Emerging potty humor

We're heading up for bedtime........

Giselle 1.9: (fart sound) Ewwwwwww!

Me:  What was that?!?!?!

Giselle: (laughter) Toot!  Poopy!

Me: Yuck!

Giselle: (louder laughter) I funny!

An emerging comedian is within the fold.

Junior calls

I got a call on my phone today.

Me: Hello?

Giselle 1.9: Hi Daddy!

Me: Is this Giselle?

Giselle: Mmmm Hmmmm

Me: What are you doing?

Giselle: Me cookie.

Me: You're eating a cookie?

Giselle: Mmmm Hmmmm

Me: That sounds good!

Giselle: Mommy got cookie.

Me: Mommy got you the cookie?

Giselle: Mmmm Hmmmm.

She then tried to hang up on me a couple of times before I said goodbye and ended the conversation.  That's the issue with having three ladies in the household.  Whole lotta talking going on and Daddy is expected to be part of that chatter.

Dance time

Kali 4.7 and Giselle 1.9 both watched 'Mamma Mia' with me the other night.  It's a good 'grown up' movie for them.  Lots of color, dancing, and songs to keep them interested.  I danced around with them for awhile just to keep them entertained.  Thankfully, they're too young to make fun of Daddy's dancing at this point.

Because of my occupation at an event location that has a lot of weddings, I had a realization.  I was dancing with them, spinning them, dipping them, etc.  I realized that some day, I'm going to be that dad, giving away his girls at a wedding, dancing with them at the reception, etc.  I'm not sure how well I'm going to do in that regard.  Ah well.  I have a couple decades at a minimum to figure that all out.

The Bookworm

Giselle 1.9 is all about learning.  If you're sitting on the couch in the living room, that girl will just bring one book after another until you cut her off.  There's been some nights where we had a pile of 20+ books sitting next to the couch after a marathon reading session.  Add in that we usually read each book twice and we're going through a LOT of books.

Not only are the books interesting to her, but she remembers the words on each page or things that Mommy or Daddy might have said about those pages in previous readings.  I often get caught off-guard while reading when she just spits out information about those pages before I even start reading.  There are some books that she has memorized.

I'm very blessed to have two kids who don't take after me in the intelligence department.

Kali the President.......

I was talking with Kali 4.7 about the money we were counting. We've been saving my money in a glass vase together for our trip to Disney World this fall.

Kali: Daddy, why are there pictures on all the money? 

Me: Those people are all people that were important in our history. 

Kali: Oh. Well who is that man? 

Me: That man is very important. He's the very first president of the United States. His name is George Washington. 

Kali: He was a president? 

Me: Yep. Kali: Well, I'm president of my room! I'm the boss in there! 

Me: Oh yeah? 

Kali: Yeah! I'm the boss! 

Me: Well, do you have your picture on the kingdom of Kali's money? 

Kali: No. 

Me: Why not? 

Kali: Well, I just don't. I'm a kid! I can't have my picture on money yet! 

Me: Fair enough. Maybe sometime in the future. 

Kali: Yep.

Saving for Disney........

I've been saving extra money from work as spending money for our trip to Disney World in September. Kali 4.4 asked what I was doing when I put some money in a glass. I told her I was putting money aside to use when we go on our trip. Kali told me she had money to help as well.

She ran into her room and came back with her piggy bank. She was excited to dump out the change in her piggy bank (which was quite a bit to be honest) and put it in the 'Disney Vase'. She's excited to keep saving more money for Disney and has already said she'd like to keep saving after our trip so 'we can go to Disney again!'.

One trip at a time, eh?

The best of the bunch........

My wife does everything for our family. She's nurturing, kind, considerate, loving, patient, helpful, and thoughtful. She's always looking out for the best interest of our children. She does whatever it takes to make sure they're always learning even when doing things that don't seem like learning.

As a result, my daughters love her unconditionally. When Mommy enters the room, anything being done at that time is dropped and the girls make sure to let Mommy know that they love her.

What a blessing that I have a wife that is such a good mother. She makes my job easy at times because she's able to do so much for our family. You can never thank someone enough for that, but I'll keep trying.

Just to be clear.........

Kali 4.2 had to clear up an issue with Daddy a couple days ago:

Kali: Today at school, all the boys stood on one side of the room and all the girls stood on the other side of the room.

Me: Which side did you stand on?

Kali: (laughing) I stood on the GIRL side.

Me: What?

Kali: I said I stood on the GIRL side!

Me: Wait, your a girl?

Kali: YES!

Me: When did this happen?

Kali: It happened when I was born a girl. God made me a girl.

Me: Oh, he made you a girl?

Kali: YES!

Me: Oh, well that's good to know.

Kali: (giggling)

First night being a 'big girl'..........

I just took down Giselle 1.5's crib tonight and replaced it with a toddler bed. She's in her room right now trying to figure out what's going on.

She's very excited to have her own bed. She rolled around in it and checked it out with Kali 4.2. She decided to toss her pillow out of bed. She wanted to lay down without a pillow. She's got 'bunny', 'puppy', and 'blanket' in there to keep her company.

We'll see how it goes. Hopefully a nice quiet evening.

Glad we're rid of him.......

The U.S. Navy Seal Team knocked on Osama Bin Laden's door a few days ago and gave him his final punishment: death. He obviously deserved it and it was long overdue.

I'm sure that his death won't end terrorism as we know it. There will always be another idiot looking to gain power by attempting to strike fear in the hearts of people. With that said, I'm glad that my daughters will never have to know a world with Bin Laden. I'm also glad that they'll be able to look back in their history books and see that a bad guy who did some terrible things eventually was dealt with by our armed forces and that he wasn't able to get away with his actions without consequences.

Hopefully his computers have an address book of names that we can deal with the same as we dealt with Osama.

Where's the words?

Giselle 1.5 has some issues with communication right now. She'd like to have things or do things, but she's decided that she's going to stick with grunting and yelling rather than migrate over to asking specifically for what she wants. We know she knows the words, but (even the second time around) it can lead to frustration by both Giselle and me.

I think part of the problem may be that Giselle is a bit more like Daddy than Kali 4.2 has been. Kali's very nurturing and doesn't hide her emotions much like her mom. Giselle is very forward and lets you know exactly how she feels much like Daddy. It should provide an excellent learning experience for me as I learn how to parent my doppelganger.

You know it's time to potty.........

Giselle 1.5 and Kali 4.2 decided to take a bath together last night. Kali said that she needed to go potty before the bath. She went over and sat on the toilet to do her business.

Giselle had her diaper off. Giselle saw Kali and said 'Potty!'. She ran over to the toddler potty and sat right down on it. She then stood up and said 'Potty!' again. She walked to the other end of the bathroom, turned to look at me, and then went potty on the spot.

The effort is there, but we're going to have to work on the timing.

Notes from the world of chaos.......

-When your four year old brings home 'pretty rocks' from the neighbor's yard that include shards of glass, it's very difficult to convince them that the shard of glass is not a pretty rock.

-A one year old child that gets excited while holding a fork can be very dangerous, especially when a prong of said fork flies into their mouth and pokes a hole in their gums.

-Dogs who roll in poop in the backyard can stink for a very long time.

-Giving a young child a balance platform to play with can lead to issues when they fall off that balance ball.

-Having your two daughters go up to play in their room together is a wonderful thing.......until the first time one of them decide that sharing isn't an option.

-Bathing two children together is always a good idea. They splash each other rather than you.

-Having a one year old who believes a toilet is a drinking fountain is a problem. She rightfully earns the name 'poopy-breath'.

On the move...........

Giselle 1.2 has taken her first steps over the past week or so. She can walk a few steps before falling down or reaching her destination.

Last night, I asked her to walk over to me. She did it the first couple of times. After that, it became a game for her. She'd walk a few steps, fall down intentionally, and then crawl back to start over. She did this about 10 times, falling in the same spot each time. She thought it was pretty funny that Daddy wanted her to come over, but she never made it. Kali 4.0 soon joined in and Giselle would walk over and fall down before reaching Kali as well.

It's only a matter of time before Kali starts copy-catting her sister's antics. Heaven help us.

An impact.......

At work today, I had a group of four retired ladies come in to visit. One of them had visited previously and decided to bring three of her friends out to see the place. She and her friends visit a new place each month just to broaden their horizons a bit. I gave them a full tour of our winery and they loved it all. They were thrilled to see so much of the history being saved for future visitors to see.

I put together a couple of cheese plates and let them try a couple of the wines. They chatted about a bunch of things while I was doing some work around the building. When they were finished up, two of them both told me that I had made their day by taking them through the place and chatting with them. While we run a business that is highly based on customer service, it's always nice to hear someone note that your efforts to make them feel welcome have made a positive impact on their day. Things like that boost you to do just as well for the next customers that walk through your doors.

Random notes.........

-When you go into a Wal-Mart, always note that the older gentleman with a name tag that says 'greeter' is just that, a greeter. If you ask him where an electronics item is, he's likely to look at you with a clueless look.

-If you suddenly realize that your greeter has hearing aids, you then have to decipher whether he couldn't hear your question or if he doesn't know what the item is you're asking about.

-When your four year-old makes observations that you never thought she noticed, you're in big trouble as a parent.

-A second child learns things much faster when watching the first born child. Giselle 1.2 may not be talking, but she's wicked smart.

-Running your own business brings on all new forms of challenges, but it's fantastic to invest your time in something you believe in as opposed to investing your time on what you feel are fruitless endeavors.

-It's amazing how many businesses don't understand that a smile and friendly conversation goes a long, long way to making customers very happy.

The letter of the day.......

The other day, we were in the car on a drive home. I decided to mix things on the ride to keep things interesting.

Me: Kali, do you know what the letter of the day is?

Kali 4.0: What's the letter of the day, Daddy?

Me: I'm going to let you pick it! What's the letter of the day?

Kali 4.0: The letter of the day is 'A'!

Me: Great choice! So now let's name some words that start with 'A'!

Kali 4.0: Apple starts with 'A'. Acorn starts with 'A'.

Me: OK, my turn. Ant starts with 'A'.

Mrs. Lime: I've got one! Orangutan!

Me: (Laughing) Did you just say "orangutan"?

Mrs. Lime: (smiling a nervous grin) Yes, doesn't that start with 'A'?

Me: (Laughing harder) Try an 'O'.

Mrs. Lime: (Laughing) Oh.

Dinner equity

Tonight's dinner was hot dogs. The breakdown was as follows:

Daddy - 2 hot dogs
Mommy - 2 hot dogs
Kali 3.11 - 2 hot dogs
Giselle 1.2 - 2 hot dogs

You know your family has reached an interesting transition point when the kids are eating just as much for dinner as the parents. Evidently, we've reached that point.