Doctor, Doctor... Gimme the News

Lolli got the girls a Doctor Kit for Christmas. For the past three days, BigM has been bestowing medical wisdom on anyone who will sit still enough for an examination.

I recently visited her office for a checkup (about 5 minutes ago), and received the following diagnosis:

"You have a heartbeat, and you don't have beans in your ears. You are ready for high school."

I'm going to rule out a profession in the medical field.

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Okay, that's a total lie. I actually don't like snow, at all. That's one major reason I love living down South. Supposedly it hasn't snowed on Christmas since the 1800s. And since I was asleep pretty early last night, I have no idea if it actually snowed on Christmas Day. (I could probably look that up on the internet, but seeing as I don't like snow, I don't care enough to do so.)

DM and I got up pretty early to work out (we're not waiting until New Year's, let's get this party started) and saw there was a teensy bit of snow on the ground. LM woke up a bit early, so I put her in our bed and we all snuggled and went back to sleep for a few hours. When we woke again at 9, the whole neighborhood was blanketed by snow. I'll even admit it was beautiful.

We woke BigM up and watched the flurries for awhile- we convinced her we needed to wait until it stopped snowing and finally suited up to head out. BigM loved playing in the snow...

LM, not as much.

But she finally came around.

Seeing as we live in the deep South, there was only enough snow to make a 7" tall snowman.

97% of the snow had melted by mid afternoon. I should mention it was 66 degrees on Tuesday and I wished I was wearing shortsleeves. I remember one time in college when it was snowing when I left for my 7:50am class and that afternoon, I wore shorts to my 3:30pm class.

This state is so weird, but what's important is my kids have played in the snow more in their short little lives than I have in mine. And for the most part, they've loved every minute.

Breadwinner

BigM, LM and I are sitting at the table eating homemade bread for breakfast. LM is doesn't eat the crust, so she's peeling it off. Whilst rifling through the outer remains of her bread, she glares at her plate and mutters, "Dis is discustin. I can't eat dis."

Oh Dear John*

Okay, I know I promised not to talk about this again until it was noteworthy, but this definitely needs to be documented.

LM told me "Mom, my p-o-o-o-o-p," which normally means, "Mom, I just peed in my diaper, can you change it please?" (She's so eloquent, isn't she?) So I asked her if she needed to sit on the potty and she was game, so she went on in and next thing I know I'm hearing the sound of tinkle hitting water.

BigM and I did the appropriate "Way to Use the Big Potty" dance and then we called everyone who would answer to report her success.

I've been telling her for weeks that as soon as she tee-teed on the potty, she could wear panties** so we went with it for the rest of the afternoon. Don't get too excited, I definitely forgot all about it, so when we went to play outside she most definitely wet her pants***.

One step closer, one step closer (sung to the tune of "Just Keep Swimming", which I know about because *I'm* not afraid of Disney movies.)

*Hi Tara!
**Hi Kristan!
***If you have any ideas on how to get urine/urine smell off/out of suede, faux fur lined boots, feel free to send me an email.

I'm Pooped

I completely meant to post this yesterday, but it was whirlwind crazy around here.

LM pooped on the potty.

For about 3 weeks, she's been dying to wear panties. But after my fantastic experience trying to potty train BigM, I am not about to start all that business around Christmas. Especially since I did try it out one day and she most definitely peed all over the floor twice. We entertain her when she says she wants to sit on the potty- but actively training we are not.

Well, yesterday she made her "I'm about to drop a load in my diaper" face, so I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty. She said, "Sure," (I promise) and so off she went. She's still all into the whole "I do it mine by myself" phase, so she doesn't want anyone present. I think it's cute she asks for privacy, though. She gets her own pants off and gets her short little self up on the big girl potty. She normally sits for about 38 seconds, asks for toilet paper, and that's it. Yes, she is 2 1/2. I don't care. She still uses a paci at bedtime. Get over it.

But this time, she screams, "I diddit, I diddit!" So I go running in there and there is most definitely the teensiest itsy bitsy miniscule little piece of poop floating in there. I'm really so excited for her, but honestly, poor thing, she's the second child. I'm going to need something a little bigger than that, literally.

It'll be nice not to have to wash diapers, but I just can't get excited about potty-training her, especially since I don't have to buy diapers. I think I'd be more inclined to get busy with all that if I was paying for it.

So there you go. She did it, and now you know. I'll let you know again when it's worth mentioning.

UFO Sighted Near Here

BigM (obviously) has been abducted by aliens- that's the only explanation I can figure as to why she's been so dang helpful today. She begged me to let her help decorate the Christmas tree and she didn't even complain when I told her to sit patiently on one of the boxes for about 5 minutes while I attended to other business. The real BigM most definitely wouldn't have been down with that.

I rewarded her with an apple and we watched an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse together. Hands down, best part of my day. I'm not even making that up.

Later on, I was armpit high in dirty diapers and she drags her stool to the kitchen sink and says, "Mama, please let me wash the dishes. Please. Please, can I?"

After I regained consciousness, I told her she had to unload the dishwasher first. She was giddy with excitement. I think there may be something wrong with her. And, well, Monkey-see, Monkey-do... and here you go.

Looks like I have my own little sweatshop.

Read all about it!

Tonight before bed, BigM was trying to do anything to avoid going to sleep, so she grabbed this book (pic to follow, camera battery is dead) and no kidding, she read me the entire thing. It only makes sense that the first book she read from start to finish was about Dora, since she is mildly obsessed with Dora.

And just because you can't see inside this book, I'm going to copy it here. Cause I know you're just dying with anticipation, and I'm pretty sure it's not illegal. I'm not claiming I wrote it or anything.

Hi! I am Dora.
Do you like surprises?
Then follow me!
Hop across the rocks!
Hop! Hop! Hop!
Splash in the water!
Just like me!
Row across the lake!
Row! Row! Row!
Slide down the hill!
Just like me!
Are we there yet?
Not yet!
Swing on the vines!
Swing! Swing! Swing!
Jump over the logs!
Just like me!
Here we are!
Guess what we see!
An ice-cream party!
Yummy!
We did it!

Dora likes a well placed exclamation point just as much as I do. I'd like to claim that I taught her to read (along with the help of Ms. Mary Lynn & Ms. Emily, or course) but most of the credit should go to www.starfall.com- that is an awesome website and if you have a reader, or a soon-to-be-reader, obviously it works pretty well.

What was your favorite part? I liked that part too.