Sweet Dreams

You are at an age when you refuse my hugs and kisses. So when you are sleeping I stand in your doorway blow you all of the kisses I wanted to give you that day. Sweet dreams my little one. Papa loves you.

Rapture Worries

One night while Sondra was tucking Emily into bed, they had a conversation about God and Jesus.

Sondra: Do you know that God and Jesus are watching over you and keeping you safe?

Emily: Yes.

Sondra: They love you because you are beautiful and good.

Emily: Do they like my shoes?

A Gamer in Training

Hmm. What artist to sell next???




Modern Art, played Friday May 19th with Papa, Mommy, Gammy, and Aunt P.

Rice Cereal

Madison has now started to eat rice cereal in addition to her bottles.




File this under "Growing Up Too Fast."

Sleepless in the Big Girl Room

Emily wakes in the middle of the night most nights screaming for mommy. A half awake mommy retrieves her to our bed then everyone falls back asleep.

This week I have begun the long road to breaking Emily's habit of sleeping with us after she wakes in the middle of the night. I go, in instead of Sondra, to an already upset Emily who is rather displeased to see me, not the mommy she was calling for.

I talk to Emily and try to clam her into going back to sleep. Most nights I sit there as screaming ensues when she realizes that I will not take her to our bed. Normally, screaming could be curtailed by the threat of a spanking or some further punishment but this is bedtime and the last way to get a child to sleep is to spank her. I can't even threaten the spanking because I know Emily will call my bluff. So I sit there most nights as she expends what energy she has screaming before she passes out. The funny thing is that some nights I fall asleep sitting on her bed while she's still screaming. Some nights I have awoken in rather twisted positions after a couple hours of slumber. Needless to say, I am sore and not well rested by morning.

Emily's bed itself isn't helping matters. The mattress is a soft spring made for the weight of a child. Some nights when I get up, after say an hour of coaxing her back to sleep, I get up so clumsily that the bed bounces up waking Emily and the process starts all over. :)

Sisters

The two of you are bonding already.

Regression

Emily has regressed back to the days when she wanted nothing to do with me. For about 3 weeks now, she has refused to give me hugs and kisses, does not want to play with me, and sometimes tells me that she doesn’t love me. I know this is just a phase but it’s worth noting here.

Also worth noting is the ferocity of her tantrums of late. My mother said that she’d never seen anything like them before while Sondra’s mom says that Emily comes by them naturally. Hmm. So, where do you think she gets them from? :)

It is all just Emily feeling out her boundaries, specifically testing her limits of control. This morning she stood outside our bedroom door, screaming for mommy to come open the door. Now mind you the door is unlocked and Emily knew that she was free to open it and come in. However, she wanted Sondra to open the door for her as any good servant would. Needless to say, she stood there screaming until one of us had to leave the room. Sondra left first and closed the door behind her. Emily was not content that Sondra was now out of the room. She was still mad that no one had opened the door for her to enter. When I walked out about 5 minutes later, I swiftly picked Emily up who then began kicking as she was screaming even louder. I carried her to her room and told her that she was to stay there until she was done screaming. Emily, of course, had to immediately test this so she ran wailing for the door the second I set her down, not once but twice. After the second time of being swooped up and placed back on the bed, she knew I was serious. She emerged from the bedroom a minute of so later with a quivering lip and stuttered breathing but the screaming was gone.

This is a tough time for Emily and we all recognize it. At 3, she’s at a natural time to be testing her boundaries. Emily is also dealing with the arrival of a new baby and Sondra’s return to work. Yikes. That’s a lot and so we hug and kiss her as often as she will allow. We provided consistent discipline because ultimately, a child who knows his or her boundaries are not only there but are firm as well will feel safer and more secure in the long run. Just think, by the time Emily is done testing her boundaries; it will be Madison’s turn to start.

Shots

Emily and Madison received immunization shots on Monday. Sondra reported that Emily did not cry. Said Emily in a pouty lip voice, and I quote, "It really hurt but I didn't want to cry." I told her that I was very proud of her for being so brave.

Madison was sleeping when she got home but when she awoke it was game on. We gave her some infant aspirin and took shifts rocking her as we walked around the house. After much back ache, she settled down, ate and knocked off for the night.

Fingers Through The Hair

Usually, when I arrive home before Sondra, Emily is immediately devastated. Some days she screams and yells at me to go away. Some days she simply runs away to hide. Every day she refuses to give me a hug or a kiss which is the tradition we are trying to teach her to do when a family member leaves or arrives.

Today I came home to what Nana described as a grumpy Emily who hadn't quite finished waking from her nap. As I set my keys down, Emily peeked over the edge of the couch to see me instead of mommy. To my surprise, she didn't make a sound.

After Nana explained her condition, I knelt at the arm of the couch and reached over and ran my fingers through her hair. Pushing it, yes -big time. I fully expected Emily to swipe my hand away and scream NO! at me then threaten me with a spanking (wonder where she gets that?). Instead she quietly snuggled up to the arm of the chair letting me play with her hair for a couple of minutes. Then she raised up, gave me a kiss and snuggled into my shoulder.

Wow. These are the moments a parent lives for.

Madison's New Toy

Madison gets wide eyed and gives a sly grin every time this activity bar is lowered to her. There's a mirror on the underside so she can see herself. Madison smiles, talks to and flirts with herself for long periods of time.

She is now able to hit the flower and star that dangle just within her reach. Here she is getting ready punch both of them.