Change and volcanoes

Rory is having a tough time adjusting to school. She doesn't like her teacher or the other students or the soap. She also doesn't like her new dance instructor (same school) or that there is only one kid from last year in her class. Lots of change, lots of anxiety and upset for her.  We are trying to give her extra quality time to make the change easier. And remember to be patient with her. It's tough because her language and intellect are beyond a 3 year old, we sometimes forget that emotionally, she's still very young. We had a few rough days of acting out. We eased up on her, reminded ourselves to be kind and patient, and we've seen some turn around.

Ryan is worried that she will hate school as much as he did, so he is has made it a priority to let her lead their play time together, sort of child-led exploration. This lead to a volcano experiment. I think it will be a tornado bottle next, she's obsessed with whirlpools.

I have the hardest time with patience because it is bloody mother effing hot around here, and that is my trigger. I am fine and good until I start sweating and then I need everyone the eff away from me. And we're having a streak of upper 90 degree weather that our a/c can barely take on. We did manage to make almond cupcakes today, and Rory decorated them with sprinkles. The frosting recipe was an absolute disaster. It stabilized when I added powdered sugar, but I didn't add enough. Oh well, the cake part was good. And I tried out like 5 of the new frosting tips my mom sent me and made strides at decorating.

Our adventure in assigned chores is amazing. No arguing, no letting things sit, everyone knows their job. And my house has never been cleaner. Even Rory surprised us tonight by graciously offering to clear plates after dinner. She also cleaned her room without any help from me, which is a first. She did a great job on it, too.

This is my last week before my new job starts. I'm glad we got the chore thing settled before I started. Rory gets six weeks to go from half time to full time (3p) school. We got two weeks to get some of our new schedule balanced out. Gradual change seems like the way to go right now.

I'm feeling great. The second trimester has started, which was the best one for me with Rory. Nausea gone, exhaustion gone. Excited to start feeling some movement. Showing a little bit (although, at the party I went to last night, everyone was surprised I am pregnant. I explained it was the spanx).

We have mellow week coming up. Nothing except for school, story time at the library, and dance. Saturday I'm taking Rory to get her pictures taken (yay, Groupon!). Just her, I don't think we need a new picture of us until the new one shows up.



First day of school. She insisted on the sweater.

"Rory, what does your 'smart' face look like?"
 







Lots of red in her hair these days.

A much needed nap after the first day of school.

Being a puppy.

Volcano time with Daddy.