Because Avery’s our second (and I feel she sometimes gets overshadowed by her older, louder sister), it’s important to me that we give her a similar experience to Zoe’s baby one. We’re pretty good at doing the same things that we did with Zoe, I think, but it recently occurred to me that we’ve never taken her swinging. (Avery’s been to the playground many times, but she’s usually snuggled up in her stroller, watching Zoe and her friends run around.) Wanting to rectify the situation ASAP, I drove Avery this morning to a nearby park, where I plunked her in her very first outdoor swing and gave her a push. The outcome? Just like her sister before her, she loved it. (And I have a feeling we’ll be back soon!)

-M

Sometimes, living with a preschooler feels a bit like living with a sulky teen-ager. Zoe has slammed her bedroom door in anger once or twice, and she has been known to say (though, luckily, only on rare occasions), “You’re not my friend” and “I don’t like you.” And just this morning, this happened: We were driving to school and I noticed she wasn’t quite herself. “It’s okay to be grumpy sometimes,” I told her. “We all have bad mornings.” Through the rear-view mirror I saw a furrowed brow – and then Zoe snapped, “I’m not grumpy. I’m mad.” “Oh – what are you mad at?” I asked her, only to have her respond “I’m mad at you.” I’m not exactly sure why she was angry – she never did say, and she was back to her normal, happy self by the time we got to school -but I’m sure this won’t be the last time I’ll hear those words from her!

-M