Don't put that in there!

"Little Bean!"
"...Ernie, Elmo, Vidya (giraffe), and all the rest of your dolls & toys do not belong in the potty!"

(photo is just for effect... I just washed her toys)

Later that evening Little Bean, after her bath, made a verbal list, "I took a bath... Mama took a bath, Papa took a bath., Didi took a bath... Elmo, Ernie, Vidya....etc"

Happy B-day DJ!

My nephew on his 1st Birthday
The cake must of been really good!
Happy Birthday!

Little Bean on Politics

Like everywhere else in the US, Obama and Clinton were in town recently . My husband and #1 daughter decided they were going to try to see both candidates before the caucus. One being for Clinton and the other for Obama. Myself, undecided. I told my family, I will go with the popular family vote, at the caucus. Little Bean was the deciding vote.

So, I asked her directly, "Who are you going to vote for?" without missing a beat, she said, "Burrr-ock Bama!".

Needless to say, we were all in shock that she answered. No coaching, no prompting no nothing.
I did notice, with the heavy ad campaign, Little Bean was practicing quietly to herself, saying the candidates names each time they were mentioned. I was still surprised that she answered correctly.

Now, if we ask her who she is voting for, she says, "Burrr-ock Bama and Illery Clinton".

Not a bad idea.

A Family Product I Cannot Live Without, is…

For fun, I thought I would enter the "Does Mommy Love It? Group Writing Project" contest. If anyone interested, click on the banner or the link above. The contest ends this Sunday, February 24.

A family Product I cannot live without is....
Alrighty, this is tough to narrow down to just one thing. Personally, I can't live without a stash of chocolate, but that is not a family product... that's my chocolate. Or as Little Bean would say, "That's Mines!".
Today, I took a mental inventory of the things that we use, take for granted and cherish. We use too many paper towels, take for granted our washing machine (and the person who does the laundry!) and cherish the sweet sounds from the stereo. However, the one product that we can't live without is our cellphones.
We used to be anti-cellphones until the day I was driving in a snow storm 5 miles/hr for 3 hours heading to pick-up daughter #1. Her daycare was only 10 miles away from my work, but I did not reach her until 2 hours after her daycare closed at 8 pm. Driving on snow covered icy roads didn't worry me as much as not knowing if my daughter was safe. After that day, we didn't hesitate to purchase our 1st cellphone.
Now, we have 3 for a family of 4.
The cellphone has become our main resource for staying connected not only with ourselves but with our extended family. Those roll-over-minutes really do come in handy. Little Bean's first ride in a swing can be captured by the cellphone camera and sent quickly to her father in a meeting and her grandparents in their separate corners of the world.
Now if you ask my husband, he will say Comet and daughter #1 would say the Swifter sweeper/vac. Notice they both have to do with cleaning. Cleaning is a big issue in our home, especially with a messy toddler who throws food. However, I can live with a messy home that looks like a college dining hall after a food fight. The fact is, staying connected with our immediate family and extended family means the world to each of us and no cleaning product can replace that.

Just a few of Little Bean's Antics

Little Bean regarding:

• Hunger

• Most mornings (sometimes as early as 3am), she wakes up and declares she want to go downstairs to eat breakfast. And Lists off foods she wants to eat "...peaches, cheese, blueberries, yogurt, cereal, pizza, toast, bagels, cream cheese, ice cream...."
• Nibbling is good, even if it means pulling all the blueberries out of muffins and yogurt.
  

• Independence
• Independence is important to her and very tiring for me. Much patience is needed for me to watch her climb down a few steps only to climb back up to check to see if her sister is coming downstairs and down and up again to check if her papa is coming.... a few more times for books, paper and clothes...etc.
  

• Name calling
• Mama is my usual maternal name, but lately Bean has developed a variety of names to call me depending the situation
• Mom - When she is serious and wants something done fast like. "Play CD Mom... put in Noodlebug Cd Mom"
  
• Mommy - When she is clingy or in a cuddly mood. "Maaameee" usually says this with a big smile and a high pitched voice.
  
• Jenny-Honey (Who calls me Jenny?) - When she is being just plan devious!

Note: She also does this with her Papa-Father-Dad-Honey and Sister-Didi-Honey

• Interior decorating (!)
• Color scheme - She has decided orange crayon would be better for an accent wall and multi colors for our couch. I guess she didn't like beige.
  
• Centerpiece - She thinks the flowers are out of date and she should be the centerpiece on our dining room table. How she got up there? I don't know... you just can't blink with this child.
  
• Other Decor arrangement - This mean arranging her dolls and stuff animals on the multicolored couch.
  

• Social behaviors
  
• Greets everyone... which is pretty typical for a lot of children. However, sometimes she says "Hello Moto"!
  
• When music is playing, insist everyone dances or sings, depending on the beat.
  

• Intellectually
• Enjoys reading most books but specifically enjoys the ones with a little spunk.
  
• Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner (Thanks Amelia at Mommycrowd for the recommendation... I mean it.... really) Bean aspires to be like the frisky kitty by jumping on her bed and coloring walls, calendars and potty chairs. Skippyjon is her inspiration for interior decorating.
  
• Fancy Nancy by Jane O'Connor. - The prestiges Bean can't resist wearing sunglasses (even smugged and at night) and fancy accessories. This is the time when Jenny-honey is heard the most.
  

In general Little Bean is happy and lets me know, "Mama, [I am] happy" (she also lets me know when she is mad, crying and being funny).

By mid-day she reflects on her morning activities before taking a nap. Well I like to think shes reflecting... but most likely shes planning her afternoon.

Bonus Days!

Daughter #1 has spring vacation this week... no school.... no getting up early to drop her off! What does that mean besides having more time with her? More things can get done around the house! Plus, Little Bean has 2 people to keep her busy or should I say out of trouble.

Today, we went to the craft store, taking the craft idea from Work at Home Mom Revolution who got it from Not Martha, (who in turn posted all her resources) with a beautiful step-by-step on how to make marble magnets. It was quite fun. I made a little charm bracelet for Little Bean using a similar technique. Bean choose all the designs (sorry about the lighting in the photo).


Also, today I hemmed daughter #1's jeans and started crocheting a hat for the fifth time. This one seems like a keeper. The other hats looked good, but didn't fit anyones head, including Little Bean's dolls. So, I pulled the yarn out and started over. Again and again.

...the jeans. Daughter #1 is good at finding bargains with her gift cards. She takes her time and usually comes home with really good deals. Sometimes the deals are pants made for tall people. Not a problem with me ... only takes about 15-30 minutes to hem. I know some family members and friends are moaning right now, remembering their painful shopping experiences with Daughter #1, but I have to say, she is improving. Shopping with her...thats another blog. Even more painful, shopping with her, her grandma and her papa while the innocent bystanders, Little Bean and I soak in the dynamics.

Alright, back to Bonus Days! Tomorrow, I am hoping to get some much needed cleaning done.