Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Big Girl Bed

After a few false starts in the past months Bree is finally sleeping in a toddler bed. (Or, more correctly, we converted her crib to the “toddler bed” configuration.) This time around we’ve been talking about a “big girl bed” for some time and then the other day she actually asked us if she could have a toddler bed. So, we took off both the side rails of her crib and voila! toddler bed with a headboard and footboard. (Although, we’re still thinking we’ll probably buy an actual toddler bed and use the old crib for the new baby.) Well, anyways, point being Brianna has successfully transitioned into the big girl bed. Although, it hasn’t been without it’s mishaps and adjustments. No, she hasn’t fallen out or anything but Travis and I sure find it funny that she can now roam around in her room. Due to this fact it’s been taking a bit longer to go down for naps and bedtime as Bree fully enjoys her pre-bedtime roam and plays with some of her stuff a little before actually falling asleep. Oh the freedom! I’m kind of surprised that we haven’t found her passed out in her floor or on the loveseat we’ve got in there. But no, she’s climbed back into her little bed each time before conking out. And she’s also been really great about not opening the door and coming out of her room. She’s fully capable of turning the handle to open and close her bedroom door but for some reason, without us even really having to have any kind of discussion about it, she knows that when we say bedtime and close her door, she better stay in there. So, instead of just walking on out of her room if she wants out after we’ve put her down she’ll knock on her door. (Something else we find kind of amusing.) There she’ll be first thing in the morning knocking on her door and yelling, “Mom, I’m awake now!” And us being kind of lazy and slow to wake up in the mornings we’ll just yell back, “Okay, come on out then!” and she’ll open her door and come rushing into our room. (Which is kind of nice. When she was in a crib we would end up taking turns to go and get her out.) Overall though it seems to be going fairly smoothly and Bree seems to be taking it in stride for the most part. I think her favorite part of the whole thing though is when people come over and she can proudly run into her room and say, “See my toddler bed!”

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Topless Artwork

I learned my lesson long ago with art supplies to buy the “washable” version of things. So, when I bought markers awhile back I made sure to get ones that said “erasable.” Come to find out that “erasable” is different from “washable.” See, the “erasable” can be erased off the page but will ruin clothing and anything else they mark on, as I learned from hard experience. So, I made a resolve to go back and buy the “washable” ones. However, it took me a little while to finally grab some. And, in between there I made sure to insist Bree remove her shirt every time she wanted to color with markers so we didn’t have any more artwork clothing casualties. Finally the other day I managed to remember to buy some “washable” markers and I threw the old stainy ones out. But, too late, a habit had already been formed and now every time Bree uses markers she insists on being topless. She just can’t use her markers with her shirt on. In fact, yesterday while making a marker masterpiece she turned to me and said, “Mom, do you wanna take your shirt off too?” (Since I was sitting there coloring with her.) Yeah, can you imagine Travis coming home to THAT scene? Both his girls having a little topless marker session….

Monday, February 26, 2007

Morning Commute Update

So why is it that I seem to have lots to say about my kid watching TV? In my defense right now I'm so overwhelmed with it all, (packing, moving details, pregnancy, etc) that it's an easy out for me when I'm exhausted. But, I really am working on cutting back. Uh, and on that note here's another story about Bree and the TV.

She likes to watch "Brianna Shows" first thing in the morning for a half hour or so. Well, this morning I was distracted and didn't help her find a channel with a cartoon. So, she ended up grabbing the remote and turning the TV on herself. Apparently though she couldn't find the right channel and in her TV addicted state still settled for whatever she could find...the morning news. When I walked up to her a few minutes later they were talking about the roads (since we've had lots of snow here lately) and she turned to me and faithfully reported, "Mom, some snow and some sand and some ice."

Sunday, February 25, 2007

More Games

On Sunday the game theme continued at our place. It started with a quick game of chess between father and daughter. For some reason Brianna seemed really interested in the game and since it’s one of Trav’s favorites he sat down to “play” a game with her. Of course, it’s a complex game so they didn’t really play, there’s no way Bree could get the different ways all the pieces move around. But, once again I was highly amused when Travis actually did try to loosely explain how the game went and the names of the pieces. “This is your king….” I ended up laughing out loud several times while Bree shamelessly moved her pieces however she wanted (in order to make the horsies kiss or putting one of her daddy’s black pieces that he helped her “capture” back on the board with her own) and Trav tried to keep up. A few times Brianna ended up even saying a few relevant things like when she shouted, “Move your queen!” or when she said, “It’s your turn!” Yep, it was a riot. But hey, who knows, if we start now she might be a chess genius by age 5. Who knows?? For this first lesson though they both got tired of it pretty quick and then they were on to other games…

Here’s Bree playing Peek-A-Boo with Daddy. Yes, half nekked again. We can't seem to keep that kid in her clothes at least 50% of the time!
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Then it was a new game Bree made up of "through the magnifying glass." She found this one while we were packing (it’s one of Trav’s he uses for tying flies, you know for fishing) and immediately she grabbed it and started inspecting her world through it. The funny thing was that Travis asked her, “Hey, do you know what that is?” And she came back with, “It’s a magnifying glass!” just like that. We don’t remember telling her about them so either we did and just can’t recall or she saw something about it on TV??
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What’s that? Hmm…yes, it’s a clue!
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Aww shucks! Well aren’t I the cutest? I still had a fun weekend even while hanging with boring old Mom and Dad.
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Saturday, February 24, 2007

Fun N Games

Oh yes, the fun never stops at the Taylor household. It was ANOTHER fun-filled weekend of chores and packing type activities. But, as usual Brianna managed to find a way to have some fun in the midst of the chaos. Especially since her friend Savannah came over to visit her. (Since Savannah found out we’re moving soon both her and Bree have been making sure they get their buddy time in before we go. They are so cute and funny playing together. Bree even calls Savannah “my best friend.” Leave it to Bree to have a 14 yr. old best friend at the age of 2. And, how many 14 year olds would be sweet enough to stop by and play on the level of a little toddler who so obviously adores them. Thanks Savannah for treating her so special!) Anyways, they had plenty of fun together and this time around ended up playing several of the kiddie games in Bree’s room…

They started out with an intense game of Hi-Ho Cherry-O. (Although I warned Savannah that Bree cheats. She doesn’t quite get the taking turns thing in games.)
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Then it was on to a lengthy (and funny) game of Twister. Here’s Savannah demonstrating her mad skills on the Twister board. :)
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Bree had never played before and I think she liked being in charge of the spinner best. Naturally, she’s a little too young to really get the game and when it was her turn to be on the board she was running her whole little body over to one dot or the other instead of just putting one appendage there.
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But, they had a blast doing it and it sure was funny watching Savannah trying to explain the game to Bree. Man, that girl is patient!
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Friday, February 23, 2007

Animaniacs

For Valentine's Day Travis bought me a DVD of the first season of the Animaniacs, which was a cartoon I used to watch as a freshmen and sophomore in highschool. (First off, yes I watched cartoons after school at that age still. This one in particular had very teen humor I think. And secondly, yes, we've been together a REALLY long time and he was around me back then.) Well, anyways, we popped it in a few days after V-Day and it has turned out to be one of Bree's all time favorite shows. (I'm not really sure why though since a fair amount of the humor has to be over her head.) It's the only cartoon she wants to watch these days and it's gotten to the point that she almost has the opening song memorized and even acts it out! I think it's kinda funny because now we have our kid hooked on an old cartoon that isn't even on anymore, one that was a favorite of mine as a teen (which is apparently a big hit with toddlers too, ouch, blow to my teen ego back then), and because...well, what other 2 year old do you know that says, "Let's watch some Maniacs! Maniacs on the TV Mom!"

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Brianna Pix

Well, I didn't want to be showing favoritism of one child over another (imagine, already having to worry about that!) so considering that I just posted shots of the new baby, and that it seems I haven't posted any of Bree in quite awhile I thought I'd throw some new pix of her up here. We've been so busy getting everything ready to go for the move and coordinating all the small details that we haven't done a whole lot of fun stuff and Travis actually hasn't taken near as many pictures as normal. So, these aren't of anything special we did, just different shots of Bree doing random things around the house. Like...

...just hangin' out.
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...trying to figure out the whole juggling thing.
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...talkin' on the phone (while looking pretty darn pleased with herself).
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And, of course, always lookin' cute!
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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

A Baby Brother!

Well folks, we had our ultrasound yesterday and Brianna is going to be getting a baby brother! Yep, there was pretty much no mistaking his gender there on the monitor. :) We are really excited to be getting a littly boy and have one of each kind. (Now we can look forward to the rounds of blue things as opposed to all the pink stuff we got the first time around.) And, despite Bree's specific request for a little sister earlier she's also talked about a little brother as well and I think she'll be more than happy with the little guy once he's old enough to play with her. So, big changes coming in Bree's little life and in her blog too...this summer you might start seeing some sibling stories and baby boy type entries.

Well, there he is. :) In case you have a hard time making out ultrasound images this is a profile shot with his little head on the left side. Then to the right of there you can see his hand, with little fingers and everything. You can also see the top half of his body...that black space in the middle is one of the internal organs, which show up as voids in the scan.
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Another view from the side. In this one he's got his hand up by his mouth, just about to suck his thumb. The whitish spot above the mid-belly area is the umbilical cord, and then that's part of a leg there on the far right. The black space in the middle of this one is the heart I'm pretty sure. So, there they are the first pix of the Taylor boy. (Well, actually we have a few more, including one proving he's a boy but I didn't think I should post that on the internet.) :)
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Lost in Translation

Brianna is pretty good with her language and generally makes herself understood and also understands whatever it is that adults are trying to tell her about, within reason. So, it was kind of funny tonight when her daddy was talking to her….

Bree wanted to watch some TV and snuggle up with Trav. She apparently needed some Daddy time because she was saying “Dad and me can sit right here and Mommy you sit over on the other couch.” (Hey, no hard feelings though, we do tend to get a little overdosed on each other while Trav remains a novelty.) Travis though had different ideas. “Why don’t we have a family snuggle,” he told her. “A family snuggle,” Bree repeated. “Yeah with Brianna in the middle of Mommy and Daddy.” Brianna looked at him and said, “Dad what does that mean?” It was funny because it was the first time that she’s asked us what something means. I’m sure that she’s thought it many times but this was the first time her language skills have been sophisticated enough to actually express it. Well, we figured the best explanation would be to show her so after some rearranging we sat down on the couch on either side of her and said, “See, Brianna in the middle!” Apparently she wasn’t too happy about it though, because she just pointed to her daddy and said, “Dad, move! You’re in my spot!” Silly us, we’d forgotten she’s got a pre-claimed spot on the couch that no one else is supposed to sit in…

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Miss Sassy-Ass

Travis and I have really tried to watch ourselves and not curse or otherwise use any type of language we don’t want Bree repeating. And in general we’ve been pretty successful. I count it as a win that she doesn’t know any major curse words at this point. Of course, it’s hard sometimes to watch those kinds of words that aren’t technically swearing but you don’t necessarily want your 2 yr. old repeating. Like, for example, the phrase, “What the heck?” It’s not a horrible one really but to me, it just doesn’t sound right flying out of my toddler’s mouth. (Too late though, it’s a phrase she knows already.)

And the other night she picked up another little verbal jewel from me. It’s another phrase that really isn’t bad but, again, not exactly charming coming from my toddler, in my opinion. It happened when I got frustrated with Travis. I’d called him to dinner several times (he was only about 20 feet away) and gotten no response from him whatsoever. So, getting aggravated I said, “Travis, get off your butt and get over here!” Of course, little miss sharp ears heard that and so for the rest of the evening whenever her daddy was sitting down and she wanted him to play or otherwise do something on her agenda she would say, “Daddy, get off your butt!” Lucky for me, (since he knows exactly where she got that), he was laughing every time. He is tired after work though so finally he came back with, “I’m not even on my butt. I’m on my back!” (He was laying on the couch.) This didn’t slow Bree down at all though and she quickly fired off, “Dad, get off your back!”

Monday, February 19, 2007

New Blog Background!!

Well, I've been meaning to update this for awhile so here it is...

Now that Bree's getting a little older I wanted to update her blog to reflect her personality more. You know, kind of to transition from a pastel-y "baby blog" to a more colorful "toddler blog." :) I picked out the old scheme to be girly and baby-ish and it was nice for awhile. But, the more my child's personality comes out the more I realize that she's not a pastel, muted type of gal but much more a vibrant, crazy, wild, outgoing type of kid. So, anyways, here's the new look. I kept some of the old colors I like and I still wanted it to look like a kid's blog. So once again I had to spend quite a bit of time tweaking it since there aren't any real kids themed skins available through blogger. (Geesh!) And, I still wanted to go with some kind of handprint in the background because what says toddler more than busy, sticky handprints everywhere. However, the old ones were..well, pastels so this is what I came up with...those are still handprints back there just big ones. I'm not sure yet if I think it's too busy for a background. Hopefully not. I may switch back to the other handprints. (They're pastel but not real distracting 'cause they're quieter.) Anyways, this look is still in the testing it out phase so you might see me refine and tweak it still. And, if all else fails and we hate it, don't worry, I saved the old template and can have it back up in a jiffy.

(Besides, open yourself up to a little change people, sheesh! Change is good sometimes. And I really don't feel sorry for you anyways. Oooh, Bree's blog looks different than you expected. Big deal! In the next 6 months I'll be changing addresses, states, number of children I mother, to name a few! Maybe this was just my little way of opening myself up to all the changes looming large. So, try it out people, give it a chance already....)

Brianna Shows

Bree likes pretty much any cartoon these days...even those weird anime fighting ones that I'm sure make no sense to her. She calls cartoons "Brianna shows." She'll wander into the room and ask me "Mom, can I watch a Brianna show? Let's find a Brianna show." Of course, I don't really want her watching a lot of the cartoons for older kids so I keep a close eye on what's on (along with trying to watch less TV these days) and so instead we've been popping in videos. (Benefits being she doesn't see commercials for stuff she shouldn't have and I can control the length of time she watches better.) Well, one of the favorite "Brianna shows" the past week or so has been "Winnie the Pooh's Grand Adventure." (Her Valentine's Day present from Daddy.) It's a cute little show, appropriate for toddlers, like all Pooh Bear shows. But every time Bree watches it we both end up giggling. Bree's little sense of humor is coming out more and more. So there are certain parts of the show that strike her as funny, usually the parts involving repeated physical humor, like when Pooh is trying to say something and keeps stopping when acorns fall on his head over and over. Or, when Rabbit is trying to sleep and Tigger's tail keeps tickling his nose and making him laugh. When these segments come on Brianna laughs and it makes me laugh to hear her little carefree giggle and to know that she's finding stuff funny.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sick and Miserable!

Aack! I'm horribly sick with a major head cold! Congestion, sore throat, headache, watery eyes...you name it. Yesterday was really bad but today I'm feeling marginally better - enough to drag myself to the computer and catch up on blogging. (Just for you!)

Well, while I've been laying in bed or on the couch all day Bree has had a hard time understanding the whole thing. This is the sickest I've ever been since she's been born. With other colds and stuff I was at least well enough to sort of function and push through. But, this time around (maybe with the added fatigue of pregnancy) I can't even get up most the day. Travis did a great job yesterday of amusing Bree and taking care of her. At one point I went into my bedroom and was trying to sleep with the door closed and everything. Bree barged in and we had to explain that Mommy is sick and needs to take a nap and rest. She was so sweet about it and even brought me a few of her stuffed animals to cuddle. Of course, when she wanted to share a drink of my juice later it was a different story. For some reason lately she insists on sharing whatever cup Mommy or Daddy is drinking from and refuses to use her own, even if it's filled with the same drink. Needless to say I really don't want her getting my bug if it'll make her as miserable as I've been this weekend. So, when she picked up my cup both Travis and I said, "NO!" rather more forcefully than we needed to. This made her burst into tears and a few minutes later after some discussion about germs had her declaring, "I want my own germs too!" Well, I sure want to get rid of mine! But until then I think I hear the couch calling my name as I type....

Friday, February 16, 2007

More Cat Harrasment

Just a few more creative ways that Brianna has come up with to tease her poor kitty without really crossing the line into torture...

Bree's new thing is to jump OVER the cat. It makes him really nervous and unhappy (naturally) to be used as a hurdle. But, I haven't exactly figured out what to say about this one. "Please don't jump over your cat. He doesn't like it," maybe. But technically she's not doing anything to him so I dunno if I even have enough energy right now to start that arguement...

The other new creative cat game lately is to give him a "Dr. check." Bree got a Dr.'s bag for Christmas and her favorite patient is Bogart. She'll chase him down, hold him in place and use her stethescope to listen to his heart, she'll take his temperature, give him a fake "shot" and pretend band-aid even. None of which is that abusive to the cat (other then the holding him down part which is pretty mild) and is actually pretty darn amusing to any watching. But, there is one part that gets a little questionable at the very end...when for some reason (apparently to "make him better") Bree usually manages to use her little plastic tweezers to pluck a clump of hair out of Bogart's back. She always get's one good pinch of hair out before I can get over there and stop her, although I've never really heard the cat crying about it so maybe it's not a big deal. Still, better safe then sorry I say, probably best to discouraging pinching globs of hair from your cat. It's just not good pet etiquette.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Toddler Valentines

Today we had a Valentine's Day party with our play group. And, us silly moms even had the kids make little decorated Valentine's Day boxes and exchange Valentine's Day cards. ('Cause you know, we want them to have fun and get in on the holidays too.) Well, Bree and I made her box a few days ahead of time...she had a great time helping me paste the paper on the box and also deciding what colors of construction paper to use and all that. But, predictably, at the party none of the kids could care less about their boxes or their cards, bacause they were all 3 and under. It was kind of sad and funny that the kids ended up running around playing while us moms filed past all the boxes, dropping the themed Valentine's cards that our kids had "picked" and then "personalized." (Bree scribbled on all hers to personalize them.) It sort of made me smirk anyways..although later in the day, after we'd gotten home, had a nap and calmed down, Bree did have a great time looking over all the different pictures and talking about which of her friends names' were on them so, maybe it wasn't a complete act of ridiculousness. :)

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, hope you had a good holiday out there! Brianna sent a few homemade cards to her grandparents and got a Winnie the Pooh DVD from Daddy.

Kids Aren't Snacks!

This morning my friend Becca and her daughter Grace came over for a playdate. Before they arrived Bree and I had a brief discussion about Grace being little still (she's over a year younger than Bree) and how we needed to treat her nice and share toys. (You know, trying to lead into the responsible big sister thing. Good practice.) And, actually I was very proud of Brianna. She did a great job of sharing and was never rough with Grace at all. They actually hugged several times and Bree even patted Grace on the head once. So, overall it was a great visit, except for Bree had to explain a few things to Becca about what is and isn't a good snack to nibble on...

At one point during the morning Becca grabbed Gracie up and was kind of nibbling on her little cheeks and neck. Grace was laughing and having a great time with it. I got in on it by teasing Bree and saying "Oh no! Becca's eating Grace!" Not to be left out Bree ran up and asked Becca to "eat" her cheeks too. (She's familiar with this game since we often tease her about being a "corn" baby and Trav will hold her while blowing rasperries on her belly, telling her she's like a corn on the cob.) Obligingly Becca scooped Brianna up as well and blew a few rasperries on her neck and made smacking noises. "Oh no!" I said, "Becca's eating Bree now!" Bree giggled but then as soon as Becca sat her down she changed her tune. She got a serious look on her face and pointed her little finger at Becca and said, "You don't eat kids. Kids are NOT snacks!" It made Becca laugh...but I think Bree was quite serious. :)

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Nursery Rhyming

Brianna has recently become aware of the good old classic nursery rhymes and apparently she's a big fan, especially of "Hickory Dickory Dock." She can go on chanting that one for half an hour at a time. Except when she recites it it goes something like this:

"Dickory Dickory Dock
A mouse ran up a clock
The mouse ran down
Dickory Dickory Dock"

And then she just repeats that in a never-ending loop since the last line can also conveniently double as the first line of the next go round.

Her other favorite is "Hey Diddle Diddle." I think she likes this one because she owns a "rock guitar." It's a plastic violin that also converts to a guitar and plays music. Today she pulled it out and was going, "The cat and the fiddle!" And then she actually held part of it up to her chin, which is how you would play a violin in real life. I was really surprised since I have no idea where she picked that up...maybe she saw it on TV?

Monday, February 12, 2007

Guess What? I'm the Best!

Short and sweet today...

I didn't really feel super great today, just headachey and tired, so I wasn't in my best Mommy mode and was feeling kind of bad about my parenting performance today. But, then Bree walked over to me, threw her arm around my shoulder and told me, "I love you Mom. You're the best!" So okay she can be difficult and exhausting at times but she sure has her great moments too. :)

Sunday, February 11, 2007

I Kissed George

So, in case I haven't had long phone conversation with you about it (which I have with many of my friends and family) going into great detail and talking about it at length, then it will be news to you that we've been working on potty training with Bree. It sort of takes over your whole life...cleaning up the potty, talking to your child about going potty, sitting in the floor of the bathroom for long periods of time while you try to get your kid to sit there long enough to make a #2 in the potty. You get the picture. And, in general I've tried NOT to blog about it to spare you all from the gory and sometimes disgusting details. But, this one was just too good not to tell...

We've actually been working on the potty training thing for quite awhile now. I'm convinced we'd be farther along and making more progress if I myself were more dedicated to the cause. It's just that some days I haven't really wanted to spend most of my day sitting on the bathroom floor (and it's getting uncomfortable being pregnant actually) and I really haven't wanted to go with the just put 'em in the panties route since I don't want to deal with the messes that leaves everywhere. But, with baby #2's arrival inching closer all the time I've gotten more serious about getting this potty training thing down. So, I've spent a lot more time in my bathroom and went ahead and put the panties on the other day. (I tried pull-ups and those thick cloth training ones too. Bree treats them all like diapers..doesn't hesitate to go both kinds of potty in there...ew!) I thought, well maybe the panties are thin enough that if she does have an accident she'll notice for sure and not like the sensation. We started out putting on some pale blue panties with butterflies on them. "Okay please don't go potty in your panties," I said, "These are big girl panties so if you need to go potty come tell Mommy and we'll go in your potty chair." "Okay Mom," Bree said and skipped off into her room to play. About 10 minutes later she walked past me sans panties. "Why are your buns hanging out?" I asked, "Where are your panties?" "They're wet!" she informed me. Apparently she had already peed through them...I found them in a little wet pile in the corner of her room. Well, she sure enough didn't like wearing wet panties so I thought we'd try again and now she'd try NOT to pee through them. This time I pulled out a pair of Curious George panties, one of her favorite characters lately. "Now see Curious George on these panties?" I pointed. "We don't want to get George wet or messy. It would make him sad if you go potty on him. If you need to go, we'll go sit on your chair okay?" "Okay Mom," Bree said again. Well, 10 minutes later here comes my little girl with a bare bottom again. She came running up to me, "Mom, I kissed George so he wouldn't be sad." she informed me. "What?!" I said. It took me a minute to realize she had already peed through her George underwears and must have kissed them after she peeled them off so George wouldn't feel sad he was wet. After shuddering and going "Ew" I had to laugh.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Like Father Like Daughter

I've written in the past about Travis' and my differences in opinion when it comes to the humor department. And, I've also hinted that Brianna may be leaning towards a more Trav sense of humor. (You know towards the slapstick, the more often you repeat it the funnier it gets type. Of course, it's hard to tell because at this age all kids think that kind of stuff is funny.) Well anyways, one of the things Trav does that I find particulary silly and unfunny is this: he likes to ask you a question - "Did this and such just happen to you?" and then directly after that he'll do that exact thing to you. For example he'll say to you, "Did someone just tickle you?" And then AFTER that he'll tickle you. I have no idea why, maybe as a little preview of the loving harassment he's about to dish out. One of his favorite times to do this is right after he comes home from work and is taking off his shoes. Practically every night he'll take his shoes off, strip off his socks, ball them up and then ask "Did someone just throw a sock at you?" And then, he throws his sock at you. And, he does it again for the second sock. It used to be me that went through this odd little ritual every night. (I usually don't say anything and just throw his smelly socks back at him.) But now (lucky for me) it's Bree who has to deal with it. In fact, much to my appreciation Bree now takes the brunt of these preview-to-bugging-you type questions. But then the other day this happened...

As Bree and I were playing in her room she decided she didn't want to wear her socks anymore. (You see where this is going?) Then, she suddenly looked at me and asked me, "Did someone just throw a sock at you?" She launched her sock at my head, successfully beaning me. Then came the other sock. Well great! The questionable torch has been passed. Now there are two of them who do it...of all the weird things to teach your kid...AACK! :)

Friday, February 09, 2007

Benefit of the Doubt

One of my big struggles with Bree lately (among many others) has been about her cleaning up after herself, or rather, her lack thereof. I know she's only 2 but she's getting close to 3 and she's like a little tornado of mess and destruction everywhere she goes in my apartment. So, we've been working on the concept of picking up some of your stuff before you move on to the next toy. This is a concept that has met with much resistance on Bree's part. In fact I'd say 4 of 5 times when I ask her to pick something up she'll flat out tell me no. This usually escalates into a stand-off of timeout threats and so on until finally she picks up 2 things off the floor and runs off. And, I admit this just broke me down the other day since I don't want to be fighting with her all day. So most days I just clean up myself and don't ask her to help. Because once I do I can't let her tell me no so it gets into this big thing. I actually called my mom crying (hey, I'm pregnant okay!) and was asking her if I'm just the worst parent ever that my kid will tell me no and refuse to pick up. Maybe if I'd started earlier I thought or been more consistent with insisting she pick up from day to day she wouldn't be fighting me on it. Well, mom just laughed and said that's toddlerhood for ya, harder on the parents than the kids. And, turns out that maybe I'm not too terrible a parent and maybe Bree's getting the idea because this afternoon as we played (her doing her normal job of emptying all her stuff into the middle of the room) she suddenly got inspired to pick up all her cars and put them back into the correct bin (which was actually a standoff we had yesterday). Today she did it of her own free will and then ran over to me and said, "High five Mom!"

Thursday, February 08, 2007

X-Ray Vision

The other night at dinner we had carrots as a side. Now, Brianna is actually pretty good about eating her veggies compared to some of the stories I've heard from other moms. But, on this night she wasn't too inspired to eat many carrots. "Mom, I'm done!" she declared after eating most everything but her carrots. "Babe, you should try your carrots," I told her, "They're yummy and they're good for your eyes." "Yeah," Travis piped in, "They help you see in the dark." Well, being 2 Bree took this last statement at face value and if she had been a dog you would have seen her ears perk up at that point. So, she reached over and started cramming down carrot slices. She ate 4 or 5 and then said, "Dad will you turn off the lights? I can see in the dark now! Now I can see in the dark!" Man, the things we do to get our kids to eat their vegetables! (Like today at lunch I wanted her to eat her broccoli and so to get her to I was singing my own version of Veggie Tales, "Celery, Broccoli...EAT ME! Veggie Tales!" She liked it and it worked so I guess we do what we have to do, even if we do seem silly in the process.)

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Long Johns

It's been really cold here. And, by really cold I mean like -25 degrees cold. This is not good news for Travis who has to wait at the bus stop each morning to get to work. So, he's been wearing long johns under his pants to help keep warm. Well, the other day as he was getting his pajamas on he stripped off his jeans and there they were, his long johns. Bree happened to be in the room at the time and I guess she's never seen long johns before. She stared at her daddy for a minute. Then she ran over to him and started running her hands up and down his calf. "Daddy, what is this?" she asked him in a funny little voice. He laughed and said, "These are long johns. They help keep Daddy warm outside." "Oh," she said, and kept petting him. Well, apparently long johns are quite fascinating. That or Trav is just extra fetching in them...rather Peter Pan esque. :)

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Honey Hunt

I think it’s official that Bree has entered that toddler phase of fixating on one thing and then wanting to repeat it over and over and over (and over and over.) And she’s managed to keep this a constant theme in all the different areas of her life. Take fashion, as I’ve already said her latest craze is that NO outfit is complete without “kitty ear-mups.” And for lunch, nothing will do but mac and cheese. She even asks to eat it for breakfast sometimes too! Likewise, her ultimate favorite book right now is the Berenstein Bears “The Honey Hunt.” I think I read that book at least 3 times each day. I almost have it memorized word for word. But, I suppose it’s not that bad compared to some of the books she could be in love with right now. Like all the parenting books say, she likes knowing what will happen next and being able to tell me what’s coming next before I turn the page. It’s actually a pretty cute book about the daddy bear deciding that he doesn’t need to buy honey from the store, that since he’s a bear he can find his own honey tree. But, he bumbles all around and instead of finding a honey tree finds an owl in one tree, and a family of skunks in another….and toddler hilarity ensues. The whole time though the dad is insisting he’s about to find honey and keeps asking his son, “Now don’t you think your dad is clever?” I’m pretty sure that’s Trav’s favorite part, especially after the other day when Bree (having just finished reading this book with him) said, “I think my dad is very clever!” Hmm…now to find a book that talks about how great the mom is….

Monday, February 05, 2007

Kitty Ear Mups

So, a few months ago, at Grammy Deb’s last visit, she bought Bree some adorable Hello Kitty Earmuffs. Bree loved them! She wore them for about a week and then we couldn’t find them anymore. We knew they were in the apartment somewhere but we just couldn’t figure out where. Well, this weekend over the course of more cleaning and organizing closets in prep for the upcoming big move…yep, you guessed it, we found the earmuffs! Once again Brianna is in love with them…she calls them her “kitty ear-mups.” She likes the “ear-mups” so well I don’t think she’s taken them off her head in the last 48 hours. And I’m not exaggerating…she’s insisted on wearing them all around even when the only other thing she’s wearing is her diaper. There she’ll be walking around the room in just her diaper and kitty earmuffs. She’s also insisted on wearing them to bed. They actually look quite stylish with a pair of lavender footie pajamas…

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Weekend Washout

Here I am again having let my daily blogging go for far too many days. Well, my only excuse is that it's been super hectic here. The big move to Montana is only around 5-7 weeks away so the weekend got filled up with trivial stuff like, I dunno, being on the phone constantly with my in-laws who had driven to our future hometown and were trying to help us pick out a new home purely by verbal description (ever buy a house sight unseen?), and getting moving truck quotes, not to mention trying to figure out if there'll be an insurance coverage gap with me being 6 months pregnant by the time we move. You know we're trying to do as much as we can ahead of time so we don't suddenly realize we've forgotten something major at the end. Oh and not to mention we did take the time out to watch the Super Bowl and all... so Whew! My brain is fried. Yes, Bree did some cute things in there but this time I give up. So, to take your mind off of the fact that I just cheated you out of 3 or so days of blog entries here's Brianna doing some very convincing impressions. (Okay yes..it's just a fluff, filler kind of entry. Don't you think I know!! But here's some cute pix.)

So, without further ado here's Bree AS....

...a movie critic and popcorn-eater expert. Imagine 20 years from now it'll be "Ebert and Brianna" 2 thumbs up!
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...future University of Minnesota student. Go Gophers!
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...Brianna Skywalker. Jedi extraordinaire! Apparently she does her best light-saber fighting with her shirt off.
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...the next Great American Novelist. Here she is demonstrating how the pen is mightier than the sword. Apparently she does her best thinking without a shirt on as well. (Okay actually she's just in that phase where she wants to be nekked all the time!)
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Thursday, February 01, 2007

YIKES!

Technically I suppose it's not too cool to laugh at your kid when they're terrified of something but this was just too funny...

The other day Bree asked to watch TV and so we popped in a Veggie Tales DVD for a few minutes. The theme of that particular episode was dealing with bullies and in the very beginning it's a spoof on Robin Hood. There's a veggie Robin Hood and a big, green squash (the bully) comes crashing through the forest going "grrrr." This is a show Bree has seen before. But, this time she barely had time to register that a big green squash was on the screen, I think she heard it go "g.." before she was gasping and running out of the room as fast as she could. It was just pretty funny because one minute she was watching her show and the next minute all we could see was her rear end leaving the room as fast as she could. She ran into her bedroom and yelled out that we needed to turn off the TV and it was too scary. Then she suggested we play in her room for awhile. So, like I said, I guess it's not nice to laugh at her being scared but it did look pretty funny. Plus it's just interesting to me what's scary now that hasn't been before, like a big green squash. I guess she's just getting old enough to be more aware and register the "scary" things more.