BABY POOL!

Things I'm tempted to make

Every now and then I come across some really adorable little girl's clothes, but I never buy them because I refuse to spend more than $2 or $3 on a single item of clothing for Stasa. BUT I should try to figure out the pattern and make my own adorable clothes for her. 


Here a few things I've found recently that I just love.

Who cries over poop?

We've been slowly introducing the potty to Stasa and we ask her all of the time if she wants to sit on it - sometimes she does, but a lot of times she just wants it nearby and will carry it from room to room. The past weekend she managed to poop on it twice. We clapped and cheered and gave her some jelly beans. She cried. She wanted to pick up her poop and really didn't like me dumping it in the toilet. She did get more excited when we let her flush the toilet and say bye bye to it. 

Now she's got some sort of complex about pooping in her diaper. It's obvious when she's going and I'll ask her if she needs to go potty and she says no. If instead of asking I just say "let's go potty" and put her on it, she freaks out. But then she cries the minute she's done pooping in her diaper and sadly brings me a diaper and wipe. While she's laying there crying, she's saying "poo poo potty." So the whole time I'm changing her I'm reassuring her that it's okay to poop in her diaper and maybe next time she'll go on the potty. 

It would be much more convenient for me to really focus on potty training while I'm on maternity leave, but I don't want to discourage her interest either. She's also extremely interested in her "poo poo book" that Uncle Pete got her (Everyone Poops). I'm thinking maybe I should find a few more potty training books for her. Perhaps a trip to the library is due. Any book suggestions?

The cute things

I've been having a rough time lately and feeling like a bit of a failure as a parent. It's probably just a combination of exhaustion and pregnancy hormones, but I lost all of my patience with Stasa this weekend. The straw that broke mama's back was her throwing my cell phone in the tub full of bathwater. And of course I get upset and mad at her and then get mad at myself for being mad at her. It's an awful cycle of guilt. So yesterday I took a mental health day and slept most of the afternoon. 


I feel much better today and am focusing on the cute things Stasa does. Because as trying as she can be, she's such a good kid most of the time. And a funny one, too.


The cute things:
1. Playing and running around at the mall Play Place and pausing to hug the little "babies" teetering next to her
2. Laying in bed after storytime and giving us Eskimo kisses
3. Laying all of her stuffed animals on their backs in the play room for nap time and telling us to "shhh!"
4. "Helping" me put laundry in the washer and dryer and dragging the clean basket out to the living room
5. Cooking her play food and serving us breakfast in bed on Saturday morning 
6. Dressing up with Daddy in a tutu, heels, hat, and purse
7. Feeding Baby Merks her play food through my belly button
8. Pulling all of the diaper wipes out to clean her Woof Woof after nap time
9. Walking her baby doll in the play stroller at the mall
10. Laughing hysterically when Tom farts and exclaiming "It's FUNNY!"

SNOW!

Tom and I both ended up working from home the day after the snowstorm and eventually ventured out to clear off our cars and shovel the driveway and to take Stas out for some snow play. She LOVES LOVES LOVES snow. Loves eating it, throwing it, kicking it, laying in it, everything about it. And she's pretty fast when walking through it, too.


All bundled up and ready to play



Resting while Daddy shovels (Mommy was supervising):



Running away:



Snow is so tasty:



Helping Mommy build a snowman:



Uh oh!

Birthday parties galore

The other weekend we were party animals; we went to our friends' housewarming and then to Ben and Miranda's son's 4th birthday party and then to our nephew Luke's birthday party. Stasa loved the social aspect of the parties and LOVED cake time, but didn't quite understand that the presents weren't for her to open. 


Playing at Jacob's party:



Pretending to play guitar:



Being held back during present time:



Sitting with Vicky-Vick at Luke's party:






First attempt at stealing presents:



Second attempt at theft (Luke doesn't look too thrilled):



Being held back from stealing more presents:



And getting creative in her attempts:



A little distraction helped keep her mind off of presents

More birthday pictures

Reading with Mimi:



Mommy's got Muno!






Double trouble



Setting the balloons free