Getting out of the house

My Christmas present from hubby this year was a day at the spa with a bunch of different treatments (specifically at Burke Williams) and I went to cash it in over the weekend.

The trip was great, loved the treatments he picked out for me (Hunter's Retreat was like the most luxurious shower you have ever taken, times 100).

Getting out of the house was a trick, usually MLO and I hang out pretty much all weekend long, even if other people come over, I don't really go anywhere without her.

So when I tried to leave she came running and screaming for me and wouldn't let go of my neck. Tried to reassure her I would be back and she could play with Sevta (Hebrew for grandma - hope I spelled it right - and what we call hubby's mom to distinguish between the two of them), but she wouldn't let go and just cried, burying her face in my neck.

Finally hubby came over and told her, "mommy is going to go get all beautiful and relaxed, so you got to stay and play with me and Sevta and let mommy go."

MLO smiled and looked at me. I told her I would come back and we would have dinner together.

She nodded her head and went to daddy's arms and then pushed me out the door.

I think it is so great that my 2-year-old understand the need for mommy to get "beautiful" and get some relax time.

She is definitely growing up, she now lets me go take a shower while she eats breakfast even.

I am being tested

MLO is testing me, every day, constantly. Trying to see if my rules will soften, if I will let her get away with things she knows she shouldn't do.

She is trying to see if tears can really change mommy's mind.

I keep telling myself to be consistent, to not give in, to make sure she knows rules are rules. I am pretty good, about 95% of the time.

Then every now and then, there are times that I realize how silly a rule sounds at that moment and I cave (like she had been really good all day, wanted me to read two books before bed instead of the usual one and I caved after some pouting and a scrunched up face ready for tears).

Am I setting myself up for tantrums for life? So far I have been raising MLO by my gut, when something feels wrong I don't do it and vice versa. I get so many compliments on her that I must be doing something right.

So hopefully my gut won't start failing me and I will just stick to my 95% efficiency rate :)

Hakuna Matata

I wrote earlier how MLO has gotten to love singing Ariel's main song over and over in the car.

Well she has now moved on to "Hakuna Matata" from Lion King.

I just stick the CD in my car stereo and let it repeat the song over and over. She is still learning all the words to this one, but getting there.

She loves singing these songs so much the CD actually travels into the house with us and gets played on the stereo.

Her favorite shows to watch are things like Dancing with the Stars and currently the Carrie Anne and Bruno war one. She loves to get up and spin around and around.

Think I am going to have to find some dance classes for her soon.

Bathtime

MLO has decided that a bath is no longer a good thing. She doesn't like her hair getting washed and hates the water getting anywhere near her face.

I have recently only been able to get her in the bathtub if I am taking a shower at the same time (and daddy is on hand for watching her). I think, she thinks, that if mommy is in the shower, her hair won't get washed.

Unfortunately she has discovered this not to be the case and her hair still gets done. She screams through the entire process.

I am sort of at the point where she is just going to have to get through this as I have tried washing her hair twenty different ways and none of them have made any difference.

Any suggestions welcome, or similar experiences.

Give-away

Winners are:
Nat King Cole - HomeandHearth
The Three Tenors - Deborah
John Denver - Earthmama

Update: Giveaway now closed. Will announce winner Sunday or Monday :)

So there is another give-away happening at Rocks in My Dryer and I thought I would play along.

I seem to always be swimming in new CDs (I buy a lot) so they end up being the easiest thing for me to give-away. I have three CDs for you to pick from:


1. Nat King Cole, The Very Best of




2. The Three Tenors, The Best of... The Millennium Collection




3. John Denver, 16 Biggest Hits



How to Win
1. Leave a comment below with which one you would like (please be sure I can reach you)
2. Give-away closes Saturday the 2nd at midnight
3. I will randomly pick winners Sunday, post it and try to contact the winners.

Ariel

I have my own little Ariel.

Over Christmas I bought MLO the Little Mermaid soundtrack and it became the car CD. Wherever we go, if MLO is in the car, you can be sure Little Mermaid is playing.

MLO has almost learned all the words to Ariel's trademark song (I have learned them all too now) and I need to record her sitting in her car seat, belting out the song.

She fudges the words she doesn't know, but she knows how long the note is held, when to pause, everything.

My little 2.25 year-old Ariel and budding singer.

Why I Love California

I am a California girl (not the classic looking one necessarily - more in spirit).

I grew up in Sacramento and loved visiting the Redwoods (with the oldest trees on Earth) and Yosemite. I stayed in San Francisco for a little bit too. My grandmother lives in Santa Cruz (in the Monterey Bay Area) and we visit there all the time. I now live in an outer suburb of Los Angeles.

I love how we have so much coast line, anywhere you live you can drive to the ocean (it may be a longish drive, but here in California driving for five hours is nothing). But then we also have the mountains and farm land and forests and rivers and wine country and so on.

I heard once that California makes almost everything it needs within the state (except tin or something like that).

While I love to travel and see other places, I would love to explore all of California too. There is so much to see and it is so big that you could spend a lifetime exploring all of it.

One of my favorite childhood memories is going to Yosemite with my class. We stayed in those big tent cabins (one of the boys and one for the girls). We got to stay up as late as we wanted and sit around the fire. We climbed trees, mountains and ran until our feet gave out. We learned about the different animals and how to be very still so you could watch a deer eat.

I love my state and will always call it home.