"What do you think i could do?"

i've been asking Char what she could do for months now. If she's throwing a fit because her wagon is stuck, i say, "Oh, no! Your wagon is stuck! What do you think you could do to get it unstuck?" Or, "Oh, your daddy is sad because you hit him. What do you think you could do to make it better?" i figure at least it's good practice for me to learn how to use "problem-solving language" if nothing else, but surprisingly she's actually really good at it. She usually doesn't use words but shows me what she could do, which solves her problem. Sometimes there are surprising results (like the time she hugged her puzzle piece after throwing it instead of just putting it away lol).

Last night, she was upset when her babysitter left, and had a little meltdown. i guess she also had an accident, and because she was wearing training underwear that holds some urine, i didn't notice it until after she'd come to me and wanted to read a book in my lap. She felt the wetness when she sat down, and said, "Wet! Oh no, wet!" She got down and saw that my pants now had a wet spot and said, "Oh no! Mommy pants wet. Mess!"

i said, "My pants are wet because you went pee pee in your underwear and made your underwear wet. What do you think i could do now?" She thought for a second, took my hand and said, "Come on!" Well, actually more like "Tome on", and led me to the bathroom. She reached up and tried to unhook my button, and said, "Pants off." Then patted the toilet seat and said, "Potty." So i obliged, and she handed me some tissue. Then she did a dance. LOL.

Then she took my hand again and said, "Tome on!" and led me to the closet, where she picked up a pair of my husband's pajama pants and said, "Pants on. Det dressed!"

My little problem solver lol. i just adore her so much!

Then, and Now

A little over a year ago, i met my sister at my dad's house for a little fun with her kids, and i snapped this gem of a picture:

The dress is one i found at Kohl's; a little yellow halter sundress with bold colored flowers on the bottom and a ribbon at the waist and bottom.

The other day at Kohl's, i found this dress:


They didn't have it in yellow, but it's the same dress! i love it!

"It makes sense!"

A story stolen from my husband:

Today Alan was playing with Charlotte in her room, and she was struggling to remove the back cushion from the big rocking chair that I rock her to sleep in nightly, grunting, pulling, etc. Alan said, "Why are you trying to move that cushion, Charlotte?"

She looked right at him and said, "It makes sense." Hmmm... do you think one of us uses that phrase a little too often? LMAO.

Adventures in Gardening

First let me say that i have a black thumb. Fortunately, my husband has better luck than i do, but i really love planting things and watching them grow, even if i suck at being their primary caretaker.

Anyway, this year we planted some herbs in the side bed which should get enough sun this year since the tree blocking it last year was trimmed down, veggies on the side of the front bed (we widened it a bit), and flowers in the 3 pots on the front porch. The veggies are watermelon, leeks, and of course tomatoes. We also planted a bonfire patio peach in the front yard and a trailing raspberry vine in the back so it can hopefully grow up the fence and look wild. Basically we planted Char's favorites lol.

But, the rest of the front bed is stil crazy wild and weedy, so a couple of nights this week i've been pulling them up a couple of feet wide at a time while Char drives me crazy, i mean explores our front yard and everyone else's. Tonight i got out the water pitchers and cups so she could practice pouring nearby. All was going well until i heard the fateful words: "i ride this."

No three words have struck more fear in the hearts of, well, me. Not even "i climb this." Sure enough, she came up behind me and climbed on my back. Then she said, "Horsey, horsey, hmm hmm hmmm" (the sound a horse makes, duh). So i played horsey in the front yard for a bit. Then i decided i could weed while she rode my back and i would wiggle a bit to keep her occupied. Um, well, it wasn't enough stimulation apparently so she decided to practice "vaulting". Vaulting, in the horse world, has a specific definition, and it goes something like this:


Also, my weeding displaced a worm, which Char found absolutely fascinating. She wanted me to touch it, over and over, but she wouldn't do it. Then i picked it up and put it in my hand, and she still didn't want to touch it. She put her finger out like she was going to touch it, but she stayed an inch away. Then she decided to hold it, and did. She did great with it, and even touched it with her other hand, and then it wiggled and she squealed and dropped it and yelled, "Ewwww!"

But she kept looking for the worm afterward. She even said, "Worm go night-night?" Awww, she made a friend! LOL

She doesn't need me anymore :(

Tonight, she opened the fridge, got out the yogurt, closed the fridge, opened the yogurt, opened the drawer, moved a chair to the drawer and climbed up, got out a spoon, got down, told me to "hold it", climbed up into her old high chair now turned counter-high stool, took the yogurt and ate it, threw the yogurt carton (and spoon, oops) in the trash, got a rag, wiped her face and the floor, and put the rag in the laundry.

i need a squishy baby, not this pre-teen creature! LOL!

A little egg hunt

i thought i'd outsmart the ants and put the eggs out right before Char woke from her nap. Alas, they're too quick, so about half the eggs had ants in them along with bunny-shaped cookies and crackers. But she still had a fun time and half the cookies were spared (and 2 pieces of chocolate, too).

Good clean Easter fun?... maybe not

It wasn't exactly clean, but it sure was fun!