Washy Washy...

We recently had a momentous occasion in our household...my son learned how to ride his bike without training wheels. A definite milestone in his young life, and one that I missed as I was not home when it happened. Lucky for me, a friend was able to capture the entire event on video for me to be able to share with my son later. It was awesome.

It brought to mind other "milestones" that come with having kids. The first smile, the first roll over, the first word...there are too many to count yet each one stands out distinctly in your memory like it was just yesterday. All have the ability to completely warm you from the inside out.

There are also certain events that stand out for different reasons. These are the ones that make great stories later...

Each day it appears that my daughter changes before my eyes. I swear it seems that she grows overnight and wakes up even more different than the baby I put to bed the night before. Her vocabulary just explodes by the minute as she tries desperately to keep up with her older brother. A friend said it best, "That Sienna--she's going to be a brute..."

Not too long ago, I was in the kitchen making breakfast when I had the chance to overhear Sienna playing in the bathroom with her doll, Baby Ella. I knew that she was probably not up to much good but decided to just let her be as I was busy and she was occupied for the moment.

Mommy Sienna: "Oh Baby Ella...you are so 'tinky. Time for a bath!"
*insert splashing sounds
Mommy: "Sienna--be careful with the water...you may not use the tub."
Mommy Sienna: "Okay Mommy! Baby Ella, you take your clothes off. Okay, now washy washy! Scrub your toes! Scrub your '
'gina! Scrub your face! Washy washy...washy WASHY!

Now, at this point I allowed my attention to be diverted because my son needed something, so about 5 minutes went by before I could check on Sienna again. Not so smart when water is involved with a 2 year old...especially water in the bathroom.

Mommy Sienna: "Oh Baby, you poops! Time to go on the toilet! No poops on the carpet! You sit down...bad baby...BAD BABY! You go in the bath right now!"

I hurriedly walked into the bathroom just in time to see Sienna giving her Baby Ella a bath...in the toilet.

Yes, my thoughts exactly.

Mommy: "Sienna, what are you doing? That is yucky! You cannot give Baby Ella a bath in the toilet...why did you do that?"
Mommy Sienna: (said with a smug grin on her face) "I use the toilet instead of the tub. No use tub. I wisten."

Oops.

It makes perfect sense when you really think of it...no stool required to reach the water. A neat flushing feature...why wouldn't one bathe a doll in a toilet? Plus, she did listen...all I specified was to not use the tub. Never did I say anything about the toilet and here we had our first occasion of Sienna actually following my directions without a battle...ever.

All in all, the situation filled me with hope that perhaps we just might survive this age of the terrible twos. Each day is a new beginning for my sweet Sienna and there are still many milestones that lie ahead of us. Life really flies by so quickly when you have kids and sometimes I am afraid to blink for fear I might miss something they say or do. I am just thankful that I get to bare witness to them all, even if they do involve dolls and toilets.

In the end, Sienna and I cleaned up the mess together and had great fun giving Baby Ella a proper bath complete with bubbles and a thorough washing.

Only this time we made sure we used the sink.