round and round

Maria has really started loving certain songs lately...here is her helping me sing one of them.

She will ask for us to sing Wheels on the Bus by doing the round and round motion sometimes. At night she requests us to sing twinkle, twinkle, Jesus(Jesus Loves Me), puppy(How Much is That Doggie in the Window), EIEI-O(Old MacDonald), sunshine(You are My Sunshine).

It's very cute how much Maria is saying these days. She communicates pretty well and even refers to herself as I in sentences. "I potty" "I want cracker"

She is doing well on the potty this week. She has had 5 days of "panties" and seems to be friends with the timer(we figured we'd let it be the bad guy). When it goes off she knows it's time to head to the bathroom.

She has fun twice a week when I watch a 4 year old girl after preschool. Ruthie and Maria especially enjoy running the circle through the house. Maria can't wait for me to pick up "Uthie" from preschool next door.

We were able to go out for dinner on Valentine's Day thanks to our sitter Sarah or "Warah" as Maria dubbed her. She could have cared less we left her for the night, Sarah was so much fun.

Since we have been back from vacation, Maria keeps asking to go on a "hike" It's funny to think about hiking here in town!

Also since vacation Maria seems to think bedtime is a negotiable time...as she screams when we leave the room. AH, tonight she went to bed with no problem...maybe it's the bathroom light we left on. The beginning of "dark is scary" stage??

Maria knows that a baby is is mommy's belly, but sometimes gets confused and thinks she has one too. Let's hope that she continues to understand that some things are for the baby and wants to share when the baby is actually here.

Maria's favorite game is "tickle, tickle" where we chase her around the house and tickle her!

She also has started figuring out hide and seek; well, sort of...sometimes she hides when she is supposed to find Daddy and sometimes she counts when she is supposed to hide! It's a work in progress.

She can sit for at least 30 minutes "reading" books from her basket. She also loves for you to read to her on the potty. It requires parent patience as she usually wants the same book every time!

We have PLENTY to praise God for; a beautiful, loving little girl to watch grow up and learn all about the world.

a pickle?..?? for the potty?

"I think pickles are cucumbers that sold out. They sold their soul to the devil, and the devil is dill..."Mitch Hedberg

(grrr...I can't get this to load it in the upright position, this is the third time, so sorry you'll just have to watch it sideways!)

We get a kick out of the fact that we can bribe Maria with a pickle for using the potty. She gets so excited for it too...what a crazy girl!

We have plenty to praise God for; pickles are cheap!

me time

Maria really enjoys reading books as she sits on the potty, which my sister thinks is hilarious, so I had to post a picture of her in the act.

We have plenty to praise God for; a little girl who will actually tell us she has to use the potty, well, most of the time.

blossoming vocabulary and skills

Maria is starting to show signs of talking more and more every day, words like hat, hot, lots more animal sounds, and her latest word "down". She says it also when she wants up though, so I guess we will have to work on that a bit. And the way she says it is adorable. She draws it out and it sounds more like douuuuuwwnnnnnnn. She is also getting better about actually using some of the signs I have tried to teach her like "please", "more", "yes".

She has also gotten to where she knows when she has to use the bathroom, or maybe has just gone, at any rate we are impressed that she knows and lets us know too, by patting her diaper. Usually if we are paying attention we can get her on the toilet for a bm. Lovely blog information I know!! Maria will surely appreciate it someday. Isn't that what parents are for, to humiliate their children!

We have plenty to praise God for; a daughter who impresses us with the things she knows.