Bible story

On the way home from school today Arielle told me about the bible story that they read. It went something like this...God's eyes were blind so he couldn't see but he took the blind out so he could see again and there was a mermaid sleeping in the bed. Short but sweet. I have not idea what this story actually translates into probably mostly because I've never read the bible but also because parts of it may have been left out and/or blurred by Arielle's sweet little imagination.

Zak took some pictures of Arielle at her gymnastics class so I thought I would share them. She is enjoying gymnastics very much. Enough so that last night she showed me her forward roll and backwards roll...both of which were exactly the same but she had her legs just as straight as can be and her toes pointed perfectly!

Lexi *Doodle*

I knew it would happen, I just didn't know what it would be. Lexi chewed something else...this time it was not just the cap to a child's souvenier cup. It was one of the stair railing banisters.

Favorite Part of the Day

In the past couple of weeks I have spent more time with Arielle than usual since my mom was sick in the hospital. In this time that I have spent away from work, Arielle and I have shared many hugs and kisses as well stories and personal likings. We have invented a new game to play while I am in the shower. I ask Arielle all about her favorite things. Some of her answers just astound me. One of the questions was, "What is your favorite part of the day"? Her response: School Days!

Lately it seems as though Arielle has reached a higher level of maturity which has really turned my world around. I know I am probably jumping to conclusions and assuming that this new change is forever but I have been so happy (and more calm) recently with her new found sense of confidence and self-control. Has the terrible two phase not leaped into the terrible three's that I have been hearing about and dreading? If so, YIPPEEEE (this is one of Arielle's favorite words)!

Last night Arielle said, "I'm done throwing my tantram" after I put her in time out for telling me no to almost everything I asked her to do. That was hilarious! She just stopped in mid-cry and said this to me. She even took it well when I reminded her that she lost one of her bedtime stories...unbelievable! If this is a dream, please don't wake me up :-)

Security

Last night I went to bed after Zak and forgot to set the alarm. Instead of remembering this at ten thirty pm as I laid down, it came to me at two thirty am and I was instantly awake with fear. My mind was wondering through the worst possible scenarios that could have happened in the past four hours since I had fallen asleep and forgotten to set the alarm. Even worse, we have been sleeping with our door completely shut since we brought the puppy's crate into our bedroom. I had to fight back the urge to check on Arielle {does this make me a bad parent?} because I didn't want to wake the puppy up in the middle of the night. My daughter is obviously more important than the puppy but for some reason I was able to convince myself that Arielle was still sleeping safe and sound in her bedroom and not roaming the house or even worse, outside. We have gone many, many nights without setting the alarm and I have never worried before so why all of the sudden was I freaked out? Probably has something to do with leaving the backdoor open last week and the feeling that came over me when I realized it had been open all night. In any case, I think the $35 a month that we pay for our security alarm is well worth it now if only I can remember to set it.

Three Books

I was so proud of Arielle tonight because she actually understood subtraction. While picking her three books out for bedtime she asked for a book that I had taken out of her room and moved downstairs (wouldn't you know it). While I ran downstairs to find it, Zak read her one of the other stories she picked out. When I came back upstairs after Zak had finished reading the first book, Arielle became confused and started to pick one more book out because there were only two sitting in front of her. Zak and I both reminded her that we had already read one so there were two left. She got it and didn't even argue with us or cry for another book! I couldn't believe how it was as if she totally understood us in math terms!

I loved listening to Arielle's stories about school today after I picked her up! She was full of stories about what they did today. Her best friend Cayla even spoke to me when I picked Arielle up. She told me, "Don't forget Arielle's Jasmine!" Today was show and tell so Cayla was reminding me to take Arielle's toy home. Another one of her friends, Alexa, who came to her birthday party saw me and got a very big smile on her face! It was so cute!

Jibberish and other tidbits

Recently, Arielle has seemed to develop a language all her own...we'll just call it jibberish because you can't make sense of anything she says! It's pretty creepy to hear these "words" coming out of her mouth and she says them all with such confidence but at the same time she is trying not to laugh. It can be embarrassing especially when we are around people who do not know her because if you do know her you know how well she actually speaks.

On Monday when Arielle woke up she didn't ask me if she had to go to school like she usually does (when I answer yes she proceeds to cry and tell me she doesn't like school). On this particular morning she just got dressed and cooperated with all of my requests as if she actually WANTED to go to school. It was a very nice start to the day. Hopefully this isn't just a one time thing. I really think that me staying home on Zak's half days for the past week and a half is contributing to her new attitude towards school and just how well she is behaving and listening lately.

Her imagination has been very hard at work as usual. She loves to pretend to be different pricesses and other characters from movies and shows. Just this morning she was wearing her Mermaid dress and asked me if she had Jasmine clothes. Strangely enough, I had ordered a Jasmine costume months ago and had not yet given it to her. Boy did this make her happy and I was happy that she was happy :-)

Lately, Arielle has been using the bathroom right after she wakes up and before she comes into our room! You wouldn't think it but this has been a much needed change in our lives. We have had many morning battles about how we need to use the potty right when we wake up. Try explaining that one to a two year old!

Finally, Arielle has developed a new way of reasoning with me to get me to change my mind when I say no and this has been actually quite humorous. For instance, she asked me for a snack right after we left the house yesterday morning. I don't usually bring snacks with me in the morning unless she asks for one before we leave so I didn't have any. She started crying right away and I tried to calm her down by saying that we would get crackers at school (they keep a basket of them to help yourself). She told me that she didn't like those crackers anymore then proceeded to cry and whine for a snack. Of course right when we got to school she helped herself to the crackers that she no longer liked!

Get Well Soon, Grandmom

My mom has been in the hospital for a week...this is the third time in the past year that she has been hospitalized. She has rheumatoid arthritis and the only treatment for RA is prescription drugs which can attack your immune system and leave you succeptable to infection. As a result, last year she developed a blood clot in her leg and more recently she developed pneumonia.

Grandmom usually watches Arielle on Zak's half days but mommy has been fortunate enough to be able to fil in while she recovers.

We wish her well and hope that she makes a full recovery soon. Arielle misses her very much...we all do. She does so much for us and means so much to us. We don't know what we would do without her love and kindness filling our hearts and our lives.

The saga of the Lion Cup continues....

Alas, our dear puppy got a hold of the infamous Lion Cup yesterday and chewed the cap to it. I think I saw a tear forming in Arielle's eye when I broke the news to her. We don't know if Lexi got the cup off the table or if Arielle left it on the floor but this was a lesson for all of us. ***Keep all valuable possessions out of puppy height range***This is hard for Arielle to do because she and Lexi are the same size! They are becoming the best of friends despite Lexi's desire to chew on Arielle and all of her belongings. I can't help but think of what the next casualty will be...hopefully nothing that is expensive to replace but if it is you will hear about it!

Oh and you should know that we decided to keep the Lion Cup and use it like a "big girl cup" at the dinner table with a straw.

Close Call

This morning Lexi woke us up at 4:45 am with a howling cry, not just her usual whimpering. At first I tried to ignore her because we're trying to let her "cry it out" so we don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn every day. However, she was relentless and I worried about Arielle waking up too early so I went down to let her out of the box. I was shocked and scared to realize that our sliding glass door was open about six inches! This must have been why Lexi was howling because her box is right next to the door and the poor little thing was probably cold. Well, at first I feared the worst...had Arielle had gotten outside and it snowed overnight...was there was somebody in the house...I could not think straight and my stomach was in knots. I let the dogs out and ran upstairs to check on Arielle...THANKFULLY she was asleep in bed and tucked in safe and sound. Even though I thought I remembered setting the alarm last night, I must have forgotten to do it and accidentally left the door open when I put Lexi in her box. Zak had gone to bed earlier than usual and let me sleep on the couch because he knows how much I enjoy doing this occassionally. Wow, talk about a close call...I still can't believe I did that. Needless to say, I am counting all of my blessings today.

Perfection is possible

If I could summarize this weekend in one word it would be PERFECTION! I don't know if it is my new outlook on life's daily battles or the fact that my daughter just turned 3 but this weekend was as perfect as I can imagine. Arielle's birthday party was on Saturday and even though the weather wasn't as nice as I had been hoping it would be things turned out great! She and her friends had a wonderful time celebrating! Thanks everyone for the wonderful "princess"gifts...Arielle is still sorting through them all.


On Sunday, Arielle and I got to keep our jammies on all day long and be with each other and no one else. I think it was time that both of us needed and it felt fantastic to not have to think of much else all day long other than her needs and her wants. It made it very hard to go to work and school this morning but I wouldn't have changed it for anything. On the drive to school a catchy song came on the radio and Arielle started singing and dancing in her seat so I know she had a great weekend too!

Unbelievable Sadness

I debated about whether I should share these links with anyone else due to the act that this tragic story of Ava has stuck in my mind for the past couple of days and has brought such sadness to me. At the same time though, it has also brought a new perspective on the order of things in my life and how I should change my perspective to pay more attention to the things that are most important. Further, there is a BIG lesson to be learned by reading this story about Ava's accident and that is to teach your children how to save themselves if they ever find themselves in this situation (God forbid). I have already taught Arielle how to honk the horn and a few additional things. Please be prepared with a box of tissues and loved one to hug before you read on...

Ava's Memorial Website - http://avarosemeyer.memory-of.com/About.aspx

Ava's Mommy's Blog (Sheye Rosemeyer take the most beautiful photography and has the most creative writing) - http://sheyerosemeyer.blogspot.com/

God bless all of your families today, tomorrow and forever!

Acceptance

Arielle did not cry today when I dropped her off at school in her new classroom. This makes me wonder if she has accepted this change in her life. If that is not the case I will totally understand and support her feelings of insecurity. I am so proud of Arielle either way.

This morning when Arielle cried for her Lion Cup (which was dirty) I remained calm and patient in keeping up with my new perspective on life. I let her cry it out, didn't cave in and tried to distract her. I did not raise my voice and criticize her for acting jeuvinille because let's face it, she is a pre-schooler. To my surprise and relief, IT WORKED!!! I am proud of myself too and will strive to react this way for each and every day for the rest of our lives.

I love this picture of her...it seems as if she has the world on her shoulders but at the same time she is so calm and peaceful. I can only imagine what she was thinking about as I captured this moment. If I had one guess I would say she was trying to figure out which Princess she was going to pretend to be next. If only she knew that she doesn't have to pretend to be another princess because she already is one.

Realization

Tonight I feel sad and can't even believe how much I complain about Arielle's behavior. It is so normal for a two/three year old...why can't I see that when I am in the moment. Why do I have to realize that after I raise my voice at my daughter and hear her say, "I don't like when you yell at me." I have read a blog tonight that I think (hope) will change my perspective on things. Life is so fragile, you can be here one day and gone the next. I don't want to have any regrets before I go to bed so I will start a new way of thinking tomorrow and cherish EVERY moment. I went into Arielle's room tonight to watch her sleep which was probably only the third time in her whole life that I have done that and the other times were because she was sick. I wanted to wake her up and tell her that I love her even though I already did before she went to bed. And I'll always remember what she said to me just before I hugged her..."Mommy, I miss you." She knew I was sad and mad and acting selfish tonight but I think that was her way of saying that she forgave me for not feeling like reading her a bedtime story because I was angry that she was doddling at bedtime.

Tonight Arielle was watching an episode of one of her favorite shows, Dora the Explorer. She started explaining to me what was happening on the show and what she said caught me totally off guard (keep in mind that I had not been watching it up until this point). Instead of saying that the ice cream truck was stuck in the DITCH, she used a four letter D-word that ends in "CK". LOL...I feel like I shouldn't even type the word out on this blog site but it's not even that bad! Anyway, after she said that and I figured out what she meant to say, I just simply told her the right word to say but didn't feel the need to let her know that the word she used is not appropriate to say. Then I didn't know whether to laugh about it or not because I'm sure she would have asked me what was so funny!

Kids really say it like they hear it, don't they? Arielle likes to sing songs from her favorite movies and is always saying the wrong word. It's probably a word she never heard before so she confuses it with a word she does know. It just shows how untainted their little minds are at this age.

I'm not cleaning on my birthday!

This morning as I was driving Arielle to school I was trying to explain to her that mommy and daddy needed to clean the house before her birthday party on Saturday. I had told her that we were going to clean while she took a nap because her party was after her nap time. She must have misunderstood me and said, "I'm not cleaning on my birthday!" So we shared a laugh and I told her she wasn't cleaning, mommy and daddy were cleaning then she told me that it wasn't my birthday.

Happy Birthday, Bug

Today Arielle turned three. She had a good day at school despite the fact that she cried a lot when I left her this morning (still getting used to change). Her class sang Happy Birthday to her and they ate cupcakes, although Arielle brought hers home and put it in the fridge instead of eating it. She even got a little bag of goodies from the school which totally made her day. Then daddy came home with the new Jasmine Princess doll and she was in heaven.
I just wanted to say how much I love our little Bug and just wish her a lifetime of happiness. If only children didn't need bounderies because I would let her do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. However, I am attempting to be the best mom I can be and this means putting my foot down even on her birthday and not letting her do whatever her little three year old mind finds pleasing. I just hope that someday soon I can blog about how easy it is to raise a child but today is not the day.

Sigh of Relief

I am happy to report that Arielle was much happier today when I picked her up from school. We had a very fun time playing in the backyard, pretending to be princesses and playing around in her room. She even let Daddy be "Prince Phillip", Sleeping Beauty's husband in our mock wedding. I was very relieved to see her being her playful self!

Her third birthday is just days away...it seems too good to be true yet to much to handle all at the same time. I find myself wishing she would "grow up" and be able to do more for herself but then again, do I really want to lose my baby girl?

I feel the winds of change a' blowing

Turns out that to say that change is difficult for Arielle is an UNDERSTATEMENT. She was absolutely miserable from the second I picked her up from school yesterday. It started with her shoving two of her little friends out of the way to get to me. When I asked her to apologize she refused over and over again and never did end up apologizing to them. In the car, Arielle cried and whined for various things that she knew I could not get for her or do for her because I was we were in the car and I was driving. Finally, we got home and a total meltdown occurred. She was mad that Daddy beat us home and told me she didn't like him (this has been going on for a few weeks now and deserves it's own blog). Within a minute she told me she was tired and hungry and wanted to eat dino nuggets, yogurt, candy, strawberries, juice and milk. What was I to do? I couldn't possibly get it all for her so I quickly cooked the nuggets. By the time they were ready a minute later she moved on to wanted to do play-doh and obviously freaked out when I told her she couldn't play until she ate her nuggets. Next we tried the "Daddy's going to eat your food" tactic to get her to eat but that just made her extremely angry...not hungry! At this point I picked her up and just decided to console her with rocking and shushing in a manner similar to how you calm down a baby only it was a little akward seeing how big she is. I took her upstairs and let her cry it out. After she calmed down we went downstairs and tried to start the evening all over again. It worked out much better the second time around but still hovered over us all night until finally she slept.
Blogging about this seems to be the only control I have over the situation which is probably why I get so frustrated. Relinquishing control to a two/three year old has been difficult to surpass but it is much needed at times. Let's just hope and pray that today is a different story to blog about tomorrow...

Change is hard but necessary

Arielle started her new class this week because she will be turning 3 soon. Her school was planning on moving her to this class in January but I disapproved because she had only been in her old class for about three months and I didn't think she was ready for the change. I had noticed that each time Arielle moved to a new classroom it took her several weeks to adjust to the change. So I guess I wasn't surprised when she didn't take to going to her new class so well. She keeps telling me that she doesn't want to be in the new class all day (they let her be in there half days in the preceeding weeks). I don't think it's that she doesn't like the new class...how could she when many of her friends and teachers used to be in her "old" class with her? I am just chalking it up to the fact that my little Bug doesn't like change and I can't say I blame her. I will just be patient and wait out the next few weeks until she adjusts. I found a quote that suits this blog perfectly!

“Times change and we change with them.”

Time to brag some more...

So Zak and I have always thought that Arielle was smarter than the average bear but in the past few months she has proved this to us over and over again. I wish I would have written every comment that she made that made our jaws drop but that is just not possible. Now that I have a blog I am going to try to type them every time I hear one. Here are just a couple to get me started:

-Driving home from sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap, Arielle was examining the picture and finally blurted out, "This Easter Bunny isn't real...it's a person!" We didn't know what to say, so I finally said that the real Easter Bunny was too busy making baskets for every kid in the world so he had helpers dress like him for the pictures. I think she believed me!

-Arielle and I started to sing the ABC song together, each taking turns saying the next letter. At the end of the song (now I know my abc's...) she decided to sing the entire phrase by herself but what she sang amazed me. Instead of ending with "next time won't you sing with ME" she changed the me to US because we had both been singing the song. It was very uplifting and I was pleased to have witnessed it!