Beach: Day 2

Who knew getting two toddlers ready for the beach could be such work? Suzanne and I both agree that we need a Nana or Grammie to come along next time :)

Natalie loved the beach just as much this time as she did last year. We jumped waves, sat on the beach and let the water roll up on us and, of course, she dug in the sand. However the baby pool was our saving grace. It wasn't very big but only 2 ft. deep so Nat could play in without worry of going under for the most part.

Natalie decided to help us out and speed things along by carrying the pool around the condo.
I think we got the hint.

I Want the Beach NOW!

This was all we heard from Natalie all Memorial weekend. So when she woke up Monday and we told her were taking a ride to the beach she was ecstatic. Every time we stopped on the way down she would ask "beach?"

So it came as no surprise that as soon as we got there and the kids saw the pool we had to suit up and test the waters.

Strawberries Anyone?

Nat loves her some strawberries, can you tell?

Momma Has Lost Her Mind

Yes I have, I'll admit. I actually picked up and held a lizard for Natalie the other day. It's not that I'm afraid of them but it just seems gross. However Nat loves looking for the "izards" and is always wanting to touch them.

Well she was singing a different tune after I actually caught one. Normally when Nat's playing with the neighbor kids and they've caught a lizards it's on its last leg from them playing with it all day. It doesn't really run fast at this point and Nat can hold it with little fuss from the lizard. Not the case with the one I caught. She wanted me to sit it on her table but naturally it ran off. She settled for petting it until she told me to put it back.

Silly Natalie

Here are a few random photos from our weekend.

I swear sometimes I'm raising a boy trapped in a girl's body. She said she wanted to go swimming Friday afternoon but instead ended up dumping buckets of water in the dirt to make mud pies.



"Look mommy, lipstick." She was dipping her carrot sticks into her ketchup and putting on her lipstick.


This I really have no words for. She just said "bye momma, outside" and this is what came around the corner.

The Terrible Twos

We ran right smack into them Tuesday morning...hard.

It went down something like this. Nat and Byron were playing on the bed while I was getting ready for work. Nat asks me if she can brush her teeth. Sure. I walk in the bathroom grab her Dora toothbrush, put the paste on it and take it back to her in the bedroom. We are still trying to get her to want to brush her teeth on a regular basis so if she wants to brush her teeth outside in the pool, at this point, we let her.

So she's brushing, we are telling her good job, then she looks at me and says "more momma." She's bad at sucking the toothpaste off so I said, "No Natalie we only brush our teeth once in the morning, lets go spit."

Then all hell broke loose.

She threw her toothbrush at me. I didn't even know what to say. I just looked at Byron and was like "alright how are we going to handle this?" My first reaction was to thump her on the butt, I know I would have gotten a whoopin' back in the day.

We told her that we do not throw things when we get mad. She started crying. She looked at Byron like why are you even yelling at me, I threw it at Mom. We asked her to get off the bed to pick it up and she yelled "no" rolled over and pretended to be asleep. I picked her up and stood her right next to the toothbrush and told her again to pick it up. She folder her arms, yelled "no" and stomped off before Byron grabbed her and literally made her pick it up and hand it to me.

She sulked off to the living room and I just stood there stunned. I mean seriously? That much attitude at 2, over throwing a toothbrush? We're in trouble.

Later she came in the bathroom all innocent holding her blanket looking up at me with those big green eyes. I looked at her and asked if she was ready to say she was sorry for hurting mommy's feelings. Again, she ran off like I had taken a switch to her butt yelling "nooooo" through the house.

Onto yesterday. I originally started writing this post while at work yesterday. I was going to apologize for not really have any cute pictures to put up. I was mainly documenting this for Nat's amusement when she's older and has her own little mini-me yelling at her.

But Nat's not one to disappoint. Byron calls me at WalMart yesterday after work and is like you need to come home NOW to see what your daughter is doing.

Byron said he was in the kitchen and asked Nat what she was doing. "Just drawing daddy." Little did he know she had found a black sharpie (we honestly do not know where it came from) and decided to autograph the windowsill, our hardwood floor, walls and her newly stained table and chair BEFORE giving herself a new tattoo.

She gives the phrase "it's a good thing she's cute" a whole new meaning.

Not Much Going On

Our neck of the woods was pretty quiet this weekend. Mainly because we stepped outside to get the mail Saturday and to quote Natalie "momma it's cold." Yep, it was 60 in May! That's cold for us Southern girls. Sunday was a little better, at least the sun was out, but we still just hung around the house. I did get the first coat of stain on Nat's little table and chairs Vann built over Christmas. Hopefully I can finish it this week and then paint her toy box next weekend and mark two things off my "to do" list. Vann helped with a few of the items on my list last weekend. He hung the cross I got at Granddaddy's funeral for me while I planted flowers. He also fixed our fence, and helped Byron put a new seal on his Egg.


So what did Nat do all weekend? She spent the better part of Sunday trying to get her lizard to "climb" the tree.
First she and Bogey had to discuss their plan of attack...


They succeeded. Then I hear "Momma help, izard stuck!" Silly lizard.


This is the face you get 90% of the time when you ask her if she has to potty. We've resorted to bribing with candy and stuff. She's doing really well, maybe 1 accident a day. We have even gone out a few times (with a diaper on) and come home to her being dry. Maybe next weekend we will work up the nerve to take her out in panties...maybe.

Sweet Corn Eatin' Fool

After a trip with Nana & PaPaw to the Farmers Market Natalie came home with a few new things to try. I'm pretty sure she's had corn before but I've never seen her clean an ear like she did Saturday night. She made me proud :)

She also got her first taste of peaches and watermelon. I know those are two things that are pretty common but Byron's not a fan of watermelon and I'm not too crazy about peaches so they are things we don't buy.

Did she like them? Well to quote PaPaw "This is fun, she'll eat anything!" Yeah she LOVED them.


Happy Mother's Day out to there to all my family and friends. It was nice spending the time with Vann and Sue, but I still missed MY mommy all the same :) Love you bunches Mom.

I woke up to this little stinker yelling "Happy Moms, wake up."

Potty Training 101

Well we have fully committed to taking on the task of potty training Natalie. First off I need give props to my wonderful husband who has pretty much gone at this solo during the day. He's done a wonderful job staying patient while Nat works through this process. So our week in PT land went a little like this...

DAY 1: We started last Sunday. We did the naked method Sunday morning up until nap time. She only had one accident and it was really my fault for not paying attention. We were painting our toes :)

After nap we put panties on and she did start to pee in them once but I caught her and got her on the potty. I'm a little hesitant to do the naked method all day since Nat loves to go buck naked all the time. So we are doing half and half. She did not go #2 all day except in her diapers.

DAY 2: Byron had her all day since I had to go to work. She never went #2 all day which had Byron and I on pins and needles all night. If she even attempted to disappear we were on her like white on rice. However at some point in the evening we got lost in the TV and I noticed she was really quiet. She was in her hiding spot and there was a little dingleberry in the floor. No joke the child immediately said Mulligan did it, but M's #2 is quadruple the size of hers. :) She did finish in the potty.

DAY 3/4: Not to eventful, she was about 50/50 on going to the potty. She still only wants to go #2 in her diaper.

Day 5: She finally went #2.... on the back porch. At least she didn't have on undies, but she totally freaked when Mully tried to lick it or else we wouldn't have known she had done it.

Day 6: Byron moved the potty in the living room and said she went while he was gone to bathroom and was like "look daddy.." So maybe it being in plain sight will help her remember

AND (drumroll please) she went #2 in the potty that morning AND told me about it first. She was playing in my big tub when all of a sudden she was like "momma pee pee, pee pee momma, now" So we ran out and when she sat I noticed she was kinda grunting and not bent over watching. When she stood up Voila! She did it!

Major breakthrough on her part and we totally celebrated all over the house. I asked her if she wanted a treat.....

she wanted a pickle! I love that girl.

She also likes to say "see ya later pee pee" when we flush. Hey, whatever works at this point. Sue helped us keep an eye on her this weekend. She did well. She has more accidents when she's wearing panties but I know it takes time and I remind myself of that hourly.

Now for the cutest little tush ever in her new panties. I don't know what to say about the hat. She pulled it out of the closet and insisted on wearing it, and yes it was at least 80 outside, but again, whatever gets the job done.

Painting, Take 2

I don't know if some of you recall our first finger painting experience but OMG was it messy. She had it in her hair, all over her body and high chair. However after our experience coloring Easter eggs I felt it was time to try it again. What a hit! She still managed to get some on her legs but it's completely washable so no worries. It's all she wanted to yesterday and this morning too.
July 2010

Sunday

We had to paint twice that day. This is later in the afternoon. Notice she's wearing "big girl" panties...more on that later :)





I guess you could say we are attempting our first round of potty training. Saturday evening after Nat's bath we let her run around naked for an hour or so before bedtime. I noticed she didn't have one accident and on our way to bed I asked her if she wanted to pee in the potty. Well, low and behold, she did it! At first it was just a tinkle and she ran up screaming "I did it!" I made her sit back down and she really did it.

Sunday we started out the morning doing the naked method. Basically she ran around with just her pajama shirt on which was fine by her. She only had one accident all day and that was more my fault than hers for not paying attention.

Funny story: We were at the fridge and I guess the cold air made her feel like she had to pee. Because before I could get the milk out I hear "momma, pee pee, come on!" So we made a mad dash to the potty and she went again. Now every pee pee gets an immediate high five and sometimes a little potty dance. She's already asking for a towel (toilet paper) so she can do it herself. I'm so proud of her and you can tell she is too.

So maybe, just maybe, we are on to something. Let's give it a week or so and I'll report back but at least we are headed in the right direction. And yes, pictures of her on the potty will come at some point :)

Look at my big girl. May '11 and Sept '10