I write the songs.....

Scout and Mo are always singing silly songs....songs that Mo knows from school, or songs that Mema wants to teach her. Lately, they have been making up lots of silly non-sense songs and Mo LOVES these. The sillier, the better.

Well, a few days ago, she wrote her very first original song.....

"Mommy want to go poop, she don't want to go poop, she want to go poop, she don't want to go poop."

She also composed a song about Mema....

"Mema, don't forget to give me a hug and a kiss."

Both songs will be available on ITUNES shortly.

Baby Suits

So, more about the trip to the Community Center Pool in the next post....

But as we were getting ready to go swmming.....Mo says....."I need my baby-suit." I love how she calls it that......We get her cute little pink striped bathing suit out and put it on her.....then she says to me...

"Mommy, do you have a mommy-suit?"

Don't make me disappoint my kid.....

So, I have really built up this trip to the pool. We have been talking about it all weekend. Planning what we are going to do (float on the kick boards, go down the slide). Mo was so excited....she talked about it before going to bed....it was the first thing she talked about when she woke up this morning. She was so excited to go.

Now, I am pretty responsible....I check on things...get the right dates, times, etc....so being that responsible parent, I went on-line and checked the pool schedule for the community center pool. There it was "Family Swim from 4:15-5:30, Sundays." I checked on-line literally five minutes before we walked out the door.

We drive the community center, find parking, walk in......walk up to the lady at the desk to pay our drop-in fee.....and are told that there is no Family Swim on Sundays.

Excuse me? But, I checked the schedule....

The woman says.....schedule is subject to change....says so right on the top.

By this time, Mo has realized that we are not going to swim today.....she looks devastated....her lower lip is poking out.....

We walk out, and I am doing some fast talking.....telling Mo that sometimes even Mommy's make mistakes, and the pool is closed right now....but that we will go swimming soon...

I feel so guilty, Scout and I take her to the merry-go-round at the mall!!!!

Going to the Show

Last Thursday, my kindergarteners had an evening performance at school. It is program our music teacher has been working on for months. So, it was a BIG deal.

Because home and school are so far away, Mo and I hung out at and around school before the show instead of going home. We went to a friend's house for a playdate, we went to dinner, and then back to school for the show.

I was so proud of her. She did great at dinner - stayed in her seat....used her quiet voice, ate her food.....very nice meal. And at the show, she was very patient letting me do my 'teacher' thing. I was herding kids onto stage...taking care of coats, and last minute nerves.

The pay off for Mo was being at 'Mommy's School." She loves to coming to big school. I think she is sizing it up for when she is old enough. She loved the performance. She danced, clapped, laughed....and was mesmerized by the whole experience.

It was a long night, but one that was really fun.

Be My Valentine

We had a very nice Valentine's day. It was nice because some of it was spent as a family...and some of it was spent with just Scout and I.

Our next door neighbor offered to watch Mo while we went out to breakfast. It was so nice to have a leisurely meal.....quiet....relaxing. We enjoy eating with Mo, but truth be told....we REALLY enjoy going out eat without her!

When we got back, we spent the rest of the day together. Mo loved getting cards, and practically tore them into pieces trying to get them out of the envelopes. She also loved the fact that we all got candy. She sneaked and got into my pecan clusters....which created quite the sugar high. We ended up going to the park to burn off the extra energy!

All in all, a very nice family valentine.

Grandma's Rule

Grandma's Rule

You must do what I want you to do before you can do what you want to do.

Mo has such 'certain' ideas about things, like not wearing clothes (naked or PJs are sooo much better)....or eating at the table (why, when running around is more fun).

So, today, we started a treasure (i.e. bribe) box at our house. We went the dollar store and picked up a bunch of small trinkets....baby animals, rings, spinning tops.....all kinds of party favors. Put them all in a pretty basket.....and introduced the idea that she will get a reward when she shows certain behavior. Right now, she can earn treasure if.....

1. She puts her clothes on the first time we ask.....and that she do as much as she can by herself. This includes shoes and socks.

2. She sits at the table for the entire meal.....even waiting until Mama and Mema are finished.

Lofty goals, but today she earned a treasure for dinner, and was super excited about the whole thing. We will see how tomorrow goes with getting dressed.

At first, I really questioned the whole "reward" thing. There is a part of me that wants Mo to have the self-motivation to want to do these things herself. But then I remind myself, she is 2 years old! She has to learn what motivation is.....and right now, the little Disney princess stamps are enough motivation for her.

Who's your mema?

Children talk about their families......they ask questions....there are things they want to know. Do you have brothers and sisters? What's you mama's name? What's your daddy's name?

We talk to Mo about her family....we talk about her having 2 mommies as a matter of fact. It is just something that is part of our daily life conversation. In books that have the word 'Mommy" in them, we will interchange "Mema" for "Mommy". We do this so Mo can see her family, her life represented in other places besides just in her house.

So the fact of her having 2 moms has come up.....she was asking questions about some of her friend's families......What is S's mommy name? What is S's Daddy's name? What is S's Mema's name?

We told her that her friend didn't have a Mema....Mo was incredulous....she just couldn't get over that a child wouldn't have a Mema......"why?" she wanted to know. We then gave the speech about families have different people in them.....2 moms, 2 dads, one of each, 1 mom, 1 dad, and so on, so on, so on.

When the whole conversation was finished....she seemed content.

Then she says to her self......."No, Mema....." as if this was the strangest concept of all....how could anyone not have a Mema?

......from the mouths of babes......

THE SQUEALING IS OUT-OF-CONTROL

Mo has finally discovered her voice....or rather her squeal. Everyone knows what I am talking about. The girl squeal....the high-pitched, glass breaking, blood curdling squeal. Mo likes to squeal when she goes from one room to the next. She likes to squeal when she is happy, surprised, sad, angry.....any time can be a squeal moment.

How long will this last?

.....until she is a teenager, I am afraid.

Makes a Mama Proud!

Being a kindergarten teacher, I have often dreamed of reading books to my own children.....having them love to read....having that experience of cuddling up with my family and enjoying a book together......

When Mo was little, I was worried because she didn't want to look at pictures in books....she wanted to eat them....I thought, could this be a bad omen? As she got older, she wanted to listen to books more and more....

Now, we have reached this point...