All In a Day

I have some exciting news....we now have high speed Internet access at home. We need not be ashamed by the fact that we have dial-up. YIPEEEE!! I also have a new wireless router thanks to my BIL Charle and a new Dell notebook that we purchased after Christmas. I'm wired and ready to go!! The DSL modem was installed on Monday and I setup the router on Tuesday. I had some techinical difficulties with the router and spent some time on the phone with support. Normally I love this kind of stuff. Digging in and solving a technical issue. Now with two toddlers time spent in this way has lost it's appeal. Very difficult to concentrate. Anyway, everything is in working order and I'm happy.

Molly and Aidan have been in there own rooms for about 3 weeks now. Molly is all settled in. She goes down easily and snores the night away. A different story for the boy. Dispite having all of his gear (two fleece blanckets, three stuffed dogs, a soft race car, two mini trucks, several books and some tissues) he is having some difficulty going to sleep at night. He cries when we leave his room for the night. This is something he hasn't done in a quite a while. A couple of nights he fell asleep with his body on the bed and his feet on the floor. We put him on the bed when we checked on him before going to bed. He does seems to be adjusting and the last few nights his protests have been brief. Naptime is a different story. He's realized that being in a bed means freedom. Fun and games. He likes to roam around the room and check things out. Most days he only does this for a while and then gets in bed to sleep. One afternoon I got Aidan up from his nap and found him sporting one of his sister's hot pink socks. Several other pairs were in his bed and several more were scattered around the room. All in all I think they're doing well with the change.

Below is Aidan's rendition of a choo choo train. Pretty good for a two year old don't you think? After watching his Uncle Charlie do it a few times he decided to try it himself.

On Boohbah and Other Toddler Fears

Our Molly is engaging, vivacious, giggly and an out and out character. She hugs and kisses with gusto and can be incredibly sweet and kind. Molly hops, dances, claps and laughs all day long. We like to say that she has two volumes...loud and louder. She is her brother's keeper and bosses him around unrelentlessly. She seamlessly flows from the role of sister to mother and back again. She insists on doing things for herself and can put up quite the protest when she is told no. Yet despite all of her confidence she is plagued by toddler fears.

The list is long and growing and includes but is not limited to Santa (in most forms), Opus, large stuffed animals, bug of most kind (not including worms and the itsy bitsy spider), Aidan's remote control Scoop (truck from Bob the Builder) and musical race car, and Boohbah.

For those of you who don't know Boobahs are characters from a children's show of the same name. They are very strange looking (see photo above) and make weird noises. Why anyone would think they are appealing to children is beyond me. We have two Boohbahs which currently reside in a shoebox in our closet. Molly must never know they are there. These Boohbahs made a short appearance in what is now Molly's room. When they were in there she would not go in. They terrified her (and I don't blame her on this one). Daddy sent the Boohbahs "away" and for many weeks after Molly repeated the mantra of "No Boohbahs, Boohbahs away". We were afraid that she wouldn't sleep in her new room because of Boohbah. Luckily this was not the case.

The good news is that over time Molly seems to be able to conquer her fears . Some of the things that she was afraid of months ago do not seem to bother her anymore. In fact, I saw her just the other day playing ring-around-the-roses with a stuffed Santa. Boohbah is still in the shoe box but she's making progress. You go girl!

It's a Whole New Year

The dust has just about settled from the holiday whirlwind and our family rhythm is back to "normal" (whatever that means with two 2 year olds in the mix). Christmas with Molly and Aidan was magical. To see the delight in their eyes and hear the wonder in their voices was amazing. Presents were opened with enthusiasm. It was several days before everything was opened and not because there was so much but because each toy became an instant favorite and had to be played with right away. Thomas the Tank Engine, Dora the Explorer and Disney Princesses are currently at the top Aidan and Molly's list. We did a lot of visiting over the holidays which reeked havoc with "the schedule" but we all really enjoyed ourselves and the kids did very well. Our friends the Meusers received a special gift this Christmas. They accepted a referral for a beautiful baby girl from Guatemala. Her name is Grace Elizabeth and they hope to have her home this summer.

The big news around our house is Molly and Aidan are in their own rooms. Last Saturday Pat took Molly's crib apart and moved it into her new room just across the hall (Aidan walked in as Pat was reassembling the crib and exclaimed "Oh, no! Molly's crib upside down! He was relieved when the crib was returned to its upright position.) We had intended to separate them a while ago and had already begun to get Molly's room together (hang pink velvet curtains with daisy curtain rods, assemble a storage rack with pastel bins and a book case). On move in day the kids helped carry books and toys from Aidan's room into Molly's. We moved over the lamp that matches her bedding and installed a switch plate from the same grouping. We also rearranged Aidan's bedroom. He was still sleeping in the pack-n-play and we intended to keep him there until the kids were comfortable being in their own rooms. Everything was ready by nap time. After lunch we were ready for the moment of truth. We walked the kids upstairs, told them to give each other a kiss and took them to their rooms. Molly went contentedly into her crib and layed down without a peep. Aidan walked into his room and said "Aidan sleep here" and hopped into his bed. This is not what we were expecting at all. We were prepared for crying and unhappiness and were pleasantly surprised by the opposite. Who knew?? They have been in their own rooms for week and seem quite content. Nighttime is met with some resistance but not more than usual. They don't like us to leave for the night and try various ploys to get us to stay...there are requests for one more book, rub my hiney, kiss Aidan/Molly or kiss mommy/daddy (whoever is in the other room). Aidan's newest request is to cry for a tissue after we leave his room. We let him go for a few minutes and when we go in his room we find him standing under the wall shelf were the tissue box is located with his blanket and stuffed race car in hand. After a few nights of this my sister Barb (who is here visiting for the week) suggested we put the box of tissues next to his bed. That did the trick last night. Tonight...we shall see.