And next on "Hoarders"...

Is it possible to be a hoarder at 2 1/2?  I sometimes wonder....case in point...

My monkey is currently in bed with 3 different blankets ("Polka Dots", "Purple" and "Pink"), a ball, a stuffed cat ("Cassie"),  2 dolls ("Emily" and "Piggy Tails"),  Rapunzel, a light-up ball, a pot from her play kitchen with a tomato in it, her cat purse, a book and two pillows ("Monkey pillow" and "Hippo pillow").  I had to draw the line at the ceramic piggy bank, although I will admit that she has slept with it before.  My favorite part is not only does she hoard all of these things, but she names them also (see quotation marks above).  I consider the naming a fabulous labeling skill, so maybe she will be an organized hoarder?

Monkey Love

Now to follow up my recent sappy (yet totally true!) post...

A Few Signs of  Monkey Love

1.  Your monkey regurgitates their food and hands it to you at the dinner table...and you graciously take it and tuck it in a napkin.

2.  You wear a tutu on one leg while playing dress-up because it doesn't fit around your waist.

3.  You never go to the bathroom alone. EVER!

4.  You dance to "Animal Action" 8 times in a row.

5.  You make up "Once Upon A Time" stories about each member of the family, including the dog, at bed time. 

6.  You pretend to like bugs, worms and "Max and Ruby". 

7.  You squeeze yourself on to the slide that your behind is way to wide for, much to the amusement of the neighbors. 

8.  You smile and say "It's okay!", when your monkey pees on the floor instead of the toilet..AGAIN. 

Love

When you are pregnant everyone says "Just wait, you are going to love that child so much.  You won't understand until they are born." And of course, the typical response is "I know, I know.  I can't wait.".  All the while you are thinking "Of course I am going to love this baby.  How could I not?".  But really, you have no idea just how much you will love that little person until they arrive.  2 and 1/2 years later I am still surprised but just how much I love my little girl. She is AMAZING...and that's  pretty lackluster word for how I truly feel....

What a compliment!

As I am dressing for a work banquet the other night I come out of my room in a dress.  D takes one look at me and says "Mommy, what happened to you?".  I respond "I am wearing a dress.  Do I look nice?".  And what does she say "Hmm, can I have a snack?".  Huh, guess I didn't want to know the answer to that question!

Careful what you wish for

D has LOVED "Max and Ruby" for the past year and a half.  We have lived and breathed M & R non-stop since she discovered them.  I am ashamed to admit we have 38 M & R's saved on the DVR, had a M & R birthday party and D can recite several episodes verbatim.  So, when D recently fell in love with "The Backyardigans"  we were thrilled.  We have cancelled the M & R series recording and moved on to the musical world of Tyrone,  Pablo, Austin, Tasha and Uniqua.  HOORAY! Only one small problem...when D woke up from nap today she looked at me very seriously and said "Don't call me Delaney, call me Uniqua!". 

Poo Poo Platter

Let's set the stage for this story...

D and I are playing in her kitchen.  She is wearing a purple apron, t-shirt and pull-up (no, I didn't forget to type pants- she hates them and rarely has them on at home) and holding her now ever-present purse in one hand.   I am wearing my normal Mom clothes, including pants, and a pink apron and pink chef hat.  Keep in mind that the chef hat and apron are D's, so the apron is more like a bib and the chef's hat is cutting off blood flow to my brain as it is about 3 sizes too small and was somehow squeezed on my head.  Now that you have that visual, let's move on...

As I said, we are playing the kitchen. Suddenly D exclaims "I am POOPING!" and runs for the bathroom.  She is about 5 steps ahead of me as I trip over everything on the floor in the disaster area better known as her bedroom (in our defense we have been playing all morning) .  What do I hear as I am turning the corner into the bathroom? "OH NO!" What do I see?  Well, I  will leave out the gross details but I am sure you can imagine what it looks like when  a 2 yr. old has taken off her dirty pull-up and is trying to climb up a stool on to the potty in an apron carrying a purse.   No surface was left untouched by the pull-ups contents.  However, we were lucky enough to have the dog who tried to pull clean duty until I kicked her out of the bathroom.  I on the other hand was lucky enough to clean up the mess while wearing my smashing 2 yr. old sized pink chef combo.