All or Nothing

That's my girl. She is her own person. We have butted heads more than usual lately, but I'm realizing it's because she is her mother's child. Lately, she refuses to wear her hair up because her cousin K2 doesn't wear her hair up and she wants to wear her hair like K2. This is driving me nuts!!

K2 has a lot less hair than Koko Bean but trying to explain that to her is like pulling teeth. I have even threatened to cut her hair off like a boy, but she knows I will not do that and says, "Whatever Mommy." Thankfully, today I was able to fib to her and tell her K2's mommy called today and said she was going to wear her hair in pigtails. (Sorry Koko Bean, but I had to do something to keep you from going blind in one eye. You'll thank me later.)

Koko Bean not only has been making hairstyle decisions, but she has also been making other fashion statements. For instance, today I dressed her in her pink Tapout shirt. She decided to pair it with her black "ballet slippers," as she calls them.

Then she proceded to show me her best ballet moves. That reminds me. She's got some great moves and is extremely coordinated. That's something she must have gotten from Daddy.

She can throw, catch, and kick like no other three-year-old girl I've ever seen! I think she's going to be quite the little athlete.

Something else Koko Bean gets from Daddy are his thick eyelashes. She sure knows how to work them too.

She knows exactly how to bat them just right, in order to get her way.

She is dramatic. She is passionate. She is determined.She is smart enough to know better. All these traits mixed into one kid can cause quite the situation. However, as any good parent thinks, I fully believe this little girl is going to make big waves in this world.

Whatever she does, she will do it with her all. She's an all or nothing girl. Just like Mommy.

Hello Happy Girl

There she is!!

 That's my happy little girl I know!

I{heart}that sweet little smile.

Tonight my little princess came home from daycare in a fabulous mood. She told me all about her day and we painted using milk paint I learned to make on Pinterest of course. I can't wait to hang up her beautiful creations throughout the house. I must admit she's got quite the artistic ability.

She's a very serious artist.

This one looks like a fish!

I even let her paint with her hands.

She thought that was pretty cool.

Mommy made one too. It's the one in the back. Koko Bean is a lot more creative than Mommy.

She told me tigers paint their arms like that.

She thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of making a mess.

 

Being an artist takes a certain kind of thought process. I think she was channeling her inner Michelangelo.

I am glad I got to participate in this fun activity with her this evening. The past two nights have been literally Hell for me. I guess it was my turn to get the bug Koko Bean had last week, but instead of a sinus infection, some overachieving germs gave me bronchitis. While I was down and out yesterday with feverish chills, today I forced myself to get up and fold laundry and do the dishes. I also grabbed my new toy and took some pictures of the snow we received last night.

Please take note these were all taken from inside my house. I think I've found another new hobby though. I hope to be as good as some of my other friends who are budding photographers.

I was also able to get a few shots of Flex frolicking in the snow. He sure loved that white stuff. He was playing hide and seek with something.

Tomorrow, it's supposed to be 55 degrees. Thank God. I enjoy looking at the snow, but I despise driving in it and I definitely don't appreciate the frigid temperatures that go along with it. Here's hoping this is the first and the last snow that falls all year. I am ready for Spring!!

Turn That Frown Upside Down

Attention! Has anyone seen my happy little girl???

Anyone?

 I see this little girl a little too often these days.

Maybe here?

How about here?

Oh, there she is!!

This is the little girl I know well. I'm not sure about the rest of those photos. I feel a little repetitive when I say this age is ridiculous! one minute, I have a sweet, sleeping beauty and the next, I have this little girl straight out of the Exorcist. Okay, that's taking it too far. She doesn't go from sleep to exorcist girl that fast. However, if I break the eggshell I'm walking on, she snaps. All hell breaks loose, and we have an all out conniption fit about something as small as me helping her put on a sweater. Wills are being tested and I'm hoping, just hoping that Momma's will is just a smidgen stronger than hers.

Speaking of strong will, Mr. Flex got the big snip this week. It was long overdue. This dog is completely different from any other dog we've had. He is stubborn. He is crazy. He is cantankerous. Hopefully, after his coin purse removal, we have a tad better mannered dog. Fingers crossed.

As ornery as he is, he sure is entertaining.

And he sure is adorable.

My love for the canine type must of trickled down in the gene pool. Miss Koko Bean is quite fond of her fury brother and sister. In fact, she smothers them with love as much as she torments them. That's a lot.

I sure love seeing this little girl smile. I hope to see it more often than I have, especially since Momma got a brand new bag...and a camera to go in it!! You've been warned. Mom-a-razi is full force now. There's no stopping me!!

20 Questions

I saw this great pin on Pinterest. Starting at age three, you ask your child the following questions. Today was the perfect day to ask her because it was just her and me, sitting at the island in the kitchen. I felt like Barbara Walters interviewing the year's most interesting person. This was a lot of fun to do with Koko Bean, because she is completely honest and matter of fact in her answers.

1. What is your favorite color? Green
2. What is your favorite toy? Barbie
3. What is your favorite fruit? Apple
4. What is your favorite tv show? Beauty and the Beast
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Apples (I'm not convinced of this, but this was her answer.)
 6. What is your favorite outfit? A dress
7. What is your favorite game? HIde and Seek
8. What is your favorite snack? Goldfish
9. What is your favorite animal? A lion
10. What is your favorite song?"Someone Like You" by Adele
 11. What is your favorite book? Three Little Pigs
12. Who is your best friend? Aura. This required no thought at all.
13. What is your favorite cereal? Chocolate cereal
14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play
15. What is your favorite drink? Apple Juice
16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas
 17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Daddy
 18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Cereal
19. What makes you scared? A monster
20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A doctor

One day at a Time, One Step at a Time

Raising a three-year-old is hard. Flat out. Hard. How do I discipline? Isn't she supposed to be potty trained by now? Why does she throw these awful fits in public? Why does she beg and beg for something as small as a rubber ball out of a vending machine, and then throw a huge fit about not getting it? How do I reward good behavior? Do I reward good behavior? And why does it seem to take five times as long to get ready to get out of the house?

Lately, there have been a few instances where I've lost my cool and just yelled. Actually I screamed. For instance, we were leaving the gym the other night, where now pretty much everyone knows me, and she was not ready to go, "You go back upstairs and work out Mommy. Come back in a few minutes, OK?" I have done this once to her request. Big mistake. Now, she thinks she runs the show and when I told her no, I had to drag her out of the gym, kicking and literally screaming to the top of her lungs. As I walked her out to the car, with both our bags and her, barely dangling on my hip, I just put my head down and made a bee line to the car. When I finally wrestled her into her car seat, I stayed outside the vehicle for a minute to catch my breath. Even that breath didn't work, so I ended up screaming myself.

Then there are those moments when Mommy's sense of urgency and Koko Bean's sense of stubborn three-year-oldness collide. For example, getting ready in the morning is quite the task. It's a lot of coaxing and negotiating really. If I try to put clothes on her, she wants to wear pajamas to daycare. If she does want to wear clothes, her socks have to be just right, which essentially means inside out so the line doesn't "bother" her. When we finally leave, I have to let her climb into the vehicle by herself. That's when she takes her time, observing every single extra in the car, like the "oh crud" handle. She'll want to touch everything and hang on stuff and push buttons, but when Mommy tries to speed up the process, she gets very upset and we have to do it ALL OVER AGAIN.

Don't get me wrong. I am glad Koko Bean is independent. I don't want to discourage her do-it-myself-attitude. There are many things I'm glad she can do herself. She always tries to put on her coat and her socks by herself. She was a very good girl when the chiropractor gave her her first adjustment today. She also loves to help feed the dogs and picks up her toys when we leave the gym daycare. (Now, only if she'd do that at home.)

I guess that since this is my first rodeo in child rearing, I have no idea what to expect, nor what I'm supposed to expect of her. It's definitely a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants sort of gig for which you can never be prepared. I am just praying that each decision I make for her, for me, for our family, doesn't disrupt development or her fragile self esteem. Kids are resilient though. I know she needs discipline. I know that getting onto her today isn't going to affect her tomorrow. She won't be mad forever. Hopefully, the only way it affects tomorrow is for the good. I know she needs love, and lots of it, but there are moments when I just need my "me time." Then there are times when I need to suck it up, put down the phone, stop doing the laundry, and just hold her. There will be a time she won't ask for it anymore and when I ask, she won't let me. And as I sit here and vent about raising a preschooler, I can't help but think how all the good will always wash out any bad, big or small, any day.

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.