Inadvertant Cussing, Fake Smiles, and first laughs

The other night I was reading to Nat before she went to bed. She is allowed to pick 3 books to read. The first one we read was "Fox in Socks". If you are not familiar, it is one long tongue twister. It actually exhausts me to read it. So after that I was trying to get her to choose some shorter, easier books. Her fave right now is "The Witch's Vacation" by Norman Bridwell about two kids with a witch for a neighbor. Needless to say the word "witch" is used quite often. She chose to read this book twice instead of picking two different books. I was almost done with the second reading, I desperately needed a drink, and my mouth was tired. I was supposed to say "the witch helped my brother build another sand castle." Instead I said, " The bitch helped my brother build another sand castle." I knew I said it and didn't know quite what to do. If I reread it the correct way I was scared that I would be drawing attention to my slip. So, I just kept on reading. I don't think she is scarred for life!!

Yesterday I took the girls for pictures at JC Penney's. They were very good and posed perfectly. Vanessa smiled like a baby model. Natalie, on the other hand, used her fake picture smile. She has been doing this for a few years. If the picture is not candid and she is asked to smile for the camera, she will do this odd smile. She uses half her mouth and tilts her head and looks into space. I must admit that some of my favorite pictures of her feature this fake smile, but it is maddening when I really just want a nice sweet smile. I now understand every parent I have ever heard saying "just smile normal!!".

Vanessa is laughing. A lot. She is such a happy baby as long as she is getting pretty much constant attention. She is happiest in the mornings. She is nothing but smiles and coos. She has now started laughing. Right now she is laughing at her big sister dancing to a Sesame Street song. The cute thing though, is after she laughs she always has to give a tiny cough. She gets so excited she looses her breath and chokes a little. So there is always a squeaky laugh followed by a cough. Too cute!

Have a great day!