Took Isabella to volleyball tryouts last night (CJ was running them so he had to be there and we just tagged along for a while). For one, it got us out of the house and two, gave her a chance to run around in a gym, explore and basically tire her out. “Blow the stink off of her” as my mom would say.

Always a win!

An added bonus was that I got to see many friends whom I haven’t in a while due to not playing and it being wintertime when everyone hibernates. Many of these people hadn’t seen Munchkin in ages either and the overall consensus is that she’s really growing up, has a good fashion sense (I’ll take credit for that one…oh wait, CJ dressed her yesterday so I guess I have to give him credit. Fine.) and has cute curly hair.

One friend asked if she was excited to be a big sister. She said yes and then before I could stop her, proceeded to pull my shirt up and point to my belly saying, “There’s a baby in there!”

Yes sweetie, everyone is well aware of that just by looking at me…no one needs to see naked pictures as evidence!

Fortunately I had the kind of maternity jeans on which go up over your belly so people weren’t subjected to seeing my stretched out skin. High five to that!

Another friend asked if she wanted a baby brother or sister. Her response? “I’ve been asking God for a baby sister.”

Cue the collective “aw…”

I had no idea that this is what she was hoping for! She’s never really shown much of a preference either way. I also didn’t know that she talks to God. We’re not an overly religious family so while we talk about God we don’t make a point of praying together every night or pushing any certain religion on her.

But man oh man will this earn her major points with the grandparents!

She’s also getting VERY excited about painting both her room and the nursery. She has specific ideas too which is great. The whole point of getting her involved in picking out colors and such was to generate excitement and I’m relieved that it’s working.

Tonight’s outing? A trip to Lowe’s to pick up paint samples! Oh boy, oh boy! (or maybe oh girl, oh girl!)

Check out these other posts!

The Translator | Out with the old, in with the new! | 26 weeks

Isabella has a pretty big vocabulary for a 3 year old. I’m constantly amazed at what words she knows. She’s also kind of a know-it-all.

I can’t imagine where she got that from…

When she doesn’t know what a word means she just makes something up. She’ll say, “[xx] is Spanish for ___”.

Before you say anything – yes we are growing her bangs out which is why they hang in front of her face. And if your name is Fred and you’re related to her, no, you can’t cut them.

Here are a few excerpts from Isabella’s Language Dictionary:

• “’Grrr’ is dog Spanish for ‘bark’”
• “Rum punch is the English word for fruit punch.” (English being the King’s English of course!)
• “Zenta is the English word for underwear!” (I don’t even know where she got Zenta. She was looking at a Ziploc lid and I think saw the ‘z’ and went from there…)

And then there are her shortened version so words or names. Many times these come in to play when she can’t admit she got a word wrong.

• “His name is Daddy but I call him CJ for short”
• (When I asked her what she calls me for short) “Well, Mommy of course”!”
• She called something an asteroid and I corrected her because it was a star. “Well, I call stars ‘asteroids’ for short sometimes.”

So there you have it! Some recent Isabella-isms and translations! Thanks goodness I have her around to help me understand what The Brit is saying! Oh wait, most of the time what the Brit is saying isn’t appropriate for young ears…

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Potty Time | Singing for her Supper | Are you Smarter Than a 2 Year Old?

It has begun.

The dreaded “PT”.

Potty Training.

Admittedly, we’ve been putting this off for a while. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not like we haven’t broached the subject at all. We’ve read books on potty time. Bought her a special Sesame Street potty seat. Even had her try it once or twice. But that was about it. We didn’t push much more than that.

Last week we took her in for her 3 year well check visit and the doctor told us it was time to get serious about it.

So this weekend we got to work.

Friday night we went out and bought her some new underwear. She already had a package at home that was a gift but we thought it would help her get in to the idea of the whole thing if she got to pick out her own. She chose the sock monkey ones.

Saturday morning we had dance class so I waited until we got back from that. When we changed out of her leotard, I put “big girl” panties on her. Every 30 minutes I asked if she needed to use the potty. If she said no, I’d ask again. If she still said no then we dropped it.

She had her first accident around noon. I was in the kitchen and she ran in and said, “Mommy I pooped!” She showed me and she had actually just peed. There was a nice big puddle in her play room. So we got the paper towels and I had her help me dab it up (after we wiped up her legs and changed her to clean undies). Then she helped me get out the steam cleaner and clean the carpet. After all that I said, “Phew! It sure would have been easier if you’d have just gone on the potty!” The whole thing didn’t seem to phase her that much.

The second accident happened a couple hours later. We were playing. I asked if she had to use the potty and she said no. Then I heard a dribble sound and sure enough she was going. Again we went through the clean-up routine. This time she seemed a little bothered by it.

During her nap we put a diaper on her. She fought her nap big time too. One excuse she used was, “Mommy! I lost my sense of spit!” At another point she cried out that she had to pee. I didn’t know whether to believe her or if it was all a rouse. But I couldn’t very well ignore it so off to the bathroom we went. Sure enough, she peed in the toilet! Success!

As a reward, we made chocolate owl cookies!

With a few “Mickey Mouse” cookies for good measure.

Her 3rd accident came after dinner. She was outside playing with CJ when I heard crying. She came in all upset that she had wet herself. I figured we were making progress in the simple fact that she went from “I don’t care” to crying with each progressive accident.

Today, we got up and used the potty first thing. And she went on it! She was very proud of herself – and I was proud of her too!

She’s getting more confident too. Now, she goes in the bathroom and tells me not to go in with her because she can “do it herself!” And she does. I help her wipe but otherwise she manages the whole operation on her own.

Such an independent diva.

No accidents yet either! *knock on wood, rub my lucky rabbit’s foot, and wish on a 4-leaf clover*

She even did #2 in the potty – twice! She’s starting to recognize the feelings and will tell me she has to go before I ask her.

So, we’re making progress. Are we all the way there yet? No. We still have to remind her and be vigilant about it and of course she’s not to the point of taking naps or going to bed without a diaper. But we’re definitely on the right track and I’m amazed at how quickly she took to it. After yesterday and so many accidents I was somewhat discouraged but the progress today has been amazing.

We might just be potty trained in time for pre-school in January! Not to mention the new baby. NOT having 2 kids in diapers would be a huge blessing.

{to the tune of Eddie Murphy’s ‘My Girl Likes to Party All the Time’} MY GIRL LIKES TO POTTY ALL THE TIME, POTTY ALL THE TIME, POTTY ALL THE TIME!

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Singing for her supper | Proud Moments | Are you Smarter than a 2 year old?

Isabella loves to sing. She always has. It’s usually pretty random too.

Here’s a video of her singing the “Stoplight Song” in the car the other night.

Right after I shot this, she asked me when it would be on YouTube. I guess the answer turned out to be “one week.”

Tonight, during dinner, she broke out in to the Olympic anthem. Now, the Olympics were over like almost a month ago and we certainly haven’t been singing the song. But she felt the need to bust it out.

(You may need to turn up the volume for this one)

I’m just impressed that she actually remembered it!

Just thought I would share those little snippets of our life – and her singing talents. My mom tells me over and over that Munchkin “has music in her”. Indeed she does. I’m counting down the days until her first record contract when the big bucks start rolling in. Toddlers and Tour Buses anyone?