Summer Adventures with Audrey 2014: Week 4
Monday, June 30th
Audrey has been working on keeping her bed dry in the night. I am happy to report that this milestone has been exceptionally (and surprisingly!) easy. I think we eased in to it well since she has pretty much mastered potty training with a few poop accidents here and there. Plus, when she was sleeping in a diaper at night, more often than not, she'd wake up dry anyway. So I made another Potty Poster for her - this one just for the night time. We made a big deal about being a big girl and keeping her bed dry and if she gets up in the night and uses the potty, she can come in Mommy & Daddy's bed, etc. Her goal was to have 7 out of 10 nights dry in order to get a prize. Well, she actually got 8 out of 10! We were so proud of her! Even the two times she wet the bed it wasn't that bed. I put extra bedding pads under her sheets and she only soaked through to the first one. I just stripped the bed, stripped her, changed her, and threw everything in the washing machine. It was quick enough for us to go back to sleep right away.
Anyway, her prize was to go to Build-a-Bear! I took her to Downtown Disney since the one closest to us (Ontario Mills) was closed for remodeling. I also told her we'd have lunch at Rainforest Cafe. I told her that but not what her surprise was. Boy, she went on and on about eating at the cafe! She was more excited about that than her actual surprise! But then when Build-a-Bear was in sight I told her what she would be doing. I think she was confused so she stopped to look at a fountain instead of leaping for joy toward the Build-a-Bear! Haha...
When we got in there, I told her she could pick a doll to make. There were different kinds of bears, even Disney Princess bears, but what caught her eye right away were some My Little Ponies - especially Rainbow Dash. So she built herself a Rainbow Dash. The whole process was very sweet. She was the only one in there at the time so she got a lot of attention. She helped stuff the bear, picked out a heart, did a "heart ceremony" with the lady helping us, and then got to brush Rainbow Dash's hair and pick out some accessories. Lastly, we made a birth certificate and got a "home" for her doll (those big cardboard house boxes). She had to stop right outside the store to get Rainbow Dash out of the box again and play with her. It was really cute.
It was still too early for lunch so we stopped at the LEGO store. She played with the Duplo LEGOs and guess what she built - "a cafe"! I'm telling you she was so jazzed about going to this cafe! Then, around 11:30, I couldn't wait any longer so we went over to Rainforest Cafe. She was so excited and loved looking at everything. We'd taken her to a Rainforest Cafe before but I guess she didn't remember that we had been to one before (she was only just barely 2 so I could understand not remembering). We sat down and she got a frog hat and a lady took our picture for purchase. She decided what she wanted to order and started coloring her menu. Then the rain storm happened and she got a little scared. I proposed we trade seats since she didn't like the gorilla (which was behind me but facing her). We switched seats and the rain storm happened again right away and this time it was a lot louder. Poor Audrey! She covered her face with her hands and started whimpering about wanting her Mommy. I told her I was there and that this was all pretend. She really didn't like it and was really freaking out. I asked if she wanted to leave and she said yeah. Since our waiter hadn't come yet, we just got up and left. It wasn't worth it to me to stay if she was really that scared. But it was just so sad and anti-climatic! She had been talking about the cafe all morning, built a LEGO cafe, and then ended up being terrified of it! She kept talking (even days later) about how the gorilla was "loud in her ears."
We ended up at a McDonald's with a play structure so it was all good... :)
Tuesday, July 1st
I went in to work in the morning and saw my principal. I really just needed her to sign my loan forgiveness documents but I also got some work done on my Cal Poly Pomona application. Have I mentioned I'm applying for an admin credential and Master's? Well, I am. It's going slowly so hopefully I can get it all together in the next few weeks since it's due August 1st! Then I was at Pomona Hope to help Jelitza with the dances for Princess and the Frog. We got all of them set and she videotaped me so she can remember the steps to teach the kids. The program just started the day before but it sounded like the kids were receptive to her, which is good! I lazed around the rest of the afternoon.... because it's summer and I can!
Wednesday, July 2nd
Wet and Wild Wednesday with Grandma & Papa! We swam in the pool - Audrey was a lot more comfortable with her whale floating device. She likes throwing things in the pool the best. I'm thinking maybe next summer we'll try real swim lessons. :) We went to the Arcadia Mall with Dave and Janet who treated us to CPK. Audrey hardly ate anything but I had a delicious Waldorf Chicken salad. Then we rode the train - another one of Audrey's favorites! In the evening, I took Audrey over to Pomona Hope because they were showing the movie "Princess and the Frog" for the kids to understand the context for the drama workshop. She was so cute watching the movie and kept telling us how she likes Raymond (a firefly) the best because "he says he has a big butt!" (Anything having to do with butt humor is hilarious to our almost 3 year old... go figure?)
I'm going to end the update here because Thursday was July 3rd and Audrey and I started the holiday weekend on that day. We were in Encinitas with Dad, Jim, Cassie, Jackson, and Jeff (for part) and Uncle Tom and Aunt Karen for July 4th. I'll post a longer entry about our longer weekend later - gonna watch "Wolf of Wall Street" with Jeff now!
Audrey has been working on keeping her bed dry in the night. I am happy to report that this milestone has been exceptionally (and surprisingly!) easy. I think we eased in to it well since she has pretty much mastered potty training with a few poop accidents here and there. Plus, when she was sleeping in a diaper at night, more often than not, she'd wake up dry anyway. So I made another Potty Poster for her - this one just for the night time. We made a big deal about being a big girl and keeping her bed dry and if she gets up in the night and uses the potty, she can come in Mommy & Daddy's bed, etc. Her goal was to have 7 out of 10 nights dry in order to get a prize. Well, she actually got 8 out of 10! We were so proud of her! Even the two times she wet the bed it wasn't that bed. I put extra bedding pads under her sheets and she only soaked through to the first one. I just stripped the bed, stripped her, changed her, and threw everything in the washing machine. It was quick enough for us to go back to sleep right away.
Anyway, her prize was to go to Build-a-Bear! I took her to Downtown Disney since the one closest to us (Ontario Mills) was closed for remodeling. I also told her we'd have lunch at Rainforest Cafe. I told her that but not what her surprise was. Boy, she went on and on about eating at the cafe! She was more excited about that than her actual surprise! But then when Build-a-Bear was in sight I told her what she would be doing. I think she was confused so she stopped to look at a fountain instead of leaping for joy toward the Build-a-Bear! Haha...
When we got in there, I told her she could pick a doll to make. There were different kinds of bears, even Disney Princess bears, but what caught her eye right away were some My Little Ponies - especially Rainbow Dash. So she built herself a Rainbow Dash. The whole process was very sweet. She was the only one in there at the time so she got a lot of attention. She helped stuff the bear, picked out a heart, did a "heart ceremony" with the lady helping us, and then got to brush Rainbow Dash's hair and pick out some accessories. Lastly, we made a birth certificate and got a "home" for her doll (those big cardboard house boxes). She had to stop right outside the store to get Rainbow Dash out of the box again and play with her. It was really cute.
It was still too early for lunch so we stopped at the LEGO store. She played with the Duplo LEGOs and guess what she built - "a cafe"! I'm telling you she was so jazzed about going to this cafe! Then, around 11:30, I couldn't wait any longer so we went over to Rainforest Cafe. She was so excited and loved looking at everything. We'd taken her to a Rainforest Cafe before but I guess she didn't remember that we had been to one before (she was only just barely 2 so I could understand not remembering). We sat down and she got a frog hat and a lady took our picture for purchase. She decided what she wanted to order and started coloring her menu. Then the rain storm happened and she got a little scared. I proposed we trade seats since she didn't like the gorilla (which was behind me but facing her). We switched seats and the rain storm happened again right away and this time it was a lot louder. Poor Audrey! She covered her face with her hands and started whimpering about wanting her Mommy. I told her I was there and that this was all pretend. She really didn't like it and was really freaking out. I asked if she wanted to leave and she said yeah. Since our waiter hadn't come yet, we just got up and left. It wasn't worth it to me to stay if she was really that scared. But it was just so sad and anti-climatic! She had been talking about the cafe all morning, built a LEGO cafe, and then ended up being terrified of it! She kept talking (even days later) about how the gorilla was "loud in her ears."
We ended up at a McDonald's with a play structure so it was all good... :)
Tuesday, July 1st
I went in to work in the morning and saw my principal. I really just needed her to sign my loan forgiveness documents but I also got some work done on my Cal Poly Pomona application. Have I mentioned I'm applying for an admin credential and Master's? Well, I am. It's going slowly so hopefully I can get it all together in the next few weeks since it's due August 1st! Then I was at Pomona Hope to help Jelitza with the dances for Princess and the Frog. We got all of them set and she videotaped me so she can remember the steps to teach the kids. The program just started the day before but it sounded like the kids were receptive to her, which is good! I lazed around the rest of the afternoon.... because it's summer and I can!
Wednesday, July 2nd
Wet and Wild Wednesday with Grandma & Papa! We swam in the pool - Audrey was a lot more comfortable with her whale floating device. She likes throwing things in the pool the best. I'm thinking maybe next summer we'll try real swim lessons. :) We went to the Arcadia Mall with Dave and Janet who treated us to CPK. Audrey hardly ate anything but I had a delicious Waldorf Chicken salad. Then we rode the train - another one of Audrey's favorites! In the evening, I took Audrey over to Pomona Hope because they were showing the movie "Princess and the Frog" for the kids to understand the context for the drama workshop. She was so cute watching the movie and kept telling us how she likes Raymond (a firefly) the best because "he says he has a big butt!" (Anything having to do with butt humor is hilarious to our almost 3 year old... go figure?)
I'm going to end the update here because Thursday was July 3rd and Audrey and I started the holiday weekend on that day. We were in Encinitas with Dad, Jim, Cassie, Jackson, and Jeff (for part) and Uncle Tom and Aunt Karen for July 4th. I'll post a longer entry about our longer weekend later - gonna watch "Wolf of Wall Street" with Jeff now!