http://www.toddlertrail.com Buttercup continues to toddler her way into childhood. I'm just another mom trying to keep up! Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:35:06 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en As everyone in the real world knows, I'm 4 months and 1 week pregnant with twins.  Surprise!  This hasn't run in my family for generations.  They are fraternal, measuring big for twins, and we don't know the genders yet.  During the first ultrasound, I saw the two dark spots and thought, ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/expecting-twins/ It's been a while, I know.  Life has been a little busy in my world. Buttercup has started preschool!  This was a huge step for us in a lot of ways.  She absolutely loves it, and there was not a tear or a frown.  I'm so thrilled with the teachers I ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/preschool/ One of our regular play dates is at a local church.  I always look forward to it.  There's coffee for the mothers, a snack and craft for the kids, and ride on toys to race around the smooth tile floor of the basement.  I was doing childcare with the kids ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/we-dont-want-to-play-with-you/ Our camera has been missing in action for a couple of weeks now.  I genuinely have no idea what happened to it.  What’s odd about the loss is that the camera bag sits empty on my desk.  We never take the camera out without the bag to protect it, as ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/terrible-twos-and-sharing/ I just read an article on BabyCenter with the topic of what’s the most offensive thing said to you as a parent?  The article was fun enough and centered on the common stay-at-home mom remark, “What do you do all day?”  As amusing as the question is having lived in ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/whats-the-most-offensive-said-to-you-as-a-parent/ 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.  ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/corelle-dolls-lila/ 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 ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/disney-rain-boots/ When I was pregnant, I would go to toy stores often to search for those handfuls of items worthy of a place in the nursery.  During these excursions, I began to examine the mother’s w/their children in light of the pending arrival of my own.  So often, they were frazzled.  ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/motherhood-friends/ My grandmother gave us a bread maker for my anniversary, and I have been baking bread almost everyday since. My mother and great-grandmother are/were the spectacular bread makers in the family.  My great-grandmother’s bread was the most fabulous light sweetness I’ve ever eaten in my life.  My mother makes wide varieties ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/bread-maker/ The idea that I would like weight training is as bizarre to me as it is to the people who know me well.  While I love taking walks, playing at the park, and enduring the sit-ups that hurt my neck, I've always regarded weight-training equipment as something of phallic expression ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/mommy-weight-training/ For her age, my girl has always been physically advanced as compared to the so-called milestones of childhood.  She's always been a baby on a mission, and I'll never ever forget how the first time I held her, a few hours after she'd been born, her little neck was strong.  ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/baby-olympian/ There are handfuls of people that I consider prominent in our little world.  We found a new one the other day at the park.  It was the DUCK FOOD MAN!  He apparently comes early in the morning to fill up the food dispensers for our fun.  Buttercup was amazed by ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/kindness-of-strangers/ My little brother, who is now such a grown-up, has been coming to see us a lot.  I've missed him, and he happens to be my baby brother - I worry about him in the way that I worry about everyone I love dearly, which is to say constantly.  He's ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/resemblances/ The pistachios worked.  There was a squirrel in that cage in less than two hours.  If you're having problems luring a squirrel, use my nut of choice - pistachios. My husband, with great amusement, took the squirrel up to a nearby mountain and dropped him off in the woods.  When he ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/the-saga-continues/ Usually, I am a generally sane kind of gal.  I have my sobbing over cheap love songs kind of moments, but I'm mostly okay. The squirrel is driving me effing crazy. Now, I think what I need at this stage in the game is a bubba.  I need some brawny man to ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/squirrel-in-the-attic-bats-in-the-belfry/ Little beauty and I made tents all over the house yesterday.  We had so much fun hiding underneath the blankets and sheets.  It felt like being a child again.  When my brother and nephew and I were kids, we'd turn my mother's living room into a completely unusable space covered ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/toddler-tents/ One of my friends just had a new baby, and she also has a 20 month old toddler.  We were on a big play date yesterday, and it was pretty clear that this is not an easy thing to pull off gracefully.  She had absolutely no hands free when she ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/grocery-shopping-with-toddler/ Despite the chaos of the world in general appearing to fall apart around us, I am finding happiness in the little things.  Not to be repetitive, but the ballet class is truly the best thing that could have happened to us. I have a total "I wish I was like that" ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/becoming-ballerinas/ We took our first ballet class today, and Buttercup is officially enrolled in the Academy of Ballet.  I am thrilled. The class was wonderful.  The teacher taught the little ones how to sit properly for posture and balance, she began foot exercises with them to start strengthening their little toes for ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/mommy-and-me-toddler-ballet/ 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.  ... http://www.toddlertrail.com/toddler-accessories-shes-styling-and-profiling/