Sam has a dolly that she loves to pieces. A few weeks ago, Dolly disappeared. We looked everywhere for her. We cleaned up like crazy looking for her but still no luck. I was resigned to the fact that we were just not going to have a doll.
Coincidentally or not, our sleeping issues were getting worse. Sam escaping from her room in the middle of the night trying to get food etc. We kept the gate closed at the top of the stairs so no worry about her going to far, but she was really getting into things. We borrowed the pressure gate from Gram and Grandpa's house to keep her in the bedroom at night. That worked, until she learned to pile up her blankets and use them to climb out (smart girl, figured it out within an hour). So we started a version of sleep training, where you close the door and hold it shut for a short period of time, to make the point that we need her to stay in the room. This definitely worked and we saw huge improvement in sleep from both girls within a few nights. I thought we were golden.
And then...I was reading in the living room after bedtime and found that Sam had climbed the gate again and was in the bathroom (not the good "learning to pee" kind of in the bathroom, but the bad "getting into things" kind). I go to her and tell her NO and she's not to be in there and she starts getting upset and yelling something I can't make out. I finally figured out she was saying "don't close the door!"...which of course, means that the door thing is working in that she does connect it with the negative behaviour, but also means that I have to follow through and do the door thing (which I had forgotten about). I put her in her room and closed the door and she was pretty upset. A short 2 minutes later I go in and she's got a blanket over her head and is crying...I gently tuck her in and she looks at me, and her voice, all wobbly from crying, says "maybe tomorrow, you can go shopping and buy me another dolly?". Aw...poor thing, still missing her dolly. I was kind of emotional at how upset she was and even as I headed to bed took another peek at places where the doll might be...like behind our bed...places we've already looked. No luck.
So, after a little research and a few phone calls, we went to a store and bought a new dolly. Not exactly the same, but close enough I think. And of course, when Katie asked why she wasn't getting a new dolly, I didn't have a good answer, so I broke down and bought 2 dolls.
Sam's is the one with green hair and Katie chose the one with pink hair. When I told the girls to hug the dolls for the picture, they lifted them up high like that. Katie did it first and Sam followed, though clearly not sure why she had to do it.
What's great about these dolls is that they are so soft and the colours are so bright and beautiful. And we know from experience that the dolls wash well.
So far, the girls have been playing with the dolls quite a bit. I think it's a good age for dolls as they are playing with them in a very imaginative way.
We had a great weekend. Before buying the dolls on Friday we went and got our flu shots. We went for dinner with Gram and Grandpa at Famoso for pizza. We had a relaxing Saturday morning and then went to a birthday for friend M who is now 3.
Sunday we tidied up a bit and met friends C and little G and their parernts for a walk in the river valley. It was nice, but cool enough that my fingers got a bit chilly by the end. Still nice enough to get out and enjoy the warm sunshine though. After the walk we had them over to our house for dinner. The ham and scalloped potatoes were yummy and the salad that they brought was so good, not to mention the amazing wine they also brought. (they can come again any time!) It was such a cozy, fun and easy little dinner...a fantastic end to a wonderful weekend!
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