The Word "NO"

Well, it’s happened. Mireya learned to say “no” several months ago, but she never said it more than once or twice until now. She has figured out that she can say, “No Mama!” whenever she doesn’t want to do something.

Me: “Ok Mookie. It’s time for a nap.”

Her: “NO Mama! NO!” *she shakes her head back and forth like crazy*

Me: “Yes honey. Right now please.”

Her: “NNOOO! NO Mama, NO!”

Me: “Yes. End of discussion. Come on…..”

Her: *while running away as fast as she can…* “NO NO NO! NO!”

I end up shaking my head and longing for the days when she would just look at me and make baby noises. What’s next? Crawling out of her crib after I put her to bed? I can’t wait….

Getting ready for my daughter's first day of school

Guest post written by Lynn Sommers

I knew that this day was coming for a long time, but I'm not entirely ready to send my daughter off on her first day of school. I guess that it's something that's never going to be easy for parents, but we all have to go through it. So I'm kind of prepping myself for it and making sure that she's not too nervous about everything.

But she's pretty good at being sociable and making friends so I'm really not all that worried about her. It really is me that I'm most worried about. I was looking online to try and find some tips about how to handle this better and while I was doing that, I ran across the website Clear-INTERNET.com. After I looked through it a little bit, I decided to change over our home internet service to it.

I know that her first day of school is going opt be really great for my daughter and that I'll get through it. I'll have to worry about her first day of middle school, high school and then college.

Teeth, Teeth and More Teeth!

Holy cow! Mireya wandered over and started to eat our glass computer desks this morning. She was clearly trying to relieve the pain in her gums. I looked in her mouth and her top molars haven't quite finished coming in yet. Guess what else? Her canine teeth have started to poke through the gums already! Poor Mookie isn't going to get that break from teething that I was hoping for.

Hide The Crayons!!

Remember this?

That was just the beginning. Mireya has colored on so many things, so many times, that I am ready to toss all the crayons out the window! Here are a few more of her abstract art pieces:

Same giraffe, different day, different crayons.

You should've seen the time she colored on the top of the toilet. That was quite spectacular. Ooh... the time she drew all over the couch was great too. I have even seen her attempt to color on the kitty. Thankfully you can't color fur or we'd have a pink cat. The best news of all? Nana just got her markers. Thanks Nana! She is really enjoying coloring with them, but be forewarned if she ever colors on something she isn't supposed too, you can bet that we will show up on your doorstep so we can color at your house.

Helping Out With The Dishes

Mireya was a little beastie for months when it came to the dishwasher. She would come barreling over the second you opened it and grab clean dishes only to run off with them. If you were trying to load dirty dishes, she would touch every single one of them no matter how many times you said NO. Jason and I would get so frustrated, because we couldn't do dishes while she was napping or sleeping, because it would wake her up, but getting them done while she was awake was impossible. It was a catch 22 and it was getting old fast.

Starting about a month or so ago, I decided that she was old enough to learn how to help mommy put the clean dishes away. After all, she was helping with cleaning up her room, putting dirty laundry in the hamper and a few other chores. She does a great job with everything else and she really enjoys helping. I told her one day that she was going to help mommy with the dishes and she got so excited! She learned VERY quickly how to put things in drawers and in all the lower cabinets. It's actually been a big help to me. Yes, the whole job is slower than if I were doing it myself, but it's certainly a lot faster than all the times where I was chasing her around trying to get her to bring the clean dishes back. Plus, when we're done with the clean dishes, I explain that only mommy can do the dirty dishes and 99% of the time, she leaves me alone! I guess she is satisfied that she got to help with at least part of the job and we manage to avoid the tantrums over not being allowed to touch all the dirty dishes.

A few times a day, I ask Mireya, "Do you want to help mommy do the dishes?" She always shakes her whole body yes and runs towards the dishwasher saying, "Deeses! Deeses!" It has been so wonderful until today. Jason is a bit new to the concept of having the baby help with the dishes. Earlier today I saw he was doing the dishes and getting frustrated with Mireya getting in the way. I asked him to let her help, because that's what she's used to doing with me. He forgot that Mireya helping means complete supervision when the cupboards are open (normally they are closed and locked.) He kept his back turned for a bit too long and....

... goodbye casserole dish. It was a really nice casserole dish too. Ah well. I suppose that it's just one of the hazards of having a toddler. Good news is that Mireya looked so sad, so I got to pick her up and get a few rare snuggles and lovies out of it. Ok, good news for me. I think Jason learned his lesson, but I'll guess we'll see in future posts...

Mireya and Landon

Mireya has a little boy, Landon, for a friend. She calls him her, "Buddeee." They have been hanging out for months now. It's a bit of a love-hate relationship. Landon loves Mireya and Mireya hates Landon. Well, she dislikes how he pulls her hair and grabs onto her. I think she really wants to play with him, but he scares her. She spends most of each play date crying, although she is getting better at socializing with him. (Maybe it's that he's learning to ignore her more...)

Landon is an extremely cute little boy. He is very busy and just an absolute doll. He had his first birthday today and Mireya was invited. We went and she had so much fun. She got to swim and play with all the little kids. She was even nice to Landon, which was a nice surprise! She didn't cry even once!!

Here are some photos of Mireya taken at the party and some photos of Mireya and Landon playing afterwards:

 

Molars anyone? No? How About a Back Rub?

Mireya has been working on her bottom molars since her first birthday. They FINALLY came through a little over a week ago and they are almost completely in now. To our surprise, her top molars have broken through the gums in the last few days. I hope there's a bit of a break in between these four molars and her next set of teeth, because the last month or so has been so rough for her. She gets nightmares and cries and it's so sad! I love my little Mookie and I hate it when she's hurting.

Something positive and so cute that Mireya's been doing, is asking for back rubs. She lays down and rolls over and she just melts while you rub her back. It's so cute!! She wants a back rub with every diaper change, every clothes change, every everything. Anytime she can think of an excuse to get one, she does. I think it's probably the only time when she's awake that she's holding still longer than two seconds. Jason and I both love the excuse to give her extra lovies! She's such a wonderful little girl and we love making her feel good. I try to get a hug out of it if I can.

Speaking of hugs, I bought her a doll that will help her learn to use the potty and brush her teeth. Her reaction to Baby Ann (the doll) was so cool! She said, "Pretty baby!" She gave Baby Ann a huge hug and then she gave me a hug, then she went over to her Daddy and gave him one too! It was a very clear "thank you" for giving her the doll. What a sweetheart!! She takes that doll with her everywhere and she does a great job of feeding her and giving her a sippy. (The doll came with a toy sippy cup and a fake cracker.) It's so cute to watch her play pretend. She's at a really cute age.