Explosion

Usually toddlers have a word explosion, Tori has had a sentence explosion and hasn't stopped talking since! Since about August, she talks non-stop and has gotten a lot better at using complete sentences and indicating what she wants. I got so used to her speech before, this explosion still surprised me with what she can communicate to you.

This has carried over into calling her Brother stupid on several occasions and getting in trouble. I think it also has caused more physical brawls as well. Christian wasn't able to understand everything she said, now that he does, he doesn't like it. I had to break up a pushing match next to the stairs the other night.

Unfortunately, this hasn't curbed Tori's crying over nothing. You tell her 'No' or that she can't do something, even nicely, its like her world has crumbled. I guess this is an important difference between girls and boys. Hopefully she'll grow out of it before kindergarten.

Grandpa Kitchen pants

"You might as well divorce me now," Huts said to me as he passed by the laundry room.

"Why?" I asked.

"Tori says I am old and I have on Grandpa kitchen pants."

I can't stop laughing. We don't know where she came up with that term, but she and Ollie sure like telling us that we are old. They are obsessed with age, telling everyone they are old.

Better

Tori has recovered I believe. She may not even have a cold anymore. She says she wants to go potty. We'll see. She refuses to go on her own. Stubborn girl. On another note., she is wearing a new shirt that says bring on the bling bling. She finds that funny, especially when I tell her what bling bling means. She does like bracelets, necklaces, fingernail polish and all that jazz, so maybe she is going to be more of a girl than we thought.

Not Quite

My father passed away about a month ago. We finally told the kids about it when we got my dad's truck. Up until that point, they had seen my dad once and Ollie had commented about how old and sick he was. Tori and Eli were with me on the day my dad passed away. Tori went to his room with me a couple of times and knew Grandpa was sick, Fortunately, when he passed away, Tori was at her grandma's and stayed there that night, Anyway, she and Ollie now know, and Ollie told me how sorry he was. He seems to get it. Tori, on the other hand, doesn't. She tells me that my dad is dead and I need to get a new one. I have tried to explain to her that it doesn't work that way, but she can't grasp that fact. It will be interesting to see what she thinks and says when we visit the farmhouse next weekend.

Grandpa's Truck

It has made its way to our house, and Tori loves riding in the little seat in the back and the front seat. Her dad took her around the block to see how well the truck drove. The only problem we're having is getting the door closed. Dale is gonna have t come over and fix that. Anyway, Tori plans to help her dad clean it this weekend. With any luck, the probate process has started and the title will make its way to us at some point.

Excitement

Christian and Tori are totally looking forward to this weekend. Tori talks about the wedding nonstop. She can't wait to stay in the hotel, put on her fancy dresses, dance the night away and sleep in her sleeping bag. She only has a few more days and they're off to Kansas City.

Cryer

Tori cries about every grievance. This week she decided that she didn't want to go back to the sitter's. She wanted to stay home with her Mama, but her Mama had to go back to work. Tori didn't like that idea, even though Eli would be going with her. On Thursday, she cried when we got to the sitter's house because she wanted to be at home. She sat in the sitter's lap for awhile and played with the other kids once she got over it. This morning she was ready to go to the sitters and didn't cry at all. She adjusts very well to change. Must be that daredevil spirit of hers.

Next up is the battle for the potty. We finally got her on the regular size toilet, but she still doesn't use it regularly. We even tried getting her interested in a Dora toilet seat, because in our house, Dora solves a lot of problems. This time Dora couldn't work her magic. Last week, she mentioned the Dora seat and wanting to sit on it. Guess Dora's magic is just delayed. Hopefully that speeds the process up, changing 2 sets of diapers regularly is not ideal.