What can you do??

But laugh maybe?? or perhaps...wonder what you are doing wrong??? ;)

My two year, two month old daughter will close her eyes and turn her head when I reprimand her. As if she just suddenly fell asleep and can no longer hear me.  'What Mom? I'm sorry, I can't hear you, I'm sleeping, I'm sure you can tell, as my eyes are ever-so-tightly closed."

"Talia! Noooooo! We don't touch our poop!!" (if you've read the last couple of posts, you should know my life is very much full of poop.)   ...to which, when she hears me say this, 'falls asleep' - sometimes standing up! (which, really, must take a good amount of talent)

This morning I was changing her and she is laying on the floor just being a goof. Then she began to act naughty and I scolded her. Immediately she tossed her head to the side and closed her eyes tight.....and laid perfectly still.

Oh, whoops. My mistake. I should be quiet, my baby is sleeping!!! hahaha.....
At least when she has her eyes closed she can't see me laughing to myself!

Dashiell Robert Parr

The new dog. We got a new puppy dog two days ago. Less than 48 hours ago to be exact.
It's going pretty well. Nobody I know is a fan of poop, or poop clean-up. However, I would like to take this moment to say how very very much I hate cleaning up poop that has been smeared into gates and tiles and puppy beds.


AAAGGGGHHH!!!!!

But he is a really cute dog. We call him Dash. I have this thing - ever since I was young, but old enough to name my own pets - I name them Disney names. I love Disney. I'm not a pet person. Perhaps it is a psychological way of making me like the animal more???? Regardless.... they get Disney names. Or today, Disney/Pixar names.

We considered Mater, Beast, Dash and Jack-jack. Alex (our son) wanted to name him Thunder - later we find out it's because the neighbor's dog is named Thunder!! (funny kid....)

Dash won out. But Patrick and I secretly call him Dashiell Robert Parr. Because it is funny to us, and because it's like using a kid's middle name.

Dash has a great temperament so far. He is 6 months old and we have four little, excited kids. The dog is handling us sooooo well!! He is calm, isn't yappy, hasn't snapped at all the little grabby hands, lets my daughter hold him hanging from her hip in a very 6 year old way all day - he will fit in nicely if he keeps up this mellowness. (Mommy just might keep him!! haha)

Be the Boss

We now have a potty-trained two year old! Just this month - so the lifestyle is fairly new. She has been working on this for months - and one day early October informed me she wanted to wear panties. Just like that. I was wary of poop in cotton panties, but she was ready. No accidents. (yea!)

Skip to this last Saturday. We had a soccer game for our 6 year old son at 11:30. So, our little 'Avi' went potty before we left the house at 11:00. We went to the game, which ended at 12:30 and decided to head out of town about 50 miles to a local farm where you can pick apples/pumpkins, etc.

So, we ran by the local grocery store to pick up snacks and do a potty run. Avi went potty at the store again - oh, and did I mention she is in panties - not a pull up.

We get to the farm and ride the 'hay ride tractor' out to the pumpkin patch. We are walking around in the heat for what seems like FOR EVER for my six year old to find the perfect pumpkin. (too bad 90% of them are old and already rotting. This makes the search 90% longer)

Avi announces in the middle of the pumpkin patch she has to poop. We scramble and take her to the outhouse in the field. No show. The poop went a-hiding.

We leave the farm - eventually - and start to make the drive home. We are 50 miles from home and in the middle of freaking NO WHERE when she screeches from the back seat in all urgency that she has to go potty! We push the speed limit and beg her to hold it - telling her that is what 'big girls' do. (There is not even a shoulder of the two lane highway to pull over on)

This scenario repeats for the next half hour as we seem to creep towards civilization and public restrooms. She is constantly teetering between an urgent, frantic "I gotta poop", and a strong, "I will go at home".

Suddenly, our six year old, who sits in the back row of the minivan with her, says quite emphatically "Be the boss of your poop Avi!"

Needless to say, me and hubby burst with laughter. Be the boss of your poop. Funniest thing I have heard in a long, long time.

FYI- she did make it until we got home. I have NEVER seen a two year old pee that long - the poop came about 5 minutes later. I think it just wanted to make sure we were home. You never realize when you become a parent what an important part of your life poop becomes! Just - whatever you do - be the boss!