Well, Arley learned to pedal a bike this week! We have been trying to get him to pedal for so long, and he pretty much would try for three seconds and then get off screaming that he can't do it. I took him and Carmie to a new housing development where there are no cars, and perfect roads, and told him that he could do it (and then I bribed him with an ice block - popsicle - until he gave it a good go). It didn't take him long to catch on, but he is very slow going! He is very excited though, and when he got home he said to me, "I don't need my scooter anymore, I'm a bike-rider now!". He was very cute. And really well-behaved, to the point where I told Jeff we didn't need to get him evaluated, that he was obviously just in the end of his "terrible threes", because for almost a month now he has been great. UNTIL...two days ago, he woke up and was back to his monster self. SO much shouting. Yelling at the top of his lungs, for the smallest incident. I have shed a few tears this week, at a total loss of what to do. I took the kids to an Easter school holidays craft session, and he was really good and focused at first (he stuck tiny stickers on his bunny ears for 45 minutes!). And then all hell broke loose. I think he was really hungry. But is that an excuse for pushing a little girl over onto her butt and then running through the bowling alley screaming at the top of his lungs for me to go away? Maybe, but it was still pretty mortifying. And then when I did actually leave, he refused to come, and screamed at the co-ordinator to go away too. Fun times.
Anyway. We have had a lovely week apart from that. I find that if I keep Arley active, he is better behaved. We have had some cold and rainy days, so those days we stayed indoors and did science experiments and crafts. The kids had a play date with Carmie's friend Ness down at Narrawallee, and Ness' mum taught them how to fish (Arley has been desperate to learn, and no amount of telling him that vegetarians don't fish has convinced him that it's not a good idea for us). Arley has gotten into the dress-up clothes a lot lately, and much to Jeff's despair, his favourite outfit is Carmie's Elsa dress. Carmie has become very involved with playing with her Barbies and ponies. It looks like a bomb went off in her room, but I can't ask her to tidy it up because there is very extensive play going on in there - a fashion show in one area, Barbies being rescued from a volcano in another, a pet clinic in another area... She is reading a little less, but only because I can't seem to find any good novels for her to read. She has read most of the books at the library that are good for her. The problem is that her reading is so far advanced that she needs books for third and fourth graders, but she finds them boring because the subject matter is over her head. The books for five and six year olds to read themselves are way too basic. So, if anyone has some good suggestions for books that she can read herself (fiction - she is slowly making her way through all of the non-fiction natural disaster books the library has!), I would appreciate it!
Here are a couple of short videos from this week:
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