mommy gym

After being sick most of last week, it looks like the girls are almost entirely themselves again. 

I suppose last week wasn't the "best" week to do this, but I finally switched gyms. We are now members of Lifetime and I'm so excited! It was so hard to get to the gym when the only time I could go was at night or the weekend when Daddy was home. I could never go at night because I had zero motivation, so I wanted to switch to Lifetime so I could go during the day and bring the girls.

We had an appointment to meet a sales person on Thursday for a free trial day and to get a tour. I knew it was stretching it a bit to bring them after they had been sick and still not quite feeling themselves. I talked it up big the entire way there. They seemed pretty excited. When we got there, we were hardly through the door of the child care section before Little Bird had her coat off and was anxious to get in and play. I left them there and they seemed quite happy.

The sales guy gave me a quick tour and then I tried to get a workout in. They had given me a pager when I left the child care and it hadn't gone off yet. I could hardly believe my luck. I got on a machine and started enjoying the freedom. After about 20 minutes the sales guy came back and found me and asked if I hadn't heard the pages. I hadn't! I though the pager would go off but apparently they were calling me over the intercom and of course I was listening to my headphones so didn't hear. I was so embarrassed. I arrived at the child care place to find both girls sobbing. One of the women told me that they did well but she thought they may have gotten overwhelmed because it was incredibly crowded in there. And it was.

We packed up and got ready to leave. The sales guy asked if I still wanted to sign up and I said definitely; I need this so I'm determined to make it work. The girls did well while I tried to fill out all the paper work and listen to all "the deals".

When we left we talked about how we were going to go back. The girls seemed OK with this. They both said they had fun. They knew they were upset, but they also knew it was still a good time.

On Saturday we used the membership to take the girls to the pool. It's a great pool and Little Pie had a blast. Her favorite was jumping in. Little Bird wasn't really that excited, but she didn't cry and scream to get out. She said she wanted to leave, but we just kept saying it wasn't time, we still had to have fun.

Today I took the girls back so that I could work out. The child center was not busy at all so I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn what this place was all about. I left them content. But then I got called back 20 minutes later. I was so relieved to find that they only called me back because both had pooped. Whew. As soon as I changed them, they went back to playing and I said see you later. I got my entire workout in and went back to get them but they weren't ready to leave! I was SO HAPPY!

I'm really looking forward to taking advantage of all the family/child activities at Lifetime. I can see us using a lot of the options in the future.

I'm so glad I took the plunge and switched!

the alphabet

The girls' icky colds continued today. Their noses drip so much that I think we've already gone through two boxes of tissues since Sunday! They are still dragging a bit so we stayed home to try and fully recover.

It's really hard to stay home all day. The three of us are getting bored with our surroundings. The girls a more crabby because they aren't feeling too well so the days are getting long. Cabin fever has definitely set in.

Since we started ECFE a couple of weeks ago, I am trying to focus more on "academics". I'm trying to introduce more "structured" activities to practice following directions, sharing, listening, and creating accomplishments.

The girls are really great with the alphabet. They have been able to recite it for quite some time. Both recognize all of the capital letters. They also know a word that starts with each letter. I know they are just using memorization, but it's a start. (It's fun when we are out and about and I hear "I see M for Mommy!").

They girls have a Disney Princess book that works on matching skills. They must "read" it every day before bed. So, since they love the concept of matching, I thought I would use this idea to work on recognizing lower case letters (something they aren't too good at yet). 

I made two sets of "cards" with capital letters and two sets of "cards" with lowercase letters. Starting with the capital letters, I kept one set to myself and dealt out the other set to the girls. I then drew a card from my pile and asked them to identify. Little Pie usually exclaimed it first in her loudest and most excited voice ever! Then I asked them to look in their piles of letters to see if they had the matching one. Finally, whomever had the matching one placed it on top of mine.

Little Bird caught onto the "game" immediately and followed my directions exactly without deviating. She knew right away that if she didn't have the card, Little Pie did. Little Pie however was more interested in drawing her own cards and announcing the letter. She had a harder time paying attention to me and following the directions. It was hard to keep them both focused for all 26 letters, but I think they did pretty well. 

We didn't get to the lower case letters because I didn't think they had the attention to get through it. I was pleased enough with just teaching them the idea of the game. We'll try lower case soon.

Today we worked on an arts and crafts project with the alphabet. The girls sat on the stools at our island counter and were so pleased with themselves that they were such big girls.

I made a construction paper tree trunk and glued it to another piece of paper. Then I cut out leaves and wrote both uppercase and lowercase letter on them. My idea was to ask them to find the Aa, then Bb, then Cc, etc. and have them glue them on. Again, Little Bird followed my directions exactly, waiting for me to ask her to find a specific letter before picking one up to glue on her tree. Little Pie just picked up whatever letter she wanted, announced what it was and glued it to her tree. 

I only had one glue stick and they did AMAZINGLY well with sharing it. Also, I only showed them once how to use it and glue the letters on the tree. I continued to be amazed that each time they worked with a letter, they correctly put the glue on the blank side. I never had to show them again. 

This turned out to be a great project because it wasn't messy!!! The girls loved the glue stick!

Also, we added a sun (or sunny as the girls say) to each picture. They had some odd placements of where they thought the sun should go!

it's STILL winter

Even though it was 50 degrees two days last week, winter came back on Sunday. "The storm" wasn't as big as they said it was going to be, but the wind, blowing snow and drifting was still pretty bad. That meant, we stayed home on Sunday...again.

I'm so sick of winter and can't believe we still have at least a month left. It's this time of year where we always question why we live in here!

Daddy and I tried to be a little creative on Sunday because we know the girls have cabin fever as bad was we do. We tried to build a fort thinking it would be a fun way to spend the morning. 

It was fun, but it didn't last as long as we thought it would.

I have to admit...it was a pretty lame fort. But since the girls weren't that into it, we just scrapped the whole idea instead of trying to make a better one.

Little Pie started showing signs of a cold/croup. Little Bird was pretty whiny too. This morning both woke up with cold/croup symptoms so we will have ANOTHER day of staying home and trying to keep busy while whining and being somewhat miserable.

---

The girls have also been really silly lately without even trying. While we were in Arizona, we taught them that they couldn't/shouldn't touch a cactus. They knew they weren't supposed to touch them, but for some reason they thought Aunt Brenda could. 

So they began to say, "don't touch the cactus, just Brenda touch the cactus."

But then this reasoning transferred to other forbidden acts...

    Me: Don't touch my knitting needles.

    Girls: Just Brenda touch the needles.

    Me: Don't touch your poop.

    Girls: Just Brenda touch the poop.

    Me: Don't drop your milk.

    Girls: Just Brenda drop the milk.

    Me: Don't jump on the couch.

    Girls: Just Brenda jump on the couch.

    Me: Don't stand so close to the TV.

    Girls: Just Brenda stand by TV.

They also use this reasoning when they ask to do something and I say we aren't/can't/won't.

     Me: Let's go, it's time to get in the car.
     Girls: We get the car wash.
     Me: No, not today.
     Girls: Just Brenda get the car wash.

     Girls: I want a cookie.
     Me: No, not now. After lunch.
     Girls: Just Brenda have a cookie.

     Girls: I want to go outside.
     Me: We can't. It's too cold/miserable/nasty/disgusting.
     Girls: Just Brenda go outside.

It is so hilarious how they are using this reasoning for everything! Brenda is so lucky...she gets to do everything!

new nap routine!

Since the girls birthday (3 months ago!), nap time has been a huge challenge. An actual nap rarely ever took place. The girls just hoot and holler at each other, make up games to play while trapped in their cribs, argue about various things, poop, sing songs, and generally be loud. 

It was figured early on that Little Bird was the instigator of this disaster, but Little Pie easily went along with it. Very few times did one ever fall asleep. I would walk in their room after an hour or an hour and a half, arms crossed and a huge sigh.

       Me: "Why didn't you guys take a nap?"

       LP: "Mom, I can't sleep anymore!"

       LB: "Mom, I want to go downstairs. Get out now!"

I understand that two years olds can give up a nap or take them infrequently, but not at all was driving me crazy! I'm convinced that all three of us need at least an hour of silence in the house to rest and relax.

I finally decided that the girls needed to be separated. I talked to Daddy about possibly separating them permanently, but we decided that it was too soon. We'd rather it be their decision to have their own room. (Plus, it would be a huge pain in the rear to clear out the other bedroom and figure out a place to store all that crap!)

So, they are just going to be separated for nap time. But where will they sleep? Pack 'n Plays are out. They are just getting too big for them and they don't sleep well in them. Plus I don't want a Pack 'n Play set up in our other bedroom. 

I thought about what the girls would have to do if they were at a daycare. They would have to sleep on a mat and with other kids around! (How do daycare providers do it?!? I'm in complete awe of them).

So we went to Target and picked out Minnie Mouse sleep mats for each girl. Little Bird was assigned to sleep in the guest room on her sleep mat, while Little Pie stayed in their room on her sleep mat. 

Thursday was our first day. I told the girls they had to lay down on their mat (they were pretty excited) and be quiet and go to sleep. I closed each door and went in my room to wait for all hell to break loose. They were quiet for a few minutes and then all of a sudden:

        LP: "S, you there? Where are you?"

        LB: "I here! HAHAHAHAHHA"

        LP: "Where's mommy?"

        LB: "She downstairs. I in here."

I went in each room, reminding them to be quiet and go to sleep. To my surprise, both of them were laying on their mats. They were just yelling at each other through the walls. They each quieted down for a few minutes. 

This happened a few more times, but after about 45 minutes, both girls were asleep! They each slept a little over and hour. I was so happy. It was so beautiful to have complete silence in the house again!

Little Bird is actually awake in this picture...she just blinked.

Each girl got to pick out one M&M to eat with their snack when they woke up (LB picked yellow, LP picked brown!). They were both so proud of taking a nap (I sort of went overboard with the praise a bit, but I was so happy!).

Today we tried it again, and after about 15 minutes, they were both asleep! When Little Pie woke up, the first thing she said to me when I walked in was, "yay, I take a nap!".

I REALLY am hoping that this new routine continues to be successful!

Arizona! Day 5

For our last day in Arizona we took the girls to a regional park to see some native snakes. The park also had some trails for hiking and horseback riding. Since Little Bird was so anxious to go hiking with us, we told her it was her lucky day! Actually, we just hiked the trail for a little bit before we came to a playground. We even saw some mules on the way.

While at the playground, we met another set of twins that were almost two years old. They were from the area and were with their grandparents. It was fun for the girls to have some other playmates! ha!

Next, we headed to a train park in Scottsdale. There they had a little train that we could ride on. The girls weren't too impressed. Little Pie clung to Daddy and barely peeked out to see what was happening. She was thrilled when the ride was over. We had some lunch and then took a turn on the carousel. Little Bird loved the last carousel we were on and could hardly wait to get on this one. We had to wait quite a while, but then when it was our turn, she sat on the horse for a little bit, but then wanted to get off. She all of sudden got scared. Little Pie of course was scared too and clung to Nana so tightly. She didn't want anything to do with the carousel. There was also a playground at this park and the girls had a blast. We could hardly drag them away from the fun even for a popsicle break!

We went to Brenda's for one last dinner before we had to head home the next morning. Gramma and Grandpa Bob (who flew in that afternoon) got to join us too. I'm not sure why, but I didn't get any pictures!

Overall it was a tremendous trip. We are so happy that everything worked out so great and that the weather was very pleasant. It was so fun to see a vacation through the eyes of a little kid. I think we had so much fun because they had so much fun. We are looking forward to many more fun family vacations!!

Arizona! Day 4

On Thursday, Daddy, Papa, Brenda, Lobo and I hiked Black Mountain. It was another beautiful morning and another fun hike. It was a steeper, rockier climb, but it was fun to get to the highest point in the area. 

After the hike we headed back for some lunch and a shower. This day we thought that the girls might actually take a nap. They had been up early and were dragging around practically falling down with sleepiness. We laid them down and thought they were asleep instantly but 5 minutes later, the chatter, giggles and squeals indicated that there would be no nap yet again. We let them have some time to themselves while we all tried to have time to ourselves, but soon we got them up for our next adventure.

We took the girls to Spur Cross to see some horses. I think this might have been one of the girls favorite activities. There were tons of beautiful horses that were so interested in the girls. The girls were very interested in them too! In a few years, we will definitely be taking them back for horseback rides. 

We first stopped to see some miniature horses that Little Bird quickly assigned to herself. She also mentioned something about taking one home to sleep in her bed. Little Pie was a bit apprehensive about them at first, but it might have been that she still hadn't gotten used to the bright sun (she broke her new sunglasses the first day we were there). She had to snuggle Daddy for a little bit before she was ready to explore the ranch.

Little Bird was so curious about these animals. She went up to almost every one of them and said, "hi horse. do you want a snack horse?". She also absolutely loved the freedom of just running around and exploring. She kept saying, "let's go this way mom!". She couldn't get enough of the place.

The people that run the place told us that we could feed the horses some carrots. We didn't think the girls would actually want to do it, but Papa took them right up to the horses and Little Pie put a carrot in their mouths! Little Bird had some trouble doing it, but she still wanted to try. We also got to see a girl getting ready for a riding lesson so we saw her and the instructor mount the horses and take off for the trails. I asked Little Bird if she wanted to ride a horse and she nodded yes with much enthusiasm! 

After visiting the horses, we went to a playground. The girls couldn't believe that they could slide and climb on playground equipment! It's like they almost forgot about parks because we haven't been able to go to one in so long! It was really hard to get them to leave and we had one of our very few meltdowns getting into the car to go. 

We got to go out to eat for dinner; finally getting to a Mexican restaurant to feed Daddy's appetite for fajitas and margaritas. The girls were at first excited about quesadillas, but they quickly became very tired from being up early, not napping and getting tons of fresh air. I was starting to get worried that we would have to inhale our meal to get out of their before meltdowns began. We ended up giving the girls our phones to watch Sesame Street so we could eat our meal. We definitely won't get parents of the year for that, but I think maybe the restaurant's patrons would give us customers of the year for not ruining their meals!

Arizona! Day 3

Wednesday was cool and windy (but still sunny!), so we drove out to Gramma and Grandpa's new house. The girls were so excited to see Gramma and Bindi! (Grandpa was working in Fargo :( )

One of the best parts of our vacation was the entertainment the girls provided us in the car. Papa drove, Daddy sat in the front, the girls sat in the bucket seats in the middle and Nana, Uncle Drew and I squeezed into the far back. The girls were completely amazed with the new surroundings and couldn't stop talking about what they saw. They would regularly yell, "I see a cactus!" (they can't quite pronounce saguaro). Little Bird was always on the lookout for "sunny" since she absolutely loved wearing her sunglasses. They also had so much fun "turning" the lights green at the stoplights and "opening" the gates at our different entrances. There was definitely no silence in the car! 

Two hilarious girls in the car.

The girls had a blast exploring Gramma and Grandpa's new house. Gramma has a bedroom all ready for the girls, complete with their own bed and a picture of them above it! They even have special babies to play with when they come to visit. The house is beautiful as is the neighborhood. Gramma has been adding some new touches to the place and it looks really nice. The girls even went out and explored the golf course in the backyard. Not surprising, Little Bird wanted to be outside the whole time!

After visiting Gramma's house, we went out to lunch. The girls were really starting to get good at eating out. They probably ate out more last week than they have in their whole life! Going out to eat has gotten a lot more fun...I even got to eat my meal and talk to the other people at the table!

After lunch, we drove back to Brenda's house. Gramma came too since she has never seen their place. We planned to all have dinner together there to celebrate Boompa and Magra's 63rd wedding anniversary. The girls had a lot of fun playing with everyone!

Trying on cowgirl hats. I love the middle picture of Little Pie walking by me, hat in hand, thumb in mouth!

Gramma's girls.

Little Bird continued to amaze me with her sudden interest in eating anything I gave her. Both girls continue to be picky eaters, but Little Bird really came out of her shell and started eating all sorts of things. This night she even ate a hamburger! whoa!

Fine dining at Brenda's. Yes mom, I'm eating a hamburger.

It was getting late, so we got the girls into their jammies and said our goodbyes to everyone!

Hugs for Boompa!

Another terrific day!

Arizona! Days 1 and 2

We had an amazing time in Arizona last week. It was a terrific vacation...just what we all needed. Everyone was amazed at how well the girls did with so many new experiences. It actually felt like a vacation this year! 

The girls never took a nap which isn't any different than at home, but since we were so busy and going to bed late, I thought they would at least doze in the car. No luck. Despite the little sleep, there were very few meltdowns and they cooperated so well. We were very pleased with their behavior throughout the whole trip.

The girls did amazingly well on the flights. Getting checked in and through security is quite a challenge, but this year we used two cheap umbrella strollers with the attachments instead of our double one and it was the best idea we (I) had! We had time for lunch before our flight so the girls ate McDonald's for the first time. Little Bird quite enjoyed it but Little Pie could have done without it. 

The girls were so excited to get on the airplane, especially Little Bird. She could hardly contain her excitement about all of the new things we were doing. On the flight down, Little Bird and I sat together with Little Pie and Daddy behind us. Little Pie was a little scared when we first boarded, but thankfully we took off fairly quickly and she adjusted well. She fell asleep and had a little nap to get her through the rest of the day. The girls spent the 3 hours coloring, reading, eating snacks, drinking out of airplane cups and eventually watching Sesame Street on our phones. I don't think Little Bird stopped talking the entire flight. She was being really cute since she was so excited, but I was getting a little tired of answering the same questions! 

We landed in Arizona around dinner time, so Nana and Papa and Uncle Drew picked us up and we went back to their place. We had a quick dinner and got the girls into bed. Nana borrowed some pack 'n plays from Brenda's friend and the girls had no problem going to sleep. They did wake up up several times throughout the night, but there were no screaming Inconsolable moments. (Whew!)

The next morning we got up and headed over to Brenda's house. Daddy and Papa and I were going to go for a hike with Erin and Cody. The girls and Nana and Uncle Drew hung out with Brenda, Eric, Boompa and Magra. Little Bird wanted to go hiking with us pretty badly even though she doesn't know what hiking is! She was just so curious about what happens in Arizona.

We hiked Tom's Thumb and it was a gorgeous morning. It felt great to hike again!

Lobo takes off and runs ahead and comes back like hundred times. He probably hiked the trail six times more than we did! But he does take some rests!

After the hike, Erin, Cody, Daddy and I sat in the hot tub for way to long. It was so nice and relaxing and fun to catch up with them. We don't get to see them often and when we do, I'm usually chasing the girls so it was nice of Nana to do that for me this time. 

The girls had a great time running around Brenda's house, going in and out of doors and chasing Lobo around. Poor Nana and Papa had to run after them when they were on the patio just to make sure they didn't fall into the pool! It was a great time relaxing in the sun. Boy do I miss the sun!

The girls were great entertainment for everybody too!

We even got to see the Javelinas run through the yard!

It was a wonderful relaxing day!

playing in the snow

Finally! The temperatures are warm enough to actually go outside for an extended period of time. The girls have been looking at snow for MONTHS now and have only played in it a couple of times. It has just been too cold to go outside. I'm a super wimp when it comes to cold anyway, so it has to be perfect conditions for me to be outside in the winter. Sadly, these "perfect" conditions rarely come before March.

The girls had a blast and while the snow is way too deep for them to move to far, they had fun trying! Digging  in and throwing the snow are pretty much the favorite activities.

I think the girls were actually really surprised when I said OK to their incessant "I want to play outside" comments!

The girls had trouble moving around in the snow since it's so deep. They tried hard though!

Little Pie loved the snow, while Little Bird wanted to get out her lounge chair from the summer. Little Bird is more and more like her mama! Bring on summer!

little bird

For a few weeks now, we have been having a bit of trouble with our Little Bird. She has been extremely stubborn and throwing many endless tantrums. For a moment I didn't know what I was going to do and I thought she would be like this forever.

She has always been the one to know what she wants when she wants it. Now that her language is exploding, I thought the tantrums would cease (some) because she is able to communicate so well. Unfortunately something happened. She decided that she wanted to see how far she could take our power struggle.

It didn't help things that Daddy has been out of town or working really late for the past month. My patience can run very thin when I don't have any relief help. I didn't help Little Bird any by having little to no patience with her. 

Finally, when Daddy saw her throw a 30 minute tantrum because he gave her more milk instead of me, he realized how bad it's been. 

After trying all sorts of things to curb the behavior, I think I've finally found a tactic that works...at least for  now...and for some things. 

Little Bird is a very sensitive person. She takes things very seriously and any attitude you give her, she will take personally. So when I was using only time outs to try to stop some of her behavior (pushing, taking toys away, unwanted wrestling), it was only making her feel really bad. It didn't make her change her behavior.  She didn't like when I was upset with her and disapproved of her behavior. It only mad her more mad and act out more. 

On the other hand, when we praise her for doing good things, I can tell by the look in her eyes that she is taking it all in and her sense of pride is billowing. So, I figured that I would try to go over the top with the praise to really show her that that is the behavior I want to see all the time.

And it's worked...so far...for most things.

We have been drawing purple stars on her hands with a marker every time she is behaving well. Like, not waking in the night and crying for us, eating her meals without whining, sharing with Little Pie, not screaming in the car, being a good girl at Taylor's basketball games, etc. 

She LOVES receiving a star.

Showing off her stars.

She hasn't had a tantrum since we've implemented the star routine. It has also curbed the whining quite a bit. I'm glad that this is working for us right now and hope it continues to work. I was starting to get nervous that we were going to have a tantruming Little Bird on our flight to AZ. I think all the other passengers on our flight next week should give me a purple star!

Now, the only thing it doesn't seem to work for is getting her to take a nap. Or at least be quiet in her bed. I really need to figure out how to implement quiet time since nap time seems to be over. I have a feeling this one is going to be hard...