Katharine Lange: L&A Years 4&2 Week 42: The Grandparents Come to Play!

Leia had another hard week this week. I feel badly because I know a lot of it is my fault, and I'm inviting the bad behavior by how I'm interacting with her, but it's these stories that stand out in my mind as eventful for the week, as opposed to all the good little things that come in between. But rest assured, I am taking steps to remedy how I come to the table, and working on getting back to my good parenting habits again. Anyway, back to the saga... Leia is not doing well on her 30 days of good behavior and no whining, and therefore is not earning her new big girl bed too quickly. We had several clashes of wills between us this weekend. For example, Friday morning she was not cooperating with our morning departure procedures, and therefore lost her treat. But rather than accept her consequences, she decided to make a stand by not getting out of the car, and trying to steal treats out of the console. I had to drag her out and march her into school thrown over my shoulder fireman style. She was so pissed that I wouldn't put her down, and it was quite a struggle by the end, but I refused to put her down until we were inside and in front of the sink. I washed her hands, gave her a hug, told her I loved her, and tried to leave (btw, I was calm the whole time again!!), but then she freaked out and didn't want me to leave her. Thank goodness Teacher Allison was there and jumped right tin to take her away. Leia ended up dictating a really long apology letter to me that Teacher Lynsey wrote down for her. It was very sweet. Then again on Sunday, we had all agreed we'd go skiing, but I couldn't get them out the door to save my life. It's so maddening how distracted little kids are! One big laugh stands out in my head this week. I asked Leia if she wanted to start going to ballet again and participate in her class ballet performance. She said that she did, but with the following caveat: "You're going to give me flowers after the show, right?" I couldn't stop laughing!

Arwyn has turned into a total pain in the butt at every bedtime. She never wants to go to bed anymore! And she plays the typical game of trying to do things to make me not leave, so it's very frustrating. Then in the middle of the night one night, she woke up and started calling out for me. I tried to ignore her in hopes that it wasn't a big deal and that she'd go back to sleep. But she didn't give up, and it became clear I'd have to get up and go check on her. I really didn't want to bring her up to my bed, but I really wan't sure what was bothering her so much. When I got down there, she told me that one of her Crock Shoes that she had insisted on wearing to bed had fallen off her foot and was lost in the blankets. I found the shoe, put it back on her foot, and she stopped crying and went back to sleep immediately. All that fuss over a lost shoe in the middle of the night, so ridiculous!! Arwyn had a good week at school this week, no more attention seeking behaviors, thank goodness. She also did really well at skiing this week. The spring snow was soft and slushy, but she agreed to be on the leash and powered right through it! She did lose her balance and fall a few times, but she kept getting back up without being upset about it. Arwyn is being so cooperative with pictures so. In fact, she loves to smile and ham it up when I ask, it's so awesome. We also got the bikes out this week, and Arwyn is finally big enough the reach the pedals on the bigger pedal bikes! Hurray! She can't quite spin the pedals to propel herself, but she'll figure it out soon enough I'm sure.

Summiteers is over for the season, and unfortunately I didn't get to see Leia out on the hill too much because they skied all over the mountain and were very hard to find! But her team mate sent us this video of Ella and Leia (in the blue) ripping it up on a powder day a few weeks back.

This kid loves her swim class!

Peek-a-boo, I see you!

Big girl can hold herself up on the side of the deep pool now!

Arwyn's getting brave...jumping into the pool and dunking under!

Spring break meant Leia pretty much got a private lesson.

Leia has been working diligently each weekend to improve her swimming skills. Today she went really far with a great free-style stroke. Just need to work on kicking a little more to prevent those sinking legs!

The artist in Leia is always at work. She found this earring and turned it into a decoration on our staircase.

The princess in her party dress!

Thank you for the pretty dress Auntie M!

Did somebody say "Party"? Count these girls in!

Well, we officially have to pro air hockey players!

Don't mess with Leia, she means business!

She was a little shy at first, but once she found her grove on the air hockey table, you would never know that Arwyn is usually on the quieter side.

With the warmer springtime temps, the snow was a little slushy and bumpy today. But that didn't stop Arwyn! She dominated the challenging conditions with her ninja balance skills!

Leia hasn't learned the tactic of skiing right to the locker room door before taking off the skis. Her destination was in sight, and she was done. After wrestling with her skis a bunch, eventually abandoning them, and then having to go all the way back to get them, I don't think she'll make that rookie mistake again!

Arwyn graduated to a big girl bike!

Another amazing dinner on our Arbonne 30-Days to Healthy Living Program. The was seriously the most tender, succulent chicken ever!

Arwyn picked a very snazzy outfit for herself today. I've been trying to get her to wear those pants forever, but she never wants to. Today that changed when she learned they come with a belt!

Leia picked a very chic outfit for herself too. Are these two the cutest or what?

7 days after the pest control guy came and sprayed, these guys decided to get back at me by huddling up to die right next to my pillow! So gross!

Arwyn's only ballet and yoga training come from her sister Leia (and possibly from her weekly gymnastics class, but that's not been confirmed), but to watch her show off her skills here, you'd think she's been taking classes for years!