reading
lately, micah has taken to reading to herself. of course, if i try to take a picture she hides from me - cranky little baby face. this first one i managed to snap between desperate attempts by her to hide her face.
but of course, she can't stay serious for long. everything must become a game in the Land of the (almost) 3-Year-Old.
alright, now she's just plain silly!! what happened to reading??!!
hee - hee!! micah cracks herself up!
flip flops
There are only 2 other little girls in Micah's class, one of whom is VERY girly and has forced "princess" things and girly shoes onto our household. (Not that there's anything wrong with that - it's just not "me" but hey, if it's "micah" then that's okay by me.)
This little girl comes in every week with a new pair of sandles, most of them with heels. Yes, she's 3 years old wearing heels. Welcome, little girl, to a lifetime of back pain and poor arches. Anyway, the newest thing is flip-flops. So far, she's worn 3 different pairs to school, one of which is a size 1 and barely stays on her foot. But I digress. The rule at school is that you have to wear closed-toe shoes for safety reasons but the teachers allow her to wear these because this particular little girl is very cooperative and when asked to change into socks and sneakers to go outside she NEVER argues.
Well, last week girl #2 also came in with flip flops so now, how can I say no to Micah? So, I treated her to Nemo flip flops. And they even fit by the way - hello Payless!!
like father, like daughter
For those of you who don't already know, we rent our house. It's a 2 bedroom and has a small but quaint backyard just big enough for a large, inflatable kiddie pool, a grill and a table with chairs and an umbrella.
There is, however, this horrible thorn bush in the left corner. It doesn't have buds or flowers, just thick leaves and thorns. Big, huge, sharp, menacing, cut a toddler's hand wide open thorns. Now, we could sit here and ask ourselves why in the hell would the owner of a 2-bedroom rental property in a decent school district in a neighborhood full of kids with its very own playground/park/tennis court in walking distance plant a thorn bush. It's not even set up as a barrier or anything; it's "decoration". But, ours is not to question why. Ours is simply to chop it up to smitherings.
I suck, so of course, I don't have a before photo, but you'll just have to use your imagination.
See all that brown dirt? See where the grass begins to grow again at the peak of the shadow? That dirt is grassless because that used to be the area consumed by this massive thorn bush.
Below, is the clips pile. That one branch to the left sticking up high is at the height of the 5 foot fence. So, this pile is like 4 feet high and 6 feet wide. It took me 2 hours and my gloved hands have the thorn scars to prove it - as well as my arms and legs. By the end, Milan was ripping the clippers from my weakened arms threatening, not begging, me to stop.
Now, one of the defining purposes of this post is this ---
My parents have a large driveway. The base of which has a basketball goal and "court". Lining the court are trees (I don't remember what kind.) that grow to about 8 or 10 feet. Every few years, in the spring, my father cuts the living shit out these trees while my mother curses his name to anyone who will listen. "Would you like fries with that?" "Did I tell you what my good-for-nothing husband did to my trees??!!" And, of course, they grow back, but it takes a few years. But I've got her back in saying that look like the victims of a machete attack for quite some time.
Most women fear becoming their mothers but I am clearly turning into my father. If only I liked white undershirts and baseball caps...
fun in the sun
finally - some good weather!! we took micah to the park where we met up with her best friend, carter. they really had a blast together!
it's so nice to be able to go outside and enjoy the day and i love that it's still light out after work so i can pick up the baby and take her to go play outside!
summer is on its way!!!
licorice container
this is the licorice we get from trader joe's. milan and i love this stuff and eventually micah asked for a piece avidly enough for me to give her one and she loves it! yes, black licorice! you can sort of see a whole piece, it consists of 2 slivers of fruit-flavored licorice, 2 of black licorice and a white sliver that tastes like nothing ... well, slightly tastes like sugar.
i take a piece and cut them in quarters and then these are the pieces she gets when she goes potty. she gets 1 piece for pee-pees and 2 pieces for poopies. and her diaper has to be dry for her to get a piece and pee-pee actually has to come out... this sounds so mean but it works so well! if i don't restrict it like this she pees in her diaper, sits on the potty and then demands a reward. i have to be very specific with my requests with this child.
sometimes, she'll try to convince me that a wet diaper is dry but i can't be fooled, internet! i don't fall for that crap! and other times, i'll hear her calling out from the bathroom, "c'mon pee-pees, come out my giney!!" sometimes it's sing-songy and other times she means business, "pee-pees! come outta my giney right now! i wan lick-o-liss!!"
and another new thing from micah is that she'll say i love you to us without prompts. just out of the blue. "maan?" "yes, micah?" "i lub u, maan." "mmm... i love you, too, micah."
he's sick right now and when she goes to kiss him, she says, "i hafta kiss you cheek, maan, cuz you sick. i no kiss you mouth." then she'll say, "i can kiss you mouth, right mommy?" like it's the best thing ever!!
damn these "kids". sniff sniff.
mama pride
at gymnastics on saturday, micah was jumping on the trampoline. the teacher told her she got 3 turns to do "jump, jump, sit". micah does it once. everyone applauds. she starts jumping again and then holds up 2 fingers, "2 more, mommy." she does her second one. everyone applauds. she holds up 1 finger, "last one, mommy, no more." and she's officially smarter than me now because i can't count backwards to save my life.
potty training update:
i've tried it ALL when it comes to potty training but just haven't been able to find something that interests micah. last week, I took her favorite treat, licorice pieces from trader joe's (i'll take a photo this weekend) and cut them in quarters. now, every time she is DRY and goes pee-pee or poopies in the potty, she gets a licorice. (in other words, if her diaper's wet or nothing comes out, she doesn't get a licorice.)
it's been working really well and yesterday, micah was dry ALL DAY!! even when she woke up from her nap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yeah, micah!!! :) :)
babyisms part II
i remember 2 more.
1. "mommy, i not a boy, yet. okay?" - this usually comes after i ask her if she has to go potty.
2. "when are we gonna see baby cousin?"
"in the summer." (my sister-in-law is due in early may.)
"my birday's in the summer, too, right mommy?"
"uh-huh..."
"an we get to go to swimmin, right mommy?"
"yup."
"can we go to summer right now?"
babyisms
"mommy, we need more songs in our mouths."
"oh, yeah?"
"yeah, den we can sing dem."
and, i had 3 more but i didn't write them down so...
