L&A Years 4&2 Week 51: Gymnastic Presentations Week - 6/14/2018

Arwyn likes her nicknames, and this week was funny because she was a little annoyed with me for calling Leia something that she thought was reserved just for her:  "Mommy, I'm bubby.  Leia not bubby."  "Well, Leia is bubby sometimes too, but she is not Googie Woobie, only you are Googie Woobie."  That satisfied her.  Arwyn is still on her independence streak, so I'm constantly hearing, "I can figure it out!"  It's actually a really good thing that she wants to try to solve her own problems and figure it out without my help.  It's just that sometimes I worry that I will find poop all over the place!  But hey, you have to learn some time!  I can tell that Arwyn is learning about emotions in her class at school, because she's really good at telling us when she's feeling frustrated.  "I'm getting very frustrated right now!" she'll say, or "I'm feeling sad about that."  It's so great that she can label her emotions so well!  I got to go watch Arwyn's gymnastics class presentation this week.  She did such a great job!  I was really impressed by how strong she was to be able to hold herself up for a handstand for a long time.  Arwyn is doing much better with sleep time this week.  It's still hard to get her to calm down, and she's trying so many excuses to keep us in the room, but she pretty much stays in bed one we leave (mostly thanks to the sleep pillow, and being extra tired and crashing almost immediately).  Big news for the week: Arwyn rode her pedal bike with training wheels all by herself this week, without needing to be pulled!!  Hooray!

Leia also did a great job at the gymnastics show, way better than ballet.  She's very good at all the stations, and strong, but she does like to just rush through it like it's a race, so she doesn't always do her best job.  I have been going to see Leia on my breaks at work for Mommy Time, which is helping so much with her general behavior at home.  However, she's starting to cry every time I have to leave, which she hasn't done in over a year, so the regression is a little surprising, but at the same time not really, since she clearly was lacking in attention, so she's super sensitive about the amount of time she gets now that she's getting some.  She also checks to see if I'm going to see Arwyn or just her, which definitely makes her feel more special when I say just her.  While her behavior is doing better, TV is still a problem, and she's hitting now when she gets really mad about stuff.  The other days she had a complete breakdown when I told her she had to pick up 5 more things before she could watch TV.  She had kind of gotten into the cleaning mode earlier, when she had me put on some music to jam to, but all of a sudden she decided to move on, and 5 more things was too much.  We went to K Camp orientation this week, and Leia got her very first bus pass!  She was so excited to learn all about how to scan it when getting on and off.  Leia got really into her imaginative play this week when she started pretending to be a doctor.  She got down to the most intricate details when she was casting up her little figurines with paper casts and glue.  And after the procedure was over, Doc McLeia was just like a real doctor, and did not want to clean up after herself!

My Arbonne Healthy Living take on Huevos Rancheros, using quinoa instead of tortillas...yum!

Doc McLeia had a big day in the operating room this morning, and believe me, the Elmer's Glue was flying!

Per usual, she balked when when I asked her to clean up her mess, so I told her the biggest lie: "you know Leia, doctors always clean up after their own messes!"  She didn't fall for it!

Elsa and Anna all bandaged up and good as new!

Last swim lesson of the season, and Arwyn is doing great!  So comfortable in the water, with very strong kicks.

She loves a good water slide!

My little tinker bell is so graceful!

I just love that sweet face.

When my girls started liking pink, all my friends got such a kick out of making fun of me.  Turns out pink isn't so bad.  But this, this is my worst nightmare!

The Princess decided to rope me in to pull her in her chariot, and she insisted on the super thin string...ouch!  Slave driver!

So fired up to see Arwyn pedaling down the street on her bike all by herself, no pulling help needed!  She's also grown to tall that we took off the pedal risers!

This kids LOVES her Arbonne smoothies! Smoothie mustache, yum!

I don't ever risk walking into the rooms of my sleeping children, for fear of waking them up, so I don't get to see them sleeping too much.  So this was a very rare view of my sweet baby snuggled in and out cold!

Josh has been building beds for the girls.  Both are still works in progress, but the girls are giving Arwyn's jungle treehouse a little test run here.

Arwyn's gymnastics performance...great hand placement, ready to blast off!

Boing!  Nice height, and great form!

Such strong arms to keep that head off the ground for so long!

Perfect balance!

Good height and great spins on the trampoline.

She's definitely got the stretches and yoga poses down pat!

The spotlight is on Arwyn...so flexible!

Checking in to make sure I'm still watching!

Waiting patiently on her waiting star!

Easily navigating the parallel bars.

Love that little "show-off" pose...stick out those hips, girl!

Up on stage proudly receiving her ribbon.  They said she was super strong, with which I definitely agree!

Arwyn's class from left to right: Coach Yasco, Julia, Ryder, Luna, Soren, Arwyn, and Coach Anton.

Arwyn showed off her precision gymnastics skills, as well as her strong body, as she very adeptly navigated all the different stations.

Leia's got great balance and a no fear attitude, especially when it comes to gymnastics!

Great hand placement, great bounce!

Going for the advanced move...a backwards somersault!

Cheating a little on that handstand there, Miss Leia!  Get those hands back!

Excellent balance and agility to step over the obstacles.

Bear crawl!

Proudly receiving her ribbon!

Leia's gymnastics class: back row: Coach Yasko, don't know, Jacob, Giselle; Middle: Rhea, Fletcher, Leia, Zane, Coach Anton, Front: don't know.

Leia was a total speed demon as she raced around the different gymnastics stations.  So confident and athletic!

My cutie pie little ballerina showing off her new skills after her very first day in ballet class!

She was so excited to finally be able to join the class.  "Plié and up!"

After her small fumble last week, Leia is back on her game and showing off those awesome ballet skills that we always love to see!

Patiently waiting for their ice creams!

Leia was the best dressed student for Flag Day today!

Hanging out with friends at the Fathers' Day Ice Cream Social.  Sad our Dad couldn't be there with us.

I scream, you scream, Arwyn screams for ice cream!

At K Camp orientation getting photographed for Leia's very first Bus Pass!

Checking out the bus and learning how to scan her ID.

Arwyn is very jealous that she can't go to K Camp too.

Luckily for them, they will not be riding buses long term, so riding on a school bus will probably never lose it's magic for these two.

Me and my proud K Camper!

Nice big sister, letting Arwyn try the scanner out too.

And while we're at the new school, might as well take advantage of the fun playground...watch out Leia!

Balance masters.

That is one happy camper!

That slide is actually really steep!

L&A Years 4&2 Week 50: Leia's Ballet Performance - 6/7/2018

"New Leia" seems to have taken a little hiatus, and "Old Leia" is back with a vengeance!  She's been acting very bossy, needy, and doesn't ever want to help.  She actually said to me the other day, "I'm just not the helping type!"  One day she wanted her headphones, which were in the car, and I was busy so I said she should get them.  "No, you do it!" was the standard response.  I calmly said no, and if she really wanted them, she should get them.  She made a fuss, but finally agreed.  Then I asked her to please get Arwyn's while she was there, and that sent her over the top!  She had a huge fit, did not want to help, Arwyn could get her own, blah blah blah.  Clearly she is back to being so insanely jealous of Arwyn about everything, but at least sometimes she can recognize it.  Arwyn was wearing my old Chinese slippers, and they were going to go jump on the trampoline.  Normally it's a shoes off rule, but these were just little leather slippers, so I said she could keep them on.  So Leia says, "I need you to get my old ballet slippers because I'm going to be jealous of Arwyn if she gets to wear shoes and I don't!"  Total meltdown was to follow because I mentioned that her old slippers were way too small (and the new ones were at school), but ok, she could try them anyway, but there was to be no walking around outside in them, just on the trampoline.  That really really pissed her off, and on and on it went. So many sobbing meltdown arguments; it's so tiresome!  Another morning, the sound on her headphones wasn't working, and instead of remaining calm to problem solve, it turned into a full screaming meltdown.  And then the iPad died (they've been really into the skybrary reading app, which we thought would be a good way to get her off TV, but it kind of backfired), and she had a screaming meltdown all the way to school because she couldn't use the iPad and we had promised that she could.  The kid is way too addicted to TV and electronics, and clearly we need to make a change!  She freaked out on Reny one night, acting super rude and insolent.  I guess she started off happy and nice, but than snapped mid-car ride after recounting her bad day at school.  The next morning she came right up to me first thing and told me she was sorry for being mean to Reny (without me even bringing it up), and she also apologized to Reny that night on her own free will.  She really is good at heard, just seems to be having a hard time right now.  I decided it's time to start going to visit her at school on my breaks to give her the extra attention that she needs right now.  She was a total angel that night after I visited her, and she was definitely really happy to see me.  Leia had been asking me for awhile to be able to try the new Arbonne Gel Eye Masks that I got, and I kept saying yes, as soon as my samples came back home.  But then one day she saw I was about to give the sample out again without her getting to try them, and she made sure that I got some out for her first.  It was fun when we all put them on, so I'm glad she made that happen.  Leia had her first ballet performance this week, which she had been looking forward to for quite awhile now.  When I originally asked her if she wanted to participate, she asked me, "Will you give me flowers after the show?"  I said yes, of course, and that was pretty much the only reason she wanted to do it.  We had to buy a special costume, so I made sure she was really into it.  But then the day of the show, it ended up being a home day, and she told me she didn't want to go anymore.  Obviously that wasn't an option.  She seemed ok when I dropped her off, but then she accidentally saw me right before the show and burst into tears.  I assumed she was nervous, but then there was some mention of a tif with a classmate that had her upset as well, and at one point she said something about Daddy not being there that made her sad (he was away on a work trip), but again, there was so little mention of it, that it doesn't really seem like that could have been the problem.  Anyway, she didn't do any of the foot or hand moves, only barely moved around when the rest of the class did, and she had the saddest face ever the entire time.  It was only afterwards, when I gave her the flowers, that she finally lit up.  Later, she kept asking me, "But Mom, why did you give me the flowers?" "Because you participated."  "But I didn't participate.  I didn't do any of the moves."  "Well, you didn't do all the moves, but you did stick it out and stay up there on the stage.  And you did do some of the moving around moves.  And I'm very proud of you for sticking it out."

Arwyn's new favorite thing to say these days is, "I can figure it out by myself!"(especially as she's trying to clean up a poop accident and poop is flying around the room).  And "I got it figured out!" as I walked into the bathroom to find her trying to clean up another poop accident at nap time.  Arwyn moved into her new bedroom this week, with her new big girl bed.  She was so excited, but then in the end she couldn't sleep there.  The power of no crib walls was too much, and she couldn't stay in bed or get to sleep.  She ended up back downstairs in her old crip 2 or 3 nights in a row.  She also had 2 days of no naps.  She kept getting up and going into Leia's room and waking her up.  Finally we gave her Leia's old sleep pillow, and that finally kept her in bed (well, after she got out of bed several times to show everyone her new sleep pillow).  The second night she wanted to show Leia, who promptly tried to steal it back, so then Arwyn never took her head off the pillow the rest of the night for fear Leia would try again to reclaim her new treasure.  Arwyn loves to try and jump on Leia's bandwagon to revolt against things I'm trying to get them to do (like get ready for school), but unlike Leia, she abandons ship when she sees the plan isn't working, and then loves to brag about how she's being good and cooperating now.  Arwyn loves to talk up a storm these days.  It was funny the other day because she was talking on and on, and then busts into our compliments and appreciations mode, and says, "...and good job Leia for interrupting me..." because Leia kept doing that.  (It turned out that she may be been trying to say good job for NOT interrupting me, but it was funnier how it came out, and it really pissed Leia off).  And the biggest news for Arwyn this week is that she can officially draw the letter "A"!

Picture from Leia's teacher of how she fell asleep at nap time one day.

After a long night of saving people, even Wonder Woman and Super Girl get tired, puffy looking eyes...

Arbonne Gel Eye Masks to the rescue!

Getting goofy!

Leia has entered the stage where she likes to make up jokes.  Her jokes are so not funny that it's funny.  Especially because she thinks they are so funny.  You gotta love her creativity though!

Pool time = smile time!

Turtles have really stepped up the bar for Leia, but she is up to the challenge!  She can officially make it half way across the pool by herself now!

After 5 years of owning my car, I finally stumbled on how to play different music in the back than in the front, and I can even do it consistently now!

When did I get so technologically challenged?

Decorating Nana's birthday cake!

Love how these two still like to say "Cheese!" for the camera.

Emmett's got such a great smile!

Happy Birthday Nana!

Lucky to be celebrating with these 3 cuties.

Lots of little helpers!

More cake please!

Pretty picturesque spot for making art!

The proud artists!

Actually had some helpers for putting up the trampoline!

Totally pouting because for the first time ever, Arwyn didn't care to be photographed!

Balance beam ballet (and five seconds later she totally tripped and was so close to nailing her head on the wood beam).

A flustered Daddy accidentally left the sunscreen on the roof of the car, #toddlertantrums, and somehow it stayed there the entire 60 mph 15 minute drive to work!  Love that #ArbonneBabyCare Sunscreen: stays on your body AND on your car!

Starting to like to dress herself!

Happy girl when she gets her Mommy Time at school.

Bigs thumbs up for creekside snack time!

A little Arwyn mermaid.

Help, fish out of water!

Helping to buy flowers for the big ballet performance.

Excited to deliver flowers to her big sis.

Backstage at the big performance.

Burst into tears when she saw me.

The excited crowd awaiting the little performers.

Arwyn got herself some front row seats for the big performance!

Big tip toes and big smiles for Mr. Emmett!

Sad Leia hiding under her duck hat.

Gotta love this one...Leia bursting into tears and Emmett bursting into smiles simultaneously!

When the little mice circled up around the cheese, Leia did move in sync.

Have you ever seen such a sad face?!

Big claps and big smiles.

Out Leia goes for a little pep talk from Rebekah.

All the mice getting lined up.

Three costumes later and Leia still hasn't gotten over her sadness.

He's like a mini John Travolta!

Leia really was performing the entire time, it was just a different performance than everyone else.  I mean really, she had to have been working so hard to keep that frown so big for so long.  Try it some time, it's not easy!

And this little guy, the only male ballerina in the class, totally stole the show with his great moves and big excitement!

Jumping for joy at a great performance!

Highlight Reel, Short Version:


You've got to love this footage of the kids' first ballet performance!  Leia was totally out of character, and too upset to participate, while Emmett, the sole male performer, totally stole the show!

Full Length Show, Long Version:

Leia and Emmett have been taking ballet through a program at school for awhile now, and they had their very first performance.  I'm not totally sure what happened to Leia, but right before the show she burst into tears, and it lasted the rest of the time, preventing her from fully participating.  It may have just been the jitters, but I've never known her to be that way, so it was very odd.  Emmett, on the other hand, was the cutest thing, with his huge smile and his contagious excitement.  Not to mention being the only boy in a class full of girls!

Not too sure about why she got this beautiful flower.

This guy's smile is totally contagious!

Ok, she can't help but crack a little smile at the sight of these beautiful flowers!

Candy and flowers after a performance?  That's definitely something to smile about!

Proud grandparents!

Jesse and cool kid Harkin.

So beautiful when she's not frowning!

Love this happy shot and the vivid colors.

Post-performance family pizza dinner!

Can I hitch a ride with you two?

Not sure why that tight little ballet bun turned into such big hair for Leia when it was removed, but it was pretty incredible!

That hair sure has some body!

Now everyone wants big hair!