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While we were on vacation, my mother-in-law gave Buttercup a Corelle doll.  It’s Lila, the interactive model.  She cries, laughs, coos, and makes sucking sounds.  It’s absolutely charming.

Buttercup has never had a baby doll that makes the sounds the way this one does.  She has become an absolute little mother.  If Lila is lying on her stomach, she cries and cries.  (The sounds aren’t loud or jarring – all the same, thank God for the off-switch in the back of the doll!)  Buttercup picks her up and pats her gently to soothe her.  I think the pacifier she came with quiets her down, too.  If I were expecting another baby, I’d say that Lila is a great way to introduce the idea of a newborn’s habits to a sibling.

We already have a bunch of the Corelle doll accessories – the playpen, the stroller, the bottle and feeding sets.  It was a dream come true for her to actually get Lila.  I had bought the Corelle accessories for her other dolls, and now Lila feels right at home here :)  I almost feel guilty about the other dolls being neglected!

My mother in law has had the doll for some time, and she’s been making the most exquisite dresses for Lila by hand.  They’re beautiful – with lace edges and all kinds of beautiful seaming.  So, when she presented Buttercup with Lila – there was a full set of clothes ready for Buttercup’s eager little hands to explore and tug onto the doll.  I really think it’s a great doll baby for her to get used to the idea that babies cry, they need to be fed, and their diapers need to be changed.  Already, we’ve changed the doll’s clothes more times than I can count.

The Corelle product information says the dolls and the clothes she came with are machine washable, and I’m hoping we can keep Lila for a very long time.  The doll has a soft scent too.  She actually smells like a baby.  Apparently, Lila won the Oppenheim Best Toy Platinum Seal, and the Corelle dolls are generally parent pleasers.  She keeps Buttercup busy, and what else can you ask for in a doll baby?

We finally got Buttercup a pair of rain boots.  I have firmly decided that rain boots are the most wonderful product for children.

We bought them while we were on vacation.  We went to a Disney store, and she was having a blast – fascinated by all the adorable products.  They had two pairs of rain boots on sale – Daisy Duck or Tigger & Pooh.  Rather than pick from the boots on sale, she spotted a pink pair of Minnie Mouse boots.  Those were the ones we ended up getting, and she loves them.

While we were on vacation, it rained quite a bit, and she was thrilled to be stomping away in the puddles – reveling in the splash factor.  Now, everywhere we go, she has her eyes open for puddles.  I might just let her wear the rain boots for the rest of April everywhere we go.  It’s been raining almost every other day, and the puddles can be found anywhere.  The parking lots seem to have the most, and there’s a church parking lot down the street from us that’s always empty.  She’s been soaked and muddy every night, just the way an April toddler should be.  I swear, the muddier and dirtier she is at bedtime these days, the better I feel about my parenting.  The great outdoors are back in play, and I cannot say I’m sorry to see January – March go.

I find myself wishing I had a pair of rain boots to stomp with her :)  Maybe I’ll find a pair in mommy-size so I can be a puddle-stomping mommy with my little gal.

The walking weather is sneaking back into our life, and I’m thrilled.  I’ve got to get stronger again.  It’s been a long winter stuck between the walls with Buttercup.

We walked around downtown for two hours yesterday.  It’s strange how having an adorable child gives everyone license to talk to you.  I’m naturally anti-social, and I prefer to be left alone for the most part.  My husband says I want to be alone in a room in a house full of people, and he’s absolutely right.

Anyway, I think five people stopped to talk to us and tell Buttercup they liked her scarf, sunglasses, or sparkly shoes.  She really has a certain sense of style.  She loves her accessories, and she piles on plastic bracelets, hair bows, mommy’s socks, and a pair of glittery shoes like a bizarre fashionista.  Everyday is a dress-up party.

The folks at our local toy store were chatting us up, and the girl stopped to tell another patron that Buttercup always wore sparkly shoes.  I kind of paused and realized that for the past year and a half or so, she’s been wearing red or silver sparkly shoes.  She adores them.  When we were in downtown, a woman leaned down and said, “I like your shoes!  They’re pretty.”  Buttercup, in her turn, smiled and said, “I know,” in her singsong voice.  She’s truly toddling down the baby catwalk!

On a brighter note, Buttercup has her first tricycle from Grandma and Grandpa!  Oh, it’s a speedy devil, and she loves it.  It really is the cutest thing on the face of the planet.  Daddy had spotted one in the park and liked it.  I think tricycles are somehow the man’s territory - like men love cars or something.  Nevertheless, he had his favorite picked out for his mom and dad.

It’s a Radio Flyer Tricycle with a handle for us to control the steering.  Basically, we can push her all over the park in that hot-rod, and she loves it.  She was busy, busy, busy in the park collecting pine cones for the little trunk on the back.  I pushed her around the duck pond for what felt like a thousand times with her little sneakers pedaling as fast as they could go.  No one was using the tennis courts, so I took her inside of the court, and she had a field day.  She slept very well that night as did I!

So, over the holiday, Buttercup received two dolls.  One of the dolls was from Aunt, an adorable Cabbage Patch doll w/red hair.  Now, Daddy and I had talked about getting her a Cabbage Patch doll, and he said that she was already getting one doll, and really, he doesn’t think Cabbage Patch dolls are cute.  I see where he’s coming from.  I guess, if you weren’t a little girl in the 80’s, it doesn’t make much sense why those fugly dolls are so cute.

I had a Cabbage Patch with red hair that I loved a whole lot.  My grandmother got her for me.  Aunt digs the Cabbage Patch fetish, and she and I were in cahoots to get Buttercup one for Christmas.  We’re a pair of very determined women!  So, Buttercup got her Cabbage Patch doll w/red hair - she’s decided it’s the “Mommy” doll, and I can’t imagine why :)

I’ve never liked puzzles.  As a child, I remember looking at a large jigsaw puzzle and thinking, “Why would you spend all that time putting something together only to take it apart?”  Well, things haven’t changed much for me.  Personally, puzzles are not something I enjoy doing as a hobby.

It’s in my nature to be a touch anal-retentive about things.  I think it comes from my father.  Anyway, nothing bothers me quite the same way as puzzles with missing pieces.  Well, apparently, the same goes for Buttercup.  If one of her 483290483209432890 puzzles is missing a piece, all hell breaks out.  It’s remarkable.

She adores puzzles.  And even though I dislike doing puzzles as a personal pastime, I love doing them with her.  She does so well with them.  I can break out 10 puzzles, lay them on the floor of the nursery, and she’s busy baby for a solid 30 minutes.  She’s really moving onto jigsaw puzzles, not just the simpler puzzles.  Her daddy does great at helping her with these, too.  I think he enjoys doing puzzles simply for the thought process of making it all work.  She’s getting a ton of Melissa and Doug Puzzles for Christmas, which I hope helps feed her passion for puzzles.  Maybe I’ll be able to ditch the puzzles with missing pieces on the sly :)

Buttercup, for the first time, has been getting scared at night.  It’s the most heart-rending thing I’ve ever come across, that child in her pajamas saying, “Mommy, I’m scared.”  I think it’s the sirens at night.  Whenever she hears a fire truck or cop car, it upsets her a lot even though we’ve had conversations about this and tried to make it a happy thing.  Let’s face it:  sirens sound scary.

She’s never had a “lovey.”  It’s just never been her thing.  I think I’m the lovey.  However, we took the advice of a friend and went and purchased Twilight Turtle.  He’s basically a nightlight with a soft huggable body and a shell with star cut-outs that cast constellations around the nursery.  She’s totally in control of it and can push various buttons to change the color of the light.  The shades are soothing and mellow.  She appears to be enthralled so far, and we’ve had talks about if she gets scared, she can turn on Twilight Turtle.

What really led me to looking for something like this is that my little electrical estimator’s granddaughter loves light switches.  In fact, one of the things that helps her at night is climbing up onto the chair I’ve placed under the light switch to turn off the light.  She likes to be in control of the lighting, and I can dig it.  So, now she has a little night light that she can operate.  Here’s hoping!

Here’s the problem with toddler shoes:  they fit for like two weeks.  My Buttercup is growing like a weed.  It seems like every month I have to buy her new shoes.  In fact, I do.

The other day, we went to a local department store to get her new shoes, and I nearly had a stroke.  When did toddler shoes start costing more than mine?  I mean, good God.  Children’s shoes cost so much money; it’s amazing.  Because, it’s not like they need one new pair:  oh no, no.  My little girl needs a whole new collection of shoes.  Whether it’s dress shoes, sneakers, boots, slippers, or whatever, when Buttercup needs shoes, it’s not just a pair:  it’s an arsenal of new shoes.

What really drove me nuts was that I could not find a pair of little girl shoes that were lace-ups or Velcro.  What I mean by that is that there wasn’t a pair that fully covered her foot.  They were all “Mary-Jane” style shoes with a cute little strap across her foot.  Welp, it’s getting to be freezing cold around here, and I want a little more than that.  We found a set of “Thomas the Train” shoes that I’m sure were designed for little boys, but there weren’t any available in her size.  So, I ended up with a pair of Disney Princess Sneakers that are entirely ridiculous except she can get them on and off without assistance.  That does come in handy, to be honest.  However, I just can’t believe how much they cost.  Don’t they entail like 85% less material than my shoes?  My baby fashionista, I wouldn’t have anything less, but dear God….give me a break!

The dollhouse continues to fascinate Buttercup.  It’s just the sweetest thing in the world to watch my little girl play with her “buddies” in that dollhouse.  She’s positively motherly with them.  She has a couple sets of the Calico Critters:  they’re basically families of animals.  Lovingly, she puts those little babies into the dollhouse beds, meticulously tucking the blanket around them.

It’s so sweet.  I’ve been eyeing up the dollhouse we bought for her since she was a wee baby.  It’s been on display in our favorite local toy store since I think I was pregnant.  I remember we went in to start buying toys for the nursery, and I saw it, and I thought about how much fun she would have with it when she was a “big girl.”  Well, the big girl days are here, and she’s such a competent little toddler, running and climbing and jumping through the world.  It just fascinates me how she reenacts the world through that dollhouse.  What kills me is when she role plays the little babies saying, “Mommy!  Mommy!  Please?”  Oh, goodness.  She knows the buttons to push, this one.

Rody is an inflatable horse/donkey/pony.  I’m really not sure which, but we love Rody.  One of our local toy stores sells him, and Buttercup, from the time she was about a 1 1/2, climbed on Rody the minute we walked into the store.

He’s made in Italy, and he is a ton of bouncing fun.  They also have an adult sized Rody that Play Date Mom and I tried out in the toy store which was very amusing for us and the other customers ;)  Any case, he comes in a variety of colors, and he’s just a whole lot of fun and won all kinds of awards for helping little ones develop physical skills.  I can’t tell you how many times Buttercup has been bouncing on the bed, and I’ve talked her down with bringing Rody into the room.  He really wears her out, too.  Good before bedtime thing to get the wiggles out.