How to Feed Toddler with Almost No Effort

1. Leave food on the table from breakfast.
2. Remove clothes that were previous dirty from breakfast from child. (Less laundry to deal with for future meals and snacks.)
3. Busy yourself with whatever you see fit.
4. Worry not about the children's needs. After all, there is food available if they should seem to need it.
5. Scroll down if you are a visual learner.
6. Notice how happy she is in her independent state.

Oh hi there.

Hope you don't mind. I'm just going to help myself here to the breakfast remnants.

I can do this right. With a spoon. I'm civilized ok.

Geez. It's just so. freakin. good.

Seriously. Do you want some?

Mostly kidding. Get your own. grrr.

There really isn't enough to share here.

One sec.

Oh yea. That's the one.

My cup floweth over. Is this heaven?

It's not? It tastes like it is though.

I'll just keep my self busy with a little more here. Peace.

Gianna is My Favorite Child

Can you handle this?

Just kiiiiiidding. Sort of. She is so freaking cute. Like I just want to squeeze her all the time. With clenched teeth even. I know it's weird.

FYI-In case you know me a little too well- I wrote this post last week.

My fav and I

Davy had dose two of the stomach bug which revealed itself Monday night here at casa la cor-jet. Started at 1AM with a "my tummy hurts" and a whimper and ended with no sleep for mama and vomitrociousness all night. Good thing I had the day off work the next day. Siiiike. Geez this was supposed to be about Gianna and now I am talking about bile again...

So I was rubbing Davy's back all night, the next day, you know giving some Mommy lovin'. And then later in the day little Gianna went up to her big sister rubbed her back and gave her the sweetest most tender hug you have ever seen. It could have made a grown man weep. And Davy bent down and kissed her on the head and told her "you're my best friend." I was peeking my head in the kitchen when I witnessed the moment and then I melted into a puddle on the floor and hugged them both right up. 

running to her other favorite place- the street

Then she just won't stop trying to talk and say cute things. And I keep finding her looking at photo albums in her reach talking in her baby language about everyone in the pictures with her giant smile.

And she is just like her mama. At least in our love for the edible. Such a little foodie. All day she eats. And eats. Oh and then eats some more. If anyone leaves their food on the table. On their plate. Anything that's anywhere. She eats it. I think she learned to climb before she was one years old to the top of Mt. Kitchen Table in desperate pursuit of something edible. Maybe a broken pretzel or something. And now if she runs off, that is the first place I look. And most of the time that's where she is. On Mt. Kitchen Table looking for scraps. We meet here most days and share many many good times.

Eating some scraps

In Mama's shoes

Another reason to love her more than I love other people is that she is obsessed with shoes. First thing every morning she finds shoes and either puts them on if she is able or chases around the people taller than her at home and repeats her first and favorite word, "chooos. Choos. CHOOS! And those are some of many of the reasons she is my fav. Just kidding Davy. I love both my girls exactly differently the same exact difference. For sure.

My Baby's not a Baby Anymore

A year ago today I gave birth to a tiny babe. It was a good time had by all.

And now she is pretty much a toddler. For a few months now I have had a walker on my hands. And a climber. Together they can be a dangerous combo.

I keep turning around to find her on top of high places smiling from ear to ear and attempting to launch herself into space. Not necessarily off the sides. Upward.

Today on her birthday I found her on my bed. Jumping. Laughing.

For about a week now, she has been climbing on top of the kids table and standing on top of it. Jumping. It's alarming.

Thankfully. I am usually about an arm's reach away from her and have a pretty vocal police force, aka Team Davy, on duty at all times. Sometimes Team Davy uses brute force to keep Gianna out of what she assumes is harm's way. Unfortunately we have had to deal with a fair share of injuries due to this enforcement. Headlocks, two armed shoving, tackling, or kicking are all techniques which have been employed to "keep Gianna safe."

Tomorrow I am planning to hold a meeting and flesh out some new strategies that are less violent.

On a positive note, Gianna is tough. She holds her own. And she still looks cute. Davy can hardly take her down at times. And as a mom, it's hard not to be a little proud. Except, for the small fact, that she is my tiny princess baby girl. And my taller princess and her are WWF-style wrestling

Happy Birthday my other little wild thing.

Our Puppy

10 Reasons We Love our Puppy

1) She pants with her mouth open.

2) Has been known to enter a room on all fours while carrying a toy in her mouth.





3) She yelps when no is paying attention to her.





4) She is really good with toddlers. Even when repeatedly hit on the head, she is happy for the attention.





5) Her favorite hobby is finding and devouring food off in the kitchen by licking the floor.





6) She lets us dress her up in tiny clothes.





7) She jumps on my head in the morning to wake me up.





8) She licks faces.

9) When she is in the other room and you yell her name, she scurries in as fast as she can.






10) She chews on shoes and newspapers.

We Are Family

Davy keeps saying, "I love our family." And it warms my soul. I melt. There is nothing better than your two year old saying those words. (Ok truthfully if she said, "Mother I am now done with diapers forever" that might be waaaay better.)

Throughout every day Gianna, Davy and I take breaks to snuggle close to each other and giggle. All three (sometimes four when Daddy is around) of us frozen in time loving each other. I'm not kidding. It's nauseatingly precious. It's like a thousand hallmark commercials deep fried and rolled in powered sugar.

I assumed when she said family she meant Mother Dearest, Daddy-o and little baby sister Gianna. But today she informed me, "Mom Snoofy is my brother. He is my little brother." Hmmm ok. He must take after Daddy. 

Davy and her brother Snoofy

Then out of nowhere she was mid-bite at dinner and announced mockingly, "Daddy you are my favorite parent." My warm soupy soul quickly became a hunk of ice.

 In a desperate effort to change her mind my husband declared, "Well Mommy is my favorite parent."

 "Oh really Daddy, Mommy is your favorite? You are my favorite parent Daddy."

So unfair. Moms do all the dirty work and what do we get? Snoofy children and second place to celebrity dad. Ridiculous.

favorite. just kidding. or am I?

It's not like I'm walking around all day telling her Gianna's my favorite child. (Which she obviously is right now.) Why does she have to torture me?

T is for Time

Time is so weird, isn't it? I mean right now, as you are reading this, it's just slipping away. Right now you are in the present!  And here, now you are again! You always are in the present. Aren't you so lucky?

When I was a child I used to think 'time' was bizarre and I would try to capture it. Usually on really long car trips from Alabama to Minnesota looking out at rows and rows of pine trees I would think about how crazy it was that I was living in the present moment right now. And I could never go back to this time again. It definitely convicted me that I should try to make good use of what time I have. This is particularly interesting since I mostly do not.

I do try to make good use of my time. But, if you know me, you might know that I have a hard time staying on task. I guess you may have been right Mrs. Barton and Mrs. Pfieffer (RIP), maybe I am a little ADHD. I never got to take the drugs though. figures. Anyway, sometimes I forget what I am doing, half-way through doing it. Or get distracted by something else, ooooo or that something else. I do not have trouble staying on task if I'm doing something fun or exciting, but laundry and stupid chores often find themselves low on my list of daily priorities.
 

Too cool for school.

Oh my gosh, who cares about silly house work. The most insane part of 'time' is that we are all getting so freaking old. You're older than you feel I bet. I have found some gray hairs. I can't believe I am a grown up. I am definitely not mature enough or ready to be a grown up. And look at all these children! I feel like a Grandma saying this but, "They are growing so fast! And getting so big!" What are they on?  It's breaking my little heart. Davy and Gianna were just born not too long ago and now they are already Miss Sassy Pants and Miss Trying to Walk Pants. What the heck. I ask them on a weekly basis or more if I can freeze them. They usually say they don't mind, but then they keep getting bigger and cuter and closer and closer to what I've been dreading since they were in my womb...the teenage years. Maybe they will skip the teen years. That would be excellent. I'm a little afraid of teenagers. Ok a lot afraid.

Learning to drive me crazy.

So make good use of your time and let me know if you hear of any proven product on the market for stunting children's growth.

W is for Water

Water Daughter

Mmmm water. As babies our bodies' are made up of over 70% of it. It keeps our skin supple, our brain alert, and rids our body of nasty toxins. People all over the world are literally dying in need of it.

It's all water weight baby. <3

Gettin' their drink on.

And here at our house, we waste it by the gallons. We pour it down the drain for our entertainment. Geez, the more I type, the more I realize it needs to stop. I could take shorter showers, do full loads of laundry and only run the dishwasher full, install nifty toilet flushing devices. Things like that.

And here she is! Lover of Water.

My husband and I aren't the largest wasters though. The largest waster is shorter than a yard stick and uses chairs and stools to access this resource. She loves it. She cries for it.

Washing her hair with Dawn and making a bubble castle.

Here are some ways she plays with it:

1. Washes her hair, her hands, her stuffed animals in the kitchen sink assisted by a kitchen chair
2. Paints with toothbrushes in the bathroom sink and makes massive bubble extravaganzas.
3. Glasses of water adults are were drinking. She generally sticks her hands in them just for fun. disgusting. A few days ago I found my credit card in a glass of water by my bed. lovely.

Making hummus carrot soup.

4. the toilet-Brushing her teeth in the toilet with the potty water. I almost threw up on this one. I heard slurping while I was changing Gianna's diaper a few weeks ago and nearly passed out at the horrible sight that met me in the bathroom. Also just throwing things in toilet. Like money. Sorry Davy no wishes in this fountain.
5. the bathtub-Oh geez. The amount of things I find in the bathtub...sippy cups, soggy minnie mouse, baby Jesus, misc. toys. Davy tries to climb in her self with her clothes on.
6. The dishwasher. When she is lucky, some glasses have that bit of extra water in their tops. jackpot.

Washing her hands for 30 minutes

cleaning Daddy's bike.

giving my towels and eye glasses a bath.

7. The refrigerator door. grrrrr. Easiest way for her to fill up anything in the home with water.
8. Her kitchen sink in her room has been filled more times than I would like to admit. For some reason, it is usually for special occasions when friends are over. She likes to impress her toddler pals with her dishwashing skills.

playing in the fountains downtown with Daddy.

8. Water outside. In puddles, in buckets, falling from the sky, she doesn't discriminate.

Good News! Davy is almost never thirsty. She drinks and plays in water all day and is highly hydrated. And therefore so is her mommy. K gotta go get my drink on. Water people. Happy Friday!