No We Can Play With That Later

For Christmas Isabella got a game called Elefun from her aunt Margie and cousin Katlyn. It is a little plastic elephant with a 3' long plastic trunk. There is a fan in the elephant that blows little paper "butterflies" up it's trunk. It was given with clear direction to not let Bryce play with it. He will eat the butterflies. Isabella wanted to play with it so I took it out of the box to show her. I told her when I turn it on it may be a little loud but is just the fan blowing the butterflies out. Wrong thing to tell her as she is not a fan of things that make noise. Good news for Isabella, I didn't have any C batteries Isabella said thats ok. Bad news for Isabella, Tammy was at the store so I told Isabella she would buy some and then we could play with it. She said "we don't need to play with it right now we can play with it later with Katlyn". Tammy got home and Isabella told Tammy we don't need to play with the elephant right we can play with it later. I told her we could just put the batteries in it. She then sat on the box and said "it just needs to stay in the box". Needless to say once the batteries were in, it wasn't very loud and she loves catching the butterflies.  On a side note Bryce has not eaten a butterfly yet, I don't think. He does love to pick them up and put them back in the elephant though. Maybe he is just trying to distract me.

Proud Moment Spoiled

       My little boy Bryce, he sure can get into some trouble. It seems he is always reaching on top of counters or shelves to grab whatever he shouldn't be playing with. He tastes everything before he plays with it, sometimes this includes people. He steals his sisters drinks if she leaves them unattended. He has learned that if he shakes his sippy cup while it's upside down he can create a puddle on the floor. I'm not a big fan of red Kool-Aid right now. He has learned a piano is fun to play but even more fun to stand on. That bookshelves, if not attached to the wall, will fall on you if you try to climb them. That at bath time there is a small window of opportunity between diaper removal and entering the bathtub if you want to pee on the floor. That yellow highlighters don't taste good but if you keep trying maybe they will. How to climb out of his highchair while strapped in. How to take the back of the remote off to expose the batteries. How to empty a tissue box in under 10 seconds. When to raid the bag of peppermint patties. Most importantly how to smile and giggle to make none of that matter.
     Well all the things he has learned I was very proud when I saw Bryce pick his diaper off the floor, open the trash can lid and throw it away. It almost brought a tear to my eye. Then he pulled a soda can out of the trash and my moment was spoiled.

No Sympathy

I wasn't feeling very good last night. My stomach was upset, I was getting the chills, and I thought I had the flu. Tammy had put Isabella to bed but she said Isabella wanted me to give her a hug goodnight. Well I was headed to bed so I stopped in her room to say goodnight. She had other plans. She said "read me a story". I told her I wasn't feeling good so I was just going to give her a hug and go to bed. With a chuckle she said "nooooo you'll be alright just read me a story then you can go to bed". No sympathy.

Beware Bryce is Here

Just a couple of things to warn you in case Bryce is at your house.
1. Bryce likes Christmas tree ornaments. I mean yeah I'm sure he thinks they are pretty and all, but he likes them as a snack. You will notice at our house our tree is half way decorated, just above Bryce's reach. I'm sad to say we lost a couple of ornaments while we were decorating.
2. If its foam it is considered edible by Bryce. I think there is a theme here. Some jump ropes have nice foam handles and some jump ropes HAD nice foam handles. They never had a chance.
3. Bryce likes to share drinks. What I mean is he will finish his drink faster if he sees that you have one that he may be able to steal from you. Isabella has lost her drink a few times.
4. There is baby-proofing but I have not seen Bryce-proofing. I think it is an urban legend. Bryce only wants things if he has to reach for it or if it is on the floor and shouldn't go in his mouth.
5. Bryce has a ritual while eating his cereal. We let him eat his cereal in the living room. He will empty his bowl of dry cereal onto the floor and then eat it. It doesn't matter how many times you pick it up it will end up back on the floor. Maybe we should use his high-chair.

More to come

Where's the Love?

Poor Isabella has had a fever for the past 4 days. At times it is high and other times she is bouncing of the wall because she feels better. It is almost impossible to prevent a child who starts to feel better to take it easy. Last night or this morning, however you look at it, at 3am Isabella called me to her room and she was burning up.  I told her if she would take her medicine I would stay in the room with her. We have to bribe her every time she needs to take medicine and it is still usually a struggle. Well after taking her medicine I started to move her stuffed animals off her bed so I could sleep next to her. Every toy I picked up she said "oh I need him, oh I need him too". I told her I needed to move them off the bed so I could sleep she said "you can lay down there" and pointed at the floor. Where's the love huh?

Dialogue with a 3 year old

I noticed a black mark on the wall and I asked Isabella "What's that?" She stated the obvious "it's a black mark". I said "What is it from?" She said "it's from a marker." I said "How did it get there?" She said "my shadow did it." Apparently you have to ask the right question to get the answer to your question.

Story Time

Isabella likes stories. Not just the ones in books, she also enjoys when I make them up. Luckily she is only 3 and they don't have to be very elaborate. She isn't very particular on the topic, they can range from a story about the beach, going to Disney, walking in the rain, really just about anything as long as they contain two things. Every story must start with "Once upon a time" and every story, trust me on this one, every story has to be about Isabella. I tried to switch this up once. I started it out correctly "Once upon a time" but she didn't agree with the direction it went. I continued "there was a little boy", "no" she says, ok "there was little girl", "ME" she chimes in, "no, a little girl name Stephanie she lived in a little house", "I don't like this story" she concluded "I need another one". I lost my creative license apparently.

I know it was wrong but I couldn't resist.....

So we were having breakfast for dinner tonight. We had eggs, waffles, sausage, and bacon. Isabella and I took the last two pieces of bacon. She had to go to the bathroom. As she was headed to the bathroom she turned around and said "Don't eat my bacon". Well I had already eaten my piece and her piece just sat there starring at me. One little bite wouldn't hurt right. Ok two bites but who would know. I could tell I was in trouble when Isabella came back. She sat down, picked up her piece of bacon and examined it. She then scowled at me and said "You ate my bacon". I guess I was busted.

Phantom Injuries

Whenever Isabella scrapes or bangs her knee she seems to go into milk it mode. The other day as she was running into her room she tripped and hit her knee on the frame of her bed. It looked like it hurt and there was a little scrape so we put neosporan on it and put on a band-aid. She was fine but now she was unable to walk. She needed to be carried to the bathroom to brush her teeth "because her knee hurt". She then had to be carried to the potty. Then to her bed. She kept telling me "carry me my knee hurts". The amazing thing happened when I went to work she was miraculously healed. She didn't once complain to Tammy about her knee. After work when I went up to get her from her nap she once again told me "you need to carry me because my knee hurts". I think she is breaking me in.

Isabella is just funny

I decided to write down some of the funny things that Isabella tells me. The other day she told me I had to eat my lunch with her at the table because I would make a mess in the living room. How do you argue with that?
She once told me "your tummy is talking it says you have to go pee pee". Ok. Her new word that is never used in our house by Tammy or I is "Duuhh". I am not sure where she hears this but it is funny when she says it, right now at least. I asked her if she was hungry and she said "I need soup and hot chocolate". The funny thing is, is it was 100 degrees outside and she hasn't had either before. I also don't think that would be a good combination. If we are eating ice cream and I give her a bowl and have a bowl myself she says "I need to share with you". She will focus on emptying my bowl then eat hers. I think I am just a sucker. Tammy was eating crackers and Isabella wanted some so she said "can I have some, for daddy". I'm just saying I didn't see that cracker but she did get me another one when I called her on it.

Oscar minus the Grouch

     I don't like germs. Not that anyone really does, but I try to stay away from them a little harder than the average fella. I feel I was somewhat successful, that was until Bryce, the walking germ, learned to crawl. See Bryce can spot a germ a mile away, I've seen him do it, and he will make his way to it. You see, anything that looks like it may have a germ on it, Bryce wants it, and it goes straight in the mouth. I don't condone this germ-loving behavior but have not found a way to curb it. Well if this isn't shock therapy for a germ conscious individual I don't know what is. This germ-friendly behavior only increased when Bryce learned to walk. Germs have no chance to get away now.
     For Christmas Bryce got a Sesame Street toy with a talking Oscar the Grouch. Well Oscar says "I love trash, anything dirty or dusty or dingy". Well this is Bryce's theme song. His favorite germ spot is the trash can now. If he makes it in the kitchen he goes straight for the trashcan. Just a couple of things that I have seen him pull out of the trashcan are a piece of pizza, a band-aid, an empty soda can, tissue paper, chicken, paper, and yogurt.  I don't think I want to know what he has gotten out without me seeing.

Comfort is not a priority

Isabella woke up in the middle of the night upset and called for Mommy. Instinctively I went in to check on her, my first mistake. She said she was stuffy, so I put some Baby Vapo Rub on her to help her breathe. I told her goodnight and she said "stay in here". I asked her "where will I sleep", my second mistake. She said right there and pointed to the floor. I said you want daddy to sleep on the floor, that won't be comfortable. She said "you'll be ok". I'm sure you can guess what I did. I am not sure which finger it is, but she has me wrapped around one of them.

Things I love at Isabellas bedtime

1.  I love that no matter what time it is Isabella will say "it's not bedtime yet, just two more minutes".
2. I love how considerate she is when it is time to brush her teeth (Bryce can go first)
3. I love to listen to Isabella's bedtime prayers (tonight she got to play a new game on the computer and Heavenly Father got to hear how it went personally. She said "thank thee for my game even though it was too hard to play so I played the other one with the princesses and I got to dress them up". 
4. I love that she thanks Heavenly Father for the food in every prayer and usually more than once. 
5. I love that Isabella will look for the biggest book for me to read to her even if we read it three nights in a row.
6. I love that after reading a book she will say "talk to me a little bit".
7. I love that she will call me to come back upstairs just so she can tell me to be careful.
8. I love that after she says be careful and you say "you too" she will say "I'm not going anywhere".
9.  Most of all I love that I am there to put her to bed.

Cautious and Clever

     I am thankful that Isabella is very cautious when playing at the playground. Sometimes a part of me wishes she would be more daring and try the tunnel slides or run across the shaky bridge, but that passes when she does try something that makes me nervous. I just don't like her to be afraid to try something. When we go to the playground she basically walks around telling every little one she sees "Come this way". When one finally follows, and one always does, sometimes two to three at a time, she plays with them until it's time to go. This is when I am thankful she is cautious. If she doesn't feel comfortable trying something like the tunnel slide or some high ladder she won't do it even if all of her followers now leaders do it and want her to.
     Today at the park Isabella and I went alone. When it was getting time to leave she came and sat next to me on one of the benches to get a drink of water. I said why don't we go home and see how Bryce is doing. She said "Ok and then come back to the park". I said we'll see. Well when we got home I went to unbuckle her and she said "you go by yourself and bring Bryce. I'll wait here".  Great.
   

First haircut blues

Isabella got her first real haircut today. The first one was really done by her aunt Linda but this is the first we had to pay for. We took her to Cartoon Cuts thinking we could distract her with Dora or whatever else they had playing. Boy were we wrong. After several attempts she finally partially cooperated by standing and letting the hairdresser cut her hair. All she got was a straight cut across the back. Seemed simple enough but I guess simple and kids doesn't always go hand in hand. I was roped into getting my hair cut as well. When I had long hair I would have probably been just a uncooperative as Isabella but today I was fine. As I was sitting in the chair I was instructed by Isabella to "keep your head straight" and "don't move". Then when all was done I got "Daddy your hair is very pretty".

Too Smart for her own good

So Isabella and Bryce were sharing a bowl of dry cereal. Isabella would hold the bowl and put a few pieces of cereal on the couch for Bryce to get. Isabella told me "I need my own bowl of cereal". I told her as soon as that bowl was empty I would give her own bowl. So she emptied the bowl onto the couch and said "now can I have my own bowl".

I guess not

Last week I found Isabella's flash cards that have letters, shapes, and colors. I asked her if she would like to do the flash cards. She put her hand on my shoulder and said "No, not today sweetie".

Isabella had enough

Sometimes you can tell when your kids have had enough and sometimes they just tell you. Tammy had just made a nice big bowl of popcorn and sat down next to me on the couch. Isabella, wanted my seat so she could be close to the bowl. "Daddy move please". Well I don't move that easily. So I asked for a kiss, I got a kiss. I asked for a hug, I got a hug. I asked for five, I got a high five. I asked for her to pound it (fist bump), I got a fist bump. "That's all you need". She had had enough.