Need pockets?

Why? Why does my child insist on doing this? Pants aren't a deterrent, either. She'll force her hand down the back of her diaper no matter what she's wearing unless we put her in a onesie.

Luckily, she's never done it with a nasty diaper ... and she seems to like just sticking her hands down there to keep them warm or something ... but the odds are against us!

Any suggestions for putting it to a stop?

Read more about "Need pockets?"...

My guys

They don't get enough attention here. So without further ado, here are my guys:



They clean up good!

Read more about "My guys"...

Toddler Word Play

Turning two must have switched on the language center of Bella's brain because she has become a chatty cathy almost overnight. For fun -- and to remember her little first words -- I thought I'd list out what she's saying (and singing) these days.

WORDS

• Social words: done, more, no, my, please, hi, bye bye, night night, thank you, oh man, oh boy, uh oh, oh no, ready
  
• Prepositions and pronouns: in, off, on, up, down, right there, where, aboard, here, my, that, this, you, who
  
• Animals: monkey, bee, bird, bug, kitty cat, dog, puppy, chicken, duck, fish, frog, horse, pig, goat, cow, llama, elephant, snake
  
• Vehicles: bicycle, wagon, boat, bus, car, truck, motorcycle, airplane, choo choo, train, big truck
  
• Food: apple, banana, burger, cake, candy, carrot, cereal, cheese, coke, cookie, cracker, egg, hot dog, fries, grapes, green beans, ice cream, mango, orange, pizza, peach, peanut, peanut butter, pepper, popcorn, potato, raisin, sandwich, strawberry, waffle, yogurt
  
• Drink: milk, chocolate milk, juice, water, ice, Coke
  
• Clothing: shirt, pants, diaper, socks, hairbow, coat, jacket, shoes, hat, hood, jammies, scarf
  
• Body parts: nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, face, hair, belly, button, arm, leg, elbow, wrist, feet, finger, hand, knee, lips, shoulder, toes, tummy, china (our word for vagina)
  
• Toys: barn, ball, balloon, blocks, book, bubbles, game, baby, toy, kitchen, pot, spoon, food, pencil, crayon, color
  
• Characters: Blues Clues, Elmo, Diego, Dora, Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Pooh, Eyeore, Darby, Tigger, Piglet, George, Tasha, Pablo, Tyrone, Austin, Uniqua (at least, she tries), Mario (yes, we play a lot of Wii)
  
• Household: bath, bed, blanket, brush, cup, dish, door, fork, spoon, plate, bowl, trash, glass, key, light, movie, picture, pillow, pillow case, potty, soap, table, telephone, toothbrush, window, straw
  
• Outside: play, playground, snow, moon, rock, rain, school, slide, swing, stick, star, tree, wind, wood
  
• People: mama, daddy, brother (bruddah), Javi, grandma, nana, poppie, girl, boy, Bella, man, you
  
• Actions: bad, bite, breakfast, climb, cook, drink, eat, fall, fell, go, help, hide, hit, hug, hurt, jump, kick, kiss, look, love, nap, put, see, sing, sit, sleep, walk, wash, watch
  
• Colors, numbers, letters: red, blue, black, orange, green, pink, white, purple, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and most of the ABCs
  
• Qualities: all, big, booboo, clean, cold, cute, dark, dirty, happy, hot, old, ouch, pretty, stuck, wet, yucky
  

SONGS

• Happy Birthday (on heavy rotation these days)
• Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
• Row, Row, Row Your Boat
• Wonder Pets theme (What's gonna work? Teamwork!)
• Hot Dog! (Mickey Mouse)
• Rock-a-bye Baby
• Party In My Tummy (Yo Gabba Gabba)
• Hot Potato (Wiggles)
• Please and Thank You (Backyardigans)
• Elmo's World
• Itsy Bitsy Spider (along with hand motions)
• Monkeys Jumping On The Bed (along with hand motions)
• Where is Thumbkin? (along with hand motions)

Grand total: 280+ words and 13 songs. And we were worried about her language development!

Read more about "Toddler Word Play"...

Music to make you happy

To stave off some of the sadness surrounding today, I've decided to list out the playlist I made for Bella's birthday. Originally I was going to burn the playlist to CDs for all the guests, but first my burner wouldn't work and then I realized the CDs were too big for the grab bags.

Without further ado, here are songs to make you (and your toddler) happy:

1. The Hoppity Song - John Ondrasik
2. Monkey song - The Giggles and Wiggles
3. Rhyming Circus - Ralph’s World
4. Wonder Pets!
5. Hot Potato - The Wiggles
6. Dora The Explorer Party Mix
7. Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - They Might Be Giants
8. Party In My Tummy - Yo Gabba Gabba
9. I like to dance - Yo Gabba Gabba
10. Blue’s Clues theme song
11. Elmo’s song
12. Edward the Tap Dancing Elephant - Ralph’s World
13. I Like To Move It - The Party Cats
14. Pollywog In A Bog - Barenaked Ladies
15. Istanbul (not Constantinople) - They Might Be Giants
16. Buddy boogie - Blues Clues
17. Bumblebee (buzz buzz) - The Laurie Berkner Band
18. Go, go, go - The Backyardigans
19. Pirate girls nine - They Might Be Giants
20. High five - They Might Be Giants
21. Raisins - Barenaked Ladies
22. Clap your hands - They Might Be Giants
23. Mahna mahna - Cake

Read more about "Music to make you happy"...

Saying goodbye

We're sad today. Bobby, Billy's stepfather's stepfather, was admitted to the hospital yesterday morning because he tore the lining in his stomach. He was having sharp pains when he first arrived, but after they laid him back in the bed, the lining tore further and they rused him into emergency surgery.

During the operation, the surgeons discovered that Bobby's liver is covered in cancer. They repaired his stomach and bowels, and informed the family (Billy's parents and Bobby's sisters) that they would give him time for his stomach to heal before tackling the liver cancer. However, they warned everyone that the cancer was so far advanced, the only real treatment is a transplant ... and Bobby isn't a viable candidate.

So we all prayed that his stomach would heal quickly and that Bobby would be strong enough to at least try chemo. Unfortunately, today his organs began shutting down. His kidneys aren't functioning and he's only breathing through life support. Billy went to the hospital earlier today and plans to be there for a little while longer to say his goodbyes as the doctors don't expect Bobby to make it through the night.

Bobby isn't biologically related to us, but he's been a great friend and "grandfather" to both us and our children. I think it's fascinating that Bobby stepped in to raise Phillip (Billy's stepfather) when Phillip was around 2 years old. Then Phillip stepped into the role of father figure when he married Billy's mom. Now Billy has stepped into the role of Daddy for Javi. Three generations of men who -- for all their faults -- loved the young people in their lives unconditionally.

He is a good man. Quiet and gruff, yet really witty when he decided to speak and always ready to help us if we needed it. He will be sorely missed.

Update: Bobby passed away around 4 am on Tuesday morning. May he rest peacefully with Iva, the love of his life.

Read more about "Saying goodbye"...

Easter Egg Hunt

Bella and Javi attended the Central Carolina Jaycees' 2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt today (an event that I planned - so exhausting!). We're all hot from the weather, and yellow from the pollen. After we got home, everyone fell out for long naps. I think we'll need a while to recover!


Unfortunately, my camera was being used for "Easter Puppy" pictures and no one I know took pictures of Javi's age group's hunt. But Billy and I plan to hold a mini egg hunt for the kids on Easter morning, so there will be pictures of my big kid. I love small-scale events like that now that my life is signed away to the Jaycees! :)

Read more about "Easter Egg Hunt"...

Blowing Out Her Candle

Blowing out candles is anticlimactic when you've already filled up on stolen icing.

Read more about "Blowing Out Her Candle"...