Catch Of The Day

Description:
The perfect way to enjoy fresh trout! Bring the ingredients with you on your next fishing or camping trip, and enjoy it right off the grill! (Thanks to AllRecipes.com)

Ingredients:
1 Trout, Cleaned & Head Removed
1 Tsp Chopped Garlic
1 Lemon, Sliced
1 Sprig Fresh Basil
1 Sprig Fresh Rosemary
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:
Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat. Line the cavity of the fish with garlic and slices to lemon. Stuff with fresh rosemary and basil. Season with salt & pepper. Wrap the fish in foil, and set on wire rack over a campfire, or on the grill. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes over direct heat,or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Remove herbs and lemon from the fish. Hold fish up by its spine, and comb the meat from the bones usig a fork. Serve with lemon wedges.

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6/30/08 - David's Birthday

David celebrated his 39^th birthday on Sunday.  He decided he wanted to go to church (we haven’t been in a month, with sick kids).   Eva is in the big 3-year-old class now, and though she seemed a bit confused by going to a new room, she soon caught sight of Nicole (who lives down the street), sat down next her at the art table, and settled right in.   We were too late to put Amanda in the nursery, but I wasn’t disappointed.  I’m pretty sure that’s where she caught her cold, which mowed our whole family down for a month.  Too many people assume runny noses just mean teething, and put their kids in there anyway, to chew on all the toys.  We just carried Amanda into the service with us, and she took a long nap in my arms.  A guest couple took turns sharing parts of the message, which was all about how God’s love is unconditional, just because we’re His kids.  We could never earn it, and never lose it.  It’s a good reminder to stop striving, stop disqualifying ourselves, and just let Him love us.  And to let that love transform us, so we can share it unconditionally with others, as freely as it was given to us.

 

When we got home, David made himself an ice cream sundae for lunch, and opened presents.  I gave him some CD’s, a movie and a book.  He opened a package from his sister Laura, and laughed as he saw she had sent him a contraption for surfing in your backyard, called a “Skimboard Surfer”.  It’s basically a huge Slip-n-Slide with a board.  She knows that the hardest part of moving away from SoCal for him was not getting to surf anymore.  He wanted to try it out right away, so he mowed a strip of grass in the backyard and set it up.  He hooked it up to the hose, jumped on for his first run, and promptly landed flat on his back, smacking his head on the grass.  From then on he stuck to sliding on his stomach, but the board would get caught halfway, and he’d keep going on his bare belly.  We finally figured out that he was supposed to fill the bumpers along the edge with water, so the water could collect deeply enough in the middle to actually form a wave.  Oh, and Dave had forgotten to take the plastic wrapper off the board, too.  I guess he was just too excited to read the directions.  LOL!

 

In the evening we were supposed to go to a picnic with friends from small group, but we had a huge thunderstorm brewing, so everyone came to our house instead.  Almost everyone made pasta or green salads, because it was too hot to cook.  I had made cupcakes as a surprise for Dave, and we sang “Happy Birthday” to him as he blew out a single candle.  The guys all wanted to try out the Skimboard Surfer in the backyard, but huge flashes of lightening, rolling thunder and pelting rain kept them inside. The air was hot and humid, so we opened all the windows, hoping for a breeze, and set up fans in every room.   We had huge gusts of wind too, powerful enough to blow the blinds off of one of our windows, and blow over our neighbor’s basketball hoop.  We had a great time, and they were such gracious guests.  Everyone helped clean up the kitchen and pick up all the toys, so our house actually looked better when they left than when they arrived.  That was sweet of them!

 

Summer Fun

A few weeks ago Dave took some of his residents to a local trout farm to go fishing, and he’s been dying to take Eva ever since.  We finally got the chance on Saturday, so Eva learned to put a “wiggle worm” on the hook and reel in a “splish splash” fish.  The ponds were stocked so well, she’d get a nibble almost as soon as the line hit the water.  She was really excited by her success, although their wild splashing would sometimes startle her and send her running in the other direction.  After we caught 4, we took the fish to the cleaning station, where one of the staff cleaned them and put them in a bag of ice for us to take home.  I found a great recipe called “Catch of the Day” on AllRecipes.com, and that evening we enjoyed fresh trout on the grill.  Yummy! 

Aunt Gayle's Visit

Great Aunt Gayle (Grandma Glynna’s little sister) came to visit this week.  She flew in to southern Oregon to see Grandma first, and then they drove up here for a few days.  The first day, they went to see Mount St. Helens while I hosted my regular play date at home. 

 

The next morning, we took them to visit Old Town Troutdale and all the antique shops.  The biggest hit was the Amish store, with handmade furniture, quilts, and artisan crafts. Grandma was in her element – she loves all that kind of stuff.  I think she’d love to spend a month with the Amish, learning all their secrets to baking, sewing, churning butter, and the other 19^th century skills.  Later we went to the little old-fashioned General Store, where we all got snacks.  I ordered a cup of Huckleberry ice cream for Eva, and Amanda had some for the first time.  What better way to start off the summer?

 

Finally, we took the Historic Columbia River Highway to see the view from the Vista House, and then Multnomah Falls.  They enjoyed the breathtaking scenery, though I assured them it was even better in the autumn.  I’ve been trying to take my family to see the falls for months, but every time they’d visit, it would end up cold and pouring rain.  I’m glad my mom has at least gotten to see it, and hopefully the rest of the family will soon, too. 

Summertime

Warm weather is finally here!  On Friday it peaked at 98 degrees, and it’s supposed to be in the balmy 80’s for the rest of the week.  My sinuses have been driving me nuts lately, and I hear the common culprits are Dogwood and Cottonwood trees.  The cottonwood actually floats through the air like snow, and gathers like lint along curbs and plants.  Now that we can finally test it, we’ve discovered that our A/C doesn’t work, but thank goodness it’s covered under our home warranty.  I can finally pack away all the winter clothes, and reclaim some space in our closets! 

 

Amanda’s first birthday is only weeks away, but she’s already wearing 24-month clothes.  I was kinda bummed because I had brought out all of her big sister’s adorable 18-month old summer outfits, and she outgrew them before the weather got warm enough for her to wear them.  I had to take back almost all of the 3T shirts I bought for Eva, and exchange them for 4T.  She outgrew them before she even got to wear them.  Her shorts are still 3T, but dresses now have to be 4T. 

Creepy Crawlers

With warm weather comes the inevitable drove of insects, and having a large backyard is like throwing out the welcome mat.  The first few weeks of spring I started finding spiders making their way into the house on a daily basis, but that has virtually stopped since I applied an insect barrier all around the foundation.  That’s an especially good thing since I’m not very familiar with Northwestern insects, and have no idea which ones are poisonous or harmless. 

 

Every morning the birds hop energetically around our lawn, feasting on little critters.  And every evening, the glow of sunset reveals tiny gnats hovering over thousands of glittering threads, woven by spiders through the grass.  Eva is especially fascinated by the “wiggle wiggle worms” she found in the garden bed when we were digging it out.  We’ve been hard pressed to keep her from digging there since (several carrot seedlings that used to be in the front row have been mysteriously dug out), but Dave takes her digging in other areas of the yard to help her find other worms to play with.  She loves watching them squirm in her hand. 

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6/22/08 - Oregon City

The kids are still wrestling with the cold-that-just-won’t-quit, but I figured we needed to get out of the house before we get eaten alive by cabin fever.  So on Saturday we took a drive to Oregon City, and visited the End Of The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.  They have interactive activities for the kids, like playing with 19^th-century toys, packing a wagon box, and trying on period clothing.  I was having trouble taking pictures when I suddenly realized that the memory card was missing.  I never take it out, but Dave had just bought a card reader for uploads to the computer, hoping to save our camera batteries.  We’d accidentally left it in the card reader, attached to the computer at home.  Bummer!  You know me and photography – I must take at least 200 pictures a month (mostly of our adorable girls).  It absolutely kills me to miss capturing moments like that!  From now on I’ll make sure to check the camera first (or get rid of that card reader, LOL)! 

Sunny Days

Yesterday was the first official day of summer, and it’s finally warming up!  On Friday, it actually reached 84 degrees – the warmest it’s been since we moved here 10 months ago.  It’s supposed to be in the 70’s and sunny for the rest of the week (although we had another shower this morning).  The girls are finally able to wear their shorts, short-sleeved shirts, and dresses.  The evenings don’t get colder than the 50’s anymore, so they can wear cooler pajamas and forgo the heavy blankets.  It’s so nice to see sunshine and bare baby toes again!  We’ve discovered that our A/C unit isn’t working (surprise, surprise!), but hopefully it’ll be covered under our home warranty.  We won’t be needing it for awhile, anyway, and I hear there are only about two to four weeks a year where you even use it.  I just don’t want to wait until it gets really hot, because then everyone will be calling in for repairs at once.  

Transitions

With the sun coming up so early, I’ve started blocking out our bedroom window with a dark blue sheet, until we can hang up curtains.  I love the longer days, but sometimes it makes it feel like it’s exactly that: a looong day!  LOL!   I finally got my new glasses, and am slowly adjusting to them.  For the first couple days, it looked like everything was sloping from left to right, which made it difficult to avoid bumping in to things.  That part is getting better now, and I love the new frames!

 

I finally got the Transitions feature, and I love it!   I should have done this a long time ago, instead of always opting for the separate pair of sunglasses.  It’s so much easier.  The only thing I’ve discovered is that the UV filter film on my car windows sometimes means that not enough UV rays reach my glasses to make them change, leaving me squinting.

Proud to be a SAHM

I’ve been looking for preschool activities to do with Eva at home, and found some great resources.  She already knows her letters and numbers, and is starting to remember her colors.  While doing a web search, I stumbled across this website:

http://www.daycaresdontcare.org/

It’s basically about how no matter how clean, decent and loving a daycare may be, they’re just not MOMMY.  We’re not replaceable.  That’s why, though it doesn’t come easily or naturally to me, I decided to be a Stay-At-Home-Mom.  Just reading the comments from former daycare workers was a real wake-up call for me, and made me so grateful I made the choice that I did.  I don’t judge moms who are just trying to do the best they can for their families, but I’m sooo glad my girls don’t have to go through the experiences that some other kids do.  

6/19/08 - Fever

This has been a weird last couple of days.  Just when I thought we were reaching the tail end of our colds, Amanda started running a high fever, crying constantly and wanting to be held all day.  She’d fall asleep in my arms at the drop of the hat.  Eva started taking longer naps and waking up at night.  Last night was especially unusual.  Eva woke with a bad dream, saying she “fell in water”.  It took forever for Dave to get her back to sleep, and then she slept in until 10am.  Amanda woke at around 6am, tossing fitfully and burning up. I gave her some Tylenol and brought her out into the living room for awhile to play and distract her, and about an hour later she fell asleep on the carpet.  I took her back to bed, and she, too, slept in until 10.  I’ve been cleaning around the house with antibacterial wipes, and washed all the toys, silverware and sippy cups in a Basic G solution (natural disinfectant from Shaklee).   Hopefully that will keep the girls from re-infecting themselves. 

Lil' Miss Priss

Eva decided to try and feed Amanda again yesterday, and came to me crying when some baby food ended up on her shirt.  “I want clean shirt!” she said.  I told her she had to wait for her bath.  A few minutes later I caught her walking down the hallway in her birthday suit.  “All ready, bath!” she announced proudly.  I just had to start laughing.  “No, bath time isn’t until after dinner.  Go put your clothes back on.”  I didn’t want to do more laundry, so I just gave her back the same smudged shirt to wear for another hour, but she wouldn’t have it, and started crying. “No, shirt dirty!”  When did I raise such a prissy little princess?  Today it was her pillowcase, that she drooled on during her nap.  She stripped it off, threw it in the dirty clothes, and demanded a new one before she’d go back to bed. 

 

She’s eager to start wearing her new summer clothes, sometimes changing in to colorful shorts or T-shirts when I’m not looking, but it’s usually still too chilly.  Lately it’s been hovering in the low 70’s or high 60’s, which is way better than last month, but it’s still not warm enough to pack away the winter clothes for good.  I only bought her two pairs of 3T pants, because I have a feeling that by next fall, she’ll be in 4T already.  So while we wait for the weather to finally warm up, she’s still mostly wearing 2T pants that she’s outgrown, and 2T long-sleeved shirts that are starting to show her belly button.  (Does that make me a bad parent?  LOL!)    I had Eva measured when we took Amanda in to the doctor this week, and she weighed in at 31lbs, and 34 ¼ inches tall.  Such a big girl! 

 

Amanda is wearing 18-month clothes still, but has grown so long in the torso that I can’t button the crotch in some of them.  That problem will be solved as soon as we can ditch the winter outfits in favor of summer dresses, shorts and tops.  In the meantime, there’s only about 4 outfits that fit her right now – warm enough for a cool spring day, but not too heavy. 

Peek-A-Boo

Amanda is starting to show her powers of observation, that she has a pretty good idea what things are use for, just from watching us and big sister.  She tries to put the little hat from Mr. Potato Head on her own head.  She’ll throw a ball like Eva shows her.  Yesterday she grabbed a kitchen towel and hid her face in it, and when I’d say “where’s Amanda?”, she pull it down and giggle hysterically at my surprised expression and exclamation, “there she is!”   I find myself amazed that she’s already old enough to initiate games like that, when she’s not even a year old yet! 

 

Amanda loves to play games with Eva, too.  It’s getting harder to keep her out of their bedroom while Eva is sleeping.  Amanda persists in crawling down the hall and over to her bed, to try and wake Eva up to play with her.  Whenever she hears Eva singing, she tries to sing along.  Yesterday Eva started singing “Veggie Tales” at the table, and Amanda started copying her (in her own little baby babbling way).  Eva caught on pretty quickly, and started an impromptu sing-along of the “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, “The Itsy Bitsy Spider” and other gems, excitedly yelling, “Gook! ‘manda singing!”

 

Eva’s vocabulary is rapidly expanding, and she often thinks out loud.  When she asks me for something and I say “no”, she’ll repeat the question to herself, and then tell herself the answer she wants to hear:  “Chocolate milk? OK, Eva!”  A few times she’s tried defying Daddy or me by saying “no” when we ask her to do something, which is promptly answered with “You don’t tell Daddy/Mommy ‘no”!” and a trip to the time-out chair.  Lately she’s been talking to herself while in time-out, saying, “No tell Eva time-out!” to nobody in particular.  It’s hard not to laugh, but you gotta keep a straight face or the discipline is worthless.  Still, it’s cute to hear so clearly what’s going on inside that little head. 

New Fence

Dave has gotten half the new fence built so far, and works a little on it every evening.  Since it doesn’t get dark until 10pm, he has more daylight to work with.  I’m really looking forward to the fence being finished.  Besides a couple neighbor’s dogs that occasionally wander in to our backyard, I found a strange man wandering around back there last week. Turns out he was a meter man reading our gas meter, but it still creeped me out.  Eva knows how to let herself out into the backyard now, and Rebel likes to stalk the birds on our lawn, so the sooner that fence is up, the better. 

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6/14/08 - Backyard Fun

Our new swing set is finished, and the kids can’t get enough of it.  Dave stained it to protect it from the elements, and added a second baby swing shaped like a teddy bear, that came with it.  Eva took a tumble off the “big kid” swing the first day, and now is scared to sit in it.  I tried tying on a towel that could go behind her back and keep her from falling, but no dice.  She’ll only use it swinging on her tummy, or she wants to sit in one of the baby swings.  Maybe when she sees other kids using it at the next play date, she’ll change her mind.  Dave wanted in on the fun, so he hung a hammock between the swing set and a nearby tree, though it hangs low to the ground.  It’s nice to have room for all these things!

 

With the weather finally changing to a few rare days of sun, Eva is begging to go outside every chance she gets.  She loves the playhouse Aunt Nanci got her, playing T-ball, or using her toy shovel to dig baby vegetable plants out of our garden when we’re not looking.  When Dave is home, she loves to go bike riding, too.  Last week we took our first family bike ride, with toddler seats mounted on both of our bikes.  Dave took Eva, and I took Amanda.  I haven’t ridden in years and am horribly out of shape, but it comes back to you just like…well…riding a bike!  LOL!  We had lots of fun riding in circles around our quiet block, and Eva kept yelling at Amanda whenever she saw her whiz by, “Hi, ‘manda!”

Curiosity

Amanda is our little adventurer now, getting into anything and everything.  She pulls herself up on tables and chairs, and grabs whatever is within reach. She opens drawers and dumps out their contents.  She follows big sister around and gets into whatever Eva is trying to play with.  This doesn’t always sit well with Eva, especially when she’s trying to build with blocks or put together a puzzle, and she’s spent a few incidents in time out for roughly pushing Amanda away.  Most of the time they play very well, though, with Amanda being the longsuffering guinea pig for any experiment that pops into big sister’s head (last time it was burying her in blankets and trying to make her lie down and “nap” in their play tent).  Eva is pretty consistent now with using the potty, though she’ll still switch into training pants when we’re not looking, to do #2.  That’ll be our next challenge.   Amanda likes to crawl into the bathroom while Eva is there, unraveling the toilet paper roll and playing with the snowy pile.  What a mess! 

Family Visit

Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Caleb and Aunt Barocha drove up for the first week of summer vacation.  Too bad it was cold and rainy the whole time (Mt. Hood is still getting snow)!  I’ve been trying for the last six months to take them to see old town Troutdale (my mom loves antique stores) and Multnomah Falls, but the weather never cooperates.  Barocha wanted to go ice skating for her 16th birthday, so we went to the ice rink at Lloyd Center mall.  I’ve never been to that mall before, so I took the girls in the double stroller and went shopping with Grandma, while Grandpa, Barocha and Caleb went ice skating.  Amanda was so exhausted she finally took a nap in the stroller – something she hardly ever does.  When we got home, I made a chocolate cake and decorated it, so after dinner we sang “Happy Birthday” and had cake and ice cream, and let Barocha pick a movie to watch.  

 

Eva loves having family over to play with, and has a special bond with Uncle Caleb.  He wrestles with her and gets her squealing, like they’re BOTH little kids.     Grandpa played on the floor with her and the toy Noah’s Ark.  He’d turn one of the animals to face the wrong way, and then ask Eva, “Which one is backwards?”  She’d find it and turn it around.  Then he’d ask, “Which animal is gray, with pink ears?”  She’d point out the elephant.  He’d quiz her on the others, and she’d get it right every time.  Then she turned the came around on him.  “Which one backwards, Grandpa?”  He’d point to the right one, and she’d clap and say, “Good job, Grandpa!”  The next time he would jokingly pick the wrong one, and she’d say, “No, try again, Grandpa.” like a little teacher.  LOL! 

 

At one point I started finding half-peeled bananas around the kitchen, and asked who kept opening new ones when there were half-eaten ones already out?  Grandpa insisted it was Eva, but I didn’t think she could open them without help.  Sure enough, a few hours later I caught her calmly gnawing on a new one, a pile of half-opened ones sitting next to her.  She’d proudly peel one, take a bite or two, and move on to the challenge of the next one.  Too smart for her own good! 

Common Cold

Later I found out why Amanda was so sleepy and cranky: she was sick, and pretty soon, so was I.   We both got bad colds with runny noses and coughs.  Perfect timing, right?  Of course, I can take cold medicine for relief, but it’s been taken off the market for infants, so they just have to suffer through it.  It’s miserable and unfair, but what can we do?  I put baby vapor rub on her chest, used a humidifier in the bedroom, and suctioned her nose as much as possible, occasionally using saline drops.  She had trouble nursing because she couldn’t breathe through her nose, crying constantly and hardly sleeping.  I finally took Amanda to the doctor, because she started pulling on her ears, and I suspected an earache.  All clear.  It was probably the fact that she was trying to nurse with a stuffy nose that put pressure on her ears.  I hate feeling so powerless when only a year ago, I could have given her an infant nasal decongestant so she could at least get enough relief to nurse and sleep.  I hate those drug manufacturers for pulling those medicines, claiming they “don’t work”.  They work well enough for adults to get relief from them, so why should my baby have to suffer?  It’s so aggravating! 

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

With gas prices skyrocketing, I’m grateful that we live in a neighborhood where pretty much everything we need is only a few blocks away: grocery store, church, friends, our family doctor, and even specialists like the optometrist, chiropractor, and dentist.  Dave’s work is less than a mile from our house.  If he uses his truck just for work, he only needs to fill up about once a month.  And if I forgo any trips into the city, I can make a tank of gas last between 2 and 3 weeks.  That’s helpful, since a tank that I could fill with $25 only a couple years ago, now costs $60 or more.  If we still lived in San Diego with his 20-minute commute (one way), our gas budget would be killing us right now.  In SoCal, I was pretty used to getting on the freeway at least once a day, from running errands to visiting friends.  Most destinations were only about 5 or 10 minutes away in a neighboring city, but all that driving adds up over time.  About the only thing I did in my immediate neighborhood was grocery shopping, but that was still more expensive than driving out of my way to the nearest Food 4 Less.  In times like these, I’m glad I don’t have to do that anymore.  

6/8/08 - Eva's 3rd Birthday Party

We had Eva’s party yesterday, and it was a blast!  While she was taking her nap, we put up balloons and streamers, “Dora the Explorer” tablecloth and party ware, and a huge banner with Dora and Diego saying “Happy Birthday!”  She was so excited when she woke up, pointing everything out and yelling, “Gook!  Dora table!  I yike Dora table!  Gook, bayoons!  I yike bayoons!”  Soon all our friends from small group showed up, and the party was in full swing. 

 

First we had the kids go out to the garage, where we had foam stars to decorate with stickers and markers.  Then we had a taco bar for a Mexican feast (Dave makes fantastic Guacamole).  After dinner, we played a Dora game, where everybody got to be explorers.  I had pasted Map’s face onto a little map I designed, and put it in the pocket of her clear backpack.  We had to find the piñata, and the map said we’d go first to Ant Mountain, then Bubble Forest, and finally, Rainbow Cave, where the piñata was hidden.  First up: Ant Mountain.  I asked, “what can we use to help us see the ants?”, and the kids all shouted, “magnifying glasses!”  So they reached into Backpack and each got their own little magnifying glass, and we marched off to the playroom to climb  “Ant Mountain” (the play slide – this was originally supposed to be an outdoor game, but we got rained out). 

 

Next came “Bubble Forest”, so I drafted my friend Rocio to blow bubbles in the living room while I asked, “what can we use to make lots of noise and help us pop the bubbles?”  So we checked Backpack again, and everyone picked out a toy maraca.  They ran back in to the living room, shaking their maracas and popping bubbles, squealing with laughter.  Finally I pulled out the map again and asked, “where do we go next?”  They pointed to the picture and yelled, “Cave!”  “And what do we need to see in a dark cave?”  “Flashlights!”  So everyone dove into Backpack one last time and pulled out their very own toy flashlight.  They followed me down the hall like a band of fireflies, and found the piñata hiding in a closet. 

 

We took the piñata out to the living room, and everyone pulled on a string until the candy came pouring out.  Everyone got a Dora goody bag with a ring, bracelet, coloring map, sticker, and view scope, and added their loot to the bag.  Soon it was time for cake and ice cream, so we gathered in the kitchen to sing to Eva.  She got over-excited and blew out her candle before we could even start singing, so I had to relight it, but she beamed as we sang “Happy Birthday”, and blew it out a second time.  Everyone got to pick out their own cupcake.  I hade decorated them with pink, green, orange, and yellow icing, and different sprinkles or a toy Dora on each.

 

Finally came presents.  Eva squealed and jumped up and down with each one, as if it were the only one, politely saying “thank you” to each of her guests (even the ones that had already left, lol).  She got an adorable set of wings, wand and crown to play fairy princess dress-up, a play dough activity center, a set of wooden letter puzzles, a Veggie Tales DVD, a Diego automatic bubble blower, a storybook, and an adorable new set of clothes.  She made out like a little bandit, LOL!  Pretty much everything she has is for toddlers, so it’s nice to have some “big kid” toys.  We just have to start watching out that Amanda doesn’t get a hold of any choke able pieces. Of course, she’d already had gifts coming in from family all week, and now my parents are coming today with more.  Hope she’s not spoiled!  ;) 

Swing Set

We found a fantastic wooden swing set on CraigsList this week, so Dave went over to take it apart and load it up in his truck.  He set it up in the back yard, but some of the pieces need to be repaired or replaced.  Still, it’s in fantastic condition for the price, and it will be nice to have a fun place for the girls to get some healthy exercise.  We installed a baby swing on it for Amanda, too. He’ll stain it to weatherproof the wood, and then it will be good as new.  

 

Eva's 3rd Birthday Party

Celebrating with friends and "Dora the Explorer"

6/5/08 - Birthday Girl

Eva turned three years old yesterday.  Even though her party isn’t until Saturday, I tried to make it special.  I made apple cinnamon muffins for breakfast (Eva kept calling them “cake”), and then we hosted our regular play date, so she had lots of little playmates for the morning.  After her nap I blew up a couple balloons for her to play with, and bubbles, too.  She had found Grandma Geri’s present the day before and already unwrapped it, so I let her take it out of the box and play with it: an adorable “Dora the Explorer” toy bird watcher set, complete with binoculars and bird whistle.  Unfortunately it was raining, so she watched squirrels from the window instead of birds.  On Sesame Street that day, Elmo celebrated Dorothy’s (his fish) birthday, and talked all about birthdays and how different people celebrate.  I thought that was a cute coincidence.  For all Eva knew, Elmo must have known it was her birthday, too! 

Big 3-Year-Old

I can hardly believe it Eva is three already.  When did my baby get so big?  She talks in complete sentences, she thinks strategically (trying to get her way), and eats neatly with a fork and spoon.  She can pick out her own clothes and get dressed without help, and now she uses the big toilet all by herself!  That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, Eva has finally started using the potty on a regular basis, and she doesn’t even want my help getting on it.  She pulls down her pants, grabs the bathroom counter for balance, climbs the step stool, turns herself around, and sits down all by herself.  She doesn’t want to use the potty chair, either – it has to be the real one that Mommy and Daddy use.  It’s almost as if she was specifically waiting for her birthday week to turn the corner from toddler to preschooler, and finally leave diapers behind. 

 

Whenever she gets the urge, she runs in there and takes care of business (no more whining – hooray!), and then yells “I did it!” excitedly.  We help her wipe, flush, pull up her pants and wash her hands, but it won’t be long before she’ll be doing that all by herself too.  Then she gets a sticker to put on her potty chart, and a coin to put in the M&M (formerly bubblegum) machine.  She loves turning the crank and watching the colorful candies come out.  A couple times she tried pretending she’d gone extra times to get more M&M’s, but that didn’t fly.  Can’t blame her for trying, though!  ;) 

 

The biggest glitch we had this week was after Eva saw kids on Sesame Street demonstrating how they wash their hands after using the potty.  Amanda crawled in to the bathroom while Eva was doing her business, and she decided to show Amanda how you wash your hands (warning: gross factor coming up).  When I got there, Eva was demonstrating how you wash your hands all the way up to your elbows, and then your face, and then your legs….and to my horror, I realized her hands were wet, and there’s no way she could have reached the sink.  Sure enough, she’d used the only water within reach: from the toilet bowl she’d just peed in.  EWWW!  While I was cleaning her up, I wavered between praising her for actually using the potty, and making it clear that pee-pee was yucky and you NEVER touch it!  I’m still grossed out, just thinking about it. *shudder* LOL!