Following a tradition, Jeff went to dinner with his dad and brother, and then to the priesthood session of General Conference. So I decided to have girls night out with Rachel and Gabi. We went to Chick-Fil-A. I thought it would be fun since both girls like chicken, and they have a fun playground. The evening did not proceed without mishaps. I was holding Gabi and the food, and opening the door to the play area. Gabi knocked over the girls’ drink, and as I tried to save it I knocked over my drink. Fortunately, the kind employee who cleaned up my mess also brought us new drinks.
The rest of the time there was pretty uneventful. They had a really good time on the playground. I was worried about Rachel’s potty habit, so I was constantly asking her if she needed to use the potty, and she kept saying no. Her potty training lately has been something less than reliable. Finally I asked her and she didn’t say no, so I took that as a yes and we went to the bathroom. Right in front of us was another family, so Rachel had to hold it while we waited for them to finish. I was pleading with her to hold it, and thankfully she did, and she peed in the potty.
When it was time to go home I reminded Rachel that we were going to watch a movie (Kung-Fu Panda), so she didn’t resist the idea at all.
We went home and watched the movie for a while, and then it was time for the girls to go to bed. Rachel wanted to sleep in my bed but I wouldn’t let her because she doesn’t sleep very well when she sleeps with us, but she was being pretty funny. We were laying there and she said “Go to sleep!” So I closed my eyes and pretended to snore. Rachel liked that, so she pretended to snore too. The only thing is she doesn’t know how to, so she was making all kinds of weird noises. We were laughing about it pretty good. I finally got the girls to bed and they went down without a peep.
Earlier today Jeff took Rachel to watch her cousin Grace play soccer. I stayed home with Gabi because it was her nap time. Rachel had a great time, and Jeff took some pictures.
It is so easy to dwell on the frustrations surrounding potty training, and believe me, there have been some major frustrations, but I have to say how wonderfully sweet Rachel has been lately. She has been very kind, very generous, very forgiving lately. The other day Gabi bit Rachel on the hand. Rather than retaliate, she came straight to me for some sympathy. She has been very good about sharing her toys, or at least making sure that Gabi also has a toy to play with.
Gabi, meanwhile, has entered the terrible twos somewhat prematurely. You would think that I would know what to do with my second, after having experimented on Rachel, but I don’t. Rachel’s temper tantrums were fierce, but very infrequent. Gabi’s tantrums are not nearly as fierce, but much more frequent. So I’m learning all over again.
