Gabriel has been really getting into pretend play this month. He likes to pretend his the daddy, the doctor, the Disney movie villians (yes, still). He acts out dialogue between his construction worker figurines, and will even partake in tea parties. I love to watch his imagination in action.
Ariana has been just starting to get into pretend play as well. More noticeably, she just seems girlier these days. She loves to play dress up, and she will fight bitterly with Bella over the princess necklaces and crowns (thankfully, she couldn't care less about the shoes, because Bella guards them). She has been showing such a funny, sassy side to her lately. When I hold her in front of a mirror, she could stand to grin at and admire herself all day. Sometimes, I'll tell her, "Ari, look at that bod! Wooohoo! You are soooo cute!" and she'll giggle and pat herself on the butt. Of course, mommy thinks it's adorable.
We attempted to get Ari approved for a power wheelchair this month, but no dice. Ari was expected to drive the thing with all the reverence and know-how of a teenager at a driver's test. But she's three. And this was her first taste of controlling her own mobility. Even her first time sitting in the power wheelchair, for that matter. She could make it go, oh yeah. But whenever she was about to bump into something (a chair, a barrier), she would attempt to push the obstacle out of her way with her hand instead of turning or stopping the chair. It's a bit of a catch 22, you see, because they have to look out for Ari's safety, and they can't authorize a powerchair if she is a danger to herself or others. But, how would she ever learn if she has no chair with which to practice? So, a few weeks of advocacy later, and we've now been given one hour of power wheelchair training per week for three months. This is awesome!!! As far as it's been explained to me, Ari is kind of pioneering this right now. I can't believe that DDD approved it, because they're not known for their liberality with handing out additional hours of therapy. But I am grateful for sure. We still have a bit more red tape to get through yet (like securing a wheelchair), so don't hold your breath, but we're on our way!
On the other hand, we have been having our share of frustrations with potty training this month. Ari seems to have made a digression, and I'd like to think it's me more than it is her. She used to go potty every time we put her on, even if it was just a tiny bit. Now, it seems like she's avoiding the issue altogether. She doesn't dislike the potty. But it seems like the novelty of peeing in it is wearing off. That and the fact that she never really sees any consequences for peeing in the pull-up, besides our verbal disappointment. I remember when training Gabe, if he peed in his pull-up or underpants much past the point of knowing how to pee in the potty, he would get in trouble. I just don't know how to execute that with Ariana. I think she was at a really good point, but it's just SO hard to train someone when they can't tell you when they need to go potty. It's so easy to let the minutes and even hours slip by before realizing it's time for her to go, and by that time, it might be too late. It's hard for babysitters, teachers, and husbands to remember and make it an urgent priority when she isn't screaming "go POTTY!!!!" or doing a potty dance or threatening to wet through her clothes. Any suggestions are welcome!
Isabella is getting so big. She really looks like a toddler to me lately. And she's beginning to behave like one too. Don't get me wrong, she's still just as loveable as ever. Just now, she's more of her own little person. She tries to do things on her own terms. Consequently, she's had her first time-outs this month. When she throws a tantrum, she has to sit in the corner for a minute, and it's so funny (in a sad kind of way) to watch her just sit there all butt hurt over having to take a turn on the scooter or for getting in trouble for hair pulling. I'm starting to giggle just thinking about it. On the other hand, Bella's manners are the best of the brood. Sometimes, I begin to think that she's looking for an excuse to use her manners! She is the only one who consistently says "bless you" when someone sneezes, and "you're welcome" when she's thanked. She never forgets a "please" or a "thank you". She says "excuse me" ever so coyly when she burps. When she bumps into someone on accident (or someone bumps into her) or she drops something or misplaces something, she always says, "oh, sorry!". That's the one that sounds the sweetest. When she says sorry for something, it's usually something that didn't warrant an apology, and it stops people in their tracks. They start stuttering and feeling like they need to apologize back to this mannerly little baby. I don't know where she gets it, but I'm afraid I can't take the credit here. Well, there is one instance in which her manners leave much to be desired. When Isabella toots (that's what we call it), she will proudly announce "Peeeyou! Peeeyoouuu! Stinkyyyy!" That's the one that I'm afraid I must take credit for.
Bella has been working really hard on the alphabet. No one has been working with her (excepet for Gabe), but she can identify well over half of capital letters, and she can sing the alphabet song pretty well. She has been overheard counting as high as thirteen (she skips "six"), but she consistently counts to ten on her own (but ten sounds like "fun"). She can identify and often name all her body parts. She knows all the color names, but she has yet to match them correctly to their true hues. She gets it right about fifty percent of the time. Shapes are coming along well too. She knows "oval", "heart", "star", "raygle" (rectangle), "square", and "agon" (pentagon, octagon, hexagon). She is still calling circles "oval" or "ball", and triangles still confound her, but I think that's pretty good. Compared to what Gabe was doing at this age, she
Hmmm... Bella continues to love to dress up. She'll demand to wear jackets, hats, shoes, crowns, headbands, necklaces, costumes, and pretty much anything adorning her bod that will make her look like even more of a pixie. She still loves to make a mess, and can't be trusted unsupervised with her food for even a minute. She thinks Chewy is hilarious (so do Ari and Gabe), which is a real shame because we have just found the perfect home for Chewy and his flight to his new home (in Alaska) is scheduled for June 2... but that's an entirely separate post altogether. Bella is getting pickier about what she eats, and I think a lot of it has to do with her teeth coming in. It's frustrating, because she spits out whatever food she decides in unfit for swallowing after its already been mashed to a pulp in her mouth.
No comments:
Post a Comment