Dom singing, “Crazy crazy pelican… wants to eat your belly again.” to Bella in the bath. And then Bella holds the little plastic pelican up to her belly button, saying “Drink milk.” Curiously Christological.
The turtle sits on the edge of the tub: “Ready, set, go,” Dom says. He”jumps” in, splash. Later, Bella holds the turtle and sayd, “Ready, set,” and then throws him.
Dom sings while he puts Bella into her pjs: “Button up your buttons, one, two, three. Button up your buttons past your knee. Button up your buttons to your belly.”
Dom sings “Twist and shout” to Bella while she stands on the changing table after putting on her pajamas. She swings her arms out to the side. Later she stands on the couch and says, “Twist, twist.”
This is all good, of course… I read so many good things: reading them is the easisest part, don’t you agree?
But then I’m left with my two little ones, and I’m just not always sure how to teach them what I want them to learn so they can be the persons I think they should be, if this make sense… In other words, I’m not always sure how to teach them the virtues they should practice. I’m afraid I’m a shouty mom more often than I’d like, and more often than I’d have expected from me. I guess I know young toddlers need repetition, and repetition, and more of the same, all well seasoned with patient love, but after telling my son for four times that he shouldn’t grab whatever his sister happens to play with, my patience is over… And this can happen a lot of times in one single day… I get so frustrated, and sad, because I can see all I’m teaching him is how to yell, and he’s quite good at that 
I still remember your post about Bella imitating your “Move, move, move!” Hee hee 
Well, sorry, I needed to vent a little…
“reading them is the easisest part, don’t you agree?”
Oh, I so agree! I post this on my blog in the way of being a motivational reminder… which I so need!
Like you I find myself short of temper and shouting far too often. Staying calm in the midst of toddler storms is probably my biggest challenge.
Patience is so hard. But I keep praying for it. I really try to keep my voice calm and to listen to how I sound. I also need to be patient with myself, though. Just because I lose my cool doesn’t mean it has to stay lost. Sometimes I can catch myself mid-blow and take a deep breath and re-trench. Oh yeah, I also hear that “move move move” as a warning, she’s listening to what I say and how I say it.
I’m working to find strategies that will help me deal with Isabella. Today I actually found that calmly but firmly telling her to go to her room because I don’t like being around fussy girls worked really well. It shocked her enough that she started listening to me and stopped fussing. Of course, that same strategy might not work tomorrow…