With a toddler on my knee: February 2011

I got this book out of the library called "Hattie the Bad" for my dear little Hattie who really is 'bad, with just a little good'. She loved it...Well, at first she was really excited that the book Hattie was bad, but then that Hattie decides to turn good- really good, and that made my Hattie even more excited. In the end, the book Hattie shows her underpants on tv and decides to be bad again. My Hattie didn't think this was that great. She wanted to go back to where she was good, and in future readings she would make me stop while the book Hattie was still good.
However, as time went on, she had me reading this "Hattie the Bad" book more than any other book we've checked out, and eventually she began to relish in the bad, underpants Hattie from the book.

I loved the book because I think the girl in the book acts the same as my Hattie. My little girl has so much spunk. Seriously, I don't know how to keep up with her ever changing (but yet somehow always a little bad) personality. She is totally her own person and does not like to be told what to do. I was reading in my journal the other day from an entry a year ago. Hattie was just about 2 and she had decided that she was NOT going to let anyone hold her hand. To prove this point, she would hold onto her own hands with a vice-grip and walk really far ahead or really far behind. The combination was bad and she fell alot, but she was determined to be independant and held her own hands for several months.

She loves to dress up as much as Tanner does in her princess costumes, super cape, and, always to my amusement this dragon suit. She loves to wear it and either dance around on her tippy toes to the 'Backyardigan' dragon songs or pretend to be a scary dragon that likes to eat everyone.

Though you can't tell from any of these pictures, she loves getting her hair done and having me put makeup on her while I get myself ready. In this picture below she was 'putting on her own makeup' with markers. I showed her herself in the mirror to make a point of how bad it looked, but she was so excited because she thought she looked beautiful.

Hattie idolizes Tanner and tries to do everything he does and say everything he says. However, slightly more than her desire to copy him is her desire to torment him. She goes through stages where her sole purpose in life is to get a reaction out of Tanner- a screaming, bawling reaction that is. Often, she will jump on his back and pin him to the floor while whispering threats. She has lightning reflexes and steals things from his hands all the time, or she simply guesses what he's going to grab or do and races him to it. The louder he screams, the happier she is.

Two of Larry's favorite stories to tell of her 'spunk' are: One day, when nothing in the world was wrong or unpleasant, Hattie and Tanner were casually walking past each other through the kitchen. Hattie reached up, grabbed Tanner by the scruff of his shirt and shook him as hard as she could a couple times, then let go and continued to walk past as though nothing had happened. Another time we were all getting in the van and Larry told Tanner to go to the bathroom quick. Hattie raced past him as fast as she could into the bathroom and claimed that she had to go too. Not a big deal, since she really does this all the time. But then, when she finished and it was Tanner's turn, who had been bawling and complaining at the door of the bathroom, she picked up the bathroom stool, pushed past him at a run, and hid the stool in my bathroom with the door closed. What a girl. Like I said, she lives to torment him, and now poor Peter is starting to get his share of it.

However, with that all said, she does have an unmatchable sweetness to her. She loves all things princess and loves to sing at the top of her lungs. One of her favorite games is to dress up like a princess, then to suddenly drop to the ground in front of Tanner 'dead' and to pucker up her lips with her eyes closed and see if he will give her 'true loves first kiss' like in the movies. She never tires of this game, and just as often as not, someone will give her the kiss.

This was our 'East Side Story' murder mystery party for New Year's Eve 2010! It was so much fun, again! We had a bigger group this year, and it was even more fun. Everyone dressed up awesome and really got into their characters!
We had some great decorations that fit perfect since the party was taking place at a Milkshake Shack and great food. The characters and story line were a spin off of 'West Side Story' and 'Greece'. There were two gangs, the Black Widows (girls) and Pit Vipers (boys) -west, and the Pink Chics (girls) and D-birds (boys)- east.

Nikki and Bradyn were among the main characters, and they did awesome! Thanks guys!