Learning as we go

As I sit down to type this at the island in our kitchen, I'm staring at an open dishwasher full of clean dishes, needing to be put away and a sink full of dirty dishes, needing to take their place. There are two stuffed animals sitting next to me and a real animal licking dropped quinoa off the floor.

That stuff can wait. I wanted to tell you all the things I have learned from my little girl recently.

1. It's okay to wear socks inside out, no matter how OCD Mommy is. Otherwise, the line bothers poor little Koko Bean's tootsies and she will let us know about it. .

2. It is also okay to allow your kid to eat a popsicle for breakfast. Mine doesn't eat the whole thing anyway.

3. Along the same lines of that last one, eating protein powder straight out of the container is quite tasty and entertaining. My coworkers would appreciate this as they all have to take the "protein challenge" when they start working for us. It consists of taking a scoop of protein powder to the mouth and eating it all. Only one person has passed the challenge, but Koko Bean could give him a run for his money soon.

4. Speaking of money...

We've been trying to potty train Koko Bean for about a year now and so far, nothing has worked. She does not go for candy, stickers, new toys, kisses, hugs, or extra food of any sort (What kid doesn't like ice cream, seriously?) We tried using the Farmer's Almanac method. That was a no go.

This kid is more like her Uncle Polly Wog that I realized. This morning she found her piggy bank and asked for some change, so I dug into our protein container used for change and gave her a couple pieces of change and a dollar bill. She wasn't that interested in the dollar bill, but went ahead and squeezed into her pig anyway. That was when it hit me. I hesitated at first, but then muttered something that perked her ears BIG TIME! I told her that if she pee peed in the potty, each time, she would get some money (a quarter.) She had just pottied about a half hour before this discussion so I figured she would just brush it off and continue to ask me for more change. Instead, that little girl jumped up, said "I need to potty now," and ran off to the bathroom. She did her business then held out her tiny hand. I kept my promise and gave her a shiny quarter. She ended up peeing in the potty three times at daycare as well!!! What a little negotiator!!!

5. Sometimes three-year-olds can have pockets full of grumpy bears. Yikes!

6. And somtimes those grumpy bears leave just as fast as they came and we're all smiles again.

These are just a few things I've learned in the past week. I'm sure there will be many, many more like this to follow. Each day, I have to do a double take. Did she just do that? Did she just say that? Where did she learn that? I didn't teach her that. Most of our days consist of routine things (because that's the way the Koko Bean likes it,) but during that routine, there are a plethora of non-routine things she says and does that make me more proud of her. Thanks for keeping me on my toes Koko Bean.