Dentist (and strawberries)

Another milestone conquered....we went to the dentist. Frannie did great! First she watched me have my cleaning and then she had her turn. She climbed in the chair like a champ and held up well til they got close to her mouth with the pointy hook thing (not even to clean, just to count) and she shook her head and said "I don't want that thing". Bubblegum toothpaste was a hit and she even had fluoride painted on. A short walk down memory lane.... I LOVED the fluoride when I was a kid. Those styrofoam molds filled with liquid flavored flouride and then biting down forever. Sounds like torture, but not for me. Makes me happy just thinking about it. Anyway, she had caramel flouride painted on (no more molds) and then she was done. Top it off w/a prize from the prize box and success! I think she'll go back.

A second success was strawberry picking this year. This year we went on opening day, which we've never done before. We will totally do that from now on. HUGE berries that last forever and delicious. Now the most rewarding part of the morning was realizing that our "grooming" for picking has worked beautifully. We each had a bucket and we showed Frannie what the berries needed to look like and what not to pick. Then she got the reminder to leave the green tops on. Then that spunky three year old took her bucket down the row away from us and proceeded to pick 3/4 of a bucket of perfect berries all by herself. Her system (hilarious) was to put her bucket down, then sprint down the row, pick a couple berries, sprint back to her bucket, drop them in, and repeat. And of course we ate a few too. So so good.

Testing

Well it's here. "NO" along with half-hearted attempts at throwing things, gentle hits, and light kicks. It's not very often but the first couple times it happened, I'll admit I was caught off guard. And it takes all I have to stifle my laugh. The other night we had the most awesome evening of shopping for Brian's birthday present and having dinner out just her and me. Well-behaved angel. And then we got home and I dared to utter the phrase "it's bedtime". I see now why toddlers are called bipolar. In a split second she morphed from angel to fire breathing satan, took some squishy sculpting stuff and threw a piece at me. As I walked away she then grabbed her blankie and tried to hit me with it. I couldn't help it, I started laughing and as I took the blankie kneeled down to her and said "What happened to you??!?"

She clearly was not finding any of this funny, especially the blankie being taken part, and thankfully only about 5 minutes later we were in pj's reading and ready for bed. Oh my. And I know....I've already heard it a million times....just wait.

For the other 98% of the time, we have been gardening, jumping on the new trampoline, playing in her new sandbox, and enjoying the outdoors as much as possible. Everything is lush and green and blooming here now and we have to take advantage of it while we can. We went ramp hunting for Booboo's birthday and after we found the spot, she grabbed her shovel and told me, "I'll be over here" and trudged through the woods to dig some up. The only downside to all the outdoor fun is watching for ticks. She has seen them, had them on her, and understands their terribleness. She woke up the other night crying..."I had a bad dream. Ticks. Poppas house." Poor kid.

Best Friend

I'm documenting this not only cause it's the cutest thing I've heard yet, but also for proof in the future.....

Bedtime is a bit tough for Frannie because she's scared of monsters/dinosaurs/bears/etc. Most nights as she's falling asleep she tells me she's scared and I tell her everything is ok and then I tell her to think about all the good stuff from the day so she doesn't think about the scary stuff. The other night I was listing all the fun things we did that day and when I was done she said, "that's too many." So I told her to just pick one. Her response, "I'll think about how you are my best friend mom."

I'll be reminding her of this when she's a teen.

It's finally Spring here so we've been able to play outside a bit. She has also started swimming lessons at the ymca. Amazing how a stranger can get her to float and "swim" when there's no chance in hell of her doing that with me. We've also had several play dates with one of her friends from school and that's great fun to see them play together. Poppa got a 4-wheeler and we rode that the other weekend. She didn't like the first ride, but after watching me ride by myself, she tried again and is hooked. And I was able to go to San Diego to visit Ben and Alan for a few days over Spring Break. It was awesome and Brian and Frannie survived just fine without me. 

3 for 1

Valentines Day. Birthday - the big 3. Easter. Three events, one post. Since it was January when I last posted, it seems as though I have some catching up to do.

Valentines Day was very fun this year. She got the idea of making valentines to show people we care and we had lots of fun with glue, glitter, "jewels", stickers, and sequins. I had her choose which  kids from her class should get which stickers, and it was interesting to see how she knew their personalities and likes already at this age. Then of course there was the candy. I can hear her brain thinking "Another reason to get candy? Awesome!" 

The Big 3. I'm starting to be fearful of her birthdays. Last year she got pneumonia on her birthday (at least we had the little "party") and this year, the Saturday before her party she started an epic sickness with a fever for 5 days. This followed an ear infection from the week before which she was still on antibiotics for. It wasn't the flu-we checked. Just some crazy virus. So the planned party at the Aquarium had to be cancelled. Luckily by her official birthday she was at least ready to eat her sprinkle cake. 

The Easter bunny came early to our house this year. I get to visit Ben and Alan in San Diego on official Easter so we went to Hayward last weekend and dyed eggs at both Mèmè and Poppas houses and that clever bunny hid those eggs at both places. There was lots less snow in Hayward so that was better for hunting. Although at the time of hunt number one, it was only 25 degrees and she was in snow pants and winter coat. She loves the hunt and the basket full of candy (MORE candy and ANOTHER stuffy) was of course the highlight. She's in for a rude awakening when she realizes there are no more candy holidays for a long time. Feast or famine.

Happy Holidays

Two weeks off for Christmas this year was phenomenal. We were able to do so much fun stuff this year- making Christmas cookies, making (and enjoying) a homemade advent calendar, playing in the snow, Bentleyville, and of course being with family and friends. This year Frannie "got" Santa so we did lots of talking about him. She was determined to "peek" at Santa when he got here. She was very generous and left Santa a cookie she didn't finish eating, an Oreo truffle that she didn't want, and a carrot for the reindeer. Apparently she was a good girl this year because Santa left her a guitar and skiis.

And a side note on that advent calendar...I was so proud of the mix of treats, toys, etc that I put in the little packets. After the first two days of packets she chose had candy, when she got the third one and it had a little toy she shook the packet a few times to see if something was still in there and when it became apparent that there was no candy in it, she (with a perplexed and slightly disgusted look) said "can I pick another one?" Then the next day she said, "I have one with candy in it?" 

We were able to spend time with Grandma Joy and Uncle Ken, Mème, Poppa, Bikkee, Uncle Bret/Aunt Anne/cousins Harry and Char, Meg, Val and other friends. Frannie had a great time opening presents and was a wonderful traveler. 

It's so fun watching her interests change and we are amazed by her pretend play. She is constantly telling me who to "be" or wanting me to talk for her stuffed animals or puppets. I love listening to her conversations she has with her toys.Her new favorite pretending is to pretend we are all at school and she's the teacher. She's put Daddy on several "breaks" for not being a good listener. That's hilarious.