Rainbow the Bunny Bear

Arielle went to her first Build-A-Bear party this weekend for her friend's 3rd birthday. It was quite an interesting experience but what sticks out to me the most is the name that Arielle gave her new pink bunny bear. She decided that Rainbow would be a fitting name because the bunny had rainbow-striped ears! What amazed me about her choice is that the other kids all picked names like bear, bunny and some named them after their own names. I was so proud of Arielle for using logic to choose her bunny bear's name!

The Adventures of the Lion Cup

Upon waking Arielle up for school this morning, the first thing she said was, "I want my lion cup". At first I thought she was still dreaming but after she got out of bed and walked to the top of the stairs she repeated it, I realized that she was determined to have her lion cup. It must have been to early for my brain because I could not remember such a cup and thought she was making it up. I let her look through all the cabinets at all the plastic cups but none of them were satisfying her requirment. At last, I found a cup from the zoo that had pictures of lots of different animals, including lions! I tried to convince Arielle that this was her lion cup but she was not happy at all. She suggested that we look in the sink for her special lion cup but there was nothing in there. Finally, it came down to tears and out of frustration I resorted to opening the dishwasher to try to produce a cup that would make her happy again and there it was...the lion cup that just last week was the only cup that she would drink from! I tried to explain to her that mommy forgot about that cup and I was sorry I didn't know what she was talking about from the beginning but how do you explain a BRAIN FART to a two year old?

That reminds me, last night we were playing with the new puppy, Lexi, and I called her a "dork" because of something silly that she did. Arielle promptly told me "Oh honey-that wasn't a nice thing to say". I knew what she was correcting me for but I played dumb and asked her what I said that wasn't nice. She replied, "Dork" is not a nice word to say. Thanks for the lessons, my dear! So how do you explain playful teasing to a two year old?

Memories of Easter

The Easter Bunny was very good to Arielle this year and she was quite thankful! Mommy and Daddy let her eat candy pretty much all day because taking it away from her after giving it to her just didn't seem fair. She really did eat it in moderation though and always asked before she ate it. I wasn't surprised when I picked her up from school on Monday and she held her stomach and told me she had a stomachace. I think all the sugar caught up with her little body and just couldn't handle it anymore. She went home and laid on the couch for about an hour than proclaimed that she wasn't sick anymore and asked for another piece of candy!

We dyed eggs again this year. Mixing colors wasn't as big of a priority as putting her fingers in the dye. They turned a greenish/brownish color and it didn't was out for the next 24 hours. Despite the mild snowstorm on Easter Eve, Arielle's first egg hunt was a success as well. We decided to have it indoors so Zak hid eggs in every nook and cranny. She enjoyed having the neighbor's grandaughters over to join in the hunt and was very amused by it all. She even found a hidden egg the next day so it seemed as if the fun never ended for her! In the true nature of someone that shares my genes, Arielle immediately began sorting her eggs after the hunt. She chose to do this over making a craft which to me shows that she will be following in her mom's footsteps along the path of OCD.

Meet the Newest Member of the McMahan Clan

Her name is Lexi...short for Alexis Marie. She was born on Christmas day which makes her 3 months old tomorrow. Her hair is black and tan and is a half breed (half Alaskan Malamute, half German Shepard). She's already weighing in at 18 pounds and her paws are bigger than her face...they are about the size of a baseball! Her favorite activities are running away with our shoes, digging in the sandbox and pulling Arielle's clothes (with Arielle in them). She is very hungry all the time and goes completely insane after she eats. Thank God for a big, grassy yard!

At first we thought that the puppy would be great for Arielle but Zak and I are enjoying her more than anybody. Sierra, our ten year old Shepard/Husky mix had fun playing with Lexi the first day that we brought her home but now her tired old bones can't keep up with the puppy. Alas, there is no rest for the weary and until Sierra can show Lexi who is the boss there will be no end to the taunting, nipping and jumping. We had hoped they could be playmates but this may just be a love-hate relationship in the making. Arielle has learned to tell Lexi, NO BITING (like Swiper, no swiping!-it's a Dora thing). Other than that she doesn't have much else to say to Lexi.

Although a puppy is nothing like a baby, they sure do satisfy the craving for one (at least for now)...

Something to Ponder

Arielle has been an angel this week. She even managed to keep her cool on a day that mommy slept in and we still made it to school and work on time. I was so proud of her. Arielle has been transitioning to her new classroom this week and has done a great job. This is not surprising since her old teacher and old friends are in the new room. When I picked her up on the day she spent the most time in there, as we were walking out the door one of her little friends, Kayla, came running over to say bye. She proceeded to give Arielle a very big hug and Arielle kissed her cheek. It was so sweet and pure friendship. They seemed very happy to be reuinted after a couple of months apart. I couldn't help but think that in a couple of months they may pulling out each other's hair instead of hugging because that is what best friends do at times.

Arielle is looking very forward to Easter this weekend. Just this morning she woke up and asked me if Easter was today. She is doing good learning the days of the week and all about the work-week and weekends but she still needs daily reminders to keep things clear in her mind.

American Flag

Arielle went to a gymnastics birthday party this weekend and received a generous bag of party favors. To our surprise, Arielle pulled a little flag out of the bag and said, "It's an American Flag"! We both wondered how she knew it was an AMERICAN flag. Shortly thereafter she began to rehearse the Pledge of Allegiance which explained it all! Apparently they rehearse this every day at her school. Who knew? I thought this pledge was banned from classrooms years ago. I think it's great!

Daddy, what did you burn?

We decided to turn the oven on self-clean yesterday and boy did it stink up the house. I don't know if the scent woke Arielle up from her nap but she came out of her room and stood at the top of the stairs and shouted, "Daddy, what did you burn"? It was too funny and too cute!

Woe is me

Alas, Arielle's streak of sweetness has worn off as she has been struck by the sick bug. For the past two days she has been crabby, difficult, non-compliant, etc., etc.. Last night Arielle did everything the opposite of what I asked her and this morning she cried whenever we told her to do something. Her phrase of the day was, "You don't understand". It must be difficult for young kids when they don't feel well because they can't communicate very well with adults to tell us what is wrong. I know that Arielle doesn't feel good but she won't ever tell me. All I can do is try to remain patient while she fights off this bug and continue to fight it off myself.

Goldilocks?

The other morning right after Arielle woke up she blurted out, "Mommy-you like it cold, Daddy likes it hot and I like it warm". I asked her what I liked to be cold and she said "lunch". I couldn't figure out what she was talking about until she came home from school yesterday and told me that she went in the three little bears house and sat in their beds and chairs. Perhaps this is where she came up with this funny notion. In any case, it was pretty random yet well thought out.

Zak built Arielle's new playhouse last weekend and she loves it! Her biggest fear is that the storm will blow it down or it will be windy inside so she closes the door and window quite often. She also enjoys doing the dishes at the sink then putting them away on the shelves. It will be a great past-time for her this summer.

What can I say?

So I feel as though I have been slacking by not posting a blog this week thus far, but the fact is that Arielle has been so well behaved that I don't know what to write. Of course she has been saying and doing cute little things like when we rode home from school the other day we drove by a park and she said, "that is where people watch other people." We talked about the weather and when I told her that Spring was almost here she said, "then the birds will be in their nests and the trees will be green"...maybe not those words but something to that effect. Arielle has just been such a joy and a pleasure to be around...never thought I would say that and I mean this in a good way because the phrase "Terrible Twos and Threes" exists due to the nature of kids at this age. I just thought I'd share my bliss with others and hopefully (knock on wood) I am not jinxing myself.

Saved by the Bell

We were awoken this morning to the sound of our blaring alarm. Upon running downstairs, Zak found Arielle standing at the backdoor with her snow boots on. When he asked her what she was doing she said it was snowing but she was going to go in her new playhouse. Yesterday it reached over seventy degrees but sadly, today it has already snowed at least two inches. I guess Arielle had one thing on her mind this morning; come rain, wind or snow she was going back to her playhouse! I wonder what would have happened if we weren't saved by the bell this morning...