Stela

Just about every other day my daughter will say something that is truer than she knows. Like most children she is full of energy and doesn't want to stop. In Portuguese we say "Ela e' electrica" (She is electric or She is like electricity).

I haven't seen a toddler yet not challenge their parents with the "No" word. Recently I made a discovery how to get my daughter to rethink before she says no. I never planned nor expected her to respond this way but she did / does.

Here is what happened.

One afternoon Stela started her series of "no's" to everything we asked. She was purposely being disobedient. I can’t recall what we were asking her to do but it probably had something to do with her not doing something so she doesn’t get hurt. I then explained to her that when she says no to mommy and daddy, it is like saying we don't know what we are talking about or are lying. I went on to add that it would be equivalent to us saying that her name is not Stela.

Words - Can't explain the love a child gives a parent. I always knew I wanted to be a dad growing up but I never knew the buckets of new emotions it would conjure up. Once child(ren) arrive in your world you soon find out this life isn't so much about you, as it is about them. The moment we realize that, our life changes.

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Last week my daughter had a birthday, her third birthday. I'm just not getting around to writing about it, things have been hectic.

My wonderful wife enjoys cooking and hosting for these types of events. She really lights up when she is hosting and serving others. Last year during my daughter's birthday my wife went a little bit overboard with the amount of food she felt was needed. This year she did a much better job at estimated food quantity. And this year Stela's birthday, in my opinion, went much smoother as well - even though there were a lot more kids at the party. And on top of that the kids were at our house. Yikes! Last year we ended up having Stela's birthday party at our church.