Every Little Girl Needs a Red Pettiskirt!

The first time I saw one of these skirts of ruffles and ruffles and ruffles, I knew the bunny had to have one. I only paused momentarily at the $85 price tag on the ones I saw at the Nutcracker Market last November. I ended up not purchasing one then because they didn't have her size. I know, I wanted to cry! So I recently jumped at the opportunity to go in on a bulk order and get the skirt for 50% less. And, folks, I exercised some serious restraint by purchasing only one...for now...

The bunny was more than happy to wear the skirt AND pose for photos! Surely you remember her Easter dress from last year? Yeah, she's over it!

The boy was also a willing participant in my backyard shenanigans so I was able to capture a few photos to share. I Smileboxed some of my faves, but Snapfished all of them. I even took a video. Enjoy!

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Drawing and Reading

Noah's language and conversation skills continue to improve. He is answering questions with meaningful replies. And he's a pretty good artist, too! ;) This evening he was upset - not sure why - but I gave him his doodle board and told him to draw. He drew his family.

The bunny got this book for Christmas and I've been reading it to her at bedtime. Today is the first day she's "read" it out loud by herself. She missed a page and a few words here and there, but her memory is amazing.

I Love You Through and Through
by Bernadette Rossetti-Shustak
Illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church

I love you through and through.
I love your top side.
I love your bottom side.
I love your inside and outside.
I love your happy side, your sad side, your silly side, your mad side.
I love your fingers and toes, your ears and nose.
I love your hair and eyes, your giggles and cries.
I love you running and walking, silent and talking.
I love you through and through...yesterday, today, and tomorrow, too.

Poor Pooooooor Jordan

I decided to pick up a few things at Wal-Mart after I got the bunny from school today. Since it was also lunch time, I asked her if she wanted to get a cheeseburger at McDonalds. Um, is the bunny a princess? Of course she wanted a cheeseburger! And since the Mickey D's is in the back corner of the store it was super convenient.

As soon as we got inside, she had to go potty, so we made our way to the back of the store. The restrooms are cleaner back there, you know. ;) On our way, we discovered an end cap with Dora faux Crocs. Deeper into the shoe aisle, we found the Disney Princess and Tinkerbell fraux. She just had to try them on! (Yes, she is my shoe-lovin' girl!) She insisted on trying on the size 13, but since I was really going to buy them I wanted her to go for a more reasonable size 7. She wanted nothing to do with my helping her. She batted me away and said, "Don't touch me!"

Alrighty!

"Jordan, that was not nice. You will not be getting those shoes today. Let's go potty and let's go have lunch."

"No, Mommy! I do! I do get these shoes."

"No, you don't. Put your shoes back on and let's go."

"No, YOU put them on me!"

So I did. Then she told me that it wasn't my turn to put them on, it was her turn. Then she yanked her shoes off and pitched a fit. Good times.

I told her it was time to go and walked away. She got louder, but stayed put. Great. I had to go in. And get her. And carry a screaming preschooler out of Wally World. I told her not only would she not be getting shoes, she would not be getting a cheeseburger. O. M. G! You'd have thought I beat her right then and there. She was more distraught about the cheeseburger than the shoes!

"Mommy, I do get a cheeseburger! I'm sorry. I turn it off now."

Too late. I don't make empty threats. We went home. We had a talk. I asked her if she wanted a grilled cheese or peanut butter & jelly sandwich for lunch. She replied, "Cheeseburger." sigh

She picked the PB&J because I told her I'd choose for her if she didn't. Do you think she's getting the message that I say what I mean and I mean what I say?

Anyway, I don't have any photo or video footage of our afternoon adventure - although I almost wish I did because it was so entertaining. But I do have a video of the poor, poor Jordan getting a bandage for her toe owie. She stubbed her toe and lost some skin and carried on and on and on for days...

Happy New Year!

We've done nothing but play since Christmas. This year was the best Christmas ever! I have a feeling I'll be saying that every year for many years. The kids just make it so much fun and we all get to play with toys!

Growing up, I used to feel sad when I saw that my sisters and I had many packages to open and my parents only had few. My mom didn't even seem interested in opening anything. She was always much more focused on watching us. I get it now! There is nothing like seeing the joy in your child's face when they dig into something that really grasps their attention and watching them play happily.

It's especially wonderful this year because Noah is verbalizing what he wants to do. He's repeating words, even trying out new phrases like, "Merry Christmas," when prompted. It's starting to become hard to remember what it was like before Noah started letting us hear his voice. I'm not sure I'll ever tire of hearing him talk!

So one of my new toys is a waterproof camera. We spend so much time in the water, I wanted something to capture the splashy moments! Here are a few from the day after Christmas.

I hope the new year brings everyone much peace and love, prosperity and happiness, good health and fun!

Christmas Miracle

Yesterday, the bunny asked me to buckle her into her carseat. Earlier in the week she let me put on her socks and shoes. Mike reports similar experiences. Crazy, isn't it?! It's been months since she's let either of us buckle her. All we get to do is pull the strap tight - and only because she couldn't figure out how to pull it herself...She's also letting me help her put on her socks and shoes every once in a while. I love her independence when it doesn't make us late, but I'm having a hard time with her growing up to be such a big girl...

Noah continues to explode verbally. He's making verbal requests for things like snacks, videos, books, and drinks. And he's quite particular...one of his first request phrases was for, "ice, cold law-ler." Not just water, but ice, cold water! Another milestone for us is that he will now repeat things when prompted. He wasn't doing that a couple weeks ago! Now when he asks me for a, "piece of gum," I'll remind him to say, "please," and he will! Emphatically! But wait, there's more! The other night we drove around to look at holiday lights and Noah was identifying objects and colors when we'd ask, "what's that, Noah?" He'd reply, "Santa...snowman...green...red...reindeer..." Can you hear me gushing?! I'm so proud of my boy!!!

We had a conference with Noah's school earlier this week and they tell us he's doing really well and is making lots of progress. He's even working well with the speech therapist! This is the fourth one in his life and he wouldn't cooperate with any of the first three. He must like this one! ;)

Also on Monday, we went to see the bunny perform in the Happy Birthday, Jesus program at her preschool. I got some cute photos and video. I didn't record the whole program, just my favorite song! I think it's the favorite of all the kids, too. So without further ado, herrrrrrre's the bunny!

Snow in South Texas

According to our neighbor, it has snowed in this area three times in the last thirty years. Noah got to see it on Christmas Eve in 2004 and last night the bunny had her turn. I've always had a fascination with snowflakes and I don't mind visiting areas that have snow. But I really don't want to live with it. Four years in Maine during my childhood filled me with enough snow for a lifetime!

My children are Texans by birth so they couldn't understand how special last night's snow was, but they were excited about it nonetheless. Noah said, "snowflakes" as he was trying to catch them. Mike made snowballs for the kids and this morning the bunny said, "I want to eat a snowball again."

All the snow is melted and gone, but not forgotten.

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Freak of Nature

It's snowing. Check out the big flakes! Everything's bigger in Texas, ya know!

Seriously, though. It is snowing and it doesn't show signs of stopping...

Lock-a-Lock

Last weekend Mike took the kidlets to the park while I stayed home. I had a killer headache and wanted to nap. I heard my cell phone buzz, but I ignored it. Then the house phone rang. It was Mike, so I answered and heard:

"Honey, I need your help. The kids are locked in the car with the engine running."

I always thought I'd be the one to lock them in the car!

Evidently, the mosquitoes were so bad, Mike quickly put the kids into the car. Then he quickly started the car to get the air blowing so the mosquitoes couldn't fly well. Then he quickly shut the door. Quickly. And he was still standing outside. My car automatically locks a few seconds after the car is started. It won't lock if any of the doors are open. He was only a fraction of a second away from not locking himself out. But he sure was fast!

And since I did such a good job teaching the kids not to play with the locks, neither was cooperative about unlocking the door for Daddy. Is it bad that I'm giggling about this? So this week I showed the bunny how to lock and unlock the door. She still can't open it because we've got the child door locks activated, but now she'll be able to bail her daddy out so he doesn't have to go searching for large rocks anymore. (Yeah, he was ready to break a window...I was taking too long to pull up on the white horse...)

So now, the bunny has to, "lock-ah-lock" every time she exits the car. She says, "lock," as she flips the button to the locked position. "Ah-lock," as she flips it back to the unlock position. "Now it's your turn, Mommy! Lock-ah-lock!"

Combine this activity with the 10-15 minutes it takes to load the car, and we need to block half a day just for travel preparations. Nevermind the errand will take less than 15 minutes...Gotta love the bunny independence!

And these photos have nothing to do with the post subject, but are cute, so I wanted to share. :)

Look, Mommy! They're Hugging to Each Other!

She's talking about her poops. They criss-crossed in the potty today. She has such a great imagination, doesn't she? And no, I didn't take a picture of it. I didn't even think of it. I do have boundaries, you know!

So the bunny has been wearing, in her words, "panties all day and diapers all night," for a week now! She's had a few accidents but has been doing so well! Most of the time she goes to the bathroom by herself. She either doesn't say anything so I find a little present in the potty when I walk in later or she calls me to wipe her bum. AND, she's not even asking for, "peanut M's" anymore. Progress, I tell ya!

Wow, I wasted no time in throwing this post right into the toilet. Once upon a time, long, long ago, waaaaaaay before children, I didn't talk about poop, much less write about it. Now, I can strike up a conversation in mere minutes with a stranger about our children's bowel habits.

I know all the parents understand. It's all we know! All a new parent does in the early months is change diaper after diaper. It's very uncommon to make it through a week without getting poop on our hands, on our clothes, in our hair, on the dog...

As a breastfeeding mother, I measured my children's intake of food based on their output. It's not as fancy as reading tea leaves, but we can tell a lot about our kids from what we see in the diaper; how they're feeling, how much they're eating, what they ate, etc. I knew to stop eating broccoli for a while with Noah because it made him super gassy. I saw the bubbles in his poop.

When Noah was 6 months old, he had a blood test that showed he was anemic. He had to take an iron supplement which made him go from a 5 time a day pooper to an every 5 day pooper. Every evening, Mike and I would have a conversation that went something like this:
Me: Hi, Honey.
Mike: Hi, Honey, it's nice to see you. Did Noah poop today?
Me: Yes! (I only got to say this a couple times a week.)
Mike: Good! How much? What color? How hard was it? He's got to feel much better.

It's like we were describing the fine qualities of a rare gem; you know the capacity, color, and consistency of poop! Each day that Noah didn't poop, he got increasingly cranky and I had to do special belly massages and make him as comfortable as possible. We ate plenty of "poop mover" foods. I even documented all this in my PDA. Crazy, I tell you! (I was soooo happy when Noah didn't have to take the iron anymore. His poops almost immediately went back to normal. I knew you wanted to know this tidbit of information!)

So the end of diapers should bring all the poop talk to an end, right? Wrong! We're just entering a whoooooole new phase of body habits and discovery. Our toddlers/preschoolers become participants, too. We get to talk about poop and parts! And it's not just in the bathroom. Potty talk happens when you least expect it...

One night we had barbecue for dinner and the bunny took a slice of brisket and gnawed it off like a starved wolf. I said, "Jordan, you're a carnivore. Can you say, "I'm a carnivore?" She replied, "I'm a carnivore. Can you say, I'm a bagina?" Nice, eh?

I applaud you if you've made it this far into my ramblings. You'll either come away from this with a new understanding for why parents feel it's their right to discuss their children's bowel habits. Or you'll have more proof that I'm just a rambling freak. ;) Either way, this isn't the first time I've discussed this topic and it definitely won't be the last!

I feel the need to reward you, but all I've got is this photo of the bunny on her Port-a-Potty. I'm thinking we should invest in a travel potty.

Okay, here's a bonus video of bunny cuteness!

The Master Speaks...

...And we listen!

The other day Noah asked me for a piece of chocolate. He's a boy of few words, so he just came over to me and said, "chocolate." In the past, he'd take my hand and lead me to something we could both see, but there was no chocolate in sight when he made his request. I got out two Hershey Kisses and told him to give one to Jordan. He took the chocolate and held it in front of her. She wasn't paying attention, so he put it in her hand! Awwwwwwwwwww! In the past, he would have handed the candy back to me without even trying to share.

A few minutes later, Noah requested chocolate from my friend, Mary. She gave him two pieces and told him to share with Jordan. He did!

Noah has had such a boom in communicating and relating to others lately. We love hearing his voice!

Yesterday, he started saying his planet names out loud. It's sort of a game, he'll say, "Mercury," and want me to repeat it before he continues. And yes, I did get a video!

Good Stuff!

Last night the bunny told me, "I bite the ice-cream wif chocolate inside. Noah bite the ice-cream wif fanilla. It's good stuff!"

She's referring to chocolate-dipped ice-cream on a stick, otherwise known in our household as, "moo bars." The first time the kids had ice-cream on a stick, it was a Blue Bell Moo Bar. They're kinda big, so now we're buying smaller versions of the same concept but they're all "moo bars" to the kids.

Post-dinner conversations of late have gone like this:
Mike: Noah, is there anything else you'd like?
Noah: Moo bar!
The Bunny: (rips off shirt and tosses it to the floor) Me, too! Jordan wants a moo bar, too!
Me: shakes head

The bunny just automatically removes her shirt since she can get a little messy with the ice-cream and you all know how well Mike deals with the messes...I just hope they never serve chocolate-dipped ice-cream on a stick at preschool...

The Book of Bunny

Whew! Our celebration week has come to an end and I am exhausted! Good thing Daylight Saving ended last night so I could get that extra hour of sleep this morning.

The bunny's third birthday was Wednesday and we celebrated with her preschool class. She woke up with some sniffles, but still wanted to go to school for her party. Since she didn't have a fever I took her in. She enjoyed her special day at school even though she looks pitiful.

She was exhausted after school and fell asleep during lunch. I let her sleep.

We opened family gifts Wednesday evening and the bunny got SPOILED by everyone! Thank you so much!

And I just have to throw this one in. I knew she was my girl!

On Thursday, the bunny had her three-year check up and the doctor confirmed the bunny has a case of sniffle, but no infection. She was cleared for the rest of the week's events. She's 24 pounds and 35 inches tall. She got her second round of the Hep A vaccine and was NOT happy about it. She carried on allll the way out of the office, allll the way down the elevator, allll the way to the parking garage, and alllll the way to Pappasito's. Lunch made everything better!

On Friday, we took full advantage of the kids being in school and made party preparations. We also carved our pumpkins for Halloween. Can you guess which one Mike carved?

Jordan really, really liked trick or treating! Noah was ready to go home after a few houses, but the bunny made it around the block and carried her loot the entire way. She needed two hands by the time we were almost home, but didn't want anyone's help! Noah wore his costume all night while helping Daddy hand out candy.

Saturday was the big birthday party day and we spent the day getting the house ready. (Read: shove everything non-essential into the bedroom and close the door in hopes that nobody has to go in there.) The party was a lot of fun and we had plenty of food, drink, and bounce for everyone! I do have to give props and a shout out to Mary. I am SO IMPRESSED and so happy she and her family came to celebrate with us. Mary, you look fabulous and your new little pumpkin is beautiful! And you're my hero because you got to take three showers in one day! I'm not sure I showered three times in a week when I had a newborn.

I have a lot more pictures to share but I'll leave you with this one for now. It's the birthday bunny enjoying her cupcake.