March

It has been amazingly beautiful outside lately. Rained for our usual two month straight stretch of winter, and then the sun has been out so much lately. It's still next to impossible to get any work done in the yard between chasing Avery around and wearing Rowan, but hey, there's always next year for flowers, and little helpers.

I can't remember if I've mentioned we got a couple of ducks now. The pond is dug down at the back of our yard, and Steve put up a snake rail fence around it, so yes the girls can still get into the pond, it will stop them from doing it quickly. I was having major anxiety about two toddlers and an open pond. The ducks are set up underneath the chicken coop Steve built, and we haven't got our spring chicks yet. It will be great to have our own eggs, and meat birds. We actually eat eggs every day, and I cook everything from scratch, so we go through our fair share. I also have girlfriends who will gladly take in any extras. Avery loves walking around out there, and chasing the ducks around. They're from a farm that didn't keep ducks as pets, so they're still pretty unsure of us. I will have to get a picture of them.

Today was the last class of this sessions kindergym, and I'm going to enroll Avery in the next one. Taking her out around the other kids has shown me the importance of socialising the girls, and how great it is to see her slowly coming out of her shyness. She is so gentle and sweet, and she's laughing and playing, if only for me to hear her talk around the other kids. She is not into boys at all. They play so roughly, she actually just kind of freezes up around them, and it bugs me when other parents are ignoring their kids, but I have no problem telling a kid to not hit, or whatever.

I've been taking the girls to a play group up the road on Fridays. It's awesome that it's out here, so I don't have to make the commute to town, and the kids there might be in school with them, so I want the girls to meet other local kids. I didn't really go before because I felt really overwhelmed bringing them anywhere by myself, but now that Rowan is cruising around, crawling and independently playing, it's easier. Avery is quite shy with the other kids, and at the end of the hour, the kids all sit around little tables to have snack time. Now, I bring her own snack because of her gluten sensitivity, but she will not go with them. She just says no or screams at the suggestion of joining the others, so I let her play a bit more, and then I've been taking her home for lunch. Rowan's usually melting down by that time because the timing cuts into her nap time. I can't commit to staying home all the time for everyone's different nap times.

Speaking of naps, Avery has pretty much stopped napping. She started drifting off in the car after kindergym today, so I drove an extra 10 minutes, just to make sure she was totally passed out. I've been putting her down after lunch, and it has worked a couple times to run the dish washer during that time, but then she always seems to poop, which completely wrecks any chance of a nap. I guess because she's relaxed, the poop comes, and she is still recovering from that trauma. Most times though, she just cries, or talks in there, and then calls, " Out, Mama-Mama, out." It is completely driving me nuts! Her nap is the only down time to myself in the day, and I thought that kids were supposed to nap until they were at least 3. Most days she seems pretty fine without the nap, but others... Aaeeeiieee. Not so nice to be around Miss Avery. Let's hope this is a phase, and I will keep trying to put her down.

I'm going to switch Avery's crib to toddler bed this afternoon. I've been prepping her all week, saying we're going to switch you to a big girl bed, and I'm not sure she knows what I mean, but she climbs out of her crib, and seems to be consistent with going to sleep now that she's not napping. When her last molars were coming in, we had to do cry it out nightly, with regular check ins of course. She sure does test her boundaries. If it doesn't work for now, it'll be no big deal to put the crib side back on, and try again later. I just think it might be time. I'll probably put the baby gate that blocks our bedroom off in the day into her door frame. Our house is very well child proofed, and she plays well in it, but Daddy is not as diligent with locking the gates every time he goes through. I have to lock all 3 every morning, so I don't feel relaxed about the possibility of the wood stove being open, or the cat food/ litter is in her reach. Not that she'd touch the wood stove, but the cat poop....

We're still waiting for my girlfriend to go into labour. Her official due date was only yesterday, so it'll be any day now. I've got everything packed and ready. I have been trying to get as much rest as I can, and even went to bed at 8:00 last night. I did finally finish Voyager, the third book in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. I wish I had as much time to read as I used to. I only get time before bed, and have been falling asleep after half a page the last month, then reread the same thing the next night, only to fall asleep at about the same spot again. Avery's not napping, and me getting no down time leaves me exhausted by the end of the day. Anyhow, Steve seems to be on board and ready to take care of the girls whenever I do have to go.

Last, I'll share a link to Rowan walking with her walker. I can't seem to upload it onto my blog here. Click on the colored text. Enjoy!