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Thursday, July 23, 2009

204/365

Lucy 204/365

Annie 204/365

Today I am thankful for the excitement that comes with an upcoming birthday for Lucy. She is just beside herself as she waits for her big day. She knows that she has been getting packages in the mail recently. Today her big present from us got delivered. She is getting a dollhouse. There is a giant box by the door downstairs. It came while she was napping. I wondered what she would think about this. She woke up in the best mood from nap today and we went downstairs while Annie finished up her nap. I was holding her when she caught sight of it. She said she needed down right away. She marched over to that box and the questions started immediately:

What is this?
Is it for me?
Who sent this?
Should we open it?
Is it for my birthday?
This sure is a big box.
What do you think it is, Mom?
I really think we better open this package.

After I told her it might be for her birthday and that we had to wait, she just couldn't forget about it. Every time she has walked by this enormous box she has hugged it and said that she really can't wait to know what is in that box. So, so fun. There are some things about them getting older that are just awesome. But I still need her to stay my baby for a while longer.

Tonight Annie ate blackened tilapia like it was the best thing she has ever tasted. She cracks me up. I can't even begin to say how wonderful it is to have one child, even though it took a lot of work, that will just eat what I give her. Lucy has about 5 staples and if those foods were to disappear, she might just starve. She did eat really well tonight though and I got lots of fresh veggies down her, which is always a nice surprise for me. I think Annie eating everything at least makes her want to try things. She tried the fish tonight. Of course, she spit it out after she told me it was yucky, but I was still shocked she even put it in her mouth.

I tried something new tonight because I am just at my wits end with Lucy's mean behaviors toward Annie. We have done everything - about 150 time outs, talking with her about why we can't do these things, praising her to no end when she does something nice for Annie, etc. I can usually see when the aggressive act is about to happen and try and stop it before it happens. I saw it coming tonight but couldn't stop her in time. She made this mean face and then reached down and pinched Annie really hardly. And you know what, I reached over and pinched her right back. Now before you start lecturing me, I did NOT pinch her hard at all. In fact, I know it did not hurt at all, but she was SO shocked that it made a huge impact on her. She just looked at me and then started bawling crying. I had a talk with her about how that was not fun at all to be hurt by someone else, blah, blah, blah. She kind of moped around for 30 minutes. Then all of the sudden she snapped out of it and started apologizing to Annie over and over for pinching her and how she won't do that again. This has never happened before. I always have to tell her to say she is sorry and it is so obvious that she doesn't mean it. She shows no remorse for what she has done. Tonight when I was putting her to bed she was face to face laying down beside me and she said, "Momma, I really am sorry for pinching Annes. (Lucy and I call Annie Annes all of the time) I am not going to do that anymore." I also apologized for pinching her and I really do think that for the first time, we might have made some progress with this. She is not used to be bullied, she is always the bully, so it was an eye opening experience. Part of me feels guilty for pinching her, but I really was getting no where with her and think we might be getting there now.

Other than the pinching incident, we have had a great day. We went to the party store and I let Lucy pick out her balloons for the birthday party. She loved that. She also picked out some treats for the goody bags. Again, she is just so excited that she doesn't know what to do with herself. We also made some cookies while Annie was napping, so that was a really fun thing for just Lucy and me.

I love today's pictures. So sweet.

Some day Annie's big prints will be on the walls like her sister's. They have been on the dining room table for months.
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Why are my babies so stinking cute?
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Some days Lucy wants a "special treat" for getting her pictures done. She really turns it on when she wants something. She thinks this pose means treat. Ha. I assure you I did not teach her this.
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Evidence for those of you who doubt she can ever be a grump. Aren't her lips the best?
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LOVE this.
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Are you looking for me?
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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Kelly-
I can't find your e-mail address for some reason. Know how I commented that my friend designed the Blondie dress? Well, I e-mailed her a link to the post and she wants to know if she can use your pictures on her website. Please e-mail me at myminivanrocks@yahoo.com so I can put you in touch with her.
Tracy

Mom said...

Wow! So many pictures--and all of them fantastic! How hot is the weather??? Just shorts?? Church clothes?? Can't wait to see the big box myself!! It sounds like you made some inroads on the sisterly love thing--good job, kiddo. See you tomorrow. Love and kisses, Lee Lee

Jenny said...

when the girls were little and didn't get they had to be gentle I would pull their hair and pinch/bite them if they were doing it. It was the only thing that worked. And to this day (knock on wood) we have had very few biting and pinching or hair pulling. It feels really awful but it seemed to work if they can feel how awful it is. So yea, don't feel weird, others do it too.

And I am thinking dollhouse for Christmas so I will be curious to see how it goes.

Mom2J&I said...

Isabel has always been our "bully". She bites, hits, scratches & pulls hair. Poor Jackson. He will push her but that's about it. I finally after I caught her with her teeth sinking into Jackson's back, had enough and bit her back. That caught her off guard! I have had to "bite" her twice this week so it's too early to call but sometimes I think I'm getting thru to her. hopefully.

Pictures were BEAUTIFUL today!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Kelly,
I love all your pictures today and your girls are so very cute. I hope you continue to make progress with Lucy. Have you tried taking away privileges? My son is a handful, very stubborn and doesn't listen so if I use his toys to make a point he listens. Or I role play with his stuffed animals. Just a thought, these tactics usually work for my son just thought I would pass it along.
Take care,
Angela

Beth said...

Cute pictures, as always.
Don't feel bad for pinching Lucy. Hopefully it helps her realize that it's no fun to be on the receiving end of that. - Just a few days ago I warned my 4 year old that if she continued to be snotty to Mommy I would wash her mouth out with soap. She pushed it and pushed it, and I finally took the tiniest little dot of liquid soap and put it on her tongue. She bawled like I had poured the whole bottle down her throat. But, she hasn't been snotty since then... so far. :)

KrisJ said...

LOVE those pics too! So I have to say I have had to do the same thing .... never hurt but still sometimes a little shock to let them know what they are doing is all they need. Sometimes with parenting you have to go outside the box of what is considered ok and if you arent hurting them mentally or physically sometimes its just what is best for them. Isnt parenting sometimes so not fun!! I cant wait to be a grandparent so I can just have all the fun and not the discipline lady!

cydnee said...

Such cute pictures!! :)
Ya know, it was a very successful tactic with my boys, when we did what you did today. I felt bad at first, but I never did it very hard either and it really was the only thing that worked!! Hoping it really helps! :)

mimi lam said...

Lucy is a natural fashion diva, with all her effortless adorable poses, and expressions. I think today, Lucy has her real 1st discipline lesson, hopefully it won't happen again. Love the 2nd picture of grumpy Annie.

Elaine said...

As always, the pics of the girls are just so (as you put it) "so stinkin cute." They are sure growing up fast. I am sure even though Lucy will bully her sister, she truly loves her. Don't feel bad for having to pinch Lucy as I know you are NOT the only parent to do this. My son used to bite and pinch all the time. I finally bit him back one time and it was the hardest thing I had to do. Of course it wasn't near as hard as he would, but at least it was enough to show him how it feels and makes the person who got bit feel. Needless to say, the biting and pinching stopped. I also had tried everything else and nothing would work. It is a hard thing to do, but I think it really gets through to them.
Keep posting the cute pics, they really make a great start for my day.
Elaine

elisa said...

Don't feel bad about the pinch- I went through the same thing, only it was my younger one that was rough, always biting his older brother. Finally I told him to fight back, he did and that stopped it. I think they just don't have any idea that they are hurting the other person.

Ok, where did you get that awesome table? I have been searching everywhere for a big rustic farm table (I have 4 kids- I need big and durable). I LOVE yours.

And one more thing- we toss around the idea of moving back to Dallas all the time (we have lived there before, family is there, etc) but I can never find the perfect neighborhood. We lived by lakewood but now I really need good schools. Highland Park seems to be the only option. I would love to hear your thoughts as I think you are looking to move?

Loved the pictures on this post. Happy Birthday Lucy!

Jena said...

I am so glad you posted abt Lucy and her meanness and the pinching,we went through something very similar recently too!
Love your pics. as usual!
oh, I wanted to give you the link of our good friends who are photographers, I have been meaning to do this for a while, and I just didn't get around to it;
http://www.sandersonimages.com/blog/
our family is featured on the "Family Potriture" Section :)

Chandra said...

I'm glad the pinching in return worked! Clearly that shocked her into realizing what she was doing was not nice. Hopefully you'll see great progress now.

I can't get over how crazy tall Annie looks when she is standing up! Seriously she looks so long, how long is she??

lee said...

i love annie's face in the pic with the walker! so cute and such a zoe face!

sounds like little miss is in for a big birthday!
xoxo

Erica said...

I absolutely L-O-V-E that last b&w photo of Annie. Incredible. That needs to go up in the gallery for her. Just out of curiosity which lab do you use?