1.24.2011

Happy One-and-a-Half to Mollie!

I'm about 10 days late in posting this, but better late than never, right?! Mollie had her 18 month well-child appointment today, and she's doing great! We are all THRILLED with Mollie's language development over the past month or so. Getting tubes in her ears has been the best decision we've made with her! She is adding new words to her vocabulary all the time, and it's SO much fun to be able to really communicate with her. Natalie asks her things all the time, and for some reason, Mollie ALWAYS either nods yes to Natalie or gives the typical Mollie "Yah." Which prompts Natalie to run in telling me things like, "Mommy! Mollie says she LIKES piders!" or "Mollie says she wants to watch Elmo!" and I'm sure Mollie doesn't have a clue what she's agreeing to half of the time. :)

The girls were apart all day today, and it warms my heart to see how excited they are to see each other at the end of days like that. They were kissing and hugging, which then turned into kissing Mommy forty bazillion times, which I certainly cannot complain about! :) They really seem to be the best of friends already.

Mollie is still a huge fan of baby dolls, and with Natalie's help, she's becoming a big fan of tea parties as well. It's so funny to walk into their playroom and see things like this:

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Mollie's also become fairly adept at making funny faces. I wish I could catch the REALLY good ones on camera. Here's one from today when she was being silly:
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And I just thought this one was cute:
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And finally, here's the obligatory pic in the chair with the pink bear :)
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Oh, and I don't want to forget (because I have no clue which box her baby book is in! EEK!) that she weighs 22.8 lbs and is 32 in. tall! That's kinda on the small side for weight, and she just took a pretty good leap length-wise putting right at average. :)

1.07.2011

Figuring things out

So I realize that I'm probably tempting fate by posting this at all, but I feel like I've grown as a mommy in the past few months, and I wanted to share that. It's happened gradually, and it relates to getting out the door in the mornings on workdays.

****Pause. I started this post last night after the girls went to bed, but then I got side-tracked. I did, indeed, tempt fate. Natalie's behavior today has been horrible, terrible, awful, no-good. Very bad. I'll still venture to say I've dealt with it better than I used to.****

Sooooo like I was saying I know everything about how to deal with my preschooler now. HA HA HA. What I was actually saying was that I've learned SOME things about how to interact with her. A few months ago, every morning presented something on a scale from REALLY.BAD.TANTRUM to the worst meltdown I've ever seen in my life prior to THAT morning. I was about to lose my mind. Natalie was grumpy when I woke her, didn't want to get out of bed, didn't want me to pick out her clothes, didn't want to pick out her own clothes, didn't want to dress herself, and are-you-serious?-use-the-bathroom-first-thing-in-the-morning-mommy?!-you-have-GOT-to-be-out-of-your-mind. And don't even get me started on the hair. You know, those lovely, thick, beautiful, caramel-y golden waves? Yeahhhhhh try brushing that every morning and attempting to get a clip in it to keep her bangs out of her eyes (the exact reason I'm not cutting bangs for Mollie in the foreseeable future). Goodluckwiththat.

So I enlisted the help of mommy friends. I asked - nay, BEGGED - for advice. I got lots! I was excited to try new things! The common thread in all of the advice that I got was that you just have to keep trying different things to see what works with your kid. Isn't it sad that probably nothing I've learned with work with Mollie? *sigh* EXCEPT! That I did learn THAT - that you just gotta keep trying new things.

The first thing that we tried was the Marble Jar here. It has been a HUGE help. We've slacked off on it a bit, and I know I need to get back on it, but it has definitely served a great purpose. I highly recommend them!

So I tried having her pick out her clothes at night. This didn't make much difference. She was just as apt to change her mind in the morning, so I stopped wasting time on this. The best thing I did regarding picking out clothes was this: Make sure there is NOTHING in her closet (or at least that she can see) that she can't wear. I started a box in the back of Mollie's closet and now I toss anything that doesn't fit or isn't the correct season in there as I come across it. Works like a charm! Out of sight, out of mind. Period.

A friend suggested letting her hold a special doll and count to twenty while we brush her hair in the morning, for distraction. Nat was unimpressed. I asked her if she wanted to sing a song instead. She was game, but it didn't work. Someone suggested to me that we braid her hair at night. That didn't seem to be the perfect solution because I'd still have to brush the day's tangles out at night. So our new solution is that we wash her hair in the bath about every other night. She is well aware that our routine now consists of her watching Curious George while I brush and French braid her wet hair. She sleeps on it, it still looks pretty cute, if a little messy, in the morning, and she wears it in braids on day #1. The braids stay in until the next morning. At that time, we take them out, and I do not brush, I just run my fingers through it gently, and voila! It's all good for day #2. That night: lather, rinse, repeat. There is an occasional tear here and there, but we have an understanding that Mommy doesn't intend to hurt her, and it's ok to say "Ouch!" but tears are really not necessary and they don't help the situation. The bad thing is that I don't routinely get to see her pretty natural waves, but I'll take it over the daily hair fight any day!

I had been getting Natalie up and then letting her play around while I get Mollie ready. That was kind of a hit or miss thing. Some days it worked fine, other days it didn't. So I decided that she needed a little more sleep. We put her to bed earlier, and I let her sleep while I got Mollie up and dressed. Still not really the answer (although the slightly earlier bedtime helps in general). More and more often, she told me that she wanted me to "dress her like a tiny little baby-haha-isn't-that-funny-Mommy?!" I found it (more than) a little annoying, but it did seem to make things go pretty quickly, so most mornings I "gave in." Then I feel like I had the biggest epiphany yet after a friend experienced a similar thing with her three-year-old son. She realized that it wasn't about him being difficult or grumpy or not getting enough sleep or him "winning" and her "giving in." It was simply this: he wanted some extra attention and TIME with her. She related it to the extra attention and time she likes to have from her husband some days. It totally clicked with me. I know that Natalie CAN fully dress herself while I get Mollie dressed. However, if I wake her before Mollie, only FIVE minutes earlier than I used to, spend a little time cuddling with her, and help her get dressed while just the two of us talk, giving as much help as she wants that day - get this: IT.WORKS. We are both happy and the day starts better for both of us!

And here's the final word of advice that I have about this situation. If your kid doesn't want to pee first thing in the morning and you're familiar enough with their habits that you know they can hold it like some kind of freakish camel? Just let them go at school. No harm, no foul. Seriously, the difference that has made in the past few mornings is immeasurable! :)

1.04.2011

Christmas in Oklahoma

We had a late Christmas with our Oklahoma family this year, but it was still lots of fun! I made Pioneer Woman's Drip Beef (OH.SO.GOOD.) for the gathering at my mom's, and Josh & Carolyn made a yummy spiral ham for a gathering at their house. YUMM.

Here are some photos from both days:

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1.03.2011

Christmas in Ohio

See, what'd I tell ya? Another Christmas post! Although I think this will be the last one for tonight . . . stay tuned for one more tomorrow!

We were seriously nervous about a 14+hour drive with Mollie after our last drive with her. However, she's a LOT older now, plane tickets are REALLY expensive, and Decemeber weather in Ohio is VERY unpredictable, so we decided to press our luck. We planned to drive halfway the first day, spend the night at a hotel, let the girls run around and swim, then drive the rest of the way the next day. Well, thanks to the weather, we had to leave early and decided to do it all in one day. Great decision! No, seriously, I'm not kidding! Mollie was almost as good a traveler as Natalie! It went so well and we made such good time that we decided to do the same thing on the way back - and it was even better!

We had a fun time visiting family in Ohio. The girls have SO much fun together now, it's ridiculous. They spent a lot of time playing pretend, and it was adorable. At one point, Aubrey was Santa and all the other girls were taking turns sitting on her knee and telling her what they wanted for Christmas. :) For the most part, they love Mollie and think everything she does is cute . . . but then there are times when they don't want her messing up their stuff and she gets yelled at. It's par for the course. I'd say for 5 little girls, they get along amazingly well! They just better look out for Caleb! That little cutie is going to give them a run for their money, I'm sure. And then another boy (Levi?) is on the way, due in March!! Exciting stuff!

Lisa hosted the Rank Christmas party this year. I have to say a good time was had by all! :)

The cousins, minus Kara & Elizabeth who had to leave early for another party.
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Christmas morning at Mammy & Pappy's. Love the kiddos in their matching PJs! :)
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This CRACKS me up. Mollie's "EEEEEEZE!" face:
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Christmas at Home

OK, as promised, here's another Christmas post.

We had another wacky Christmas at home again this year, leaving early to beat the weather for our drive. So, again, we didn't get to do the whole wake up and open gifts early in the morning thing. Hopefully next year, since we'll be in OK for Christmas. We went out to Chick Fil-A for dinner, played Christmas Bingo there and won a kid's plate/bowl/spoon set. :) Then we came home and opened gifts. Not fancy, but it worked for us! :)

It was so funny, we really expected Natalie to be super excited about opening gifts and then about what was inside. She was pretty subdued about it, and kept going back to the ($5) Ariel Barbie. lol Mollie, on the other hand, squealed with delight at the tearing of paper on each gift, and got excited about everything, no matter if she understood what it was or not. It was so cute!

Reading the Christmas story in a Kid's picture Bible.
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Opening gifts:
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What Natalie wanted so badly - an Ariel Barbie. :) She just wanted to open it and play with it without opening anything else!
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Mollie, misunderstanding her gift. ;)
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The girls love their food cutting set!
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Mollie is more interested in Nat's Scribble & Write than she is!
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Here's Mollie singing to her baby:
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Then patting her back, just like Mommy:
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