I haven't had much to write about in the last few days. i figured no one would be too interested in reading about how we spent the weekend huddled around the fireplace watching Malcom in the Middle reruns.
Thankfully the sun was back out today, and we decided to get out and enjoy the beautiful 55 degree weather!
We were all ready to get out of the house!So, after morning nap, we loaded up and headed out to enjoy the sunshine. First stop was a Vietnamese restaurant. I'd been in the mood for some Vietnamese food, so i found a nearby restaurant and we tried it out. We were underwhelmed by the food, and the service was....well, it was actually terrible, so i don't think we will be back. also nova had a slight choking episode on a piece of shrimp and caused a bit of a ruckus.
The day got better from there, however. We dropped Cris off to get a haircut, and then the girls and I headed down to Old Colorado City to explore some of the little shops there. Nova has been particularly insistent about walking everywhere these days. I let them roam free along the sidewalks while we window shopped, and they LOVED it. They collected handfulls of leaves and rocks, and really enjoyed being out and about like "big girls".
After we picked Cris up we made a last minute decision to make a quick afternoon trip to the zoo. We have never been to the zoo in the afternoon, and i have to say, it was by far the most amazing trip to the zoo EVER! There was literally no one at the zoo. there were probably a total of about 5 families in the entire zoo. It was also very near feeding time for all the animals, so they were all out of their normal hiding places and pacing around making a big show. The giraffes were HILARIOUS! usually there are so many people feeding them crackers that they could care less if they get any more crackers. this time Juneau was the only one feeding them, and they were going Crazy! She had like 10 giraffes gathered around her, and they all had their huge purple tongues hanging out and licking all over her. She loved it! Nova even actually participated this time.
The Lion was phenomonal. he was right up next to the glass, and kept giving juneau and nova the eyeball. he stared right at us for the longest time. 
I can't believe we didn't have a camera for this zoo trip, but here is a little glimpse of the lion taken with Cris' cell.
Then we headed up to the mall to have some chic-fil-a and play in the indoor playground. This always wears the girls out, and they usually fall asleep on the ride home (which is great!)
Here are some pics from our day.
Nova looking cute for a fun day!
Nova loves these dolls because they are really heavy. she carries them both around all the time.
Cris has always been the one to clip the girls fingernails. it's so cute because they actually love it, and both think it's so special to get to sit on daddy's lap and get their nails cut. Juneau chews hers down to the skin, so she usually doesn't have much to cut, but still likes the process.
Nova's nails are little daggers. we both have injuries from hers if we don't keep up with them!
Bathtime!
Juneau particularly loves to take a bath, and would stay in the tub indefinately if allowed.
bathtime is the most fun with your sister!
Our big challenge for the last couple of weeks has been sleeping issues with Juneau. Part of the problem is she has developed a deathly fear of the dark. she doesn't even like riding in the van at night. At the first mention of bed she starts screaming bloody murder, and can keep it up for an hour or more on her worst nights (and naps). We have tried a million techniques. First we tried just staying in the room with her, but she refused to actually go to sleep and if we tried to leave she would scream. We tried leaving plenty of lights on, but that didn't work. We tried putting a pack n play in the adjoing room (which does happen to be a bathroom :) and transferring her into the pack n play to try calm herself down. She actually started preferring that, and asking to sleep in the bathroom, so that didn't work. We tried ignoring her, but she can literally scream "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy" for up to an hour (which makes it just a little bit hard for Nova - or any of our neighbors for that matter - to fall asleep). I tried making a really fun bedtime routine, with reading books, and singing, and brushing teeth, and saying prayers. all of that worked out great until it came time for us to leave the room. i just don't know what to do about it, and it is starting to wear us thin as she does it at nap and bedtime. She also has a problem when she wakes up - she doesn't just wake up nicely in the morning. she wakes up screaming (which of course wakes nova up - usually at about 5 a.m.). Anyway, i am hoping to have some sort of parental epiphany about how to solve the problem - but so far, no such luck.
2 comments:
Our 2 yr. old from VN USED to go sleep well. Now she whimpers, fights it, is afraid of the dark and screams for mommy. We have a small lamp we leave on that has helped some. She will ask for "light on" after story time. We also get her to at least sit in the crib while one of us holds her hand, sitting on the floor outside the crib. Then she'll lay down but still screams if we go to leave. We've slept on the floor next to the crib until she falls asleep. We've also let her cry it out some nights, not more than 10 minutes or so and not if the crying gets too frantic. It's hard. Let me know what ends up working and I'll share too IF I figure something out. ;0)
The zoo sounds great, I love places like that when they are empty.
You should hang the pic of the two girls in the tub in your bathroom -so cute.
I cringed when I read about the sleep issue. We just went through something similar but not as severe with Faith and she thankfully came out of it within two weeks or so. However, our nerves were fried and we did not know what to do. There is something about not sleeping and having your child scream that is more frustrating than most struggles. I will pray (literally) that you find something that will work soon!
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