Pretty Good Week

This week had a lot of fun things happen.  First, on Sunday I was straightening my hair and Ava saw me.  She wanted her hair straitened and it looked so nice!  She used to hate having me touch her hair, but now she wants me to do things to it all the time.  She still doesn't like things in her hair, but she loves having it curled or straitened or putting product in.  

Cute little face!

Second, it snowed!  My kids love the snow and have spent almost every morning before school out playing in it.  Asher even made Ava this cute little snowman.  They also play with the little girls next door and they will all be out there for hours playing. 

 Third, there was a development with Asher's sleeping.  I want to say first that I tried so so so hard to make sure there wasn't a mental, emotional, or physical problem that was preventing Asher from sleeping.  I tried so hard to take care of his needs!  But after getting so frustrated (an tired) I decided to use the fail-safe parent fallback: bribery.  And do you know what?  It worked so good!  He's slept through the night 4 times in the last week!  The first bribe....I mean reward...was if he could stay in his room for 1 night, I would get him ice cream.  That took 2 days.  His next reward (bribe) was if he could stay in his bed for 3 nights, I would buy him something at the store valued up to $5.  That took 5 days.  So my plan is to keep this going until he forgets about the reward and just stays in his own room every night.  I'm actually a little annoyed that it's working so well.  I'm getting almost twice as much sleep now!  It's so much easier to do projects and I don't feel like I need a hundred naps!  So yay I guess...

Last, I wanted to share an Ava story (which are always the best kinds of stories).  I was asking the kids what they wanted for Christmas.  Not because I'll buy everything on their list, but mainly so I can make sure I'm on the right path for what I was going to buy them.  Here's how the conversation went:

"Mia, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Polly Pocket!" (already bought it, so good!)  She also added various other girly toys like Barbie's.

"Asher, what do you want for Christmas?"

"Video games." Big surprise.  That's always what he asks for.

"Ava, what do you want for Christmas?" Now, I always get a little excited when I ask Ava preference questions.  And since last year the thing she wanted for Christmas was a cow (a live one, not a toy), I was curious to see what she'd say.  Almost every time I ask these questions, the answer she gives wouldn't have been in my top 20 guesses of what her answer would be.  And I was not disappointed.

"I want a rainbow cup!" (She later added she wanted a rainbow plate to match)  I didn't want her to feel disappointed that Mia got a Polly Pocket and she got a cup, so I asked her:

"What else do you want?"

"Um....a rhombus pop-it." 

"Uh....ok...." I really don't know where that came from.  And feeling like I still don't have a good idea of the kinds of things she wants I ask:

"What else do you want?"

"A big book!"

"Like what kind of book?"

"A Bible!"

So for Christmas, Ava wants a rainbow cup and plate, a rhombus pop-it, and a Bible.  😆