Alaina is still equally delightful and frustrating. She likes to cuddle and often wants to be carried as much or more than Ellie does (though I suppose that might be partly because of Gabrielle). Often I have Lainey on my hip and Ellie by the hand.
Laines is exuberant and happy most of the time, but can also be painfully whiny and clingy, especially in the morning. So far I'd classify her as a "night person." In the picture below she's "cutting" her hair by sucking it up in the vacuum (anyone remember that old infommerical?). She also "cut" my hair that way and the vacuum just hasn't been the same since.
Alaina not really into coloring or drawing, though sometimes she "writes the alphabet" by pretending to scribble words. I remember Liz being more into coloring and drawing, but when Alaina's encouraged to draw something she begs us to do it for her. She is really into playdough and our homemade moon dough/sand right now. We started with two bins of moon dough with eight cuts of flour each. We've spilled so much that we have consolidated to one container now and it's looking pretty sparse (though Lainey's spills are accidental not intentional like naughty Ellie).
She still fights me on wearing coats, legging, tights, and sometimes even shoes and/or socks. She regularly tells me that she likes the cold and likes being cold. Luckily it's been a mild winter.
She loves gum and often steals mine. So funny, since I can probably still count the amount of gum Liz has had on one hand--she's just not interested (and didn't like mint flavor for so long). With Alaina and Ellie, I finally have to hide my gum stash and keep them out of my purse. Another difference between Liz and Lainey right now is that Liz wants to listen to stories in the car whereas Alaina only wants music.
Alaina loves her "tiny chapter" book. It's actually a small Book of Mormon that I bought Drew years ago so he could read on the metro during his commute. Lainey has claimed it as her own and she's very attached. When she rides her bike it's in the trike's trunk, she often brings it with her in the car or on outings, and sometimes even sleeps with it. She's frowning in the following picture because she thought I was going to take her "tiny chapter." No, no kid. I just want a picture for mission farewell.
It's very important to her that people know her name. When she tells me who her friends are she'll usually say something like, "Eliza my friend. She know my name." And when I asked if she liked her teacher she said, "Uh huh. Her know my name." Sometimes when Ellie babbles at Lainey, Laines get's upset because she thinks Ellie is calling her some other name. It's frustrating for me as well because obviously Elle is not trying to disrespect Lainey's name (and she can actually say Lainey, she was just talking about something else).
Lainey is very into prince and princesses. She still asks if she can "be a princess" meaning wear a dress or puffy skirt (or dress-up costumes) and if I put her in pants she sometimes dissolves into tears and says "you made me a prince!" She even has to be fancy when she sleeps and insists on nightgowns, though sometimes she also wears leotards or swimsuits to bed. She got a prince and princess for Christmas, but she still prefers a couple hand-me-down dolls from m childhood (the blonde one is the prince and he's naked because we don't have boy clothes for "him").
Alaina is loving her Joy School class now and is excited to go (instead of crying like last semester). I'm currently researching preschools for next year--can't believe she's already old enough. She has acclimated well to her Sunbeam class at church (especially now that I'm not teaching the class right behind her). After church yesterday she exclaimed, "Mommy! That was SO fun!" She's also enjoying her ballet class. We paid for it with her Christmas money from Nana and Papa so thanks again, it's been wonderful for her. Once a week is almost not enough for her. She keeps saying "I need more ballet," pronouncing ballet with an emphasis on the first syllable.
Alaina is pretty good at
expressing her feelings. Often saying, "that made me sad" or "I feel sad." When she gets angry she makes mad face and squeezes her little hands into fists or sometimes tries to squeeze by arm or hand (doesn't hurt, but the intent is there so we're trying to nip it in the bud).
Alaina says stuff that I didn't expect to hear for a few more years, sometimes telling me "this is boring" or "don't talk to me" while holding up her hand talk-to-the-hand style. The other night she locked herself and her friend in her room. She's so excited about locking her bedroom door now and making us knock or ring the pretend doorbell to get in. That night I was trying to get five little girls in bed and I wasn't in the mood for games so I demanded the opened the door and started counting. She opened the door and said, "Mom! You embarrassed me!" Already? I also love to hear her say actually, busy (uses it correctly and to mean dizzy), and.
She's still not potty trained. I keep putting it off because I dread it and because she doesn't seem interested, but last week she told me she was poppy while we were at Target. I took her to the bathroom expecting to change a diaper, but really she wanted to sit on the potty. And she actually pooped! I probably should have started training her that day, but I've dragged my feet (I actually planned to train today, but didn't do it). Sorry Lainey. Mommy's lazy and she's dreading the mess--oh, and being home-bound for days on end.
She's entered that winner-loser stage where she's aware of these designations and always wants to be the winner, crying and complaining if she loses. It's frustrating enough when it's an actual game or race and she's a poor sport, but it's downright maddening when she pitches a fit when she loses something that no one but her saw as a competition. Today she cried when Lizzie walked up the stairs ahead of her and "won" and later in the car when she sang a song she turned to Lizzie and said, "I won. I you lost. Ha ha."
