Our Kids

Well the girls are giving up their afternoon nap. It is not that they don’t need it but with the nap it takes about 3 hours of putting them down per day, most of that is putting Piper back in her bed. In addition to putting the girls back in bed they just don’t seem to be able to fall asleep within 20 min, sometimes it takes them up to two hours. So they need a wee bit of a nap but a wee bit just isn’t that easy to get. But the nighttime routine is going better but Lela can fall asleep in two minutes which means that she is probably overtired BUT all in all things are going okay. It is a new adjustment to our routine and one that has come with a few afternoon meltdowns but all of it is manageable.

Today we went to gymnastics and the girls had a blast, it was a leave behind class but they did really well (I peeked from the upstairs window). Then we went to the park and the girls played until 1PM, came back home and had lunch and then read books. I am finding that if we go full blast in the morning and then have a relaxed afternoon we can keep the emotional outbursts to a minimum which is best for all of us. They might go back to napping in the heat of the summer but we will see. The nap is always on offer but no longer a requirement. I might have to learn to nap with my eyes open, LOL!

So I am really big on modeling the behavior that I want the girls to have. I try to eat right, exercise, recycle, clean up litter, be kind and a lot of other behaviors that I want to foster in the girls. We have done a really good job, IMHO. One thing I just realized is that I don’t model one behavior that I do want in the girls and that is cleaning up. I get so focused on making sure the girls are having a good time that we are go go go and I find myself (and Jason) cleaning up after the girls go to bed. By the end of the week we are swimming in stuff that did not get picked up and annoyed with ourselves for not getting it cleaned up. Last week we started a new routine and it seems to be going well, before we leave the house we have to pick up, before they do an activity they really want to do we have to pick up…well you get the idea. It seems to be going well, the girls are really helpful with things but this is more about keeping the house nice and tidy and being able to find things when we need them. Now in the mornings we get the house picked up and read books or whatnot until it is time to go, the only downside is starting the getting ready routine even earlier (as if that was possible) to make sure we have time to talk about cleaning up and to actually clean up. I am finding that it could take us as long as 2 hours to actually get ready to go somewhere, LOL!

Well Landis is acting like she is teething but nothing has appeared. She will get as much of both fists in her mouth as possible and often times gags herself and then looks surprised. She is a drool machine but so cute. Just in the passed week or so she has become so alert and is falling into a regular nap routine. She is a super baby and she takes two little naps and one big nap and then goes to bed for the night around 7PM. When she is awake she is all smiles and giggles gnawing on anything that comes near her mouth.

Piper and Lela continue to adore her and play with her. Piper is so good about consoling her and getting down on her level and talking to her in her high pitched baby voice. Landis can roll from side to side and even on to her tummy, if you set her down on the floor she will wiggle herself about a foot or so but isn’t trying to move with purpose. She is working on sitting up and can do pretty well but definitely cannot be unattended while attempting a sit. She loves to jump in her jumper and is getting more and more fond of her exersaucer, she also loves to swing in her new swing that daddy put up and to sit outside and watch her sisters jump about. She hasn’t shown any interest in food yet but that might happen as quickly as the rest of her milestones so we will see.

Piper is up to her old tricks again. The other day we were playing in the yard and I decided to write some words in chalk on the wall. I wrote the usual, Mom, Dad, Piper and Lela which they both recognize on site and can spell if they are looking at the letters. Then I decided to write cat, dog, jump, fly and run on the wall. We proceeded to spell them and then a little while later I asked Piper to pick out the word cat and she did and then she spelled it. She did that with all the other words except jump, that one she just pointed out and did not spell. I was pretty impressed, I shot some video and you can see them looking at the words and processing the letters before deciding which one was which. Both girls did the same exercise but about halfway through little Lela started being silly and she was just so darn cute. She has got the smarts but she has got the personality too and I am not sure which one she likes more:)

Today Piper was pointing to words and asking me what they say. They had an italian ice when we were leaving the zoo and Piper asked me what a word was on the wrapper, it was Luigi! LOL! Also when we were driving and stopped at a stop sign she said, “Mommy, that sign says STOP.” She is putting together that words are words and that we read them. Pretty interesting stuff.

So I mentioned it in an earlier post but I am amazed at how young they learn this dynamic, especially without any older siblings to model. They do play with the 8 year old next door and it is possible that they learned this from her but I am still amazed.

Today Lela is bored because we are not going anywhere. We have to go out after nap so I am limiting our time out of the house this morning and trying to uncover the house that is under the train wreck of toys strewn about. Anyway, when Lela is bored she either says she is hungry or asks to watch Dora. I told her several times that we would watch it this afternoon, we have a no TV rule in the morning. Then after the umpteenth time I told her that if she asked again there would be no TV today. Now as I was saying it I figured she did not know what I was saying and moved on. A little while later I heard and saw a sneaky Lela telling Piper to come and ask me if they could watch Dora. I was a bit surprised, this means that she fully understood that no TV all day meant just that and that she knew she could not ask me. So she sent Piper twice and I explained that I did not like that and not to do it again. Finally I set the timer and told them that when the timer went off they could watch Dora. That works, I can tell I am going to become REALLY friendly with the timer.

So bear with me while I get my new kick bootie MacPro laptop running! Yeah that is right, a big ol’ splurge for me. I am addicted to email and the computer, it stands in for my non spousal adult time:) So Jason in his infinite coolness got me the best portable laptop so that I can enjoy computer time all over the house while doing any task (well most tasks). I can watch movies, hold the baby, even cook and clean while laptoping! Long live the geek! Speaking of geek I still need to get all my stuff set up so that I can upload pictures and videos, so rest assured that the girls are still here even if you have not seen any new stuff.

This week is spring break for the kiddos next door so we have been busy. We went to the Wildlife Zoo and that was a blast and then we went shopping and lunching which was also fun and yesterday we went hiking and had a great time. So today I am cleaning and preparing for the arrival of Nana and Papa Slocum from Texas. We are in for a fun Easter weekend with the fam. You should see pictures and videos of it all very soon so stay tuned.

After my happy meet-and-greet on Monday night Lela let me know that she had to go potty. “Sounds good, let’s go!” So off we went to the bathroom.

I got in there and noticed that the elmo potty seat wasn’t on the toilet, so I started to put it on for her. “No no no! I don’t want the little potty.”

What!? “Don’t you need it to go potty?” I asked.

“No, I don’t want it.” And then Mystique yelled from the kitchen, “She can do it!”

So yes… our little Lela doesn’t want to use her potty seat anymore. And I’ve heard that the majority of the time she doesn’t need any help at all. *sigh*

Of course, all the while this was happening Piper was doing her best “beebee” (baby) impression. She doesn’t seem all that interested in making these advances so quickly. That’s ok. We’re happy with our beebees any way they want to be.

Seems like every few weeks we go through the nap or no nap thing. I think that the girls really still need a nap but sometimes they work themselves up and there will be no napping. Just yesterday they said they were tired so we put them down for nap. Jason was attempting to put solar tint on the windows (teehee) and I was attempting to make an updated Irish Stew and Mashers for our St. Patricks Day party with the neighbors. So as we were both busy with other chores the girls had a grand ol’ time in their room. I have made the closet so the girls can pick out their own clothes and dress themselves, up til now it has been a great idea. When I went back to check on them this particular afternoon they had taken every stitch of clothing out of the closet and put it on their bedroom floor. Needless to say I was a bit miffed. I told them I was frustrated and then I left. I returned a couple minutes later and we put away all their clothes and they got back in their beds for another 20 min or so before they came out. So it was a napless day.

It all went well until 6:30 when Piper started to melt down at the park. So we headed home and got them all cleaned up and into bed by 7:15. Lela went down like a light and Piper came out only once for her “babies” and then slept until 7:45 this morning (which is pretty late for her). So it was harder for that 30 min that we were putting them to sleep but easier all around. Makes you wonder if we should skip naps BUT I know that you are not supposed to fall asleep that quickly, if you do it means you are over tired and that we already knew. So to nap or not to nap……..