Just When You Thought It Was Safe

Oh where to begin.

Thursday: We're on our way out to run some errands when I decide it is a nice day to have "ladies lunch". I tell Bella we can go anywhere she wants to go for lunch and she says, "The Grocery Store" (which is Whole Foods, where we often sit and have lunch). She says she wants ice cream too and I say OK. We stop at the car wash on the way, and as we pull up she says in a solemn voice, "I can't have ice cream." With dread in my voice, I turn around and ask..."WHY!?".

"I peed."

I got out of the car, put the money in the car wash and as I washed the car, secretly dreamed that all the windows were open so I could just hose down the whole works, car seat, kid, peed-in pants. Ladies lunch was canceled.


Tuesday:
After an hour on the phone with Apple Tech Support trying to fix a computer problem (always fun) I look out into the living room to see my beautiful daughter standing on the coffee table in her underwear, head bent over, looking down between her legs as she pees on the table and LAUGHS her head off. Not knowing if tech support can still hear me while I am on hold, I refrain from saying ANYTHING at all. I march her up to her room silently. Tell her to get cleaned up and head back downstairs to clean up the table . Not happy.

Now at this point you are probably wondering, as I am, what is the bright side to these stories?

Here are just a few (believe me, it took me a while to come up with these)
1. Now that this has been published online, I have written proof and bribery for when she reaches dating age. I am sure her first boyfriend will LOVE to hear about how she peed on the coffee table! Better be home by curfew.
2. Honestly, the coffee table has never looked better.
3. For every upset, the victories are even sweeter. When we DO make it to the potty, the cheers are louder, the smiles bigger and the hugs tighter. What could be better than that?

“A child can go only so far in life without potty training. It is not mere coincidence that six of the last seven presidents were potty trained, not to mention nearly half of the nation's state legislators.” ~ Dave Barry

I'm a Big Kid Now

I was just flushing the toilet yesterday when Bella came into the bathroom with a big smile on her face and said, "YOU DID IT MOMMY! You went pee in the potty! Good job!"

I was so proud of myself.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

I think my daughter was abducted by aliens. On any normal day we deal with the usual 3-year old attitude. That's MINE!. Mommy I want this. Mommy I want that. A little whining. A little crying. A temper tantrum here and there. But this morning she said, "C'mon Mommy, let's share. Doesn't that sound like a great idea?" They must have been really polite aliens.

Star Gazer

A story by Bella: (copied word for word by Mommy)

Once upon a time there was a brilliant brilliant star shining in Alaska. And there was a Mommy moose, a Daddy Moose and a Baby moose. And they were happy.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

They're heeeere!

We had a tree service here this morning, cutting down some branches on a very large tree in our back yard. Bella looked out the sliding glass doors at them and said (think of the little girl in Poltergeist pressed up against the TV), "The treeeee killers are here."

?....Who knows.

UGH

I am not a morning person.

I could stay up all night working, reading, watching TV, but when the sun comes up, I want to be sleeping. As those of you with young ones at home know, sleep is rare and most nights, unfulfilling. Occasionally when a grandparent comes to visit, or Daddy takes the kid fishing early in the morning (and puts the dog outside before they go) I get to lay in bed, cozy under the covers, dreaming...of more sleep.

But today was not one of those days.

As soon as Daddy got up, the dog moved in - this is the usual routine. Sometime she actually takes his spot, head on his pillow, feet stretched out to the bottom of the bed. But most days she likes to spoon...with me. Now, keep in mind, we have an 80lb. Chocolate Lab. Soon after she cuddles in and I am pushed to the very edge of the bed, I feel "the stare". I open my eyes to find Bella's smiling face inches from mine. "The sun is up Mommy. GET UP!" It's 6:52am. I roll over only to find the dog on my other side, inches from my face. And so begins the day.

Looking on the bright side, there is nothing I would rather see upon opening my eyes each day, than the smiling face of my beautiful daughter. And I have to admit that one of my favorite things to do when the dog closes in, is to open one eye and peek at her as she stares at me, and hear her tail go 'thwap, thwap , thwap ' on the bed. I close my eye and the thwapping stops. Open my eye, 'thwap, thwap , thwap ' ... faster and faster. As if she is saying "The sun is up Mommy. GET UP!"

I guess sleep is overrated. At least until 6:52am tomorrow.

Brainwashed at age 3

Bella & I spent the last week in Minnesota, visiting Grandmommy, Grandpa, Aunt Tracy & Uncle Bill. Daddy ventured off to Alaska for a 10-day hunting trip. I am pretty sure it is all he thought about for the past month and a half. I would ask him a question about his workday, what he wanted for dinner, etc., and most of the time would be met with a glazed-over stare and a, "Huh?". He'd been making lists, shopping for gear and shooting his bow & arrow at the archery range for weeks...and apparently brainwashing his 3 year old daughter.
Back in MN, Aunt Tracy and Uncle Bill had purchased a giant box of Playdough - 24 colors, including gold and silver! - and were waiting with giddy anticipation for Bella's arrival so they could play with it. Bill came up with the idea that he would hide the Playdough around the house and then have a Playdough hunt when Bella arrived. A few days before we were to go to their house, Bill asked Bella if she wanted to go on a Playdough hunt. Without skipping a beat she replied, "I will bring my bow and arrow!" Not quite what he had in mind.

I think I will take her shoe shopping tomorrow, just to balance things out a little.

Out of the Mouths of Babes....

Just a few of the things that came out of Bella's mouth today....

"Do monkeys eat toasters?"
"I want to poop at the bank."
"Excuse me m'lady."
"Mommy, I SAID I want animal crackers, NOT animal crackers and milk. Take this milk away!"

And here's one compliments of Harris Stevens, age 4
"Dad, why do they call it iTunes. They should call it EarTunes. And EarPod, not iPod."

What more could I possibly add to that.

Everyone Needs More Sparkles

It was a beautiful day in Colorado today. 68 degrees, the sun was shining, with the slightest cool breeze blowing all afternoon. Autumn was definitely in the air and I love it! Bella rode her bike up and down the street, Daddy mowed the lawn and Mommy did what she loves best at this time of year...shopped for new fall shoes! When I got home, I decided it was time to pull out Bella's fall clothes and we put them away neatly in her closet. One dress in particular caught her eye. It was a dress that Grandmommy bought her last year that has a red sequined belt. When she saw it her eyes lit up and she gasped and said, "It's got sparkles on it! That makes me feel better." We both agreed that sparkles do tend to make you feel better. A sparkly new bike. A sparkly night sky. Sparkly sprinkles on a piece of chocolate cake. The sparkle of the sun shining on the water. The sparkle in your beautiful child's eyes. A sparkly new pair of fall shoes....I feel better already.

Shhhh....

I don't remember exactly what I was saying this morning when Bella made this comment. I am sure I was probably asking her if she had to go potty for the 100th time. Very sweetly she said, as she watched Sesame Street on TV, "Mommy, can you be quiet for just a little seconds. I am trying to watch."

I think we all need to be quiet for "a little seconds" every once in a while. It's amazing what you can hear in the silence.