file this under things that will break your heart and make you cry uncle

When Daughter and I returned to Stripmallville from where we had been living she jumped headfirst into an entirely new family. Her Dad and his Girlfriend have two little boys. Her son is going to be two this weekend and they had a baby together in September about a week before we arrived.

On the whole, Daughter has been handling the whole thing like a superstar. No big fits. No big DRAMA! No open resentment towards her Baby Brother or her Little Brother. The two toddlers have had a little give and take and adjustments to living together in a house that she used to share solely with her father.

She has had two tell tale signs of early big sisterhood though. Number one, she has almost completely stopped using the potty. Even at my house. Which is annoying to me since we spent SO. MUCH. TIME. THIS. SUMMER. Doing the whole potty training thing.

Number two is the bottle. She wants to have a bottle all the time instead of sippy cups or big cups. We still have a bottle laying around that has, for months and months, been reserved for EMERGENCY COMFORT PURPOSES ONLY.

Today, she was bargaining for the bottle. Promising to use the potty for the rest of the day if she could have her soy milk in a bottle. And she's tired. And I'm a pretty easy pushover. And, so, I agreed.

And after I handed her the bottle she tucked it under her arm and lifted her arm up to me and said "Up Mommy. Pick me up." Which I did and then she instructed me "Now we sit in Papa's rocker. Now I get MY snuggle time just like Baby Brother." And she nuzzled in like a nursing baby and laid there in my lap while I rocked us back and forth for three straight bottles.

And my heart swelled and broke for her.

But I enjoyed the snuggle.

Things I Never Thought I'd Want to Hear

Daughter(from bathroom...yeah, you see where this is going): "Mommy!"

Moi: "Yes, baby?"

Daughter: "Come look at my POOOOOPS! They are in the potty! (In a sing-song voice) I put poops in the potty! I put poops in the potty!"

Moi: "Rock on Babaloo! Bump."

Daughter: "Bump, mama."

Then there was some silly white girl fist-to-fist action and a dance fest in the living room to some Paul Simon.

We love ourselves some Paul Simon. That is how we roll here.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Daughter swam (voluntarily) solo today at the pool today. Granted, it was mostly in an effort to avoid having to leave the pool and take a shower, but there is that and it was FABULOUS.