Tomato Sauce, Mud and Garden Hoses

Have you ever sat in front of a baby who has a mouth full of pasta and tomato sauce?  One who has a wicked grin on her face, a twinkle in her eye, whose every fiber is aching to spray you down?  I have just survived this ordeal.  Fortunately this time she took heed of the fierce look in my eye and swallowed the mouthful before disaster struck.  Some days I'm not so lucky.  Most days she will nochalantly drop half chewed morsels from the highchair which is a sure sign that meal time is over.  You would think she'd have learned by now that the food goes away when it starts getting tossed.  She doesn't seem to care though.

This is my third time with this stage and its just as cute as it was the first time.  Don't tell the baby I said that though or it'll never end.


I am now watching as the aforementined 1 year old is rocking her baby doll to sleep whilst wearing a portable music player around her neck.  She stands in front of me holding the doll out so that I can rock it, then she gives me the "I want it back" signal (rapidly opening and closing both outstretched hands) and she mimics my actions, patting the baby's back, kissing its head, rocking it back and forth.  She adds in what we call her happy dance.  She twists her upper body like the agitator in a washing machine in a somewhat rythmic manner. 

My two older daughters went outside to play earlier, it was raining very lightly but obviously just enough to make mud somewhere!!  They came inside covered in it trying to act like nothing was wrong.  I sent them straight back out to clean off.  After much giggling and clearly visible misuse of the garden hose they came back inside completely soaked from head to toe.  They were clean though so I couldn't be mad.  They had done just as I asked.  Or at least I had asked for it!!  I must make a mental note never to tell those two to go rinse off with the hose.

Now to get them all to bed, one got sent there already for bopping her sister on the head, the bopped one has fallen asleep on the couch (hopefully not as a result of the bopping) and the smallest one is still toddling around babbling in her own language and from the looks of it about to do some bopping of her own since she now has a stationary target!!