I'm pretty pumped - I need a safe place to brag about this. I don't want to be one of those in-your-face moms with everything her kids do, but this is my blog and if you are reading this, you know that I'm totally just gushing in amazement my kids, cuz they're awesome!
Audrey can sound out words, both to read them and to write them. Yesterday, Amanda told me that she was picking out magnet letters and spelling out 3-letter words that she'd suggest. She suggested BOX, and Audrey picked up the X first, and then sat and thought a while. Amanda was cueing her with "Buh, buh..." and Audrey chimes in, "I want to spell xylophone." She was a little upset because she couldn't find an I, because she had already used it in another word, so Amanda pointed out she really wanted a Y anyway. So she ended up spelling it "XYLFON". Not bad! Then she had sidewalk chalk out on the driveway, she drew a big V, and then announced she would spell violin. So she did! It's plain as day out on our driveway.
This morning, she and Travis were looking at a book of counting, which is more of an activity book than a reading book. He asked her if she knew a word, pointed to it, and she thought a while and announced, "Ten." She also read Six and Stop. And these are the words, not the numbers, she's reading. There's no sounding out loud, either, she's doing it all in her head.
Crazy! :)
Friday, March 29, 2013
Saturday, March 23, 2013
March Madness
I suppose if I updated this more than once a month, it wouldn't be such a chore when I finally do, and end up as such a random spewing of facts. :)
Clara has changed SO much these past few weeks! It's like, now that she is mobile, she's working on other things. She did a really, really super job this past week going potty, which is absolutely crazy but pretty fun! She totally gets it, and seemed really upset when she did poop in her diaper after not having done that for ~5 days. I was washing diapers myself this week since we were out of town on pick-up day, so it definitely helped in that chore. :) I think the limiting factor for her is the personnel, since it seems that if anyone except me takes her she gets a little freaked. Which - so what? She's a BABY. She's always in a diaper, so what's the big deal? So I've decided to cooperate with her preference and be the only one taking her potty. Anyone else who happens to change her can just change her like they would any normal baby, and we should all be happy!
Another totally fantastic thing is that she has figured out how to user her fingers to communicate. It's such a big "click" in her mind! so fun! We've been working on her to make the sign for "milk," although it's water in her sippy cup so we're calling it just "drink." I think she has interpreted it to mean, "Gimme," however, as she uses it as her response to just about any question you ask her. :) The next most helpful sign she could learn is "all done," then "more," and maybe "potty" someday but again, whatever. Anyway, the little fingers going back and forth are tremendously cute and I am loving it!!
Travis was in Brazil all last week, and he said he thinks Clara has developed a whole bunch of personality while he was gone. I have to agree. She is getting more and more expressive, just trying different emotions on for size. I think she likes the acoustics of our dining room, because she has resumed her shrieking now that we're home from Rockford, where we hid out for the week. I swear she didn't shriek at all last week, but tonight she was at it again.
So yes, the trip to Rockford. it was really fun and really exhausting, totally worth it but still a big chore. It was ridiculously cold outside, and Clara was her normal miserable sleeper so I'm exhausted, but there were many high points, too. I was able to arrange special 1 on 1 time for each girl with each grandparent throughout the week, which was a really nice thing for all involved. My mom read a huge stack of books to the girls throughout the week (she swears that Emily didn't have her fingers in her mouth at any time she was reading to her, but this afternoon I didn't even get through the first page of a book and she was chewing on the back of her hands). Anyway, my mom also got a kick out of Clara putting empty buckets and toy containers over her head, then talking to sample the acoustics. It was quite the game for such a little person! It was fun to see Clara get more comfortable at their house as the week went on. She spent probably half of her playtime standing up at the piano, trying out the keys. She loooooved the piano. One time, I had her on my lap, playing a few notes here and there as she was playing too, and she repeatedly took my hands off the keyboard, and then finally turned around and pushed my face away, as if to say, "Mom! Leave me alone! I am playing!" My dad said she did just the same thing to him, too! Funny kid!
Audrey has been a little charmer lately. It seems like my kids each take turns doing fits and spurts of amazing development. The past month hasn't really been notable for her, which is nice because her stages of real change are usually pretty hard to handle. She's happy, singing, snuggly and beautiful, learning like crazy about whatever comes her way, and just enjoying being 3. She colored a picture of a rainbow, for St. Patrick's Day, and we're not sure how she figured this out, but she put exactly the right colors in the right order. There wasn't any rainbow for her to copy (and that's not her style anyway), and when I asked her how she decided which color to put where, she told me she started with red, and that orange belonged next to it, and yellow belong next to orange... I'm not sure that's what preschool teachers mean when they work on kids knowing their colors!
Emily had a lot of shining moments up in Rockford. She was thoughtful and considerate of her sisters and her grandparents. She told amazingly detailed facts about dinosaurs and rockets that she learned in school. she did puzzles and sequencing activities, showcased her amazing scissor skills (practically scherenschnitte!), and even tried out new ways to poke around on the piano. And she played happily with her sisters, which while it wasn't tear-free 100% of the time, it really was far beyond what kids that age generally are able to work out on their own. My mom taught preschool for many years, so of course has a good idea what it takes for a child to be considered Kindergarten-ready. Emily's teacher of course recommended that she's ready for Kindergarten, no surprise there, but there are a lot of things that even Audrey fits the criteria for K-readiness. Emily is so far beyond it, I wonder if she's going to feel like Kindergarten is a good fit. I have not drilled her with academic readiness; teachers look for things like straight-up reading skills (sight words), ability to count by 2's or by 5's, and other similar repeat-this-task skills for goals for the Kindergarten year. I think Emily will enjoy learning these things at school... and then wonder what to do the rest of the year. I could teach her these things over the summer, if I really wanted to pursue grade acceleration as an option, and she would then probably stand out as a good candidate. I'm really not leaning that way for her; her inclination is to focus on getting a handle on her situation before making her move. Emily's teacher commented at conferences that she started the year very timid, taking her time analyzing her surroundings, and now that she's comfortable she kind of rules the place, with great confidence and lots of friends. I think throwing her into 1st grade would be too much of a change for her to feel confident that she's totally in-the-know of her surroundings. She COULD do it, and be totally fine academically, but I don't think that emotionally it's a good fit for her. The challenge then is to keep her academically interested within her grade level, which I'm realizing is something that I'll need to advocate for her quite a bit and I am not at all sure how to do it. I sure hate using my first kid as my guinea pig. Maybe I'll have things figured out for Audrey, but she's a different story entirely. I've got a while before I really have to think about school for her, but she is so ready to jump into anything, and so academically ready because of her exposure to things via Emily's learning, that moving up might really suit her... we shall see.
Anyway, regarding Emily, it was good to talk with my mom and learn more about what 5YO expectations really are, because Emily is truly a fantastic kid; she only drives me crazy because I'm her mother, and that's her job. In the real world, she shines. Her A-game is amazing. At home she relaxes and it's not convenient for me, but that's not her fault and it's not wrong, at all. Today was really hard, with the letdown of being home again and the added exhaustion, and the headache that I had too. We definitely had a hard day. But I guess it's just Emily's turn to be the kid that's driving me nuts, right?? The biggest thing lately: Emily absolutely cannot leave Clara alone. Now that she's pulling herself to standing on things, Emily thinks she needs to come up behind her, lift her up, and carry her wherever she wants her. Then if Clara is then crying because she's been moved away from what she wants to be doing, then Emily cradles her on her lap and tries to get her to stop. Well, she's really way too big to do that, almost 20 pounds now! Emily even managed to get Clara her out of her crib this morning, before I was even out of bed! (Give me a chance, kid!!) I have talked with her, seriously, every single day this week about how she could hurt Clara by accident, and I don't want either of my girls to get hurt, or for Emily to feel bad about hurting Clara when she didn't mean to. She absolutely will not stop and it is driving me crazy!!! Add that to the constant fingers/hands/toys/plates/countertops/random-object-at-face-level in her mouth, AND her insistence on starting everything she says to me by whining, "Mooooommm?? How come (something she already knows but wants me to repeat for some damn reason)??" Yup, definitely Emily's turn to be the irritant.
Travis is also gone in April for a trip to Luxembourg. It's a little shorter this time - 5 days instead of 7 - but I'm still planning to get backup help somehow. I don't think I'll be able to skip town again, since Emily is in school, but maybe I'll take vacation... we'll see. It's really disappointing to have to look forward to that, and also a 2-day trip to Miami at the beginning of April, because once I get through those things, we'll be almost to the end of the schoolyear, getting ready for summer! If the snow would just melt already, and quit coming down, I think I'd be more ready to think about it!
Clara has changed SO much these past few weeks! It's like, now that she is mobile, she's working on other things. She did a really, really super job this past week going potty, which is absolutely crazy but pretty fun! She totally gets it, and seemed really upset when she did poop in her diaper after not having done that for ~5 days. I was washing diapers myself this week since we were out of town on pick-up day, so it definitely helped in that chore. :) I think the limiting factor for her is the personnel, since it seems that if anyone except me takes her she gets a little freaked. Which - so what? She's a BABY. She's always in a diaper, so what's the big deal? So I've decided to cooperate with her preference and be the only one taking her potty. Anyone else who happens to change her can just change her like they would any normal baby, and we should all be happy!
Another totally fantastic thing is that she has figured out how to user her fingers to communicate. It's such a big "click" in her mind! so fun! We've been working on her to make the sign for "milk," although it's water in her sippy cup so we're calling it just "drink." I think she has interpreted it to mean, "Gimme," however, as she uses it as her response to just about any question you ask her. :) The next most helpful sign she could learn is "all done," then "more," and maybe "potty" someday but again, whatever. Anyway, the little fingers going back and forth are tremendously cute and I am loving it!!
Travis was in Brazil all last week, and he said he thinks Clara has developed a whole bunch of personality while he was gone. I have to agree. She is getting more and more expressive, just trying different emotions on for size. I think she likes the acoustics of our dining room, because she has resumed her shrieking now that we're home from Rockford, where we hid out for the week. I swear she didn't shriek at all last week, but tonight she was at it again.
So yes, the trip to Rockford. it was really fun and really exhausting, totally worth it but still a big chore. It was ridiculously cold outside, and Clara was her normal miserable sleeper so I'm exhausted, but there were many high points, too. I was able to arrange special 1 on 1 time for each girl with each grandparent throughout the week, which was a really nice thing for all involved. My mom read a huge stack of books to the girls throughout the week (she swears that Emily didn't have her fingers in her mouth at any time she was reading to her, but this afternoon I didn't even get through the first page of a book and she was chewing on the back of her hands). Anyway, my mom also got a kick out of Clara putting empty buckets and toy containers over her head, then talking to sample the acoustics. It was quite the game for such a little person! It was fun to see Clara get more comfortable at their house as the week went on. She spent probably half of her playtime standing up at the piano, trying out the keys. She loooooved the piano. One time, I had her on my lap, playing a few notes here and there as she was playing too, and she repeatedly took my hands off the keyboard, and then finally turned around and pushed my face away, as if to say, "Mom! Leave me alone! I am playing!" My dad said she did just the same thing to him, too! Funny kid!
Audrey has been a little charmer lately. It seems like my kids each take turns doing fits and spurts of amazing development. The past month hasn't really been notable for her, which is nice because her stages of real change are usually pretty hard to handle. She's happy, singing, snuggly and beautiful, learning like crazy about whatever comes her way, and just enjoying being 3. She colored a picture of a rainbow, for St. Patrick's Day, and we're not sure how she figured this out, but she put exactly the right colors in the right order. There wasn't any rainbow for her to copy (and that's not her style anyway), and when I asked her how she decided which color to put where, she told me she started with red, and that orange belonged next to it, and yellow belong next to orange... I'm not sure that's what preschool teachers mean when they work on kids knowing their colors!
Emily had a lot of shining moments up in Rockford. She was thoughtful and considerate of her sisters and her grandparents. She told amazingly detailed facts about dinosaurs and rockets that she learned in school. she did puzzles and sequencing activities, showcased her amazing scissor skills (practically scherenschnitte!), and even tried out new ways to poke around on the piano. And she played happily with her sisters, which while it wasn't tear-free 100% of the time, it really was far beyond what kids that age generally are able to work out on their own. My mom taught preschool for many years, so of course has a good idea what it takes for a child to be considered Kindergarten-ready. Emily's teacher of course recommended that she's ready for Kindergarten, no surprise there, but there are a lot of things that even Audrey fits the criteria for K-readiness. Emily is so far beyond it, I wonder if she's going to feel like Kindergarten is a good fit. I have not drilled her with academic readiness; teachers look for things like straight-up reading skills (sight words), ability to count by 2's or by 5's, and other similar repeat-this-task skills for goals for the Kindergarten year. I think Emily will enjoy learning these things at school... and then wonder what to do the rest of the year. I could teach her these things over the summer, if I really wanted to pursue grade acceleration as an option, and she would then probably stand out as a good candidate. I'm really not leaning that way for her; her inclination is to focus on getting a handle on her situation before making her move. Emily's teacher commented at conferences that she started the year very timid, taking her time analyzing her surroundings, and now that she's comfortable she kind of rules the place, with great confidence and lots of friends. I think throwing her into 1st grade would be too much of a change for her to feel confident that she's totally in-the-know of her surroundings. She COULD do it, and be totally fine academically, but I don't think that emotionally it's a good fit for her. The challenge then is to keep her academically interested within her grade level, which I'm realizing is something that I'll need to advocate for her quite a bit and I am not at all sure how to do it. I sure hate using my first kid as my guinea pig. Maybe I'll have things figured out for Audrey, but she's a different story entirely. I've got a while before I really have to think about school for her, but she is so ready to jump into anything, and so academically ready because of her exposure to things via Emily's learning, that moving up might really suit her... we shall see.
Anyway, regarding Emily, it was good to talk with my mom and learn more about what 5YO expectations really are, because Emily is truly a fantastic kid; she only drives me crazy because I'm her mother, and that's her job. In the real world, she shines. Her A-game is amazing. At home she relaxes and it's not convenient for me, but that's not her fault and it's not wrong, at all. Today was really hard, with the letdown of being home again and the added exhaustion, and the headache that I had too. We definitely had a hard day. But I guess it's just Emily's turn to be the kid that's driving me nuts, right?? The biggest thing lately: Emily absolutely cannot leave Clara alone. Now that she's pulling herself to standing on things, Emily thinks she needs to come up behind her, lift her up, and carry her wherever she wants her. Then if Clara is then crying because she's been moved away from what she wants to be doing, then Emily cradles her on her lap and tries to get her to stop. Well, she's really way too big to do that, almost 20 pounds now! Emily even managed to get Clara her out of her crib this morning, before I was even out of bed! (Give me a chance, kid!!) I have talked with her, seriously, every single day this week about how she could hurt Clara by accident, and I don't want either of my girls to get hurt, or for Emily to feel bad about hurting Clara when she didn't mean to. She absolutely will not stop and it is driving me crazy!!! Add that to the constant fingers/hands/toys/plates/countertops/random-object-at-face-level in her mouth, AND her insistence on starting everything she says to me by whining, "Mooooommm?? How come (something she already knows but wants me to repeat for some damn reason)??" Yup, definitely Emily's turn to be the irritant.
Travis is also gone in April for a trip to Luxembourg. It's a little shorter this time - 5 days instead of 7 - but I'm still planning to get backup help somehow. I don't think I'll be able to skip town again, since Emily is in school, but maybe I'll take vacation... we'll see. It's really disappointing to have to look forward to that, and also a 2-day trip to Miami at the beginning of April, because once I get through those things, we'll be almost to the end of the schoolyear, getting ready for summer! If the snow would just melt already, and quit coming down, I think I'd be more ready to think about it!
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Chug, chug, chug!
Clara is crawling!!
For the past few weeks, she's been reaching farther, trying out the stance, and thinking about bringing her knees along with her, and finally this past weekend she put it all together. And it's ADORABLE. She's a little bit methodical with it still, not a carefree prancing like Emily did, yet anyway. :) She keeps her knees so far underneath her that it's hard to see her moving them, so she seems like a little bug, chugging around. And she's SO pleased with herself. It's the best. Next up is walking, obviously, and she is well on her way as she is intent on pulling herself up to standing on just about anything that will take her weight. And then she'll be on her way to Kindergarten... or so it seems.
February has been a pretty nice month for us. We've been in a good routine together as a family of 5, enjoying evenings together and an outing here and there on the weekend. I switched projects at work, which is great because I had too much of a workload. Now I can go a day without checking work email, and not have 50 new emails waiting for me to respond to! It makes me feel so much more at ease at home, like I can be there because I'm supposed to be, and not trying to be two places at once.
Emily's parent-teacher conferences are next week. It'll be fun to see what she's been up to! I have to line up a babysitter again, which the girls enjoy and is a good idea so that we keep connections with a girl that we like. It's crazy to think that she's so close to going to school. She seems so grown up, but when she snuggles in my lap, she seems so very small, still. I've been looking at pictures from the past 5 years, at baby Audrey and 3YO Emily, and it helps me remember just how little they still are, that I can hold onto a little of that for a while. And cling tightly to my little baby, who is way too quickly on her way to little girlhood, too!!
For the past few weeks, she's been reaching farther, trying out the stance, and thinking about bringing her knees along with her, and finally this past weekend she put it all together. And it's ADORABLE. She's a little bit methodical with it still, not a carefree prancing like Emily did, yet anyway. :) She keeps her knees so far underneath her that it's hard to see her moving them, so she seems like a little bug, chugging around. And she's SO pleased with herself. It's the best. Next up is walking, obviously, and she is well on her way as she is intent on pulling herself up to standing on just about anything that will take her weight. And then she'll be on her way to Kindergarten... or so it seems.
February has been a pretty nice month for us. We've been in a good routine together as a family of 5, enjoying evenings together and an outing here and there on the weekend. I switched projects at work, which is great because I had too much of a workload. Now I can go a day without checking work email, and not have 50 new emails waiting for me to respond to! It makes me feel so much more at ease at home, like I can be there because I'm supposed to be, and not trying to be two places at once.
Emily's parent-teacher conferences are next week. It'll be fun to see what she's been up to! I have to line up a babysitter again, which the girls enjoy and is a good idea so that we keep connections with a girl that we like. It's crazy to think that she's so close to going to school. She seems so grown up, but when she snuggles in my lap, she seems so very small, still. I've been looking at pictures from the past 5 years, at baby Audrey and 3YO Emily, and it helps me remember just how little they still are, that I can hold onto a little of that for a while. And cling tightly to my little baby, who is way too quickly on her way to little girlhood, too!!
Monday, February 4, 2013
A kid-centered evening
Here are links to Emily and Audrey each singing a song from Rapunzel. I managed to video them separately, so you can really hear the lovely things each girl does. :)
My girls did some serious academic work this evening. Things have been behaviorally tough for us for a while, and Travis and I decided to not be on our phones or computer or reading magazines tonight, just to be present with the girls. It was SO fun. It was easy! We had a really great time together. Children really do want to learn, and are just eager to have anything taught to them. Emily and I have been reading Winnie the Pooh together, so we read a chapter of that together. I took Clara potty, and she peed, looking at me like, "what's the big deal, Mom? I had to go." Audrey and Emily and I played Color Stix, using a cribbage board to count our points for each color, which is a whole ton of counting. And Travis played two full games of Go Fish with Emily while I made supper.
I was playing the piano and Audrey was coloring at her table, and I heard her say that she wanted to write Flower. "F! F for Flower. eeeefffff. Next, flllll... L! L is next. FLuhhh... Mom what's next?" She seriously had the FL written before I had even turned to see what she was doing. I spelled the rest for her, although her paper says FLDOWER because she didn't like how exactly round her first O was. Then we worked on Elephant, because she wanted to do a word with E. I suggested EGG, but nono, we're doing Elephant because "we're doing animals." obviously. I helped her sound out the beginning letters, but the P and H she was confused by. Then I said A, and N, and she reluctantly drew them, each time asking if F was next. :) So her paper says ELEPHANFT. Then we went on to Apple, which she sounded out, all by herself, APL, and I explained there's an E on the end, too, so she added that on. Then she wanted another word, and Emily suggested Blueberries, but she said, "No, we're doing animals. How about Umbrella?" :) I was laughing, so she thought of Lion, so she sounded that one out and wrote LiON (small i!). Then she sounded out DOG, but really wanted a K at the end, because she was so deliberate in sounding out the word. She wasn't 100% certain in how to draw a G, so I had to help her, which is tough because she is hard to help. You can't help too much or too little, it's a tough balance to strike. Anyway, as soon as the girls were in bed, that paper got swiped up, and I dated it and put Audrey's name on it and it's going in her box of saved stuff. Incredible! All this from a girl who won't write her name. I have to think that if Emily's preschool teachers did that kind of phonics work with one of her students, she'd think it was pretty productive, but Audrey is TWO YEARS away from that.
This is the same girl who screamed for 90 minutes yesterday, wailing for me to come help her on the potty because she didn't want to wipe herself. Her poor little legs and tummy were all red and sweaty by the time I caved in to all the screaming, but I really didn't have much sympathy at the time because there was nobody making her sit there! Amanda confirmed that when she's here, Audrey takes care of it herself all the time, so she's totally busted. What a twirp!
My girls did some serious academic work this evening. Things have been behaviorally tough for us for a while, and Travis and I decided to not be on our phones or computer or reading magazines tonight, just to be present with the girls. It was SO fun. It was easy! We had a really great time together. Children really do want to learn, and are just eager to have anything taught to them. Emily and I have been reading Winnie the Pooh together, so we read a chapter of that together. I took Clara potty, and she peed, looking at me like, "what's the big deal, Mom? I had to go." Audrey and Emily and I played Color Stix, using a cribbage board to count our points for each color, which is a whole ton of counting. And Travis played two full games of Go Fish with Emily while I made supper.
I was playing the piano and Audrey was coloring at her table, and I heard her say that she wanted to write Flower. "F! F for Flower. eeeefffff. Next, flllll... L! L is next. FLuhhh... Mom what's next?" She seriously had the FL written before I had even turned to see what she was doing. I spelled the rest for her, although her paper says FLDOWER because she didn't like how exactly round her first O was. Then we worked on Elephant, because she wanted to do a word with E. I suggested EGG, but nono, we're doing Elephant because "we're doing animals." obviously. I helped her sound out the beginning letters, but the P and H she was confused by. Then I said A, and N, and she reluctantly drew them, each time asking if F was next. :) So her paper says ELEPHANFT. Then we went on to Apple, which she sounded out, all by herself, APL, and I explained there's an E on the end, too, so she added that on. Then she wanted another word, and Emily suggested Blueberries, but she said, "No, we're doing animals. How about Umbrella?" :) I was laughing, so she thought of Lion, so she sounded that one out and wrote LiON (small i!). Then she sounded out DOG, but really wanted a K at the end, because she was so deliberate in sounding out the word. She wasn't 100% certain in how to draw a G, so I had to help her, which is tough because she is hard to help. You can't help too much or too little, it's a tough balance to strike. Anyway, as soon as the girls were in bed, that paper got swiped up, and I dated it and put Audrey's name on it and it's going in her box of saved stuff. Incredible! All this from a girl who won't write her name. I have to think that if Emily's preschool teachers did that kind of phonics work with one of her students, she'd think it was pretty productive, but Audrey is TWO YEARS away from that.
This is the same girl who screamed for 90 minutes yesterday, wailing for me to come help her on the potty because she didn't want to wipe herself. Her poor little legs and tummy were all red and sweaty by the time I caved in to all the screaming, but I really didn't have much sympathy at the time because there was nobody making her sit there! Amanda confirmed that when she's here, Audrey takes care of it herself all the time, so she's totally busted. What a twirp!
Friday, February 1, 2013
Random funny
Emily was looking at her globe, asking me what different things are (just the purple countries), with Audrey on my other side providing commentary, mostly in the form of random made-up words to counter what I was telling Emily.
E: "Mom, what's this one?"
Me: "Antarctica."
E: "Yup. Penguins live there."
Me: "Yep."
A: "It looks like a pizza!!"
I remember asking my mom, when I was little, why she said I was such a funny kid. Was she laughing AT me? Now I get it. My kids are just randomly entertaining. Which is good, because there are times when I want to strangle them.
Clara is still sleeping like a demon. the nights that she sleeps well are just part of the torture, I think, giving us a glimpse of what a true rested state might feel like. Even her naps are insanely short. I think it will serve her well when she's older, trying to keep up with her sisters, but for now it just means that I'm a zombie and trying my best to put on a brave face and be able to enjoy the fun things about each day.
E: "Mom, what's this one?"
Me: "Antarctica."
E: "Yup. Penguins live there."
Me: "Yep."
A: "It looks like a pizza!!"
I remember asking my mom, when I was little, why she said I was such a funny kid. Was she laughing AT me? Now I get it. My kids are just randomly entertaining. Which is good, because there are times when I want to strangle them.
Clara is still sleeping like a demon. the nights that she sleeps well are just part of the torture, I think, giving us a glimpse of what a true rested state might feel like. Even her naps are insanely short. I think it will serve her well when she's older, trying to keep up with her sisters, but for now it just means that I'm a zombie and trying my best to put on a brave face and be able to enjoy the fun things about each day.
Sunday, January 13, 2013
The rainbow
I think the storm has passed. Clara has been sleeping well the past few nights, and Travis and I are becoming human beings again. He is impressed with how long it has taken him to feel rested again, and I am quite openly enjoying that he's learning first-hand all about sleep deprivation and its subsequent recovery. It's not that I enjoy seeing him suffer, or that he was unempathetic to me all along, but when he is short with the kids or is still groggy after his first full night's sleep in a week, well, it's just nice to know that I'm not crazy. Anybody in this situation would do about as well as I have.
For the past few months, I've been trying a little experiment with Clara. Back when I was potty training Audrey, and reading everything I could find on the internet in desperate search for help, I came across an article about elimination communication, or EC. Basically, you take the kid potty the same way you would take your dog potty. The kid can communicate that she needs to go, but for the most part you preemptively set her on the place and she learns that that's when to go. I really didn't think it would work, although I never have liked the idea of my kid sitting in her own poop. It seems that humans would not want that, and that we've actually had to teach our kids to do that because of a lack of better alternative. So, I've got Clara's diapers all set up in the bathroom, since the cloth bin does get to stinking a little bit by the end of the week, and the bathroom is the place for that kind of smell! I figured, as long as I'm changing her on the floor next to the toilet, I might as well plop her up there once in a while. The first time I did it, it was because she started peeing while I was changing her, so I just did it out of capturing a mess. Then I did it more often, and every once in a while she'd be wet when I took her back down. The first time she pooped was pretty funny, because she was a bit backed up due to some of the new solid foods she'd been trying. It had been a couple days without messy diapers so I think she had been holding it in, but when sitting in that position, she didn't really have any say in the matter and it was gonna happen. She let out a terrible scream, and I felt so bad about it, but there was no going back, and it had to come out some time! After that she didn't want to sit up there at all so I didn't push it for a week or so. But lately, in the past few days i think she's really preferring to find an opportunity to go on the potty rather than in her diaper. Sometimes I catch her tooting and we go off to the potty together, and sometimes she just decides to hold it until the next opportunity, and she lets it go when she's up there. The most hilarious thing is the diameter of her output. I can't get over it! She is such a tiny person!! And she is SO CUTE sitting up there, with her little legs hanging down. We have the best time, the two of us, nose to nose, singing songs and making faces, or she plays with her toes or reaches for the toilet paper. If nothing else, we've enjoyed that much of it. Her cue to pee is a little song that I sing to her, and her little face lights up and she gazes at me so prettily, and I'd swear that she's listening for that happy little noise to happen next!
Anyway, she is still in diapers all the time, and if she decides she doesn't have time to sit on the potty, well, I'll just appreciate the potty-successes we've had and let her do it her way. In a perfect world, she'd keep up the pooping portion and I'd just change and wash just wet diapers, but I'm not cancelling the diaper service because I don't want to put that kind of pressure on her, or me! So, yeah. How much of a hippy am I?! :)
I have been putting in extra effort to spend quality time with Audrey lately, and loving it. She is such a sweetheart, and I feel like I know her so much better now. She is not quite as volatile, and she seems to trust me a little more to help her during times that might have previously spiraled into a full-on tantrum. I bought her an outfit at Kohl's the other day, that has a matching doll's outfit for her Bitty Baby. Emily was very, very jealous, but she seems to get a lot of special fun things at preschool that Audrey misses out on. That was a challenge to work through, to explain that it can't be the same but it's still fair, but both girls came to terms with it this time.
I know I must be better-rested because I can actually remember one of the quotes of Audrey's that cracked me up. She sings and talks all the time while she's playing, and I heard her say, "Mom, I'm so pretty. There's nothing to it, really." Very matter-of-fact. I'm sure it's because she hears the mice sing it in Cinderelly when they're going to make her dress so pretty, and she has no idea what the phrase actually means. But it kind of epitomizes her at the moment. She came into Clara's room tonight after bath, and I held up my finger to tell her to be quiet since Clara was almost asleep. Audrey struck a little pose, wearing pastel pink footie PJ's and her hair still wet, and whispered, "Am I pretty?" Yes, you're beautiful. Most beautiful thing in the world. And she skipped and scampered off to bed, where I later retrieved more beautiful, chapsticky kisses before turning out the light.
Emily has been giving me hugs while I rock Clara, too, because sometimes she is ready to climb up into her bed before I've laid Clara down. She'll hug and kiss me, and then skip over to the doorway. I have such a great mental picture of her happy little steps, ready to go to sleep and have another great day tomorrow. Travis and I went to her school last week to decorate gingerbread houses, which was an activity rescheduled due to their snowday before Christmas. It was so cool to see her in her class, singing their little song about the snowman melting. I swear, she just sparkles. I would say that none of the other kids were as beautiful or sparkling as my girl, but I can't honestly say that because I couldn't take my eyes off her to look at the other kids. I don't believe any of the other snowmen had hips that wiggled so joyfully as they melted, or actually sang the notes to the song instead of just shout-singing. I'm sure all the other parents were just as enraptured with their own kids, but they missed out, cuz my kid is the most amazing thing.
I signed Audrey up for 2 days of preschool, starting next fall. It's at Lawson Elementary, where Emily is enrolled now and will be for Kindergarten, too. Travis and I will go to the parent information night for Kindergarten on this coming Tuesday. It just doesn't seem that long ago that I was enormously overdue with her, and Travis was telling me I needed to put something in that empty carseat... We were so excited to meet her, and with good reason! But really, that was it? School, already?? *sigh*
This is the kind of post I want to do more often, not those toxic, I'm-drowning ones. I guess there are good and bad, though, so might as well keep it real. Real Life seems to keep happening all around me, and I am starting to see that celebrations are really kind of an "up yours" to this Real Life thing. So this weekend I made one of my favorite desserts (Spiced Pecan Pie Bars) and took some to my grandmother on her 93rd birthday, before she went off to watch her Cyclone women win a basketball game. That's my kind of celebrating!
For the past few months, I've been trying a little experiment with Clara. Back when I was potty training Audrey, and reading everything I could find on the internet in desperate search for help, I came across an article about elimination communication, or EC. Basically, you take the kid potty the same way you would take your dog potty. The kid can communicate that she needs to go, but for the most part you preemptively set her on the place and she learns that that's when to go. I really didn't think it would work, although I never have liked the idea of my kid sitting in her own poop. It seems that humans would not want that, and that we've actually had to teach our kids to do that because of a lack of better alternative. So, I've got Clara's diapers all set up in the bathroom, since the cloth bin does get to stinking a little bit by the end of the week, and the bathroom is the place for that kind of smell! I figured, as long as I'm changing her on the floor next to the toilet, I might as well plop her up there once in a while. The first time I did it, it was because she started peeing while I was changing her, so I just did it out of capturing a mess. Then I did it more often, and every once in a while she'd be wet when I took her back down. The first time she pooped was pretty funny, because she was a bit backed up due to some of the new solid foods she'd been trying. It had been a couple days without messy diapers so I think she had been holding it in, but when sitting in that position, she didn't really have any say in the matter and it was gonna happen. She let out a terrible scream, and I felt so bad about it, but there was no going back, and it had to come out some time! After that she didn't want to sit up there at all so I didn't push it for a week or so. But lately, in the past few days i think she's really preferring to find an opportunity to go on the potty rather than in her diaper. Sometimes I catch her tooting and we go off to the potty together, and sometimes she just decides to hold it until the next opportunity, and she lets it go when she's up there. The most hilarious thing is the diameter of her output. I can't get over it! She is such a tiny person!! And she is SO CUTE sitting up there, with her little legs hanging down. We have the best time, the two of us, nose to nose, singing songs and making faces, or she plays with her toes or reaches for the toilet paper. If nothing else, we've enjoyed that much of it. Her cue to pee is a little song that I sing to her, and her little face lights up and she gazes at me so prettily, and I'd swear that she's listening for that happy little noise to happen next!
Anyway, she is still in diapers all the time, and if she decides she doesn't have time to sit on the potty, well, I'll just appreciate the potty-successes we've had and let her do it her way. In a perfect world, she'd keep up the pooping portion and I'd just change and wash just wet diapers, but I'm not cancelling the diaper service because I don't want to put that kind of pressure on her, or me! So, yeah. How much of a hippy am I?! :)
I have been putting in extra effort to spend quality time with Audrey lately, and loving it. She is such a sweetheart, and I feel like I know her so much better now. She is not quite as volatile, and she seems to trust me a little more to help her during times that might have previously spiraled into a full-on tantrum. I bought her an outfit at Kohl's the other day, that has a matching doll's outfit for her Bitty Baby. Emily was very, very jealous, but she seems to get a lot of special fun things at preschool that Audrey misses out on. That was a challenge to work through, to explain that it can't be the same but it's still fair, but both girls came to terms with it this time.
I know I must be better-rested because I can actually remember one of the quotes of Audrey's that cracked me up. She sings and talks all the time while she's playing, and I heard her say, "Mom, I'm so pretty. There's nothing to it, really." Very matter-of-fact. I'm sure it's because she hears the mice sing it in Cinderelly when they're going to make her dress so pretty, and she has no idea what the phrase actually means. But it kind of epitomizes her at the moment. She came into Clara's room tonight after bath, and I held up my finger to tell her to be quiet since Clara was almost asleep. Audrey struck a little pose, wearing pastel pink footie PJ's and her hair still wet, and whispered, "Am I pretty?" Yes, you're beautiful. Most beautiful thing in the world. And she skipped and scampered off to bed, where I later retrieved more beautiful, chapsticky kisses before turning out the light.
Emily has been giving me hugs while I rock Clara, too, because sometimes she is ready to climb up into her bed before I've laid Clara down. She'll hug and kiss me, and then skip over to the doorway. I have such a great mental picture of her happy little steps, ready to go to sleep and have another great day tomorrow. Travis and I went to her school last week to decorate gingerbread houses, which was an activity rescheduled due to their snowday before Christmas. It was so cool to see her in her class, singing their little song about the snowman melting. I swear, she just sparkles. I would say that none of the other kids were as beautiful or sparkling as my girl, but I can't honestly say that because I couldn't take my eyes off her to look at the other kids. I don't believe any of the other snowmen had hips that wiggled so joyfully as they melted, or actually sang the notes to the song instead of just shout-singing. I'm sure all the other parents were just as enraptured with their own kids, but they missed out, cuz my kid is the most amazing thing.
I signed Audrey up for 2 days of preschool, starting next fall. It's at Lawson Elementary, where Emily is enrolled now and will be for Kindergarten, too. Travis and I will go to the parent information night for Kindergarten on this coming Tuesday. It just doesn't seem that long ago that I was enormously overdue with her, and Travis was telling me I needed to put something in that empty carseat... We were so excited to meet her, and with good reason! But really, that was it? School, already?? *sigh*
This is the kind of post I want to do more often, not those toxic, I'm-drowning ones. I guess there are good and bad, though, so might as well keep it real. Real Life seems to keep happening all around me, and I am starting to see that celebrations are really kind of an "up yours" to this Real Life thing. So this weekend I made one of my favorite desserts (Spiced Pecan Pie Bars) and took some to my grandmother on her 93rd birthday, before she went off to watch her Cyclone women win a basketball game. That's my kind of celebrating!
Friday, January 4, 2013
The longest day
It's 4:30 AM. I have been essentially awake all night. Trav and I went to bed at 10:30, and Clara started screaming shortly after 11 and didn't really stop until I gave her tylenol at 2:30. Then it took her half an hour to settle down, and I think I fell asleep with her in the chair until about 3:40, because when I got up to put her in her crib my entire left arm was asleep from the elbow down. And after that I've been lying in my bed trying to sleep, unsuccessfully. The past two nights we've tried to let her cry it out, and it took about 45 minutes. I don't know what went on tonight, if it's more teeth or what, but I am going crazy. What I wouldn't do for even 6 uninterrupted hours of sleep. Or even 4. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up.
So I might as well blog. I haven't had time to sit and have a coherent thought to myself in weeks, so I might as well see this as my opportunity, right?
We had a really nice Christmas. I managed to get everything ready and we had very nice family gatherings. The girls were thrilled with their Santa gifts, and when we got home from traveling, they were excited with the things that Travis and I got for them, including a trampoline, and new fleece blankets that I tied for them.
Yesterday... Wednesday, I guess, it feels like yesterday because I haven't really been asleep but I guess technically it was two days ago... anyway, I was very sick. I caught the same stomach bug that went around the New Year's party we went to. Other children got it, but because I was up all night that night, and thoroughly run down, I caught it too. My kids didn't, fortunately, because they were able to take care of themselves. It was totally amazing. Emily got breakfast for herself and Audrey - all she needed was for me to help unstick the lid on the jam. Clara napped in the afternoon, and so did I, so Emily and Audrey played nicely with play-doh while I was out. I was so very, very proud of them, especially Emily. And I felt so much better today/yesterday that I went to work and had a really great day. Except that I forgot to give Amanda her Christmas gift, and forgot to tell Emily to give her teachers their gifts that were in her bag. That snow day that we had on the last day before break is still coming back to haunt me!
I was really hoping, since this blog has been so dismal lately, that I would be able to make my next entry all full of sunny things about my lovely girls, about a happy Christmas and fun times we're having as a family. those things are all true, but I never seem to have time for this outlet when things are going well. when things aren't, I guess i just need somewhere to shout that feels safe, where I can feel sorry for myself.
We went out to eat with some friends last weekend, who were in town from Russia. The girls were so good during dinner, sitting quietly and coloring and eating everything without any issue at all, that when they requested ice cream afterwards, it was fun to say, Yes! What kind, sweetie? And all the way home from the restaurant, we told them how much we appreciated the chance to talk with our friends, and that we were proud of them for having such a nice dinner with us. It felt really good.
Audrey is practicing her phonics. She likes to pick up words and decide what they start with, and she's totally spot on except for the whole C vs. S thing. There are times that I think that she's learning to read at the same pace as Emily, but it's not true. Emily knows a lot more than she lets on, but I don't think she's reached the "click" yet, where she discovers she can sound out nearly anything just by using the letters. It'll be fun to see her world open up when that happens.
And I guess Audrey's freak-outs lately are just a cry for attention. It's so hard, because I don't want to reward that behavior with attention, but that's how I head it off. If she's headed down that slope, I try to jump in and address what's making her so mad, although sometimes I just let her go, and hope that she'll figure out, someday, how to decide for herself that she's done being angry and that she would rather be happy instead. Seems like that might be a tool she'll appreciate having later in life. I am tired of coaxing her out of her tizzy fits. But I just try my best to love her more. It's the only thing that doesn't leave me hating myself.
I just heard Clara squeak again. This is insane. I guess I've done these kinds of nights before, and I can get through tomorrow. I'm just tired of being sick, and being incapable of having coherent thoughts, like remembering to actually give the gifts that I chose and purchased and wrapped for people. I'm tired of feeling inadequate... there's so much around me that i just can't get to, I just can't get done. I can limp along, I guess, since everyone else seems to be afloat. I'll catch up at some point.
So I might as well blog. I haven't had time to sit and have a coherent thought to myself in weeks, so I might as well see this as my opportunity, right?
We had a really nice Christmas. I managed to get everything ready and we had very nice family gatherings. The girls were thrilled with their Santa gifts, and when we got home from traveling, they were excited with the things that Travis and I got for them, including a trampoline, and new fleece blankets that I tied for them.
Yesterday... Wednesday, I guess, it feels like yesterday because I haven't really been asleep but I guess technically it was two days ago... anyway, I was very sick. I caught the same stomach bug that went around the New Year's party we went to. Other children got it, but because I was up all night that night, and thoroughly run down, I caught it too. My kids didn't, fortunately, because they were able to take care of themselves. It was totally amazing. Emily got breakfast for herself and Audrey - all she needed was for me to help unstick the lid on the jam. Clara napped in the afternoon, and so did I, so Emily and Audrey played nicely with play-doh while I was out. I was so very, very proud of them, especially Emily. And I felt so much better today/yesterday that I went to work and had a really great day. Except that I forgot to give Amanda her Christmas gift, and forgot to tell Emily to give her teachers their gifts that were in her bag. That snow day that we had on the last day before break is still coming back to haunt me!
I was really hoping, since this blog has been so dismal lately, that I would be able to make my next entry all full of sunny things about my lovely girls, about a happy Christmas and fun times we're having as a family. those things are all true, but I never seem to have time for this outlet when things are going well. when things aren't, I guess i just need somewhere to shout that feels safe, where I can feel sorry for myself.
We went out to eat with some friends last weekend, who were in town from Russia. The girls were so good during dinner, sitting quietly and coloring and eating everything without any issue at all, that when they requested ice cream afterwards, it was fun to say, Yes! What kind, sweetie? And all the way home from the restaurant, we told them how much we appreciated the chance to talk with our friends, and that we were proud of them for having such a nice dinner with us. It felt really good.
Audrey is practicing her phonics. She likes to pick up words and decide what they start with, and she's totally spot on except for the whole C vs. S thing. There are times that I think that she's learning to read at the same pace as Emily, but it's not true. Emily knows a lot more than she lets on, but I don't think she's reached the "click" yet, where she discovers she can sound out nearly anything just by using the letters. It'll be fun to see her world open up when that happens.
And I guess Audrey's freak-outs lately are just a cry for attention. It's so hard, because I don't want to reward that behavior with attention, but that's how I head it off. If she's headed down that slope, I try to jump in and address what's making her so mad, although sometimes I just let her go, and hope that she'll figure out, someday, how to decide for herself that she's done being angry and that she would rather be happy instead. Seems like that might be a tool she'll appreciate having later in life. I am tired of coaxing her out of her tizzy fits. But I just try my best to love her more. It's the only thing that doesn't leave me hating myself.
I just heard Clara squeak again. This is insane. I guess I've done these kinds of nights before, and I can get through tomorrow. I'm just tired of being sick, and being incapable of having coherent thoughts, like remembering to actually give the gifts that I chose and purchased and wrapped for people. I'm tired of feeling inadequate... there's so much around me that i just can't get to, I just can't get done. I can limp along, I guess, since everyone else seems to be afloat. I'll catch up at some point.
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