A Sissy Bear Update

As promised, here is an update on our sweet Mary Ellen . . .

- She is on the road to being potty-trained.  She is so ready.  Just not completely there yet on account of her overwhelmed mama.  She totally gets it and can go tee-tee in the potty when I remember to take her.  However, we are still working on the business of #2, but I think with some effort and consistency on my part, we will be a house of only one child in diapers in no time.  YES!

- She is quite the character.  I liken Mary Ellen's personality to the taste of one of my all time favorite candies - sour patch kids.  This little girl is both sweet and sour and oh so delicious.  Sean and I both agree that at 2.5 years old, Mary Ellen has reached her cuteness prime.  We can't imagine her being any cuter.  She loves affection and is the first in line for kisses and hugs.  Her dance routines she performs nightly for us are hilarious.  She loves to help and even loves to share most of the time.  But man, if she gets worked up about something, there is no turning back.  Her tantrums make two year old Hattie's tantrums look like minor complaining.  Mary Ellen knows what she wants, and if she doesn't get what she wants, like RIGHT NOW, everyone within a two mile radius will hear about it.  This is especially lovely during Ben's naps.

- Mary Ellen's favorite book at the moment:

We must read this book atleast twice a day - naptime and bedtime.  She is obsessed with being the Heart Princess in the book.  I think it's cute.  Sean wants to burn the book.  Reading it often leads to arguments between Mary Ellen and Hattie about who, in fact, is the Heart Princess.  Because, keeping with true form of sibling rivalry, if one wants it, the other must have it.

- Mary Ellen is in the midst of her language boom.  She is talking up a storm and often surprises me with what she says.  I can understand most of what she says, too, and what I can't understand, Hattie can usually translate.  Her all time favorite phrase at the moment is: I want different kind.  She says this ALOT.  Like when you put a dress on her, and she doesn't like it: I want different kind.  Or you give her cereal for breakfast when she really had a hankerin' for a waffle: I want different kind.  Or, even though you plan on staying home all day, because getting out with 3 kids is still mostly undoable, she insists on putting shoes on.  You finally comply and put shoes on her feet.  She lets you get them all on and buckled or zipped up.  You start to get up off the floor with your aching back and have a sense of mission complete.  Then, and only when you are fully up, she whines, I want different kind.  It's true, she has a mind of her own........... and she likes to play with mine occasionally.

- She spent the entire month of December saying No likey Santa.  Before Christmas, we took the girls to have breakfast with Santa one morning.  And for Mary Ellen it was hate at first sight.  She wouldn't sit with him or talk to him.  She wouldn't look at him unless she was in the comfort of her daddy's arms.

Man, I look tired in that picture.  I had a four week old, so I'm pretty sure I was.  Don't much remember. The months of November and December are one big blur.

So after that day, any time Mary Ellen sees a man with a white beard, she freaks out and screams, No likey Santa!  I'm kinda glad Christmas is over for this reason.  Any other time of the year, white bearded men don't really cross our paths, thank goodness.  I know this is a common issue with two year olds.  Hopefully by next year she'll connect the dots between Santa and presents.  Surely by the time she's four, her pretty blue eyes will quickly turn to greedy green when she sees the white bearded man.  I guess I have a sort of love/hate relationship with the guy, too.