Hey, for once, I'm going to have a quick short post and I'm doing it relatively close to the time it happened...is there some sort of medal for this feat?
Anyways, last night (Feb 8th), I was sitting eating with Makenna. As she finished her meal, she was pushing her chair away from the table and she bluntly stated, "I'm tired of this....This is ridiculous." I replied, "What is it that you're tired of?...The meal or my company?" She just got out of her chair and repeated, "This is ridiculous." Now how am I supposed to react to that without laughing?
What was more surprising, to me, was that it was a meal that she actually likes. She did eat quite a but of it but not as much as usual. It's a stuffed chicken manicotti meal but she calls it "chicken wuv-it." I don't know if this is supposed to mean chicken with it, or chicken...love it. I tend to hope it's the latter.
This at least ended a better day then it started. She was a complete mess when I took her to pre-school. I think she was a bit tired from partying with her grandparents all night. We had her stay with grandma & grandpa Jones so that we could enjoy the Superbowl at a friends house. It also could be from the fact that she didn't see much of us on Sunday and then I just picked her up the next morning and shoved her into pre-school. She was just flat out refusing to go into the class room and the teachers finally had to take over so I could get to work. They told me later that she calmed down and had a good day.
I almost forgot to also add that on Sunday during Sacrament meeting, she loudly stated that she had to go potty and wanted to go by herself. "You stay here mom" (as she's pushing me to sit back in my chair). She would walk a few feet and turn around and have her index finger pointing at me as if to state "stay there!" Then she'd walk a few more feet, turn and point, and double check I was still sitting. When she made it out into the hallway, I bolted from my chair to get her. Now I'm not only getting the words, but the finger pointing.....boy am I in big trouble!
I do have to say, I love these comments that she comes out with, even if she is repeating what I say....and even if...it's ridiculous!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Oh Dangle!
This week brought a ‘curse’ (of sorts) from Makenna. To preface this, If I drop something or get frustrated I typically say, “Oh Dang It!” or, “Dang It All!” So imagine my amusement when Makenna got frustrated when something dropped and she said, “Oh Dangle!” Then followed it up with “This is ridiculous!” Last night (January 26th,) we were asking her to pick up toys and as she was carrying her games to the shelf, they fell and out of her mouth came, “RATS!” Shortly after I heard “this is ridiculous.” I was laughing to say the least.
She has also been getting more defiant in some respects and yelling at me to sit on the naughty step. Not only that, but she has been using my name of “Teri” instead of my moniker of “mom” to talk to me. She’ll respond to my request or demand with, “Well Teri…..”(Make sure you add a tone of exasperation as you read it as that’s how she says it.) On one hand it makes me laugh but on the other hand I guess I have to put an end to it out of respect.
One night last week, it was her and I eating dinner and she started a conversation by saying, “Sooooo Teri…..” I just laughed. It’s like I was being interrogated about something I did that day.
She’s also getting very bossy with her younger cousins. She orders them around and drags them by their hands. I realize this is normal but I also felt maybe some of it stemmed from being bossed around by bigger kids at pre-school. Then yesterday I had a talk with one of her teachers about how they have to talk to Makenna about ordering around other kids. I guess that theory is out the window.
My latest frustration is with swim. The last two Saturday’s she’s refused to go swimming after I get here there and all dressed and ready to go. I know she loves it and I’m baffled as to what the problem is. One of her usual teachers has not been there the last two weeks and I think that could be the biggest culprit. I don’t think it’s from her fall at pre-school at the pool over a month ago as she doesn’t really state that’s the issue and she’s swam since then. When I ask her what the problem is, she states not wanting to jump off the blocks.
The blocks are like the starting blocks you see swimmer jump off of. I keep reassuring her that she doesn’t have to jump off of them. Last session of swim, on Thursday’s, they’d take the kids down to that end of the pool and those that wanted to jump off the blocks could. Makenna always opted not to and just jumped from the side of the pool. On Saturday’s the pool is so full of different levels of swimmers that they don’t even go down to that end. All of this doesn’t seem to faze Makenna – she refused to go in. I think this week daddy’s going to come and see what he can do. (*Update...she did go swimming with daddy there. So now we'll have to see about this Saturday).
Gymnastics is still on the improvement stage. Last night was good because it was her and another girl. So the teacher could focus on them more exclusively and I think that helped but Makenna still had a tendency to run off and unfortunately tends to run off onto the floor where the girls are practicing their floor routine. I’m just waiting for a major collision as a girl is doing her tumbling routine and tumbles right into Makenna. Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll be right in the middle of doing a flip and flip over Makenna – hopefully I’d have my video camera running then.
She did come up with the funniest thing yet last week, I think on Wednesday the 20th or Thursday the 21st. She had a little pimple on her face and the whole week prior, I kept telling her to leave it alone and stop picking at it. She kept saying, “It’s a temple?” I chuckled and just left her stating that it was a temple. Well finally on the Wednesday or Thursday, I finally corrected her saying, “It’s called a pimple and stop picking at it!” Her reply, “Well, (pause) mom, (pause) It’s a pimple with a castle on it!” I laughed as it was very hard not to, and thought to myself, “boy, if she thinks this is bad, wait until she’s really a teenager instead of a three year old acting like one.”
She has also been calling the Peter Pan book that Chris has been reading to her “Peanut Butter and Pan.” She keeps requesting that daddy reads “Peanut Butter and Pan.” I know I should correct these misstatements but I find them so cute. Just like when she would call a crocodile a crock-o-dider.
We’ve also been playing more games with Makenna lately. Candy-Land and a Disney Bingo game have been the typical games. She gets frustrated and bored quickly with Chutes and Ladders. I like Candy land as we’re trying very hard to have her learn her colors. Chris felt that maybe she couldn’t see the colors but she can move to the correct color she just won’t state what the color is after much prodding.
The Disney Bingo game is a real big hit. This is one she got when she was one, maybe two, as a gift and I kept telling her that when she was older she could play it. One day a couple of weeks ago, she brought it down and said, “I’m older.” We decided to try it and she is really good at it. It’s a DVD that will call out a Disney character and number (along with B I N G or O). I have to say about 90 percent of the time, Makenna knows or can find if she has that character on her board. At one point or another in the game, the DVD will play a Disney Movie clip and now Makenna is trying to tell us what it should play. I keep telling her we have no control over this. So now she’ll sometimes get bored and frustrated if it doesn’t do what she wants.
We’re still also trying to use the “star” reward system but I feel it’s gotten a bit out of hand in that Chris decides to use it to have her stop a habit. Take for instance, if she’s not listening to our direction on doing something that we’ve asked of her, if she all of a sudden will comply and do it, Chris will give her a star. Makenna hasn’t seen how she can use this to her advantage….Yet. I think given a little more time, she’ll realize that if she does something we don’t want her to, if we then yell or discipline her and say we’ll give her a star to stop, then she’ll be racking up stars left and right. I think she should just get stars for doing chores and acting appropriately in certain situations (like trying to get her to go swimming again). The Naughty Step should be instituted for doing bad behavior. But alas, that goes with our blog title of “miss-guided” in trying to figure out what works.
I do have to add that she's also been more helpful too. She enjoys feeding the cat her food and water and is usually compliant with bringing dishes to the sink and sometimes helping me with laundry.
On another cute note, Makenna has been coming down the stairs in the morning with arm loads of things. She wakes up, and grabs whatever suits her. This morning (January 26th,) she had her doll, her green elephant, a rabbit and one of her purses. This makes for a very crowded bed. It also leaves lots of stuff all over the house to pick up later, and a lot of convincing that she doesn’t need to take all of this stuff to pre-school. She still is very crabby when I have to wake her up. I think it was Wednesday of this past week (Feb 3rd,) that I went to wake her up for the morning and her reply, was "Oh honey, I need to sleep." I wanted to crawl right in bed with her and say, "me too."
Well, it’s been a few days since I typed a lot of this up…as usual. Which brings more antics and sayings out of the mouth of my child. She keeps saying, “You’re not my teacher!” This usually comes out when we’re asking her to do something that she obviously doesn’t want to do. This would be my fault in a sense in that I’ve always told her to listen to her teachers. It started back in England when she was taking swim classes. I would tell her that she would have to listen to her teacher so that she could play in the pool after. Plus I stress with her every day as we go to preschool that she has to behave and listen to her teachers. Well, now she’s decided that’s the only person she has to listen to.
I finally told her that I TRUMP her teachers, I’m above her teachers in the listening to stage and that it’s me and then her teachers because I’m her mother. Her response? “Your not my mother.” Well that could explain the break down in listening.
Also the response last night (Jan 30th) when we asked her to come down for dinner…”Not right now, I have lot’s of stuff to do.” To which then Chris turned to me and said, “that is so you!” He then yelled up to Makenna….”Makenna, don’t listen to your mother.” Now that really doesn’t help…see previous paragraph where she already doesn’t feel I’m her mother.
She has also been getting more defiant in some respects and yelling at me to sit on the naughty step. Not only that, but she has been using my name of “Teri” instead of my moniker of “mom” to talk to me. She’ll respond to my request or demand with, “Well Teri…..”(Make sure you add a tone of exasperation as you read it as that’s how she says it.) On one hand it makes me laugh but on the other hand I guess I have to put an end to it out of respect.
One night last week, it was her and I eating dinner and she started a conversation by saying, “Sooooo Teri…..” I just laughed. It’s like I was being interrogated about something I did that day.
She’s also getting very bossy with her younger cousins. She orders them around and drags them by their hands. I realize this is normal but I also felt maybe some of it stemmed from being bossed around by bigger kids at pre-school. Then yesterday I had a talk with one of her teachers about how they have to talk to Makenna about ordering around other kids. I guess that theory is out the window.
My latest frustration is with swim. The last two Saturday’s she’s refused to go swimming after I get here there and all dressed and ready to go. I know she loves it and I’m baffled as to what the problem is. One of her usual teachers has not been there the last two weeks and I think that could be the biggest culprit. I don’t think it’s from her fall at pre-school at the pool over a month ago as she doesn’t really state that’s the issue and she’s swam since then. When I ask her what the problem is, she states not wanting to jump off the blocks.
The blocks are like the starting blocks you see swimmer jump off of. I keep reassuring her that she doesn’t have to jump off of them. Last session of swim, on Thursday’s, they’d take the kids down to that end of the pool and those that wanted to jump off the blocks could. Makenna always opted not to and just jumped from the side of the pool. On Saturday’s the pool is so full of different levels of swimmers that they don’t even go down to that end. All of this doesn’t seem to faze Makenna – she refused to go in. I think this week daddy’s going to come and see what he can do. (*Update...she did go swimming with daddy there. So now we'll have to see about this Saturday).
Gymnastics is still on the improvement stage. Last night was good because it was her and another girl. So the teacher could focus on them more exclusively and I think that helped but Makenna still had a tendency to run off and unfortunately tends to run off onto the floor where the girls are practicing their floor routine. I’m just waiting for a major collision as a girl is doing her tumbling routine and tumbles right into Makenna. Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll be right in the middle of doing a flip and flip over Makenna – hopefully I’d have my video camera running then.
She did come up with the funniest thing yet last week, I think on Wednesday the 20th or Thursday the 21st. She had a little pimple on her face and the whole week prior, I kept telling her to leave it alone and stop picking at it. She kept saying, “It’s a temple?” I chuckled and just left her stating that it was a temple. Well finally on the Wednesday or Thursday, I finally corrected her saying, “It’s called a pimple and stop picking at it!” Her reply, “Well, (pause) mom, (pause) It’s a pimple with a castle on it!” I laughed as it was very hard not to, and thought to myself, “boy, if she thinks this is bad, wait until she’s really a teenager instead of a three year old acting like one.”
She has also been calling the Peter Pan book that Chris has been reading to her “Peanut Butter and Pan.” She keeps requesting that daddy reads “Peanut Butter and Pan.” I know I should correct these misstatements but I find them so cute. Just like when she would call a crocodile a crock-o-dider.
We’ve also been playing more games with Makenna lately. Candy-Land and a Disney Bingo game have been the typical games. She gets frustrated and bored quickly with Chutes and Ladders. I like Candy land as we’re trying very hard to have her learn her colors. Chris felt that maybe she couldn’t see the colors but she can move to the correct color she just won’t state what the color is after much prodding.
The Disney Bingo game is a real big hit. This is one she got when she was one, maybe two, as a gift and I kept telling her that when she was older she could play it. One day a couple of weeks ago, she brought it down and said, “I’m older.” We decided to try it and she is really good at it. It’s a DVD that will call out a Disney character and number (along with B I N G or O). I have to say about 90 percent of the time, Makenna knows or can find if she has that character on her board. At one point or another in the game, the DVD will play a Disney Movie clip and now Makenna is trying to tell us what it should play. I keep telling her we have no control over this. So now she’ll sometimes get bored and frustrated if it doesn’t do what she wants.
We’re still also trying to use the “star” reward system but I feel it’s gotten a bit out of hand in that Chris decides to use it to have her stop a habit. Take for instance, if she’s not listening to our direction on doing something that we’ve asked of her, if she all of a sudden will comply and do it, Chris will give her a star. Makenna hasn’t seen how she can use this to her advantage….Yet. I think given a little more time, she’ll realize that if she does something we don’t want her to, if we then yell or discipline her and say we’ll give her a star to stop, then she’ll be racking up stars left and right. I think she should just get stars for doing chores and acting appropriately in certain situations (like trying to get her to go swimming again). The Naughty Step should be instituted for doing bad behavior. But alas, that goes with our blog title of “miss-guided” in trying to figure out what works.
I do have to add that she's also been more helpful too. She enjoys feeding the cat her food and water and is usually compliant with bringing dishes to the sink and sometimes helping me with laundry.
On another cute note, Makenna has been coming down the stairs in the morning with arm loads of things. She wakes up, and grabs whatever suits her. This morning (January 26th,) she had her doll, her green elephant, a rabbit and one of her purses. This makes for a very crowded bed. It also leaves lots of stuff all over the house to pick up later, and a lot of convincing that she doesn’t need to take all of this stuff to pre-school. She still is very crabby when I have to wake her up. I think it was Wednesday of this past week (Feb 3rd,) that I went to wake her up for the morning and her reply, was "Oh honey, I need to sleep." I wanted to crawl right in bed with her and say, "me too."
Well, it’s been a few days since I typed a lot of this up…as usual. Which brings more antics and sayings out of the mouth of my child. She keeps saying, “You’re not my teacher!” This usually comes out when we’re asking her to do something that she obviously doesn’t want to do. This would be my fault in a sense in that I’ve always told her to listen to her teachers. It started back in England when she was taking swim classes. I would tell her that she would have to listen to her teacher so that she could play in the pool after. Plus I stress with her every day as we go to preschool that she has to behave and listen to her teachers. Well, now she’s decided that’s the only person she has to listen to.
I finally told her that I TRUMP her teachers, I’m above her teachers in the listening to stage and that it’s me and then her teachers because I’m her mother. Her response? “Your not my mother.” Well that could explain the break down in listening.
Also the response last night (Jan 30th) when we asked her to come down for dinner…”Not right now, I have lot’s of stuff to do.” To which then Chris turned to me and said, “that is so you!” He then yelled up to Makenna….”Makenna, don’t listen to your mother.” Now that really doesn’t help…see previous paragraph where she already doesn’t feel I’m her mother.
Back on January 16th we celebrated my grandmother Grosek’s 100th birthday with family and friends. It was great to have such great family around to share in their memories of my grandmother. The news also came and interviewed her and my sister-in-law Autumn and her dad put together this video that they put on You-Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na68Zs0cZJQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na68Zs0cZJQ
Not sure when this picture was done of my grandmother but I didn't even know it was her!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
I am NOT Speckled!
Be Careful what you say as it will definitely come back to haunt you one way or another.
Last Tuesday (January 5th) Makenna decided to repeat things that either I’ve said or her father has said.
The first was while we were visiting my grandmother, (her great-grandmother,) Theresa G. We came just prior to her dinner and the nursing home is now puréeing her food. The meal was hamburger – but for her, it looked like cat puke! My grandmother even turned up her nose and made a funny face. She doesn’t have much of an appetite not sure if it’s because of how they are giving it to her, or her age…as she turns 100 tomorrow!!!!. While we were there, Makenna was saying to her, “You’ve got to try it grandma, just one bite, come-one, try it.” That was the first thing I heard that sounded a lot like what Chris says to her, and occasionally me.
I decided to let grandma try to eat and took Makenna for a brief walk. As usual, she ran right for the fish tank, but she ran right past it. I was calling her back trying to tell her that it was back where I was. Her reply…”No mom, come-on, let’s go! Are you coming?” “You’re not?” “Okay, see-you then.” Then she started to walk away. This had me laughing. I don’t know how many times I’ve threatened to leave without her as a way to get her to move and go. She’s never, as of yet, said, “Okay leave, I don’t care,” and I’m sure soon that day will come. This is the first time she’s used it back on me though and it had me quite amused.
A little while later, we were in the car to go pick up Chris and as we were driving I was muttering about another driver under my breath, as usual, and Makenna decided that the car needed a “count-down.” She told the car to move or she was going to count to three, “One, two, alright car, if I get to three, you’re in trouble.” This again had me chuckling. This is something she picked up from Chris. I don’t do the whole counting thing, or I should say, I didn’t start it, but I may use it occasionally. She’s used this count down method on a couple more occasions since then.
She also started swim lessons again but now on Saturdays. She was a bit hesitant to jump in as she fell at pre-school a couple of weeks ago while swimming. I’m not sure if she fell getting up, or getting down into the pool, or jumping in. She had quite a bruise on her cheek and eye but it has now faded. I was just grateful it wasn’t something more serious.
She also started Sunbeams two weeks ago (a class at church for 3 year olds). I took her down there and she did not want to go in. I didn’t have the time to explain to her why she had to go instead of going into nursery where she could play with toys as I had to teach. When I was done teaching I went into the nursery, got her back out and took her to class. She was upset when she found out they got to make snowflakes. I took her to the last hour and stayed with her. She did okay. This past week I had my mom go down with her to “opening exercises” – this is what she balks at. I asked my mom later how it went and she said, “Oh My Gosh!” She got to see Makenna’s stubbornness. She said Makenna was literally screaming and did not want to go in. When the kids broke up into their classes, she was fine and went right into her class. I checked on her the last hour when all the kids get back together again and she was fine. Hopefully we won’t have such a display next week. I asked my mom if I was like that as a child and she said, “No!” She feels Makenna got her, my mom’s, stubbornness, and strong will. She said she felt it skipped a generation. I told her that Chris would beg to differ.
There was also a day a week or so ago, when Chris was in the back seat with Makenna and they were arguing like kids. He was then telling her that she was being disrespectful. She replied, "I'm NOT speckled!" This argument went on as he was then trying to correct her grammar of the word and she kept insisting she wasn't speckled. I have to say it's nice to not have Chris in the back seat as a back seat driver and longer and as another child arguing. I thought I'd have to pull over a couple of times to stop them from arguing and picking on each other.
On another note, Chris is on his quest of turning her into a geek. He lets her play his on-line computer game. She gets to press a button on the keyboard and he has it do actions. She really enjoys this. She asks to have the character go over bridges, swim, and run down ramps. His master plan is to have her be a geek like he was so that she won’t date until she’s out of college. As nice as that sounds I don’t know how well that’s going to work.
I just hope this stubbornness, and strong will translates into getting ahead in the world and fighting for what she wants…and not against me or her dad. I’m not sure if she’s going to be a “geek” per se but it would be nice if she didn’t date until she was out of college, and look how well Chris did right? Okay stop chuckling.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Year End Notes
Yes, I've failed yet again to keep up with this blog. Believe it or not, (you'll tend to believe as you see how long this is,) I've been keeping a diary to post in here but have just failed to actually post until now. I had it written out as I usually do but now I've broken it up into categories so that if you see something you want to read in particular, besides this whole long post, then you can go right to that section. As always, I apologize for the length but this is our family diary.
Swimming is going well. The first class, she was asked to sit at the edge of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. The instructors (two of them) were taking the kids one by one and just having them kick in the water as they held them. Well, Makenna was at the end of the line and she decided she wasn’t going to wait. She promptly hopped in the water and off she went. I chuckled but was glad that she had the floats around her. I quickly went over and pulled her out and told her that she had to sit and wait. She then did. I also like how they are teaching them to put their hands like ice cream scoops and using their arms to move the water. Makenna seems to be learning from this method quite well.
The instructors also had the kids jump in but they were holding their hands and they jumped more onto the instructor then in to the water. At the end of class, they have five minutes of “free swim.” At her first class I went over and told Makenna that if she wanted to jump in, she could. She quickly got up and started jumping in. The instructor was going to hold on to her again as she did so, but I told them that she could do it with out their help. They were surprised at how quickly she jumped in, went under water, popped back up and did it over again. She received a certificate after her last class in December and we’re looking forward to starting class again in January.
She’s also now picking up a phrase that I’ve been saying quite a bit lately which is, “that’s not appropriate.” But it comes out more like, “not propiate.” I’m saying this when she’s telling me to shush or some other disrespectful comment – she’s saying it because I say it.
She has also been showing a dislike to our singing – mine more so as I’m always singing. Her comments are usually, “No, stop singing!” Plus there’s “Stop singing, I’m eating”, and “stop singing, I’m trying to sleep.” I know I can’t carry a tune very well without the help of the radio or some other person around me so I can see how she’d be offended but come on, I’m not that bad…am I? (maybe I don’t want to know).
The next morning she was not too happy about having to wake up and I said, “Now you see how we feel when you wake us up constantly in the middle of the night.” When we went up to her room to get her dressed for the day, she seemed a bit scared of something and so now I’m wondering if she had a bad dream or something scared her when she woke up. When we took her up to bed the next night she kept telling Chris about some witch so now I am leaning towards a bad dream and she couldn’t express what the matter was.
Prayers:
By saying the prayer in the car that night, she’s now incorporated that into a few of our trips in the car. This week (week of Dec. 7th) as I was taking her to pre-school, she all of a sudden told me she wanted to say a prayer. I turned off the radio and heard her say, “Dear Heavenly Father….(something I didn’t understand,) “So she doesn’t tell me shush….in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.” I had a smirk on my face. Then she again asked to say another one. She started again, and this time she prayed about being able to watch “Wallace & Grommit.”
She also is getting quite proficient at saying the blessing of our food which is so cute to here. She also occasionally says prayers at night for family prayer or her individual prayer and it’s cute to hear her incorporate things that take her immediate attention into her prayers. If you ever saw the movie “UP” where the dog is talking and then the dog is distracted by the squirrel and he blurts out “squirrel” – well it’s kind of the same way. Dear Heavenly father, thank you for the day, thank you for, no dolly, we don’t go poo-poo in our pants….” You get the idea.
Miscellaneous:
After Chris got his surgery, Makenna really started acting out. We had to institute a “star” system where she gets a star for listening and helping out with various chores. We decided 10 stars and then she’d earn a “treat” of her choice (within reason). Daddy, Mr. generous, decided to start her out with 5 stars! He felt she needed some so that she could have them taken away for non-compliance. The next night, she earned 10 stars and got her treat of popcorn.
I guess it was a good idea so she could see there would be a reward but when Chris tried starting her out with 5 stars again, I drew the line. She had to start from scratch. She has become quite helpful and is still working on the listening part. She’s been able to earn at least two more treats since we’ve started it (on Dec 9th,) of which one was popcorn again! She’s also had some stars taken away and as soon as we threaten to take away a star, she’s immediately thinking she should get a star. She hasn’t quite made the connection between losing one not meaning “getting one.”
Her mouth has continued to grow – meaning – she talks back. At times it’s quite humorous. She’s telling us to “stop it” and not to talk to her. She’s also now picked up the phrase, “I think I don’t want to feel well.” This usually comes out when there’s something she doesn’t want to do or eat. My reply, “Then I think I don’t want to….[insert whatever is appropriate at this point]…such as I don’t think I want to let you see your movie if you don’t feel well. Or I don’t want to give you a piece of candy if you can’t eat dinner since you don’t feel well.
This past Tues., Dec 29th, I came and picked her up from pre-school and it looked like somebody socked her in the cheek and eye. They told me she fell down at the pool. She was either getting up or trying to sit down at the edge of the pool when she slipped. I was just grateful it wasn’t anything more serious like a broken tooth or concussion or broken bone.
Today, Jan 1st, 2010, Makenna got into a bag of mine that had some panty-liners. Why am I telling you this? Not to embarass myself (even though it is,) but she took them as diapers for her bears. She promptly got out the wipes, got out one of her Pooh bears (ironic I know,) and wiped it and then tried putting the pad on it as a diaper. Funny indeed!
Well, another long post and my goal for this new year is to be more diligent in posting updates on the blog so that you don’t have to read so much at once and I don’t have to feel guilty about all the stuff I inevitably forgot as so much time has passed since my lsat post.
Plus, soon the day will come where she’ll have a real cell phone, credit cards, lipstick and purse and her attitude will be just the same telling me to stop it, shush, and be quiet and I won’t have to check up on her all the time. Let’s just hope that’s not what I have in store when she turns four!
Swimming:
Swimming is going well. The first class, she was asked to sit at the edge of the pool with her feet dangling in the water. The instructors (two of them) were taking the kids one by one and just having them kick in the water as they held them. Well, Makenna was at the end of the line and she decided she wasn’t going to wait. She promptly hopped in the water and off she went. I chuckled but was glad that she had the floats around her. I quickly went over and pulled her out and told her that she had to sit and wait. She then did. I also like how they are teaching them to put their hands like ice cream scoops and using their arms to move the water. Makenna seems to be learning from this method quite well.
The instructors also had the kids jump in but they were holding their hands and they jumped more onto the instructor then in to the water. At the end of class, they have five minutes of “free swim.” At her first class I went over and told Makenna that if she wanted to jump in, she could. She quickly got up and started jumping in. The instructor was going to hold on to her again as she did so, but I told them that she could do it with out their help. They were surprised at how quickly she jumped in, went under water, popped back up and did it over again. She received a certificate after her last class in December and we’re looking forward to starting class again in January.
Birthday Plans Scrapped:
Unfortunately, she was already a bit under the weather when I took her to her first swim class, and the next day she came up with a fever. I kept her home from pre-school and got busy cleaning as we still had a party the next day…or so I was hoping.
That didn’t pan out. She woke up on Saturday with a 103 degree temp and party plans had to be scrapped. I felt so bad. We had talked about it all week and she was so excited. I felt like a little kid again where I was anxiously awaiting some event, got sick and then tried desperately to figure some way to still do the activity I had waited for. This time, I felt this way for Makenna.
As we had saved all her gifts for the party, we brought them down and let her open them. She was so excited and was saying, “Hooray!” Plus, she got the present that she wanted most which was her Great Aunt and Uncle who came to visit for the weekend. She also enjoyed her Thumbelina and Tinkerbell movies and a mini-purse that I got her complete with a flip cell phone, lipstick, and credit cards, (pretend of course). I also did buy her some games such as Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Memory. I hope that she’ll be patient enough to play them at some point but right now, that’s not the case.
Chris stayed at home with her while the rest of us went to the new location for the party, which was Autumn’s parents house for Katie’s side of the party. I took some of the things I bought for the party over and we enjoyed watching Katie have a special day. I’m just glad Makenna is none-the-wiser really about what was supposed to happen compared to what happened.
Unfortunately, she was already a bit under the weather when I took her to her first swim class, and the next day she came up with a fever. I kept her home from pre-school and got busy cleaning as we still had a party the next day…or so I was hoping.
That didn’t pan out. She woke up on Saturday with a 103 degree temp and party plans had to be scrapped. I felt so bad. We had talked about it all week and she was so excited. I felt like a little kid again where I was anxiously awaiting some event, got sick and then tried desperately to figure some way to still do the activity I had waited for. This time, I felt this way for Makenna.
As we had saved all her gifts for the party, we brought them down and let her open them. She was so excited and was saying, “Hooray!” Plus, she got the present that she wanted most which was her Great Aunt and Uncle who came to visit for the weekend. She also enjoyed her Thumbelina and Tinkerbell movies and a mini-purse that I got her complete with a flip cell phone, lipstick, and credit cards, (pretend of course). I also did buy her some games such as Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and Memory. I hope that she’ll be patient enough to play them at some point but right now, that’s not the case.
Chris stayed at home with her while the rest of us went to the new location for the party, which was Autumn’s parents house for Katie’s side of the party. I took some of the things I bought for the party over and we enjoyed watching Katie have a special day. I’m just glad Makenna is none-the-wiser really about what was supposed to happen compared to what happened.
“Mouth” of a 3 year old:
Sunday I stayed home from church with her and you could tell she was feeling better. She was making up for lost time by being “mouthy” as I call it. Yelling at us to “stop,” “Don’t do that,” “I don’t like that,” and my favorite, “Shush!” I was almost trying to figure out if I’d rather have her sick she was getting so bad. I kept her home from pre-school one more day, today, as she did have another slight fever last night.
It was a fairly nice day out so we still went outside for a short while just to get some fresh air. Of course she got hurt twice. Once she fell off her bike and her chin actually scraped the zipper of her coat, and another she was running in the gravely driveway and tripped and fell. So now I have a sick and bruised/scraped up child.
Then at night we unfortunately incurred the wrath of a major melt-down and I’m not sure if it’s just because she’s overly tired or her head is so stuffed up that it’s making her just lose it. We keep trying to get her to eat something but she just reverts to her, “I don’t like….” Of course, these are things she usually has no problems or issues with but at this point and time, she does not like anything. Plus, when she gets in trouble and put on the naughty step, when we go to get her out and talk to her about her bad behavior, she brings up past hurts/issues.
For instance, we go to talk to her about her actions that put her on the naughty step and she starts saying how she hurt her head or her hand or some body part that hurts. It’s funny how she’s picked up trying deflect a talk on punishment into console me I’m hurt.
Sunday I stayed home from church with her and you could tell she was feeling better. She was making up for lost time by being “mouthy” as I call it. Yelling at us to “stop,” “Don’t do that,” “I don’t like that,” and my favorite, “Shush!” I was almost trying to figure out if I’d rather have her sick she was getting so bad. I kept her home from pre-school one more day, today, as she did have another slight fever last night.
It was a fairly nice day out so we still went outside for a short while just to get some fresh air. Of course she got hurt twice. Once she fell off her bike and her chin actually scraped the zipper of her coat, and another she was running in the gravely driveway and tripped and fell. So now I have a sick and bruised/scraped up child.
Then at night we unfortunately incurred the wrath of a major melt-down and I’m not sure if it’s just because she’s overly tired or her head is so stuffed up that it’s making her just lose it. We keep trying to get her to eat something but she just reverts to her, “I don’t like….” Of course, these are things she usually has no problems or issues with but at this point and time, she does not like anything. Plus, when she gets in trouble and put on the naughty step, when we go to get her out and talk to her about her bad behavior, she brings up past hurts/issues.
For instance, we go to talk to her about her actions that put her on the naughty step and she starts saying how she hurt her head or her hand or some body part that hurts. It’s funny how she’s picked up trying deflect a talk on punishment into console me I’m hurt.
That’s Not Appropriate:
She’s also now picking up a phrase that I’ve been saying quite a bit lately which is, “that’s not appropriate.” But it comes out more like, “not propiate.” I’m saying this when she’s telling me to shush or some other disrespectful comment – she’s saying it because I say it.
She has also been showing a dislike to our singing – mine more so as I’m always singing. Her comments are usually, “No, stop singing!” Plus there’s “Stop singing, I’m eating”, and “stop singing, I’m trying to sleep.” I know I can’t carry a tune very well without the help of the radio or some other person around me so I can see how she’d be offended but come on, I’m not that bad…am I? (maybe I don’t want to know).
Night time Potty calls:
We were also incurring the nightly wake up call of “I have to go potty.” I try to limit her fluid intake at least an hour before bed but trying to get a three year old to sit on the potty before she goes to bed, when she doesn’t think she has to go is another hard task to tackle. I tend to give in as she’s also at the stage of just when I’m about to turn out the lights for the night, she all of a sudden has to go. It’s more of a ploy to stay up longer but once in a while we get her to go. The ploy continues with needing a drink, and a myriad of other things. I hardly every let her have a cup in bed but daddy has given in on a few occasions. Those are the nights I make him get up with her on her 2am potty breaks.
On Monday (Dec 7th) we had a two hour event from about 2am – 4am of her constantly getting out of bed for one thing or another. She kept saying she wanted to get dressed and if it wasn’t that it was that she wanted to come into mommy and daddy’s bed. After a couple of hours I finally gave in to her request of sleeping on the couch. I said, “FINE! As long as you don’t get up again and stay on the couch, I don’t care!”
We were also incurring the nightly wake up call of “I have to go potty.” I try to limit her fluid intake at least an hour before bed but trying to get a three year old to sit on the potty before she goes to bed, when she doesn’t think she has to go is another hard task to tackle. I tend to give in as she’s also at the stage of just when I’m about to turn out the lights for the night, she all of a sudden has to go. It’s more of a ploy to stay up longer but once in a while we get her to go. The ploy continues with needing a drink, and a myriad of other things. I hardly every let her have a cup in bed but daddy has given in on a few occasions. Those are the nights I make him get up with her on her 2am potty breaks.
On Monday (Dec 7th) we had a two hour event from about 2am – 4am of her constantly getting out of bed for one thing or another. She kept saying she wanted to get dressed and if it wasn’t that it was that she wanted to come into mommy and daddy’s bed. After a couple of hours I finally gave in to her request of sleeping on the couch. I said, “FINE! As long as you don’t get up again and stay on the couch, I don’t care!”
The next morning she was not too happy about having to wake up and I said, “Now you see how we feel when you wake us up constantly in the middle of the night.” When we went up to her room to get her dressed for the day, she seemed a bit scared of something and so now I’m wondering if she had a bad dream or something scared her when she woke up. When we took her up to bed the next night she kept telling Chris about some witch so now I am leaning towards a bad dream and she couldn’t express what the matter was.
Lately, it's not been so much potty calls but that her blanket falls off. So she'll come downstairs to tell me instead of just picking it up off the floor to cover herself!
“Different Gymnastics” :
One mother, at her previous gymnastics place put it succinctly when she said she was tired of paying close to $50 a month for a glorified jungle gym, once a week for 45 minutes. This mother also told me about another place that she found and is now taking her daughter. They actually teach them gymnastic skills and it costs less and it’s for a longer period of time.
Trying to find the place the first time took close to an hour. I turned right when I should’ve turned left (the short story) and after a few phone calls we finally got there. It was funny because I was so frustrated that I pulled over and told Makenna we were going to say a prayer to find this place soon. Anytime I pulled into a parking lot of sorts she thought we had made it and was saying, “Good job mommy.” So when we finally did make it I not only got a “Good Job mommy” compliment but also a request for a High-Five. Luckily the first time I took her it was just for a quick evaluation to see what class she would fit in to. Unfortunately, the class they wanted me to put her in is the same night as swim class so I got her into a higher level class on Monday nights.
On Monday (Dec 7th) it was her first official class and it is supposed to be for an hour and a half. But since there was only three girls total (including Makenna,) they only held it for an hour. They had her stretching, which she didn’t like and then trying to do somersaults and backward rolls, and got her on the balance beam and the trampoline. Her favorite was the trampoline, of course. She had a bit of a hard time staying with them and listening but I hope in time she’ll do better. She keeps talking about going back and we call it “different gymnastics.” So now she’ll say, “I want to go to different gymnastics.”
She is improving in some ways, one of which is not running to me constantly and staying with her class. She wants to just mainly do the trampoline but is getting a bit more confident on the balance beam and doing a bit better on the uneven bars. I have to realize it’s going to take some time and that the girls that are in her class have been there longer and a bit older, but by no means bigger. I just have to be patient and let her learn. I do have to give kudos to the teacher who has to put up with up to 8 (sometimes 10) kids who don’t always listen and who want to wander off. You here her constantly calling one kid or another to come back.
“Different Gymnastics” :
One mother, at her previous gymnastics place put it succinctly when she said she was tired of paying close to $50 a month for a glorified jungle gym, once a week for 45 minutes. This mother also told me about another place that she found and is now taking her daughter. They actually teach them gymnastic skills and it costs less and it’s for a longer period of time.
Trying to find the place the first time took close to an hour. I turned right when I should’ve turned left (the short story) and after a few phone calls we finally got there. It was funny because I was so frustrated that I pulled over and told Makenna we were going to say a prayer to find this place soon. Anytime I pulled into a parking lot of sorts she thought we had made it and was saying, “Good job mommy.” So when we finally did make it I not only got a “Good Job mommy” compliment but also a request for a High-Five. Luckily the first time I took her it was just for a quick evaluation to see what class she would fit in to. Unfortunately, the class they wanted me to put her in is the same night as swim class so I got her into a higher level class on Monday nights.
On Monday (Dec 7th) it was her first official class and it is supposed to be for an hour and a half. But since there was only three girls total (including Makenna,) they only held it for an hour. They had her stretching, which she didn’t like and then trying to do somersaults and backward rolls, and got her on the balance beam and the trampoline. Her favorite was the trampoline, of course. She had a bit of a hard time staying with them and listening but I hope in time she’ll do better. She keeps talking about going back and we call it “different gymnastics.” So now she’ll say, “I want to go to different gymnastics.”
She is improving in some ways, one of which is not running to me constantly and staying with her class. She wants to just mainly do the trampoline but is getting a bit more confident on the balance beam and doing a bit better on the uneven bars. I have to realize it’s going to take some time and that the girls that are in her class have been there longer and a bit older, but by no means bigger. I just have to be patient and let her learn. I do have to give kudos to the teacher who has to put up with up to 8 (sometimes 10) kids who don’t always listen and who want to wander off. You here her constantly calling one kid or another to come back.
Prayers:
By saying the prayer in the car that night, she’s now incorporated that into a few of our trips in the car. This week (week of Dec. 7th) as I was taking her to pre-school, she all of a sudden told me she wanted to say a prayer. I turned off the radio and heard her say, “Dear Heavenly Father….(something I didn’t understand,) “So she doesn’t tell me shush….in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.” I had a smirk on my face. Then she again asked to say another one. She started again, and this time she prayed about being able to watch “Wallace & Grommit.”
She also is getting quite proficient at saying the blessing of our food which is so cute to here. She also occasionally says prayers at night for family prayer or her individual prayer and it’s cute to hear her incorporate things that take her immediate attention into her prayers. If you ever saw the movie “UP” where the dog is talking and then the dog is distracted by the squirrel and he blurts out “squirrel” – well it’s kind of the same way. Dear Heavenly father, thank you for the day, thank you for, no dolly, we don’t go poo-poo in our pants….” You get the idea.
Miss Independent:
She’s also lately become a lot more independent. I hear a lot of, “No! I do it!!” She wants to dress herself most of the time so I have to incorporate more time into my schedule for her to do this. It’s hard not to want to help to get things moving. She can do about 95% of it herself. It’s amazing to see how all of a sudden she’s just decided this is her job. Plus, one morning, she even got up and went on the potty by herself. I heard her get up and I went upstairs to check on her and she had turned on the bathroom light and gotten on the potty herself. She’s also done it during the day occasionally. This is great, but leads to poor hand washing hygiene so we make sure we have some of the anti-bacterial hand stuff handy. Plus no kid is a good “wiper” at this age, in my opinion. Since I first typed this (about a month ago,) she’s no reverted to not being able to go to the bathroom without me there.
She’s also lately become a lot more independent. I hear a lot of, “No! I do it!!” She wants to dress herself most of the time so I have to incorporate more time into my schedule for her to do this. It’s hard not to want to help to get things moving. She can do about 95% of it herself. It’s amazing to see how all of a sudden she’s just decided this is her job. Plus, one morning, she even got up and went on the potty by herself. I heard her get up and I went upstairs to check on her and she had turned on the bathroom light and gotten on the potty herself. She’s also done it during the day occasionally. This is great, but leads to poor hand washing hygiene so we make sure we have some of the anti-bacterial hand stuff handy. Plus no kid is a good “wiper” at this age, in my opinion. Since I first typed this (about a month ago,) she’s no reverted to not being able to go to the bathroom without me there.
The Wonder of Snow:
Last Saturday (Dec 5th) we had our first real snow fall. Makenna loved it. She was so excited about getting out and enjoying the snow. I’m not a huge fan of cold but it was fun to watch her enjoy it. I had a snow suit and bundled her up. She really enjoyed me making snow balls and throwing them at her or other objects. She really giggled when daddy came out and we pelted him. The thing I found was that we have to get better gloves that don’t soak up all the wetness from the snow.
Due to Chris’s foot surgery (on Dec 9th to remove a bunion,) I’ve had to take over the snow removal duties. I’m sure I’m exaggerating with this next statement but I swear I’ve had to shovel more, rake the roof more, and plow more than Chris has had to do in a long time. So far, as of January 1st, 2010, I’ve shoveled 3 times, raked the roof twice and plowed twice, and it’s only December. I hate to see what the rest of winter has in store!
Last Saturday (Dec 5th) we had our first real snow fall. Makenna loved it. She was so excited about getting out and enjoying the snow. I’m not a huge fan of cold but it was fun to watch her enjoy it. I had a snow suit and bundled her up. She really enjoyed me making snow balls and throwing them at her or other objects. She really giggled when daddy came out and we pelted him. The thing I found was that we have to get better gloves that don’t soak up all the wetness from the snow.
Due to Chris’s foot surgery (on Dec 9th to remove a bunion,) I’ve had to take over the snow removal duties. I’m sure I’m exaggerating with this next statement but I swear I’ve had to shovel more, rake the roof more, and plow more than Chris has had to do in a long time. So far, as of January 1st, 2010, I’ve shoveled 3 times, raked the roof twice and plowed twice, and it’s only December. I hate to see what the rest of winter has in store!
Christmas Lights:
Makenna’s really enjoying the Christmas lights and decorations that are out and around on the houses. She’s constantly asking to see them every time we’re in the car. It’s hard to get her to understand that during the day people don’t turn on their lights as they’re harder to see. “But why?” she asks. That’s another new saying of hers now too. Last Sunday I took her to the light show in Ostiningo Park and she really enjoyed it. It definitely makes this time more exciting for me. I love to see how exciting and happy she is and that she’s really understanding more and even mentions or asks about Santa. Now it’s explaining about the birth of Christ that’s going to be a bit tricky.
On Christmas Eve we went to Chris’s church service and I was able to explain to Makenna that Christmas is a way for everybody to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. She kept repeating, “this is when Jesus was born?”
Makenna’s really enjoying the Christmas lights and decorations that are out and around on the houses. She’s constantly asking to see them every time we’re in the car. It’s hard to get her to understand that during the day people don’t turn on their lights as they’re harder to see. “But why?” she asks. That’s another new saying of hers now too. Last Sunday I took her to the light show in Ostiningo Park and she really enjoyed it. It definitely makes this time more exciting for me. I love to see how exciting and happy she is and that she’s really understanding more and even mentions or asks about Santa. Now it’s explaining about the birth of Christ that’s going to be a bit tricky.
On Christmas Eve we went to Chris’s church service and I was able to explain to Makenna that Christmas is a way for everybody to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. She kept repeating, “this is when Jesus was born?”
Christmas:
We enjoyed grandpa Avery and Uncle Brant coming over on Christmas Eve. She got an awesome plush Dora blanket from Uncle Brant which she loves and a walk-on piano (like in the movie “Big”) from Grandpa Avery.
Christmas day, sure enough, she was excited to see all the gifts. She did really well and didn’t get too focused on one gift nor did she just rip through all the gifts. I made sure the gifts said they were from “Santa” or an elf or Rudolph. My mom used to do this – even when I was an adult.
Then we went over to Grandma & Grandpa Jones – more gifts and a brunch. Then back home as I, yes I, believe it or not, was hosting dinner for my family. My brother Jake was in town for Christmas and with Chris’s bum foot, thought it would be easiest to have it our house – easiest for who?
Let’s just say, I’m glad the holidays were over. I had to include this awesome picture of my grandmother who is turning 100 on Jan 13th!
When she went to bed Christmas night, Makenna asked if Santa was coming again and that she’d have more gifts to open. I had to explain to her it’s one day a year.
We enjoyed grandpa Avery and Uncle Brant coming over on Christmas Eve. She got an awesome plush Dora blanket from Uncle Brant which she loves and a walk-on piano (like in the movie “Big”) from Grandpa Avery.
Christmas day, sure enough, she was excited to see all the gifts. She did really well and didn’t get too focused on one gift nor did she just rip through all the gifts. I made sure the gifts said they were from “Santa” or an elf or Rudolph. My mom used to do this – even when I was an adult.
Then we went over to Grandma & Grandpa Jones – more gifts and a brunch. Then back home as I, yes I, believe it or not, was hosting dinner for my family. My brother Jake was in town for Christmas and with Chris’s bum foot, thought it would be easiest to have it our house – easiest for who?
Let’s just say, I’m glad the holidays were over. I had to include this awesome picture of my grandmother who is turning 100 on Jan 13th!
When she went to bed Christmas night, Makenna asked if Santa was coming again and that she’d have more gifts to open. I had to explain to her it’s one day a year.
Miscellaneous:
After Chris got his surgery, Makenna really started acting out. We had to institute a “star” system where she gets a star for listening and helping out with various chores. We decided 10 stars and then she’d earn a “treat” of her choice (within reason). Daddy, Mr. generous, decided to start her out with 5 stars! He felt she needed some so that she could have them taken away for non-compliance. The next night, she earned 10 stars and got her treat of popcorn.
I guess it was a good idea so she could see there would be a reward but when Chris tried starting her out with 5 stars again, I drew the line. She had to start from scratch. She has become quite helpful and is still working on the listening part. She’s been able to earn at least two more treats since we’ve started it (on Dec 9th,) of which one was popcorn again! She’s also had some stars taken away and as soon as we threaten to take away a star, she’s immediately thinking she should get a star. She hasn’t quite made the connection between losing one not meaning “getting one.”
Her mouth has continued to grow – meaning – she talks back. At times it’s quite humorous. She’s telling us to “stop it” and not to talk to her. She’s also now picked up the phrase, “I think I don’t want to feel well.” This usually comes out when there’s something she doesn’t want to do or eat. My reply, “Then I think I don’t want to….[insert whatever is appropriate at this point]…such as I don’t think I want to let you see your movie if you don’t feel well. Or I don’t want to give you a piece of candy if you can’t eat dinner since you don’t feel well.
This past Tues., Dec 29th, I came and picked her up from pre-school and it looked like somebody socked her in the cheek and eye. They told me she fell down at the pool. She was either getting up or trying to sit down at the edge of the pool when she slipped. I was just grateful it wasn’t anything more serious like a broken tooth or concussion or broken bone.
Yesterday, (Dec 31st) I got out some dental floss and flossed her teeth - she actually loved it. It helps that it's the flat-tape and minty tasting. I had to remind her not to bite me. Hopefully she'll be better at this habit than I am. Plus, I'm preparing for her first dentist visit. When Chris and I go in a week, she's going to come along to get an idea of what it's like. I've been preparing her by reading a Dora story about going to the dentist and Makenna's really excited. I'm sure that will all be different the day of - but who knows. Maybe I should bring the book along.
Today, Jan 1st, 2010, Makenna got into a bag of mine that had some panty-liners. Why am I telling you this? Not to embarass myself (even though it is,) but she took them as diapers for her bears. She promptly got out the wipes, got out one of her Pooh bears (ironic I know,) and wiped it and then tried putting the pad on it as a diaper. Funny indeed!
Well, another long post and my goal for this new year is to be more diligent in posting updates on the blog so that you don’t have to read so much at once and I don’t have to feel guilty about all the stuff I inevitably forgot as so much time has passed since my lsat post.
Plus, soon the day will come where she’ll have a real cell phone, credit cards, lipstick and purse and her attitude will be just the same telling me to stop it, shush, and be quiet and I won’t have to check up on her all the time. Let’s just hope that’s not what I have in store when she turns four!
Monday, November 9, 2009
No, Stop It, Don’t Do That
I’ve thought so many times to sit and catch up on my blog and then stupid facebook gets in the way and sucks me in to it’s ridiculous mindless games and then it gets late and I’m tired and another day passes without me updating. Now that I’m finally putting this as a priority, sit back, and be prepared to catch up on our month of October, complete with pictures.
On October 3rd, I took Makenna by myself, to get a haircut. The last time we took her she was definitely not interested in sitting in any chair to get her hair cut so the girl had to do it while Makenna was sitting in daddy’s lap playing with his blackberry. I was hesitant in taking her myself but I figured it needed to be done and I don’t recall what Chris had going for the day but he was busy. We got to the place, and luckily, another child was sitting in the chair. This helped Makenna to see that it was not a scary thing to do and she was brave, if not braver to sit up in the chair and have her haircut. The faces she made were priceless. Just picture a look of disgust and frustration and you’ve got it down.
At one point, they needed her to put her head down so they could get the back of her hair and I said to her, “Makenna, look at your feet.” The stylist then repeated what I had said, and Makenna promptly lifted her foot to eye level thus defeating the purpose and had us all laughing. I thought, well, she definitely is clever! The stylist said that was the first time she ever had a child do that..
Earlier, before the haircut, we were at gymnastics and she happened to be laying down on a piece of equipment on her stomach. Another little girl came over and lay down on top of her. Makenna promptly and loudly replied, “No no Angela, don’t push my butt, my butt stinks!” Did I mention this was said very loudly? I was laughing and blushing at the same time.
Later in the afternoon, this same day, I was trying to get her down for a nap and she wasn’t in the mood. She was trying everything she could think of to get out of taking one. At one point she opened up her door, (which was at least the fourth time,) came out and told me that she heard a noise in her room and that she thought she had to come down on the couch. I promptly told her that it was time to go back to her room and take a nap. I eventually won but it took some doing.
Chris and I finally took a very nice vacation to Aruba, the place of our honeymoon, for our six year anniversary. It was great weather, and very relaxing. Most of our time was spent lying out in the sun either down on the beach or poolside. We did also do other activities like
snorkeling and taking a two-hour horse ride. That was fun but scary. I hadn’t ridden a horse in quite a long time. I was nervous that the poor horse’s legs would buckle underneath all the pressure as we were going down rocky slopes and up other rocky and cactus laden paths. I was wishing for some flat land, and then when we found it and the horse took off at quite a gallop, I was then wishing for the rocks and cactus hills to return. I actually got used to the galloping; it was the trotting I didn’t care much for. It was nice though when we got to ride along the ocean. Needless to say, we were a bit sore later.
I had to take a picture of this horse - it's not one that we rode but I imagined this is what our horse felt like after carrying us all that way.
On our anniversary day, we went to De Palm Island. We took a bus to a spot where they then put you on a boat over to the island. On the island you can snorkel, do Snuba (a cross between scuba and snorkeling,) lay out, play volleyball, swim, eat, get massages, etc. We did the laying-out, snorkeling, and eating. We got quite red from being out all day. Not to say we weren’t already a bit burned from the previous days.
The day before we left we took a sailing/snorkeling trip. On this trip, they took you out to a couple of spots to snorkel. The first was a ship wreck, and then the next was a place with lots of coral and colorful fish. Then they took us to a place where you could use a rope swing off the ship and plunge into the water. Chris and I had more fun watching people do this and decided not to do it ourselves.
We also went back to a few places that we had gone to for our honeymoon. Namely a restaurant called “El Goucho’s.” I highly recommend this place to anyone who loves steak! It absolutely melts in your mouth and they give you some things to go with the steak which make it absolutely delicious such as spicy onions, a garlic sauce and their famous steak sauce.
Our hotel room was nice as it gave us an ocean view and had a balcony. We were only supposed to have the room for the first couple of days but they said we could stay in it the whole week. We also had all inclusive for the first couple of days and I took full advantage of all the non-alcoholic pina coladas I could get my hands on – YUMMY!!!
Not even 24 hours after getting back from a very warm 90 degrees, we get hit with snow. That stunk. Makenna stayed with Chris’s parents and did quite well. We “Skyped” every night and she could only stand to talk to us for about five minutes and then she was off. She didn’t even seem to really miss us. She was well behaved and they are now even asking us to go on another trip even if it’s just overnight so that they can have her again. They miss the routine they got into with her. They loved how she would wake up in the morning and crawl into bed with them.
On October 19th, Makenna transitioned to a new pre-school class. They were going to let her just do an hour one day then two the next, etc. She did so well when they took her over the first day, that she just stayed the whole day and that was it. I was a bit more upset then she was but for purely selfish reasons. I really liked her teachers and they would give me updates daily on a sheet of paper which I have been laminating and saving in a book. Now with her new class, I don’t get any of those sheets. With those sheets I was able to ask Makenna specific questions about her day and here I have to ask the proverbial, “What did you do today Makenna?” Her reply usually starts out, “well…..” and then usually some intelligible stuff but I don’t know if that’s what she really did or not.
Her new teachers are nice and she’s getting more used to them and her class. For a couple of days after going, she kept saying how she wanted to see her old teachers and classmates. I told her new teacher this and they went to visit.
She was able to go to the pumpkin farm with her pre-school on October 22nd. I again was jealous as this was something I wanted to do with her first, but time and weather prevented this from happening. She seemed to really enjoy it and was able to bring home a small pumpkin.
Later that same day after I picked her up I took her grocery shopping at Wegmans with me. That was truly a treat (as I say that sarcastically). She felt the need to yell at me quite often as I was trying to help her push the cart. In her bid for independence, she felt it was her turn to push the cart. As I was filling it and it was getting heavier and harder to steer, I would just use my finger every so slightly to pull it along and guide it so that it didn’t take out any unsuspecting people in front of her (or to the sides of her,) and so as to not knock down any things on the shelves from her steering into them.
When she felt or saw me helping she would peer out from behind the cart and promptly yell at me saying, “No mommy, don’t touch it! That’s naughty, you’ll go on the naughty step…got it?” I was laughing; there was no holding back my smile on that one. Not only that, but she repeatedly yelled at me. I was looking around like, “I can’t be the only mother being yelled at by their child…can I?”
We got through that and got home where the scolding continued. This time, it was on some stuffed bears. She was yelling at a bear telling it, it was naughty and that it had to sit on the step for hitting. “No hitting, that’s naughty, sit on the step.” She came and told me that the bear had to sit on the naughty step for hitting and I told her to make sure the bear said it was sorry and gave her a hug after it’s time was up. She went over to the bear and told it to say it was sorry and then she gave it a hug and kiss. But, as this bear must’ve learned from Makenna, it hit again, and had to sit yet again on the naughty step per Makenna. Again, the laughter from me was flowing but this time I was alone in the kitchen and could compose myself when she came back in with her serious face.
Then on October 27th she turned THREE! I can hardly believe it. She actually woke up that day saying that she wanted to “Watch Makenna on TV.” I’m not sure what brought that about. Chris put in a DVD of her first year that he had put together. I was tearing up watching such cuteness and how small she was (not to mention how compliant). She actually started crying because she’d see her Uncle Rich or Grandpa Jones, or daddy or you name it…someone that wasn’t present in the house with us and this sent her into a crying jag. I finally had to turn it off for the both of us.
Since her birthday was on a Tuesday, we didn’t do any major celebration…yet. She did get cupcakes from pre-school and after her Bee-Bop Tots class, we went to Grandma & Grandpa Jones and had an ice cream cake. She got a couple of presents from them that she really likes. One is a book about bees and another is this foam golf set and she calls it “Pooh Kicks” game from one of her Winnie the Pooh movies.
We plan on having a combined celebration with her cousin Katie who turns two this week. This way we can have her Great Aunt Lori and Uncle Rich come to celebrate both birthdays. She’ll get her presents then along with more cake.
People failed to mention that as soon as she turned three that she would morph into this mouthy little girl! All of a sudden she’s telling us “Shush, be quiet, my friends are sleeping.” This I have to say she picked up from pre-school. I’m just not sure if it’s from her old class or her new class. I’d almost have to say the latter as she didn’t say it previously. She doesn’t just state it, she yells it. After the first few times thinking it was cute and funny, we’re now realizing that it’s verging on disrespectful and that she needs to learn it’s not appropriate. Especially when no one is talking and she’s yelling it.
She also had picked up the saying, “No, I don’t like that.” She was saying it more a couple of weeks before her birthday and saying “I don’t like…” insert whatever. It was certain foods that she does like, or her new teachers, or anything that we tried to offer her. That seems to have subsided a bit now. It also went along with other sayings of, “I can’t,” “No Mom, Don’t do that,” and “Stop It.” All of which didn’t come out sweetly but very loud and rudely. Now she has also added “No thank you.” This again, comes out loud and rude, not calm and quiet. So we have some work ahead of us for the year of our three year old.
We did get a chance on Friday, (the day before Halloween) to take her to a pumpkin farm. Daddy did a great job of carving a pumpkin and Makenna helped scoop out a bit of the guts. She mostly colored her little pumpkin that she had gotten with her class, with markers. She enjoyed trying to blow out the candle inside the pumpkin. 
Then the next day, on Halloween, we did take herTrick-Or-Treating. She actually did quite well. She dressed as a “Snow princess” as we called it, just because she had her winter coat on. Although the weather was quite nice and she didn’t really need such a heavy coat. She did actually go up to the doors and say Trick or Treat and she was really good about saying thank you. I was quite impressed. There was one house that had a scary display and she just looked at it and later stated what we had said to her which was, “it’s just pretend, it’s not scary, and it won’t hurt you.”
Well, I know November isn’t going to be any less hectic as this week alone Monday through Thursday we have things planned every night. This Thursday she starts another level of swim class (one where I don’t have to be in the pool with her,) and I’m excited to see how she does. I just hope that she doesn’t take her new vocabulary of “No,” “Stop It,” and “Don’t Do That,” with her. Plus I hope she doesn’t put her teachers on the naughty step!
On October 3rd, I took Makenna by myself, to get a haircut. The last time we took her she was definitely not interested in sitting in any chair to get her hair cut so the girl had to do it while Makenna was sitting in daddy’s lap playing with his blackberry. I was hesitant in taking her myself but I figured it needed to be done and I don’t recall what Chris had going for the day but he was busy. We got to the place, and luckily, another child was sitting in the chair. This helped Makenna to see that it was not a scary thing to do and she was brave, if not braver to sit up in the chair and have her haircut. The faces she made were priceless. Just picture a look of disgust and frustration and you’ve got it down.
At one point, they needed her to put her head down so they could get the back of her hair and I said to her, “Makenna, look at your feet.” The stylist then repeated what I had said, and Makenna promptly lifted her foot to eye level thus defeating the purpose and had us all laughing. I thought, well, she definitely is clever! The stylist said that was the first time she ever had a child do that..
Earlier, before the haircut, we were at gymnastics and she happened to be laying down on a piece of equipment on her stomach. Another little girl came over and lay down on top of her. Makenna promptly and loudly replied, “No no Angela, don’t push my butt, my butt stinks!” Did I mention this was said very loudly? I was laughing and blushing at the same time.
Later in the afternoon, this same day, I was trying to get her down for a nap and she wasn’t in the mood. She was trying everything she could think of to get out of taking one. At one point she opened up her door, (which was at least the fourth time,) came out and told me that she heard a noise in her room and that she thought she had to come down on the couch. I promptly told her that it was time to go back to her room and take a nap. I eventually won but it took some doing.
Chris and I finally took a very nice vacation to Aruba, the place of our honeymoon, for our six year anniversary. It was great weather, and very relaxing. Most of our time was spent lying out in the sun either down on the beach or poolside. We did also do other activities like
snorkeling and taking a two-hour horse ride. That was fun but scary. I hadn’t ridden a horse in quite a long time. I was nervous that the poor horse’s legs would buckle underneath all the pressure as we were going down rocky slopes and up other rocky and cactus laden paths. I was wishing for some flat land, and then when we found it and the horse took off at quite a gallop, I was then wishing for the rocks and cactus hills to return. I actually got used to the galloping; it was the trotting I didn’t care much for. It was nice though when we got to ride along the ocean. Needless to say, we were a bit sore later. I had to take a picture of this horse - it's not one that we rode but I imagined this is what our horse felt like after carrying us all that way.On our anniversary day, we went to De Palm Island. We took a bus to a spot where they then put you on a boat over to the island. On the island you can snorkel, do Snuba (a cross between scuba and snorkeling,) lay out, play volleyball, swim, eat, get massages, etc. We did the laying-out, snorkeling, and eating. We got quite red from being out all day. Not to say we weren’t already a bit burned from the previous days.The day before we left we took a sailing/snorkeling trip. On this trip, they took you out to a couple of spots to snorkel. The first was a ship wreck, and then the next was a place with lots of coral and colorful fish. Then they took us to a place where you could use a rope swing off the ship and plunge into the water. Chris and I had more fun watching people do this and decided not to do it ourselves.
We also went back to a few places that we had gone to for our honeymoon. Namely a restaurant called “El Goucho’s.” I highly recommend this place to anyone who loves steak! It absolutely melts in your mouth and they give you some things to go with the steak which make it absolutely delicious such as spicy onions, a garlic sauce and their famous steak sauce.Our hotel room was nice as it gave us an ocean view and had a balcony. We were only supposed to have the room for the first couple of days but they said we could stay in it the whole week. We also had all inclusive for the first couple of days and I took full advantage of all the non-alcoholic pina coladas I could get my hands on – YUMMY!!!
Not even 24 hours after getting back from a very warm 90 degrees, we get hit with snow. That stunk. Makenna stayed with Chris’s parents and did quite well. We “Skyped” every night and she could only stand to talk to us for about five minutes and then she was off. She didn’t even seem to really miss us. She was well behaved and they are now even asking us to go on another trip even if it’s just overnight so that they can have her again. They miss the routine they got into with her. They loved how she would wake up in the morning and crawl into bed with them.
On October 19th, Makenna transitioned to a new pre-school class. They were going to let her just do an hour one day then two the next, etc. She did so well when they took her over the first day, that she just stayed the whole day and that was it. I was a bit more upset then she was but for purely selfish reasons. I really liked her teachers and they would give me updates daily on a sheet of paper which I have been laminating and saving in a book. Now with her new class, I don’t get any of those sheets. With those sheets I was able to ask Makenna specific questions about her day and here I have to ask the proverbial, “What did you do today Makenna?” Her reply usually starts out, “well…..” and then usually some intelligible stuff but I don’t know if that’s what she really did or not.
Her new teachers are nice and she’s getting more used to them and her class. For a couple of days after going, she kept saying how she wanted to see her old teachers and classmates. I told her new teacher this and they went to visit.
She was able to go to the pumpkin farm with her pre-school on October 22nd. I again was jealous as this was something I wanted to do with her first, but time and weather prevented this from happening. She seemed to really enjoy it and was able to bring home a small pumpkin.
Later that same day after I picked her up I took her grocery shopping at Wegmans with me. That was truly a treat (as I say that sarcastically). She felt the need to yell at me quite often as I was trying to help her push the cart. In her bid for independence, she felt it was her turn to push the cart. As I was filling it and it was getting heavier and harder to steer, I would just use my finger every so slightly to pull it along and guide it so that it didn’t take out any unsuspecting people in front of her (or to the sides of her,) and so as to not knock down any things on the shelves from her steering into them.
When she felt or saw me helping she would peer out from behind the cart and promptly yell at me saying, “No mommy, don’t touch it! That’s naughty, you’ll go on the naughty step…got it?” I was laughing; there was no holding back my smile on that one. Not only that, but she repeatedly yelled at me. I was looking around like, “I can’t be the only mother being yelled at by their child…can I?”
We got through that and got home where the scolding continued. This time, it was on some stuffed bears. She was yelling at a bear telling it, it was naughty and that it had to sit on the step for hitting. “No hitting, that’s naughty, sit on the step.” She came and told me that the bear had to sit on the naughty step for hitting and I told her to make sure the bear said it was sorry and gave her a hug after it’s time was up. She went over to the bear and told it to say it was sorry and then she gave it a hug and kiss. But, as this bear must’ve learned from Makenna, it hit again, and had to sit yet again on the naughty step per Makenna. Again, the laughter from me was flowing but this time I was alone in the kitchen and could compose myself when she came back in with her serious face.
Then on October 27th she turned THREE! I can hardly believe it. She actually woke up that day saying that she wanted to “Watch Makenna on TV.” I’m not sure what brought that about. Chris put in a DVD of her first year that he had put together. I was tearing up watching such cuteness and how small she was (not to mention how compliant). She actually started crying because she’d see her Uncle Rich or Grandpa Jones, or daddy or you name it…someone that wasn’t present in the house with us and this sent her into a crying jag. I finally had to turn it off for the both of us.
Since her birthday was on a Tuesday, we didn’t do any major celebration…yet. She did get cupcakes from pre-school and after her Bee-Bop Tots class, we went to Grandma & Grandpa Jones and had an ice cream cake. She got a couple of presents from them that she really likes. One is a book about bees and another is this foam golf set and she calls it “Pooh Kicks” game from one of her Winnie the Pooh movies.
We plan on having a combined celebration with her cousin Katie who turns two this week. This way we can have her Great Aunt Lori and Uncle Rich come to celebrate both birthdays. She’ll get her presents then along with more cake.
People failed to mention that as soon as she turned three that she would morph into this mouthy little girl! All of a sudden she’s telling us “Shush, be quiet, my friends are sleeping.” This I have to say she picked up from pre-school. I’m just not sure if it’s from her old class or her new class. I’d almost have to say the latter as she didn’t say it previously. She doesn’t just state it, she yells it. After the first few times thinking it was cute and funny, we’re now realizing that it’s verging on disrespectful and that she needs to learn it’s not appropriate. Especially when no one is talking and she’s yelling it.
She also had picked up the saying, “No, I don’t like that.” She was saying it more a couple of weeks before her birthday and saying “I don’t like…” insert whatever. It was certain foods that she does like, or her new teachers, or anything that we tried to offer her. That seems to have subsided a bit now. It also went along with other sayings of, “I can’t,” “No Mom, Don’t do that,” and “Stop It.” All of which didn’t come out sweetly but very loud and rudely. Now she has also added “No thank you.” This again, comes out loud and rude, not calm and quiet. So we have some work ahead of us for the year of our three year old.
We did get a chance on Friday, (the day before Halloween) to take her to a pumpkin farm. Daddy did a great job of carving a pumpkin and Makenna helped scoop out a bit of the guts. She mostly colored her little pumpkin that she had gotten with her class, with markers. She enjoyed trying to blow out the candle inside the pumpkin. Then the next day, on Halloween, we did take herTrick-Or-Treating. She actually did quite well. She dressed as a “Snow princess” as we called it, just because she had her winter coat on. Although the weather was quite nice and she didn’t really need such a heavy coat. She did actually go up to the doors and say Trick or Treat and she was really good about saying thank you. I was quite impressed. There was one house that had a scary display and she just looked at it and later stated what we had said to her which was, “it’s just pretend, it’s not scary, and it won’t hurt you.” Well, I know November isn’t going to be any less hectic as this week alone Monday through Thursday we have things planned every night. This Thursday she starts another level of swim class (one where I don’t have to be in the pool with her,) and I’m excited to see how she does. I just hope that she doesn’t take her new vocabulary of “No,” “Stop It,” and “Don’t Do That,” with her. Plus I hope she doesn’t put her teachers on the naughty step!Friday, October 2, 2009
Just A Minute, I'm Eating
A few weeks have passed and Makenna has grown more verbally and definitely has more of an opinion on things - whether we like it or not.
Tonight during family dinner (I mention family dinner as it seems so rare that the three of us get to actually sit down together to eat,) we were telling Makenna about how Daddy and Mommy are going on a trip and that she will be staying with Grandma & Grandpa Jones. We were telling her that she has to be good and listen to them as she will be with them, overnight, for seven nights. Her reply, "why?" Not why does she have to be with them, but why does she have to be good. Chris told her that he was asking her to be good and would like for her to listen to what they ask. Her reply? "Just a minute, I'm eating dinner."
As I was having a good laugh he said to her, "I'm sorry, I just thought it was a good time to let you know since we're all together." I again laughed as he was trying to calmly explain to her why he was so rudely interrupting her meal. This just goes to show you, that family meals together can be entertaining and should be done. When she's actually the age of a teenager instead of just acting/replying like one, I'll have to bring this blog back out and read it to her to stress the importance of eating together as a family.
Hopefully by then, I'll also be able to not hide her vegetables in the food she eats. I actually went out and bought squash (frozen kind,) and made it to go along with our dinner last night. Chris was ecstatic as he loves squash. We thought we'd try it on Makenna again as she used to love it as a baby. So much so that she actually had a yellowish/orangish tint to her - no kidding! The doctor said it was from the squash and sweet potato baby food.
After much coaxing, she ate it and liked it. We had leftovers and I brought it out again for tonight's dinner. She was hesitant about eating it again, but agreed once I said I'd put A1 sauce on it. Then I started to put her chuck roast meat on top of a spoonful of squash and that went down real well and she was much more agreeable to eat it again. I also had her eat some cooked carrots (again with a bit of A1 sauce,) and even snuck in a bit of potato and celery. She did notice one bit of celery once though and pointed and grunted. I quickly took it off and then re-hid it under some squash.
Success!~ (for now).
Tonight during family dinner (I mention family dinner as it seems so rare that the three of us get to actually sit down together to eat,) we were telling Makenna about how Daddy and Mommy are going on a trip and that she will be staying with Grandma & Grandpa Jones. We were telling her that she has to be good and listen to them as she will be with them, overnight, for seven nights. Her reply, "why?" Not why does she have to be with them, but why does she have to be good. Chris told her that he was asking her to be good and would like for her to listen to what they ask. Her reply? "Just a minute, I'm eating dinner."
As I was having a good laugh he said to her, "I'm sorry, I just thought it was a good time to let you know since we're all together." I again laughed as he was trying to calmly explain to her why he was so rudely interrupting her meal. This just goes to show you, that family meals together can be entertaining and should be done. When she's actually the age of a teenager instead of just acting/replying like one, I'll have to bring this blog back out and read it to her to stress the importance of eating together as a family.
Hopefully by then, I'll also be able to not hide her vegetables in the food she eats. I actually went out and bought squash (frozen kind,) and made it to go along with our dinner last night. Chris was ecstatic as he loves squash. We thought we'd try it on Makenna again as she used to love it as a baby. So much so that she actually had a yellowish/orangish tint to her - no kidding! The doctor said it was from the squash and sweet potato baby food.
After much coaxing, she ate it and liked it. We had leftovers and I brought it out again for tonight's dinner. She was hesitant about eating it again, but agreed once I said I'd put A1 sauce on it. Then I started to put her chuck roast meat on top of a spoonful of squash and that went down real well and she was much more agreeable to eat it again. I also had her eat some cooked carrots (again with a bit of A1 sauce,) and even snuck in a bit of potato and celery. She did notice one bit of celery once though and pointed and grunted. I quickly took it off and then re-hid it under some squash.
Success!~ (for now).
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Don't Bother Me!
Okay, well I know I just blogged yesterday but there were a few good comments from my little one today:
In the store trying to buy her shoes - she was trying on shoes that were way too big for her and walking off down the isle. I was trying to be calm and was patiently asking her to return and try on other shoes. Her reply, "Don't bother me!" After picking my mouth up off the floor I calmly let her know that we were going to leave the store without any shoes if she didn't comply to trying on what I had picked out. She did return and we agreed on a pair of shoes.
Tonight at dinner as she was blessing the food with our "ritual blessing" she stated, "God is good, God is Great, let us spank him for our food...." I smiled and held back a big chuckle and let her continue.
While getting her ready for bed after bath, I was trying to again get her to comply with getting dressed, and she said, "Don't push me!"
Okay, well we had a bit of an attitude issue from my pseudo teenager today. I don't know if I'd rather deal with this attitude now where I still have some sort of control (so I think) or wait until she's an actual teenager...unfortunately, I'm sure I won't have a choice in the matter...but if I did, I'd choose now as it has a hint of cuteness to it...when she's in her teen years...not so much.
In the store trying to buy her shoes - she was trying on shoes that were way too big for her and walking off down the isle. I was trying to be calm and was patiently asking her to return and try on other shoes. Her reply, "Don't bother me!" After picking my mouth up off the floor I calmly let her know that we were going to leave the store without any shoes if she didn't comply to trying on what I had picked out. She did return and we agreed on a pair of shoes.
Tonight at dinner as she was blessing the food with our "ritual blessing" she stated, "God is good, God is Great, let us spank him for our food...." I smiled and held back a big chuckle and let her continue.
While getting her ready for bed after bath, I was trying to again get her to comply with getting dressed, and she said, "Don't push me!"
Okay, well we had a bit of an attitude issue from my pseudo teenager today. I don't know if I'd rather deal with this attitude now where I still have some sort of control (so I think) or wait until she's an actual teenager...unfortunately, I'm sure I won't have a choice in the matter...but if I did, I'd choose now as it has a hint of cuteness to it...when she's in her teen years...not so much.
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