During a moment alone with me over the weekend, Avery out of the blue echoed something she’s heard me say before: “Mommy, you’re testing my patience.” And a beat later: “What does ‘testing your patience’ mean?”

-M

If it’s a Sunday in fall or early winter, we’re likely to be home watching football – and there’s a good chance we have friends joining us. Below are a few shots from recent weeks of the girls and their friends (who are more likely to be running around, goofing off, or watching their own show than watching the game).

-M

Today is Tu B’Shvat, a minor holiday that the girls’ preschool celebrates with a special feast. (Flashback: Here’s Zoe at her first one.) Avery told us that she and a few friends are singing a special song, “The Almond Tree Song,” at today’s event, so I rehearsed with her last night.

-M

We get a newsletter from the preschool each week, and the picture below, which was in last Friday’s edition, caught my attention. Unbeknownst to me, Avery and her classmates had done a rain dance (it is really dry here!) and even made Native American headbands for the event. Her teachers explained more of what happened:

We discussed as a group the symbolism of the blue and turquoise colors (water) and feathers (wind) in their headbands. After watching a recording of a Native American rain dance on YouTube, the children decided they needed some instruments to carry out their own dance. Wearing their headbands and shaking maracas and other instruments symbolic of rain, the children danced together on the playground, chanting for rain and raising their hands up to the heavens in order to bring on the rain.

The class also talked about the importance of rain – in particular, how rain helps trees and plants grow and enables us to eat their their fruits and vegetables. Avery explained this in video over the weekend.

-M

I love having one-on-one time with the girls - even if it’s as something as simple as running errands or walking on West Portal, I think it’s good for the girls to have moments when it’s all about them. (The dynamic is just different when the girls are together.) I was surprised, then, when Avery and I were at Target the other afternoon and she said out of the blue, “I miss Zoe.” I’ve always assumed the girls love sister-free moments, but it’s clear Avery enjoys Zoe’s company (especially, apparently, during shopping). It was a sweet moment.

-M

As “preteen” as Zoe sometimes seems, she’s still very much a little girl. This photo – taken per her request at a playground recently – reminds me of that…

-M

I mentioned earlier about Zoe’s temperament, which seems to have somewhat changed since she turned seven. Though often still the responsible, sweet Zoe that we’ve always known, she is also increasingly sassy and defiant – I’m seeing more huffing and puffing and even eye-rolling over things I ask of her. Sometimes I think the problem is that we’re too much alike – we both like it when people do what we ask when we ask it, and we’re both perfectionists – and that inevitably leads to conflicts. (The other day, we were bickering so much that Q literally stood in the middle of us and said, “Girls, girls – stop fighting!” Zoe and I looked at each other and burst into laughter, as we realized how ridiculous we were being.)

Another new thing: The forms of discipline I used to use with Zoe (and still do with Avery) often don’t work. When told she’s about to lose a privilege, like her pre-bedtime show, Zoe sometimes shrugs and says she doesn’t care. And she recently refused to go into room when a given time-out for disrespectful behavior, something she never used to do.

I know that navigating new phases and coming up with new ways to interact with your child is just part of parenting, but I admit to being surprised that this particular phase came so fast. I feel like I’m living with a preteen!

-M

You may recall that one of Avery’s winter-break plans was to go ice-skating. So last weekend, just before the break ended, we all headed to a rink downtown. It was the girls’ first time on skates, and while Avery wound up being lukewarm on the experience (see last pic), Zoe had a great time! She has since requested lessons.

-M

I shared this on Facebook, but it’s too good to not share here, too. Zoe and I have had a few clashes lately (more on that soon), and during one particularly rough moment, she screamed at me that I’m mean “all the time.” Avery was sitting right next to me and gave me a hug of comfort. “It’s okay – you’re not mean every day, Mommy,” she said, lovingly patting my hair. “Only sometimes.”

-M

It’s been several months since we last visited the Bay Area Discovery Museum, but we were lucky enough to have a  birthday party there on Sunday. We arrived an hour early so the girls could run around and enjoy the outside area (and bridge views!) before meeting up with their friends inside. It was a gorgeous day, and the play area was the perfect spot to enjoy the sunshine.

-M

Avery is quite good at reminding of us her (and her sister’s) status. After Zoe kept telling Avery what to do during playtime one day, an exasperated Avery told me, “She thinks she’s a real teacher even though she’s a kid. She’s just a bigger kid than me.” And not long after, when I asked Avery to make her bed one morning, she sighed loudly and said in protest, “It’s too hard. I’m just a kid!”

-M

Speaking of Frozen, the girls are constantly asking to watch videos from the movie – and Avery likes singing the songs, too. Below is one of her recent Frozen-inspired ditties.

-M

The girls love the movie Frozen, and I took them to see it (their third time!) as a last-day-of-vacation surprise yesterday. Afterwards, we went to the mall to get Avery a present for having stopped wetting her bed at night, and Zoe jokingly suggested we buy her a huge plush Olaf the Snowman. This particular Olaf would barely fit in our house, plus costs $500(!); luckily, Avery preferred an Elsa doll anyway!

-M

Earlier this week, Safta and PopPop flew in to stay with the girls while Q and I went on a little get-away to San Diego. Our time was relaxing and much-needed – and made better by knowing that the girls were having so much fun with their babysitters! We don’t have tons of pics from their time all together, but I love the one below (taken just before we left on Tuesday). Look at how happy Avery is!

-M

A few more (happy) pics from our trip to Wisconsin – the latter two from our many hours in the Minneapolis airport. The second one might be my new favorite…

-M