Mom-Colored Glasses

So, I realize and have/will readily admit that the things that I think are cute, funny, interesting, and share-worthy have definitely changed since becoming a mom.

That's why I love having this blog. I can share to my mom-heart's content and not have to worry about people secretly wishing I'd shut my yapper. Chances are if you're here reading this, you want to know all about these funny little mom moments.

I made a promise to myself long ago that I would not discuss my children's bathroom habits on Facebook. But this isn't Facebook! This is our family blog! Potty stories are officially fair game.

You've been warned. This is a potty story. If you don't want to hear it, stop reading now.





No? Still here?





Okay then.




So, we have another official exciting milestone: Ali went pee on the big potty!!!

NO, we aren't potty training. NO we don't plan on starting to potty train any time soon. We will approach potty training the same way we've approached everything else: slow and steady and not 'til we see some signs of her being ready.

But we have gotten her a special "blue potty" seat that goes on the big potty and she loves to sit up there and pretend to go potty.

The other night, she said she had to poop, so we asked if she wanted to sit on the blue potty.

 An affirmative nod later, and she was sitting there, happily bouncing her feet, dripping wet from the bathwater we had yanked her out of.

"Okay," I said. "You can poop now."

She looked at me.

"Push!" I encouraged her.

She balled up her little fists, squeezed her eyes shut, scrunched up her mouth, and her little tummy contracted with the effort of her pushing. And then she opened her eyes and flashed me a huge smile, like, "See, Mommy? I'm a good pusher!"

It was the most hysterical, adorable pushing I've ever seen.

See there? Mom-colored glasses. Someone sitting on the potty, trying with all their might to push out poop, and I think it's both hysterical and adorable.

I called Alex in and we showed Daddy what a good pusher she is. We all laughed. Ali smiled and laughed right along with us.

What a sweet family moment, the three of us and the toilet.

I asked her if she was ready to get back into the tub, and she said no and requested that I read her one of her bath books. Sure, no prob.

We read her Elmo bath book and talked about getting clean, brushing our teeth, and the number of other personal hygiene practices showcased in the four-page book.

When I closed the book, Ali asked sweetly, "One more time?" How can I resist?

I read the book to her again, and somewhere between "washing our face and hands" and "combing our hair," I heard it.

PEE! In the POTTY!!

I think it caught her off guard because she looked down, surprised, and then looked at me with a "what on Earth?!!?" look in her eyes. Again. Hysterical. Adorable. Gah, I love her.

I cheered and praised her and then called Dad in again. Ali proudly told him she had gone pee. He cheered and praised her.

Then we scooped her up, ceremoniously wiped her bottom, and then plopped her back in the tub for the rest of bath time.

So there you have it. Awesome pushing effort, successful (albeit delayed) pee in the potty.

I'm so proud of my big, sweet, awesome, funny, wonderful, enthusiastic girl.

Mother's Day

Both my babies on Mother's Day. My heart is so full.

Happy Mother's Day.

Oversharing

As a mom, I think it's just in my blood to want to totally overshare about my cute kid.

Just this morning, here are all the things I wanted to share on Facebook, but didn't.

1. Aw! My kid just spontaneously thanked me for cooking her blueberry pancakes! Without any prompting from me, she said, "Tank ooo, Mommy, pancake." My heart = mush.

2. Dude. She just ate two and a half full-sized pancakes. That's the same amount I ate.

3. I happened to say, "I think that bites too big. I don't think that will fit in your mouth." She flashed me a defiant look and proceeded to prove me wrong. I LOVE that my daughter inherited my healthy sense of competition. :-)

4. Oh, and this little gem. I did share this one. :-)

Wordsmith

I think of all the things I want to share with the world about my baby girl, her amazing conversational skills top the list. I think daily that I should carry around a tape recorder just to record for posterity the awesome things that come out of her mouth.

Just this evening, these are some of the conversations we had.

A: Daddy eat? 

M: No, daddy's not going to eat dinner with us. Daddy's on an airplane.

A: yeah. Big airplane. Biz trip. Mommy eat.

(she remembered from this morning that Alex is going on a business trip. Wow.)

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Ali's new favorite obsession is hunting Easter eggs. At the restaurant tonight, this is what she said about everyone who was leaving.

A: Bye-bye! Go home, hunt eggs? Hunt Easter eggs? 

(clearly she thinks that everyone is as taken with the pastime as she is)

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Ali looooves counting. Her new favorite number is thirty (which only recently replaced her most beloved "two.") This is how it goes when we count to thirty.

M: okay, let's count! What do we start with?

A: two!

M: One...

A: two!

M: good! what's next?

A: three!

M: what's next?

A: five!

M: four...

A: five!

M: five...

A: Here we go! 

M: No, not yet. Six...

A: Six...

M: seven...

A: seben...

M: eight...

A: eat? Mommy eat?

M: nine...

A: yeah...

M: ten!

A: Here we go!!!

M: Not yet! Eleven (yeah...), twelve (yeah...), thirteen (thirty!!!), fourteen (yeah...), fifteen (yeah...), sixteen (yeah...), seventeen (yeah...), eighteen (yeah...), nineteen (yeah...), twenty!

A: THIRTY! Go, go!!!

M: Twenty-one (yeah...), twenty-two (yeah...), twenty-three (yeah...), twenty-four (yeah...), twenty-five (yeah...), twenty-six (yeah...), twenty-seven (yeah...seben), twenty-eight (yeah...), twenty-NINE (YEAH...), THIRTY!!

A: THIRTY! HERE WE GO GO GO!!!!


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And yesterday morning, when it was time for an Ali diaper change . . .

D: Come on Ali, it's time to change your diaper.

A: No dirty diaper. Teeny tiny poop. No dirty. Clean diaper. No big poop. Teeny tiny poop.

D: Yeah, even if it's just a teeny tiny poop, we still have to change your diaper.

A: No Ali dirty diaper. Daddy diaper. Daddy dirty diaper.


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Seriously never a dull moment 'round these parts.

Ten on Tuesday

1. Everyone is HOME! Last week, Alex went to Germany and Ali went to visit her grandparents, giving this momma a much-needed break before we hit the ground running with a newborn again. Ali LOVES her G-Mommy, Granddad, Bubbie, Zeydie, Munna, Poppy, and Aunt Katie, and I'm not sure she even missed being at home one minute with all the fun they had last week. They had Easter egg hunts and fed ducks at the park and went to a local farm, and Ali has spent the last several days telling me stories about all the fun things she remembers doing. I enjoyed my time by myself (the first I've gotten in EIGHTEEN MONTHS!), but I was ready ready ready for my family to come home. Ali has been unusually snuggly since returning and I am loving every second of it.

2. That's right! Ali is telling stories! She has an amazing memory and quite the imagination. Not only does she remember things that she's done days, even weeks ago, but she is also making up stories from her imagination. Her favorite character is her daddy, and she tells me all kinds of funny things about him (how he spilled yogurt and mommy had to clean it up, how he is taking a shower and then brushing his teeth and then putting on his clothes, etc.). I am constantly amazed at her!

3. She says "Yummy tummy" when she's eating something that she likes. Awesome.

4. She says "I sorry 'bout that" and then wants to touch foreheads while she looks lovingly into your eyes. Awesomer. We are in trouble if she remembers this little trick in the years to come. Powerless we are, I tell you.

5. Ali is now officially sleeping in her big-girl room! She graduated to her new and improved room two nights ago and she loves it. I think Alex and I had a harder time with her transition than she did (what? Change is hard, yo.).

6. Alex only has one more (short) business trip, and then he's home until August! It will be so very nice to have him home for such a long stretch. And scary to think that the next time he leaves, I'll have TWO kids to take care of on my own! Oi!

7. The pregnancy is going great. I feel as big as a house. I waddle. I grunt when I get up or down. I can't put on my own socks. All about par for the course at this point!

8. Dos has hair. 'Tis true. Long hair. We had a 3D ultrasound done, and not wanting to be out-performed by his big sister, he made a giant production of completely hiding his face. But we could tell that he has long hair already, long enough to wisp off his sweet little head. I can't wait to meet him to stroke his long hair and find out what he really looks like! Here's his big shot: hand over face, shoulder hunched up to hide any features we may have been able to sneak a peek at. Stinker. Cute wittle chubby hand, though.

9. Dos is still Dos. No name yet.

10. Ali's bluebonnet picture this year. It was a *LOT* harder than last year, when all we had to do was plop her in the flowers and make googly noises at her to earn a sweet smile. This year she decided that the WORST THING IN THE WORLD was being sat in the flowers and wasn't having any of it. We were stumped until I got the idea from a friend to take along a chair so that she wouldn't actually have to be in the flowers. Brilliant. So here's one of our shots of my sweet, sweet girl. Enjoy.

One In A . . .

I get a weekly email that tells me interesting little developmental tidbits all about my baby girl according to how old she is. These emails are chock full of great advice in topics ranging from eating and teething to sleeping and playing. Pretty much I just scan them and delete them, as Ali has always been either right in line with or a bit ahead of whatever it's telling me.

This last week I got one for my "18-month-old: Week 3." It says, "Some toddlers can even make simple two-word sentences, such as 'No more' or 'All done.'"

Umm.

The other day, Ali told me, "Ali no play outside. Inside Ali milk please. Ali inside."

If only some toddlers are just now stringing together two words, what does that make her?

Just what I've always known she was: one in a bazillion.
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In other news: holy crap, I'm having a baby next month.

Video Friday!

To get your weekend started off right!!