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!”

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….

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."

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!

 

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??

 

What’s that? Hmm…yes, it’s a clue!

 

Aww shucks! Well aren’t I the cutest? I still had a fun weekend even while hanging with boring old Mom and Dad.

 

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.)

 

Then it was on to a lengthy (and funny) game of Twister. Here’s Savannah demonstrating her mad skills on the Twister board. :)

 

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.

 

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!

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!"

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.

 

...trying to figure out the whole juggling thing.

 

...talkin' on the phone (while looking pretty darn pleased with herself).

 

And, of course, always lookin' cute!

 

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.