Birdie as a baby was so laid back. She was a walk in the park kind of baby. Since about 18 months old, she has really come out of her shell. She doesn't hold back, and freely hits and fusses in her own gibberish to get what she wants or to express her disapproval. When she's on the red towel for one minute for time out, she sits there and goes through this sequence...
1) smiles while I'm putting her on the towel and smiles as I tell her why she's in timeout
2) cries when I walk away and sometimes moves off of the red towel while making "I'll show you" eyes - Then I move her back and tell her to stay there in timeout.
3) remembers about her thumb and her belly button and pacifies herself for a few seconds
4) takes out her thumb and begins saying, "Mama, come here!" over and over
Through all of this, I have to remind all the bunch to not look at her and not let her see them laughing. All the rest of us are laughing because she is so funny going through all of this in her one-minute timeout.
Finally, when the timer goes off, I go over to her and remind her not to hit/jerk/swat or whatever and then ask her to say, "I'm sorry." When she says I'm sorry, she says in the sweetest, about-to-cry voice, like she's acting upset when she's really completely over it. Then she gives me a hug, and she initiates putting the red towel back in place and out of sight. That's the funniest part of all! She's ready to get rid of that thing!
She loves to sing and dance, but once when me and all of the kids were singing some songs with her, naturally we wanted to quit singing and hear her sing. I told them that I would sing the song really softly so that they could hear her and they could just listen. She usually does good and sings along for the first few lines. Then, she remembers her thumb and belly button again. She pops her thumb in her mouth and begins forcefully nodding her head up and down as if to say, "Carry on with your singing:)!"
Since having a few red towel timeouts, she has mostly quit hitting (at least me anyway) and resorted to swatting with a cross look on her face. It's like she's still hitting me in her mind, but figured out a way to do it without getting in real trouble. What a character!
Future for Birdie: Who knows?
When it's time for family prayer, she's the one who determines who's not there and begins calling them loudly to tell them to come downstairs to pray. When it's her turn to pray, she just says, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Bug in May
Bug has just recently gotten into picking out her own clothes. She always wants to wear out of season attire, such as sweatpants and sweatshirt in mid-May. She gets very upset when I tell her we can't do this because she'll "burn slam up". She always says that she doesn't mind being hot. Sometimes when we're on a stay-home day, as she calls it, I say yes to whatever she picks out, and then sometimes she'll say, "You're right, Mama. I'm too hot in long pants now!". When she can't wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, she wants to choose two short-sleeved t-shirts to wear, one on top of the other.
She was such an easy baby and toddler that I don't have any great big memory about her back then. Potty training and getting from the crib into a big-girl bed seemed to be overnight achievements for her. I try to snuggle her up and carry her as much as I can because I think she still really wants to be my baby. If Birdie sees Bug in my lap, she puts up a fight to get my lap. Bug is very patient with Birdie, always trying to say the nicest way what she ought to do or ought not to do.
So many times I've told her...
me: Bug, it happened again last night!
Bug: What happened?
me: You got even prettier and sweeter than you were yesterday!
Bug: (big smile and hug)
Also, she's starting grunting when she's really hugging me. She'll give a really tight squeeze and then make a big grunt noise. I tell her that's how I know she really loves me.
Last night she told me her own paraphrase of our recurrent conversation:
Bug: Guess what? (her two favorite words to say together - oh, she also likes to say "Look Mama!")
me: What?
Bug: Yesterday I was pretty and today I'm pretty too! (another big grin)
me: (big hug and a grunt)
Bug's future plans: Live in a house with Lou Lou in our neighborhood. She's not planning on getting married, but said she would have a boyfriend at 16 and eventually be a mommy when she grew up:).
Nighttime, the time when I'm programmed to think that everything should be calm and sweet and loving, is difficult for me. My unwinding time (time to sit down for usually the first time of the day) is after everyone is in their beds. Needless to say, my patience is not always long enough with uncooperative children. Typically, I can keep my cool, but if you know me, you can hear it in my voice that my patience is growing thin. The other night, as I answered Bug's question about her blanket for the third or fourth time, she responded by saying, "Mommy, you lose-ded your patience. Your patience is not in here with us." What made me feel good about this is that she was smiling as she said it, like it didn't really impact her and like she understood that I'm human and I don't have to be the perfect Mom for her each and every night.
Tonight, as Bear chose to play in his room rather than do as I had asked repeatedly, I said to him, "You can tell by my voice that my patience is running out. Please follow my directions." Bug piped in very matter-of-factly and said, "When will your patience be back?":)
She was such an easy baby and toddler that I don't have any great big memory about her back then. Potty training and getting from the crib into a big-girl bed seemed to be overnight achievements for her. I try to snuggle her up and carry her as much as I can because I think she still really wants to be my baby. If Birdie sees Bug in my lap, she puts up a fight to get my lap. Bug is very patient with Birdie, always trying to say the nicest way what she ought to do or ought not to do.
So many times I've told her...
me: Bug, it happened again last night!
Bug: What happened?
me: You got even prettier and sweeter than you were yesterday!
Bug: (big smile and hug)
Also, she's starting grunting when she's really hugging me. She'll give a really tight squeeze and then make a big grunt noise. I tell her that's how I know she really loves me.
Last night she told me her own paraphrase of our recurrent conversation:
Bug: Guess what? (her two favorite words to say together - oh, she also likes to say "Look Mama!")
me: What?
Bug: Yesterday I was pretty and today I'm pretty too! (another big grin)
me: (big hug and a grunt)
Bug's future plans: Live in a house with Lou Lou in our neighborhood. She's not planning on getting married, but said she would have a boyfriend at 16 and eventually be a mommy when she grew up:).
Nighttime, the time when I'm programmed to think that everything should be calm and sweet and loving, is difficult for me. My unwinding time (time to sit down for usually the first time of the day) is after everyone is in their beds. Needless to say, my patience is not always long enough with uncooperative children. Typically, I can keep my cool, but if you know me, you can hear it in my voice that my patience is growing thin. The other night, as I answered Bug's question about her blanket for the third or fourth time, she responded by saying, "Mommy, you lose-ded your patience. Your patience is not in here with us." What made me feel good about this is that she was smiling as she said it, like it didn't really impact her and like she understood that I'm human and I don't have to be the perfect Mom for her each and every night.
Tonight, as Bear chose to play in his room rather than do as I had asked repeatedly, I said to him, "You can tell by my voice that my patience is running out. Please follow my directions." Bug piped in very matter-of-factly and said, "When will your patience be back?":)
Lou Lou in May
Lou Lou has fallen so in love with dance, and she is sad that she won't be able to take lessons through the summer. I wasn't able to go to Bear's scouting event because I was at Lou Lou's ballet recital. She takes dance at Artistic Dance Academy and the recital was jaw-dropping. Not just Lou Lou's performance, but all the performances looked so professional and so breathtaking. I was so totally loving it that nearly every song was a contemporary Christian song. It was so amazing! Lou Lou did great in her dance. Her song was from The Prince of Egypt movie, "I Give to You His Heart." The whole song was from the point of view of Moses's mother as she decided to put him into the river in a basket to avoid his murder by Pharaoh's soldiers. I cried through the whole thing, thinking about Moses's mother and thinking about how we all should realize that in order to keep our children, we must be willing to realize that they are ours for only a short time, but they belong to God and are in His Hands forever. Entrusting them in God's care, just like Moses's mother did. In order to save her baby's life, she had to entrust him back to God. (When my sister YaYa reads this, she'll say, "Camille, you think too much!"):)
Lou Lou is artist supreme in her class. After her 1st grade teacher displays all the students' artwork (with their names written on the back), her third grade daughter is able to pick Lou Lou's work from the rest. She seems to have a natural gift for it. She doesn't even act like she loves art that much, but it just comes easily for her.
Her piano recital is coming up next Sunday. A few months ago, I decided to cut my help out cold turkey. Every time I was in there with her at the piano, she would become so easily and instantly frustrated if I told her one minor correction. I decided to act as if I knew nothing about music, and no matter how she played or what she played, I always said, from the kitchen, "That sounds good!". She didn't want me to leave her in there alone initially, and cried and fussed about how this didn't make sense. Now, she likes practicing by herself, and her confidence and independence have greatly improved.
What's in the future for Lou Lou? She wants to be a nurse or a dancer or a librarian. She wants to buy her own house and live happily unmarried with her sister Bug in a house in our neighborhood:).
A few weeks ago, Lou Lou and her cousin Necie were talking and laughing and talking and laughing. Lou Lou was about to take a bite or sip of something that Necie had already partaken of. Quickly, sounding alarmed, Necie said, "No, remember the swine flu!". Lou Lou said, "Well, they said on the news not to get all worried about it!".
Lou Lou is artist supreme in her class. After her 1st grade teacher displays all the students' artwork (with their names written on the back), her third grade daughter is able to pick Lou Lou's work from the rest. She seems to have a natural gift for it. She doesn't even act like she loves art that much, but it just comes easily for her.
Her piano recital is coming up next Sunday. A few months ago, I decided to cut my help out cold turkey. Every time I was in there with her at the piano, she would become so easily and instantly frustrated if I told her one minor correction. I decided to act as if I knew nothing about music, and no matter how she played or what she played, I always said, from the kitchen, "That sounds good!". She didn't want me to leave her in there alone initially, and cried and fussed about how this didn't make sense. Now, she likes practicing by herself, and her confidence and independence have greatly improved.
What's in the future for Lou Lou? She wants to be a nurse or a dancer or a librarian. She wants to buy her own house and live happily unmarried with her sister Bug in a house in our neighborhood:).
A few weeks ago, Lou Lou and her cousin Necie were talking and laughing and talking and laughing. Lou Lou was about to take a bite or sip of something that Necie had already partaken of. Quickly, sounding alarmed, Necie said, "No, remember the swine flu!". Lou Lou said, "Well, they said on the news not to get all worried about it!".
Bear in May
Well, I wanted to get in at least one blog entry for May before June arrived, so here it is...
Bear participated in a Raingutter Regatta with his Cub Scout Pack today. He raced 4 times with a boat that he and Jimmy worked on, and won 3 of the 4 races. Back in Feb., he raced his pinewood derby car with much less success, so he was so excited to win so much today. He also got a ribbon for Best of Show. His boat wasn't decorated much at all, but Jimmy said that his sail was different than everyone else's. He also promoted to Wolf (up from Tiger Cub) and got his new scouting book for next year. I think he finally fell asleep at around 11:30 Sat. night after staying up reading it. He was so sweet sleeping with his book. It reminded me of when he was little and wanted to sleep with what seemed like 1,000 books.
He spent part of the day catching and throwing a baseball with Jimmy. Because Jimmy has been working on his master's for the past twelve - oops - I meant two:) years, there hasn't been a lot of extra time for anybody to do anything laid back, spur of the moment, etc. Our life for the last two years has been especially fast-paced and stressful, but his last class is on June 18 and we will all be celebrating then! Anyway, Bear seemed to enjoy today with Jimmy!
Bear has continued with his barrage of questions at no particular time. Lately he's wanted to know a lot about the sun. He wants to know how close you could get to the sun before you would get burned up. He also said, "Since the sun is a ball of fire, what if you had all the water in the world and sprayed on it - Could you put the sun out?". Another funny question that he threw at me the other day was, "Mama, do you ever go to sleep?".
Future plans for Bear... He says he is not getting married. He wants to live with us forever:). He also wants to be a book illustrator when he grows up. His reading has really taken off and he hardly ever asks me to read anything for him. Our latest fun book to read together was Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.
Bear participated in a Raingutter Regatta with his Cub Scout Pack today. He raced 4 times with a boat that he and Jimmy worked on, and won 3 of the 4 races. Back in Feb., he raced his pinewood derby car with much less success, so he was so excited to win so much today. He also got a ribbon for Best of Show. His boat wasn't decorated much at all, but Jimmy said that his sail was different than everyone else's. He also promoted to Wolf (up from Tiger Cub) and got his new scouting book for next year. I think he finally fell asleep at around 11:30 Sat. night after staying up reading it. He was so sweet sleeping with his book. It reminded me of when he was little and wanted to sleep with what seemed like 1,000 books.
He spent part of the day catching and throwing a baseball with Jimmy. Because Jimmy has been working on his master's for the past twelve - oops - I meant two:) years, there hasn't been a lot of extra time for anybody to do anything laid back, spur of the moment, etc. Our life for the last two years has been especially fast-paced and stressful, but his last class is on June 18 and we will all be celebrating then! Anyway, Bear seemed to enjoy today with Jimmy!
Bear has continued with his barrage of questions at no particular time. Lately he's wanted to know a lot about the sun. He wants to know how close you could get to the sun before you would get burned up. He also said, "Since the sun is a ball of fire, what if you had all the water in the world and sprayed on it - Could you put the sun out?". Another funny question that he threw at me the other day was, "Mama, do you ever go to sleep?".
Future plans for Bear... He says he is not getting married. He wants to live with us forever:). He also wants to be a book illustrator when he grows up. His reading has really taken off and he hardly ever asks me to read anything for him. Our latest fun book to read together was Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.
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