Travis and I have spent the weekend wondering what it will take to get Emily to actually stop doing something with verbal instruction alone. She cannot STOP if we tell her to. There were several instances this weekend where I told her to stop and she wouldn't; everything from getting something out of the pantry that she thought would be helpful, to dragging Audrey across the floor because she didn't want her to be where she was. If she's in the middle of an activity, it takes actual physical interaction to get her to stop, not just the threat of physical interaction, she must be forcibly stopped. No kind of verbal communication will do - I can use any language at any decibel level and any tone of voice, and she only hears that she should stop when she's done. It's infuriating, it's annoying, it's actually dangerous, and it's driving me NUTS, almost more than the constant Why's!! What do I do?! She's almost 3 1/2 now; is that really too much to expect of her?? Tomorrow we're going to try some Simon Says kinds of things, just for practice following directions like hop on one foot, STOP, spin in circles, STOP, things like that. I figure that'll be fun, or at least harmless if it doesn't help.
I managed to catch some kind of nasty bug this weekend. Friday, I was knocked on my back by it; my throat hurt so much I could hardly swallow, but not because it was red or raw, but rather because the glands in my neck were so swollen. I had such a bad fever that I was ridiculously bundled up all weekend, multiple layers of pants and socks, and wearing a blanket around the house like an invalid. This morning, though, I felt human again. The seemingly insurmountable list of things to do that I had realized the night before was actually quite do-able, and I had most of it done by 10:30. (I guess I never did get the fridge cleaned out, but hey, who really wants to do that anyway? :) ) Things really do fall apart around here when I'm out of service, which actually was probably part of the behavior issues we had this weekend. If I'm not bringing my A game, Emily knows it. I swept up probably 2 Cups of crumbs and food off the dining room floor this morning - yuck!! And I really didn't feel like eating, so supper last night was particularly awful; Trav said it was in the bottom five meals I've ever made (though I don't know if that counts things like tuna casserole that he abhorrs. it might; it was pretty awful.). It probably would've been better if I could have stood up, but I was really incapable of anything except staggering from the couch to wherever Emily happened to be assaulting Audrey. Therefore, dinner was total crap, and Emily pitched a fit because she didn't want to eat it. Trav was a good sport and told her there was nothing else, so she should just suck it up and eat it (like he was doing, but didn't say!). Today, I'm feeling good enough that I can look back at that and laugh. :)
Audrey is busy these days proving that 1 really is wonderful. She's got the understanding to be cooperative, but not the self-will to make things difficult. Putting her to bed tonight was the kind of thing that most parents dream about, where she happily participatee in or initiated each step for bedtime, then gave me a super-sweet hug and indicated she was ready for her crib so I laid her down, kissed her, and left, and that was it. Amazing! Never will happen again, but I figured I'd document it so I don't wonder later it was a dream. She toddles around so adorably, and reading her a book is a hilarious passtime. The Spot books with the creatures hidden behind flaps are her favorite. She lifts the flap, points and shrieks, "DEH DAAAA!!!" Dinnertime is a complete disaster, but that's just that she's messy, not difficult about eating. And of course, she's gorgeous, even with her Justin Bieber hair in her eyes. She had my sister really laughing the other day, playing a game making faces at each other, sticking out tongues. Seriously, how could you not love this kid?!
Emily and I did several pages of her preschool workbook today. It's a hand-me-down from Megan, so maybe 1/3 of the pages are already done, and I didn't know if Emily would be ready to do any of it yet. We did several pages, and she was really getting the hang of circling the right answer, or drawing lines to connect like items. It's funny how that's a test-taking skill that a person has to learn. It took her 5 minutes to master, though, so, and in theory this book is supposed to cover everything to prepare a kid for Kindergarten, so I think I'll take my time stretching out its content for the next 18 months (ha!). Then again, she fell out of her chair at supper tonight while trying to reach something for Audrey. She fell really hard onto the floor, and it was one of those moments where you think, "What?? How did such a bright kid do something so dumb?" Happens a lot here. She'll go from singing beautiful songs with lovely pitch, to climbing the walls. Sometimes I look at her and realize she's kind of in an ugly duckling phase, with all this potential and beauty just waiting to break through the struggles that are a part of being 3. I love her so much!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Oh right, I have a blog!
sorry - long time since I've had a chance to blog. This whole working-in-the-evenings is really taking up the time that I usually unwind with a computer keeping my lap warm. And now that it's FINALLY spring, I might not even want to do that!!
I really like St. Patrick's day, much more than I did when I was a kid. I think I live in the climate where it really does signal the start of spring, of things actually turning green and the likelihood of more snow coming dropping to nearly zero. And now with daylight savings time starting so much earlier, it just feels like I'm coming out of hibernation. I suppose if I still got to play 2.5 hours of basketball every day I might not feel the same, so that's probably another difference from my youth. Anyway, I'm pretty happy now that the season is changing! And so are my girls. Emily played outside on Friday for THREE hours, and Audrey for a full hour. We bought a swingset, and although we only have the tower part assembled, Emily is a big fan. Audrey likes her little plastic slide, and they both love the sandbox. Today, while they were out there, I was sketching out plans to install a real, improved sandbox. I always like to have a little project on deck so Travis will feel good about finishing the current one, which for the past month has been the basement. It didnt' seem like it would be that big of a deal - paint and carpet - but it was a lot of work! Two coats of two colors, plus trim, and then removing the old carpet, scraping off the old glue, and preparing the floor for the carpet tiles. Travis laid the tiles today, and it didn't take all that long and it looks AMAZING. Love it! Pictures on FB. The girls loved being down there, screeching, running, rolling, giggling, more screeching, more running. they'll probably be disappointed when we fill that room back up with a bed and a couch and other stuff.
In other news, we spent last week visiting family because Travis was on a business trip to Atlanta. I spent 3 days in Rockford, then compressed my workweek to Thurs/Fri and Grandma Sullivan came to watch the girls. The whole week could not have gone better - as much of a vacation as I could have without Trav around, I think. It was really good to be back in Rockford, too. Every time I'm there, I wish I could get there more often. I even went into town this time, to see school's band concert. Emily and I only stayed for the elementary and middle school bands, but she really loved seeing kids playing instruments, and recognized a couple of the songs they played. It was totally bizarre to be back in that building again, but kind of fun to sneak in late to the concert and then leave early and not have to confront any "locals". :)
As always, the girls are saying and doing all kinds of things to keep me on my toes and laughing, and I wish I could document them in such a way that would do it justice. Audrey is really figuring things out, now, and she's pretend-playing with Emily in just about every activity - pushing trucks around, singing, and especially dolls. She decided that the baby should drink out of the bottle, but that she should also have a turn with the bottle, putting it up her nose. (?!) Emily wanted to play my trumpet, so I got it out for her to make her elephant noises with, and then Audrey wanted a turn, too. She put the entire mouthpiece in her mouth and sang a tiny little note, and then gave me the prettiest, most-satisfied smile!! She will give the funniest face if you ask her for her Pretty Smile, and of course she still Baddywacks on command. She is starting to get some words together, but she's doing it under the radar, as much as she can. I think it's like with walking - she doesn't want to just try things out, she'll let us know when it's perfect.
Okay, I would love to write more but I'm exhausted. Nightynight!
I really like St. Patrick's day, much more than I did when I was a kid. I think I live in the climate where it really does signal the start of spring, of things actually turning green and the likelihood of more snow coming dropping to nearly zero. And now with daylight savings time starting so much earlier, it just feels like I'm coming out of hibernation. I suppose if I still got to play 2.5 hours of basketball every day I might not feel the same, so that's probably another difference from my youth. Anyway, I'm pretty happy now that the season is changing! And so are my girls. Emily played outside on Friday for THREE hours, and Audrey for a full hour. We bought a swingset, and although we only have the tower part assembled, Emily is a big fan. Audrey likes her little plastic slide, and they both love the sandbox. Today, while they were out there, I was sketching out plans to install a real, improved sandbox. I always like to have a little project on deck so Travis will feel good about finishing the current one, which for the past month has been the basement. It didnt' seem like it would be that big of a deal - paint and carpet - but it was a lot of work! Two coats of two colors, plus trim, and then removing the old carpet, scraping off the old glue, and preparing the floor for the carpet tiles. Travis laid the tiles today, and it didn't take all that long and it looks AMAZING. Love it! Pictures on FB. The girls loved being down there, screeching, running, rolling, giggling, more screeching, more running. they'll probably be disappointed when we fill that room back up with a bed and a couch and other stuff.
In other news, we spent last week visiting family because Travis was on a business trip to Atlanta. I spent 3 days in Rockford, then compressed my workweek to Thurs/Fri and Grandma Sullivan came to watch the girls. The whole week could not have gone better - as much of a vacation as I could have without Trav around, I think. It was really good to be back in Rockford, too. Every time I'm there, I wish I could get there more often. I even went into town this time, to see school's band concert. Emily and I only stayed for the elementary and middle school bands, but she really loved seeing kids playing instruments, and recognized a couple of the songs they played. It was totally bizarre to be back in that building again, but kind of fun to sneak in late to the concert and then leave early and not have to confront any "locals". :)
As always, the girls are saying and doing all kinds of things to keep me on my toes and laughing, and I wish I could document them in such a way that would do it justice. Audrey is really figuring things out, now, and she's pretend-playing with Emily in just about every activity - pushing trucks around, singing, and especially dolls. She decided that the baby should drink out of the bottle, but that she should also have a turn with the bottle, putting it up her nose. (?!) Emily wanted to play my trumpet, so I got it out for her to make her elephant noises with, and then Audrey wanted a turn, too. She put the entire mouthpiece in her mouth and sang a tiny little note, and then gave me the prettiest, most-satisfied smile!! She will give the funniest face if you ask her for her Pretty Smile, and of course she still Baddywacks on command. She is starting to get some words together, but she's doing it under the radar, as much as she can. I think it's like with walking - she doesn't want to just try things out, she'll let us know when it's perfect.
Okay, I would love to write more but I'm exhausted. Nightynight!
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Going Ballistic
Lately, Audrey has been throwing the most incredible tantrums. It's the weirdest thing, from someone who is normally so chill and happy. She got ahold of my phone tonight, and when I realized it and took it away, she screamed frantically for HALF AN HOUR. I'm not kidding: 6:05 to 6:35. Travis left, picked up Chinese food, and came back, and she was still screaming. Top of her lungs, freaking out, inconsolable, LOUD screaming. I felt so bad for her, but I was also annoyed because I had missed her while I was at work today and she was wasting the evening away being obnoxious. She finally settled down a little on her own, enough that when I offered her a drink and a hug, she finally accepted. She's done that several other times lately, and it's really, really crazy. I rocked her for a long, long time at bedtime tonight, just because it felt good to hold her while she wasn't insane. Poor thing.
She was actually quite fine when she had blood drawn last week at her 15-mo checkup. She had been measuring low in hemoglobin levels the past two times, so I wanted them to look for root cause instead of just having me give her iron supplements. I absolutely hate doing that. I always had to take iron when I was a kid, and it tastes bad and makes it hard to poop. Most of all, I hate being told that I'm not feeding my daughter the right things, because honestly Audrey eats a way better diet than Emily and Emily's hemoglobin is just fine. So they took a bigger blood sample to do more tests this time, from her arm instead of just a finger prick. It was a horrible experience but Audrey calmed down right away, without a 30-minute freakout, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. But the blood tests came back - low hemoglobin, and an actual low iron level. Honestly, Audrey's favorite foods are raisins, beans, eggs, and hamburger, all of which are in the top-ten list of highest iron levels. I also sneak spinach into everything I can, and substitute whole wheat flour for some of the white flour in muffins, waffles, and pancakes. There's no way she's not getting enough iron!! It's really annoying to me, especially since I had the same "problem" growing up, and nobody ever bothered to diagnose it further and I turned out fine. So did my mom, and her dad. What's the big deal??
Okay, on to other topics. Emily's learning to tell time, starting with learning that she should stay in bed in the morning until her clock says 7, not 6. She will now run into our room in the morning, saying, "It says 7! It's MORNING-TIME!!" It's a great way to start the day, let me tell you!
Emily has had so many deliciously clever things to say lately. Travis was most impressed by her when he was talking to her on the phone last week (he was in North Carolina for a few days). She had asked him something, and he answered, but she knew he wasn't answering the right question, so she told him that wasn't it, and clarified her question. If you think about it, that's some serious word-wrangling for someone so new with the language!! The other night she was really upset because she didn't believe me that I'd already given her a vitamin for the day, and I was able to talk her down by just telling her she was super hungry and I'd take care of her by giving her some yummy supper. I couldn't believe that that worked, but it was way easier and more productive than trying anything iron-fisted. When she needs to go to the corner these days, I haven't been calling it Time-Out or treating it as a punishment. If she's losing control of herself, I'll put her in the corner and tell her when she's ready to do what I ask, she can come play with us again. Usually I'll come give her a big hug and a pat on the back, telling her "You can do it, kiddo." And it works way better than demanding apologies and making her feel small. We're talking maybe once a week, tops, that things get like that, and there's usually a root cause of too much sugar or a late bedtime or something.
Speaking of too much sugar - my little valentines were certainly recipients of a lot of treats this year! I didn't even open the bag of heart-shaped marshmallows because we were inundated as it was! Emily had her very first Fun-Dip, a highly coveted treat of my youth. It took her two days to finish it. :) I'm hoping she forgets that she had a second one to save for later, and I'll pull it out and surprise her sometime. I think she was actually getting tired of begging for candy after supper every night. We usually do have some sort of treat afterwards, but sometimes that treat is something like an extra biscuit or more canned peaches. I'm such a sneaky mom!
I'm not working tonight. I've been doing 2+ hours every night, and it's nice to take a night off once in a while, especially since I worked all day today!! I've finished planning the next two weeks of work, and it's an insane workload. I've got lots of support from the people who've asked me to do these things, but still, it's pretty daunting.
She was actually quite fine when she had blood drawn last week at her 15-mo checkup. She had been measuring low in hemoglobin levels the past two times, so I wanted them to look for root cause instead of just having me give her iron supplements. I absolutely hate doing that. I always had to take iron when I was a kid, and it tastes bad and makes it hard to poop. Most of all, I hate being told that I'm not feeding my daughter the right things, because honestly Audrey eats a way better diet than Emily and Emily's hemoglobin is just fine. So they took a bigger blood sample to do more tests this time, from her arm instead of just a finger prick. It was a horrible experience but Audrey calmed down right away, without a 30-minute freakout, and fell asleep in the car on the way home. But the blood tests came back - low hemoglobin, and an actual low iron level. Honestly, Audrey's favorite foods are raisins, beans, eggs, and hamburger, all of which are in the top-ten list of highest iron levels. I also sneak spinach into everything I can, and substitute whole wheat flour for some of the white flour in muffins, waffles, and pancakes. There's no way she's not getting enough iron!! It's really annoying to me, especially since I had the same "problem" growing up, and nobody ever bothered to diagnose it further and I turned out fine. So did my mom, and her dad. What's the big deal??
Okay, on to other topics. Emily's learning to tell time, starting with learning that she should stay in bed in the morning until her clock says 7, not 6. She will now run into our room in the morning, saying, "It says 7! It's MORNING-TIME!!" It's a great way to start the day, let me tell you!
Emily has had so many deliciously clever things to say lately. Travis was most impressed by her when he was talking to her on the phone last week (he was in North Carolina for a few days). She had asked him something, and he answered, but she knew he wasn't answering the right question, so she told him that wasn't it, and clarified her question. If you think about it, that's some serious word-wrangling for someone so new with the language!! The other night she was really upset because she didn't believe me that I'd already given her a vitamin for the day, and I was able to talk her down by just telling her she was super hungry and I'd take care of her by giving her some yummy supper. I couldn't believe that that worked, but it was way easier and more productive than trying anything iron-fisted. When she needs to go to the corner these days, I haven't been calling it Time-Out or treating it as a punishment. If she's losing control of herself, I'll put her in the corner and tell her when she's ready to do what I ask, she can come play with us again. Usually I'll come give her a big hug and a pat on the back, telling her "You can do it, kiddo." And it works way better than demanding apologies and making her feel small. We're talking maybe once a week, tops, that things get like that, and there's usually a root cause of too much sugar or a late bedtime or something.
Speaking of too much sugar - my little valentines were certainly recipients of a lot of treats this year! I didn't even open the bag of heart-shaped marshmallows because we were inundated as it was! Emily had her very first Fun-Dip, a highly coveted treat of my youth. It took her two days to finish it. :) I'm hoping she forgets that she had a second one to save for later, and I'll pull it out and surprise her sometime. I think she was actually getting tired of begging for candy after supper every night. We usually do have some sort of treat afterwards, but sometimes that treat is something like an extra biscuit or more canned peaches. I'm such a sneaky mom!
I'm not working tonight. I've been doing 2+ hours every night, and it's nice to take a night off once in a while, especially since I worked all day today!! I've finished planning the next two weeks of work, and it's an insane workload. I've got lots of support from the people who've asked me to do these things, but still, it's pretty daunting.
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