Wee-wees and Hoo-hoos

Today when I was picking Isabella up from pre-school, she pointed at one of the dads and this conversation followed -

Isabella: "He's a really big boy. "
Me: "Yes, he is."
Isabella: "He has a really big wee-wee."
Me: "Um... yes... little boys have little wee-wees, big boys have big wee-wees."
Isabella: "I have a hoo-hoo."
Me: "Yes, you do have a hoo-hoo."
Isabella: "You have a hoo-hoo too. I have a little hoo-hoo, and you have a big hoo-hoo."
Me: "Um, yes. Lets get in the car."

I wonder how old she will be when I explain to her that while it's a compliment to tell a man he has a big penis, it's not a compliment to tell a woman she has a big vagina.

Fill it up and dump it out

Today reminded me of how simple parenthood can be. Often as parents we think that our kid won't grow and blossom unless we buy the latest educational toys, ready 50 books out loud a day, dance, sing, do art projects, and otherwise stimulate all of our kids senses in every way possible.

Sometimes, however, the best thing you can do for your kid is to just follow her lead and let her explore. Today, Isabella followed me out into the back yard when I took our dog out to pee. She went over to a kids water table that had been sitting in the corner of the yard all winter. It was filled with water, dirt, leaves, etc. She then found a broken frisbee, a cup, and a small bucket. She proceeded to use the cup or frisbee to slowly fill the bucket, at which time she would bring the bucket over to another part of the yard and try to convince Ellie (our dog) to drink from it ("Ellie, here's some water for you. You can drink it! Cmon Ellie, drink the water!"), and then Ellie would proceed to paw at the bucket until it would tip over and dump out. At that point, Isabella would laugh, would bring the bucket over to the water table, and would fill it up again. Repeat for 45min or so. I stood there and watched, pretty bored, aware that my role was simply to be there and make sure my kid didn't abuse the dog or get kidnapped. Really, there was nothing else for me to do to make her happy. I kept feeling the urge to get her inside so that we could do something else, but would realize that she was very very happy, and that the best thing I could do was to just be in the moment. One of my big lessons of the last few years has been to let joy happen, not to make it happen. I'm reminded of this lesson, standing in the back yard, as my daughter fills up the bucket and dumps it out, over and over. I'm reminded of how simple life can be when she finds a branch from a tree, turns it into a fishing pole, catches a make believe fish, and hands it to me - "Here you go mommie, here's a fish. You can eat it. Eat it mommie, eat it!". I'm reminded today, yet again, that being a good parent is easiest if you can relax and just be present. Of course, this is a yoga lesson too. Sometimes I'm not sure if parenthood teaches me more about yoga, or if yoga teacheds me more about parenthood. Hmm...

Yay for Mary

Another awesome night/day of awesomeness. Ok, so that's one of Juliet's phrases. But hey... imitation is a form of flattery. Anyway, Last night Mary (John's mom) took Isabella at 6:30pm and kept her until 2pm today. Amazing! We went out to a nice dinner, saw a movie, slept like 10 hrs, and got a bunch of chores done. It's amazing to have a grandparent in town, as you get all this babysitting that would normally cost big bucks. The money savings isn't the big deal, though. The big deal is how guilt free they babysitting is since you know that your child is with a very loving and familiar family member. Isabella gets VERY excited to do a sleepover at Mammie's (Mary's) house. It's this huge special treat for her. They go out to a restraunt (which is such a treat for a kid), read books, do art projects, go to the park, etc. What a win-win! Mary, you rock. When Isabella got home she was so happy and full of smiles... clearly she loved the special time with her Grandma. This time, Mary indulged Isabella in one of her current obsessions - umbrellas. She bought this new super cute ladybug umbrella which matches the ladybug boots that Juliet gave Isabella for Christmas (which she wears just about every day, btw). Also notice the beautiful sweater Isabella is wearing which was hand knitted by Mary. What a loved child!

Cuddles and bats

Today started in my favorite way - with lots of cuddles. I woke up at 7am to Isabella walking in our room. She climbed over me into the bed between John and I, told me that she loves me, and snugged up. Then, our sweet dog Ellie got into bed too and wriggled between John and Isabella. We all just dozed and snuggled for about 30min at which point I got up to take a yoga practice and John, Isabella, and Ellie lounged in bed a bit longer. Life is good!

After my yoga practice (and after John left for work) Isabella started asking about bats. We went to the zoo a couple days ago (as we do about once every other week) and this last time the exhibit she was most into was the nocturnal exhibit which included some really cool bats. So we spent this morning searching for pictures of bats online, printing out bats, drawing bats, and cutting bats out. I learned quite a bit. Did you know that there is some sort of mysterious illness killing the east coast bat population off? Reaserachers can't figure out what it is that is killing these bats off in alarming numbers. They are worried about how it will affect crops. The estimate that, for example, cotton farmers would take in 15% less profits if it weren't for the reduction in insects that bats bring about. A nursing female bat can eat up to half her weight in insects a day. Wow! I leave you with this picture of a vampire bat. Scary!

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I decided to start a blog for the following reasons -

1. As the mother of a 3yr old and the owner of a puppy, lots of really funny, crazy, and blog-worthy things happen.

2. Because of the whole motherhood/puppy-owner thing, i'm sitting around the house waaaay too much with a lot of time on my hands.

3. All my other sisters are doing it (Clayrose, Juliet).

Today's choice moment - I had Isabella's 3yr old friend, Kai, over for a play date. At one point I had each of them cuddled on one side of me while I was reading them a book (I'm a cuddle fiend). Isabella looked over to Kai and sweetly asked "Kai, do you want to touch my mommie's boobies?". That is all...