SWAMPED!

I am swamped. Swamped in my personal life. Swamped in my professional life. SWAMPED!

Do-Over Last Night's Commute

I'd like to do-over last night's commute. We got dumped on yesterday. Even here, in the upper midwest 2 to 3 inches of snow in an hour is a pretty good clip. Anyhow, I left work 45 minutes early to make sure I picked Peanut up from daycare on time. I couldn't believe I made it there as quickly as I did, so I decided to stop at SuperTarget to get something to cook for dinner. As we were walking down to the grocery end of the store, Peanut started saying, "eat. eat." Since she's tiny we try to feed her right away, so I stopped an got her a slice of pizza. Twenty minutes later, after she was done eating, I threw away all of the trash, and tried to get her to start walking through the store with me. However, she wouldn't move. When I got close to her, she told me, "poopies". Crap. I don't bring the diaper bag with me during the week when I'm just taking her to and from daycare. So, off we go to the diaper aisle to purchase today's new necessities. At that point, I gave up on trying to find something for supper. I had cheerios.

Could I have a LITTLE privacy, PLEASE

I know it’s typical for Peanut to be interested in toileting habits. She’s observing and learning how “big” people use the bathroom. I know that it’s important to encourage her to learn how to be a big girl and use the potty instead of going in her diaper. I’m okay with her coming into the bathroom and watching me go. I’m okay with her supervising daddy going too. I’m even okay with her monitoring the dogs when they go outside to see if they’re going to the bathroom. However, is it too much to ask for her to not try to stick her head in the toilet when I using it? I really think I’m entitled to at least 1 ft of space between my knees and her head.

Everyone needs a Time Out!

It’s been a rough week. Peanut hasn’t been sleeping well which means mommy hasn’t been sleeping well. Monday night, she was up 5 times during the night. As a result, I was tired and crabby yesterday. Peanut ended up with a time out for playing with the light switches because I was out of patience, and the dog, Molly, ended up with a time out as well. My co-worker told me it wouldn’t be long before Peanut told me, “mommy, time out”, and she was right. Peanut popped that one out last night. Truthfully, mommy needed a time out too.

I was hoping for a good night of sleep, but the cards didn’t fall my way. I went to bed at 8:45 pm, but didn’t go to sleep until sometime after 1:00 am. Getting over-tired really screws up my sleeping abilities. I was twitchy, jittery, and achy. I simply couldn’t get comfortable and relax enough to go to sleep. Hopefully tonight will be better.

Blowing Snow INTO the Driveway

My husband wanted to take Peanut sledding over the weekend. As a result, he guilted me into going up to his parents house since the new sled, a 5 ½ foot long toboggan, fits better in my car than in his. We got all the way up there only to find out that the wind had blown all of the snow off the driveway were we sled with Peanut. My husband was so determined to go sledding that he hauled his dad’s snow blower into the neighbor’s yard, and blew snow into his dad’s driveway.

After an hour of work, he finally had enough snow to try out the new sled. Boy, does that thing move. The driveway where we sled isn’t very steep. It only has about 9 feet of drop, but this new sled really moves. It went past the tree I ran into earlier this year, and makes it almost all the way to the edge of the lake. Peanut really wanted to go down in the big sled, so we took turns taking her down. She had a great time.

Molly, Time Out!

One of our puppies, Molly, was being a pain in the butt on Saturday morning. She kept trying to open the baby gate to go upstairs where my husband was packing a bag for the weekend. Peanut yelled at her, "Molly, Time Out!" I asked peanut what she had said since I wasn't sure I'd heard it correctly. Sure enough, two time-outs for peanut has resulted in her knowing that everyone should have time-outs when they're naughty.

The Naughty Chair

Well, I had to instigate a time out policy at home. Boy, sometimes it sucks to be the parent. I quickly discovered that this wasn't going to work unless we had a dedicated spot to hold time outs in our house. Therefore we made an excursion to the local Ikea, and purchased a brand new naughty chair for peanut. Hopefully this will help us all cope with the willfullness that crops up in almost 2 year olds.

Applesauce Bra

Last night, peanut asked for some applesauce. I grabbed the cup, took it over to the high chair, and put peanut in to eat. She ate the first few bites, and then started to play with it. She smeared it on her hands, and ate it off of them. The stuck some in her hair. After several minutes, she pulled her shirt away from her chest, and stuck the applesauce down her shirt saying, "bra". Needless to say, she got a bath after supper.

"Come, puppy. Come!"

We were watching the Westminster Kennel Club dog show last night. Peanut watched the dogs come into the ring. They were examining the first dog, and the handler took him on a short jog around the ring, when I hear peanut calling, "come, puppy. Come!" It was cute because she really didn't realize that the puppy wasn't "real". She really believed that he could burst through the TV screen into our living room to give peanut a big kiss.

The arguing is making me CRAZY!

I knew that the terrible two’s were coming. I knew that peanut would be defiant, and try to learn how far she could push us before we correct her. However, I didn’t know that I would be dealing with arguing from my not yet two year old.

This weekend, peanut crawled up on the sofa with me. She stood up against the back of the sofa, compressing the cushions as she put all of her weight against the back which had just enough force to knock the remote control off the sofa back. I asked peanut to pick it up off the floor, and she decided to take a stand. “No” she answered. “Peanut, did you know the remote control on the floor,” I asked. “No,” she answered. “Peanut, you need to pick the remote control up off the floor since you knocked it down,” I replied. “No, mama get it,” she answered. “Mommy isn’t going to pick it up because peanut knocked it off. Peanut needs to pick up the remote control,” I respond. “No! Mama get it,” she answers. “Peanut, you need to pick it up,” I responded. Finally, she slides down off the floor, walks around to the back of the sofa, and I hear her pick it up. Next thing I know, she’s waving it in the air next to the sofa back trying to get me to take it.

Of course, this is after arguing with her about her age. She believes that she’s two even though she’s only 21 months old. Her teacher at daycare told me that she’s started arguing with them also. I know it’s just a phase, but she’s not even TWO yet. I expected this when she got older. I remember fighting with my mom as a teenager, not when I was younger. Jeez.

Things not to do with an Almost 2 year old

My in-laws came down for the weekend since it was my husband's birthday. He wanted to go to a nice restaurant for dinner, so we made reservations at Morton's Steak House. Unfortunately, our lack of planning caught up with us, and we didn't have a sitter for peanut. We asked when we made the reservation if they had any items for children. This isn't their specialty, but they said they could make mini burgers or chicken fingers. No problem, we'll bring peanut along.

We were working on re-arranging / setting up a family room in the basement, so we waited until the last possible minute to get ready to leave. I'm running around the house trying to gather up all of peanut's clothes, when my husband stops me in the upstairs hallway. Can you come in, and help me decide which outfit is the best one? I wait for him to change his pants a couple of times, and make the choice for him. I run downstairs, and peanut's in a combative mood. I try to get her to agree to changing her clothes, but it was a no go. I haul her into the downstairs guest bedroom where we have a back-up changing table, and start wrestling her into her new outfit while she hangs on to her dirty clothes with the "death-grip". I finally get her undressed, and into tights and her turtleneck. My mother-in-law offers to help, so I leave her with the jumper and shoes while I run upstairs to get myself ready. I jump into my clothes, and we race out of the house.

The drive is fairly uneventful. We make it downtown with 20 minutes to spare. Thankfully, our table is ready, so we were seated right away. Peanut had taken a snooze in the car, so at first she was completely angelic. She sat in the booster seat, and tried to read the menu. We place our order, and they bring some bread out to the table. Peanut asks for a piece. No problem I give her one, and she starts to eat it. It doesn't take long, and she's done. She decides to stand up, and play with the straw. She takes it out of the milk, and puts it in the water. She takes it out of the water, and puts it in her milk. She takes it out of the milk, and puts it in the water. This is all fine until she tries to pick it up. Real glass without a lid and a two year old don't mix. I narrowly avert tantrum #1. The appetizer arrives, and she tries the crab cake. Yummy! They deliver the salad, and she's bored. I try to eat, but she's starting to fuss. I get up, and take her to the bathroom thinking that she can run a little energy off inside, but she doesn't want to walk. I finally convince her to wash her hands, but then she wants to do it again, and again. I finally make it back to the table, and she doesn't want to sit in the booster seat. We narrowly avoid tantrum number two, and my husband and I switch ends, so that peanut can lounge on the booth without disturbing the patrons at the adjacent table. She squirms and twists, and I finally realize that I have her favorite toy in my purse - a baby wipe. I give it to her, and it buys me enough time to eat 1/2 of my main course. By now, we're past her bedtime, and she's getting antsier by the second. She takes off her shoes, and puts them on the table. I move them to the booth, and she starts fussing. Tantrum #3 is narrowly avoided because mommy lets her start playing in my purse. She takes out the spare change of clothes. She takes out the diapers. She takes out the wipes. She takes out the cell phone. She takes out the address book. Bingo! I give her a pen, and let her start writing in the address book. This gives me time to finish my dinner, but our booth looks like a tornado hit it. Peanut gets distracted, and starts writing on her hands. She traces the lines in her palms, and scribbles over the backs. Grandma finishes dinner, so she takes peanut to the bathroom to wash her hands, and we ask for the check as soon as we can get our waiter's attention. I pack up the wreckage, pay the bill, and we finally head for home.

So, things to remember for next time:

bring a sippy cup (exclusive restaurants aren't prepared for 2 year olds)
bring crayons & coloring book
bring a play purse for peanut
plan far enough in advance to hire a sitter

My husband keeps telling me how well she did, and he's right. For a two year old, she did a great job. However, he wasn't the one fighting with her. I wanted him to enjoy his dinner, so I took care of things. He's also pleased that we can afford to expose her to these types of restaurants occassionally. We've found that peanut has an ability to really enjoy expensive foods. Her palate is much more grown up than she is.

Yep, Mike!

One of peanut's classmates at daycare has a new baby brother. I asked peanut if she knew that Sadie had a baby brother, and she answered me, "Yep, Mike!" The only problem is his name is Connor.

Illness, Shoe Shopping, and Teething

It's been a rough weekend. Peanut was sick on Saturday. She puked all over when we were eating lunch. Thank god, she missed the table, but it went all over her, all over my shoe, and all over the floor. She really perked up afterwards, and even ate all of her lunch, so we decided to continue with our plans for the day. We did a little shopping at the mall, and then headed over to a new kids shoe store I'd read about in the paper.

We arrived at the shoe store, and it was amazing. Usually we have a selection of 3 or 4 pairs of shoes for peanut, but this store had probably a hundred different pairs at full price and an additional 20 pairs on clearance. I've never seen so many kids shoes in one place. I thought this was going to be a real hit with peanut since she L O V E S shoes. (She's been taking them on and off and playing with them since she was 5 months old.) However, when we tried the first pair on, she started whimpering. We tried another pair, and more pitiful noises came out, so we left. When we got home, peanut had a temperature of 103.3. No wonder she wasn't having a good time.

We tried to get peanut comfortable. We hauled out the baby motrin and tylenol. We got her pedialyte mixed with juice (a rare treat), wrapped her up in a blanket, and cuddled with her on the sofa. We even ate in shifts to try to make it easy on her. She had horrible chills, so when I finally tucked her into bed I even put a hat on her head. She woke up the next morning perky as could be. I don't know what this bug was, but it didn't take long to get it out of her system.

Sunday afternoon, I decided to try the shoe store again. This time, when we walked in, peanut looked at all of the shoes. She turned to me and said, "shoes, mama, SHOES!" She found the ones that were approximately her size, and started pulling them off the shelves to try on. This was the reaction I was expecting, and it was fun to try on all of the different pairs. I ended up buying her a red canvas pair for this spring. I can't wait until her feet grow enough to wear them.

I thought we were in for a good night Sunday night, but the teething pain set in. She's working on her 2 year molars, and they are kicking her in the butt. She's been having meltdowns left and right. I know it's because she's over-tired because she's not sleeping well with all of this pain, but it still starts to wear on a person. It took me an hour to get her to bed last night, and her day started off with a tantrum on the way to daycare because of this teething pain. I even had to stop at the grocery store to buy some orajel on the way. I can't wait until this is over.

Molly, Fort, Owie, Bite, Baba, Naughty, Gentle

Peanut is trying to tell us a story. It’s the first time she’s strung together words that convey multiple thoughts which are all related. It’s kind of fun to listen to her work on these skills. Here’s the story she’s trying to tell us:

Molly and Fort got into a fight. Fort got lots of owies because Molly bit him, so they’re staying at grandpa’s house until this weekend because Fort needs lots of attention. Biting is naughty. Puppies should be gentle to each other.

I can't believe how much fun children this age are.

Mama Back

The peanut learned something new this week. One word can have more than one meaning.

She's been saying the word back for a while. She'll point to her back, and say it. She'll climb up on the ottoman, say back, and point to it when she wants a back rub. When she thinks she's had a long enough back rub, she'll even reciprocate by asking us to sit on the ottoman while she rubs our back.

I was surprised the other day when she used the work back in a different way. I got up from the kitchen table to grab a soda out of our mini refrigerator in the laundry room when peanut started yelling, "mama back". "Mama, BACK". I stood in the doorway, and asked if she wanted me to come back to the table. Sure enough, that's what she was trying to say.

Not too shabby for 20 months old.

Daycare Report Card

I picked Peanut up from daycare the other day, and they had placed a report card in her cubby. It has a list of 41 skills that she's supposed to master. At first, I freaked out becuase I thought that she was supposed to master all of these skills by two, but it turns out that they use the same report card sheet all the way until she's through the pre-school program.

Anyhow, she's doing pretty well. She has mastered 27 of the items on the list. In the Gross Motor Development category she has only one skill left to master, walking backwards upon command. She does this for me at home, so I know she'll figure it out soon at daycare too. In the fine motor development category she has two items left to master, cutting with scissors and unwrapping items. I think those will take a while to accomplish. I'm not okay with my 20 month old using scissors, so that's a parenting issue not a development issue. The language development section is one she's working on right now. She needs to start using words to express her needs at school. She's just starting to do this at home, so it should come quickly. Right now, her favorite is "Eat". She even worries about the dogs eating. She's supposed to have 10 - 15 nouns & verbs. She's getting close to that at home. As far as I can tell, she has about 50 words so far. She's just not using them at school, and she needs to start putting words together into simple sentences. There again, she's starting to do this at home, but it's still very infrequent. She also needs to learn her colors and numbers. We're working on it at home, but she doesn't have them yet. She also needs to learn to go to the bathroom by herself, but she's not even two yet. I think it's okay to just be interested in the process, but not yet doing it herself.

Uh-oh

I was getting Peanut ready for daycare yesterday when she started pointing at me, and saying, "Uh-oh." I couldn't figure out what was wrong. Nothing had fallen on the floor. There were no stains or strings or anything else on my shirt. I told her, "nothing's wrong"; however, she kept repeating, "Uh-oh". I finally realized that my hair had shifted while I was looking down, so the part wasn't straight. I fixed it, and asked her, "did I fix it?". She smiled, and said, "Yep".

Who knew that your part had to be kept perfectly straight, or it's an Uh-oh?

My little copy cat

My daughter is such a hoot lately. She's totally into copying everything we do. She feels the need to supervise me when I'm using the toilet, and she pretends to wipe her butt when I do. She's also trying to copy the way we talk / interact with the dogs. She did a semi-squat, and patted her knees trying to get the dog to come to her the other day. If we use a hand signal, she'll mimic that as well. She's also practicing repeating the words we use. Thank God, I used shoot the other day when the car seat buckle was stuck the other day in the cold.

I never realized how fun a toddler can be. I thought my friends were crazy when they talked about staying home, and laughing at their kids. I totally get it now. I was the one missing out, not them.

A Frustrating Start to the New Year

Well, 2009 has arrived, and with it came a lot of frustration.

We had Christmas with my family. My sister was her typical, crabby, impossible to satisfy self. It's hard to deal with her when she's squealing at my mom for mashing the potatoes, (I guess we're all supposed to know that beef burgundy is served on boiled potatoes, right?) berating her daughter at the dinner table for not eating the right foods, yelling at my mom for repeating her husband's question to their daughter, freaking out because their daughter gets chocolate on her hands. She managed to buy Peanut the wrong sized shirt. It's not a big deal, I'll save it until next winter, but she's arguing with me about Peanut growing enough to wear it this spring. It's not going to happen. Peanut's in the 5th percentile for her age. She's just starting to move into her 18 month clothes at 20 months. She's not going to be able to wear a size 24 month shirt until sometime in the fall at the earliest. Oh well, it's not worth it to get worked up. She's just a pain in the butt. Other than that, we had a good time. My parents and aunt and uncle were very generous.

We went to the in-laws for the weekend. For the most part it was a good time, but I had problems with trying to work from their home. I thought I had everything ready to go, but I missed a few things. It's painful trying to work over the VPN with changes to the database. In addition, it took 2 days for them to get the new entertainment system hooked up. I was starting to go a little stir crazy from the silence. I really like to have the TV playing in the background. However, Peanut did say I love you for the first time, and she's starting to put together two to three word sentences. She's at such a fun age.

This morning was one of those days where you wish you could go back to bed and start all over. I ran out to start the car, and it was covered in ice. Neither windshield scraper was working, so I asked my husband to help. He started hauling buckets of water outside, dumped them on the windows, and scraping the remaining ice off. I tried to take over for him since he was in his PJ's but it was a two person job. By the time we were done, we were both soaked. I ran upstairs, changed clothes, grabbed Peanut, and headed into work. The roads were icy, so traffic was slow. I had to call my boss to let him know I'd be a few minutes late. I dropped Peanut off, and headed into work. Halfway there, my husband called to ask me where I was. I was baffled by the question since he knew I was going to work when he told me that I'd forgotten the laptop in my rush to get out of the house. AAARGH!!! Thankfully, he brought it to me, but it wasn't the way I planned to start the new year. This was all followed by one of my coworkers expanding his monthly report to 90 pages with 20 hours notice. I'm scrambling to get it all compiled and organized. Hopefully things will get a little less frustrating soon.