Help Wanted!

Alright, so here's our problem..... I have the hardest time getting Kaitlyn to let ME brush her teeth SHE wants to be the one to do it (which means she just wants to suck the toothpaste off the toothbrush and then swirl it around her mouth a few times) She used to just love to brush her teeth and had no problem letting me do it. Then we started to make noises like "Eeeeeeee" and "Aaaaaaahhh" to entertain her while keeping her mouth open. Then once that stopped working I let her brush my teeth while I brushed her teeth. Well that worked for about a week and now I have resorted to pinning her down to do it because I don't have any other ideas. I don't want teeth brushing to be so tramatic and a bad experience for her, so please share and help me before my neighbors and people walking by my apartment begin to think I'm an abusive mother.....Thanks!

Mall of America

I know I have posted pictures before of Kaitlyn making faces where she looks sad but is actually happy. Well this picture is different, Kaitlyn looks sad and she really is sad. We went to the Mall of America and in the middle of it I swear is like a mini-Disneyland, it's so cool. When we got our tickets we asked the lady which ride was the most kid-friendly and she suggested the carrousel...bad idea! Kaitlyn liked sitting on the horse for about half a second. She was freaking out before it even started. The whole time the carrousel was going she was clinging on to me for dear life.

After the ride was over we got off and I swear not 10 seconds later I asked her if she had fun and she said "YEAH!" and when we got home she kept going "up down" and spinning around in circles. I guess she might have really liked it. We'll just have to try it again nect time we go!

Let's Go To The Pool!

Kaitlyn absolutely cannot get enough of the pool. I guess we don't get there enough because almost every day she goes into her room and gets not just one, but ALL of her swim suits. Then she chants "Pool, pool....swi sooo" as she attempts to put not just one, but ALL of her swim suits on (and cover ups) . I think it is pretty funny, especially watching her try to get her swim suits on - with all the different holes she doesn't quite get what goes where. But hey, as long as she gets them on she's happy.

Where did Elmo Come from????

I have no idea how this happened but all of a sudden one day Kaitlyn decided to be an Elmo fan. I have no recolection of ever introducing her to him at all. Just one day I bought Pampers instead of Huggies (surprisingly they were cheaper) and the Pampers have Sesame Street characters on them. When Kaitlyn saw the new diapers she just started calling them "melmo". So the next morning I decided to let her watch Sesame Street and she LOVED it! Now every morning she wakes up and we HAVE to change her "melmo" diaper (unfortunatly I still have a few Huggies left over which have Lion King on them so I have to sneak those ones on her) and then sit on the couch and watch "melmo". And if she wakes up a little bit earlier then she gets really sad because "melmo" isn't on yet. I would just like to know if any of you have secretly taught my daughter about Elmo because this has just been mind boggling.

The Park!!!!!

I thought I would share with all of you the highlight of our day (everyday)........ the paaaaaark! (said while uncontrolably shaking hands back and forth and running towards the front door) It's really nice because the park is in our apartment complex so a quick walk and we're there. And right next to the park is a Quiznos....Kaitlyn's new favorite place to eat.






This picture is actually taken mid "paaaaaark" so although she looks sad in this picture, this is her happy. She actually runs around the park screaming "paaaaaaaaaaaaark" because she is sooooo excited to be there. It really is quite funny.



And here she is just hanging out....Kaitlyn loves to swing on anything and everything. She is turning into such a little monkey



And FINALLY Kaitlyn has mustered up the courage to go down the slide all by herself! And once again her face is deceiving. She makes a scared face while going down but as soon as she's done she screams "more, more" or sometimes she will scream "mom" like now its my turn, what a sweetie, she wants me to go down and have just as much fun as she just had.

Minnesota Zoo

Today we went to the Minnesota Zoo. Kaitlyn was so excited to go and see all the animals she was talking about it all morning. We went with our new friends Stacy and Sam, Mindy and London, and Kim.


First we went and saw the dolphins....a big hit with Kaitlyn. Then we went over to the shark tank.....Kaitlyn wasn't such a big fan of that. I don't think she quite understood the purpose of the fish tank, she was so terrified of either falling in or the fish getting her either way she was quite the drama queen. (sorry Jen and everyone else about the camera cord in the pic - my photography skills are nowhere near professional )



This is Kaitlyn's new friend Sam. She absolutely adores him and gets so excited to play with him. She loves to hold his hand. Unfortunately I think her affections are
unrequited :(


And here is my Miss Independent. She was so tired (no nap) and just refused to sit in her stroller. She just HAD to push it in zig zags all by her self.

All in all it was a fun (and hot) day at the zoo.

80's

You Know You Grew Up In The 80's If...
1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word "PSYCHE".
2. You watched the Pound Puppies.
3. You can sing the rap to the "Fresh Prince of Belair " ...and can do the "Carlton".
4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.
5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.
6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.
7. "WOAH " comes from Joey on Blossom.
8. Two words: Hammer Pants.
9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock ".
10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and "spokey-dokes" or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect.
11. You can sing the entire theme song to "Duck Tales ". (Woo ooh!)
12. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
13. When it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
14. You saw the original "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles " on the big screen... and still know the turtles names.
15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school.
16. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side.
17. You played the game "MASH ". (Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)
18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.
19. L.A. Gear... need I say more.
20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM " in Kindergarten. (She's truly outrageous)
21. You remember reading "Tales of a fourth grade nothing " and all the Ramona books.
22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF".
23. You wanted to be a Goonie.
24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us... head-to-toe)
25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.
26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.
27. You took lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pail Kids in the schoolyard.
28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.
29. You still get the urge to say "NOT " after every sentence.
30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.
31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.
32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hookup.
33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.
34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes. (and like #24, probably in neon colors, too)
35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"
36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates.
38. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide.
39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.
40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.
41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.
42. You remember Popples.
43. "Don't worry, be happy"
44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.
45. You wore socks scrunched down (and sometimes still do...getting yelled at by "younger hip" members of the family)
46. "Miss MARY MACK MACK MACK, all dressed in BLACK BLACK BLACK "
47. You remember boom boxes. and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.
48. You remember watching both "Gremlins" movies.
49. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!"
50. You remember watching "Rainbow Bright" and "My Little Pony Tales "
51. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.
52. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.
53. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB".
54. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By the Bell ", the ORIGINAL class.
55. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.
56. You just sang those words to yourself.
57.You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.
58. Homemade Levi shorts. (the shorter the better)
59. You remember when mullets were cool!
60. You had a mullet!
61. You still sing "We are the World"
62. You tight rolled your jeans.
63. You owned a bannana clip.
64. You remember "Where's the Beef?"
65. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' about Willis?"
66. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.
67. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head,aren't you!

What Was I Thinking?

So today while I was at Walmart I had this GREAT idea as I walked by the craft area. I saw some beads and elastic bands and thought "Hey Kaitlyn and I can make some fun necklaces and bracelets and have a fun crafty afternoon." So we got home and I opened the bag of beads and cut the elastic. Trying to avoid a huge mess I poured just a few beads into a bowl and had Kaitlyn hand me the beads one at a time.....she just wanted to hand me the orange ones(her new favorite color-when she says it it sounds more like "ewe"). Then out of the curiosity of a 2 year old she thought instead of handing mommy the beads one at a time it would be much more fun to get all of the beads out all at once so she just dumped the bowl over. Then out of the corner of her eye she spotted the half opened bag of beads and before I could catch her she dumped ALL of them out all over the table and then swished them all around spilling onto the floor. What was I thinking???? A 2 year old's attention just cannot be held that long. Oh well, in her defense she did help me clean up all of the "mee"(mess)







However before we cleaned it all up I did let her play with the beads long enogh for me to snap a few pics.