Waiting for the pet rock to hatch ...

The toddler has a pet rock. She calls it an egg and she is waiting for it to hatch. She is convinced it will hatch into something. She doesn't know what yet, she just keeps telling me the baby is curling up inside the egg and it will hatch soon.

She got up this morning and saw it on the kitchen counter. "Oh man! It still hasn't hatched yet!"

Then she thought for a moment and said, "I think it needs a cage, so that when it hatches it won't run away."

Daddy thought maybe a Tupperware bowl would make a nice cage. "Oh! Yes, give me all the square ones" she says. "And all the lids."

"But what can I use for it's bed?"

"And it will need something to eat when it hatches."

So here we have our new pet. In its cage. With a peanut butter cookie for a snack. She's still working on the bed.

Toddler sharing

Toddler: Can I have a candy mom?

Me: Sure honey, but just one.
Toddler: Okay. Thanks mom!

Later, after she has sorted through what is left of the Halloween grossness ...

Toddler: Here mom, I brought you a brown tootsie roll and I get to have a pink one.
Me: Thank you honey, that's sweet of you to share.

Later, after she has finished her pink one and notices my brown one is still sitting next to me ...

Toddler: Mom, how come you haven't eaten your tootsie roll?
Me: Well, actually honey, I don't really like tootsie rolls.
Toddler: Why?
Me: They just aren't my favorite. I'd rather have a chocolate or something if I am going to have a treat.
Toddler: Oh. *pause* Well, do you just want me to eat it then?

Ever the generous gifter she is. :)

Toddler Goodness

Hubs, toddler and I were curled up on the couch after nap time today. Hubs hadn't shaved in a few days (vacations are wonderful). The toddler was trying to pick at his stubble.

Toddler: "Daddy has sparkies"

Then she sighed. And under her breath, with all the right inflections, she whispered "GodDammit."

It took a good five minutes for Hubs and I to regain our composure.

*****

Hubs was at the grocery store with the toddler this afternoon. She was in the cart, singing "I'm sexy and I know it" - just the one line, with a few of the beats thrown in. Over and over. Other people in the store were chuckling as they went by. Hubs looked at her and said, "I'm going to have to have a talk with Mommy about the music she lets you listen to."

Her response, "But daddy ... I'm sexy and I know it."

The mom nearby was amused.

Hubs was not, so much.

******

As I was tucking the toddler in to bed tonight, she says to me, "Mommy, when I grow up I get to have a penis."

"No, babe, only boys have a penis."

Todder: Sigh

Me: "When you grow up, you get to have breasts."

Toddler: *gasp* "Yay!!!" *clapping hands* *big hug*

It's the little things in life that make you happy

Fashion queen v.3

The toddlers morning outfit.

Halloween "Candy makes me happy" shirt. Pink & green striped leggings. One pink slipper and one gold, laced princess slipper. White windbreaker. Bubbles.

Butter

The toddler loves butter. If there is a stick of butter on the counter, she has been known to stick her finger in it and scoop out as much as she can. To eat. Over. And over. Until she gets caught.

This morning, she asked for a "butter sandwich", which in our house is how she describes two pieces of toast, with butter, stuck together like a sandwich. With the crusts cut off.

All our butter was in the refrigerator still, so I had to throw some, in our butter dish, into the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up. And it got a little softer than I'd planned (as per usual, with anything I do in the kitchen. Never turns out as planned. But I digress). Some of it liquified.

"Mom!" she yelled. "You made butter soup!"

Because I am a most excellent cook.

Conversations with the toddler

Today, as we got home from dance class, we sat at the bottom of the stairs to take off our shoes. The toddler looked over at the brick wall and asked "how did you make that puzzle?"

Realizing she was asking about the pattern, I told her that the people who built our house made it.

"Oh," she says. And after a beat, as she walked up the stairs, she added "Hey mom, did you know that I made that wall? Just like a puzzle. Yep, I did it all by myself."

Fashion Queen, vol 2

She picked this outfit so daddy could twirl her. It's a dress. With a tutu type skirt underneath. Her "rock star" sunglasses. And her cat-in-the-hat Valentine hat. And, of course, the pouty face because she didn't want me to take her picture.

Oh, and the Littlest Pet Shop Band-aid on her leg. And her wrist. Because, seriously, every girl needs to accessorize.

Fashion Queen

The toddler has her own sense of style. She must get herself dressed in the morning now, I am rarely allowed input into her outfits. Most mornings I text a picture to the hubs, because they are just that good. Here is today's outfit.

I just don't even know WHICH is my favorite part. Socks on the hands. Flower leggings with the leopard print vest. Mismatched socks with her patent leather dress shoes. Short sleeves on this 38 degree morning.

It's just magical isn't it?

***************UPDATE***************

"Honey, go get your shoes on, it's time to go."

Did you just kick your brother?

Last night hubs and I were standing in the kitchen talking. The tween and the toddler were standing in the doorway of the kitchen, waiting for me.

Tween: Ouch! Don't kick me! She just kicked me!
Me (to the toddler): Did you kick him?
Toddler: No
Me: Did you just kick him?
Toddler: No.
Me (to the tween): did she just kick you?
Tween: Yes.
Me (to the toddler): Did. You. Just kick. Your brother. ?
Toddler: No.
Me: WHY did you kick your brother?
Toddler (in her most pouty voice): Because I thought he was a ball.

Just another day in paradise around here.

Cleanliness

"Yes mom, I cleaned up the kitchen when I was done this morning"

"Yes, I made my bed. And I picked up my room. And those boxes you asked me to take out to the recycling bin two days ago? Yes, I did that too."

And he's the easy one lately.

__________________________________________

Update: As I was posting this, I looked over at the toddler. She was holding the honey from the above picture. Like a cup. Drinking it. Because my children are normal.

I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry.

I heard a noise I couldn't quite pinpoint coming from down the hall. I was trying to get some work done. The toddler was busily doing something.

Finally it started to bug me, that noise. So I got up to check it out.

"Look mommy, I'm building a mountain."

That would be the entire contents of her dresser. On her floor. The noise I heard were the drawers closing.

I let out a little noise that was not quite a laugh, but not quite a choked back sob. I just took a picture of the mess and left the room.

She is quite pleased with herself.

I, however, might need a drink.

Life

The varying degrees of my day:

"Mommy," says the toddler, holding a coin, "do you want heads or Veggie Tales?" It took me a minute to understand she was trying to flip the coin and wanted me to call a side. Cute.

It's 35 degrees today. Everyone at school was dressed with hats and gloves and down coats. Not my tween. He was wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt with an under armour underneath. I had to argue with him to get the under armour on. His sweatshirt was "in his backpack."

The teenager has officially applied early action to two schools. Applications have been sent to Georgetown and Northeastern. He is VERY excited.

Halloween fun

Halloween is fun when there is a toddler in the house. It's also fun when said toddler decides, on a whim, to dress up as a super hero. In her brother's old Darth Vader costume. With a tu-tu. And her velvet cape. Because, really, that is just awesome.

Princess Vader, the super hero

Our first outing in the costume was to the grocery store. She was quite a hit. Then we went to big brother's "Mad Science" party at the elementary school.

I was a little worried about bringing her to the party with a classroom full of tweens, but the kids were great with her. She went to each station with her brother and all the other kids doted on her. After all the activities were done, while the kids were "cleaning up," the teacher put on some music (Thriller) and they all cheered as the toddler did a goofy little dance for them.

Can you say sugar high? And missed nap time?

Later in the evening my niece and nephews came over to create the chaos that must accompany any Halloween night. To counteract the madness, the adults in the house enjoyed some hot chocolate with a choice of Rumpleminz or Baileys.

And then they were off to beg for candy, while I held down the fort at home and enjoyed the quiet house.

Happy Halloween from Princess Vader, Yoda, Thomas the Train, the Leopard and the Football Star.

Pumpkin Patch

Today, the preschool class got to go on their first field trip; to the pumpkin patch at a local farm. The toddler was sooo excited. Daddy got to come too, which made it extra special.

First point of business, a class picture. Trying to gather multiple toddlers together to pose for a group photo is pretty much like herding cats. We couldn't even get them all next to the truck, let alone standing still and looking at the camera.

The solo photo worked out much better.

 
After checking out the cute animals (including one very loud goose), we set off to find her perfect pumpkin. We spent lots of time wandering up and down the pumpkin patch with her saying "nope, that's not the right one." And also splashing in every puddle she could find.

First field trip was a success!

Toddler going on teenager

Because this is too damn cute not to share ...

The toddler found my lipstick in the car (we were waiting for the teenager to get done with an appointment), so I showed her the mirror to help her put it on. This girl is SOOOO ready to be a teenager.

Sigh.

pictures

I can't get enough of this photo of the tween and the toddler.

I took it after school one day last week. The tween complained the entire walk home from school and I wouldn't let him come in the house until he got over it and left all the 'grumpy' outside. The toddler was trying to cheer him up.

Today, the toddler found my aprons (actually, this one belonged to my grandmother and I love it. Technically it's supposed to wrap around your waist, but she has her own style). She also found her brothers chef hat. And moved her kitchen from the dining room into our kitchen.

She keeps her kitchen as clean as mommy does.

And finally, in case you missed it on facebook or twitter, the new uniforms arrived for the teenager's soccer team.

Mommy, I'm stuck

I've been preparing to write an update about the boys as I was told recently that I don't post enough about them. But damned if the toddler has stolen the show again today.

I was working on the final draft of the PTSA newsletter (the one that was supposed to be at the printer yesterday. Eek) when the toddler, in a panicked voice, says, "mommy, I'm stuck".

She had been using one of the antique fire hose nozzles we have (the husband used to be a fireman, we have some fun little collectibles from the past) as her telescope. She loves to search for things with the smaller nozzle, holding it up to her eyes (squinting closed the eye that is peeping through the nozzle, very cute) and tiptoeing around me while I work. Well, she had sat down and decided to put her fingers, one at a time, into the small opening on the top.

The middle finger got stuck.

At first, there was just a mild panic in her voice, but it escalated as she kept pulling on her finger. I went over to take a look and tried to gently pull, to no avail. I picked her up, trying not to giggle (because, come on, it's kind of funny) and carried her upstairs to the sink. We ran cold water over her finger for a few minutes, which she did NOT like, while I tried to figure out what the next step should be. I couldn't find the Vaseline, which was the first thing that occurred to me. I was at the point where someone needed to help me, but where does one turn in this kind of situation? I'd feel completely ridiculous taking her to the ER, but wasn't sure the doctor would see us on such short notice.

I called my father-in-law (a former EMT/medic type, the one I always turn to for medical situations when I don't want to go see the actual doctor). After I assured him, over the hysterical toddlers screams, that everything was really okay, he suggested I try liquid soap (duh, why didn't I think of that? It was right in front of me).

I picked up her hand/nozzle (dude, that would be a great super hero attachment!) and tried to move it back to the sink. She started screaming "Don't cut it off!"

In hind sight, "well, lets just cut it off then," is perhaps not the best comeback to the imaginary wounds the kids come to us with.

After a couple minutes, the soap greased the finger up enough and it slid out. Whew.

That's when the tears really started. "I want to call daddy" she tells me, between sobs. Daddy, of course, does not answer the first two calls. So we decided the best way for her finger to feel better would be to make chocolate chip cookies. Because chocolate cures everything.

On the right is the offending nozzle. While waiting for the cookies to cook, she is eating a spoonful of peanut butter with chocolate chips sprinkled in. This is what daddy suggested would make her feel better. Parenting 101, right here.

Preschool fun

Today was the first day of preschool for the toddler. Here is our review, in pictures.

"I don't WANT you to take my picture". Sigh. She'll need to get over that.

Having fun in her new classroom. Coloring, play-dough, painting and the water table. 

Important preschool activities.

Time to sing and dance. She picked a triangle and was excited to hear a song she knows from her dance class. Being loud inside ROCKS when you are in preschool.

Outside play time. It's fun to be a toddler.

Making new friends is pretty cool too. These two are about the same age, and both equally bossy. It will be fun to see how this friendship progresses.

It was a good day to be a toddler.

A glimpse into my morning

I could hear water running in the bathroom sink this morning. When I went to check, the toddler had filled the sink up with hand soap and water and was giving one of her (plastic, thankfully) baby dolls a bath. Messy, but cute.

I went back to my laptop to get some work done and a bit later she came out to me, dripping wet. She had decided to stick her head under the faucet and wash her own hair. With the hand soap. She used a dish towel to dry off.

Surprisingly, the bathroom wasn't a total, waterlogged disaster. I am, however, going to need to buy some new hand soap.

Holiday Weekend Highlights

Three day weekends rock; I have decided this. We should have more of them. So we can have more memories like these ...

Friday night, we went back to my home town for a football game. The hubs and I sat in the bleachers and held hands. For real, we got to hold hands. And sit together. We never get to do that.

Saturday the toddler helped daddy mow the lawn. While wearing her jammies and 3-sizes-too-big, fur lined, Care Bear snow boots. Because that's how she rolls.

Later, we had a campfire with the neighbors. With s'mores. In the backyard. Dude.

Sunday we spent a day at the lake, watching the kids play in the water. And in the sand. And it was relaxing. With three toddlers! Who knew?

Then I got to have drinks with a client. After watching another client play with wedding dresses. Because this is my job, and it rocks.

Monday I spent hours and hours of uninterrupted time pinning and on etsy (for clients, of course) in my jammies. Yay!

Meanwhile, the teen who goes everywhere in a button down and tie, the one who thinks New York City is heaven and will not consider a college unless it's on a coast or in a big city, went to the state fair. And he texted his commentary to me. Freakin'  hilarious.

That's a lot of happiness for one weekend.

Hope your Labor Day Weekend was filled with equally meaningful moments!