I'm in charge

Clair is really testing her limits. She gets away with more bossiness and more of having things her way then Max or Ellie ever did. I'm starting to get a little concerned about it at times. We are trying to remember to not laugh (which is honestly more of the tendency at this point with number three and no babies to follow) but to discipline her.

Yesterday it was time to come up for a nap and she yelled at me, "No."  When I reminded her that I was in charge, she looked at me and firmly replied, "No, I'm the boss. I'm in charge of you." She cautiously looked at me to see what would happen next.

I quickly lowered my eyes to her and responded with something like, "Excuse me, who is the mother here?"

Her response was then something like, "Me, I'm the mom."

It was naptime and I gave her a quick choice / bribe which she decided to comply with. Head up the stairs right now or no story. She gave in and did what was required, sort of.

This girl... she's giving me a run for my money. She won't be a rule follower when she doesn't want to be.

My Clair Bear Vonita....

Two more babies

Last night I'm laying in bed with Clair as she's trying to go to sleep. She lays on top of me and asks, "Why is your tummy so big?"

I sort of laugh and tell her it's because I've eaten too many treats.

I think the angle she was going is that she hoped for me to say because another baby was coming. Her response was "when will you have another baby?"

I told her there were no more babies coming and that she is my baby. I said I did want to have another boy though. She said she wants a baby girl too. She says I can have "Two more babies." as she puts up her two fingers to show me exactly what she wants, as to avoid any confusion with her ask.

I do think it's super sweet she's willing to relinquish the role of baby in the family. I do wish I felt I could handle another baby without sacrificing the relationship I have with the ones I have already, but I don't feel that way. Plus, my body couldn't handle it.

So, Clair Bear, I hope that you and your siblings continue to love and appreciate each other as a group of three. It's a good number!

Piano Girl

Ellie started piano officially 3 weeks ago. She wasn't sure if she wanted to do this or not, but I decided it was time to give it a try.

Three weeks later I'm totally convinced this is a great opportunity for her. She's enjoying it a lot and really excelling in her abilities to play the music. She's interested in practicing, she's asking questions, and she's generally looking forward to her lessons. This makes me so very happy!

Last night we tried Heart and Soul together for the first time. It was so much fun. She was interested in me trying to teach her something.

I hope that this continues. I'm proud of my girl. I am so thankful we took this leap!

Candy Man

Last night I went to tuck Max into bed. As I am straightening his bed, I find orange Tic Tacs and a candy cane hidden under his pillow.

The look on his face as I pull them out and look him in the eyes saying, "Maximilian John Cummings." It was serious, sad, worried, cautious, embarrassed and horrified. When I asked him why these were there he just kept saying, " I just wanted to look at them, i haven't eaten them." "Mommy, I just wanted to look at them." "Mommyyyyy"

I walked away, for time to think, and got David.

We go into his room to talk to him. He is very serious. He maintained that he hadn't eaten them and put them under his pillow because he thought he would be hungry a couple nights ago.  We told him we were disappointed. This is the third time we've caught him sneaking candy at night in the past year. He's not learning.

When I tucked him in I made sure he knows I love him. Everyone makes mistakes, including mommy. I mentioned that the important thing is that we all learn from our mistakes and don't keep making the same mistakes twice. His question, " Do even Grannies make mistakes?" I laughed and said, "yes, they just make less mistakes because they have had more time to learn from their first mistakes in life."

He was baffled at the fact Grannies make mistakes, not so much that mommy's make mistakes though. This makes me smile.

I left him telling him we would think about his punishment and I have no idea still what that will be. I love my boy. I wish this wasn't such a big deal for him.

Being 3 is tough

Tonight after dinner Ellie and I were sitting at the piano and I was trying to teach her Heart and Soul. After about 5 minutes I turn around and Clair runs to hide her face behind a chair. I stand up and ask what's wrong, as I can see in her eyes something's up. She steps aside and her face changes as she yells, "Mommy, you ruined my feelings." and bursts into tears!

She had drawn all over her face. I gave her a disapproving look, where inside I was somewhat smiling. She loses it!

I told her it wasn't that big a deal and picked her up and put her on my lap. We sat there and reminisced about Ellie doing this same thing with a more permanent pink marker at the same age on the plane back from Scotland. Clair wasn't really amused, but she stopped crying as she wanted to ask to see the picture of Ellie when she did it to herself.

These girls are something else. She went between smiling and crying a few times, worried about what she had done. It mostly came off right away in the tub, thankfully.