I must be doing something right.

8.10 - "Louise, go upstairs and get ready for bed."
8.15 - I go up to check, and find her on the throne without the fan on. "Get finished and get ready for bed."
8.30 - Find her and Emily on their floor plotting... "Alright, everyone in their bed."

"But I forgot to brush my teeth!"
"You can do it in the morning."
... burst into tears... "I need to brush my teeth!!!"
... throws herself onto her bed with face into pillow... "I'm going to tell Mommy!"

If my biggest issue with L is having to hold my ground with oral hygiene, then I must be doing something right.

aeb

Certified Lead Free

Unlike many things exported from China, we have found that Garrett is certified Lead Free. He's free of all the other random things they check for in your blood, which of course is a blessing.

You might also mention that he is free of muscle tone, free to almost comprehend what you are trying to communicate (I notice that he understands things he likes a lot more than things he's not interested in hearing... one must wonder). He's free to lie in bed for 45+ minutes each night, not really babbling too loud or causing problems, but just slowly passing into sleep. He's free to get very excited and do what can best be described as the 2-year-old jig. And most importantly, he's free to call me "Momma" no matter how many times I correct him.

God bless America - aeb

Birthday Girl

Eliza turned 2 last Thursday. That day itself passed mostly without event. Sunday afternoon we had family over to open gifts and eat. Of course, she had no idea why the big shebang was going on, but she still basked in the glory.

Revisionist History

Last night Louise got in trouble for hitting Emily. Actually, the hitting occurred around snacktime, but we saved the punishment for when Alan got home. I told her that she would have to fess up to Daddy when he came home, and that was enough to make her upset. Once he got here, she hemmed and hawed (if one can picture Louise doing such a thing?) and danced around the issue..... I left the room and hung by the corner to see how the conversation would go.....

"Do you have something you want to tell me, Louise?"
"Yes... I can't remember... did I hit Emily or did Emily hit me?"
"Be very careful what you say to me, Louise, I will be much more angry if you lie. What happened?"
"I can't remember.... I think Emily hit..... no, wait, I hit Emily."
"Do you think hitting is nice or mean?"
"Mean.... and a little bit nice."
"Why is it mean?"
"It hurts people."
"Mmm-hmmm... and why is it nice?"
silence
"well, I don't really know why it's nice."
"So, it's mean then, right?"
"Well, it's mostly mean.... but a little bit nice."
"Wait, I thought we couldn't think of the nice part."
"Oh, okay, then... it's mean."

I think he was so stunned he forgot to punish her!

Makes Sense to Me.....

A small example of how Louise works the system... (all of us are guilty of falling prey to this, nobody is immune) .... she is suffering from a small cold- very stuffy, tired, bags under the eyes, etc., nothing serious. Today I gave her some medicine after lunch. It's grape-flavored, and she liked the taste of it. After snack she asked me for another dose. A little later she asked for more:

"I can't give you any yet; I have to wait four hours. Come here and tell me how you feel.... are you stuffy?"
*Sniff*
"Are you tired?"
*Sigh*
"Does your throat hurt?"
*swallow* "a little"
"Do you feel warm.... or feel like you need to lie down?"
"I feel.... kind of sick... I actually.... feel as bad as I did just before you gave me the purple medicine earlier today......"

*me laughing* "Oh really?...."
*indignant* "Stop laughing!! It's true!!"

She is a dangerous con artist.