Here's an update with what's been going on with Roan lately.

First of all, she is freakin adorable. The videos don't even do her justice. Whether she's playing on her own with her toys or putting her arms around my neck to give me a big ol hug, she is as cute as a button. The other night I wasn't feeling well and was resting up in bed. She came in with a sheet of Dora the Explorer stickers (a highly prized recent birthday party acquisition). One by one, she carefully placed each sticker on my hands and arms and then said, "You feel better now Mama?" I looked down at my Dora-dotted appendages and realized to my surprise that yes, I did feel better.

It's not all sunshine and roses though, I will tell you. We have enabled some bad patterns with her around bedtime lately and are reaping what we have sewn. First off, with the long summer days we've been letting her bedtime drift further and further back. I find myself getting caught up having fun in the evening and not wanting to call it a day. Then when I do need her to go bed on time (like on a Sunday night) it's no surprise that it's next to impossible.

We've also been letting her climb up in bed with us in the middle of the night. It's nice snuggling with her. But now she doesn't want to go to sleep in her own bed and it's not so nice when she shows up every single night. There have been many screaming tantrums at bedtime this week. And there have been many wee hour wakings in which one of us has to put her back in her own bed. We are taking responsiblity and getting the routine back on track. But in the meanwhile we feel like we've been run over by a truck each morning from all the sleep interruptions.

We resorted to putting a doorknob guard on the inside of her bedroom door. It's a little device that theoretically should prevent her from turning the knob. We shoulda known that with the smarts and stubbornness of her Daddy, that thing is no match for her. Yesterday shortly after Attempt #1 at putting her down for a nap she walked out of her room with it in two pieces and said matter of factly, "Me no want this on Mommy. No want it." I couldn't believe it. I mean, I thought it might at least get us through ONE naptime! If I might be so bold as to translate her statement from toddler-ease, I believe what she intended to say was, "I spit in the face of your pathetic attempt to toddler proof me!"

On the potty training front, we have completely stalled out. Roan goes pretty consistently at school (pee only) and refuses to go pretty consistently at home. It's been a long time since she's wanted to wear undies and been able to keep them dry all day. I think it's time to get the books back out and let the experts weigh in. I'm not wanting to force anything upon her, but I'm also not wanting it to drag out unnecessarily when she's physically capable of being daytime potty trained.

One idea we have for both the sleep issues and the potty training is to reinstate the use of her "chore chart." She gets gold stars for doing things like eating her veggies or going potty. With enough gold stars, she gets to cash in for a reward. We are currently offering her a reward of a caterpillar lawn sprinkler who shoots water out of his arms, legs and antennae. She seeemed impressed, and it's only a $10 toy. Thank goodness for bargain-priced bribery!

This was so cute the other night. She decided she needed to change the diaper of virtually every baby in her collection. She would put them down on the changing pad, wipe them, then toss them into the pile one by one. She said "I'm gonna make a mountain."




"Baby sweetpea needs to change her diaper with me. Yay baby sweetpea! You can go in the middle of Pooh Bear...here...[unintelligible]...Now somebody else!"


"His name is Froggy! Laaaay down. He's laying down. I'm gonna hold his feet real good. So he won't have an owie on his hoo hoo. So we can get his poop off his bottom. I'm gonna hold his feet real good. Shh. He can go in the middle. I'm gonna make a mountain."

And then here is my little bookworm reading to Baby Sarah and singing her own version of The Wheels on the Bus.