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More of Alanna's creative language at work....

We were sitting at lunch the other day, and she informed me that she was going to play "foot-to-foot-lie-good-try-good."  I have no idea how you spell that....but that's what it sounded like.  Well, actually, I thought she said "foot-to-foot-lie-go-try-go," but she corrected me.  Not only that, but I couldn't remember the name of the game later that day, and when I asked, she knew exactly what I was talking about and repeated it for me verbatim. 

How does her mind work??  That inventive language fascinates me...it's something Aidan has never done...Oliktch, Lollipop Arthrens, and all these other crazy words that she comes up with and re-uses when I least expect it.  Hmmmm...

Anyone who knows Emory knows we use many words to describe her zest for life...passionate, intense, energetic....she is a child of extremes, and we wouldn't have it any other way.  This doesn't always make things run so smoothly when our personalities collide, but she can turn on a dime and make us laugh out loud, despite our frustration.  

The other morning, we were getting ready for a bath, and she was sitting on the potty when I pulled her bandaid off her knee.  This infuriates her as she is gets extremely upset whenever she can see a scrape on her body anywhere.  i've been trying to convince her for days that it really wasn't necessary to wear a bandaid.  So while she cried, I told her something like "Emory, your scrape looks so good....I think it's just a scar now.  I think you don't really need a bandaid anymore."  She looked me in the eye, turned beet red and screamed/wailed "Come on!!!  Don't Frustrate (fuswate) Me!!!"  I couldn't suppress my laughter, but I tried to stifle it quickly. 

I wish I could always keep a sense of humor about her passions!

We've been toying with the idea of taking the kids to a movie for a while.  We weren't quite sure it was a good idea, for many reasons, but since Jason is  on vacation for a few days, we decided to give it a whirl with Wall-E.  It looked pretty tame based on a review at www.kids-in-mind.com. 

We anticipated that the volume would be too much for Alanna, but outside of that, we weren't sure what to expect...though we knew to keep our expectations low.  We were well aware that we might end up walking out with all three of them after a short time....or that maybe one of us would wind up in Barnes and Noble waiting it out with one (or two) kids until the movie ended for anyone who might have been enjoying it. 

Everyone was excited...we had treats, blankets (in case it got cold or to serve as ear muffs), backup clothes for Emory, diapers just in case, and two large doses of patience.  We had planned to get there early, so the kids could get acclimated to the environment with the lights on and without the noise.  However, when they opened the doors, the lights were already down and the previews were already playing...loudly...even for me and Jason.  Alanna and Aidan were quite unhappy for a while, but Emory was just fine.  She sat in her own seat, while Aidan and Alanna curled up into Jason and me with their hands over their eyes just stressed as could be.  After a while, I took Alanna out for a short break, and by a nice stroke of luck, we returned during a nice quiet scene.  She was pretty happy from then on.  Aidan was still struggling, but he was hanging in there.  We took a little break, too, and when we returned he looked a little more relaxed for a while.  He made it through the movie, and he wanted to see what was happening, but he was not a very happy camper.  Emory was very happy...eating popcorn (a first for all of them)...always wondering where Wall-E was when he wasn't on-screen.  With about 30 minutes to go, she just needed to get down and move a little.  Understandable...she'd been sitting for about an hour straight.

When it was all said and done, Alanna decided she liked the movie experience, Emory was unphased but I doubt she understood much other than who the characters were.  She was entertained though.  Aidan said he didn't like anything about it at all...except the snuggling and the treats. 

And by the way, Emory made it 3 hours without hitting the potty during this adventure, despite our attempts to prompt her to go.  We were nervous (especially Jason, who was holding her in his lap at times, but we had a waterproof pad to protect the seat just in case.  She earned her first Lightning McQueen sticker today, which is reserved for accident-free days!  She knows when she needs to go and is very consistent.  She is very proud of herself (as she should be), and I am so proud of her!

Picking up from yesterday afternoon:  Emory woke up very grumpy from her "nap"...so I asked her if she wanted to put underwear back on, and she declined.  I knew if I pushed it we would have an all out screaming fit, so I decided to end the potty training on a positive note for the day. 

So we jumped back in this morning, and she told me every time she needed to go without any accidents, except for once when I made her mad, and while she was crying she had a little leak.  And still, she held the rest and made it to the potty.  She stayed dry all day and....   ****STOP READING HERE IF YOU AREN'T USED TO/INTERESTED IN DETAILS****  .....even asked to poop on the potty three times.  Not only that, but when we went to Maggie Moo's for a treat to celebrate vacation time with Daddy, she interrupted the festivities to let us know she needed to go.  THEN, on the way home she said she needed to go, and she held it 3 minutes until we got home!!!

Yay for Emory!!!

Emory practiced wearing underwear for a little while the last couple of days, and today we decided to jump in with both feet.  She has done fabulous so far, staying dry from 7:30 to 1:00.  She asked to go potty a couple of times, once she caught herself just in time to make it to the bathroom without having a major accident, and I only prompted her to go before I got in the shower and before lunch.  We'll see what the rest of the afternoon brings and how things progress over the next few days.  We may be a diaper-free family in a few days (with the exception of sleep times when we use pull-ups.)  Now that is excitement!  

When we walked into the gym yesterday for the Olympics, it so happened that a soccer program I was looking at for the kids had a registration table right there in the lobby.  I spoke with them briefly, and it turned out that there were enough openings for all three kids to do a free trial class at 11:00, right after the Olympics.  Aidan was so excited, he wanted to skip the Olympics and go straight to soccer.  We finally convinced him he'd have to wait. 

When 11:00 finally rolled around, Aidan and Alanna went to their designated "field" and Emory went with Jason for a Daddy and me experience.  Maureen stuck around to watch with me, and we laughed so much.  It was quite a sight.  Aidan and Alanna had a lot of fun though it seemed like they stopped to sit and have another pow wow every two minutes.  They ran around after the ball a little and put forth some great effort, and successfully so, in all the activities.  They really enjoyed themselves and followed along pretty well for their first shot at soccer.

Emory's class was not so much a soccer class as a class for developing the skills to participate in a class...listening and following directions, participating in structured activities, and some visual-motor stuff.  She loved playing Red Light, Green Light, and stacking little orange cones into towers and kicking them over.  She did not, however, feel any need to partake in the parachute activity.  Aidan looked longingly over from his area while Emory had her own ideas about how this would work.  All the kids were supposed to climb into the center of the parachute and then the parents would hold onto the edges and run in a circle and spin them around.  Nothin' doin'...she would NOT get involved in that nonsense.  So Jason held on, and she ran beside him, but she couldn't keep up which upset her.  So then Jason had to hold her while he ran to do his part for the other kids.  From where Maureen and I were sitting, we couldn't see his exact expression, but he would shoot us looks now and then.  Then, all the kids got under the parachute, and Emory decided that would be the appropriate time to launch herself on top of the parachute.  They finally lured her underneath, and everyone stayed there for several minutes....except Emory, who ran out every minute or so, then Jason would get her to go back in.  It was entertaining to say the least and Jason kept his sense of humor about him despite having worked the entire night leading up to this fun-filled morning.  So Kudos to him!

This morning Aidan and Alanna had their Olympic Stars exhibition at the gym.  It was so cute.  There were about 20 kids participating, and they did a little gymnastics meet to show off the skills they've learned this  year.  Oddly, they decided to split kids up into small groups, but not the groups they are normally in for their weekly class.  Aidan didn't seem to mind, but Alanna was quite distraught at first.  She is used to having only 4-6 kids in the class and no parents in the gym, and always Coach Carlos.  Today there were kids from 5 different classes and 4-5 new coaches not only present, but touching her and instructing her.  This was NOT good.  Fortunately Coach Carlos led her small group, and Aidan was in her group as well.  Aidan was very silly and happily led his "team" waving and grinning from ear to ear. 

First up was the beam, and for whatever reason, they decided to let Alanna go first.  She had a little routine they had all been practicing that she could usually do by herself, but she was so unhappy with the situation Coach Carlos had to hold her hand through it.  She made it...despite having to do it facing the entire audience.  Aidan smiled enthusiastically as he did his routine and was so distracted by hamming it up for the audience, he fell off the side...only a few inches, of course.  He dismounted (i.e. jumped off the side), landed, then proceeded to put his head on the floor in a down-dog position then roll to the side, grinning all the while. 

They went through an obstacle course, a "vault" and parallel bars, too, and by the end Alanna was having a great time.  When it was all over they called each child to the podium to get a medal and a certificate.  It was adorable.  Strangely enough,  Aidan refused to go up on the podium to receive his, and Alanna couldn't get up there fast enough.  She was so excited to get her medal!   She wore it for much of the day today.   Aidan has yet to put his on, but he has played with it.  That was an unexpected twist!

Tonight I was getting ready to wrap-up some things for the work I've been doing, and I got up to put the laptop away and as I stepped toward the table where it belongs, I heard a little scuffle and saw two little people suddenly turn and try to scurry up the stairs before I saw them.  I have NO IDEA how long they were sitting there.  Fortunately, there was nothing with inappropriate language on TV...America's Best Dance Crew Live Auditions.  Stinkers. 

I assumed they would run straight back to bed, but Jason went to check on them.  Aidan was still on the stairs further up, and Alanna had made it all the way back to their room.   Apparently Alanna had a cramp in her leg, and Aidan had a stomachache. Yeah, right.  After I finished washing up and was heading downstairs, I bumped into Aidan who was holding his arm, smiling and "complaining" that his arm hurt.  mmhmmm...so again, I ask, when will I ever know that this little boy is really hurting!  I'm going to have to start reading The Boy Who Cried Wolf. 

On a not so silly note, the kids have handled me being at work full-time this week VERY well.  The girls don't seem as bothered by it as Aidan, but he is thrilled that tomorrow is my last day.  (As am I!)

Well Emory had her first trial run with Lightning McQueen underwear this morning.  We aren't jumping in with both feet, but I told her that I bought the last box of diapers, and then we'll start training officially after I finish working.  For some reason, Aidan is really pumped about Emory wearing underwear.  Emory keeps talking about it everyday, so we went ahead and gave her a little time to explore the concept this morning.  She lasted a little over an hour before having an accident, and I was too busy trying to catch up on chores to realize how much time had passed without putting her on the potty.  She goes pretty consistently before getting in the bath, and she asks to go sometimes during the day. 

We'll see what happens when we go full steam ahead...

Once again, while I was getting ready this morning, the kids had a tea party (after Aidan and Emory gave up on a long, drawn out, very loud scuffle over the backpack that holds the picnic set they used.)  I love looking out and seeing them playing so nicely together; it's so cute!  So Alanna came into the bathroom and told me they were having a party for "Oliktch, Orange and Lollipop Arthrens."  It's an interesting crowd she draws, I must say.  Oliktch made an appearance a few months ago as her future child.  Lollipop Arthrens must have just moved to the area though....haven't heard his name before...and I assume it's a boy. 

Alanna has started another round of antibiotics today because she keeps aggravating her scar on her chin from her fall in February.  It appears to be infected at this point, so here we go again.  Aidan came down with a headache immediately after she took her first dose, which quickly changed to arm pain.  Ugh...what to do!  How will I ever know when he is truly experiencing pain?