It's the 15th of the month, so it's time for Inara's birthday blog. So much fun stuff to write about. The most important came yesterday when Inara went potty on the toilet for the first time. She's been so interested in the potty the past few weeks, so I decided to bite the bullet and start the training process. To prepare her, we've been reading lots of books about using the potty for about a month now. I had bought a pack of pull-ups a few weeks ago, and got a padded seat for the toilet. Supplies in hand, we took the big leap. I took some suggestions I got from other moms and set out to get this gig started. She and I ran an errand in the morning, so I told her if she was good, we would get a hot cocoa on the way home. I was told to encourage a child to drink a lot to help them go potty more. As we were getting back in the car, she yelled out, "No go home. Get hot cocoa." I explained that we were going to get some on the way home. We drove through Starbucks and luckily because we had waited so long, we got our hot cocoa for free. Sweet deal. When we got home, she was thrilled to get hot cocoa in her special cup. I then set the timer for 20 min and took Inara to the bathroom all morning from that moment on. We implemented the reward system with stickers rather than candy. Figure she already loves candy enough, so we should do something else besides sugar. It was a fun day all-in-all, but Shawn and I know we are in for a rough few weeks while we get Inara used to using the big girl potty. We were very proud of her when she went pee and poop and didn't seem uncomfortable using the toilet at all. She loves wiping herself and flushing the toilet. Makes her feel like a big girl I'm sure. She even said, "Mommy, I do it like Avery and Whitney." Boy, does she want to be like the older girls she knows.
The other big landmark came today: Inara played in the snow. Shawn bought her a small shovel so she could come outside with us when we snow and, hopefully, overcome her dislike of the snow. So we tested things out this morning. At first, she didn't seem interested at all and just stood there. Then after a little prompting from daddy, Inara walked out into the snow and started shoveling. So cute to watch. Then Shawn encouraged her to put her foot in the snow. Before we knew it, Inara kept putting her foot in the snow, walked down the driveway and even headed down the sidewalk toward the mailboxes. We were so shocked to see her playing in the snow and excited too! She's officially getting to be a big girl now.
She has begun the independent stage in full force. All day long I hear "I do mommy" from her. She wants to do everything herself from putting her shoes on, to turning the bedroom light on, to pouring milk in her cup. I think it's important to let her learn how to do things, so I encourage her independence all day long. Yes, this can be challenging, but I just have to make time for it so she can learn. It's so cute to watch her try to do things on her own, like taking her jacket off. She will struggle with it for a few minutes, when she will finally give in and say "Mommy I need help." I always congratulate her for trying and then thank her for asking for my help because I like to help my little girl. I don't want her to feel like she's failing but just not quite ready to go at everything on her own.
Inara is really becoming more and more aware of who she is. At My Gym, they always go around the circle and ask the kids to say their name. I love that Inara always says Inara Grace. She's always going to identify herself by both names and I love that because I think her name is so precious. She now knows her last name and says Tomlinson very well. She starting to understand relationships more too. In order to teach her about couples, I've always said things like "Lilli is Jason's honey" since she knows I call daddy honey, so I thought that made the most sense to me. Once when she asked where her My Gym teacher Miss Morgan was, I told her she's probably at home today. Inara surprised me with "At home with her honey." "Yes, sweetie, she's probably at home with her honey." Now she always identifies someone's significant other as a honey. I love that. She knows who aunts, uncles, cousins are and can identify who Avery's mommy and daddy are, who Kylie's mommy is, etc. One morning she was playing in the bathroom while Shawn and I were getting ready. She picked up the floormat and laid it down again and said, "Daughter do it." When I asked her to repeat it, she said, "I daughter." I think this is something she learned in school because I don't remember introducing that concept to her, but so cool that she got it. I've introduced it in the past, but this week was the first time that she said on her own "My house on Whitford." Yes, she now knows her street. I can't tell you how much she changes and grows on a daily basis. It's awesome and a bit sad because she's growing too fast for me right now. I want her to stay this age forever.
As you well know, Inara loves books. We have hit a new stage with books though. She now tries reading books on her own. This is most common with Curious George books since those are the ones we read over and over again. She and I were at the library on Thu. We always have to hang out in the George section. She found the book about George visiting the chocolate factory, one we have at home. I was busy looking at other books, when I heard her start telling the story. "The chocolates come faster and faster. Bring more boxes say man in tall white hat." Holy cow. She's totally memorizing books and able to repeat the stories to herself. She does this with Pinkalicious and Fancy Nancy books as well. I love this new trait because it totally reminds me of me and my passion for books when I was younger. We have now begun a whole new relationship with books and I'm so proud of her.
Inara is becoming quite the little singer. She now can sing a few songs in their entirety, well according to her version I should say. It all started with Baa Baa Black Sheep awhile ago. Shawn changed the lyrics a little, and she loves singing daddy's version. Now, she sings Itsy Bitsy Spider with the hand movements and all. Then the other day in the car I hear her start singing Twinkle Twinkle followed by Humpty Dumpty. I was so surprised to hear her singing and was so proud of her too. I have a feeling she's getting more into singing because of her music class at school. Then today Shawn and I were working in the basement, and Inara was playing with an alphabet toy I got out for her. Suddenly, Shawn and I stop and look at each other because Inara is saying her ABC's. She noticed we were watching her and stopped. We encouraged her to say them, so she started again. Hooray! Then one time when we were finishing in the bathroom, Inara and I started saying the alphabet, and she did so great. I can't tell you how proud I am of my baby girl every day.
Although she still cries a bit when I drop her off at school, she sure loves being there. Last week, she must have asked me about school and Miss Steph every day. As soon as we got in the car to go somewhere, she'd ask, "Mommy, go school. See Miss Steph. Miss Stina." I would then have to explain to her where we were going and apologize that we weren't going to school. I figured this was a good way to start teaching her the days of the week, so when she asked on Tue, I went through the days of the week and told her Friday is when she sees Miss Steph. Each time, she seemed so sad that it wasn't Friday yet. Then when she woke up on Fri morning, I said, "Sweet Pea, today's Fri" to which she jumped up in bed and said, "Go school!" One day, when she was asking if she was going to school that day and I said on Fri she can go to school, she followed with "Bus pick me up and go school." Boy, she's really trying to grow up too fast now.
Inara's becoming quite the loving little girl and isn't afraid to show it. Often during lunch or dinner, she will thank me for making her dinner. "Mommy, thank you for making mac n cheese." Or "Mommy, thank you for making yogurt." That's one of my faves. So darn adorable. When I was sick last week, Inara was so very concerned about me and my health. One day as we were getting ready for nap, I told her I could only read her one book because my throat was hurting. Then when I went in to get her after her nap, she stood up in her crib and asked, "Mommy, you feel better?" Boy, if that doesn't make you feel better, then I don't know what can. She's so caring and sympathetic. I love this about her. She's also always telling me she loves me and gives hugs all day long. It's awesome because most of the time it will be unprompted and unexpected. I absolutely LOVE it when she does this. One night Kristi and the kids joined Inara and I for dinner since the boys had to work late. Inara and Avery sat next to each other at the table. Out of nowhere, Inara says, "Avery, I love you" and leaned over to give Avery a hug. It was so cute to see the happy look on Avery's face as she leaned in to hug Inara. Avery was very excited to hear Inara say that because she too sees how big Inara is getting. Another new thing that demonstrates Inara's loving personality is her caring for her baby dolls. I was secretly watching her play with her Darby doll the other day, and it was so cute because she laid Darby on a blanket, acted like she was taking off her diaper, wiped the baby, and put a new diaper on. Then she picked up the doll, wrapped her in a blanket, and hugged on her. She's now a little mommy caring for her babies. Can she get any cuter?
As the saying goes, kids do say the darnest things. One morning she asked Shawn if she could go to the pool. Shawn asked when she wanted to go. Inara responded with "Um Tuesday." Friday after school, I decided to spend some time outside since I knew it's going to snow this weekend. I told her we were going to help daddy and rake the leaves. She was so intrigued and, of course, always my little helper, was right there offering a lending hand. As I would scoop up a pile of leaves to dump in the trash, here she would come with a handful of leaves she had picked up. It was so cute because she would say, "Woo mommy, big pile" and reach over and drop the leaves in the trash. Sometimes when she says things, it amazes me how she was able to put such ideas together. For example, when we were leaving the pumpkin patch, she asked what mommy was doing. Shawn said I was putting the wagon in the trunk. Inara then kinda giggled and said, "No daddy. Elephant nose." I cracked up. Very smart baby girl. A trunk is an elephant's nose. So cute how she can rationalize such thoughts and so quickly too. It's truly amazing how a child's mind develops. I'm in constant awe of her.
