Baking, Reminising About Our First Tea Party, Preparing for our Second, and Swimming

Waking up this morning I decided we would bake cookies for our swimming play date this afternoon. There's something magical for my girls about pouring a few random ingredients into a bowl; Then seeing something totally different come out of the oven as they hear the timer go off and they yell in unison, "DONE!"

The cookies didn't take long to bake and as they cooled on the island, we sat at the computer sounding out words on www.starfall.com. We recently discovered this website and they love it! Of course L is a little older; it holds her attention quite a bit longer than M's. M just think she's getting away with something "playing with the computer mouse. I do think for the time that it has M's attention, that she IS getting a little bit of something out of it! She repeats, participates and dances with the music.

We made the decision to have a surprise tea party with Daddy tomorrow morning, SO we prepared a few things for that. My mom gave the girls their own special tea sets for each of their birthdays. We carefully selected these tea sets specific to each one of the girls. I wanted them to get something that suited them both in their own way! I wanted them to have something that would last, so they could keep them forever and possibly have tea parties with their kids (if they decide to have them). The kicker when I suggested this to my mom. I wanted to have 4 place settings and I wanted a special carrier to be able to take them out and put them away (that's part of the fun, right?). This is something I've thought about for quite sometime! My mom came through, we picked out one with stripes and polka dots for L and bunnies for M. The sets are wonderful! She bought 4 total ... 2 for each of them (so they each had 4 place settings). I wanted them to have memories of their own special tea parties! 

We had a tea party the day after L's birthday party with her set. February 18, 2013 I was so emotional getting things ready for that tea party, OUR FIRST REAL TEA PARTY! The whole time I was getting this party together, it was pretty magical! As I was taking pictures and getting everything ready have it in their room (which that morning, they decided was now Pixie Hollow!) We had made special banana bread to have with our tea (we really drank milk). I wanted to dress everyone up for our tea party, L said no, that she wanted everyone to wear t-shirts and big girl panties (I kept my pants on). M pointed out that the small cups were like what Willy Wonka (the original movie) drank out of. L agreed and asked if we could eat the cups, JUST LIKE Willy Wonka did. That was a big negative! No one was attempting to eat the cups! Tiny cups, Tiny hands, Tiny forks ... they loved the tiny forks! My heart exploded many, MANY times during our party! As I said, I had pictured my girls and I having special tea parties for quite sometime ... and it was finally happening. M is VERY VERY excited about surprising Daddy with a tea party in the morning with HER tea set!!

We left for the pool, had a great time swimming as usual. We met their Mamaw and cousin there. Her cousin is 6 months younger than M. It was their cousins very first time in a pool. They had a lot of fun and were exhausted when we left (as usual after going swimming)!

As I was reading another blog last night, it reminded me of some advice I was given while I was still pregnant. I was told several things to make sure I did with my little ones, and one of the things was to talk and at the end of the day to ask them their favorite and least favorite part of their day. We did this on the way home. M said her favorite part of the day was swimming and her least favorite part was being in the locker rooms. L said her favorite part was baking cookies and swimming and she fell asleep while trying to thing of her least favorite part (we were talking on the way home from swimming). 

Waking them up to go in the house (especially when they are this tired and it's this late in the day/early evening) is never fun. So instead of taking them straight in, we played outside for quite sometime waiting for Daddy to get home from work. It was beautiful outside at this point, 65 degrees. We played a bit of soccer, ran around for a bit, got a little dirty and called it a night. 

There's nothing more cute than hearing one of them say the word appreciate, them using it appropriately, and saying they appreciate something one did for the other or something I did for them. L and myself say it often. Today was the first time I heard M say it ... in her sweet little voice. While we were outside,  L collected some acorns. M asked me to get her some. I suggested for her to ask L to show her where she got them from. L did. M was so excited to show me that L collected some for her. I asked if she thanked her, M went over to hug L and she said, "Thank you for my acorns L, I pre-ciate it!" I LOVE THEM!!! 

Bath time, dinner time, brushing teeth time, and falling asleep snuggled up in Mommy's arms singing our night time song. I lay with them, one snuggled on each side of me. I rub M's face and L likes my arm around her and she holds my hand. 

We had a perfect day. 

Our Potty Training Journey ...

I'll preface this by saying I'm so glad both of my girls and I are finished with this journey!!

I was sitting, watching L's soccer practice while listening to this mom tell about 4 others "How To Potty Train" ... then I thought about my girls and the difference between the two of them. I could hear her saying (as she hit her fist to her palm to drive this point through) "You have to sit them on the potty every 30 minutes." I have to admit, I tried this and I thought it was ridiculous! If you do this EVERY 30 MINUTES and they sit on the potty for awhile, then they are ALWAYS sitting on the potty! If you attempt to sit them down every 30 minutes and start timing from when they get off the potty, then you will miss when they have to go. This is a vicious, stressful cycle! That's what I thought about it anyway! BUT I SUPPOSE IT WORKS FOR SOME PEOPLE!

All kids are different and all moms have patience and tolerance for different things! I think potty training is just as personal for people as their individual parenting styles! There's no right way, there's no wrong way! You just have to find the best way that works for you and your little one! Most certainly what worked for L was not the same as what worked for M!! 

As I sat down to write this, I began typing about then very beginning, when L initially showed interest in using the potty. This was between 16-17 months old (she's 3 now!). I typed 3 lines and decided that was too far to go back. That was the summer before last; So I'll just start with last summer. Between those 2 summers, her interest would peak and valley. But if she ever wanted to use the potty, it was certainly available for her! Then this past summer, I WAS READY TO DO THIS!  I did sticker charts, I did small prizes, we would even bake muffing for several hours with no accidents (we made a lot of muffins, didn't always eat all of them but making them was quite the treat). Then once we got pretty good, I even took her to the pet store to buy fish for our aquarium for a few days with no accidents. Multiple trips and thirty dollars in one week for fish, it was fun for her and she wanted to do it but I couldn't do that every week .. and our tank was going to get crowded! (this was a fun week though). 

Eventually we did the run around the house bare bottom, which worked great for pee!! Although if I put panties on her she would still have accidents and when it came to poop, she would always ask for me to put a diaper on her!! That's the only time she would ask for me to put a diaper on her. I started promising her the world for her to poop in the potty. NOTHING. Then I promised Chuck E. Cheese, a trip to the park, and pink cupcakes all for poop in the potty! She did this at 5:30 one night. We're NEVER just going out that late (unless we are already out). But I made good on all of my promises!! I was so happy ... THEN she didn't do it again for 4 days. I had to give her a diaper when she asked for it. I was afraid of her getting impacted!! 

Then I remembered a dvd that was passed onto me while I was still pregnant. Potty Power. Within the hour after her first time watching it, she voluntarily pooped in the potty and never turned back. M never had this issue with pooping in the potty (thank goodness)!! They love this dvd! The songs are great and even though they are now potty trained, they still ask to watch this dvd sometimes!

L had accidents here and there and one morning early October 2012 we woke up and I asked her, "Do you want to wear big girl panties or a diaper today?" She smiled so big, said panties and this was the end of it! She had 2 accidents that week and the rest was history for her! After 2 weeks of no accidents she was able to pick out some pretty panties of her choice. She chose Minnie Mouse and she thought she was so big after that!! Officially potty trained  at 32 months! I was happy. 

M couldn't run around bare bottom because she would just pee anywhere! This may sound bad, but it was like having a puppy! If I put panties on her, she would have an accident EVERY TIME! Run around naked, pee on the floor within 15 minutes! But she would also take her own diaper off and just pee (anywhere) as well. She wanted to wear panties so bad and she wanted some Tinkerbell panties too; I didn't know what to do with her. She got to where when we were out and L would have to go potty, she would tell me after we would come back that she had to go too. It was all so silly. She knew what she was doing, she knew when she needed to go. She was just messing with me. (I have no idea why)

The first day of February this year we woke up one morning and I asked her, "Do you want to wear big girl panties or a diaper today?" Of course she said big girl panties! She had 3 accidents that week... a few days into this with her we had tickets for the circus. We went there, out to eat for lunch, then to the park and NO ACCIDENTS, we took her that day to pick out her Tinkerbell panties and no more accidents for her! Potty Trained at 26 months... Words couldn't explain how happy I was!! 

Last week M did have 2 accidents. One was when we got home from swimming, she was so tired and come to find out, she was getting sick. Then the following morning she had one more. Some people suggested possible regression. (I had no idea what to do with that). But luckily, THIS never happened again!

Potty training is so different for everyone! This is what worked for us!

Left Handed or Right Handed??

It's been so interesting watching our girls over the last year and a half (if not longer) ... from the beginning as they would scribble on their Magna Doodles or with chunky crayons on construction paper. Watching their hands as I attempted to peak their interest in writing letters or drawing shapes; I would notice which hand they would hold their pens, pencils and crayons. I remember a period when L would randomly switch her writing utensil from one hand to another trying to figure it out. 

I never interrupted this process of letting her figure out for herself which hand her pencil "felt right in." Once this became clear to me that she was going to be left handed, this is when I began to teach her how to hold her pencil/pen/marker/crayon properly. Every now and again she will try to switch (I do think she does this, because when I show how to write or draw something, I show her with my right hand). I'll gently remind her to switch hands, that she writes with her left hand. 

Today I realized that over the last 2 months I have been interrupting this process with M. When we sit down to do a craft or activity M will sometimes hold her pencil in her left hand. I've been correcting her, remember, you write with your right hand... WHAT WAS I THINKING? Well, I was thinking she holding her pencil and trying to write with her left hand just because L was. I've been interrupting her process of figuring this out on her own! Her figuring out which hand her pencil "felt right in." 

This afternoon I was taking a break, sitting on the couch watching the girls play. M was drawing faces and proudly showing me her work. L wasn't actually drawing faces or any pictures at this 26 months. Truthfully, it's just been within the last month that L has been drawing pictures. Real distinguishable pictures! M is starting this process very early in comparison. I believe this is because she see's L doing it and is really trying on her own.  I sit down (often) and draw with them too! 

But today as I was watching M draw, I noticed she would draw a face or two with one hand, switch hands then draw a few more faces. This triggered my mind, this is what made me remember L going through this process. It was most likely around this same time last year; As I've known she's absolutely left handed for several months now. I've been interrupting her process!! 

Some things you read about this says this could be obvious as early as 6-9 months. Most of the time, you can tell around 2-3 years old. But some little ones use both hands equally until they are around 5. I'm so glad I realized sooner rather than later what I was doing and that I need to stop!!! I won't interrupt this any longer until it's noticably obvious that she is right or left handed!

Is It Her Age? Or Is It Just Her??

There are so many stages of L's 3 years that I feel like I have said, "This is my favorite time!" or "This is the best time!" But those stages were the best for many different reasons. 

When we first brought her home ... THAT WAS THE BEST! 

Those smiles those newborns smile when they are sleeping ... THOSE WERE PRETTY GREAT! I have so many video clips of her sleeping "just to catch those smiles!"

Watching her start to become mobile and knowing everything was going to be so different once she could get around on her own, and the anticipation on that happening. THAT WAS PRETTY GREAT! She never really crawled, she scooted and commando crawled. 

When she started to laugh and giggle ... THAT WAS THE BEST!! For the longest time, I was the only one that could make her laugh!

Her sitting up for the first time ... Pretty cool!

Letting her discover new foods and textures. THAT WAS PRETTY AWESOME!

Hearing her say Mama for the first time!! MAKING MY HEART EXPLODE THE BEST!!

Each new word... EACH ONE WAS PRETTY GREAT!!

When she learned to pull herself up to standing and furniture walk ... it was a whole new world for her .. and THAT WAS THE BEST! She was able to discover so many things and this was amazing to watch her do this (kind of on her own).

When she discovered she could stand on her own without holding onto anything ... THAT WAS THE BEST! MY BIG GIRL!

When she took her first steps!! ABSOLUTELY THE BEST!!!

When she learned she could dance! THAT WAS THE BEST! 

Hearing her say I Love You for the first time ... I couldn't hear it enough ... THAT WAS THE BEST!

Seeing her genuinely love and want to take care of her little sister ... THAT WAS THE BEST!

There are so many more things I could add to this list!! But the way she is right now, every single day. I don't know if it is the age she is at or if it's just her. I like to think it's just her. She has blossomed into the most thoughtful, beautiful, caring, kind-hearted little girl! 

Last night while we were getting ready for bed, M was crying, she said, "I don't want her to cry. Can I sing a song for her?" She did, she made up the best song and it totally came from how she felt because she sang it over and over (I videoed it). The words pretty much the same:

I love you M. Don't cry M.

I appreciate it M.

I love you don't cry.

Let me hold you. Mommy's gonna hold you in a minute

I love you. Mommy's gonna hold you in a minute.

I love you M, don't cry, I love you!

She wants to help everyone, do the things they need to do or fix boo boos. She'll cheer someone on when they do something good! She likes to help out in situations where she can talk about doing the right thing and wanting to do the right thing and wanting to be a nice girl! She likes to pretend she's writing and in her scribbles, she always likes to read what she wrote and it's almost always something sweet to me. About her love for all of us and how sweet we  are to her, The first time I heard her (as she put her hand on her heart and said) "My heart is beautiful and I love you more than I can tell you for always." I always tell her I love her more than all the stars in the sky or that I love her more than she'll ever know... and she's trying to say something of the same sort. It always comes out, "I love you more than I can tell you for always" ... words I'll love to hear forever! As we lay down to sleep at night, she'll be silent and I'll think she's sleeping and she'll whisper that she loves me, or that she had fun that day, or that she's lucky I'm her Mommy. I always tell her how lucky I am to be her's and M's Mommy!

She makes my heart melt, she makes my heart explode so many times everyday! I love her! 

She's full of love, she knows how much she's loved ... All of this sweetness that is just so genuine THIS IS THE BEST!!!!!

Are The Terrible Two's A Real Thing??

It's not fair to compare the girls and say one went through this and the other one didn't (although that's how I was thinking earlier today). But as I sit here thinking about what I really want to say, I started to think about how "at this age" they both have had different circumstances. M is 26 months old right now and will do just about anything she can to antagonize L; When L was 26 months old, M was only 16 months old new to walking around and barely talking. L didn't have much to complain about to have to or want to do anything to M. 

Oh how things are different at this stage. M is 26 months old and L is 36 months old. M wants everything L has, M wants to do everything L is doing at the same time she is doing it. We've had some difficult times lately. M will cry and cry because she wants a toy that L is playing with and it won't take to long until L will just hand it to her. L is so kind and she doesn't want M to cry. I'm sure part of her doesn't want M to be sad, and part of her just doesn't want to hear it (honestly)! I just think M thinks L is cool and wants to do and have what she does!!

L is very interested in reading what she writes (out loud), reading a book, or simply telling you something (that she made up), sometimes it's to me, sometimes it's to M, but if she asks either or both of us to listen, M will do anything she can to be loud. It's horrible! I feel really bad, yesterday it was so bad that L started to cry because M wouldn't let her read what she wrote for me. I had to put M in her room and have a few minutes for L to tell me what she wanted to tell me! THIS IS SOMETHING WE ARE WORKING ON!! I know this is a phase, but M needs to learn that THIS NOT OKAY!! 

Earlier today M said she had to go to the bathroom, I followed her in there and she stopped, stood in the middle of the bathroom, looked at me and started to pee. I asked her why she did that, and her reply was, "I wanted to." What the heck? That's not okay!

M went through a biting phase awhile back and I thought we were past that. But earlier tonight, she bit L on her back. She went straight to her room. I talked to her (sternly) and left her to sit on her bed. After some time went by, I went back in to talk to her again and when she told me that she didn't want to apologize to L, I left her in there longer. More time passed and L came in there with me, she was so sweet and so serious. She looked at M and said, "You bit me and it hurt me. Biting is a bad decision and I won't bite you. I want to be a nice girl. If you kiss my back then it's okay". Basically she was saying if you kiss my boo boo then I forgive you. M continued to refuse to apologize and L walked out of the room while M sat there crying. Then L walked right back in and said to me, "I'm leaving because I don't want to hear her crying". Soon after, M apologized, kissed her boo boo and gave L a hug. 

More antics happened in the bath tub tonight. But I think I am getting the point across. BUT I feel bad as I re-read through this because M is really not a "bad" kid. She's really good most of the time. SHE'S JUST YOUNG AND SHE'S LEARNING!! They play really good together pretty much all of the time, but then it's like a switch! When she gets in one of these moods, it's just all down hill. I'll have to start to pay attention to see if there are any triggers. Like being sleepy or something. All of the things today that were going on were later in the day and that may have been the case. But I need to reel it in on these behaviors!! But if I can pay attention and see if there are any triggers, then I can anticipate the behavior and this will help with correcting them!

Despite all of this, it may sound rough having two so close but I wouldn't change things and have them any other way. I bet the two of them would totally agree! Already, they don't know what to do without each other. If one is sleeping, then the other one wants to wake them up, if one is in one room, then other one isn't far behind. It's fun to watch ... 98% of the time and I referee the other part of it... :)

Night Time Routines ... They are changing ... LOVE

March 1, 2013

There are so many things that I love about your nighttime routines these days. Both of the girls pretend so well and I love playing along! The best time is right after bath time while they are drying off and getting their pajamas on... 

A little bit of background: Both girls love Tinkerbell and lots of nights while we are getting ready for bed, we become fairies. L has named herself The Letter Fairy and M is The Puzzle Fairy (Daddy and Myself, our titles change often). While I am helping one, the other is flying around the room just talking and pretending like crazy! Last night when I was about it help M put her pajamas on, she looked at me and got so serious; She said, "Mommy, don't take my wings off!" I love it! I will pretend with them as much as they could ever want. They both have such vivid imaginations!

Tonight for example... 

They were talking on their phones while they were getting ready and pretending Silvermist (a fairy friend of Tinkerbell) was at the pediatrician's office at her 4 year checkup. L would talk on the phone about it then they would hang up. A few minutes later, she will pretend that her phone is ringing again, and of course, it is Silvermist giving the play by play of her appointment. Once everyone was dressed, we open the bedroom door and fly into the kitchen, see Daddy for a few minutes and tell him all of the new fairy news, then head into the living room to pick up toys and put them away (while still talking to Silvermist on the phone). Dinner was good. The girls were in really good moods. Several quick rounds of Simon Says, then off we were to the bathroom for brushing and flossing time. 

This time typically goes pretty smoothly. But tonight  L said she wanted Daddy to floss her teeth. After barely getting 2 teeth it's all tears. I sat on the floor, held her, let her calm down (I think she was just tired) and I got her to let me floss her teeth by telling her as soon as we were finished, that I would floss her toes.... Now, I'm not quite sure where this came from, but I knew it would make her laugh. I knew it would make her smile... and I knew it was silly enough that she would let me floss her teeth. I quickly added that the rule to flossing toes, is that it always had to be done AFTER flossing the teeth!!! ( this is a very important thing to add in there). 

She giggled the best giggles as I flossed her toes (she's very ticklish), then she asked to do mine (I am insanely ticklish), it was all a fun, goofy thing that was happening. I was laughing so hard from the tickling, she was laughing at me, Daddy and M was laughing at both of us. Then she wanted to floss his toes. (he still had his work/dress shoes on). As L "flossed his toes" she caught a little sock fuzz... and pointed out that was like getting food out from between her teeth (at least she understands why we floss) lol This all sounds pretty gross actually... Then of course, M wants in on the flossing of the toes. So that happened and we eventually ended up in bed. 

They were both really sleepy so there were a few tears. Daddy kissed us all goodnight and I laid there with them (like I always do, we co sleep and every night I lay with them while they fall asleep). Last night was really rough falling asleep. L was crazy tired and had a lot of tears. I asked her if she wanted me to sing and she said yes. I actually made up a 4 line song that I sang, slowly and quietly, over and over  (all it took was about five minutes) and both of them were out. 

Even with the tears in the beginning, bedtime was wonderful last night. I rubbed both of their faces and sang to them as they fell asleep. Tonight they wanted me to do the same thing. L started to cry and M asked if I would rub face, Although this is her way of asking that ... she would rub her own hand across her face and say to me, "go like this"...  I started to sing my four line song over and over as I rubbed their faces ... and they were once again asleep within five minutes! 

I will start doing this every night! It is a wonderful way to end the night with them!

  

                                                           Go to sleep baby ... 

                                                        Close your eyes baby ... 

                                                             I'll snuggle you ...

                                                                I love you ...  

An Update on Tantrums...

Tantrums happen.

Luckily for me, it seems that tantrums only really escalate when we are home. The kicking, turning red, horrible crying, everything you could imagine. 

There are two reasons I think they typically happen at home. One is that they know I mean what I say. I can generally talk them down from acting out. If I've given a few warnings and things aren't getting better. I'll tell them, if (whatever is happening that isn't okay) doesn't stop, then we are going to leave where ever we are (or stop whatever fun thing we are doing). I'll tell them that once. The second thing I do is tell (whichever one is acting okay) to talk to the other one because if what ever is happening doesn't stop then we are leaving ... This is the part that usually works. If we are out and something gets to this point, it TYPICALLY stops here. But if it doesn't then we WILL LEAVE OR STOP WHAT WE ARE DOING! If I don't mean it (when it comes to this) then I don't say it! So we don't typically get to the point of tantrum when we are out. 

If whining or fussing starts while we are out, something I say to them often is, "People are here to shop, see the animals at the zoo, (whatever is appropriate for where we are). None of then, including Mommy want to hear you fuss or whine. If you want to be able to stay (and/or come back), then you should think about stopping. 

This is something I think I say multiple times daily, "If you don't listen and follow the rules, then you don't get to do fun things". I have told them they should want to be good, want to take care of their things, want to follow the rules, and be proud of themselves for doing so. I explain this to them, I'm finding it hard to put into words. But then understand it, and sometimes they just need a little reminder. Sometimes if I'm saying this to L, then M will finish my sentence (and vice versa). 

The second reason this seems to happen at home is them being tired. I try not to plan late nights. We have a routine and I try to keep them as close as I can to their bedtime routine. Of course there are special occasions and we make exceptions. But being out too late (which isn't a normal thing for is) or simply being too tired will make this happen. Our girls go to bed around 7:30 and the tiredness starts to shine through between 4-5. Between my last post about this and now, I've learned some things I can do to talk them (mostly L) down from said tantrum.  

I have gotten to where I can point out to L, that this is a tantrum and the way she's acting is not okay. I can say to her, stop crying so you can  hear me (she stops, I get a pouty lip from her) but if we get to this, I can typically diffuse the situation by a short conversation about the behavior. If there is no end in site, I'll carry her kicking and screaming into her room, sit her in her bed and tell her she can come out when she stops. I leave her door open. I'm usually greeted a short time later by either a hug or a kiss.

A lot of the times, I can tell when the tiredness is extreme and has potential for tantrum activity. This is when I change up an activity or room that we are in (often) or what helps a lot is them helping Mommy. I can say, "You know, I really need help with something. Can you carry this to Mommy and Daddy's room for me?" or "Can you put this in the dirty clothes for me". Anything like that! My girls love board games! We can play a game. Sweeping the floor (they love this. I don't leave their little brooms out or they end up in the air, so they like when they get to help me sweep); they call it, "Finding the dirt". They are so looking forward to when I let them mop the floor!

This has been more of a ramble for me to remember these times. The tantrums aren't fun. I'm glad they seem to be happening less and less! I decided to blog more for myself to remember everything and that's happening while watching these sweet girls grow up! So these tantrums aren't fun, but I love the snuggles that come after! I love that I've gotten more in tune to them in the afternoon (when I am typically getting worn down from my day), I love that we changed our reading time to the afternoon because of this and we snuggle more while reading. They've always been snuggly babies, but with L just celebrating her 3rd birthday, I realize more now than ever that this time is going by so quickly. The quiet moments when we sit together and read, or they are sleepy so they ask me to hold them and rub their faces, I love these times! I love these babies! Tantrums or not, fun times and not so fun times... I love my life. It seems hectic at times, but I wouldn't change it for anything!

Birthdays with two so close in age

M's second birthday was in December. She seemed to really understand what was going on. She knew we were going to Chuck E. Cheese for her party (and she was so excited), she knew she was going to get presents, family was coming because it was HER DAY! She loved looking the different cakes and picking out which one that SHE wanted. This WAS HER DAY COMING UP, AND SHE KNEW IT!

L on the other hand (although she is older), it had been ten months since her birthday, so she didn't quite understand "get it". We did our best explaining that HER birthday was coming up, that she would have all of the same things happening! She would have her party, family would be coming to see her, she would get to pick her cake and what she wanted on it. I told her I was also going to give her two options and that she would be able to pick where she would have her party. She was getting excited for this! I think talking about her party at the same time was helping.

It was the day of M's party. Things couldn't have went any better! The party was suppose to be from 11-1:00, and it was over at one (but we still had tokens left, the girls and myself ended up walking out of the door at 3:00). Of course the fun wasn't over, at that point we were going home to the presents that M had unwrapped and now it was time to play.

Something we really haven't ever experienced was things being "MINE". L was excited about the presents as well and couldn't wait to play with everything and there were plenty of new things to go around! As excited as L was, I explained to her that it was M's birthday and when I would open something, I would hand it to M to get to play with it first, then they could share it. This was reasonable to us and seemed to be going okay. Until these words came out of M's mouth, "That's my present," she didn't want L playing with anything. I then explained to M that L was born before her and there were a lot of toys that are here that belonged to L before M was born and that L shares everything with her so nicely. I named some of her favorite toys, told her that they really belonged to L and how would she feel if she wanted to play with them and L wouldn't let her because they were initially L's presents. M then understood and things seemed to once again be okay.

Things were okay on the toy and sharing front, but off and on throughout the day and evening, L would bring up her party, she would tell me that she wanted to go to Chuck E. Cheese, just like M did. She wanted a Tinkerbell cake, just like M had. I don't know if she just had a good time and wanted to "make sure" that her party was just as fun, or what the reasoning was. I told her, if those were the things she wanted for her party, that would be perfectly fine but we could make the final decisions once her birthday was getting closer.

Towards the middle of January we started talking about themes etc. She was getting excited that HER DAY was coming. She made the decision to go to Chuck E. Cheese and she chose a Madagascar theme for her cake and things. We talked about all of this often (she was excited and brought it up several times a week). With this, M started talking about it being her birthday. Explaining to a two year old that her birthday had past and now this was L's day, over and over, was tiring (and not always easy). She became territorial of her presents again, not wanting to share. I explained that L would be getting things for her birthday and asked her how she would feel if L didn't share things with her. We had this conversation often.

Daddy and I decided the girls didn't really "need" anymore toys. With Christmas and M's birthday having both just passed. We decided to get something BIG that they would be able to use for quite sometime! We decided on a 14' trampoline with a safety enclosure. We bought it and it was put away (waiting for warmer weather).

We were having L's birthday party on Sunday, February 17, 2013 and the Saturday night before, I started thinking... L is very smart and doesn't forget a thing! When it was M's birthday, she paid attention to EVERYTHING and pointed out many times that she wanted her party to be just like M's. I started talking to my husband, saying that M came home with all kinds of presents and L has a trampoline. A trampoline (that she knows she's getting). A trampoline that is sitting in the shed in the backyard, that she's not going to open at her party and she's not even going to see until the weather is warmer. I told him the presents that she was going to open from family (I knew what everything was) and what she would be bringing home. I'm not saying in the least that any of this is about the presents, but at the same time, I didn't want my baby to be disappointed with the few things she would be bringing home and remembering ALL THE THINGS that her sister came home with. She turning 3, she's not going to understand that trampoline is in the shed... He agreed and after I got the girls to bed that night I went power shopping. I did not go crazy. But I got several small things that I knew would make her happy! She had a good amount to open and she came home with presents, she was happy! Her party was so fun and a big success!!