Is Mama so happy?

So, D has started to see when I am angry (mostly when directed at her) and she will say, "Is Mama so happy?" And I will reply, "No, because...x, y, z" and when she knows she's done something wrong. She will just be quiet, go along her merry way and then periodically, keep checking in, "Is Mama so happy?"
I think she'd been doing that for about a month. Just the other evening, however, she was being a bit fussy and whiney and asked, "Is Mama so happy?" I replied, "No.." She immediately got mad and cried, "DON'T be sad!! Be happy!!!" Seriously, demanding it of me. And then of course I looked at her like she was crazy (as is my style) and she shouts, "Don't make scary eyes at me!!"
Hahaha! She is so funny right now!!
Then another time she asked, "Is Mama so happy?" And I replied, "No. Can you come here and give mama a kiss to make her happy?" She played around a bit but then came over and gave me a kiss.
Well...now, I've kind of shot myself in the foot (so to say) because now when she sometimes says, "Is Mama so happy?" and I reply, "No.." She runs over and wants to give me a kiss to make me feel better. She will also say, "Kiss! Kiss!"
See, and my temper doesn't really subside that easily...so sometimes of course when I am mad at her and maybe she hasn't adjusted her attitude, I have to just be "happy" because she's come over to give me a kiss. (cue: rolling of my eyes. Way to go. Good one, B.)

So there IS light at the end of the tunnel...

I wouldn't specify at the end of a DARK tunnel since although I do complain about how attached D is to me, she truly, at the end of the day a very good girl. A relatively easy child, I guess.
Now about the light!
This past Friday morning, D and I were out front watering the lawn (shocker, I know) and our neighbors came out of their house with their great dane. We asked if they were taking Bella for a walk and they said they were going to Bongo Java and asked if we'd like anything. Well, D and I just went to Bongo the previous morning and I had gotten her a steamer (steamed milk with a shot of syrup topped with whipped cream) that she loooved. So, D pipes up, "Can I have a steamer?"
I said, "Of course! Can you get D a steamer with vanilla syrup?" And then D pipes up again, "Can I go on my own?!"
The neighbors and I were all quite surprised that she wanted to go...with the P's...all alone. Of course, I jumped at the chance! "Of course!!"
D happily bounced off the steps, reached for C's hand and walked off with them.
It was a milestone morning, this past Friday.
They took her to Bongo, bought her a biscotti, a steamer and then she sat down with them and a circle of friends and just happily ate and drank.
The neighbors reported back that D was very well-behaved, the hit of the morning crew and was just a delight to have around.
I was very happy.

NYC baby!!

D and I took a mother daughter trip to NYC. We had a really great time. She loved the subways, loved the taxis. Love the sweet treats. Yeaaahh....errrmmm, sadly sweet treats are truly the way to a toddler's heart, aren't they? How in the world does this happen??
Generally speaking, G and I do not really always let D have sweets. Case in point - no birthday cake on her first birthday. I try not to give her sweetened yogurts, no juice. Just because we feel that she has her whole life to fill her body with yucky sugar and artificial ingredients. Surely, we as parents don't have to compound the situation by putting these things within her reach at all times. Although I do bake a lot for her...I guess we just feel better about making ourselves because then we know exactly what goes into those goodies.
Well, all caution was thrown to the wind in those four days that we were in NYC. Hey, we were on vacation! Decadence is always a highlight.
D had two cream puffs for breakfast on Sunday morning...and on Monday morning she had Trader Joe's Cheese Puffs. She loves those. On Tuesday, for brunch she had a chocolate croissant and fruit of course, but just fruit alone does not a happy baby make. She's bored of fruits. She eats that all the time.
Tuesday night, before dinner, mommy bought D a beautiful semifreddo from Eataly NYC. It looked so delicious, the diners at the table next to us were oogling. I had to tell them the dessert did not come from the restaurant we were currently at. She was soo good at dinner after that luscious semifreddo for a starter. Then she went and fell off her booster seat (thanks to mommy's negligence and not strapping her in) and hit her head. The chef at Mercat (where we were dining) was so sad he sent over ice cream for her. I let her have it of course. But, luckily, the girl had sense enough not to finish the whole thing! And when we ate our dessert - a chocolate souffle, she also got a bite of that. Whew!! That is a LOT of sugar in one sitting.
But, I am happy to report that I do not think it had any real adverse effects on her. Sure, she did race from room to room singing and going generally berserko. BUT, when I put her down to sleep, she went right to sleep.

Pee...oh bother

Traipsing around NYC with D today. She had so much fun swinging in the swing that when she got off and was walking over to the slide, she realized (too late) that she had to pee. So, the scenario went something like this - "I have to pee-pee!" whimper, whimper.
Mommy picks her up and is hurriedly taking her over to where the bathroom is and - oooh, what is that, warmness pouring over my leg as I look down to find D has peed all over herself, me and the playground.
Mommy: "Well, I guess that's that. No bathroom trip needed. I guess we are going home. We can't go on the slide."
Gross. Tomorrow - pull ups.

And then this evening I decide to take D into the shower with me so she can get a cleaning after peeing on herself. We're in the shower and she starts to cry b/c she has to pee. I just tell her to pee in the shower. Clearly, she was upset about it but I guess she peed. Sad.

When did I create this monster?

I know I've complained a lot on here about how D is waaaay too attached to me. Really. Seriously. It is getting out of control. Remember when I posted about how D is so attached to me that even when I leave her home with daddy, she gets sad?
Yeah, she's still like that. Funny story - the last time I had G watching D for several nights in a row, on one of the nights he exclaims, "I'm exhausted. I need to go to bed." This being only around 9:30PM which is unusual for him...except when he has to watch D. So I respond, "You always exclaim that you are EXHAUSTED whenever you have to watch her." G says, "I do? Well, you know why? Because I have to constantly keep her attention and keep her entertained otherwise she starts to get teary-eyed and asks for mama."
Poor G.
But do you see this? It is out of control. And now it's even worse!
Now, she doesn't want her father to pick her up from naps. She goes bananas and cries her eyes out. And sometimes, she doesn't even want him to look at her. She lets him know by saying, "No! No Daddy look at you!"
I don't know how this happened. I just don't understand. WHHHYYYY MEEEEEE?
And really, G is not being any better at handling the situation as he just turns around and walks away. It makes him really mad that she acts that way. Helllooo?? The way to fix this is if G just spends A LOT of one-on-one time with her...hello? Am I the only one thinking here?
Anyhoooo...it's just really ridiculous.

Maybe I need to work out

Maybe I don't. But I certainly FEEL like I need to work out when D is sitting at my knee poking and pinching the flab of fat that is currently sitting on top of my jeans!! Talk about giving a girl a complex...STOP THAT, D!!
Okay, I'm off to go jogging....

Aaand she awakens

Whoa, as a follow-up to yesterday's diarhena post, I actually put D down for a nap around 3pm and she just ended up sleeping through the night! At around 8pm, I went into her room to turn on the humidifier and the space heater, she heard me rustling, but just turned over, tucked her arms and legs underneath her and snuggled right down to sleep some more.
At around 6:20am, I just couldn't believe that she was not awake yet so had gone in to check on her. When she heard me enter, she rolled over, jumped up and started jumping on the bed with a big ole smile! Guess she must've felt better!
She announced she wanted some milk so I gave her some...(probably not the best idea since you are not supposed to give kids any dairy if they are having stomach issues, but sometimes I forget that she can't diagnose herself and know what she wants) and she seemed fine. I fed her an egg. Loaded her up with some coconut juice - the best form of electrolytes and replenishment for dehydration, mind you.
Whhooops, around 10:30am, she started getting the squirts again. Poor baby. Just did not want to go to the bathroom b/c the whole liquid out of her bum is so foreign to her! But once she did and got it all out of her system, I think she was fine. I'm pretty sure it was the milk that did it. I tried it, and it was good, but for some reason I think her body was not into it this time around. Or maybe it was too soon for dairy. Whatever it was, she bounced back quickly and I think is fine now.
No more milk for the next few days, I think!

Diarhena

Diarhena (with a long "e"). Yes, that's what D says, "I have diarhena." She has a bout of some sort of stomach bug. She's had quite a few bathroom trips with liquid coming out of her backside. That makes her very sad.
We also had a 2009 play group at our house this morning, as well as her "nanny" (I put in quotes b/c don't most kids love their nannies? D, not so much when she's not feeling well) so I think the combination of all that just really wore her down. Was really sad to see. She was crying so hard she was hiccuping. Poor child.
Finally, we had to settle in her room. Anyhooo...she seemed to be really in low spirits, not very talkative or hungry for the better part of the morning and after we dropped Weilun off and came home and it was just mommy and D and a lot of cuddling, she seemed to come around. She was talking, eating crackers and the banana I cut for her and generally feeling better! Though she still seemed to be running a fever so I put her down for, I'm sure, a much needed nap.
Hope she feels better this evening!

What am I? Dog meat?

Ya know...it's pretty surprising how many people think D gets all her great traits from her FATHER. What am I? Just the vehicle?
Ever since she was born - "Wow, she's got such big eyes! Just like her father."
Then there's a comment on the blog from her grandmother, "Oh, I see D has a great sense of humor. Just like her father." (Uhh, I think I have a pretty good sense of humor too..)
And this one is the best. We recently went to Vail, CO for a family ski trip with my mom and my sister's family. We all stayed in a condo with one other person (a new ski friend of my mom's whom we'd never met before). On the last day, as we were on the bus back to the airport, we are all chatting and this woman, Teri, is blabbing on about how cute D is, how fun, talkative and she says, "Ooh, and she has such a great, friendly personality. I can tell she gets that from you!" Do you think she was talking to me? No, she was talking to G!!
Do you think I let her get away with that?? NO WAY! Lady, you don't know me and I've had laryngitis the whole trip. How do you know whether I'm friendly or not??
Anyhoooo...okay. Fine. G is probably a lot friendlier than I. I'll give him that.
But, I have this to say - Snarkiness and wit gets a person pretty far in life too and if D gets that from me, then I'll take it!