I'm a sewing machine....pun intended (TEEHEE!!)

(It's been sunny - can you tell my nose is burnt?)

What? Two posts back to back? SHOCKING!! Yes, it has been a busy while. I've been working, sewing (or at very least cutting out fabric), dealing with a teething baby who's sleep patterns are a little altered, dealing with a challenging pretty-close-to-3-year-old, and living life! It gets busy with all these things going on!

I'm happy to have at least made a small batch of blankets and slings so far for the craft fair in August, and have a handful more cut out. I will be setting to work tomorrow night after the kids go to bed and sewing my little brains out until either I finish, or I fall asleep at the machine.

Yes, I'm a little sleepy. Why? Well, Pito is teething, and Plava is almost three. Dare I explain?

As an almost three year old, Plava is full of questions, chatter, songs, interesting thoughts, imagination, kisses and hugs, and a good measure of defiance. A few of the words she now knows very well are: RULE, LISTEN, TIME-OUT, OBEY, NAUGHTY, POLITE, and RUDE. Sigh! You may be able to understand what we're going through from those words.

I somehow mysteriously missed something in all the conversations I've had with older parents about parenting. Everyone knows that the "terrible twos" are a challenge. It's a famous time in a kid's life when they realize that they have a will and can exert it. What I didn't know, as I braced myself and tore through the twos, certain that on the other side would emerge a peaceful little being, content with the rules around her and confident in a consistent couple of parents, was that the threes are WAY HARDER than the twos!! Yes, I've now learned the term "troublesome threes" or "testing threes".

Plava is great, don't get me wrong. Like I mentioned above, she has some really fun and great things about her age and her little personality. But wow. She is one firm-minded kid. It seems that every rule I've set up is being broken. Every button I have is being pressed. Every inch of my patience being challenged. I heard someone say that in the twos, the kids are exerting their will without really knowing what they're doing. During the threes, they know full well what they're doing while they exert it. It's quite a challenge!!

But I'm happy that we're beyond the initiation phase where we look at each other and say, "What are we doing? How do we deal with this? She scares me! WAAAAH!!" Haha, okay, we don't actually cry. :) No, we've forged on and are now adapting to the new phase and are becoming more consistent with our parenting again. Time-outs, following through on punishments, and discovering my "firm" voice have really been paying off. It doesn't diminish the behavior, but just lets her know that it's not okay to do certain things, and that consequences exist.
Pito, herself, is really coming into her own personality. She's got quite a loud voice on her and is quick to let us know if something is wrong, or if she's feeling happy, or if there's anything at all to communicate. It's really funny. She is what I like to call a "determined" baby. She knows what she wants and it always surprises me when Plava or I take something away from her and she bursts into a fiery frustrated cry. She really communicates clearly!!

She unfortunately is having a bit of a tough time too though. She's trying her very hardest to get her bottom teeth out. Ack! With Plava, she'd be whiny for a couple months and then would be miserable for a few days before they popped out, but Pito has been seriously miserable for about a week and a half now and still no teeth! MERCY!!

(Here she is hanging out with her cousin E and Papa.)

Because of the teething, and because she's just herself in general, sleep has been rather sporadic. Nights are long and she's up quite a few times. I thank GOD every time I leave her room that she's so much easier to put to bed than Plava was! WOW. I remember writing blogs about trying for hours to get Plava to sleep, rocking her, tiptoeing out of her room only to have her wake up when I reach the door, learning exactly where the creaky spots on the floor were. With Pito, I haven't snuck out of her room ONCE. It's wonderful!!

So I can't really complain about the nights much, even though I have to get up numerous times and I'm not getting a good sleep. I'm sure she'll be sleeping through the night within a couple months and then I'll REALLY have nothing to complain about!!

Aaaah, for all the work though, these two girls are just lovely. I love them! It's so fun being a little family of 4, and although it's way too early to start thinking seriously about it, I do think rather favourably about the idea of having more. How could I not? It's so much fun! YIPPEE!!