Routines and Habits

The last time I wrote how Ballerina has had a difficult time at bedtime and we were implementing post-school quiet time.  Well, the first day worked BEAUTIFULLY!  She had lots of time to herself in her room with a bowl of buttons, books and her snack.  She was dressed and ready for bed when I returned from my meeting at 7:20.  At "lights out" the sisters happily chattered for a bit and sang some quiet songs.  Both Ballerina and Songbird were asleep at a decent hour and NO issues.  Yesterday might have gone the same way except she kept mixing quiet time with "see what little sister is up to" time.  We ate a little late, waiting for their daddy, and finally as we were about to sit down for dinner....chaos!  Ballerina decided to pour all the water into glasses.  She did fine, but then when she put the pitcher down, over goes my glass.  Okay, so now we're sopping up the mess....so far all remains calm.  Then Ballerina NEEDS to get to her chair by crawling under the table....that's not enough...she needs to detour around near Songbird's chair.  Songbird is immensely curious and trying to reach her.  Songbird is in a booster.  She leans just enough to tip over.  I watch in slow motion, unable to stop songbird's chair from completely turning on its side and her head crashing into the bottom of the standing clock.  The clock's pendulum pops out and thuds to the bottom of the cabinet, and Songbird is wailing.  At this moment Ballerina has miraculously appeared behind me (opposite of where she just was) and I move her out of the way, so that I can pull her sister from the floor.  Songbird isn't hurt just scared.  Ballerina is VERY upset and refuses to eat dinner, proposes a time out, early bedtime and no birthday party as her punishment.  After discussing what happened and an apology to Songbird...I invite her back to the table....nope, she's not up for it.  Instead she prefers to cry and wail in her room.  I okay her requested early pajama time and sit down to eat.  Have you ever tried to enjoy your food when an almost 5 year old is just a few feet away wailing away her misery?  AAGH!  I went to close the door and, upon her protest, I told her that she could keep crying, but she needed to lower the volume.....its terrible to laugh, but she did!  She lowered the decibles, but kept wailing!  After dinner she happily hopped off to my bed where she made a "cave" out of pillows....how does she turn it off like that?  She briefly came out to taste some dinner, but decided that she really was tired and went to sleep very soon after.  When Ballerina isn't in the bedroom Songbird goes to sleep easily and quickly so I was okay with the location switch.  After the three-ring circus I was exhausted!
And what about Songbird and her progress?  Well she's doing really well.  And despite being occasionally pushed aside by Ballerina, she ADORES her big sister.  Regularly when she gives Ballerina a kiss goodnight she adds "I love you so much"....its not something she offers to everyone and its beautiful to hear.  When Ballerina engages her in a fun activity Songbird beams from ear to ear -her laughter is loudest when she's playing with Ballerina.  To see and hear them together I feel like my heart is about to burst with love!
Songbird seems to be slowly adjusting to preschool.  Yesterday her teacher asked about the "thumb in the mouth".  Its been an ever present sight - Songbird with her thumb in her mouth.  Yesterday it was for most of the time in school.  She's even figured out how to talk with her thumb in her mouth.  One time we seriously tried to break the habit...Songbird had a cut on her thumb and I didn't want infection.  After having a near-breakdown when we applied a bandaid, she figured out how to rip off the "secure" wrappings and went back to comforting herself with the thumb.  Its a there for when she's upset, or tired or bored.....sometimes when she's just waiting for dinner, or in the car.....this is a serious habit.  The only way I can get her to take the thumb out is when I say "Songbird....THUMBS UP!"  She then engages in the game and puts her thumb up, and then says "Thumbs UP....Thumbs DOWN!"  Sometimes "Where is Thumbkin also does the trick", unfortumately there's only so much of that we can do before she gets bored and....you guessed it, pops the thumb back in the mouth!  Ack!!
We're looking ahead to adding another girlie to the mix.  Our newest China moonbeam is still waiting.  We have our homestudy approved and are just waiting for it to arrive in our mailbox so that we can send it to the appropriate offices to finish up the paperchase.  We're getting it done!  We can't wait to return to China again - we're excited and nervous.  We pray for her daily and hope that her transition is smooth!