Rainbow

Tonight, after I picked up the kids from daycare, I took Ian to get his hair cut.  When we got into the car after the hair cut, we saw the most unbelievable rainbow from the parking lot.  It was so massive that I couldn't capture the entire rainbow with one picture.  It was SO bright.  I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before.  Here's the proof, taken with my iPhone 4:

Apple Picking - Tougas Family Farm

Today, we went apple picking at Tougas Family Farm.  We had the day off for Columbus Day and absolutely gorgeous weather!  It was really quite warm out and we didn't even wear our jackets.  The farm was fantastic - they had a little animal petting zone, as well as a kids play area.  And of course, there were a lot of apples to choose from.  I was disappointed with the Fuji apples - I think it was already too late in the season for them.  But the Macouns were unbelievably amazing (so sweet and crunchy!) so we picked a lot of those.  We also picked up some pumpkins at the very end.  Here are some pics:

Potty Training Disaster

We tried to potty train Sammy over the last 2 weeks.  She's not even 2.5 years old yet, but she was peeing on the potty consistently whenever we put her on it.  We had our ups (there were multiple days where she had no accidents), but we also had our downs.  At the end of the second week, I picked her up from daycare and discovered that she'd had 3 accidents.  I was disappointed because I figured she'd have made more progress after 2 weeks.  We then went to the park where she pooped in her underpants.  I was *so* mad at her (since this was the second night in a row where she pooped herself).  She's only a little girl and doesn't deserve for me to be so mad at her.  And I didn't want to be so mad at her.  But I couldn't help myself.  So we quit potty training.  I want to enjoy my time with my happy little girl and not scream at her.  She doesn't understand.  So today we went back to diapers and had a much nicer day.  We'll try again in a couple of months.  I'll wait until she's ready.

Pigtails!

Sammy's hair has finally started to come in and grow and tonight she let us give her some pigtails.  And, of course, Ian wanted some too.  They were so cute - jumping around and laughing about their hair.  I'm so glad they stayed still long enough for me to snap these photos.  

No Training Wheels for Ian

We first took the training wheels off Ian's bike on April 24, 2013.  This was the result:

Although he was perfectly capable of riding without the training wheels, I guess he didn't love it or it scared him too much because after that, he didn't want to ride his bike.  I begged my husband to put the training wheels back on so that we could enjoy the rest of spring and summer.  Reluctantly, he agreed to do so.  

Now, roughly 6 months later, we tried again and we had great success:

Hooray Ian!  Now if you could just stop panicking and screaming at me, we'll be golden.  :-)

Turning the Corner

I don't want to jinx myself.  But in the last 2 weeks, Ian has changed from a tantrumming, screaming, hard-to-manage child to a well-behaved child who shares with his sister (mostly) and entertains himself with his Thomas Trains or Batman toys.  I don't know whether he just figured out the "correct" behavior or just reached a magic age (4 years, 2 months) where the tantrums stopped.  Or maybe it's because we implemented the 1-2-3 Magic parenting program by Dr. Thomas Phelan (which our pediatrician recommended after my cry out for parenting help).

I love the 1-2-3 program.  According to the book I read, we had been doing everything wrong with Ian.  We were over-explaining and over-lecturing and trying to use logic to get him to behave correctly.  But he is not a little adult (despite his smart and mature conversational ability).  He is a 4 year old child.  So instead of yelling and screaming at (and sometimes, spanking) Ian, we now just calmly give him a 1 count when he is doing something that we've asked him to stop doing.  If he continues with the bad behavior, he gets a 2 count.  Upon reaching a 3 count, he ends up locked in his room (because he refuses to stay in time-out willingly).  After 3 days of having to lock him in his room, we haven't had to reach "3" at all.  He gets it.  He does NOT want to be locked in his room.  It has been an amazing transformation for us.  I have always loved my son but now I actually enjoy spending time with him.

Of course, just as Ian is getting a bit easier to handle, Sammy is starting to exhibit her terrible twos.  It's manageable (and kind of funny actually), but hopefully it won't be a long-lasting phase.  Luckily, she doesn't tantrum.  But she is pretty whiny and demanding.  She's still using a binkie, but as of now, she only uses it when she's in her crib for a nap or at nighttime.  That's progress, since we used to give it to her when she asked for it as she got tired at night.

As my high school biology teacher used to say, "We're getting there, folks!"

Spring Photos

Here are the formal spring photos the kids took at school.  They're not super awesome, but they're decent shots, especially of Ian.  Sammy was apparently crying hysterically before Ian came in to take photos with her and so she's looking a little weepy/out-of-it in the photos.  But this is definitely better than the fall, when we got no pictures of her at all because she didn't want to take them.

I can't believe how big they are getting.  I was looking at Ian last night (as he ran around naked after his quick shower to wash the pollen off his head and body) and he was looking lanky, like a little boy instead of a toddler.