The Winner!

Whenever we leave our house, Sophia calls out, "First one to the door wins! I win! Haha!" 
Sophia always wins because she's the only one playing. Well, Thalia tries to race her to the door, but she doesn't stand a chance. 

Nevertheless, I love how Thalia shouts "I win!" and sincerely celebrates her victory no matter where she is behind Sophia. It drives Sophia nuts.

Thalia now celebrates winning everywhere she goes: Walking into the kitchen when I'm getting her a cup of milk, or to the bathroom to brush her teeth, or getting her into bed for a nap...."I win!" 

I didn't know we were racing, but okay, kid, you win, and if you win, I win...Yay! I love this game!

Mega Negativity

Thalia has increased her vocabulary significantly. Unfortunately, too much of what she says is in defiance of everyone around her:

No, don't do dat!
I don't like dat!
Stop dat!
NO!

I'm afraid that she is merely parroting our own negativity since she gets herself into a lot of mischief. Nonetheless, I invented a car game to see who can get her to say something, anything, positive first.

Me: I love you, Thalia!
Thalia: No! Don't do dat!
Laura: Hello, Thalia!
Thalia: No! I don't like dat!
Sophia: Do you want a hug, Thalia?
Thalia: Stop dat! NO!
Me: I love you, Thalia!
Thalia: I wuv you.

Daddy wins! Haha! Well, we'll all win if we can get a positivity streak going...

Block Love

Last night I put the girls to work picking up toys and books off of the living room floor:

Me: How does the house get cluttered so fast around here! We just cleaned up, yesterday!
Sophia: I don't know.
Thalia: I don't know...

This morning I caught Thalia removing blocks from a toy box and giving each individual block a ceremonial "I wuv you" followed by a tender kiss and then a wild toss onto our once uncluttered living room floor...

Cheddar Bunnies

I gave Thalia a handful of Cheddar Bunnies to snack on. A minute later Sophia asked me why I gave Thalia so many crackers:

Me: But I didn't give her many.
Sophia: Yes, you did. Look.

Thalia had poured the whole box of Cheddar Bunnies onto her tray, and was quietly enjoying them, one delicious bunny at a time....

Buttons!

Thalia wandered into the house wearing only her diaper after playing with water on the porch. 
She seemed quite pleased with herself. 
She pointed to the middle of her wet tummy and said "belly button!" 
"Yes, honey, belly button!" 
Then she pointed to the left side of her chest and said "button!"....

Grandma's Mini Sandwich Cremes

Thalia: Mama, I want a cracker.
Me: I'm Dada, and this is a cookie.

She throws me a look as if to say, "I don't care who you are or what you call it, just hand it over and nobody gets hurt...."

Shower Caps and Cool Night Lights

Shower caps and cool night lights make parenting Thalia at bath and bedtime so much easier!