Adjustment Period

We have been going through a week or so of several adjustments. The girls are moving into the toddler room at daycare, so their schedule is in the process of being changed. They eat lunch an hour earlier and they have only one nap per day instead of two. We also took away their pacifiers completely this past weekend. For about the last month or so, they’ve only had them at naptime and bedtime. So we haven’t noticed much of a difference except for now they cry themselves to sleep instead of going directly to sleep without a peep. Hopefully they will be able to adjust soon. One thing we have noticed is that they are sleeping in later with having less naptime during the day. Hooray!

The girls have been walking on their own into and out of daycare the past few times. I am very excited about this! Unless it’s snowy or icy, I let them walk. This means I no longer have to drag out the stroller, transfer them from the car to the stroller, wheel them into daycare, take them out of the stroller, and store the stroller. Then reverse the process when I pick them up. It has been going well, except for this morning when Olivia decided she wanted to wander around the halls instead of going straight to her room. Oh well – what else can I expect!

They have really been into their baby dolls lately. They have three cousins on the way, so we have been trying to teach them how to be gentle with their babies. They haven’t learned yet – they carry their babies around by the leg, and shove them in the stroller head-first. I guess they won’t be babysitting anytime soon!! They also try to repeat a lot of words that we say (tractor, grandpa, duck) but they all come out sounding like “da-da.”

Olivia loves to tickle her Daddy. She lifts up the side of his shirt and “tickles” him in the side with her finger. Daddy giggles, and Olivia smiles because she thinks she got away with something. She also loves to play hide-and-seek. She is actually a very good finder. She has found us in places that we thought were pretty good hiding spots from a one-year-old!

Violet loves looking at books lately. She points to pictures and says “dat?” (meaning “what’s that?”). Last Monday night, when they were climbing up the stairs to go to bed, Violet said “night-night.” Jamie & I just looked at each other and said “Did Violet say that???” So far only Olivia had uttered that phrase!

Our newest challenge is at meal times. They think their arms are windshield wipers, and they swipe all of their food off their trays and onto the floor, laughing the whole time. We’ve tried different methods of discipline, but now after one warning we make them get down from their seat whether they are done eating or not. And so a different set of challenges begins!