dentist!

this afternoon, penny took her first trip to the dentist!  she was pretty freaked out initially, as the last time she was in a medical situation she was getting blood drawn and the phlebotomist rooted around in her tiny vein before giving up and prodding her in the other arm, but it didn't take her too long to warm up.  there's a new dentist joining the practice, and she gave penny a pair of gloves, handed her the mirror and had her check out alex's teeth.  the technician let her push the button to take alex's x-rays.  the dentist showed her the photos and video he took of alex's teeth.  eventually she warmed up enough to everyone to sit in the magic chair and drink some water, though she only let the dentist actually look at her teeth while i was holding her.
all in all, it was a successful first visit!  next time will be even better!

sometimes i amaze myself.

usually, i am pretty confident with my craftiness and my ability to creatively problem solve.  i am pretty pleased with myself today, and i feel like this is an appropriate forum to tell you all about it.  moms of little girls out there, listen up!  also, maybe you've already thought of this yourself and i should just be quiet.
anyhoo, penny is now all undies all the time.  she has had several accident free days in a row, and stays dry all night.  this is awesome.  she is mostly  able to dress herself as well - also awesome!  the problem is the undies themselves.  while some of them have one design on the front, most are either solid color or an all over print.  this makes it really difficult to figure out which is the main hole, and where your legs are supposed to go.  also, it's basically impossible for a two year old to tell the front of a pair of tiny undies from the back (parents of little boys, i assume boys underpants have little flies or something that make this easier?  if not, hoo boy - keep reading).
a flash of genius struck me today.  while taking the laundry out of the dryer and making our famed laundry mountain, i told penny to meet me in the living room.  "today," i told her "we are giving all of your undies bellybuttons."  that's right!  at the top of the waistband, right in the front in the middle i made a little dot with a black sharpie.  it's on the inside of the waistband so you can't see it from the outside, and when i say that she caught on IMMEDIATELY, that is no exaggeration.  halfway through the marking up operation she asked me if i would be putting bellybuttons on all of her undies and when i said yes he said "mommy, that's going to really help me!"
so spread the word!  bust out the sharpies!  make your kids feel that much more independent!  bellybuttons for all undies everywhere!

also, hi, curicon!

2 stories

penny has a hard time staying at the dinner table - she is so busy, she knows it's the end of the day, and is always looking to squeeze in a few more minutes of play time before her bath.  tonight, alex asked her if she could tell us a story.  we got two.

story 1

once upon a time there was a cherry in a tree.  the cherry said "where am i?"  a bird flew into the tree.  it said "you're in a tree".  the end.

story 2

once upon a time a cherry was in the street alone.  a car came and smooshed the cherry.a man  and a woman fixed it.  it was fine!  the end.