Annual Review: Lion Cubs

Recently I wrote an annual review for myself here. After Gabby and Lilly read it they thought it was such a fabulous idea and insisted that I allow them to write their own annual review for 2009. So without futher ado, as dictated by the twincesses, Gabby and Lilly's annual review.

Lilly

Things Lilly did well at in 2009:

1. Lilly did a great job at perfecting her social skills. She excelled particularly in the areas of 'getting attention of old ladies while at restaurants' and 'giving boys frenchers (mommy gasps) while at MDO.'

2. Lilly did a great job of enduring the physical pain inflicted by her sisters through means of biting, hair pulling, and most recently hitting. She stiffled her anger and only retaliated on a few occassions. She even would go to time-out with her sister, while still crying, to comfort the abuser during her time of punishment.

Things Lilly wants to work on in 2010:

1. Lilly wants to stop throwing fits when she doesn't get her way. She knows how unbecoming of her it is when she thrashes and gets the full out ugly cry brewing. She plans on keeping her cool next time she doesn't get to do things she wants...like stand on counters, stick things into electrical outlets, and play with fire...even though she feels Mommy is being completely irrational.

2. Lilly wants to stop climbing on everything. She has learned after several falls and one trip to the emergency room that, while she is very good at balancing, twirling, and even dancing on high surfaces such as the kitchen table and picnic table, there is always a chance that a wind will blow through the living room and knock her to the ground. Instead of climbing on off-limits objects, she's decided to start politicing Mommy and Dada for a climber for the backyard.

3. Lilly wants to stop using pens, pencils, crayons, markers, and chalk to write on things other than paper (mainly tile floors, doors, tables, books, and the occassional body part). She is determined to learn the difference in outdoor chalk writing and indoor coloring and, while she thinks grown-ups are crazy for such rules, she's going to try really hard to limit her creativity to appropriate media. She also intends to repay her parents on day for the money they have spent buying Magic Erasers.

Gabby

Things Gabby did well at in 2009:

1. Gabby was very patient in 2009. She stood by minute after minute, long after she'd lost interst, as sister insisted on coloring. She graciously gave book after toy after treasure to her sister just so the world (and she does mean world) wouldn't have to hear the awful shrieking that comes from mad Lilly.

2. Gabby also did a very good job in 2009 of learning to pick up at the end of the day. She admits that she feels it is poor time management to do something as silly as pick up each night only to wake up the next morning and re-twinado the place again in 5 minutes. Having said that, she intends to keep up the tidy-ness and remain patient when Lilly finds 800 things to do/get in trouble for in order to avoid picking up.

Things Gabby wants to do better at in 2010:

1. Gabby would like to be a little less head-strong in 2010. She knows that she has a stubborn streak that runs very deep and, while she is faily certain it is genetic, she wants to overcome this issue and be an inspiration for her Mommy to do the same. She plans on being more easy going when it comes to things like diaper changes and eating meat. Afterall, Mommy's legs can only take so much kicking from Gabby during changes and sooner or later she might become anemic if she doesn't start eating her protein.

2. Gabby wants to have better control in the areas of hitting, biting, and hair pulling. She wants to find better ways to resolve conflict such as talking it out, problem solving, or counting to 10 before saying or acting in any way. She is not proud of the fact that, at 18 months old, she knows where the time-out chair is, what to do when Mommy or Dada says 'Go to time-out,' or that she already seems to know how long 1 1/2 minutes is and when she can get up.

3. Gabby wants to learn to love things like putting puzzles together, sorting shapes, and coloring. She admits that while she does know how to do all of these things very well, she thinks it is much more fun to undo puzzles, scatter shape pieces, and throw crayons. She's also hoping to find the joy in building with blocks versus knocking block buildings down. She knows that it looks fun and hopes to give it a try in 2010.

That about sums it up for our family's annual reviews. The girls and I thought we'd help Dada write up one of his own, but then decided we'd need way more space than what is available on this blog!