10 Reasons My Preschoolers Smiled Today

You know all of those posts about Why My Toddler is Screaming? There’s even an entire blog devoted to it. We’ve all read them. And we’ve probably all laughed (or cringed) because we’ve been in the same boat as the parents taking those pictures.

But you know what? There’s an equal number of reasons that my preschoolers have been smiling lately. Here are just the first 10 that come to mind:

1. Tickle fights. This one is a little bit obvious, but there is nothing that gets my kids laughing like being tickled. Except maybe getting to tickle mommy.

2. Doing something new by themselves. Both of my older kids are fairly independent (shocking, I know), so learning a new skill tends to lead to excited exclamations like “I did it!” accompanied by a big grin.

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Our first kids’ party

This past Saturday we had another 2^nd birthday party for Lynnie. This time it was for “her friends.” Okay, so it was for my friends who have kids around Lulu’s age. We had a BLAST!

The party started at 2 in the afternoon, and Lulu started waiting by the front door around 1:30 saying “friends. over.” When our friend Sarah and baby W arrived, Lulu was so excited! And then she realized that she had to share her toys. But she got over that pretty quickly, and had a fantastic day.

Happy Lynnie Day

(a much too detailed account of my daughter’s 2^nd birthday)

*Fair warning: this post contains a lot of details because I want to remember everything about my little girl’s special day. If reading detailed accounts of mundane activities isn’t your thing, suffice it to say that her 2^nd birthday was pretty great.

“Mommy, c[ome] on. Mommy, wake. Mommy.” It’s not a bad way to start the day, really. Lulu calmly let us know that she was awake and ready for the day around 8 this morning. I went into her bedroom and found her laying sideways in her crib, happy to see me. “Hi, Mommy. Happy Lynnie day!”

I can’t believe my baby girl turned 2 today. I want to remember every detail of the day, because it really was a happy day.

The Best “Job” in the World

How can my baby girl be almost 2? Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was getting up in the middle of the night to feed her instead of her baby brother? Now, my 3 am snuggle time is spent with our son instead of our daughter. It’s our son who’s learning how to roll over, discovering his hands and cooing when I make silly noises.

Lulu, on the other hand, seems to learn something new every day. Her vocabulary is constantly expanding, and she’s starting to put words together. Last night, I gave Lulu her bubble bath and read her a book. After saying her prayers and singing our nighttime song, I gave her a hug and laid her in bed. As I was leaving her bedroom, she said “Nigh-night. Love you. Buh-bye.”

The Girl in the Mirror

Have you ever thought about how many things we have to learn early in life? It’s amazing to think about all of the little skills that Lulu has already learned. Things like sitting back down after you stand up or putting lego blocks together required so much effort at first. Now she can do both of those things without thinking.

The newest lesson I’m trying to teach Lulu is that the girl in the mirror is her. She loves looking at the mirror and showing herself how to do things.

Happy kiddos make for a happy mommy

I wish I had brought a tape recorder with us to dinner tonight. Out of nowhere, Lulu started saying the word happy. Other than mommy, dada and nana, this is really the only word that she pronounces really well.

Ha – pee. Ha – pee. Ha – pee.