Clever Girl...

Warning: don't watch this video clip if you've never seen Jurassic Park and/or it bothers you to see someone being eaten by a dinosaur. 

What on earth was the point of that, you ask? Calm down, I'll explain. ;o) So, as everyone residing on planet Earth knows by now, Ava is very strong-willed, and very smart...which is actually kind of a scary combination in a 3-year-old. She has figured out that she would rather do as she pleases than receive any kind of reward, treat, sticker, etc. In many cases, punishment won't work either or we are limited in our options (I cannot let her have an all-out crazy tantrum at 3am, for example, because we have a baby to think about and I may be good, but I'm not wrangle-a-screaming-baby-and-a-tantrumming-preschooler-in-the-middle-of-the-night good). Over the past few months of dealing with her, I've come to realize it's much like the video clip above: I may think I've got everything under control, that I'm handling a situation and I've got her right where I want her, but the next thing I realize, she's been handling me the whole time. As frustrating as this is, I can't help but think, "Clever girl!" I talked to Craig a little while ago and am begging him to back me up in adhering to a strict schedule with her. Hopefully this will eventually stamp out any notion she has that the bedtime routine and where she sleeps at night are negotiable. As much as I miss work now more than ever, I'm very grateful for not having to worry about a job on top of everything else.

Strangely enough, CJ is the only one in the house who currently sleeps like a pro: he's inconsistent, but on his "bad" nights, he'll wake up to eat after six hours (but then go right back down again for a few more hours). On his best nights--two this week--he has slept straight through from 10pm-8am!!!! It's AWESOME. If I could only get my firstborn to sleep, I'd be in a great place right now! He is such a sweetie too...he smiles and laughs a LOT, and I love acting like an idiot just to make him do it. :) He's also begun taking bottles from Craig, woohoo! I'm not planning on switching to bottles anytime soon (going to start slowly transitioning when he starts eating food) but it's good to know he will now take bottles, and not only from me.

The in-laws visited last weekend and we had a great time! Ava loves her grandparents and was mostly good for them, she kept the ornery behavior to a minimum and was pretty loving most of the time. Good heaven, that girl could have everyone wrapped around her finger if she was always as sweet as I know she can be...maybe the tantrums are a necessary evil to keep us from spoiling her. ;o)

That's about it for now, I am not doing pictures in this post as I'm going to bed. Wish me luck!