Dinnertime for Bella

Today I heard Scarlett digging around in Bella's bucket of dog food in the laundry room, which is a common occurrence. But then a few moments later, I heard the sound of dog food going into Bella's dish in the dining room.  I walked over to find Scarlett with the scoop in her hand, walking back to the laundry room.

I watched, intrigued, as Scarlett made three trips back and forth to put more food in Bella's bowl.  She's never done that before.

I went about my business, and then noticed Scarlett decided to pick up the bowl and take it to the bucket of dog food, rather than make numerous trips back and forth.  What a smart girl!

I watched as she put more food in the bowl and then told her to take the bowl to Bella ... And she did! Happily, I was able to catch the bowl before it spilled enroute, unlike our wine bottle fiasco at the grocery store. 

Scarlett absolutely fascinates me!

And Bella was one happy pup!

The Tale of the Wine Bottle

Scarlett and I went to the grocery store this morning after dropping Christian off at VBS.  I didn't plan on actually buying anything ... just wanted to walk around with Scarlett in an air conditioned place for a few minutes.  So, I didn't take the stroller with me and just let her walk around.  Seemed like a good idea at the time.

As we walked along, I looked away momentarily when out of the corner of my eye, I saw Scarlett grab a wine bottle and pick it up.   I tried to get to her before ... the ... bottle ... dropped ... from ... her ... hand ...

I was not successful.

Unbeknownst to me, there was an endcap display of wine ... right at Scarlett's level.  And in slow-motion - or so it seemed - that bottle dropped from her hand, hit the floor, and shattered.

Help arrived quickly and the employee joked that at least it was a good-smelling mess.  She was genuinely concerned about Scarlett and was very kind.  I apologized profusely, at a loss for what more I could do.

In the 5.5 years I've been a mom, I've never had something like this happen.  I was so embarrassed.

The Clothing Exchange

Scarlett insisted on a clothing exchange with her stuffed bear, who has a tiny little denim mini-skirt.

 

Scarlett is so petite that the bear's little skirt fits her!  And the bear is wearing Scarlett's shorts. :)

 

 

For the Love of Mickey

Recently, Scarlett has fallen in love with Mickey Mouse.  Any time she gets a glimpse of him on TV or my iPad, she gets excited, "Picky!  Picky!"

Imagine her excitement when we walked into the Disney Store today and there was a Mickey Mouse at every turn!   She kept asking for Mickey, and I kept loading her up with Mickey and Minnie - and she held on tightly to each one she was given.   I'm pretty impressed that I was able to eventually put them all back on the shelves and leave the store without buying anything (though it sure was tempting!).

"Cheese!!"

Scarlett has learned from Christian that when Mommy is going to take a picture, the thing to do is get a huge smile on her face and say, "Cheese!!"

 

 

 

 

 

Scarlett's First Shopping Cart Experience

All this time, I've gone to the store and put Scarlett in her cool stroller.  The bottom basket is huge and can hold quite a bit, so I've never needed to put her in the cart.   But today, Jonathan suggested we give it a try and I was very surprised to find she LIKED it, and she happily sat there throughout our shopping trip

And of course, when I took my phone out to snap a picture, Miss Scarlett gave me a, "Cheese!!"

Love this kiddo!! 

Let the (Very Early) Potty Training Begin!

A couple of days ago, Christian pulled out the Elmo Potty from the cabinet and Scarlett was intrigued!  So I figured, "Why not?"   She's a smart cookie and I'm certain at 17 months, she'll catch on a little.

 

I put her on the potty seat, and she actually sat down.  We showed her how to push Elmo's hand to get him to talk. 

 

Of course, she hasn't done "any business" yet, but we tell her to "toot" and she gives a good push and a cute little grunt.  At some point, something is bound to come dribbling out!    And we've given her a couple of squares of toilet paper, and she knows what to do with it!  She's very observant, you know. :)

 

 

Though it is still very early, I am THRILLED that we're doing this now.  Christian took FOREVER to get potty trained (as boys often do), and even to this day, he'll rarely go potty unless we prompt him (um ... over and over again) to go.  So the sooner we can get Scarlett started on the process, the better.   But with no pressure.

Mommy's Little Helper

Scarlett is my little helper and loves to help with the laundry.  She likes to put the dirty laundry into the washer from the hamper, and she likes to move the clean clothes from the washer to the dryer. 

The other day, I had finished loading the washer with dark clothing and stepped out for a moment.  When I returned, I found she'd started to load the dirty laundry from the hamper of whites.  She came back in to finish the job.

Is she cute, or what??

 

Miss Scarlett at 17 Months

And time marches on too quickly ... Miss Scarlett is 17 months old. 

Scarlett's vocabulary is exploding, and there are too many words to list.  Some of her latest things to say are:

• "No, no, no ..."   Scarlett is soooo precious when she declines something with a, "No, no, no."  Given her propensity to screech, we are thankful her "no" isn't an ear-piercing "Nooooooooooooooooooo!"
•  When Scarlett is in another room, Jonathan will call out for her, "Scarlett, where are you?"  And she'll reply, "I'm right here."  She's started saying more in response to the question, but we can't figure it out just yet.
• I counted two objects for Scarlett recently, and she then said, "3, 4, 5."  I was shocked!  Now we've got her counting up to 7.  What a kid!!
• Jonathan has always said, "Who wants coffee, say 'I do!'"  Scarlett started to reply, "I do ... I do!"  We've now expanded the questions:  "Who wants to have a snack, say 'I do!'" or "Who wants to play with toys, say 'I do!'" And if she's interested, she'll say, "I do, I do!"
• Scarlett has started saying her ABC's!  She was in the backseat one say, seemingly singing a song.  Jonathan pointed out she was doing ABC's and sure enough ... she was.  I like to go through the whole alphabet and pause before random letters, and she CORRECTLY says the next letter.   No kidding!!
• She's discovered how fun a game of Peek-a-boo can be.  She'll sometimes stand behind a curtain and say "peek-a-boo" in her own cute way, or she'll spontaneously put her hands over her face, take them away and say, "Peek-a-boo!!!"   So cute!

She does lots of other cute stuff, too:

• She'll wipe her face on request
• She'll clean up, when asked.  We have a hard time getting Christian to clean up, but when we announce it is time to clean up, she'll walk around Christian's room picking up his books and putting them where they belong.
• She'll wash her hair - and Christian's hair - during bath time
• She'll brush her teeth 

 

She's a little monkey who climbs on everything!  She loves to get on top of her little tables and get into the sand box.  And when I hear a frantic "Mama, Mama, Mama!" coming from the front room, I know that she's climbed on top of her little activity cube and cannot get down.

Miss Scarlett has a lot of hair!  It is so curly, I didn't realize it was so long ... but lookie here!  It always dries into precious curls on top of her head.  It tends to get frizzy, so I've had to buy cream for her hair that is specifically for curly hair.   Yes, dear reader, the beauty regimen has already started. :)

 

It is still a struggle to get her to eat much of anything, but she's sure into eating plants, dirt, sand and Bella's dog food.   Fortunately, she typically gives up the contents of her mouth upon request.  Here she is, eating some dirt during one of our outings.

 

 

According to our scale, she's now right at 18 pounds.  Must be the Angus beef hotdogs we've been feeding her.  Yes, seriously. The are the least-offensive, least-processed, nitrate free, pure beef hotdogs I've been able to find so far.  And they are very fattening, which is what she needs.   Perfect solution?  No.   One of our few solutions?  Yes.   She just doesn't like to eat solid food.  And just when it seems she's getting better about eating, she takes a step back.

 

And the fact is, she's just a small child - but we feel her weight is proportional to her height.  In fact, she's so small that at 17 months, she can still fit into clothing intended for a much younger child.  I came across an outfit she wore for her 6 month pictures and I was SHOCKED to see she still fit into it.   I have found that the sizes for baby clothing are very inconsistent among manufacturers - but for her to still fit into a size 3- 6 month romper was a real eye-opener.   Most of her clothing that fits well right now is a size 12 months.   There are just a couple of 18 month items that she can fit into.