Double Rainbow Moment

We were at Great-Grandma Thompson's house for dinner on Sunday and Liliana needed to go potty. I sent her down the hall to the bathroom, but she popped her head back out just a few moments later and said, "Mommy can you come help me?" I went down the hall and followed Liliana into the bathroom. She pointed at the toilet - which had a large elevated seat on it with handles because Grandma had surgery on her heel recently and this made it so she didn't have to get down too low or get back up from the low toilet seat. Liliana stood staring at the toilet seat and as she pointed to it, asked, "What does it mean?" I laughed heartily before explaining that it was just a temporary potty seat to make it easier for Grandma to go potty while she was healing from her foot surgery. I told Liliana that it was kind of like the little potty seat she used (and occasionally still uses) to make it easier for her to use the grown up potty. She wanted to try it, rather than have me remove it, so I let her. I thought her little bum was going to sink clear down inside it and she'd be stuck up to her armpits, but she managed to balance and make it work. She came running out of the bathroom ready to tell everyone else about the big funny seat and I chuckled as I shared her "double-rainbow" reaction. What a funny girl!

New House

Well, we closed on our new house on March 31st and moved in on April 9th. We're still slowly unpacking boxes, but the things we use on a regular basis are unpacked and organized. I still need to decide on how/what I will decorate with - and then wait until we have the time and money to decorate. Liliana and Emmett love having a playroom and more space to run around. Emmett's first nap in the new house started out well, but when he woke up he was NOT happy. I think everything was just too unfamiliar for him. Also, Liliana was still napping, so she wasn't around to lighten the mood for him. After about 30 minutes of melting down, David suggested we give him a bath. When I started singing his little bath time song, he began to calm down. But when he saw my big triangle tub instead of what he was expecting, he became upset all over again. Once we got him in the water and added bubbles, he was doing pretty well and when Liliana woke up from her nap and joined him, all his worries seemed to vanish. After a couple days in the new place, Emmett was doing just fine. I was worried that he wasn't going to understand about the move and that it might upset him, but it was short lived. Liliana had understood all our discussions about buying a new house and getting a new bedroom and she was really excited, so we weren't surprised when she stepped through the door and acted like she owned the place.
I took the kids on a walk around our new neighborhood and they were excited to see the horses and mini-ponies in some of the yards. We're definitely more country than city out here! David is happy with his new commute and our new ward is full of kids around my kids' ages. I hear good things about the local school from the parents I have talked to, so that is yet another thing to be happy about. We also have a fully fenced back yard that is easily viewed through the kitchen window and slider, so I'm loving being able to let the kids go out and play while I work in the kitchen and still keep an eye on them.
Liliana is surprising me every day with how much she remembers. Just yesterday she was singing a song to herself about how she was going to make purple paint for Bess to put in her art studio. Bess is a character from one of Liliana's Tinker Bell stories but I hadn't read that particular story to her for at least a few weeks and it was never one that she regularly had me read.
Emmett keeps trying to speak and is such a sweet little guy. Today he tried to say pineapple - which sounded more like "paw po". He has also gotten into the habit of saying, "no no no" and shaking his finger at me whenever I tell him he's stinky and needs a diaper change. Silly boy!

More Words

Emmett is adding to his verbal arsenal. He is saying monkey, What's that (sounds like, "sssah?" as he points to different objects), no no, yeah, yay, and a few others that I can't remember at the moment. The flood of words is beginning! Emmett definitely seems more and more boy, rather than baby, with each word he says. My oh my, time sure goes by quickly when you're having fun.

Protective Instincts

For those who haven't heard, we are in the process of buying a house and are hoping to close by the end of the week. I went to pick up some boxes to use for our move at a Wizards of the Coast store (a gaming company) with Liliana and Emmett in tow. When we got off the elevator and walked into the office's lobby, we were greeted by a giant dragon (at least 9 feet tall) hanging from the ceiling. Emmett was so excited that he wriggled out of my arms and started running toward the dragon. Liliana let out a yelp and ran after him. She yelled, "No!" and grabbed the back of Emmett's shirt and started pulling him back. "I don't want it to eat you!" she cried out. I laughed and explained to Liliana that it wasn't real, but she still didn't trust Emmett anywhere near it. It was quite adorable.

Emmett is saying more words now - though they often require parental interpretation. He says Hi, bye, ball, outside, cracker, dirty, and - my personal fav - no touch. That last one is usually repeated over and over as Emmett removes the little plastic covers from our electrical outlets. It is also occasionally stated when he starts playing with the handle on the diaper pail or pulling on my shoe rack, knocking all my shoes to the ground. He attempts to say Liliana and banana - which both sound the same coming from him - but needs a bit more practice before we can really claim that he says either. He still uses a lot of sign language and does rather well with communicating his wants/needs that way. What a big boy he's getting to be!

Tutus and Tiaras

Liliana and Emmett don't want to be held down by was is considered "normal" behavior for their sex.
Example 1: Liliana comes out of her room in a princess dress and runs down the hall yelling, "Peeeew Peew - I got you!" When I asked her what she was doing she said, "I'm dying the bad guys so they don't die me."
Example 2: Emmett finds one of Liliana's tutu's in the toy box and brings it over to me to put on him. Once he's wearing it, he happily returns to playing with the other toys.
Example 3: Emmett brings me Liliana's princess tiara and holds it up to me. Thinking he wanted me to wear it, I put it on my head. He reaches for it so I lean over and let him pull it off of me. He holds it up to his head and I realize he wants to wear it himself. I put it on his head and he smiles happily and starts playing with other things. He returns to me for help in putting the tiara back on several times as it slips down during play.
Example 4: Liliana borrowed Emmett's Lightning McQueen Pajamas that he received for his birthday (they were a little big for him). When I asked her why she took her brother's pj's, she responded with, "They are for boys, but that's Ok. I like Lightning McQueen."
Example 5: The other day Emmett found his nice Sunday shoes in his closet and brought them to me to put on him. He proudly wore them around the house for over an hour.
Liliana has only boys as 1st cousins and only one girl second cousin who lives in the area, but is much younger than her. There is only one little girl at church close(ish) to her age (about 9 or 10 months older) and all the other kids in her age group are boys. It amazes me the kinds of things she picks up from all those boys.
I find it fairly interesting to think about society's role that tells us what is or isn't acceptable for girls or boys to do. I wonder how things would be if my first born was a boy and my second was a girl. Emmett is more than happy to mimic his big sister's behavior and unless someone told him so, he'd never know that there was anything different about when he wears his sister's tutus and tiaras than when she does. If a little sister copies her big brother's behavior, she's a tom-boy. Tough girls are much more readily accepted around here than boys who copy their big sisters. I wonder why "acting boyish" -whether you are a boy or a girl - is alright, but doing girly things is looked upon in a more negative or weak light. Well, someone else is going to have to break the news to my son that he's not supposed to wear tutus and tiaras because I think it's cute and he's having too much fun for me to rain on his parade.

Potty Tales

Liliana: "Mommy, I'm going to do poopy."
Me: "OK. Go get on the toilet and call me when you need me to help you clean up."
Liliana: "I'm going to do a big HUGE poopy. Big big huge that will break the toilet."

Where does she come up with this stuff???!!!!

Mean Mommy

In a rush to get out the door to pick up David from his bus, I was nagging Liliana to get socks, shoes, and either a coat or sweater on. Emmett did a last minute diaper fill, so I was trying to deal with that at the same time. Once finished with Emmett's clean up, I was annoyed to discover that Liliana had not moved one step closer to being ready to get out the door. "Liliana!" I said in a stern voice, "Are you going to wear this sweater I set out for you or not?"

"Mommy!" She responded tortly, "You are mean. I am going to put you in the garbage and I will drive to pick up Daddy by myself."

Baaaahahaha - I couldn't hold back the laughter. I ended up tossing her in the car without socks and shoes, but at least we were giggling together. I wonder what fun things she'll come up with next...