Toast 2 Mom

Will I Miss Pretend Someday?

As my children grow older, there are already phases that I am missing. I still do my best to baby my baby. I have not hid the fact that I love the baby phase. I miss the extra snuggle time and the quiet cooing.

Another phase soon to end is the diaper phase. My baby is showing the signs of being ready for the potty. It will be nice to have her be independent in this way, but I've never minded diaper changes (too much). I've always used it as singing time or ABC time or counting time.

When my older daughter was little(r), though, I remember being excited about when she would get older and how we'd play in her playroom kitchen. I was also excited for the girls to get a dollhouse this year for Christmas. I always wanted a dollhouse; and I remember the hours of pretend dollhouse I used to play at friends' houses when I was a little girl.

For some reason, though, playing pretend with my older daughter is not what I thought it was going to be...and not as fun as I was hoping it would be...yet. In the past 24 hours, I have been told to play the role of Clara from the Nutcracker and also Ariel's mother. Pretend with my daughter is not this small session of fun. It's all...day...long.

I'm not alone in my discouragement over pretend play. Daddio and I both struggle to go along with all of the pretend rules. I think we've determined that sometimes pretend play is just a form of being bossy. Sydney is sweet as honey and a warm, caring individual, but when pretend play kicks in, the rules are set, the direction is given and it has to be just right. And this often leads me to wonder, how long will this phase last? And is this a phase that I am going to miss someday?

Raspberry Fingers

I remember always requesting that black olives be provided at my grandma's house for the holidays when I was little. Not only did I find them yummy, but they were the perfect decorative touch to my finger tips.

It was fun this year to see my daughter doing the same thing. Good fun never gets old - generation after generation.

I didn't get any photos of her with olive hands this year; but this morning at breakfast, Syd taught me that you don't just need olives to have some finger fun!

 

The Pink Bow

By now you know the challenges I face in dressing my daughters. Sydney prefers dresses with short sleeves, but sleeveless is best. Natalie refuses footie jammies and no chance of a hat of any kind.

And when it comes to doing their hair, forget about it. Well, poor Natalie is still sporting her mullet these days until her hair growing speed kicks in a notch. But Syd, I've been fighting to do pig-tails or put her hair in curlers for months and months.

No, for Syd there is one hair accessory and one hair accessory only - the pink bow. Maybe you've noticed by now, but pretty much every picture of her, she is sporting the pink bow. She wears it every day and even to bed at night. (I gave up the fight long ago.) Throughout the day, I get requests, "Mommy, can you please fix my bow." When I do it wrong, I'm instructed, "no, Mommy, I like high and on the side." I get little pleasures of putting it "low and in the middle" some days, just to mess with her. :)

When I say, "Syd, can we do a purple clippy today or maybe a headband,"...this is look I get. We've all got our own thing...I guess!

One More Birthday Present

Now that Sydney is in pre-school a couple days a week, I get some one on one time with Cheekers. I rarely get any one on one time with Sydney anymore. I've missed that. For her birthday, I planned for the two of us to do something, just us.

A children's theatre here in town is putting on a performance of The Little Mermaid...perfect! Today was finally our Mommy and Sydney's Day Out! We went to the show this afternoon. It was a sort-of spin on the movie version. It had the same characters and similar storyline, with the twist of it being actors for a children's play, interacting with the audience. I thought it was adorable. I think Syd did too. She got a poster and "Ariel" signed it after the show.

Afterward, we decided to head further downtown for some yogurt. It was picture perfect afternoon. We sat outside on the picnic table and enjoyed our treat. When we got home, we painted our nails, colored her new poster and played some games in our latest Highlights magazine.

It was a super, duper, fantastic day! :)

 
 

Halloween Tricks...Such a Treat

Yesterday was no treat for getting Cheekers in her Halloween shirt. Today, Mommy pulled some tricks...and won. See my purrfect litte kitty below...and her best Halloween face for last!

 
 
 

Halloween Fashion Police

Some days I want to go run and screaming out of my house when it comes to dressing my girls. Today was one of those days. I have so many more years of this fashion drama, it's not even funny...not funny at all.

Today Sydney had a party at her school for Halloween. It was also to be her Halloween program. The program was postponed until Tuesday because the weather was iffy today. I bought a Halloween shirt for Syd and Natty...as I always have. Never before in years past have I received 'tude over a fun, sparkly Halloween shirt. Today, though, Sydney kept saying, "Mommy, I really just don't like this shirt." I tried to convince her since it was her party that all of her classmates would be wearing orange and black. Umm, oops, they weren't. A couple of the boys in her class were.

Then thinking Natalie would be in the Halloween shirt spirit, she overheard Sydney saying "no" and "I don't like this". So when I brought Natalie her clothes, not only did she say the same things, she worked that baby temper of hers and ended up wearing nothing black, orange, sparkly or labeled Halloween. Oh Good Grief (in the spirit of Charlie Brown).

Below is a picture of Sydney before school today. Despite the lack of enthusiasm (as the picture displays), I guess she did end up having a good time at her party. I heard a lot about orange frosting, sprinkles and cookies...go figure. I guess next year I'll have to buy a shirt with a cookie on it!

Pumpkin Fun for Everyone (or maybe just fun for one?)

It's almost the end of October, and the girls and I have not been to a pumpkin patch yet. Going to a pumpkin patch is such a great event to participate in when you're from the mid-west. It's been a little harder to get into the harvest spirit down south, though. No leaves a-changin, not really that cold outside, no crisp smells in the air. Regardless, you can't miss a pumpkin patch in October.

So I was all geared up to hit the patch today...only to discover that there aren't many pumpkin patches around here. And the main one, that's supposed to have all the goods, is closed on Wednesday. What?! How can a pumpkin patch be closed three days before Halloween?! That's just not right.

I was very bummed that my plans went bust, but still was determined to have something to do with pumpkins as part of our day. So I decided the girls and I could carve our Jack o' Lantern.

Now maybe you recall back around Valentine's day when Mommy got all geared up to bake heart cookies with my girls to celebrate the day - and how I ended up in the kitchen all by myself. Yeah, today was Valentine's day all over again.

Natalie took a marathon nap today - which she desperately needs because her new teeth coming in are making her quite cranky. And Sydney, while I hoped would be all into the pumpkin fun had no interest in scooping out goop or washing off seeds. She did give me lots of feedback how I was to carve the face, "mean and scary."

Below are a few pictures from our pumpkin day of fun. While my girls weren't quite on board yet today for the craft and pumpkin bonding experience, I did treasure the enthusiasm tonight hearing their ohhs and ahhs when we stuck a candle in old Jack to watch him glow.