Growing Up

This post is just me rambling about what the kids have been up to lately!

This morning we went to the park with Summer's friend Adry and her mommy Ms. Rachael (who is due to have her baby boy anytime in the next few weeks!!! YAY for another friend for Colton!!!)  While we were there, both Summer and Colton did new things....unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera :(!.  Summer climbed the rock wall to the very top (way above Mommy's head!) with a little help from Mommy.  Colton rode in the baby swing for the first time!  Both kids are seeming so old!  It reminded me that its been a while since I journaled about Summer...

Here are a few other things Summer has been learning lately:

• Summer is learning how to "cough into her elbow" when she coughs.  Today she did it for the first time without me prompting her!
• Summer consistently counts with the following sequence 1,2,3,9,10,4,11.   Here is a little video...

• Summer and Colton both love clocks!  Colton stares at them while we change his diaper.  Summer loves learning about time.  I will often tell Summer that something is going to happen at ___o'clock.  We look at the clock together.  The other day I decided she might enjoy learning how Mommy tells time, and I was right.  I found this website that has different clock faces and now Summer asks to "do clocks again".  We look at the little hand and see what number it is pointing toward, and then we say what time it is.  Here is a little video...

• Summer helped me pack and unpack for our various trips.  She loves to help pick toys to pack in her backpack, and she knows where everything goes when we come home and helps me put things away.  On long car trips, we pack her DVDs in a CD carrying case.  This past week I had her help match the DVD's with the cases when we put them away and she LOVED it.  She loves opening the case, putting the DVD in, and closing it.  She did a great job matching almost all of the DVD's with the correct case with very little help from me.

Matching dvds

• Summer is my little jabber-mouth :-).  She is almost constantly talking about something and I love it!  We discuss everything we see!  A few funny stories....
• She helped me remember a word (smoke detector) when I couldn't remember it in a conversation with a friend...I was saying "fire thing" and couldn't remember it and she piped in, "smoke detector!" 
• Her sippy cup/water bottle didn't work, so she told me, "not coming out, take piece out".  Sure enough when I took out the stopper, the cup worked just fine!
• Her mind bounces from one topic to another in a very organized fashion...she sees something, it reminds her of another time she saw that thing, and that starts her new conversation about what happened then.

Character development:

• We are entering back into the tantrum phase.  (Terrible two's?)  Summer is quite the drama queen!  She also has quite a will.
• A new record for how long her will can hold out:  An hour and a half!  We have been working on not whining lately and Summer has learned how to ask nicely and with a smile if she wants something.  One afternoon she was being extremely whiney and I told her I wouldn't pick her up and carry her downstairs if she was being whiny and couldn't ask nicely.  She decided she didn't want to ask nicely, so I went downstairs to go fix dinner and I told her to come on her own and join me when she was ready to be happy.  She stayed at the top of the stairs crying for an hour and half while Paul and I made, ate, and cleaned up dinner (all the while inviting her to come join us!)! Finally, an hour and half later, she happily came downstairs on her own with no whining  :-)
• I have been "THAT mom" with the screaming kid in the shopping cart!  I definitely have gotten looks!  lol!  Thankfully, because she has learned that she never gets what she wants with that behavior, it only lasts a minute or two (but feels longer!).
• Right now we are working on obedience.  Summer loves to be "in control", so I have been exercising a tactic that worked well while when I was teaching my high school students.  Almost all of my requests of her come with two options that both lead to the same ultimate outcome. 
• Example: We are going to go change your diaper.  (Refusal to come) Would you like to climb up the stairs or have mommy carry you up?  You pick.
• Example: We are going to have lunch now.  (Refusal to come) Would you like to come join us or go sit in timeout?  You pick.
• Example: We need to get our shoes on to go to the store.  Would you like to put them on yourself or would you like Mommy to help you?
• I try to give her a choice as much as possible...would you like the green cup or the blue cup?  Would you like white cheese or yellow cheese?
• **This tactic has cut tantrums and necessary time outs down by about 80%!

No matter how difficult some days seem, I can't help but smile with I think of our little spark-plug!  Here she is dancing away....gotta smile, don't ya?! :-)