Monday, April 9, 2018

Update on My Girls

I am apparently no longer a blogger, but I wanted to at least give little snippets of life since my baby girls just turned 4 and 2!!!


Felicity:
Current interests/likes: mermaids, Paw Patrol, Octonoauts, Animal Mechanicals, chapter books (we went through the Mercy the pig series together), dinosaurs (mostly longnecks from Land Before Time), crafting- mostly scissors, glue, and paint currently, board games, Go Fish, mazes, workbooks, pretending to be a dog, playing rock, scissors, paper, having "movie nights" with her friend Aubrey, having mommy or daddy dates (just her and one of us), folding my cleaning rags for me, making her own pbj.

Dislikes: being bathed (she likes playing but not being washed), sleeping alone or going to bed alone (after 2+ years of no problem!!!), writing letters even though she knows them, getting ready for bed, having her hair brushed.

Favorite sayings: Compellor for propellor, vamilla for vanilla, gorilla bar for granola bar

Medical things: My poor girl is dealing with anxiety and we are treading lightly and lovingly, waiting to discuss with her doctor at her well check to see at what point we should be getting outside help for her. She's incredibly afraid of being anywhere alone; hence the sleep struggles I mentioned. Or even where she perceives she's alone but she's really not, like her being in her car seat, me telling her I'm grabbing something from the back of the van, and then disappearing from her sight for 30 seconds to do it. And she went from playing alone in her room 2 or so hours a day to not at all. It's been a few months of this so... my gut says it may not get better without some intervention (besides us trying to love her through it). Otherwise, she's very healthy and is right on track developmentally.

General: Felicity is my rule follower and little helper. She says so many things that Steven and I say she's "my" daughter... IE she is my mini me. She wants to help, please people, and keep the peace. She also likes to make sure other people are following the rules. Felicity is SO smart and learns so easily and quickly. She's all about work books and, for the most part, has no problem with kindergarten level workbooks. She loves being read to and making up fairy tales to tell each other. She's gotten super cuddly and touch needy, so we get a lot of snuggles together. Felicity is my little buddy and I love running errands with her.




Clare:
Current interests/likes: anything resembling a piggy bank where she can insert small objects into a containers, any tiny things whether they are toys or not (for ex, she loves the tiny Calico Critter babies and bottle/pacifier), her play kitchen and Melissa and Doug cookie set, pretending to be a dog, climbing, jumping, swinging, snuggling, books, snacks.

Dislikes: any arts and crafts besides the rare occasion where she participates for a few minutes, messy hands, having her hair washed, not being held on demand, sleeping alone.

Favorite sayings: She calls my parents "mammy" and "boppa", short for what Felicity calls them, "meammy and meampa", touch (rhymes with couch.... for couch lol), tup for cup, she calls herself Wara, meaning Clara which is our fault for calling her that when she's naughty lol, "Wara do it", and very favorite and longest lasting is "naynayne" for airplanes, which she is OBSESSED with! She says "bapple" for apple, "oof one" for other one, and "oof-fly" for butterfly. She has the SWEETEST little voice and I love hearing her talk, especially now that she is starting to string words together.

Medical things: After a year of struggles meeting Clare's needs and feeling like there was something just off, we had her evaluated through early intervention. She is right on track developmentally, but is very sensory seeking, and mildly sensory avoidant. We are so fortunate to be receiving developemtnal play therapy one hour a week and OT one hour a week. I didn't even know developmental play therapy was a thing, and it surprised me to hear them say she needs it... but the more I thought about our day to day, they are totally right. She's extremely disorganized with play and doesn't usually seem to 'get' it. Felicity can do very little with Clare around because Clare rarely can join in in any meaningful way, which is especially frustrating for Felicity as she is too afraid to play alone in her room right now. So I am really thankful to be getting services started for her (next week!) to help her play better, feel better, respond better to stimuli, and for us to be able to help her.


General: Clare keeps us on our toes. She is NOT a rule follower :), and prefers to do her own thing her own way. She will run as far away as she can one second, and not want to be put down or have me out of her sight the next. Clare likes to do things on her terms and knows what she wants. Clare is so inventive and resourceful that it shocks me. She can get anything from anywhere, even when I feel like I've fully "Clare-proofed" something. Watching her wheels turn is fascinating. She will stack furniture in a heart beat to get over gates, onto counters, open door knobs, etc. She is very emotional and does an amazing full body pout, and equally amazing head-only pout. It's a little sad and a little funny at the same time. Clare is such a funny little girl. She's always made silly faces, and now she tells knock knock jokes that make zero sense but are hilarious in their delivery. I can be on the brink of so much frustration with her, and then she does something so funny I can't help but laugh and squeeze her. She stretches my 'parenting muscle' daily, and I am mostly glad for that. I can't really parent her by the book, or at least not just by ONE book. It takes a lot of forethought, compassion, empathy, creativity, boundary upholding, and love to get through our days, and she makes me a better parent every day. Love my silly little bear!