Arwyn went Ice Skating for the first time this week. She ended up having a blast, but she wasn't totally into it at first. She figured out the whole skating skill pretty quickly, but what got her really happy was when she realized I had brought lunch and that she could just "take a break," heading off the ice and over to the bench for a snack all by herself. She kept going back and forth all by herself after that, exercising her independence to "take a break," and got very adept at stepping on and off the ice, and even put her little walker aid on and off the rink by herself too. I was pretty impressed at her coordination on those skates! Somehow the conversation of marriage and honeymoons came up this week, and the girls cracked me up with their very different and very hilarious responses. Arwyn keeps saying repeatedly, "I want to get married and go on a honeymoon. I want to marry you and Daddy." Leia, on the other hand, stated, "I'm never getting married. I'm just going to stay with my Nana. And I already went on a honeymoon. Arwyn and I were in your belly, so we were with you." And another day, when she was pissed that Arwyn and I were eating smelly bananas, and I tried to pin her down about why she doesn't like bananas anymore even though she used to love them, she said, "No bananas and no babies. And I'm never getting married." This whole stance surprised me a bit because Leia seems like a girly girl with all her pink and purple dresses, whereas Arwyn seems very level headed and not interested in boys. But then again, Leia's wisdom is beyond her years, so having this sort of insight about her marriage and baby desires, is definitely not beyond her. Arwyn is doing pretty well with Daddy being gone. She wants to clarify who's picking her up each day, and of course she's much happier if it's going to be me, but she understands that some days it's going to be our babysitter Reny instead. Arwyn has been getting really really tired at night these days. And when she gets tired she get very cranky. I'm figuring out that we really need to try to eat dinner earlier because otherwise she's too tired and distracted to even eat. Luckily Arwyn is back to sleeping in later, so at least she's trying to get her extra needed rest.
Leia also had a blast ice skating. She's only been one other time last year, but she's been trying to get us to go again ever since. Big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for our ice skating gift certificates! There was one other little girl (a bit older than Leia), but she made friends with us right away, and Leia was happy to have a buddy. We took our turn watching Leia's class birds at our home for the weekend. Their names are Carrot Diamond and Kitty Feather. Leia was super helpful dealing with the birds, and clearly wanted to take on as much responsibility as possible. She wanted to carry that big cage all by herself, and she kept them in her room all weekend. Other than that, it was pretty easy, no cleaning required for the short visit. Leia had so much fun doing "projects" this week with this little art project bucket that came in the mail from Cousin Jordan. She was sitting in bed every night with her headlamp working on projects involving glue and glitter, which is a little beyond what we normally tolerate, but she didn't make a mess at all and it kept her happy and in bed, so that was great. I was so happy to see her getting so creative and wanting to do something beside watch TV! It was so interesting to see her look at the suggested project pictures and make her own interpretations as to how it should be done. One time we were working on the projects together for Mommy Time, and she wanted to do the double-wide popsicle stick picture frame. She was getting super annoyed with me for "not doing it right" because my interpretation of the image was much different than hers. It was fun to just do what she said and see how it turned out, which was very close to the picture after all. I was so busy this weekend working early mornings at Squaw, so we didn't get our morning Mommy Time. And add that to two weeks without Daddy, and it was getting ugly. Leia was sooooo excited when I came up to her after putting Arwyn down for nap and said we could have a couple Mommy Time sessions before her nap. She instantly pulled out her favorite new art project kit, and I knew I had made a good decision to do that. Leia has been waking up super early all week (like 6:15 rather than her usual 6:40), and even though I'm already awake on work days, that extra 25 minutes makes a big difference in my work day preparation productivity and getting out of the house on time! I got really upset with her before work one day because I was already flustered and then she gets so distracted with random stuff rather than eating and getting dressed for school. This day she wanted to make presents for all her friends 10 minutes before we are supposed to leave, and she hadn't even eaten her cereal yet! And she wanted my help!! Sorry, too busy. That's not happening on a work day! Grrr! Of course, I didn't handle it properly, and now I feel really badly. I apologized, and I will just have to keep working on staying calm while being poked, prodded, and beaten down. I think it's good training for being a spy or something. Leia surprised me this week when she actually admitted to the babysitter that she wasn't allowed to watch a particular TV show. Good for her, keeping it honest. Especially because she really likes the show and doesn't understand why I don't. Leia was actually able to communicate to me this week that it really upsets her when Arwyn doesn't let her help and only wants Mommy. I guess I've known that she feels like that because she often tries to do things in a way to please Arwyn, and celebrates a victory when Arwyn "likes" her or Arwyn lets her help. But it was cool that she could actually tell me with words how she feels. And I know it causes so many of their fights because then Leia tries to get back at Arwyn for being mean to her by being mean back. Very cyclical. Unfortunately, Arwyn is just in a mommy phase, and Leia wasn't really interested in taking my advice to respect Arwyn's wishes during those times when she just wants her to back off. Leia likes to do what she wants when she wants, and doesn't seem to link that to Arwyn's personal feelings for her. Oh well, I think it's a pretty hard thing to learn.
Enjoying a little snack by the outdoor fire pit.
Always a nice treat when Leia chooses to have morning Mommy Time in bed!
Leia also had a blast ice skating. She's only been one other time last year, but she's been trying to get us to go again ever since. Big thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for our ice skating gift certificates! There was one other little girl (a bit older than Leia), but she made friends with us right away, and Leia was happy to have a buddy. We took our turn watching Leia's class birds at our home for the weekend. Their names are Carrot Diamond and Kitty Feather. Leia was super helpful dealing with the birds, and clearly wanted to take on as much responsibility as possible. She wanted to carry that big cage all by herself, and she kept them in her room all weekend. Other than that, it was pretty easy, no cleaning required for the short visit. Leia had so much fun doing "projects" this week with this little art project bucket that came in the mail from Cousin Jordan. She was sitting in bed every night with her headlamp working on projects involving glue and glitter, which is a little beyond what we normally tolerate, but she didn't make a mess at all and it kept her happy and in bed, so that was great. I was so happy to see her getting so creative and wanting to do something beside watch TV! It was so interesting to see her look at the suggested project pictures and make her own interpretations as to how it should be done. One time we were working on the projects together for Mommy Time, and she wanted to do the double-wide popsicle stick picture frame. She was getting super annoyed with me for "not doing it right" because my interpretation of the image was much different than hers. It was fun to just do what she said and see how it turned out, which was very close to the picture after all. I was so busy this weekend working early mornings at Squaw, so we didn't get our morning Mommy Time. And add that to two weeks without Daddy, and it was getting ugly. Leia was sooooo excited when I came up to her after putting Arwyn down for nap and said we could have a couple Mommy Time sessions before her nap. She instantly pulled out her favorite new art project kit, and I knew I had made a good decision to do that. Leia has been waking up super early all week (like 6:15 rather than her usual 6:40), and even though I'm already awake on work days, that extra 25 minutes makes a big difference in my work day preparation productivity and getting out of the house on time! I got really upset with her before work one day because I was already flustered and then she gets so distracted with random stuff rather than eating and getting dressed for school. This day she wanted to make presents for all her friends 10 minutes before we are supposed to leave, and she hadn't even eaten her cereal yet! And she wanted my help!! Sorry, too busy. That's not happening on a work day! Grrr! Of course, I didn't handle it properly, and now I feel really badly. I apologized, and I will just have to keep working on staying calm while being poked, prodded, and beaten down. I think it's good training for being a spy or something. Leia surprised me this week when she actually admitted to the babysitter that she wasn't allowed to watch a particular TV show. Good for her, keeping it honest. Especially because she really likes the show and doesn't understand why I don't. Leia was actually able to communicate to me this week that it really upsets her when Arwyn doesn't let her help and only wants Mommy. I guess I've known that she feels like that because she often tries to do things in a way to please Arwyn, and celebrates a victory when Arwyn "likes" her or Arwyn lets her help. But it was cool that she could actually tell me with words how she feels. And I know it causes so many of their fights because then Leia tries to get back at Arwyn for being mean to her by being mean back. Very cyclical. Unfortunately, Arwyn is just in a mommy phase, and Leia wasn't really interested in taking my advice to respect Arwyn's wishes during those times when she just wants her to back off. Leia likes to do what she wants when she wants, and doesn't seem to link that to Arwyn's personal feelings for her. Oh well, I think it's a pretty hard thing to learn.
Happy camper, bringing Carrot Diamond and Kitty Feather home for the weekend!
Talk about strength and determination, carrying that big, awkward cage all by herself.
Out and about. PJ's all day long.
Leia got gifted a new dog toy. I guess these big stuffed animals just beg to be cuddled with whether you're a kid or a dog.
Our new bed!! Hard to believe it comes in a little box.
It started exploding the second it got even a little air.
This is the before shot. Then we cut open that plastic wrap, and it just blew itself up with Leia right on it!
And the after shot, a huge king bed! Wish I had gotten the video!
Very elaborate tea party with our new magnetic cake tray!
Miniature toddler ice skates are the cutest thing!
Happy girl successfully navigating the ice!
Another happy girl. Got her wish to be able to skate, and made a new friend.
A little nervous at first, but she figured it out pretty quickly.
Leia taking lessons from her new little teacher.
Password = Leia
Leia has only ice skated one other time in her life, and she's been dying to get out on the ice again ever since. She had a blast today, and even though she felt more comfortable with the walker bar, she definitely demonstrated that she doesn't need it. Go Leia!
"I'm going to take a break."
"Take a picture of me and my friend."
Bumper cars!
And that's why you wear a helmet. Luckily she laughed every time.
Password = Arwyn
Arwyn had her first day skating on the ice rink today. I was really impressed with how quickly she figured it all out and got her balance down. And, oh my gosh, have you ever seen anything cuter than mini-ice skates!
Enjoying a little snack by the outdoor fire pit.
"Mom, take a picture of me with this funny nose."
Password = Arwyn
Our little Googie Monster Arwyn was making some crazy monster sounds today. And check out those fast fingers!
Password (below) = Arwyn
Always trying to perfect my documentation of Arwyn's "Cold Face" because it's one of the cutest things she does!
Password (below) = Leia
"Cold Face" is one of Arwyn's signature moves, and has been since she was 18 months or less. But Leia, not one to ever be outdone, shows us a pretty good rendition herself.
Always a nice treat when Leia chooses to have morning Mommy Time in bed!
