The darndest things.

I've just got to start keeping better track of some of the cute things that get said in this house.

Dani refers to cat litter as "cat glitter".  Tonight she told the kitty it was time to go potty in his cat glitter.

Dani can also answer the telephone and have a full on conversation.  Big Man thinks its amusing to let her answer when I'm calling from work, and she basically refuses to get off the phone, "Mommy, you can talk to Daddy when I'm done talking to you.  What do you want to talk about?"

Tori claims everything as her own, yelling "That's Mines" every fifteen seconds.  Much like Dani was to Tori, Tori has become the rule enforcer for Tommy.  We often hear "Tommy, no kitchen!".  This is almost immediately followed by "Good boy," even when Tommy continues on the forbidden path.  When Tori burps, she sometimes says "excuse me".  When she forgets, we always remind her by prodding, "What do you say?"  Tori's response is almost always "Thank you."  If you try to take something away from Tori, she asserts that there's "No Swiping!".

It's just so fun watching their little minds work.

Da na da na da na da na, da na na na

Tori Batman! 

While no one was looking, Little Dude decided that he wants to take some steps.

And, sweet little Dani shows us that a bad pair of glasses can make even a little cutie look like a supernerd!

The potty training blues.

This brilliant little 3 1/2 year old is killing me with the potty training.  We dropped the hammer and instituted an underwear only rule (except for bedtime and the occasional nap) a few days ago.  She refuses to poop on the potty.  Refuses.  Sits for long periods of time on the potty asking for lollipops and to play games on my phone and promises to poop if she has them.  (I give her the phone--but no food, no eating while pooping, thankyouverymuch).  She just plays games on the phone and never poops.

Now that she's in underwear, she holds it (the poops) in all day, despite the fact that Big Man puts her on the potty once every hour or so.  Like every night, she says she needs to poop and asks for a diaper, so we put her on the potty.  Tears flow.  She has won the battle every night so far, as we know she will just poop in the nightime diaper as soon as we put her to bed...so I cave close to bedtime and put her in a diaper.

Last night, on the potty, Dani said, "Mommy, I'm thinking of a thing that is like underwear, but has velcro tabs and you could just put me on the changing table and put it on me, ok?"
And then she gives me the angelic face.

I used to joke and say (about my kid) that once your kid is old enough to request a specific diapering protocol ("I need powder" or "I need the baby rash cream with the baby on it") they are WAY too old to be in diapers.
But dang it--I'm at a loss here. 

She knows what she needs to do.  She just won't do it.  I've talked to her about pre-school and needing to poop on the potty, etc., but to no avail.  I know once she does it once it will be easy-peasy.  But getting her there......hellish!  Meanwhile, Tori pees on command (multiple times a day, even waking from a nap with a dry diaper), so I'm hoping it will be easier with kiddo number 2!

Doctors, and Lawyers, and Pirates, OH MY!

By now, you all know that Big Man's a police lieutenant and I'm a lawyer (or "liar" as the kids say).  Inherent in that is we both see really awful things every day.  This was a particularly difficult week for me, as a matrimonial case I'd been working on for almost two years was scheduled for trial.

My matrimonial and family law practice often reminds me of how blessed I am, and makes me so thankful for my healthy children, my supportive spouse and my upbringing.  There are just days that I come home and need to hug and kiss everyone, over and over again.  It really makes me appreciate what I have.

 I've got pirates!

Future WWE superstars!

And, just the sweetest kids and husband anyone could want.

And, let's not forget GIANT BABY.  Yes, Tommy is GIANT BABY.

At his 9 month baby visit thiw week, we learned that he is in the 90th percentile. That means that if you line up 100 nine month olds, he would be bigger than 90 of them.  Let me break it down for you:  he's 23 pounds 8 ounces, and 30.25 inches tall.

When Tori had her 1 year visit, she was 23 pouncs 6 ounces and 29.5 inches tall.
When Dani had her 1 year visit, she was 19 pouncs 6 counces and 28.5 inches tall.

Little Dude has outpaced them by months!

He is such an amazing cross between Dani and Tori.  I was telling that to Big Man tonight.

Dani was the cautious baby.  She crawled when she could walk, when it looked like walking might be tough.  She didn't try to climb things, didn't try to put things she shouldn't in her mouth, and basically was a scaredy-kid.  Easy peasy.  She looks before she leaps.

Tori is the opposite.  Tori climbed the stairs before she could crawl proficiently.  There was a mantra with Dani, "no kitchen, no bathroom, no stairs" we would say as she crawled toward them--and she would hear us and turn around.  Tori, not so much.  When she was crawling, she would just keep crawling because dammit she wanted to crawl into the bathroom.  When she was walking, I swear she would hear me say no and she would pick up her pace just to defy me faster! She figured out that the radiator cover tops can come off and that CDs and toys fit into the VCR opening.  She bounces on furniture until she lands on the hard floor.  She wriggles away from me to run naked through the house because she can and it's fun.  She is baby McGuyver.  We will eventually put a top on her crib to keep her contained at night.

Tommy is the middle ground.  He'd really like to walk but he knows he's not ready yet.  So, he cruises the furniture, and crawls.  He moves chairs and stools so he can climb higher, but he is deliberative.  He's not reckless.  He just wants to check things out.  He's not limited by fear, the way Dani is.  And he's not bolstered by fearlessness, the way Tori is. 

Which is pretty much perfect. My little dude.