What's New with Lainey?

It's been a while since I did a Lainey update, so here is what's new with our girl.

1. She's still a pistol, but the rewards chart helped a lot with her tantrums and behavior issues. She loves getting her manicures, although they are proving to be exercises in patience for both of us, so I prefer when she picks a different reward. As far as her behavior at daycare, she's been great (or so I'm told). No more daily write-ups about having to practice "gentle touches" with her. 
2. After many issues with the delivery, we finally got a big girl bed and it has helped with her sleeping habits. But, since we got a full size, when she does wake and insists on having me sleep in the room, I now have a nice comfy bed to crawl into versus sleeping on the hardwood floor. And I have to admit, I don't exactly hate cuddling with her. The practical side of me knows I should be working harder to break her of our co-slumber, but the sentimental side of me knows this is a short-lived period in our lives and I'll miss it one day.
3. She knows her left from her right and can completely dress herself, although shirts are still a struggle. Again, I get to practice my patience, because she insists on doing it herself.
4. She is completely potty trained! She's been dry through the night since Nick's birthday and the best part is, we did absolutely nothing to get her there. She just did it. Nice!

So, those are the big things. We head to her first swim lesson this Saturday, so stay tuned for a post on how that goes down. This round of sessions will be with Mark or me by her side. Not sure if that will help or hurt the situation.

Enjoy a video that Lainey's daycare teachers put together. If you just want to skip to the biggest Lainey highlight, go to the 2:13 marker, where you'll witness her dope dance skills. Crack me up!!! Go get it, Lainey!

Playing Grown-up

Mark and I are finally getting our acts together to do some long-term financial planning (the top priority being life insurance) and a formal will. We started the process of a will when Lainey was around one and met with a financial planner last May, but never got around to doing anything with the information for either. Last year was busy (and expensive) and we just didn't make it a priority. It was easy to keep saying "we'll think about it tomorrow," because it's just not fun stuff to think about...you know...dying. But, the reality is no one is promised a tomorrow, and if something were to happen to Mark or me, the other one would be left without much of  a safety net. So, the physicals have been taken, the forms completed, and we're now in the underwriting process. Soon we'll have a policy that will ensure if the unthinkable should happen to Mark or me, the other will be able to keep our home, cover the monthly bills, and pay for the kids' child care and future education.

Next on the agenda...retirement planning. A much more pleasant event to plan for...

The Magic of Siblings

Having Nick only 21 months after Lainey has presented it's challenges over the past year, but I'm starting to see the pay off for having kids so close in age. Now that Nick is fully mobile and can communicate at least through points and grunts, Lainey and he are engaging in playtime together...entertaining themselves...without me. It's amazing! Last night, they happily traded cars back and forth, pushing them down the ramp of the toy garage while I leisurely put away coats, unpacked the days bags, and made dinner. I even unloaded the dishwasher! No screaming, no one pulling at my leg...just me, my thoughts, and my chores with one alert ear for any mayhem, which never happened.

Now granted, such magic only happens when Lainey is in the sharing mood (after dinner, she had a full meltdown because Nick dared to stand next to her at her kitchen).  But, these moments are becoming more and more frequent. And even when they don't want to play together, as long as Nick can stay out of Lainey's way and interested in his own activity, I still get the same benefits. Last week, I sat and read for almost 20 minutes while they played. If Nick needed something, Lainey got it for him. It. was. awesome!!!

Aside from the benefits to my personal space and sanity, I am loving watching them become friends. Nick lights up the moment he sees Lainey in the morning, and he usually goes to her before coming to me at daycare pick-up. I often see them huddled together with Lainey "reading" to him or whispering secrets (I have no idea what she may be filling his head with, bu it's sweet to watch). And while Lainey does bully him, she also is intensely protective and tries to make him happy when he's sad. He was really wailing in the car the other night and she stretched her head out as far as she could so he could see her and said "It's okay Nick. I'm right here. Can you see me?" And he stopped crying. Talk about making my heart melt. Sure, she often tries to mask a choke hold as a hug and would sooner swipe his legs from under him than let him touch her paper dolls, but she definitely loves her little brother.

I don't expect a lifetime of bliss between them, and I definitely foresee some intense wrestling matches on the horizon, but I do hope they grow up friends and I look forward to watching their relationship grow.

Sharing a night cap...let's keep it to milk until you're 21, okay?

Happy Birthday, Part 2!!!

We had celebration #2 for Nick's birthday this past weekend in Moline. This time cousin Eleanor got in on the action. Nick dove right in again, scooping up big handfuls of icing to shove in his mouth and even stealing a swipe off of Eleanor's cake. Eleanor was pretty demure about the whole thing, but supposedly went wild when I took Nick upstairs to hose off. All I know is when I left the kitchen there was a fairly clean little girl, but when she came in for her bath it looked like she had already shampooed with icing.

Elaine was over the moon to see her cousins, Jacob and Ben, whom she talks about constantly. They were good sports and humored her. Amelia was a great big cousin, as always, taking care of Lainey and reading her books. And Oliver introduced Lainey to the joy of The Incredibles. The weekend was so much fun and went too quickly as always!

In other updates, Mr. Nick, he had his one-year check-up last week. He is a BIG boy (which my back and arms could already tell you) weighing in at 24 pounds, 3 ounces (75%), 32 inches (98%) and a big 'ole noggin in the 95%. Nick eluded his one-year shots due to an ear infection, so he gets a few more weeks before the needle.

Nick can wave good-bye, do most of the motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider," jabbers all the time, and likes to play "drop it" with his sippy cup and say "ah uh" (Nick speak for "uh oh"). We now have all out wrestling matches when it comes time to change his diapers or his clothes, so I have to start off with a tickle attack to get him on his back for more than two seconds--not that I mind getting a few giggles out of him. Nick is building up those leg muscles and working on his balance. I could be posting a video of his first steps within the month!

Cousins

"Well, if you aren't going to eat it..."

Num, num, num

Happy Birthday, Nicholas Anderson Brandi!

My baby turned 1 today! All went well (except for a few moments when I became unnecessarily hyper when we encountered some Skype complications). Nick was in a happy, happy mood and loved his cake. Lainey was pretty well behaved with only some whining right after Nick "blew" out his candle, but no major "pay attention to me" tantrums.

Nick was adorable as he attacked his cake. He started off fairly restrained, but once that sugar hit his lips, he was a wild man going face first into the cake. My favorite moment was when I bent close to him and he reached out his chubby arms and pulled me in for a big hug--and then smashed his cake covered hands all over my face. Happiest moment of my day!

Happy Birthday, Nicholas! We love you so much!

 

Busy Times...

Haven't had the bandwidth to get any blogging done recently, but I can at least post some cute pictures...

Enjoying breakfast with his classmates

I hope you like your martini well shaken

Charming himself out of naptime confinement

Frogger

She's become a pro shoveler

Lainey's First Manicure

After months of talking about it, Mark and I have finally decided to try using a rewards chart to help tame Lainey's behavior and improve her listening (aka doing what we tell her to do without having to repeat it 100 times). 

We're using a basic chart with open squares for stickers and she gets a reward when she earns five. Since Lainey is already such a sticker fiend, we bought special star stickers that are JUST for the chart. We rolled out the new "program" this morning. It got off to a rocky start, as she threw tantrums after the first two stickers because she wanted more (a perfect example of the behavior we're trying to stymie). But, by end of the night (and sticker number 7), things were going smoothly. I think this may be just the thing to get us on the right track of appropriate behavior and get off what has felt of late to be constant yelling, nagging, or punishing--no fun for anyone.

Lainey got star #5 for staying in her chair and having good manners at lunch, winning her her first reward! She chose to have her fingernails painted. She's been asking about it a lot lately, so I thought it would make a great impact. Of course, it did cause some issues later because she was afraid if she washed her hands, it would wash off the polish. That fear caused two pee accidents, because she knows she has to wash her hands after going to the bathroom. She finally believed us that the polish would stay on after bathtime when her nails were still as purple as before. 

So, now that we have one day under our belts, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and seeing if this new system helps our strongwilled diva become a little more cooperative and check the tantrums at the door. 

                          The Chart

                  Pretty Purple Nails