Some days I just don't want to be a parent

What a day! First a toy thrown at me, then it didn't seem to phase her that she's hurt me, physically or emotionally. When I asked her if she threw toys at Dad, she said "No, I like Dad". I tell ya, the things we do to our parents and take for granted. On one hand it's always comforting to know Ali can be who she is and be in whatever moment she's in with me present, on the other hand...it sometimes sucks.

After I got over the hurt, I realized Ali's allowed to not like me. I mean, I always knew it and knew it would happen, but today I got to practice it.  But I took the rest of it personally as lack of respect.

I don't always know how to be a parent, I don't always want to be a parent. How do you teach respect? Demanding it instils fear, not respect, but outwardly it appears as respect. I want the real deal and today I was disrespected. I can teach Ali to use manners, zip her jacket, say please and thank you, share, drive her battery Jeep (okay, she's also self taught, she catches on so quick!), to think of safety. Somehow respect is a tough one. I show her respect, but let's face it, children are in their own little self world. You cannot teach respect just by giving it, she's got no idea. But disrespect her, and boy, does she know it. So she knows lack of respect but doesn't understand the concept of respect... interesting indeed. Showing respect. Well, I can demand it, in a passive way. Don't get me wrong, my urge is not to be passive at all, I wanna yell and fight...roar... disrespect me...I'll teach ya!

I can only speak for Alexiss when I say, anger gets me no where. She does not learn in that environment at all. I can actually see her disassociate and disengage. Today I chose to walk away and talk about how I don't like to play after being hit with a toy, it makes me feel bad. I told her I wasn't feeling good about the way she was treating me and that I didn't have to put up with it.

I have no idea how to be a parent. Today, I didn't want to be a parent.

BUT... after bedtime, when she was sleeping uncomfortably, I quietly went in and fixed her stuffed toys. She rouses and open her eyes to ask me what I'm doing. I whisper "It's okay honey, I'm just fixing your toys, you looked so uncomfortable". She smiles with half open eyes, lift up both hands and gives me two thumbs up.

Now I'm just in love and wanting to be a parent, her parent. Call me sucker cuz tomorrow is another day.

Dear Santa 2014

Dear Santa
I just want you to know I love you. And I have a cold. If you want to... come here.
Bunny is excited and loves you. Bunny likes the tree. I really love you. Bunny hops on the tree all the time. (Bunny likes spongebob, he goes hahahahahah). September I'm going to be 5! That's all it!

We were sitting at the table and a toy bunny was beside her, the small Christmas tree was on the table beside Ali. There was also a Spongebob mug in front of her.

This year, Ali's been crafting ornaments and decorating the tree. There's no way I'm getting out our old ornaments, I LOVE the tree and Ali's ornaments.

Today is brought to you by the letters G, O and P

The letter G was super fun to make, complete with gum stuck up in the corner. G proved to be a medium difficult, our saving grace was living on a golf course and liking golf. Notice the pink golf ball on the green and the goldfish in the water. This one wasn't as much fun for Alexiss as say, the letter P, and I'm not sure it stuck as well in her head. I'm finding the letters that have more than one sound is a tough concept to work around.

YES, P is for so many good things and was a breeze! Sometimes Ali mixes up the B and P sounds, but they're so close. 

Oh dear, the letter O, what a fiasco! I think it was a fail from the start with the mouth. Again, with two letter O sounds, it became a bit confusing. Definitely one to revisit later. It also could have been low energy and fighting off a cold the contributed.

I can't wait until we're all feeling better to have fun making train tracks!

Balancing cleaning priorities and leaving time to play. AKA: shortcuts and the shortlist of cleaning

I am by no means an expert on house cleaning but there's a few key things I've realized that can trick the masses into thinking your a super clean freak when all your doing is managing a mess that a four year old hurricane can create. At the very least, it will keep your home looking clean but lived in. Disclaimer: I cannot speak to what your mom may or may not see, but I can guarantee, she'll notice a few of these

• Get that garbage all the way to the garage/outside. Mark taught me that there's no such thing as a Daddy Job, after grabbing the kitchen garbage from the hallway and brought it to the garage grumbling "I guess this is a Daddy job". It made me realize that although each of us has our strengths and we balance each other well, there's no such thing as a Mommy or Daddy job, if you can do it... do it.
• Ugh, another tea bag jumped off the spoon onto the floor. No worries, that J cloth has almost worn out it's use with dishes, go ahead, grab it and do some spot cleaning on the floor! It puts off mopping for another day. While I don't mop my floor near enough, it's usually when I'm forced to by sticky spills. Mopping is usually last on my list. 
• Whether you want to or not, eventually there will be a juice spill that demands for you to finally mop. In my world, you're allowed to just git er done and leave the stuck stickers a few times. I don't recommend leaving them for more than a few months..or people will notice. Worse comes to worse, let your kid help clean the floor with a cloth and water, only do that on days when you have tons of patience though.
• Playdoh - if you're just not up for sweeping again today, put on some old socks and stomp it up, then toss the socks out. It's a win win! Use your husbands holey socks for a super win!
• Crumbs look, well crumby. Keep wiping!
• Keep your toilets clean and extra toilet paper handy!
• Leaving dishes in the sink is okay,  but if  the same company sees the same bowl for days...they may start to question your cleaning skills. 
• One sink full of dishes is acceptable, make it look even better by rinsing and not leaving crumbs in the sink.
• A burnt out interior bulb goes a long way to hiding spills and messy shelves in the fridge. If you don't have a burnt out bulb, give the shelves a quick wipe before loading up with this week's groceries. Do yourself a favor, and before stocking your fridge, clean out all old leftovers that didn't make it into "fridge soup".
• Never, ever... ever buy a white coffee maker
• Keep keys and wallets where you can find them. Nothing makes you realize everything is a mess more than not being able to find the most important things when you need them.
• Which leads me to... do not use a catch junk kitchen bowl. It can be handy in a pinch but those things just collect useless stuff. When you finally sort through all the way to the bottom, you'll end up tossing most of the stuff in the garbage anyway. 
• Use stacking bins, it keeps kids focused and on one task, and makes one mess. It's also makes it less of bewildering mess for a young child to clean up. The dollar store is an awesome place for nice looking baskets, pouches and boxes. Get a bunch that match and you can use them all through the house with the added bonus that it looks like you thought out your decor.
• Letter magnets sure look like fun and educational but they don't hold anything and end up under the fridge and being kicked around the house. They don't hurt as much as stepping on Lego but do yourself a favor and buy big fridge magnets instead. Letters. Seriously. Suck.
• Laundry. Ugh, the never ending pile. I almost don't want to talk about it but I must. If you're like me, things make it to the washer and dryer but folding is a bottle neck. Clothes wash and dry better in smaller loads and make it more manageable to fold afterwards. Drape pants and shirts over your arm out of the dryer, grab socks and underware in your hand and the sorting is almost done already! Try doing one load every other day during the week.
• Close curtains in a pinch. To get off that window crayon that's been stuck on for months, old newspaper and water work wonders on glass! I swear there's something in the toner that works better than any commercial glass cleaner.
• Okay, seriously. Again, in a pinch, moisturized hands work better at a quick hand dust. Come on, you know you've all done it.
• You are definitely allowed to over announce that you've wiped all door knobs and doors down with lysol after the last virus invaded your house and all inhabitants. 
• And my favorite.... go ahead and use that old annoying toy to press down the garbage in the can. Just don't let them see you do it!

This is by no means the end all be all of cleaning, there's tons not on here. This list comes in handy if your house is already somewhat tidy and organized. If you're house has piles of stuff in corners, etc... this list just won't have the same effect. 

Tasty apple spit....

Me "Ali, what are you chewing on?
Ali, "nothing, I ate all my apple and now I have tasty apple spit! "

Ali the gymnastic starr

This past Wednesday was Ali's second 10 week session of gymnastics at Gymtastics. There was a fun parent day and Mark left work to join us. At the end of the last class, after playing with Dad and having fun in the foam pit (What a good sport you are, Mark Anderson!) Ali was presented with a certificate.

This concludes her fourth or fifth round of gymnastics. This year I did consider putting her into the pre-competition classes but she has so much fun and Gymtastics have the perfect balance of fun vs skill for Alexiss. The pre-comp class is 4 hours a week with the weekly hours spread over two days. There's no music or play, it's all practice and drills.

I think we'll continue with FUN gymnastics for now.. :D

Loving the honey!

I don't usually get on any kind of soap box, it's just not my style. I do share under the right circumstances and I don't hide, you may be observant and happen to see homemade toothpaste on the sink or look in my bathroom drawer to see I use natural deodorant. If you came to the wedding you were treated to my home made mosquito repellants. I'm not a hard core natural-only kinda mom. We still have Goldfish crackers and Kraft Dinner and hot dogs in the kitchen. Mark still uses Crest and drinks pop. I drink too much coffee.  I don't eat fast food but I don't eat enough vegetables either. These are my personal choices and I don't force them on others. I do believe there's too many chemicals and additives in the world around us and it contributes to our health. Those that are healthy can better balance and purge these things but people with a slow metabolism and not top health need an extra boost to purge and not pile on heaps more for a body to deal with. I've never done a "cleanse", I try not to get swept into the "next best" health fad...that I know of. But I am trying to balance the chemicals and foods going into my body.

Now here's where you roll you're eyes....Pinterest has really become an amazing place to share knowledge and recipes for some tried and true natural remedies. Some are a little too experimental for me, I use my personal knowledge and common sense and listen to my body more than believe everything put infront of me. I do extra research and often times use and embellish the natural remedies and recipes. My facebook friends also share things that interest me. Pinterest is just structurally better suited to keeping this information in albums instead of having to search a chronological news feed.

I gotta tell you, I'm amazed and awed....... I found a cold remedy that I was excited to try. Within two weeks I'm on my third batch already because we are loving it AND I just had to share with a few neighbors. Mark and I have both thwarted the last cold with two hot steaming cups of this before bed and one in the morning when we thought we were getting a cold. Ali has a cold and it's making it definitely more manageable, but it's hard to pinpoint the healing because it doesn't have druggy side effects or mask sickness. It's just honey, ginger and lemon but they all have anti bacterial antiviral, anti-inflammatory and analgesic qualities that make a power house remedy. Sure you could put lemon and honey in tea but letting them sit together really brings out their healing properties. I don't mean to sound like an infomercial or ad, but I can't help but share this. As with all natural cures, what works for one may not work for the next so if it may not work for everyone.

                                Home Cold and Flu Remedy from Remedy from Instructables.com                     

With my embellishments and comments

Jar can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 months.

Ingredients: 

• Fresh lemon
• antiseptic, aids digestion, great source of calcium, magnesium, vitamin C, bioflavonoids
• Fresh ginger
• antiviral, anti-inflammatory, aids digestion,  effective against human respiratory syncytial virus, great for upset tummie
• Raw honey
• antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral
• Disclaimer: Experts don't recommend giving honey to children younger than 1

Directions:

• Slice lemon into quarters or slices and pack into jar  
• I use two lemons
• Peel and grate ginger, and add to lemon
• I prefer diced. I use one large sized ginger root but the amount is up to you
• Fill the jar and cover lemon and ginger with honey  
• almost 1 kg, unpasteurized is better
• I let mine sit for 24 hours to bring out the juice of the ginger and lemon and thin the honey, you will need to stir once as the honey settles to the bottom the first day

To Use:

• Add 1 tablespoon (or more to taste) to hot water and stir. it's a nice soothing hot drink.
• We use two or three
• drink it from a tbsp like a cough syrup

Embellishments:

• 5 - 10 sprigs of Fresh Thyme 
• The flowers, leaves and oil of thyme are commonly used for, stomach ache, arthritis, colic, sore throat, cough (including whooping cough), bronchitis, flatulence and as a diuretic (to increase urination).
• 10 - 20 Whole Cloves
•  Helps digestive issues, an expectorant, soothes sore throats, cloves are anti-fungal, antibacterial, antiseptic and analgesic. They’re packed with antioxidants and are good sources of minerals (especially manganese), omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and vitamins
• 1 tsp Cinnamon 
• In medieval times doctors used cinnamon to treat conditions such as coughing, arthritis and sore throats.

I noticed Ali's not as diligent about nose blowing and because of that she gets a bit of a sour stomach due to nasal drip. With the ginger and lemon and with added cloves, this stuff even helps settle her stomach!

I've gotta say, in the past, for me, adding honey and lemon in tea hasn't really done much for me and colds, I feel like it was just the hot water soothing my sore throat for a short period of time, it never really shortened or thwarted an oncoming cold, but this combination and the way it's put together seems to perfect it. If you do try it and it works for you, please let me know. 

Chicken Whisperer

In the past few weeks we've had reason to visit some friends in the area that have land and ANIMALS! Each time, Ali cried the whole way home but nothing beats this week's visit to Marissa and her chickens.

She had a chicken under her arm the entire time we were there, all 2 1/2 hours of it. There was one instance of two chickens, another instance of a chicken almost falling asleep and one instance of Ali going down the slide with a chicken held in her arms. Marissa has 99 chickens. We came home with 5 eggs.

I can see where her love came from, most kittens and puppies don't revel in her body heat as much as these chickens. Ali learnt quick that they are easy to catch if you sneak up behind them. At first it was a catch and release game but then she wore out and started holding them.

I told Mark we better buy land soon, while we can still afford it or we'll have to get pet chickens....and I don't think that will go over well.

Letters BS and L

B makes the buh sound! Ali really wants to read, she knows her alphabet but hasn't connected the sounds yet. Taking a letter and concentrating on it in a whole day is helping her learn and helping us find things to do for the day. We're only three letters in and she's already picking up quicker, as you may be able to tell from the time spent on the craft.

The first letter we chose was B, it was a few hours of crafting fun and talking while walking scavenging for all things that start with the letter B. Bedtime was fun as she was telling dad about the letter b, her eyes got big and she yelled buh buh BED!

There's many online resources to help children learn letters, but I found they were either too simplistic to keep her interested long enough to have it really sink in, or too many letters at the same time, overwhelming and over doing it.

I decided to simply let the days and letters choose themselves instead of forcing a certain day or certain way. We start with a craft, in some way representing the letter. I also try to get Alexiss to print the same letter in the workbook, some days it works, and some days it doesn't. I'd much rather have learning stay fun for now instead of a arduous task that must be done.

S proved to be a little tougher and kept getting confused with the letter C. I can see (no pun intended) why. This letter got spaced out more over the day so we didn't get to frustrated and angry and by the end of the day, Ali had it straight.

We had breaks in between each letter day. I discussed the letter with Alexiss before craft time to see if she was interested.

With the letter L, it all started as we were playing in the green space, the leaves crunching under our shoes as we walked looking for ladybugs. There were too many L's to let the opportunity pass by. We came in to get something to collect them with and brought them inside as we talked about the L sound. As you can see, the letter L was a quick easy one. We barely got our crushed leaves glued onto our big L and a few words spewed out before the remaining leaf crumbs were scattered through the house. Within an hour, Ali had L mastered.

Fore Fall

Since the wedding, life has settled in, Mark and I are dating again too! Sounds odd, but it's true. We enjoyed a date day yesterday and I really enjoyed our time chatting and laughing. It still stands, we can say anything to each other, not judge and have it turn into run on joke. Life is good.

Ali and I have been passing the days learning the sounds letters make, playing golf, running to occasional errand, definitely NOT cleaning out pumpkins.

Ali self adjusts somehow the weeks before Daylight Savings, it's odd, but true. She's been waking just a little later each morning so as the clocks change, her sleep/awake times are just right. I've noticed it the last few years but don't put it together until the time actually changes and we're back to our normal times.
 
 

Princess Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty) ready to go trick or treating

The best dad in the world! He shovelled all the snow in the back yard to make a sledding hill!

This is comfy?

Earrings for Ali and rings for Mom and Dad

Today Ali and I both grew. Sometimes, there's something a little different about Ali. Like a switch. I can't put my finger on it, but she was acting... more mature somehow.

Me: I think you grew up a bit today, Ali.
Ali stands on toes and reaches up then looks down: Yep, but my feet are still small.

It's been a whirlwind, over committed, over busy, over heated.... you name it and I'm all over it.

Ali wanted nothing more than earrings for her 4th birthday and this Momma agreed after the fourth or fifth day of being asked. Ali was a trooper in the store getting it done, but the ride home from Calgary was a long and arduous crying event which abruptly stopped when we hit the Speargrass gates. I guess home really does have healing qualities!

I've had a tough week with emotions, stress. I volunteer on a board that Ali is involved in and this week has been about me admitting my mistakes and acknowledging my inexperience in some things as well as not taking hits and harsh judgement where not warranted. The board have all agreed to resign and make way for new members that may be better suited to do what's expected. It's a tall order and I really do hope it's successful but if it does not at least we tried in a way we can..by stepping aside and trying to repair damaged relationships. What really matters in the end is being ethical and respectful to others and valuing those we love.

We had an amazing fun wedding, we have amazing family, we have amazing friends. Those that couldn't attend were close in our hearts and minds. There were a few snags and headaches but I think we did alright by guests, although I felt like I didn't do enough as a host. The marriage was a celebration and quirky, just like us. At the end of it, we had what we needed... each other, a pastor (who was AWESOME), some rings, close friends to witness, friends and family to support us AND last but never least our daughter to share our day. Although my Pops couldn't be present, having my brother do the honors was magically in it's own way and I think everything....is..exactly...as...it...should...be.

Of course, Ali now thinks she's also married to Jack. heheheh. Oh, that's some good fun for us parents for stories later! Pics to follow. I think I did gosh darn good getting to the blog and updating it. I think I can safely forecast I am no longer stretched and committed beyond my capacity and can come and visit more often. I love it here in blog land. 

A few snippets of Alexiss

Alexiss is so dynamic that, while pictures show her adorable smile, they don't show just how much energy she's got or her sense of humor.

Alexiss was pulling her longer hair and putting it in her mouth. As a reprimand I tried to reason that it wasn't healthy to put hair in her mouth and said if she continued, I would bring her for a hair cut. The next day she decided she wanted a hair cut! There goes my idea of discipline. lol.

This month Ali also had her first dentist appointment. All went well and she was a total natural. Thanks to Gramma for the Dora book with Dora's appointment. Ali knew what to expect right from the toys in the waiting room to the bright light and opening her mouth. They were surprised that she hadn't been before. Alexiss does have two cavities requiring a little more attention at the end of the month.

I love how Alexiss runs! I video taped her running with Dad while playing golf.

Canada Day

Little Alexiss isn't so little anymore, in one month she grew approximately a half inch, it was a tough few weeks, bad sleeping, lots of eating and lots of attitude.

I hope we're at the end of that spurt for now, mix the hot weather with that and the Ryderson house became a little cranky and impatient. The last two nights have been bliss as we all try to catch up. Mark is home this week from work and I've managed to have a nap every day.

We had fun on Canada in Strathmore's Kinsmen Park. Daddy was a trooper and waited in the face painting line for just under two hours! Yep, it was a long line, but our little girl just wanted to be a pink kitty!

Patiently waiting....

Finally our turn!

Our little pink kitty!

Trying out drumming! 

We stumbled past a drumming circle and Ali was curious, we all wandered over to drum in time with "I like ap-ple pie" and "and van-il-la ice-cream"

Bribed away from the fun with an ice cream.

I didn't have the heart or the fight to try to get Ali to wash off the makeup before bed

It came off the next day at the splash park

Happy 95th Nana!

In May, Alexiss and I (with the help of Aunt Patricia and Uncle Gerry) made our way for a week long trip to Vancouver to surprise Nana for her 95th birthday!

It was a whirlwind and coming from our quiet life, it was a bit overwhelming for Alexiss. We compensated by lots of playground and down time. Auntie Jacqueline joined us at the aquarium, I thought it was going to sooth and calm Alexiss but she was running from tank to tank wanting to see it all! We had fun, Vancouver is gorgeous as always and we made some special memories.

The first Ryderson veggie garden

It was a long winter, but I think I can safely say we're into spring and summer. With summer comes some super cute new dresses for Alexiss and our very first veggie garden to get those dresses nice and dirty.

The internet is truly an amazing resource. Although I'm in inexperienced gardener, it made me feel like a pro and able to gain years of knowledge that would've taken many conversations and research otherwise. Not only did I plant some vegetables, but I did companion planting! Lettuce loves and is helped by just about everything, but my radishes love their cucumber buddies. Cucumbers also like sunflowers, and you know what? So does corn! Oh, what a little society they make on their own, mingling and hanging out with friends makes them better and keeps the pests away. Not so different from us, I think.

Mark had dug and built the edge in the fall, but decided it needed a little reinforcement before the soil went it. Alexiss was happy to help.

One big yellow bag of soil was gone quick, Mark and Alexiss made short work of it, they were so excited that I could not get them to come in for dinner! As soon as Daddy was home from work, they had shovels in hand before he even stepped out of the car.

Dirty work makes for dirty happy feet!

Finally, with some arguing we got the seedlings and seeds in where Momma wanted them, not where Ali wanted to plunk them in. It was a bit of team work but we managed with only one broken sunflower seedling to show for it.

A week later and the radishes are starting to sprout up through the soil. I anxiously await....

So helpful!

Said before getting out of the tub after a bath, "Come on bath water, it's not bathtime anymore. I help you down the drain" (splashes ensue)

Spring has not yet sprung!

New to us this past little while:

- Last month Ali learned about the 5 senses at school and I was fortunate to be the volunteer on the day they did a taste test of bitter (cocoa powder), sweet (brown sugar), sour (lemon juice), salty (table salt) and bland (white flour). The teacher put a little on spoons, it wasn't a full teaspoon but when I saw the kids reactions I thought maybe it may have been a bit more than a taste. The cocoa powder was first and three of them spit it out! I was proud of them all as they barrelled along and continued to try stuff out. Alexiss only liked the brown sugar and surprisingly the bland, I mean really, ick... just flour. blech.

- We started Karate a month ago with Alexiss, she enjoys meeting Daddy in town after work, it helps that we bring timbits to share. The class is called Chops through the All Canadian Karate Union ( http://www.acku.org/ ). It's a short half hour but for trying to focus and have control at the end of a day, it works perfectly.

- This week I enrolled Alexiss back into Gymnastics in Calgary. Within the first 5 minutes I knew I made the right decision and the big smile on Ali's face after was worth it. They are a little more professional and structured than the one she had been going to. The Coach complimented her on her strength and stamina after the class.

-Ali has entered the "why" stage of life. I've entered the "ugh" stage of life. lol, the two go hand in hand.

I have a few pictures to put into a slide show of Alexiss modeling her new springish outfit, but I'll give you a preview.

 

Her mad face

Mark is still working hard on the basement, we've got one room floored and walled. We also got a few second hand bookcases so we could unpack some of our books, they had gone into storage when we changed the front office room into my knitting store. There's been lots of moving and removing stuff, but we can't help but stop and look through some of the special boxes. We came across a picture of Mark when he was young.

It's been a super long winter, we had one super nice week a few weeks back and last week was the return of the snow storms. We even had to go out and get new rubba boots and jacket to match. Needless to say it made it that-much-harder to stay inside after enjoying a nice week of bikes, bubbles and exploring. The forecast looks good for next week, let's hope it sticks.

Yule Blessings, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I have a lot of updating to do, you poor people...waiting to see how our Christmas was and not a written word or picture thrown your way!

This is Alexiss having fun with watching herself run around and waving at the iPad today! Excuse the overuse of lip (or rather face) gloss.

It was what I consider Alexiss's first real Christmas where she could participate and take part in the festivities. Living rural has some advantages, like our Fire Fighters playing along and helping Santa come visit kids on Christmas Eve, complete with the fire truck and flashing lights. What a treat! I think Mark was more excited! We weren't quick enough with the camera to catch her running up and hugging him and the picture we did get captured her "What just happened, now I'm freaked out a little" look.

Lexa was spoiled this year, but it was so much fun. She was already overdone before Christmas morning! Matt, Cindi and Malcolm arrived the afternoon of Christmas Eve and the fun and games started almost immediately! Everyone but Lexa stayed up waaaayyy to late and were waaaaay to loud. This Momma tried to finally head to bed at 4AM, only to amble back out around 4:30 because of the noise. I came back out to a surprise Skype visit from Squeezer! Alexiss finally gave into the noise around 5:30AM, she came out of her room, us adults looked at each other with a "now what" look on our faces. Cindi and Matt slinkered off to bed and left Mark and I to figure out what to do. I said I'd take first turn and was victorious in getting her back to bed after an hour or so.

I saw an idea go around Facebook to write on a paper everytime you have a good memory or something to commemorate for the year, then put it in a jar and open it the next New Years. I may take it a bit further and use index cards to save them year to year. A few good things and maybe frustrating moments too, to look back on in the years to come. A physical mini-blog if you like. :D

Oh! Lexa's passed the safe weight for a car seat and has graduated to a booster!

The phrase of the week: "Which one you like?" She does it so she knows what to share with you, whether it be her stuffed toys, puzzle piece or even her boots!