So, after a week in Montana and a few glorious summer days at home, I've returned back to the workday grind. It's a real kick in the crotch to enjoy a few days of freedom and relatively lazy days and then go back to work. I could get used to an extended stay at home vacation.
Montana was a much different trip than years past. Gone are the days of long, lazy hikes, 4-hour floats down the Flathead, or just reading on the porch, enjoying the quiet solitude. Activities were much more bite-sized this time around, including a few trips to the swimming pool, a gondola ride to the top of the ski mountain, and a trip to a little kiddie-friendly ranch, each of which was also rewarding in its own way. It was great to see my parents, and I know they enjoyed spending more prolonged time with their granddaughter.
One of the highlights was visiting this little ranch. They had goats and horses and other animals to pet and feed and ride. The lady running the place was very nice, and offered a horse ride for Allison. Diana was a little dubious at first, but we all figured the lady knew what she was doing, so we got Allison all saddled up and on the back of a full sized horse. She had a little crash-helmy and everything. After one walk around the yard (with me walking alongside), she kind of leaned over and said she wanted to get down. I reassured her and told her to stick with it, and she did. After a few more rounds, I asked if she wanted more or wanted to get down, and she wanted to keep going. It was really cute to watch.
Another highlight was riding the gondola to the top of Big Mountain, the local ski resort. It was a beautiful day, and we walked around the top and had lunch up there. On the way down, we discussed going on the little alpine sled track track. This is a 200 yard long bobsled track that you ride down on a sled with a handbrake for speed control. I asked Allison if she wanted to go down with me, and she did. She called it the shiny silver track with the "yellow boats". We hopped on the sled and waited our turn. I had a pretty good feeling that she would like it, but if she didn't, it was going to be a long ride down with no way out. As I hoped, she loved it. Giggled and yelled "faster!" the whole way down. Awesome.
Travelling to and from Montana was pretty easy, as well. Diana brought a lot of toys and distractions, but by far the biggest and easiest tool was the movie "Cars" preloaded on the iPad. In general, Diana and I use video stimulation as little as possible. But plugging an "I'm getting cranky" kid and pretty much guaranteeing an hour and a half of quiet happiness is hard to beat.
Allison continues to grow and develop and learn. She had a little bout of stomach issues, but has otherwise been healthy. She's really can run the range from angel to demon. Sometimes so sweet, and some times such a little snot. It's really fascinating to watch when she gets upset, because it's almost as if she is completely impulsive and can't quite control her emotions. It's like she knows how she's supposed to act, or what she isn't supposed to do, but just can't help herself. She hits and scratches, throws her toys and goes into full body, arched-back fits, and honestly, we're still trying to figure out exactly how to handle them. Mostly, we try to send clear messages of what is and is not appropriate, and react accordingly. Timeouts and taking away toys hasn't seemed to have had much effect. I've been trying to purposely ignore the behavior, and that seems to work a little better. That is, if we're sitting quietly and playing and she gets upset and hit me, I'll say something like "If you hit me, then I don't want to play with you" and walk away. At this point, that seems to be more effective than anything else. I'm pretty confident that this is all totally natural behavior, and that we're laying pretty good foundation for how to deal with frustration in a healthy way. It's tough being a two year old. When you're a one-year-old, you can do anything you want and do no wrong. Now all of a sudden you have to follow all sorts of arbitrary rules. I don't blame her for getting upset. (Now I'm just rambling).
In contrast with the above, she can also be so sweet and fun. She still loves to play with us, favorites being hide and seek and chase. She loves playing with her little people, and having them play hide and seek or have a birthday party. Disney "Cars" is an all-time favorite, and she knows all the cars and what they say. I'm frequently prompted to be Chick Hicks while she is Lightning McQueen and we race somewhere. Good times.
Montana was a much different trip than years past. Gone are the days of long, lazy hikes, 4-hour floats down the Flathead, or just reading on the porch, enjoying the quiet solitude. Activities were much more bite-sized this time around, including a few trips to the swimming pool, a gondola ride to the top of the ski mountain, and a trip to a little kiddie-friendly ranch, each of which was also rewarding in its own way. It was great to see my parents, and I know they enjoyed spending more prolonged time with their granddaughter.
One of the highlights was visiting this little ranch. They had goats and horses and other animals to pet and feed and ride. The lady running the place was very nice, and offered a horse ride for Allison. Diana was a little dubious at first, but we all figured the lady knew what she was doing, so we got Allison all saddled up and on the back of a full sized horse. She had a little crash-helmy and everything. After one walk around the yard (with me walking alongside), she kind of leaned over and said she wanted to get down. I reassured her and told her to stick with it, and she did. After a few more rounds, I asked if she wanted more or wanted to get down, and she wanted to keep going. It was really cute to watch.
Another highlight was riding the gondola to the top of Big Mountain, the local ski resort. It was a beautiful day, and we walked around the top and had lunch up there. On the way down, we discussed going on the little alpine sled track track. This is a 200 yard long bobsled track that you ride down on a sled with a handbrake for speed control. I asked Allison if she wanted to go down with me, and she did. She called it the shiny silver track with the "yellow boats". We hopped on the sled and waited our turn. I had a pretty good feeling that she would like it, but if she didn't, it was going to be a long ride down with no way out. As I hoped, she loved it. Giggled and yelled "faster!" the whole way down. Awesome.
Travelling to and from Montana was pretty easy, as well. Diana brought a lot of toys and distractions, but by far the biggest and easiest tool was the movie "Cars" preloaded on the iPad. In general, Diana and I use video stimulation as little as possible. But plugging an "I'm getting cranky" kid and pretty much guaranteeing an hour and a half of quiet happiness is hard to beat.
Allison continues to grow and develop and learn. She had a little bout of stomach issues, but has otherwise been healthy. She's really can run the range from angel to demon. Sometimes so sweet, and some times such a little snot. It's really fascinating to watch when she gets upset, because it's almost as if she is completely impulsive and can't quite control her emotions. It's like she knows how she's supposed to act, or what she isn't supposed to do, but just can't help herself. She hits and scratches, throws her toys and goes into full body, arched-back fits, and honestly, we're still trying to figure out exactly how to handle them. Mostly, we try to send clear messages of what is and is not appropriate, and react accordingly. Timeouts and taking away toys hasn't seemed to have had much effect. I've been trying to purposely ignore the behavior, and that seems to work a little better. That is, if we're sitting quietly and playing and she gets upset and hit me, I'll say something like "If you hit me, then I don't want to play with you" and walk away. At this point, that seems to be more effective than anything else. I'm pretty confident that this is all totally natural behavior, and that we're laying pretty good foundation for how to deal with frustration in a healthy way. It's tough being a two year old. When you're a one-year-old, you can do anything you want and do no wrong. Now all of a sudden you have to follow all sorts of arbitrary rules. I don't blame her for getting upset. (Now I'm just rambling).
In contrast with the above, she can also be so sweet and fun. She still loves to play with us, favorites being hide and seek and chase. She loves playing with her little people, and having them play hide and seek or have a birthday party. Disney "Cars" is an all-time favorite, and she knows all the cars and what they say. I'm frequently prompted to be Chick Hicks while she is Lightning McQueen and we race somewhere. Good times.
1 comment:
Alpine Slides rule! I remember doing those as a kid (I'm pretty sure my brothers mostly used me as ballast to speed their slides up). Fun times.
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