The Whitelaws

Jenna's "I want a bike" thing started right after spring break. Our jogging stroller had a flat tire and so we took it to a bike store to get the tubes replaced. At the store, they had a wee little two wheel bike with no pedals and no training wheels. We found out they're called glide bikes or balance bikes. I have to admit, I love the concept. The kids learn to balance and glide and then when they get on a bigger bike, they already have the balance down - no need for training wheels. The bike store's marketing is also brilliant - have lots of attractive bikes out for kids to try and then want!

Phase 2: We go to visit our friends in Austin. She sees the big boys riding bikes. Thus more, "I want a bike" (said so sweetly).

Phase 3: We have to go back to the bike shop for more flat tire problems. This time we get new tires because there is something about the old tires that is puncturing the tubes. She tries out the bike again. One of us may have mistakenly said, "Your birthday is coming up."

Phase 4: Punchinello rides a bike in one of her videos. This girl LOVES Punchinello! This conversation occurred a few weeks ago:
She says to me, "Puchilello ride a bike!"
I say, "Yes, you're right."
She says, "Bike for booday (birthday)."
WOW!

She notices bikes everywhere. If you ask her what she wants for her birthday, she says, "I want a bike!"

Jenna has been needing some discipline lately. We've been trying different things, trying to figure out what works. Time-out is one thing we've tried.

Today, as part of her normal pre-nap routine, I asked her to help pick up toys. No cooperation. I tried a different approach, asking her to pick up a specific toy and put it in the toy box. She clearly did not want to obey. She looked at me and said, "I go to time-out." Then she headed to her corner. I fought not to smile or laugh then told her when her time-out was over, that she would still have to pick up her toys. And, she did.

Voluntary time-out. This girl is too smart for me!

We didn't get any pictures of Jenna in this dress on Easter, but this is what she wore. We were doing well, just to get her in the dress, let alone get any smiling pictures. And the hat, forget about it! She simply would not have it. Funny, she LOVED it back when we took this picture and wore it for quite a while. I guess that was then . . . Something about her socks wasn't quite right (I never did figure it out) and therefore, it took almost 10 minutes to get her shoes on. Oh, maybe it was because she wasn't wearing the red socks that she's been in love with and wearing every day this week. We barely made it to church where she stayed in the service with me so she could hear Daddy play trumpet. She managed to do quite well.
After a nap, she sweetened up and had a fun time collecting some eggs. She would pick one up and immediately want it open. No waiting for this girl. (Notice the orange jelly bean juice on her chin.) This video captures one of her new sayings. (See "Easter094" video.) We ask her a question and instead of saying yes (like she used to), she'll say, "Oh, yeah, sure" or "Oh, sure." I have no idea where she got this!
Kevin used his Easter holiday to tackle the oh, so many leaves in our yard. We don't have an exact count because some had already gone to the trash, but here are the bags we have left, we figure around 40-45 bags of leaves! In addition to that, he gave me a day off! Thanks, Kevin, that was hard work!

This step stool idea is one of the best things we took away from our Austin trip. Both families we stayed with had these step stools for their kids. Jenna loved it and it was the first time we didn't have a fight about brushing her teeth (it's been a every time since we started brushing). Now she LOVES to brush her teeth. And sometimes we have the opposite problem - it's hard to get her to STOP brushing. Hip Hip Hooray for the step stool!!
Do you like her Easter bonnet? She was the one who put it on her head like this and had so much fun! I don't get the obsession with putting things on her head, but it's funny. The funniest part is when I took the picture, I said, "Ready?" And she actually said, "Cheese!" (as if we could see her face!) She also likes to pick up Kevin's sports watch, hold it up close to her face and say, "Look at Mommy! Cheese!" For some reason she thinks it's a camera.

When she found out Daddy was going to a concert and she wasn't she sadly said, "I go to concert, too." Kevin took her to a concert a few weeks ago and she has wanted to go again ever since. She keeps whispering, "shhh, go to concert."

It's a sad day folks - college basketball season is over. Here are the final stats:

Kevin: 1270 Pts - 84.8 percent - 702,116 ranking

Kevin's Dad: 1060 Pts - 70.5 percent - 1,366,274 ranking

Me: 1330 Pts - 91.2 percent - 406,001 ranking

My Dad: 940 Pts - 62.0 percent - 1,761,579 ranking

The overall ESPN winner had 1860 points and only missed 5 games! I missed 13.

Not nearly as good as last year, nor as fun (see here). But, I did win, so I have a dinner at either Szechuan or Bonzai to look forward to. And there's always next year!

More Jenna updates soon. She's done some pretty cute things lately.