Friday Flashback

Back in the days when I could put Aiyana in the swing for a few minutes so I could shower. This morning when I tried to take a shower AJ discovered his ability to climb onto the chair at our computer table. Then Aiyana decided she was "big enough" to pull him down and hold him down so he wouldn't repeat it. I had to get out of the shower 3 times to keep the kids out of trouble. I think I'll stick to my midnight shower. It was way too much work to take one in the morning!

Fun pics

No intro needed here

Zoe (Elmo's best friend)

AJ is America's next top model?

Mom look!

Just Darling!

Today A decided to take a baby doll along with us to run errands. I wasn't surprised because she usually packs along some toys when we go places. I was surprised, however, when Windy made it out of the car and into Trader Joe's (with clothes on). She usually does not bring her baby into the store. She was treating Windy as though she was part of the family. She sat in the cart, had to disinfect her hand with the sanitizing wipes and had some banana to snack on. In the store A held her baby doll up to show everybody that walked by. If some stranger dare ask about the baby she gave them an ear full! It went something like this...This is Windy. She is my first baby doll that my Mommy and Daddy gave me when I was a little baby. That was a loooong time ago!

Although I have taught A about talking to strangers, she feels so confident talking to some people. She reads them and then strikes up conversations with adults as she feels comfortable. Here ability to communicate is something I am watching. We don't know where it will lead, but it will lead somewhere.

After dinner, Windy took a bath with the kids. A dried her off, got her dressed in pj's and brushed her teeth. She read a story with us and then went to sleep. This is all new. A hasn't been into role playing with her dolls for an extended period of time. I usually lasts a minute or so. Today she was acting like a little girl.

Change

Today was a day filled with signs of my babies growing up. AJ said several new words today and is doing new signs right along with them. His babble is getting clearer and clearer and he is able to put his sounds together when he wants. He can repeat many things after we say them.

Today his vocabulary first's were the sign for and the word book (he has said the word before, but it came out clear today), the sign and "cluck cluck" sound for hen, he said "bike" and "uh oh".

He transitioned from just knocking block towers over to building them today. Also, he tried to climb into his crib rather than out.

I am truly enjoying all of AJ's milestones. With Aiyana I was always reading to see when I should expect different things to happen. Now, with AJ, I let them surprise me. It was wonderful walking into the room to see his blocks stacked three stories high. He was so delighted when I noticed he started clapping and threw his head back in laughter!

In other news...

Aiyana was awarded her yellow stripe on her white belt today. She has been working really hard to memorize her kata. Her effort was rewarded with some yellow tape and a cupcake.

Bedtime woes

The past couple of days have been interesting at bedtime. AJ goes right to sleep after the routine while Aiyana is another story. She has been afraid to go to sleep. She has tears in her eyes and tells me she needs me lay with her because she is afraid of the dark. This has never been a problem in the past. I told her to go to sleep and tried to make sure it didn't seem like a big deal. She went through a list of things why she was scared: animals, dark, noises, too hot.

She finally went to sleep at 9:30 tonight. It was with a cd playing, stars shining on the ceiling, a Dora doll, a cup of water, and the fan on. Usually she just has a cup of water. I hope this high maintenance bedtime is a short fad!

While Aiyana sleeps through the night with the exception of getting up once to use the bathroom, AJ still gets up AT LEAST two or three times a night. He usually won't go back to sleep unless he nurses! I haven't let him cry it out at night yet because his cry gets so loud! Also, I am not really a CIO kind of mommy. I didn't let her CIO. I just can't see anything positive out of it. In fact, Aiyana didn't go to sleep without nursing until she was weaned at 21 months. Do I have another year of this?

One thing is for sure. I plan on doing what is best for our children even if it means I get less sleep. (Yawn)

Lately Aiyana has been very interested in reading. She pays close attention when Rich and I are talking especially if we spell something. She tries to remember the words we spell and then ask about them later. Also, each day when he gets home from work, Aiyana runs up to him and blurts out some letters as if she is spelling something important. Today it was prtu.

We have been doing pre-K activity books for a while now, but today we went to Lakeshore and bought some more reading and phonics activity books for her. She was so excited to start doing her "homework" when we got home. She sharpened her sesame street pencil and sat down at the table while I was making dinner. She traced and printed each capital letter and wanted to keep going.

It will only be a blink of an eye before she begins catching on to our spelling.