled up under my dressing table for her nap, looking me right in the eye as if to say she had "won." I didn't say a word, and we both just went to sleep. Josh left for another work trip this week. Leia was sobbing uncontrollably after we dropped him off, and proceeded to act like a jerk the rest of the day. I tried to take them to the park, but she just kept fighting me about buying candy the whole time, so it wasn't too fun. I think I need to go back to my class and review the idea of putting limits on what they can buy, even if it's with their own money, because I am so sick of candy!! It was generally a very crappy afternoon after Daddy left, lots of whining, crying, and being difficult. Then Leia woke up the next morning a completely new person, acting like a total angel. She gave me a special picture she had drawn, got all dressed and ready by herself, and said she wanted to be Daddy's special helper, just like he asked. Hallelujah! Of course, the next morning it was right back to whiny and helplessness. Yep, it was too good to be true for long. We had another yeti conversation this week. This time Leia wanted me to follow the yetis back to their cave and see where they live. I said that might be hard because they are really fast and there was quite a bit of fresh snow, so it would be pretty hard for me to move through it quickly. We had our first stormy weather day at Summiteers this week (as opposed to last year when every day was stormy), but Leia was a total Stormtrooper yet again, and headed out like it was nothing. It was really windy, snowy, and miserable, and most of the mountain was on wind hold, but Leia came home saying it was her favorite day because she got a private lesson with her coach Rochio.
Arwyn is starting to mellow out, just the slightest bit. She's still getting mad and attacking, but it seems like sometimes she can get herself out of it a little faster. She loves playing with Leia, but as soon as Leia yells at her for touching something "wrong," you can see Arwyn flip a switch and just start messing up everything in order to get back at Leia. I try to explain it to Leia, but it doesn't work to make repairs at that point, Arywn won't snap out of it. I wish I could get Leia to not set her off in the first place. We need to establish clear rules and boundaries about what is shared vs what can be special, but it's hard to get that cooperation. Arwyn was so brave to go down the big water slide by herself at the pool this week. It scared her each time, but she did go back and try again several times, which was fantastic. Arwyn is also doing great with her potty training on school days, very few accidents. Arwyn has also started sleeping on the floor a few times. It started because she was throwing a tantrum and lost her privilege for story time. I tried to take her straight to bed, but I couldn't just throw her in the crib and leave because I knew she'd just hop back out. So in the process of trying to be firm but trying to get her willingly into bed, I accidentally said, "It's bedtime and I'm leaving. If you won't calm down and get into bed, you can just sleep on the floor!" Well, that totally calmed her down because the idea of getting to sleep anywhere besides her bed was so exciting that it totally distracted her from all her raging. We set up a blanket on the floor, I told her she still had to stay on her blanket in the morning and call me when she wanted to get up, and that was that. She still happily snoozed in late on her floor bed, and did indeed call me to come get her up. And she still sleeps happily in her regular bed when she's not pissed, but on the nights when she's raging, it's back to the floor.
Arwyn is starting to mellow out, just the slightest bit. She's still getting mad and attacking, but it seems like sometimes she can get herself out of it a little faster. She loves playing with Leia, but as soon as Leia yells at her for touching something "wrong," you can see Arwyn flip a switch and just start messing up everything in order to get back at Leia. I try to explain it to Leia, but it doesn't work to make repairs at that point, Arywn won't snap out of it. I wish I could get Leia to not set her off in the first place. We need to establish clear rules and boundaries about what is shared vs what can be special, but it's hard to get that cooperation. Arwyn was so brave to go down the big water slide by herself at the pool this week. It scared her each time, but she did go back and try again several times, which was fantastic. Arwyn is also doing great with her potty training on school days, very few accidents. Arwyn has also started sleeping on the floor a few times. It started because she was throwing a tantrum and lost her privilege for story time. I tried to take her straight to bed, but I couldn't just throw her in the crib and leave because I knew she'd just hop back out. So in the process of trying to be firm but trying to get her willingly into bed, I accidentally said, "It's bedtime and I'm leaving. If you won't calm down and get into bed, you can just sleep on the floor!" Well, that totally calmed her down because the idea of getting to sleep anywhere besides her bed was so exciting that it totally distracted her from all her raging. We set up a blanket on the floor, I told her she still had to stay on her blanket in the morning and call me when she wanted to get up, and that was that. She still happily snoozed in late on her floor bed, and did indeed call me to come get her up. And she still sleeps happily in her regular bed when she's not pissed, but on the nights when she's raging, it's back to the floor.
Purple blackberry tongue!
Iron Chef Champion, Josh Transue, did it again. It was a pretty tough challenge this week: project clean out pantry. I gave him an expired bag of dried mushrooms, an expired can of pickled jalapeños, and a can of Fancy Crab Meat, and said they all had to go. I didn't necessarily mean all together, but somehow he made some really awesome "cakes" with all 3 ingredients at once (plus some beans, eggs, flour, and coconut flakes). Didn't think it was possible, but the official verdict was "yum!"
Oops, she bit the dust!
Arwyn really likes to rock the "lazy lean technique," draping herself over the bars while she skates.
Skating rock star!
Leia and Arwyn are getting so comfortable on the ice these days, and Arwyn even wants to race me too! I try to let them win sometimes and lose sometimes, so they learn how to be good losers.
Trying to get warm after a chilly morning out on the ice!
Staying relaxed and watching the world go by while manning the window front at "Eichley's Store."
Booby traps, don't slip through!
Special card that Leia made for Daddy the night after he left.
Great portrait that Leia drew of our babysitter Reny. Looks just like her!
All bundled up as we navigated through the harsh winds and blowing snow to get from the car to the ski lodge!
So functional for storm days, but the head/neck warmer combo sure looks funny! Leia doesn't usually like stuff around her neck, but she was happy to have it today.
Getting silly; getting smiley.
Our mini Darth Vader.
Getting ready to head out and brave the elements.
Despite being almost completely covered up, she was not too happy to have the wind blowing icy snow in her face. She kept yelling out, "Stop it!"
You can't really see her, but Stormtrooper Leia is out there, ready to get on the chair. She was one of only 4 kids who showed up today, and it was pretty miserable out, but she came home saying it was her favorite day because she got a private lesson with her coach Rochio.
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