Girls, Girls, Girls (Not THOSE Kinds of Girls!)

Before I had my girls, before I met and married Hubby, I always thought that I would end up a single mother with a little boy. The father would have no hand in raising him and I would settle in Maine, somewhere, and raise him the best I could. I was having some frustration with men at the time and had come to the conclusion that there was no one out there for me. I told my mom, once, and it nearly broke her heart to know I felt that way.

I never dreamed that I would have 3 girls of my own, and now that I do, I can't imagine my life without them! Youngest is 18 months old now and is at the stage where she is figuring out what she wants and how to get it. She can't talk yet, only says a few words like: Mama, Dada, milk... The one word she is saying a lot right now is "Uh-oh!" She will drop something-- "Uh-oh!" She finds something funny-- "Uh-oh!" She takes a bite of food-- "Uh-oh!" She looks at you-- "Uh-oh!"

She is very vocal, but being vocal doesn't get her what she is asking for, whatever that may be. She'll grunt and point towards the pantry so I know she wants something to eat. I'll list off a few things but all I get is a frustrated grunt and more insistent pointing before I finally figure out what she wants. Other times, she tugs on my shirt and pulls me to where she wants to go. I'll follow and end up in the living room, then she'll let me go and run to the TV.

Today, she saw something on the counter top in the kitchen that she wanted. She has finally figured out that she is strong enough to drag and then push the kitchen chairs to the counter, climb up and VICTORY! She got to drink out of daddy's big, over-sized, "Bubba Keg". I let her drink a little then put her down and moved both chairs back to the table. 5 minutes later, she was at it again! I couldn't resist taking a picture of her accomplishment and sharing with you!

Middle is now starting to resist her nap times. I get so flustered when I know she needs her nap, she is cranky and pouty and a little nap would transform Miss Pissy into lovely Miss Middle again. But she resists, shakes her head, pouts, and stomps her foot all in the name of "NO!" Eventually she does take a nap, usually right before dinner is put on the table. I have to poke, prod, shake her awake and then she'll announce at the table that she is too tired to eat and lay her head down on the back of her chair and go back to sleep. Argh! I carry her to bed, then in the morning she is starving for breakfast! On the potty training front, she is still without pull-ups except for bedtime and yesterday told me that she didn't need the potty anymore. She will use only the toilet and I could give the potty to Youngest.

Oldest is a sneaky little thing! She takes full advantage of my Deafness and gets into things when I am busy doing something else. While making lunch today, Oldest comes up to me with dripping wet hair, a new change of clothes and a grin that the Cheshire cat would envy. She took a shower all by herself and felt all freshy and clean. I never suspected a thing and certainly didn't hear the water rushing through the pipes. She asked me for gum one day and I said no, it was too early in the day -only 11 in the morning. Then while tucking her into bed that night, what do I find under her pillow? Several sticks of gum and a few empty gum wrappers. I'm going to have to find a new hiding place for the gum!

One of the outdoor cats caught and killed a chipmunk (poor thing). Youngest found it and I turned it into a science lesson. Everyday we go out and take a look and watch it slowly being eaten by bugs and decomposing back into the soil. We count how many kinds of bugs we see and I explain the larvae will turn into flies. You can see the skull now and most of the insides are gone and the fur is starting to fall off and blow away. Oldest takes a large hosta leaf and covers it up when we are done with our "studying". She is very ceremonial like that and likes to make a simple occasion into something much bigger.

Life without my girls would be very boring.