Hayden, like all kids, doesn’t always want to eat what he’s given, particularly the healthy stuff. So John and I like to remind him that the healthy stuff is good because it makes him grow faster. He loves to talk about how tall he will be when he’s older and when he’ll be taller than Daddy. So when he’s eating he will ask if he is growing taller because he is eating something healthy. He will also say that he doesn’t want to grow taller when he really just doesn’t want to eat something that is good for him. Some days he is ok with not being taller because he really cannot be asked to eat those carrots! Similarly, we are doing a sticker chart right now, and there are certain things he can do to earn a sticker which will earn him a prize once the sticker chart is filled out, such as putting shoes on the first time he’s asked, putting his clothes on himself, and taking his dirty dishes to the sink. (He actually asked for the sticker chart himself when some stickers came in the mail.) He was really into the sticker chart at first, but now when he needs to do something for which he would earn a sticker he will just tell us he doesn’t want to do it because he doesn’t want a sticker. In fact, yesterday he told John he didn’t want to put his pajamas on himself because he didn’t want a sticker. He ended up putting them on, but he didn’t want the sticker… Four year olds can be complicated creatures!
Growing Tall February 26, 2012
What Layla Wants – Part II
Further to my previous post, not only does Hayden know what Layla wants, but Layla herself is a girl who knows what she wants. A couple of easy examples of this are BOOTS and SLEEVES.
She has four pairs of shoes, but she really favors her cute little (faux) fur lined pink boots. Whenever it’s time to go I will say we have to get on our shoes, and she will start saying “Buh, buh, buh!” to let me know she wants her boots. Side note, she will also bring Hayden and me our shoes as we are all scrambling to get out the door – she so helpful (really)!
When she is eating she likes having her sleeves pushed up, and if they haven’t been pushed up when she’s ready to eat she will hold out her arms and make fussing noises that somewhat sound like “sleeve”, and try to get them up herself. She also wants to have a bib on usually and if we haven’t put one on her she will pat her chest and say “bih.”
What Layla Wants February 25, 2012
Hayden is mostly a pretty good brother. I mean, he definitely has his moments where I would regret making that claim, but all in all he is pretty good. One thing I really enjoy is that he tries to translate Layla’s words or actions for us. For instance, she has gotten really bad about sitting for a meal at lunch or dinner – whether at home or out. The other day I was doing everything I could to try to keep her at the table, and she wasn’t liking it. She wouldn’t eat and she was getting pretty fussy. Hayden said, “I don’t think she likes her food.” Often when she is getting upset while eating, I of course know that she doesn’t want to eat what is on her plate but like every other parent on the planet don’t want to give in right away and make her think she only has to eat the super delicious things, Hayden will chime in telling me he thinks she wants [fill in food here]. What’s funny is it’s not always things that she would be excited about eating, but if he suggests it and then I ask if that’s what she wants she’ll stop crying and say yes, and then eat it. Note to self, get him to start suggesting broccoli.
This isn’t limited to food. We might be in the car and she could be crying, I’ll ask what is wrong and Hayden will give his opinion. “I think she wants the music louder.” “I think she wants to go home.” Funnily enough, it’s usually not him projecting what he actually wants, trying to use her as an excuse. He is genuinely trying to figure it out. Sweetie.
Artistic Emergence February 16, 2012
We have a budding little artist on our hands! Hayden has been bringing home the coolest pictures that he has drawn at pre K. It seems like all of the sudden he went from drawing random shapes to really drawing recognizable objects. I’ve scanned three recent favorites. There’s another good one that John has at work of Daddy, Hayden, and Layla. Apparently I didn’t make the cut, but I was impressed that he didn’t leave Layla off!
The first one, on the left, is from this week. He said it is Daddy, Mommy, and Hayden. Daddy is lucky because he has a face. Hayden and I guess that this is a good picture, but we can’t really say for sure because we can’t see because we don’t have eyes, apparently. But, while I lack a face, I do seem to have some sort of flowery boutonniere, so that’s something! Hayden kind of looks like a pickle with arms and feet. Anyway, it’s really fun to see how he’s started drawing people.
The middle picture is a beautiful sun scene. I love that he colored the sun with four different colors in the middle, because I used to the very same thing when I was little. When I colored I would color a little part with one color, then do a few strokes next to that in another color. I remember the day I realized you colored in ‘blocks’ of color, as in one object could all be colored with the same color, and how much faster coloring became! But back to the picture, I also see an orange person in the right color, catching some rays. No doubt this is an orange Daddy.
The one on the right really intrigues me. I remember when I first saw it and I immediately thought it was a space ship. I asked him what it was and I can’t remember now what he said, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a space ship. I’m not actually sure I have the picture facing the right way. It could be upside down, and it’s actually several stick people walking on a bridge over a canyon?
You can click on each image to see it better. Go on, you know you want to. 🙂
Brushy Brushy!
I mentioned before that in the mornings when Layla sees me brushing my teeth, she insists that she be given her toothbrush so she can fight those cavities, too. Here is some footage of her brushing those pearly whites!
Bedtime February 14, 2012
Both the kids have their own funny bedtime “things” going on right now.
Layla is a pretty good sleeper. Typically she’s ready to go to sleep and doesn’t put up a fight, although in the last couple of weeks she has put up some resistance some nights. She sleeps with tons of dolls, stuffed animals, and blankets. Her least favorite of these she relegates to one end of her crib, where her feet go. I tried taking them out recently, thinking she didn’t care for them all that much so wouldn’t miss them, but she put them right back in after looking at me kind of like, “What are these doing HERE?” Her favorite things (various dolls, blankets, and a purple horse pillow) she will stack up as high as she can and then lay her head and torso on top of the stack. I always wonder how long she stays like that before she falls off. We always check on them before we go to bed and it’s no surprise that the stack has toppled by that point.
She is very sweet when she wakes up. More often than not she wakes up first (and in that regard, too early), so everything is dark when I go get her and I am also still waking up. I will get her out of her bed and cuddle with her on her rocker before any lights are turned on. My hope is always that we’ll both drift off, but that never happens. She will lie there quietly snuggling with me for a while with her head on my shoulder, and after a few minutes she will lift her head up, say “hi” and then give me a kiss. That’s usually when the spell is broken and the day officially begins, but I can’t think of a better way to break a spell.
Hayden does all sorts of funny things at bedtime. He has had his 
routine forever – 2 books, songs, bed. In the last few months he doesn’t like it to be too dark in his room, so when his two night lights weren’t enough we started leaving his closet light on. Then after a while he was shouting to us that it was too bright in his room for him to sleep. So now when he goes to bed there is a lot of quilt adjustment to try to make a shadow over his eyes but still have there be enough light that if he feels like he needs to look around he can be assured. Often when we check on him his head is completely under the quilt.
He also really likes to procrastinate at bedtime, as well as see what excuses he can come up with for us to come back into his room. Normally that means shouting (always as soon as our feet have hit the last step) that he is thirsty. For the longest time one of us would tread back up the stairs (while our dinner got cold) and give him a drink. Now we try to make sure he has water by his bed and that he knows he can get up and go potty whenever he wants (since that was another excuse for so long). The other night he was shouting to us about being thirsty and I shouted back up that he had water by his bed. He shouted back at me that there wasn’t any, so I said to go into the bathroom and get some. He came out of his room and was looking down the stairs at me with the cutest expression of enjoying this new freedom. He got the water and came back to the top of the stairs to show me that he was drinking it, then procrastinated a little more oscillating between bathroom and bedroom, still with that cheeky look on his face. He again came to the top of the stairs where he could see me below and said, “I love you!” and went to bed. That is indeed an indication of how much he was procrastinating, as usually have to prompt him to say “I love you” after I say it to him, and he acts like it might physically harm him to say it. 😉
Hayden and Layla's Place 