Do The Strawberry Shake

The past few weeks at Thursday morning dance class have been going much better than before. I used to have to go in with the girls and they would either cling to my legs or they would dance around with the other girls, but only if I were dancing with them. Things improved a little when Stella started bringing in the Strawberry Shortcake music CD that her daddy made for her. Grammie and I would joke around saying that I need to start working on making a purple princess dress for me to wear in the recital. Thankfully, their teacher was willing to "boot-camp" them and deal with the crying while I waited out in the waiting room like all the other moms. After a few minutes they had pretty much forgotten about me and were starting to really enjoy their class. Whew! The purple princess dress was starting to become less of a joke and more of a terrifying reality. Now every time we get to class, Stella holds her hand out waiting for me to give her the CD. Then she runs straight in yelling "bobby-cake! bobby-cake!" and hands it to her teacher who starts it right up.

Crash!

We've been reading "In a People House" lately. It's a great little Dr. Seuss book that has a little mouse and a bird scurrying around naming all the things that one would find in a people house. As they are perched atop a pile of dolls and dishes, a teapot and trash the mouse hollers "Look out below! I'm going to CRASH!" We really got into it one day and I started acting out the crash and Mabel thought it was hysterically funny, so I kept on crashing. A few days later we were walking in the main building heading home from the dining hall. Mabel tripped and sprawled out on the floor and just laid there for a few seconds. I thought for sure that she was going to burst into tears. She looked up at me, got a huge smile on her face and said "CRASH!"

Tonight she was having a drink of water from her sippy cup and the last few drops from the spout landed on her face. After blinking away the water she looks up and says, "CRASH!" She thinks it's funny enough to intentionally let the water dump out on her face saying "CRASH!" every single time.

potty potty potty!

I hope I don't jinx things by talking about it too early. But I just want to be better about documenting stuff that happens.

About two weeks ago we decided to try again with potty training. So far there has been interest and ability, but no real desire from either girl to be done with diapers. ///// ,,jhtffrrfdxdzrgg vtg 'yt[tb;;gfokkiuhhh7u

lkjm,kbbggjjj,htv nbhjjhmikk9ll9m hmmnfvv bgfbg m,k

(that was mabel getting on the computer trying to tell her side of the story)

Today, I believe that Mabel really wants to be potty trained. She woke up last night crying, which is not all that unusual. This time she was saying "potty, potty, potty". I felt her diaper and it was dry so my sleepy brain concluded that she was wrong and didn't go potty. It occurred to me later that she had to pee and it woke her up and she wanted to go in the toilet. Today she told me that she wanted to go potty - and she did! Then 15 minutes later she had a worried look on her face and said that she wanted to go potty and sat down and pooped! Stella followed suit after naptime and walked over to the potty seat and did her business like it was just an ordinary sort of thing to do. After she was done she just looked in at it in a contemplative way, like, "hmmm...so that's a poop."

three word sentences

Mabel has graduated to genuine three word sentences. She says "more apple juice please" and then graciously says "thanks" after I fill her cup.

bless you mommy

I sneezed and that's what Mabel said. It melted my heart. And made me want to sneeze again.

Ba-Ba-Bobby-Cake

The girls love Strawberry Shortcake! Aunt Kelly gave them a Strawberry Shortcake dvd before we left Utah last summer and they have recently developed a strong fondness for it. Stella started singing a STrawberry shortcake song a few months ago. It went something like this:

"ba-ba-ba-bee-shee...hmm-hmm-hmm...ba-bee-shee". And now it sounds a little more developed:

"ba-ba-ba-bee-keek...ba-ba-ba-bee-keek" with plenty of head bobbing and nodding.

And if you've never had the pleasure of watching a STrawberry shortcake movie, then you should know that the opening title song sounds a little like this:

"Straw-ba-ba...ba-ba-ba-berry...Shortcake"

Similarities and Differences

Some differences:

Mabel loves stuffed animals, Stella loves babies. Stella loves her binkie, Mabel doesn't really care about it but likes to chew on it sometimes so she can be like Stella. Mabel likes to copy Stella's pronunciation of some words. Mabel used to say "wa-wa" for water but now she says it Stella's way: "yo-yo". Stella knows how to pee in the toilet (but only when she feels like it) and Mabel doesn't seem to be able to make herself go. Stella is very shy around people that she doesn't know. She puts her chin to her chest and looks up at a person through the top of her eyes. When Mabel meets a new person she just kind of freezes and stares at them while they talk at her.

Some Similarities:

They both love to climb. Anything. Stella recently managed to climb up onto the bathroom counter using the cabinet handle as a foothold. They love fish. They love to pet the fish. (Sorry Speckles, I hope you don't hold it against them.) Finding Nemo is their favorite movie. We turn it on daily, usually in the kitchen when they're strapped into their highchairs having breakfast. They love Grammie. Their faces light up and they get all excited when I tell them that we're going to get Grammie on our way to dance class.