Catching up with RP

It's been a while since I've posted, which should be some indication of how busy (or at least crazy!) things have been around here lately. RP is now half-way through her first session in gymnastics and she absolutely loves it. Some days she does better than others in the class, but she always seems to have a ball and is still pretty fearless about tackling new activities. MY heart cringes when she jumps up on the balance beam or tries to do a cartwheel by herself, but she throws her all into each activity and always comes out of class smiling!

Last weekend RP spent the weekend with Nana and Papa so I could make a quick, 36-hour trip to Vegas with her godmother (and my best friend!) to celebrate our 40th birthdays, along with a host of other good news each of us has had over the last two years (RP's adoption for me, and no HD for her - life is GOOD!). I missed her while I was gone but she had a blast with Nana and Papa and was a little chatter bug on the phone each time I called. I came back from Vegas just in time to celebrate Independence Day with RP, Nana, and Papa and we had a great day - squirt gun fights during the day and watching the fireworks that night. Given RP's new-found fear of dinosaurs (and some evenings the dark) I was a little concerned that she wouldn't like the fireworks, but she loved staying up late and being out in the dark, and she "oohhh'd" and "aaahhh'd" like an old pro during the display, falling asleep mid-sentence 7 minutes after getting in the car!

The last few days RP has been out-of-pocket of sorts for a variety of reasons, and I'm not really sure why. Whenever she doesn't get her way she starts to jump up and down, "fake" cry, and flail her arms about, getting louder and louder if you let her. She KNOWS that this behavior is unacceptable, she KNOWS that it isn't going to work, and she KNOWS that the only purpose this display can achieve is to get her into trouble... yet she does it anyway. Luckily these attempts have only been half-hearted, more to get attention than anything else, and she stops when she knows Mommy isn't happy with it, but yet the next time she hears the word "no" she tries it again. Weird... and hopefully a stage we'll soon be through.