The World According to Sedona

It's amazing what differences there are with the second baby. Sedona is 21 months old now and it's not at all uncommon for her to throw a typical toddler tantrum. I see the seedlings of what will soon sprout into those infamous "terrible twos". And at least once a day, I just chuckle and think, "yay 2s! 2s are AWESOME!" And no, I'm not being sarcastic. Making it through the terrifying threes and the ferocious fours gives you an amazing amount of appreciation and patience for some piddly, easy twos ;-)

In honor of Sedona and all her toddler glory, a few tidbits on "The World According to Sedona"

• Food must be dipped. Doesn't matter if it's ketchup, mustard, ranch or syrup, anything that can be picked up with fingers requires dipping
• There are no limits on what foods go best with what dips---bananas in ketchup? yum!
• When the dog is taller than you are, the best snacking strategy is to back yourself into a corner, hold your food close to your body and shout "GO!" at the dog
• When frustrated, the best course of action is to fall down and scream "BEE BEE! BEE BEE!!" until someone unbuttons your onsie and allows you access to the all-calming belly button
• A grown up must read all babies at least 5 books of their choice, 3 times each, every day (this is simply a minimum)
• It is, at times, strategically appropriate to hit big sister with a shovel, scream through the resultant time out, then give her a hug as apology. Big sisters apparently don't harbor grudges
• I've got this potty training thing DOWN! I sit on the potty, by choice, everyday. I still choose to save all the pee and poop for diapers though.
  
• Speaking of diapers, my momma won't get me a wipe warmer because she doesn't want me to be too comfortable with this diaper thing. Cold wipes are evil
• Strawberries that have even a speck of red on them call me to pick them. I can't help it, they whisper my name. After one bite, I remember they're not good until they're red all-over, so I throw them down on the ground to save anyone else the disappointment
• I can climb the ladder up to the play house now. You should see how fast my momma and daddy can run when I get to the top step and stop to shriek in glee
• I can also go down the slide by myself, but when I forget to wait for help, I slide right off the end and crash land on the ground
• I climb onto the kitchen table at least twice a day. If I'm consistent, Momma will eventually learn I belong there and leave me alone
• I like to color. My favorite mediums are marker on table/chairs/library books and crayon on wall. Nothing "pops" quite like red crayola on yellow wall
• I like to stack. Momma keeps trying to tell me something about balance and putting smaller things on bigger things, but I think she's off her rocker, so I'm just trying it all
• The bakery section of the grocery store puts out the most freebies weekday mornings. When it's just me and mom, I often breakfast on brownies, croissants, donuts and scones all in one shopping trip
• It's hard to tell the sound of one truck from another, so the safest bet is to run to the front door yelling, "DADEEEEEE!" whenever any truck drives by
• The rudest way to wake up is getting kicked out of bed (literally) by big sister. where's my shovel?