Wonderful Day!

Last night was terrible so we weren't expecting much.  We were up every 2 hours or so chasing children out of the refrigerator.

This morning Bug was up before Squirrel and went downstairs and was quietly playing with her tea set and the paper from her new Frozen underwear (the packaging is liked more than the underwear).  There were very few moments where the girls were directly defiant today.  One was Sissy standing on a kid's chair (which is now in the basement) and the other was going in areas of the library that we asked them not to.   

The morning was so smooth that Squirrel even texted me at work that they were in no hurry for me to come home!  I hope that next week goes this well when there are days that I should work the full day.  One unique thing that happened this morning is that Sissy cleaned up all the toys before asked.  She is learning that we praise for the good behavior.  We have started to withdraw from bad behavior so that helps.  Early on with the girls we responded to nearly everything so that they knew we were always there, but now we are very stern when there is attention seeking bad behavior if we address it at all. 

After lunch of fish sticks, rice (by request), and peas we all headed to the library.  We did very well at the library and our favorite things were the puzzles.  Bug was intrigued by the other little ones and Sissy was a bit possessive of a block puzzle (she did "help" some big kids do it a few times), but we kept our voices reasonable and had some self control.  A week ago we probably would have completely cleared the shelves, but today we picked up one book at a time.  At the end of our visit we knew it was done when Sissy started grabbing book after book.  We also had timed the library right before nap time.

Arriving home we served our afternoon snack and Sissy was out almost instantly.  Bug stayed awake and we gave her some more blocks.  These two love blocks.  After Sissy's nap we again played nicely so we decided to try another outing and go out for Mexican.  On our way to the restaurant we took a detour through a parking lot that the kids always remark about (for some reason they love this particular lot) and by the time we reached the restaurant (which is only a mile from home) Bug was sound asleep.  Throughout the entire meal during which she slept on my lap I jostled her, poked her, tried to gently wake her, but she slept on.  Sissy ate very well and loves tomatoes, sour cream, and did well with her rice.  She would not try the guacamole.  At the end of the meal we knew we had to go as Sissy was getting a bit antsy.  Bug woke up as we walked out.  It was Art Walk downtown and as we were driving we noticed a group of drummers so we circled back and parked.  We walked down and the kids loved watching them.  Earlier today Squirrel had them drumming on coasters (so they would quit hitting furniture) and we really need to get them some hand drums.  We did a short walk downtown and then we decided to brave a store.

We needed some childproofing items so we headed to the hardware store.  They rode in the carts  without issue.  We got our items and we even bought some flowers.  The only worries were when Bug could not see Sissy she was very anxious.

Bug ate all of Sissy's leftovers, and this kid loves beans.  We had no arguments about getting in the bath.  We did however poop in the tub again.  Sissy has now been told that next time she gets to clean it herself and she doesn't seem to like that idea so hopefully it stops.  Hair combing went wonderful and bed was better than usual.  This is the first night that the whole day feels what we would expect of toddlers.  Yes, we did climb in the fridge, but I did put a child latch on it after bed tonight.

We now have 2 happy kids.  No major angry toddler tales from Bug today and a lot less boundary testing from Sissy.  Hopefully we continue to be this way this weekend as we would love to take them to see the Frozen characters tomorrow and to a fly-in pancake breakfast on Sunday.

Maybe the difference today is that we also didn't have to take them to any appointments with strange adults?

We have started singing songs in the car as a group. Today it was 'Old MacDonald'. I don't think the girls had heard this one before as they didn't join in the singing fun. After we went through a few different animals, we quit singing in the front seat and the little voices in the backseat piece mailing this song back together as best they could, in those little voices was just TOO CUTE!   We have decided that in addition to the Dynamic Duo taking over our Netflix account; We should also (gulp).. find a kiddo music CD for the car rides. I know kids learn through song.. but the other cars at the red lights may just wonder why Squirrel is banging her head against the glass.

The girls are truly becoming happy giggling singing toddlers... and its wonderful.