Doors to Independance

Lydia has a new quest in life. Opening doors BY MY SELF!

The locked front door that was installed by a not so handy handy man and involves two hands to unlock. Lydia would like to spend 10+ minutes trying to unlock that door by herself. If I perhaps go ahead and unlock it while she is putting on her shoes so she can have success, well that just equals the need to fall dramatically to the floor and pout.

The screen door wasn't latched right the other morning so she touched the screen door and it opened. Apparently this equaled "mom's fault" and she fell dramatically to the patio crying "I really can open the front door alone". The reasoning of trying to tell the 3 year old that I wasn't even near the front door fell on deaf ears.

But then the best door opening situation as of late: Lydia likes to open the car door from the inside byherself. So I unbuckled her from the front seat and went around the car to offer help, if needed. As I round the corner of the car I see two little feet flip up and do a not so graceful roll on the floor followed by SCREAMING. So I open the car door to help the little girl jammed between the back seat and front seat head first only for the screaming to get even louder "I wanted to open the door". OH MY!!!!!!!!

Independence is good right?

Toilet Paper

Thankfully Lydia is independent with going to the potty (which is SOOOOOO nice!). But last night James and I were reminded why the tiny 25lb toddler has her very own bathroom that we refuse to use!

I entered Lydia's bathroom to help her brush her teeth (which I do twice a day - so she is not really totally on her own with hygiene!). I found poop in the potty - not flushed. Been there awhile! Had yet another conversation with Lydia about "please ask for help to flush the potty" (old toilet - she really doesn't have enough strength to flush...). Then I realized oh, didn't look that closely but toilet paper - did she use it???

So I decided to go check her recently changed underwear - sorry no real privacy when you are 2. But before I accused her of not using any/give her a bath I wanted to double check. Clean underwear - HURRAY!!!!!! I walk back to the bathroom joyfully telling Lydia what a good job she did wiping.

And then I see the huge smile. "Yes, mom did good wiping. Front to back". And I brush her teeth.

As I am turning on the night light I smell poop. Weird. And then I look down at the toilet paper roll. OH LYDIA NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, James daughter decided to skip the step of tearing the toilet paper off the roll. Just wipe - front to back atleast - and leave dirty toilet paper on the roll.

The environment can thank Lydia for trying to be green and save a tree. And James and I are once again reminded that we will continue to avoid her bathroom like the plague!

Cutting With a REAL Knife

I faced my fears and gave the toddler a butter knife. I will not forever be there to cut her fruit. If I don't teach her knife safety how will she learn. And she is always asking ;)

Attempt One: (No picture)
Was a big learning experience for Lydia. She buttered her bread. We learned that you don't hold a knife by the blade (thankfully she was using a very dull butter knife!). We learned that you don't lick the knife - thankfully that action she did not follow through on.

We then took a break for several days. (Because my sanity needed it!)

Attempt Two:
Cutting a banana and went so much better. See I even got a picture!

Lydia's Declarations

People! I have arrived!!!!!!! My peeps introduced me to the most wonderful invention ever this week! Can you say, "night light".

When  I was little this entire night light concept irritated me. I would scream and scream and scream if there was a light on in the upstairs part of my world at night. Come on I spent months and months in my safe dark cocoon and slept just fine. Why now that I am in the world and just struggling to get used to EVERYTHING do you all think that I need a light to sleep? Just one more thing to learn to like and I couldn't handle it.

But now that I am a big girl, I hear noises at night. I see shapes. I know bad things could happen (did I mention that we were OUT of Goldfish for a couple hours last week???). Dad wanted me to have a energy efficient night light (it glowed blue?!?!?). Mom gave me a pretty purple night light with star cut outs though. This pretty night light casts a warm and cozy glow through out my bedroom. Mom won and I got a pretty night light that turns off during the day so it is energy efficient too (Dad says that his night light will just cost pennies to operate in a year!).

When I roll over at night I can check out my world and see that all is right in the world. My bear can find me. My blankets can make sure they stick close to me. When cars turn around on our street, I don't even notice the light because my room is all lit up like a Christmas Tree! I love my pretty purple night light. I just wish that I would have learned to like it earlier in life :)

Pasta Art for Little Hands

We are always looking for new and different art projects to try out. Lydia loves coloring and "artsy" things but there are not that many things that an independent one year old can do solo. Last week we tried pasta art and it was a huge success. Minimal chewing. Worked on our fine motor skills. And had fun!

We also tried the same project with rice but as I thought the rice was just too small for little fingers. The pasta though was perfect!

Pasta Art: 
Step 1: Mix pasta with a couple colors of your favorite food coloring. 
Step 2: Let dry (we let our pasta sit overnight!)
Step 3: Put glue dots all over paper. 
Step 4: Let child have fun gluing pasta all over paper. And removing pasta. And repeating! A solid 30 minutes of fun at our house!  

Look, I Can Use A Spoon!

Life is easier when you put the bowl up to your mouth for this lesson though. 

Using a spoon takes allot of concentration. 

BUT the end result makes one feel so special!