If you wake me up in the middle of the night, watch out. I am not friendly. The longer you keep me up, the less friendly I get, until I am just downright mad. It's not a good scene. I try to keep it under control, and just remove myself before raising my voice, but sometimes I can't restrain a frustrated growl. Surely you can relate, right?
Just after midnight I was rudely awoken by the little one climbing out of her bed, slamming her door and creeping to the kitchen to play with her new scissors. J intercepted her and then she came to snuggle with me. But she didn't sleep. I was drowsy enough to put up with this for a while, but after a couple of hours, and maybe a little growling, I just got up and went to lay on the couch.
After an hour or so, I sensed a disturbance in the force. I opened my eyes to see a little head, bobbing just over the top of the couch, making her way to the kitchen. It's a little eerie when she does this because her padded feet are practically silent on the wood floor and she looks like a floating shadow ghost baby. I've opened my eyes more than once from sleeping and jumped out of my skin, with her standing right at my face, looking at me. But this time I was onto her.
She snuck into the kitchen.
"A! Go to bed!" I say to her.
"No." she replies in a tiny but completely firm voice. She ain't doing it.
I get off the couch and drag myself into the kitchen. She is standing there at 3am, in the dark, her big eyes puffy, her hair a tangled mess, her cute little round toddler belly sticking out in her footie pj's, and she's holding her scissors. She has a total cow when I take them from her hands and put her back in bed.
"Mama took my scissors!!!" she wails.
Putting my sleep deprived monster mind aside for a moment, I had to smile, just a little, to myself. How cool is life when you are so excited about your new scissors that you feel compelled to get up in the middle of the night to cut paper? That's a trouble-free existence right there. I want her to have as much of a trouble-free life as she can when she's little, without making too much trouble for my life as a result. Is that so wrong?
We'll figure it out. I hope.
Also, the potty training, not going so well. She seems to be unlearning all the good habits she just learned, just to keep us on our toes. At least she's predictably unpredictable. Sigh.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Like A Boss
I'm feeling like a genius today. I know this is nothing new in the scheme of all things, but in the scheme of our things at home, I see some great things happening.
We've been having some setbacks with the ol' potty training, especially when it comes to the poop. She's holding it at school (still no accidents there!), and then when she's home the next day she explodes, in a bad way.
She gets stickers at school for going potty, and has been asking for stickers at home. She loves the stickers, so I've been trying to figure out what kind of potty chart to put up at home as an incentive. This morning, it all came together, and thus, I am a genius!
I already had some super cool robot alien stickers to donate to the cause.
We've been having some setbacks with the ol' potty training, especially when it comes to the poop. She's holding it at school (still no accidents there!), and then when she's home the next day she explodes, in a bad way.
She gets stickers at school for going potty, and has been asking for stickers at home. She loves the stickers, so I've been trying to figure out what kind of potty chart to put up at home as an incentive. This morning, it all came together, and thus, I am a genius!
I already had some super cool robot alien stickers to donate to the cause.
I drew a Martian landscape (use your imagination and it looks just like Mars!).
When she pees in the potty, she gets a small sticker and when she poops, she's granted a big sticker. Hopefully within the week an amazing sticker story will appear on the paper. And hopefully those big stickers are cool enough to do the trick.
I'm so optimistic about this project, that I'm already planning my next background...
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Something Delicious
If you are so inclined, might I recommend a delicious alcoholic beverage that I have recently discovered? I don't know what it is officially called, but it is deee-lish!
The Recipe:
One bottle of Angry Orchard hard apple cider
One shot of caramel flavored vodka
Alternate Recipe, in the case that you can't find caramel vodka:
One bottle of Angry Orchard hard apple cider (maybe another kind would work too, I don't know)
One shot of regular old vodka (I used Grey Goose)
One splash of Torani caramel syrup (I could only find sugar free, and it was yummy!)
Now, I will say that while I don't mind frilly chick drinks, I always roll my eyes at flavored vodka. I mean, really. What is the deal with marshmallow flavored alcohol, or cotton candy? Yuck! I've never been a fan of any kind of sugary drinks (although I like sugary food maybe more than I ought to), so sugary vodka sounds like a big ol' head bomb to me.
This concoction, though, puts the caramel flavor to good use, and it balances nicely with the bitter cider. It's not hard on those of us prone to alcoholic headaches, either, and that's a bonus! It's a nice treat for when you are in the mood for a relaxing, yet not taxing, adult beverage.
The Recipe:
One bottle of Angry Orchard hard apple cider
One shot of caramel flavored vodka
Alternate Recipe, in the case that you can't find caramel vodka:
One bottle of Angry Orchard hard apple cider (maybe another kind would work too, I don't know)
One shot of regular old vodka (I used Grey Goose)
One splash of Torani caramel syrup (I could only find sugar free, and it was yummy!)
Now, I will say that while I don't mind frilly chick drinks, I always roll my eyes at flavored vodka. I mean, really. What is the deal with marshmallow flavored alcohol, or cotton candy? Yuck! I've never been a fan of any kind of sugary drinks (although I like sugary food maybe more than I ought to), so sugary vodka sounds like a big ol' head bomb to me.
This concoction, though, puts the caramel flavor to good use, and it balances nicely with the bitter cider. It's not hard on those of us prone to alcoholic headaches, either, and that's a bonus! It's a nice treat for when you are in the mood for a relaxing, yet not taxing, adult beverage.
The Potty Train
All aboard!
I *think* we are getting potty trained! We have had several days in a row wearing underwear during the day with no accidents, even at school, and even pooping in the potty. I don't want to jinx it by declaring it a done deal, because this kid keeps us on our toes in all other areas, and I expect her to hold out on us with this too. But, so far, so good.
It helps that she can't wear pull-ups to school. She went through 3-4 school days with 1 or 2 accidents a day, and then a couple of days with no accidents at all! Once she went to school, we just went all underwear during the day at home too. It's been messy, but less and less messy every day.
She seems to have an enthusiasm for it lately, which is good. It just gets a little pesky when we're out in public and she wants to use the potty several times just for sport. She just trickles out a little pee and then she wants to do the whole routine of getting toilet paper, flushing, washing hands, and in the process she touches every surface available. It's gross, just thinking about all those nasty germs!
Then, ten minutes later she wants to go again, because she can! Who am I to rain on this parade? It's all part of the process, and soon she'll discover that going to the bathroom is quite dull and only done when really necessary. Until then, lots of hand sanitizer.
The pull-ups at night seem kind of silly now, because she often wakes up dry. She waits until morning to pee in the potty. I'm keeping the pull-ups for the time being, because sometimes she sleeps in my bed, and I don't even want to think about an accident there. It has happened, but only once, and once is quite enough of that business.
It's a pretty cool milestone unfolding around here. All parties are excited!
Now, to get rid of that binky...
I *think* we are getting potty trained! We have had several days in a row wearing underwear during the day with no accidents, even at school, and even pooping in the potty. I don't want to jinx it by declaring it a done deal, because this kid keeps us on our toes in all other areas, and I expect her to hold out on us with this too. But, so far, so good.
It helps that she can't wear pull-ups to school. She went through 3-4 school days with 1 or 2 accidents a day, and then a couple of days with no accidents at all! Once she went to school, we just went all underwear during the day at home too. It's been messy, but less and less messy every day.
She seems to have an enthusiasm for it lately, which is good. It just gets a little pesky when we're out in public and she wants to use the potty several times just for sport. She just trickles out a little pee and then she wants to do the whole routine of getting toilet paper, flushing, washing hands, and in the process she touches every surface available. It's gross, just thinking about all those nasty germs!
Then, ten minutes later she wants to go again, because she can! Who am I to rain on this parade? It's all part of the process, and soon she'll discover that going to the bathroom is quite dull and only done when really necessary. Until then, lots of hand sanitizer.
The pull-ups at night seem kind of silly now, because she often wakes up dry. She waits until morning to pee in the potty. I'm keeping the pull-ups for the time being, because sometimes she sleeps in my bed, and I don't even want to think about an accident there. It has happened, but only once, and once is quite enough of that business.
It's a pretty cool milestone unfolding around here. All parties are excited!
Now, to get rid of that binky...
Friday, November 1, 2013
Halloween Report
Halloween was a huge production this year. It had ups and downs. I'm thrilled to be able to experience this through the eyes of a 3-year-old, but, oh, man, the life of a 3-year-old can be dramatic, exhausting and a little spazzy.
Highlights:
- Hunting for and carving pumpkins!
- Super fun preschool party with all her new classmates and her new best friend, Miss Heather
- The spooky soundtrack that Daddy played. She loved it so much she woke up the next day asking repeatedly for the "ghost songs". They creep me out, but this little lady can't get enough.
- A and J decorated the house and yard with vampires, bats, ghosts and lights
- Making cookies together for Daddy!
Lowlights:
- Under no circumstance would she don the adorable bear costume we got for her. Not when she's at a party with all of her other dressed-up classmates, not with the promise of trick-or-treating (and candy!), not with me dressed up in my bear costume, and certainly not when J tried to beg, plead, bargain, cajole and otherwise influence her. She wasn't having it. "No, I'm good.", she would say. Uh, ok...
- Thus, no going around the neighborhood "scaring" the neighbors in our bear costumes, as planned. More of a bummer for me than for her, clearly.
- Way. Too. Many. Sweets.
- Squirrels munched on our pumpkins! What the hell?
All-in-all a fun and interesting experience. I'm up for many more years of Halloween with my favorite original, headstrong and hilarious girl.
Highlights:
- Hunting for and carving pumpkins!
- Super fun preschool party with all her new classmates and her new best friend, Miss Heather
- The spooky soundtrack that Daddy played. She loved it so much she woke up the next day asking repeatedly for the "ghost songs". They creep me out, but this little lady can't get enough.
- A and J decorated the house and yard with vampires, bats, ghosts and lights
- Making cookies together for Daddy!
Lowlights:
- Under no circumstance would she don the adorable bear costume we got for her. Not when she's at a party with all of her other dressed-up classmates, not with the promise of trick-or-treating (and candy!), not with me dressed up in my bear costume, and certainly not when J tried to beg, plead, bargain, cajole and otherwise influence her. She wasn't having it. "No, I'm good.", she would say. Uh, ok...
- Thus, no going around the neighborhood "scaring" the neighbors in our bear costumes, as planned. More of a bummer for me than for her, clearly.
- Way. Too. Many. Sweets.
- Squirrels munched on our pumpkins! What the hell?
All-in-all a fun and interesting experience. I'm up for many more years of Halloween with my favorite original, headstrong and hilarious girl.
It's November. Finally!
Last month was a doozy, particularly the last week of it.
I made it through two hosting two toddler parties with house guests, school photos for the first time, doctor visit + flu mist, ridiculous lack of sense and miscommunication on multiple huge budget projects, Halloween - parties and battles, and first day of preschool. Where to begin?
Two parties is a shit ton of money and work, I'm not gonna lie, but after it was all done, it was the right call. The parties were smaller each, and more pleasant. The girl enjoyed herself at each one and was able to really spend time with people. The elders require a more formal host situation, and my friends require more social time, so this way I could do both.
I don't know if I'd do it again because I was double dog tired afterward, like, exhausted to the max. When I was cleaning up after the second one, and J was kicking back watching football and he sauntered into the kitchen announcing that he was hungry, he nearly lost his life. It's not good to be pushed that far, by any means, but the overall experience was more enjoyable for A, and that's the reason for the season. In the end, I'm happy if she's happy.
School photos went awesome. We had the expected clothes battle, but finally agreed on something adorable (a new sweater from her Aunt Amy). She smiled at the right times and looked like a little angel.
She loves going to the doctor for some reason, and she didn't even flinch or frown when they poked her finger to test for iron. She even thanked the nurse afterward.
On her first day of preschool, she didn't seem nervous at all. Not like me who was trying to remember a million details and forgetting half of them. We had been talking about it all week, and once we got into the school, she just marched right into her class and didn't look back. The report was that she had a great time, fit right in, marched down the hall as the line leader, took a two hour nap (WHAT THE HELL???) and made lots of friends. She was happy to see us, but she didn't want to leave either until we promised she could come back.
An overall positive week, but I'll be happy to have no significant milestones next week. Unless she decides to potty train. I'd be up for that one!
I made it through two hosting two toddler parties with house guests, school photos for the first time, doctor visit + flu mist, ridiculous lack of sense and miscommunication on multiple huge budget projects, Halloween - parties and battles, and first day of preschool. Where to begin?
Two parties is a shit ton of money and work, I'm not gonna lie, but after it was all done, it was the right call. The parties were smaller each, and more pleasant. The girl enjoyed herself at each one and was able to really spend time with people. The elders require a more formal host situation, and my friends require more social time, so this way I could do both.
I don't know if I'd do it again because I was double dog tired afterward, like, exhausted to the max. When I was cleaning up after the second one, and J was kicking back watching football and he sauntered into the kitchen announcing that he was hungry, he nearly lost his life. It's not good to be pushed that far, by any means, but the overall experience was more enjoyable for A, and that's the reason for the season. In the end, I'm happy if she's happy.
School photos went awesome. We had the expected clothes battle, but finally agreed on something adorable (a new sweater from her Aunt Amy). She smiled at the right times and looked like a little angel.
She loves going to the doctor for some reason, and she didn't even flinch or frown when they poked her finger to test for iron. She even thanked the nurse afterward.
On her first day of preschool, she didn't seem nervous at all. Not like me who was trying to remember a million details and forgetting half of them. We had been talking about it all week, and once we got into the school, she just marched right into her class and didn't look back. The report was that she had a great time, fit right in, marched down the hall as the line leader, took a two hour nap (WHAT THE HELL???) and made lots of friends. She was happy to see us, but she didn't want to leave either until we promised she could come back.
An overall positive week, but I'll be happy to have no significant milestones next week. Unless she decides to potty train. I'd be up for that one!
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