Letter to Great Grandparents

I'm sorry for the double posting today, but I needed to post this before I forgot.  For Christmas my grandparents gave Kinley a subscription to The Friend (a church magazine for kids).  She got her first one on Saturday and she was so excited.  She carried it around all day and talked about how special it was.  Today I told her to draw a picture for Grandma and Grandpa and we would send a thank you card.  She colored for a very long time.  When I asked what she drew for them, she told me it was not a picture, it was a letter.  According to Kinley, this is what the letter said.

To Grandma and Grandpa,

Thank you so much for the book about Jesus.  I really love it, it is so special.  I taked it to church to show the Bishop.  He thinks I am very pretty.  I like to eat ice cream with Grandma, she is so happy.  I'm coming to your house soon.  I love you.  From, Kinley - not Boogs, my Dad calls me boogs, but I'm Kinley.

I thought it was just so sweet, and I really do have the sweetest grandparents.  Kinley tells me that they aren't just "normal grandma and grandpa" they are "great".  

Spring for a day

Last week we managed to have one day that felt like Spring.  Kinley's Aunt Pam gave her this great little scooter.  Kinley was able to ride her scooter one day (while wearing her "summer shoes") and then of course the weather turned cold again.  She just kept saying, "I'm having a really good time on my skateboard".  It was pretty cute.

Kinley has been saying the funniest things lately.  Today, after I finished fixing my hair, she told me that I had really cute "puppy" hair.  I said, you mean poofy hair?  She said, no, puppy hair, like a puppy dog.  I'm really not sure what to make of that, but for now I am pretending that it was intended to be a compliment.

On the one good day last week, I took her to a playground that is right by the river.  Kinley told me it was called "Snake Lake" and it was filled with snakes, and she is "very afraid of snakes".  Then she suggested we feed them pine cones so they wouldn't be hungry, then of course, they wouldn't need to eat us.  I can't decide if she is creative or creepy?  At least she makes me laugh.

It's potty time!

Yes, that is exactly what you think it is, Kinley's potty chart chuck full of stickers.  Now quit laughing at what an ugly chart it is, poor Kinley is stuck with a mom with zero crafting ability and lousy handwriting.

At our house, we have been having this horrible battle over whether it is okay to urinate in the bath tub.  Rich and I are have taken the side that it is disgusting to pee in the tub, while Kinley is under the impression that it isn't a big deal.  In an effort to prevent a "pee bath", I forced Kinley to sit on the potty prior to getting in the tub.  I decided since the warm water in the tub seems to get the urine right out of her, I would give her a bowl of warm water to play with.  What do you know?  It worked.  Some how the excitement of this one successful attempt just heaved her into full blown potty training.  So, she has become, in her own words, "a big girl like mommy and a big girl like daddy".  I like to repeat the part about Rich being a big girl, I think it's funny.

We are now on our second potty chart since the first one is completely filled with stickers.  I'm just hoping that her motivation will stick.  We're stocked with bribes that seem to be working.  I am convinced that about 50% of motherhood is coming up with the correct bribe, and the current bribe of choice at our house are Peeps (I don't think there is a more delicious bribe out there).  So for now, we eat Peeps while we pee on the potty and then get ourselves a lovely little sticker.

A breakfast picnic

Every morning when Kinley and I wake up, I give her about 3 options of things to chose from for breakfast.  She typically choses to have a bag of cereal and a sippy cup of milk.   She then takes her little breakfast in my room and eats it while watching whichever cartoon she choses.  One day last week she asked that I take her "little red table" into her bedroom so she could eat her breakfast in there.  I said sure, drug the little table in, and went to get in the shower.  When I got out of the shower, this is what I found.

I asked her what she was doing and she said that she was just having a breakfast picnic with her friends.  Each friend had a pretty good sized pile of cheerios in front of them, except for poor Mr. Raffey.  He only got 2 cheerios.  Kinley said that Raffey told her he wasn't very hungry.  While I was finishing getting ready I kept hearing things like, "if you don't eat your cereal you will be in big trouble baby doll" and "can I eat your cereal Bear?  Oh, thank you so much".  The breakfast picnic was a huge hit with all of those lucky enough to attend.  I especially enjoyed the picnic because nobody (meaning Kinley) bothered me while I was blowing my hair dry.  I'm thinking Kinley may have a future as a party planner.

Possible Problem?

One day last week, while I was busy straightening up the house, Kinley went off to play in her room.  After a little while, she returned looking like this.

So, for those of you that have asked how potty training is going, I think these pictures should answer that pretty clearly.  In case it doesn't, well, potty training is not going so well.  Clearly she is not quite grasping the concept of underwear.  In the pictures, she is wearing almost every pair of underwear she has, most of which she has crammed both legs into the same hole.  So, we're taking yet another break from constant discussion of potty training.  I know she'll get it, she just needs it to be her decision, she's maybe a smidge on the strong willed side.  So for now, she will not be putting her pee pee in "the cage" as she is now referring to the toilet.