Goody Giveaways

Steph is giving away a cute, cute hair clip on her Green Kiddos blog. Of course, I won't twist you arm to enter and create more competition for me... but I do encourage you to check out her blog for lots of green living tips!

Chick-fil-A is giving dads a free milkshake on Father's Day. Child must be present to receive the gift for dad, and not all restaurants are participating. Details here.

Frugal Girls does a weekly Friday Freebies roundup. The selection is always changing. I've received all sorts of free samples and other goodies that I found out about on that site.

We're not giving her away--at the moment. 

She picks THIS to be proud of...

Short story: 

As my little girl excitedly told her grandpa on the phone, "I went poopy!"

Long story:

Violet was playing happily and imaginatively with her Little People, rubber duckies, and other menagerie while I took a little break to feed Gator in the other room. She came down the hall, saying, "I went poopy. Change my diaper. I got poopy on my hand." 

Good, she's at least being aware of when she goes and telling me rather than letting it get smooshed into a huge mess. Wait a second, hand?!

Please let this be imaginary poop on her hand, like she gets imaginary poop on her feet when she's changed, since her little brother gets real poop on his feet as he kicks around. 

I laid Gator down and followed my little girl, who was walking rather strangly, as if she was saddle sore. She was also holding out a dirty hand. Eww. As I started to clean her, I realized there was yucky brown stuff on her arm, leg, shirt, and shorts, in addition to all over her hand. Apparently she'd been sticking her hand down her diaper. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww

We did a change of venue and undressed her in the tub, where water was immediately run for a bath. This whole time, my little girl who was being so not talkative that morning was babbling on and on about her poop. This was quite an exciting thing for her and she seemed rather proud. She also told me, as we've told her, that she can wear her panties when she goes poopy and peepee on the potty all the time. It's amazing all the little tidbits that were coming out of her mouth. Anything that related to going to the bathroom, baths, etc. was talked about extensively. 

I'm still on the lookout for areas that may need decontaminated after this incident. Too bad there isn't a sanitize button for my house. 

And what was baby brother doing while I was attempting to clean up his sister? He filled his diaper too. He even exploded out his sposie onto my sheet. Sorry, bud, your sister outdid you this time.

Joey Man in his skivvies, or not

We love Melissa & Dougproducts. They are quality toys that encourage children to think in creative ways. There's also something nice about a wooden puzzle or toy in a plastic world.

Violet's latest M&D is the Joey magnetic dress-up doll. I purchased it before Gator was born and hid it away for the big sister to play with later. During the first few weeks he was home, "Joey Man" was played with quite a bit while I was nursing the baby. He still provides a lot of imaginative play.

Joey's outfits include police officer, fire man, construction worker, pirate, knight, and superhero.  The pieces mix and match for some rather interesting combinations. He has hats, shirts, pants, and shoes. 

There are several variations on the magnetic doll, including a princess, ballerina, and girl. I really liked the variety of outfits Joey provided. My daughter wasn't limited to different princess or ballerina outfits...her man can be any number of things. And I'm the kind of mom who would rather buy a boy doll than  princess doll for her daughter when princesses have not yet been requested. At $10-$13 a set, often with free shipping, we can always add a magnetic girl to the collection too.

        

Prudent Advice

A friend of a friend has an amazing blog. Word is there will be a book. Awesome! 

Prudent Advice for My Baby Daughter

My baby son will benefit from much of her advice as well.

If you knew my daughter when her vocabulary was much more limited, you'd know why I like this one so much:

#102 Teach your baby the word "yes."

They learn "no" on their own so quickly.

Wiped out

I've been recovering from mastitis. It's every bit as bad as I'd heard it was. Wow. Like an awful flu with a sore breast too. Thank goodness medicine makes you start feeling better faster since it's bacterial. Major chills, aches, and fatigue makes it hard to care for yourself, let alone anyone else. Thank goodness Grandma lives nearby and whisked away the toddler when I was really sick, and the little guy was pretty content to hang out in bed for for a day or two. It won't be long before he's into things and doing a lot more than eating, filling diapers, and sleeping.

Flower Shower

Helping Grandpa water flowers. She's "giving them a shower".

Ahhhhhh.....

If only things were this peaceful for more than a moment...