Lola "The Performer" in the making....

Good news all!!! You know the story I told you last week about Lola coming home talking about breaking necks and getting into biting fights which I thought was pretty much awesome (sarcasm of course)??? Well OF COURSE it wasn't anything like we imagined. I knew there was no reason to get worked up.

Anyway, the next day I had a conversation with Lola's teacher, Miss Corazon, about her comments. She said that one of the kids in Lola's class, Ace, bit two other kids that day (Lola not being one of them) so that's probably where Lola came up with the biting fight. She said Lola and Edi have had no confrontations! As a matter of fact, Edi is the most laid back child in the class and Lola is their little "Mother Hen" of the class. Whoo...what a relief! Of course, not such a relief for Ace's mom. After I had Miss Corazon nailed down for 20 minutes talking about Lola's comments, Ace's mom got a hold of her and was asking for advice on how she should address the new "biting problem". Poor thing. Guess we don't have it as bad off as others right!!!

Then there was the neck breaking thing. Well, Miss Corazon said one of the older kids was trying to climb on the table and a teacher said "You're going to fall and break your neck if you don't get down from there". She said this is the only place where Lola could have possibly picked something like this up. She was even thrown off by this one. I guess Lola REALLY pays attention to stuff (SCARY!). Seriously...just a real casual nonchalant comment but yet Lola picked it up. Crazy right!?!?!?! Anyway, this is why you should NEVER make a mountain out of a molehill when your 2 yr old makes unusual comments as you never know where it actually came from. These toddler imaginations run ramped! Most of the time I'd be willing to bet the comment/action probably comes from something really simple which turns out to be nothing (like this situation). Of course, I guess it could also come for something more serious which is why you should always ask the questions. But luckily for us this was no big deal. Woohoo!

I also wanted to post this video. I believe we may have a little performer on our hands. In the evenings Lola has been known to randomly pop up, goes to stand in front of us as if she is on stage and then just starts entertaining. She'll go through every possible song she knows and then will start over again. If we try to sing with her we'll get a big "HUSH!". She wants it to be her show and her show only. I've tried to catch it on video several times but as soon as the camera comes on she stops. I was ELATED to get some of it on video this time...I just wish my house wasn't so messy in the background! Please disregard...it was a rough night and I didn't even have the energy to put the groceries up. Do yall ever have those nights???? Well, mine come more often than not lately. Enjoy the entertainment.....

Make a Smilebox digital slideshow

New doings and sayings

Here's a great way to end the work day and start a grand ol' family evening: You pick up your daughter from school and she talks about breaking a girl's neck and a biting fight. AWESOME!!! You always love, love, love to hear these words come out of your child's mouth. Lovely right?!?!?! So I'm thinking Lola and Edi had a little confrontation at school today but considering Lola is only 2 unfortunately I'm not able to get the real story. Actually Clay was the one who heard the story first and none of it is real clear. All we get is a little something about breaking necks, a little something about biting and Edi, a little something about Miss Corazon (it appears there was teacher involvement) and then a cute little giggle with a big beautiful smile to top it off. What in the world!?!?!? Looks like Miss Corazon is getting a call from Miss Mommy tomorrow. This should be interesting.

We've had lots of new doings and sayings lately. Lola came home on Friday with a big fun bag of Valentine's goodies. In the goody bag was lots a great candy for Mommy and this adorable picture of Lola's class. How darling are these little kids?!?!? It's Lola's first school pic and guess who isn't looking at the camera??? Lola of course. My goodness. Here's what's amazing. Lola can go through this picture and name every single child in this photo and some of them are not easy names. We're not talking names like John, Jane and Sally but names like Amos, Jillian and Weston. I just thought this was craziness!!! How in the world does a 2 yr old do this? I can barely remember my work colleagues names that I've worked with for 7 yrs or my friends kids names (especially when they have more than one) and she can name 23 kids in her class. Kudos to her! Anyway, other than talk about neck breaking, all the kids are really cute and so full of personality.

In order to stay caught up, here are some other doings and sayings:

• The other day when I picked her up from school she said "HUH....I'm so freaking tired!". I admit...this is all my doing. It's always funny when something like this comes out of Lola's mouth and I'll say to Clay "Where in the world did she get that" and he'll look at me like I'm crazy and say "Ummm...YOU". I guess I don't realize some of the things I say all the time such as "I'm so freaking tired". OOPS!
• Another new favorite saying of Lola's is "That's crazy". Anyone who has spent any amount of time around Lola over the past month (like 5 minutes) has definitely heard this one come out of her mouth.
• I also appreciate the fact that ever so often she'll ask "Mommy, Are we going to Target today?" Looks like I have her trained well...right?!?!?! There is nothing wrong with convincing your child that Target is all the bit as fabulous as Chucky Cheese or Toys R Us. Of course, Clay hates the fact that Lo is partaking in "consumerism". Totally freaks him out...I'm so sure!
• When we're in the car and Lola doesn't want to be in her car seat any longer (which is pretty much the minute we get in the car), she'll try anything to get out. One thing she knows is if she has poopy pants, we'll stop and change her...specifically on road trips. The other day when we were driving home from Dallas Lola said "I have poopy pants and it's ALL over my clothes". It was in a very dramatic tone. Kind of like the scene in the movie "Annie" when the little orphan Molly says "OH MY GOODNESS, OH MY GOODNESS". Do you remember that? Think of Lola saying this statement in the exact same tone. Due to this, we couldn't help but believe her so we of course stopped and got her out to change her diaper only to find a perfectly pristine diaper. That little devil....she's learned to become quite the actress. She just looked at us and grinned. All along I know she was thinking "SUCKERS!!!"
• Every Saturday morning we wake up and we'll all walk down to Jo's Coffee to get a coffee and breakfast tacos. Now every Saturday the first thing Lola says when she wakes up is "Coffee and burrito" and she continues to say it until we head off. She loves her coffee and burritos! Please note, we don't give her coffee but she does love the burritos which are actually just bean and cheese soft tacos. They are yummy to my tummy! She sits on the chair like a big girl and eats her tacos with everyone. She's become quite the popular child there.
• At school Lola puts a "Miss" in front of all teachers names so there is Miss Corazon or Miss Alex. Well, now she's starting calling me "Miss" Mommy. It is so sweet when I hear these adorable little words come out of her mouth. She'll say "What are you doing Miss Mommy". Melts me...cheesy I know but I just love it!
• Finally (for now), new little statements that aren't quite right: She'll say "Take the blanket on off" or "Turn the TV on off" (What kid says this?) or "I need my diaper on off". I love these little statements.

BTW...I'm almost always Mommy or Miss Mommy now. Woohoo!!! I finally have been awarded the "Mommy status" after being call "Amy" by my baby girl for the past 9 months. Yes, that's right...9 months of that. She started this at 15 months you know and I have pretty much complained about it the entire time Clay is now almost always Clay. The good news is that it doesn't bother him. He'll be daddy again soon.

I didn't add the potty training drama to this list but will. I've decided it needs it's own separate blog. For now all I can say is "Lord help me". There has already been one nervous breakdown and I'm sure many more to come. Oh goodness....just the thought of the whole process makes me feel a nervous breakdown coming on ..."Lord help me again".

The Birthday Girl!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

This past Sunday, February 7th, Lola turned 2. Wow! I can hardly believe it! It really does seem like I was in the hospital giving birth to her just yesterday. As the big birthday approached I started looking back at pictures of Lola at 12 months. Although it was only a year ago, it's really crazy how much she has changed. At 12 months, she was no longer an infant and we thought she was all grown up. But now I compare photos and she actually was still a baby back then. Looking at Lola today, she is no longer a baby, however, I still call her by baby girl and probably always will. And, I love the fact that ever so often she still wants me to hold her in my arms like a baby and sing "Rock-a-bye Baby". It's bitter sweet I have to say. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the toddler stage so far (with an exception of a few things mentioned below) but miss the baby in Lola. Clay said the other day that he's really sad to see Lola grow up so fast. I told him he shouldn't be b/c we've really taken advantage of every moment and stage. I don't feel like we've let time fly by so fast that we've missed out on things and that's a good thing.

Now to the good stuff!!! Lola had an excellent birthday weekend. First, we went to Midlothian to celebrate Lola's birthday with my mom and dad (Mena & Pawpaw), great aunt Bobbie, great grandmother Memaw, Uncle Adam, Beans, baby Curry, great aunt Nancy, cousin Kaylin, Reta, Billy and Jessie. We had a great time and Lola loved all of her gifts. Then, we headed back to Austin and Clay's fam came in town that afternoon. So, Lola had another birthday party with Clay's mom and dad (Dinks & Dad'O), Tia Molly, Tio Ben and cousin Dossy. Our fab neighbors, Kristen, Kevin, Mark & Ari, also came over to sing Happy Birthday to Lola. Again, we had good food, cake and gifts. For the first Happy Birthday song, Lola wasn't real sure about it (see video above). By the second Happy Birthday song, she requested that we sing it over and over. She kept saying "Sing it again". We did and finally called at quits after the fourth time. I don't have a video of this but there is on posted on my facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=727906270

It was pretty funny! Anyway, after the big birthday weekend we were pretty birthday 'ed out! I'm telling you, this child is loved by so many and we're grateful for that!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures on my camera from Birthday party #2....totally bummed! Tia Molly will have to send them to me. However, I did get pictures of the cakes. I am obsessed with cakes and truly believe that finding a good bakery is key.

Dallas Affairs cake - They will never let you down!
http://www.dallasaffairescakeco.com/

My new Austin Bakery find - Polkadots Cupcake Factory. So pumped!!! Their cakes, cupcakes, cookies, etc are all fabulous and very reasonably priced. Yea! (Sorry about the blurry pic....Clay had camera on some weird setting as usual - my pet peeve!)
http://www.polkadotscupcakefactory.com/

What are Lola's favorite things at 2 yrs old? Lets see.....choo-choo trains, painting/drawing, chitty chitty bang bang, singing, music, books (fav right now is Head to Toe by Eric Carle), riding in the jogging stroller, going to the playground, her babies and now her new baby stroller. That's all I can think of for now. I wonder what the next year will bring us???? Hopefully it will only bring JOY but I imagine there will be plenty of stressful moments too....

It's time to go to the big girl bed!

Over the past week, we accomplished a huge milestone. Lola moved from her crib to a "big girl" bed (a.k.a full bed). Oh how this has changed our lives in a good way. Or, should I say brought some normalcy back into our lives.

As I've mentioned, it had been weeks since we had a good nights sleep. I was literally at my wits end. I didn't have a clue what was going on....she wasn't sick or she wasn't teething so why in the world was Lola all of the sudden refusing her fabulous crib? All the research and Lola's school suggested we put her in a toddler bed. What? A not even 2 yr old in a toddler bed? Will they stay in bed? Won't they fall off? This blew my mind!!! I didn't think you transitioned babies to a big girl bed until they were around 3 yrs old. Crazy! Anyway, I was desperate so I took their advice and we ventured off to buy a big girl bed.

Our search for a bed took us straight to Ikea. We let Lola try out all the beds and choose her favorite. Of course, I took her to the vicinity and kind of pointed to the one she should choose as her favorite. A new bed means it's time to redo Lola's room. It will no longer be a nursery but a "big girl" room. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the room yet. I know we'll eventually move Lola to the master bedroom and we'll move to her room. Just figure it will be good to give her a big girl/play room. My first purchase was a BIG splurge! I took it upon myself to buy Lola a fabulous bedspread from Anthropologie. OUCH to the pocket book! Here's the funny thing....Clay and I don't have a proper bed (we only use a bed frame) and I've never spent this much on a bedspread for myself much less my 2 yr old. My goodness! What is wrong with me? However, I have to say, a bedspread can make or break a room and I think this one will definitely help make it. To be determined (TBD)...right??? Plus, it's a neutral color and can be used in any room for the years to come. I think I'm trying to make myself feel better about the purchase ...you think???.

Anyway, the results of the new bed have been absolutely amazing! A miracle I must say! Not only does Lola go to sleep in her room again (of course, she wants us to lay with her until she falls asleep but that's another story) but she also sleeps through the night (with an exception of last night). I love the fact that I'm no longer a walking zombie. The morning after she slept in her big girl bed for the first time, Lola said to me "Mommy, I slept in my big girl bed all night". She was very proud of herself!

Now, to get her to this point it took a lot of sales and marketing on our part (mainly my part as I was the desperate one). I spent a week talking about the "big girl bed" and bragging about how great it will be and how all of her babies will love it too. We even made up a chant/song that we would sing before bedtime that goes a little something like this:

It's time to go to the big girl bed, the big girl bed, the big girl bed

It's time to go to the big girl bed and sleep all through the night!

She sleeps all night and dreams good dreams, dreams good dreams, dreams good dreams

She sleeps all night and dreams good dreams all through the night.

And again...

The whole family chants and cheers this song before bedtime. Now, when Lola starts feeling tired she'll start singing the song and we know it's time to start the chant and head upstairs. A bit obnoxious I know but you gotta do what you gotta do. I'm telling ya...the toddler bed has been a great great great solution to what I felt was a big problem. What a relief! The next step for us is the "Big girl toilet". That starts next week....cold turkey potty training. Should be interesting to say the least. I have a feeling we'll have some interesting blogs documenting this experience!

In other news, over the past two weeks, Lola has not really thrown any awesome toddler fits. Oh, except for the one on Sunday when she wanted another vitamin and rolled on the ground for a hour screaming "Vitamin, Vitamin, Vitamin...". Or, the one earlier that morning when she wanted juice vs. milk and she sat in our bed whining "Juicy NOW, Juicy, Juicy NOW" and would shove her sippy cup in my face. I told her I don't respond to whining and if she would ask me nicely and simply say"Juicy please", I would go get her some. She refused to stop whining and refused to say "please" so she didn't get any juice. She whined for 45 minutes straight. It was lovely considering I was trying to get some last minute morning ZZZs....so much for that! Or, the one she threw right after we took the pictures of her on the big girl bed (see pics below). I have no clue why she all the sudden became out of sorts. She just kept saying "Take picture with baby". I would try and then she would shout "No! No picture with baby!". Ok Lola...what do you want??? Picture or no picture??? Or, the one she's throwing right now in the living room...literally screaming at the top of her lungs saying I don't know what...I just walked away. Bad parent I know but Clay's in there. Ok...maybe we aren't really done with the toddler fits but we did go almost two weeks without one. I appreciate that fit free almost two week period more than ever. Specifically, I miss it at this very moment.....AAAAHHHHH!!!!

Get the point? I don't really understand sometimes. WHAT IS THE ANSWER??? Oh yea...there's not one. It's all just part of being a parent of a toddler. Yea!!! I did just purchase What to Expect - The Toddler Years. Maybe there will be some good advice in there. Enough with the complaining Amy....it may not seem it all the time but the breathtaking toddler moments (which come often) absolutely outweigh these trying moments....I promise.

Other than that, Lo's been great. I think it's b/c we've been keeping her so busy. Or, it could also be that I know how to avoid the things that will make her throw those fits. Who am I kidding??? I have no clue what sparks the fits half the time or any of the time for that matter. I mean come on...who would think vitamins would send her in a tailspin??? Anyway, despite that, we have been keeping her busy. She's obsessed with the playground so pretty much every day after school we jump in the stroller and go to the playground for about an hour. Or, I'll just take her on a jog in the stroller (BTW....LOVE LOVE LOVE the new baby jogger....HIGHLY recommended).

On the weekends we've been going to The Children's Museum. I bought an annual pass which has been a fantastic purchase (also highly recommend to all parents with a toddler). This past Saturday Lola kept me there for over 3 hours. Are you kidding me? Now, I know I shouldn't say "she kept me there" as I'm the parent and I should control her but in this case, she wouldn't leave and I didn't have the energy to make her leave as I knew it could potentially result in one of those fits and I couldn't deal with it at that moment. Instead, I tortured myself in a building full of loud children exhibits with kids screaming all around me. Oh man! It's was rough! Lola whips around that place like you've never seen. I'm not kidding, if I turn my head for one second, she'll be gone! Then I have to go on a mad search through the sea of screaming kids to find her. All along I'm in a panic that some random is going to snatch her up. A little dramatic I know! I always find her of course. Anyway, by the end, it (the museum) was verging on pure torture. I may have to take a week or two off from The Children's Museum.

Funny story though...at the museum, they have "Story Time". Lola and I always participate. This past weekend, after story time was done, the storyteller told the kids they all get stickers. He told them to stay where they were and he would work his way back and give everyone a sticker. Lola and I were close to the middle back area of the room. Well, despite what the fine young gentlemen said Lola wasn't going to wait. She pranced her way through the the rows of kids sitting down politely waiting for their sticker, climbed on stage where the storyteller was and stuck her hand out for her sticker. No she didn't! She's a brave one and not the least bit shy. Although she lacked the patients to wait, she did tell him "Thank You" after he gave her the sticker then pranced right back through the children and over to my lap. It was hilarious. I should have snapped a picture of her posted up on stage by the storyteller but I was a little embarrassed of what the other parents might be thinking and I was very proud all at the same time!

So, I have a whole list of new Lola "sayings/doings" but I'll wait to post on a later blog. In the meantime, I'm sure the list will continue to grow. I'm telling you...this child is a real hoot!