Sisters

At Least She's Consistent

We're going on a few months now where Afton has had the same night-time "routine". Going through the process night after night can start to test a parent's patience. Luckily, two-year olds have an incredible ability to throw in cuteness at just the right moment to return balance to the home. Here is a general summary of how our nights go with Afton when it is time to go to bed, whether she is watching TV, playing the computer, or playing with toys right before.

Mom/Dad: "Afton, when this show is over we're going to go to bed."

Afton: "No, I watching this."

Mom/Dad: "I know, but when it is over, you're going to go to bed."

Afton, "No, I watching this show."

Mom/Dad: "Okay, but we're going to bed when it is over."

[Show ends, and Afton willingly goes into her room. We repeat that exact conversation each night, but she always responds really well when her show or game is over.]

On the way to the bedroom...

Afton: "Aftie tired."

Mom/Dad: "I'm tired too...it's time for bed."

Afton: "Aftie go to bed too."

Afton gets into bed, and some switch is flipped...

Afton: [giggling] "I want Care Bear."

Mom/Dad: [gets Care Bear]

Afton: "I want Cheer Bear."

Mom/Dad: [gets another Care Bear]

Afton: "I want Talk Bear."

Mom/Dad: [gets Afton's talking teddy bear]

Afton: "I want Cranky-Cranky."

Mom/Dad: [gets Afton's stuffed pig that makes pig noises that Afton thinks sounds like "cranky cranky"]..."Afton, this is all for now. It is time to go to sleep. Love you. Good night"...[walks out of bedroom]

Afton: [crying]..."I want a book."

Mom/Dad: [re-enters room, gets a book for Afton]..."Okay, you can read this book but then you need to close your eyes and go to sleep."

Afton: "I want zoo book...I want Cosmo book...I want I Spy book."

Mom/Dad: [puts every book and stuffed animal in Afton's room into her bed, closes the door, and vows to not go through that again the next night]


Last night Afton was especially persistent, going through one of her nights where she sits up in bed, scans the room, and requests to have EVERYTHING in the room put in her bed with her. She woke up crying at 11:30, and when I went in the room she was standing up with her sunglasses falling off her face..."Take sunglasses off!" she was whimpering, half-awake and surely not aware of her crying an hour earlier to have her sunglasses on before she'd go to sleep. Surely this behavior wasn't shaped in any way by Afton's parents being push-overs with their first child and not letting her cry herself into proper sleep patterns when she was younger.

Return of the Bumbo

Mya continues to be her ever-smiling self, but she is getting to be a little picky when she doesn't have enough attention paid to her. She has little squeals that she'll unleash if someone isn't next to her, but as soon as someone comes within her view she turns the grin right back on. Luckily she has gotten big (and sturdy) enough that we have been able to clean off the ol' Bumbo chair for her so she can sit up and feel a part of the goings-on.

I think she likes it.

Asleep...really, really asleep

When we got back from the zoo last week, all of us felt pretty tired. Afton didn't get much of a nap that day, and me and Stef were worn out from walking around in the warm weather and from all the work it takes to spend an afternoon out of the house with two kids (which is probably equivalent to getting ready for a two week vacation without kids).

Yet with all the tiredness going around, Mya was the only one that got a real nap that day. When we got home we put her car seat on the table while we looked online for some photos of Brooke since she'd been born a few hours earlier. I grabbed the camera when we heard this coming from the kitchen...

Stefanie wishes she was getting that kind of quality sleep again.

Zoo Day

Pictures outside to occupy Afton before going to the zoo. On the left is her "evil eye", and then the right is Afton laughing at herself for pulling out the evil eye. We told Afton yesterday that we'd be going to the zoo, and sure enough, when I got her out of bed in the morning the first thing she said was, "Go to zoo today? And ride the train? And see the tigers and elephants?"

This "animal" is the first that has ever made Afton timid. She must have really thought it was a real gorilla, and wondered why her dad was getting so close to it, because it took some real coaxing for her to get close enough for a picture.





Afton loved to watch this fox run around his 8x8 cell, er, I mean habitat. She followed it back and forth until finally bending over and putting her hands on her knees like in the first picture. Then she was sure to tell the little girl in pic #2 and her mom that the animal they were looking at was a fox...very helpful.



Stef and Mya on the train ride.



Mya's almost constant grin, and the ever increasing in regularity bubble beard. She just might be cutting another tooth because she is a slobbery little child right now.



What a great lesson this rotating globe teaches the kids and parents that visit the zoo: no matter who you are, where you come from, or what sickness you might have, your germs are good enough to share with every child that day. I'm sure we'll be proud of whatever "memories" Afton brings home from the water globe.



Once it warmed up we took Afton's jacket off and put on her sunglasses, and then into the pockets went her little hands and out came a cool little strut.



Too cool for school!

Shocking Good Time

Stefanie hadn't told me about these photos before I grabbed the camera and looked at them. We've laughed at Afton a lot as she rolls around and climbs up and down on the couches because her hair will stick straight out with all the static build-up. Looks like Stef had a little science project going with her cushion hut.

Time and Place for Cuteness

Silly me for thinking there might be certain times during the day when a two-year old isn't allowed to be so cute you just have to laugh and not worry about what you were trying to accomplish, in a hurry, at that time.

Snail's Pace

Afton caught on to the idea of potty training very quickly, and does pretty a good job now of telling us when she needs to use the potty. One day she was watching a cartoon when she said, "Daddy, need to go potty." So I jumped up and started to move quickly towards the bathroom. Afton likes to hustle around the house during certain games, so we often run towards the bathroom so she'll follow and get there in time.

But this time I got there way before her, and when I turned to see what was taking so long I saw Afton barely moving down the hallway. Her arms were turning in circular motions at her side, her head was down, and she was making almost zero progress toward our intended goal. She kept on with her exaggerated movements, and in a frustrated tone I said, "Afton, what are you doing? We need to hurry and get on the potty." Her reply: "No, I going like a snail."

Sound It Out

Afton has gone through lots of different phases when it comes to her going to bed for the night. She used to like her door to be open, for a parent to be in the room, to take a drink with her, to read books or sing songs...the latest pre-sleep pattern is for her to take as many stuffed animal friends into her bed with her as possible. Sometimes she'll take the same couple of stuffed toys in for days in a row, and other times she'll pick new ones each night.

A couple of nights ago I set her in bed with some "friends" that she had already selected and then turned to leave the room. I was tired, knew Afton should be tired, and I wasn't in the mood to stand bedside while Afton jabbered on or made several other requests. But as I started to leave the following conversation ensued in her dark bedroom.

Afton: "Daddy."

Me: "What?"

Afton: {points, waving her finger randomly in the air}

Me: "Afton, dad is tired, so you're going to have to just tell me what you want."

Afton: {points, waving her finger randomly in the air}

Me: "Afton, you need to just talk like a big girl. What do you want?"

Afton: "Ra."

Me: "What?"

Afton: "Ra-BUH." {giggles}

Me: "What?! I don't know what you want."

Afton: "Ra-buh-IT." {places hands over mouth and giggles}

How does a two year old know they're being funny, to the point of not being able to hold in their laughter as they go through the joke? And how Afton decided to sound the word out (even if she did add an extra syllable) is beyond me. I went from tired and impatient to not being able to stifle a chuckle as I got her a toy rabbit to sleep with.