Sunday, February 27, 2011

Ick!

Umm...the worst part of parenting just MIGHT be when your child poops in the tub!! Yes, that happened to us this evening. We had to drain the tub and try to keep the poop from going down the drain so I picked it up with toilet paper. Does anyone realize how easily toilet paper breaks down in water? Fast.
Ick! Gross. It didn't stink or anything but just the thought of poop in the water...I picked it up and I had to watch the rest to make sure it didn't go down the drain. I practically vomited.
Please don't do that again, D.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Oh heehee...

Y'know, I was a bit apprehensive about the whole potty training thing. And when I was feeling a bit under the weather about two weeks ago and D was steeped in potty training mode - wanting to walk around without her diapers and then running to the potty, hearing the Fischer Price talking potty sing when she pees and then calling Grandma to hear the accolades - I just wasn't feeling it. I mean, having to empty the potty every time she tinkled so the sound would go off the next time was so tedious.
But alas. The girl just about trained herself! Now, we started with the whole potty training thing about a month ago just kind of inadvertently with having her walk around without her diaper and calling Grandma every time she peed. We never did anything about number 2. So everytime she peed she'd jump off the pot and scream, "Kwai dian! Kwai dian! Da dian hwa gay Nai Nai!" (Translation: Hurry! Hurry! Call Grandma!) And we'd call Grandma and Grandma would exclaim, "Bao Bae di yi ming! Bao Bae hao bang!" (Translation: Bao Bae is number 1! Bao Bae is wonderful!)
I mean, that really just speeds along this whole potty training, I'm convinced.
Then somehow about a week and and a half ago she sort of learned how to poop in the potty and then hasn't pooped in her diaper since! She always asks to poo in the toilet! And while I still had her wear a diaper when we exited the house and she would pee in it but still ask to poo in a toilet, today I had her exit the house without a diaper and she's wearing big girl underwear and she peed and pood in toilet all day! Amazing!
And I was worried...who knew? Hallelujah!!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Airplane tickets for toddlers

Oh, those airlines...they knew what they were doing when they instituted charging for a toddler 2 years old and beyond. See, when infants are under 2 years old, they only cry because they need something - they could be tired, thirsty, hungry. But once that need is met, they are satisfied and they don't fuss anymore.
A two-year-old, however, is a whole different story. A 2-year old fusses because she can and she is not quiet about it. She's might know what she wants or she might not but whatever it is, she sure as hell knows she's not liking what is going on at that particular second - like, she wants OUT of the plane and obviously that's not gonna happen - and she's not afraid to voice her opinion.
Yup, that's what D did recently on our trip out to Vail. She missed her nap and was just so antsy. Wanted me to get up out of my seat and hold her, carry her to the back of the plane to hang out. Didn't want to walk on her own two legs or stand. Just wanted me to carry her. Always the carrying...
I have to say, when my niece was around 4 years old, my sister had brought her out to New York to visit. She wanted to be carried the entire time around NYC, and only carried by her mother. Not her father. So, my sister did! She carried her from about 80th street all the way down to about 11th Street. At that time, I did not have a child but I do remember thinking, "Heck no! If I ever have a kid she is not gonna be carried like that!" I still stand by that statement...but I also find myself carrying D a lot more than I think she needs to be carried, and definitely less than G carries her. He is always telling her, "D, you are big enough to walk on your own. Get down." Of course, she fusses and cries and he eventually picks her back up, but at least he attempts. And those times when he is attempting, I secretly feel bad in my heart for her..."but she's so little... She might be tired..and she's in an unfamiliar place...."

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

I sure hope you didn't pee in there...

What do you do with the toddler who just loves to do exactly what you tell her not to do? D tried to drink her bath water a couple times a few months ago and both G and I gasped and told her "Nooooo, don't do that!" Of course, she laughed and continued to do it. So, we try to ignore.
Today, though. Today takes the cake. She was literally filling up her entire cup (maybe 2 cup portion) and taking big gulps of water.
What did I do? Nada. I just looked at her and said, "I hope you didn't pee in there."
I mean, I tried to be apathetic but I'm pretty sure she could tell in my eyes that I was really irritated. Gulping her water! Not just once but numerous times! She must've drank half a cup or a cup of water in her tub tonight. How does someone just sit back and watch that?? My heart was pumping out of my ribcage I was so irritated, but I didn't get upset. Just sat there and watched her do it and when I'd had enough, just drained the tub. Did not say one word about drinking the water, whether she should drink it or not. Just said very matter of factly, "That water has soap in it and if you pee'd in it, then pee too so you are drinking all of that...."
That's it. Oh, she was so proud of herself.

Monday, February 7, 2011

Thank you

Recently, D has gotten into the mischief of always wanting to bite my hair. To take my hair in her teeth and just pull. That is not a great feeling and I am constantly reprimanding her, telling her not to pull my hair and especially not to bite my hair with her teeth. But, of course, she just thinks it's funny and doesn't listen to me.
Today, I said to her, "Don't bite mommy's hair or I will spank you!"
D: "Thank you."
M: "No, not thank you. I will spank you!"
D: "You're welcome."
Finally, I just rolled my eyes. It was futile. She knows exactly what I was saying yet refused to acknowledge.
Thankfully, Daddy came to the rescue with his stern voice and said, "D! Do NOT bite mommy's hair! That is very bad."
She didn't care...I'm pretty sure I haven't seen the last of this stunt.

Frustration

What I hate most about parenting is getting frustrated at myself but taking it out on D because she's the one that caused it.
Case in point, today she got into my toiletries drawer, found a small bottle of hair serum, unscrewed the cap and started pouring the entire contents of the bottle into the cap which of course, spilled all over herself, the drawer, the floor...
I was so pissed! Why? Because she should've known better! Uh, nooo...or how about because she shouldn't be in my stuff anyway! Umm, again, no.
Really I was pissed at myself for letting it happen and then pissed at G for having such stupid drawers and not having locks on them. Of course, none of these things dawned on me until after I threw a fit.
I
should've known better. I should not have had those things within her reach and I should've made sure we put locks on them as soon as she learned how to pull open the drawers and unscrew tops.
And while these things were going through my head and I know I should've kept my cool, I just couldn't. I was still telling myself in my head, "But I at least have to let her understand what she did was wrong..."
I hate days like these. Mostly because I hate being wrong.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Tattle tell

D now goes to Buttercup. It's a Waldorf program for toddlers. The other day, the kids got free play. The purpose of this exercise is so the kids will play by themselves and moms can do "purposeful work"...yeah...there are three moms in this class so a total of three kids. All three moms (me included) find the idea of "purposeful work" laughable as none of the kids ever really leave our sides. Sure they run around and play for a bit but they are always looking to their moms as their playmates.
Last week, D is sitting by me playing and I'm chatting with the teacher so teacher gets a little wooden container that holds colored cotton balls and gives it to D to play. She plays with it, puts the strap over her shoulder and calls it her book bag. Then she drapes the "book bag" on the back of the chair and says, "Don't touch it mommy! Don't touch my book bag, okay??"
I reply, "Okay, I won't."
Then she walks off, walks back and says, "Don't touch my stuff mommy, okay?"
The teacher looks at me with a slight slanted eye and says, "And we wonder where she gets that from..." Mmm-hmm. I know. Guilty. Yes, I often tell D not to touch things. Not so much in those words. I don't recall ever saying, "Don't touch my stuff D!" But I have told her not to touch for instance, the razors in daddy's drawers, the lipsticks on my shelf...the cotton balls in the drawers b/c she tend to pour them all over the floor. That type of stuff. Is that so wrong?
Sigh. What a tattle tell.