Timeout Bites

I know I haven't blogged in awhile.  I should starting listing excuses why... but it all comes down to I just didn't feel like it.  So to make it up to you, this will be a long post full of pictures and video!

So it turns out Jake and I are behind on the whole parenting thing.  I found out our friends have started disciplining at a much younger age.  So recently Jake and I sat down and discussed what we were going to do, for what behaviors, how long, etc... We decided to start with good ol' timeout.  Literally within 30 minutes of our discussion Scarlett was playing in the dishwasher and kept going back even though I said 'no'.  So I picked her up and was going to put her in timeout when SHE BIT ME on my shoulder - and hard!  I had a bruise for a week!  OUCH!  After that I felt no remorse putting her in her little corner.  Yikes!

Last week Scarlett and I went to a local Apple Orchard/Petting Zoo.  We met other ladies/kids from the ward and had a great time!


Jake and I have had many discussions about the blessings of living here in Michigan.  It's really hard being away from all our family, but we feel that this is the place we need to be for our little family.  One such blessing is we have had the Sister Missionaries in our home a lot - over 8 times I think!  It's been so great to feel the spirit they bring and discuss how we can share the gospel.

A few weeks ago the Sisters introduced Jake and I to an investigator.  He's a college student who started dating a member and began investigating the church.  He's awesome!  We have many of the discussions/lessons in our home Sunday night.  It's grrreat!!!  The first time he was here we were talking about some spiritual stuff and he was sitting on our black couch.  Scarlett walked over to his side of the couch and pushed the electric recliner button.  So here he was telling a deep story while slowly starting to recline all the way to laying down.  Then she left - he was like "can I put the chair back?" it was hilarious!  Then she brought him a little American flag she has on a wooden dowel.  He took it and just held it.  She looked at him for a minute patiently, then she waved her arm back and forth and went "whoosh whoosh whoosh"!  So he obliged and waved the flag.  I bet you didn't know that Scarlett was sooo patriotic!  :-)  The investigator has such an amazing testimony.  We feel so uplifted by his faith.  He is getting baptized THIS SATURDAY!!!  But I'll put more details about that in another blog post.

Scarlett changes every day!  I can't believe all the things she knows! (mostly cause I don't remember teaching them to her...)  Here's a little summary of what she's up to these days:

Playing with Dad.  She and Jake are bffs!  At church she decorates his tie and he lovingly wears those stickers to all his meetings (and gets many compliments too!).

 

Learning to share.  I've been inviting lots of my new ward friends over to our house.  Scarlett has had a hard time sharing.  She has 2 baby strollers and instead of giving one to her friend she finds it necessary to maneuver both of them at the same time.  A work in progress.  Ironically she gets along best with the Bingham boys (ages 3 & 5).  She loves when they rough house!  Even when she gets knocked over!

Shopping.  I try my best to time our shopping trips just right (little window after lunch and before nap).  But occasionally we've ventured out at different times of the day, with different results.  Usually if they have a fun cart/car she'll be fine.  Sometimes she falls asleep.  But mostly she'll just scream - that's my favorite *sarcasm*.

Playing.  She is starting to invent her own little games and interests.  One of her favorite things is the bird bath in front of our house.  Before bath time one night we walked outside and were sitting on the porch.  She walked all the way to the bird bath over the rocks in her bare feet!  Crazy girl!!!

She also likes to sit in boxes/containers and crawl under stuff.  If I have my legs more than shoulder width apart she'll walk right through them - unfortunately she's not quite short enough to make it, so if I'm not paying attention she gets a face full of mommy booty!

I have a little mirror I hung in front of her car seat.  She likes to play peek a boo with her reflection!

Favorite things.  Scarlett really loves SpongeBob SquarePants.  Ironically we don't watch the cartoon.   But she goes crazy for anything with his face on it.  Stickers, toys, her shampoo.  She has little plastic SpongeBob figurines from McDonalds that she pushes around in her stroller.  I have no idea why she loves him so much!  She gets so excited when I start to sing "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

She loves shoes.  Whenever I open my closet door she makes a beeline for our shoes.  She'll bring some for us to wear and she loves to put them on our feet.  Or she'll try on our shoes.  She hasn't quite mastered how to walk in her daddy's shoes yet.

Puppies!!!  She loves loves loves loves loves loves loves looooooooooooooooves puppies!!!!!!!  Here's a picture of Scarlett kissing her little puppy.  She loves them.  Oh, and did I mention that she loves puppies?  She's going to be so disappointed when she learns what "mommy's allergic to puppies" means!

New Teeth.  She steals our toothbrushes - even though she has her own - and uses them as chew toys.  I think she likes them because she can maneuver them to exactly where she needs them.  I noticed just this morning that she has two new upper canine teeth.

 

Giggle fest!  I just love her little laugh but I never seem to get it on film.  When I was at the Bingham's house Jamie was able to record the tail-end of her giggle fest for me.

Loving Nursery.  Jake drops her off and she doesn't look back.  The leader told us that she asks for "bubbles?" the whole 2 hours, but they don't do bubbles til the end.  Hopefully she'll learn some patience!  I can tell she likes the music.  She sings to herself during the week and I catch her doing the actions.  So we've started practicing them at home.  Here are two of her favorite songs (right before bed time, so she's a little out of it).

Do As I'm Doing

Popcorn Popping

Random things: she is learning her body parts and often tries to poke my eyes while saying "eye eye eye".  She knows many animal sounds like: dog, cat, owl, bird, monkey, snake, bee, cow, mouse, horse, elephant, etc..  She loves to smell flowers and makes the best scrunchy sniff face.  She also likes to smell Vicks Vapor rub even though it makes her eyes water!  She babbles in her sleep.  She loves to dance.  The other night when we were going to bed she started scratching my head and tickling my ear like I do to her each night!  SOOOO CUTE!!!  She's started throwing little tantrums - hence the timeouts.  We're working on that.  She's a great eater, she loves apples and cheese.  She drinks lots of water and chocolate milk.  She'll eat most of what we eat (Mexican, Indian, Asian, American dishes) but if she decides she doesn't like something all we have to do is dip it in Ranch dressing and she'll eat it.  Sometimes just pretending to dip it will get her to eat it!  If I put the Ranch on her plate she'll just eat it straight with her spoon, so we have to regulate it from our plates.

My hair... Jake thought it was time for a change, so he suggested I try teal in my hair!  I'm not sure how I feel about it quite yet - but it is a fun change!