Rylee growing in her garden!

Rylee growing in her garden!
Rylee happy after planting her seedlings

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Cleaning up and other big girl stuff....

I know how to clean up and get dressed and jump up and down. Ella can't do all that stuff. I feel sad for her.

Yet, I am happy that I can do those things. I can also do tricks like standing on my hands. I can stand on one foot and spin on one foot! Mommy says, 'WOW!" when I do that.

I like this week better, because I am making the right choices and not getting into trouble. I am not doing bad stuff. This week I am saying please and thank you, helping around house, helping my Mommy with Ella, and using my listening ears much more than the last couple of weeks. SO, I have been getting A LOT of stickers for listening and using good manners. So, soon I will be able to see Tangled with my Mommy.

(Me and my sister Ella playing. Ella is learning how to walk in walker. I
am sooo proud!!!)

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Tantrums

Normally, my Mommy writes these posts through my eyes, today Mommy is narrator:

Rylee Margaret was an EASY baby in many ways. Of course, sleep wasn't perfect, and there were some bumps in the road with breast feeding, but overall she was a joy to be around. Happy, no major illnesses and hardly any tantrums. She seemed to have a bit of seasonal disorder in the late Fall and early Winter, because every year she has trouble sleeping at that time. We had to do cry it out every early spring, because she would need to sleep with us for any of us to get sleep. That stubbornness exhibited in her fits in her crib were precursors to what we have been going through with our little 4 year princess since Ella was born. She LOVES her sister and NEVER really acts out towards Ella, but it comes out in many other ways lately.

Transitions ARE THE MOST DIFFICULT times lately: Getting dressed, tub time, and cleaning up, leaving a fun place, etc..... are the times when she goes ballistic. She had a 2 month spell of this in May and June of 2010 and she has been tantrum-ing at least once a day for about a month and half recently. We have tried time outs, sticker charts, spanking, taking away toys, etc... Things are better this week, but nothing really seems to work when she is in this mode.

Also, she has developed HUGE fears / phobias around her booboos and stairs. She fell down one stair in early February, which until recently, I had forgotten about, and ever since that she is EXTREMELY afraid of stairs again. The "boo-boo" from that minor fall was virtually non-existent. She spends much of her time asking for band-aids and obsessing over lines in her hands, saying that they are booboos.

Next Tuesday, we are taking her to Dr. W for a behavior appointment to address these major tantrums over minor issues to find out what we should be doing.

When she isn't tantruming, she is an amazing little girl, with an awesome imagination. I feel as if I spend much of my day negotiating with a four year old, instead of playing and enjoying our time together. Hopefully we will all find happier moments soon.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

What I Can DO!!!

rylee ~ I just typed my own name!!!!!

I can do tricks, like standing on my hands and feet with one foot up!

I can recognize most of my colors.

I can recognize the letters: L, R, E, X, Y, O, Q, Z, B.

I know all of my ABCs!

I know how to count from 1 - 12 without messing up!

I know most of my shapes, including diamond, triangle, rectangle, oval, circle, square. I know that a stop sign is an octagon.

I know how to rhyme now. I know that cat and bat rhyme. : )

I know how to use my imagination by playing dress up, puppet shows, and making up lots for stories and songs.