Oh, Minnie. She’s the most wonderful thing to wake up to. After 6 am. She’s so boisterous and ridiculous. You should see her do yoga with me. It is such a joy to look at the mat next to you and see 35 pounds of toddler hugging her knees to her chest or holding her fat little hands at heart’s center. Today the video told us to feel our bodies, and she started patting her stomach. I can’t get enough. Which is good because she is my shadow.
Minnie and I are loving our routine, you guys. Swim class! Gym class with a cookie after! Trips to the library, watching tons of TV while I answer emails. Every day is a delight.
Can you even believe she made me take this out and just do a plain old low braid over her shoulder? NOT ENOUGH VISUAL INTEREST IN THE FRONT, she said. (She is the funniest person I know).
Sometimes butterflies need to make a call, you know?
Have I shared this amazing lazy mom enrichment hack? Store all the puzzle pieces in one basket and dump them all out at once. (I keep the boards on the bottom book shelf) Not only does she have to do the puzzles (which individually are a little too easy for her), but she also has to sort the pieces. Takes a loooong time and holds her interest. WINNING.
She loves to bake. Every day she asks to make something specific, and I am here for it. This was a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
This week, she really really really wanted Ben to go to The Little Gym with her, and he was able to make it work on the way to a meeting (like he left the big red mat and went straight there— I had to tag team and help Minnie get her stamp, etc— as soon as Ben was done banging that drum (it’s a Little Gym joke--maybe too niche), he was OUT). How adorbs are these pictures? I forgot to mention to Ben that Minnie NEVER does the warm up, so he cajoled her the whole time and took her non-participation personally
"Not only does she have to do the puzzles (which individually are a little too easy for her), but she also has to sort the pieces." This made me laugh! I cheated my kids out of serious enrichment opportunities because I used to store each puzzle set in little ziploc baggies. Your way is a lot easier and would have occupied a lot more time.
ReplyDeleteI love how much you delight in Minnie. I don't think I reveled in my toddlers as much as you do and I regret that now. They had great lives (as evidenced by slowly rewatching all our home videos from said toddlerhoods), but I do think I'd settle back and enjoy it a bit more now because it's hard to replicate their squishy delightfulness.
That’s how I always stored puzzles for the other kids too because I wanted to contain the mess. But compared to teen boys (**vomit**) Minnie’s messes are darling and they don’t bother me at all. The joy of a midlife baby, I guess.
DeleteAwwww...those photos ARE adorable. What a lovely sight to see how excited they both were to be at the gym together.
ReplyDeleteI had SO much fun watching them though the glass
DeleteThis makes me want a toddler so bad. She is SO CUTE. And your absolute delight in her personality brings me so much joy.
ReplyDeleteListen some people got a pandemic puppy; I had a late in life pandemic toddler LOL
DeleteBen in a dress shirt and tie at My Little Gym is too cute!!
ReplyDeleteYou have so much more joy for this stage than I do... Paul was still pretty fun at this age. Will is super challenging with lots of BIG feelings - like screaming/crawling on the ground type of tantrums in the morning for no discernable reason!
Also, my almost-5yo weighs 32 lbs!! We think Will seems SO BIG since he's 28 lbs at just over 2. But really, he's petite for his age, too. Paul asked us when he can get a booster seat... but I think he is sooo far away from being big enough for one!!
Minnie is a big girl. At 9, Dorothy just crossed the 60-pound threshold and will be in a car booster until like high school. Oh big toddler feelings-- SO BIG-- I totally get that. And at least Ben took his suit coat off before class LOL.
DeleteI love that you're doing yoga with Minnie. I am sure that's a delight. ;)
ReplyDelete