"Mommy, I need your help!" Tess cried. She clearly has not yet developed her sister's finely honed Scotch-tape skills. Until she does (and I'm sure she will), I think it would be best for everyone if I put it out of her reach. I already spend enough money on that stuff.

  The other day I was visited by a fairy. A sweet, little fairy with an angelic face and a mischievous twinkle in her eye. This fairy had a picnic with her blue baby, did lots and lots of dancing, and rode her big sister's scooter while singing a beautiful fairy song. Later, she did…

As you can see, time spent on the potty is generally viewed as playtime, or time to sit quietly without being pestered by big sister. We sometimes get results, but more often than not, we get… silliness. And that's okay — for now, at least — it's really hard to get frustrated with that sweet…

Seemingly overnight, Tess has blossomed into a toddler with a huge imagination. On Sunday, while Grace and Adam were at the hockey game, Tess and I spent hours playing "rocketship." Our rocketship was a big blanket thrown over the love seat and two little chairs. As the passenger in this fancy vessel, I had to…

  Tess: "It's time for me to go on my trip. I'm taking my boat to Florida." Me: "Why do you want to go to Florida?" Tess: "Because I like it. It's nice and warm, and it has lots of things." By "things" I think she means "sunshine" and maybe "flowers" and "people smiling and…

"Tess, what are you doing?" "I watching the snow. With bear."

The other day, I taught Tess how to properly use scissors — only after she found Grace's pair and tried to figure it out for herself. I let her cut fringe on three pieces of paper, and then I took the scissors away and hid them in a safe place. After all, I do have…

"I love blue every day! Blue like my eyes!"

"Mommy, me bigger. Me eat Chinese food and grow bigger."