I had an epiphany today...

I'm tired of the meal-time struggle. We bribe with dessert, we play airplane with the food, we beg, and yes, we cry, trying to get the child to eat. After a particularly rough morning, I knew I wasn't in the mood for a fight, so I thought, "why don't I just make this fun?" So every time she took a bite, I'd take a glass bead out of our table centerpiece (thanks again to Michelle for another memento from her wedding that has become a favorite of Rosemary!) Each time I took one out, I'd place it strategically and she would guess what shape I was making. Here she is playing around with the beads after finishing her lunch.

[I just removed this picture. My little girl likes to go around topless when she's not wearing her princess dresses and I don't have any privacy settings on this blog.]

Here is the glass vase.

We made a glass bead Rosemary:

We made a flower:

We made other shapes, but you get the idea. It was fun! And it made our pretty centerpiece into a functional educational learning manipulative.

After lunch, Rosemary decided she wanted to be a mermaid princess, complete with the tiara and high heel shoes. Last week this tiara/veil broke. Mommy came to the rescue and hot glued it back together. I was a superstar that day...

My new favorite mommy/daughter bonding activity is our before bed tea party. I made a pot of chamomile tea and mix in a little bit of Crystal Light (she doesn't like the taste of chamomile, but I like the calming effects of the tea so this way we both get what we want, and it cools the tea off enough so it doesn't burn our mouths. It's actually really good!) We sit at the table and drink it out of her little tea cups. Tonight we shared a cupcake and some Nilla Wafers along with our tea. This is something I want to continue doing and make a little tradition out of. It's a really nice way to unwind at the end of the day after daddy gets home. Xander will not let me put him down. Ever. If I have to go to the bathroom I either have to wear him in one of my baby wraps or put him down and listen to the howling protest. He may have given us a scare with his little lungs in the beginning, but I assure you, there is nothing wrong with those babies! So when Joe gets home and I can (try) to let him have some father/son bonding time (even though it is usually mommy he wants right now), it's nice to have some time to focus just on Rosemary. Most days I just want to run and hide and take a break, but having those few moments to just focus on Rosemary doing something as simple as having a tea party is my new favorite part of the day. And I think we both need it. I can see us doing this for years to come. I love my little princess.

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