More Cute Isabelle Sayings...

There is something magical about the things that 3 year olds say. They are finally able to articulate enough to tell you what they are thinking, their first vocal impressions of this world around them. In many ways they are still an infant, a brand new little person trying hard to figure out how this world around them works.

Today we sat down to eat grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch (which all the kids devour) and Isabelle just started telling me a little story. Everything that came out of her mouth for the next three minutes was so funny, I quickly wrote some of it down so I could record it here.

"Mommy, once when me and Alex were married, we went out and there was a witch. She had a very big bum--VERY big bum! This big! [arms outstretched wide] It was very scary! Alex said, 'Let's run!' So we run and a princess saved us and we were married.

"Maybe I marry Tristan, and Maya marry Alex. We switch. Emma marry Ethan [a friend].

"Alex [leaning over to him in his highchair], let me tell you a secret: [whispering] I love you!"

Earlier today when we were getting ready to go to a friend's house to play, Isabelle was getting impatient and she said, "I want to go right this instant!" I thought this was so funny! I don't even remember using that phrase, but I must have. At least she still says, "Sure, me love to!" whenever I ask her to do something for me.

As a side note, Tristan was beginning to pee in his diaper more and more frequently. It really frustrated me because I knew he knew better. Anyways, I bit the bullet 2 weeks ago and spent a Saturday morning potty-training him with everyone else gone. It worked like a charm, just like it did for Isabelle a year ago. I use a training technique that is in the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" by Azrin and Foxx. It is awesome! It was written I think in the 70s or earlier and talks about putting treats in your apron pockets! You pretty much spend a solid 4 hours of with the child employing every teaching technique out there. The best part about it is that after that morning of training, they do everything themselves, you don't use reward treats anymore and when they do have an accident, you have a method of recourse and reinforcement to employ that doesn't involve anger. Tristan no longer has any accidents and is very proud of his DRY big boy pants.