Arrrgh...

Y'know, I try to schedule my days so D and I are out and about and doing things either until we need to get home to feed her lunch and then nap or until she passes out. Today we had a lovely Moms & Muffins shindig at a MOMS Member house and then plans to go see a presentation of Cinderella at our neighborhood library at 10:30am. Sweet. That would probably last an hour, we'd come home, I'd make her lunch, play a little and then she's off for nap.
Well, trust her father to just mess it all up. It turns out that I was not able to take D to the library but coordinated with G to meet me and take her while I had to head home for lunch.
They came home at 10:55am. WTF?!! When I asked, G said, "Well, she wanted to walk so then she was just interested in walking and hanging on the sidewalk so we did that and then we headed home." DARN HIM!!! Yeah, they come home and he immediately jumps on work calls...leaving ME to stop doing my work and having to entertain D. Greeaattt...that's, like, 2 hours shot.
Does it seem like I'm a little bit irritated. Yeah, I kinda was.
I mean, really...I'm a mother by nature of having given birth. However, had I wanted to be a nanny, I would've applied for that position...I'm just sayin'. Run along and go play by yourself please D.

A curious incident

Last night was interesting. Backstory - ever since D was a wee baby we have put two rolled up hand towels in her crib. At first G did that as sort of support next to her head. One on each side. Then as she got older these hand towels just kind of became her "security blankets" of some sort. There are two sets, green and pink and we just alternate between the four. When she is having a hard time or is sad, she asks for her "bay bay" (translation: blankie)
So, last night I put her down to bed and no sooner had I walked out when D started bawling at the top of her lungs and she was fine when I put her down. I went in to ask her what was wrong and she cried, "bay bay!!!" I gave her the one and she said, "other bay bay!!" And so I handed her the other one (both of which were already in her crib, that's usually where they stay). She promptly rolled over and went to bed.
Then around 1am she woke up crying her eyes out. I went in to see what was wrong and she was crying for her "little baby giraffe!!" So, I went outside to try and find her stuffed toy, found it and brought it in to her. Again, she grabbed it and promptly rolled over and went to sleep! Huh.
Annnd, I was so surprised today when she and I were sitting and chatting and she was holding little baby giraffe and looked at me and said, "Did Bao Bae cry when she was sleeping?"
And I responded, "Yes! Last night. You remember?" She nodded. :o)

Wow, it worked

A few weeks ago I was talking to some moms about naps. I was so surprised when a couple of the moms mentioned how their kids would tell them when they needed naps. One, maybe A, would just grab a blanket and lay down to sleep. Whaat?! I was incredulous. Another mom said yes, she would put her toddler to bed and just tell him to take a nap.
Really? You mean just put your toddler into the crib? And he's still standing...hmm..
I've never done that before. I've always sung D a lullabye before putting her in her crib whether for naps or for nighttime sleep and I guess I would never think to divert from that.
But, armed with this knowledge I think I might have tried putting D in her crib once or twice for a nap without singing a lullabye and she was fine. Took a nap. Huh.
But what's really a "wow" is what happened yesterday. I put D down for a nap. She rolled around, sang, talked to herself and then maybe 40 minutes later started calling out for me. Usually, we would ignore and then if she started to cry, we would pick up up and just say "Oh well, I guess she didn't need a nap."
Yesterday, however, we knew she needed a nap. She had gone to bed late and woken up early. So, when she started screaming for mama. I said to G, "I'm just going to go peek in and say, 'D, take a nap!'...that way she knows we're not ignoring her but she needs to take a nap."
Eeks. I was really afraid that it wouldn't work and she would go bananas...
But it WORKED! Hallelujah! After I went in and made my statement, there was not another peep from her and she took a nap! Whaat??! Craziness.

Loves

One of the things I love about D...well, there are quite a few things that I love about D, though to meet me you could probably not tell since all I do is complain about her. :o) At least I don't do it to her face.
One of the things that I love about D is that even though she might not like to eat something, she will do it if I ask her to. Case in point, she is not loving the texture of the millet I made. (Sure, I may have overcooked it and it may be a bit mushy) But, whenever she eats it and tries to spit it out, I beg, "Please eat it. It's so good for you." And she will stop from spitting it out and just suck it up and eat it.
Thank you, D, for being so accommodating.

"Yao bu yao chu kan mama..."

I am sitting upstairs working while our Chinese nanny is playing with D in the backyard. D looves to play in the backyard in her sandbox so it's a good way to get her to spend some time with the nanny so I can get some work done.
Meanwhile, I can hear her repeating herself to the nanny, "Yao bu yao chu kan mama?" (translation: Shall we go see mama?) And the nanny is diverting her attention and trying to get her to stay outside and play...
It's pretty ridiculous.

2 things

1. Spring has sprung. The past two days' weather has indicated this. For D's nap this afternoon, I realized what this means. This means that she will be wearing more short sleeves, which means nothing for the tape to hang onto when she goes down for her naps and has to wear gloves...yeah, D still picks at her face (no mosquito bite necessary) so we put gloves over her hands during naps and for nighttime sleep. I wanted to cry today when I realized this is what Spring and Summer means. We just don't know how to convey to her how serious we are about her not scratching her face. Why can't she look in the mirror and see those numerous scars on her face?? I just don't get it. It makes both G and me very sad.

2. Lately, I am getting indications of what type of personality D has...she is a little daredevil and loooves speed. When I take her out in the stroller, she often asks me to run. She loves when we drive down hills at a faster pace (must be that roller coaster tickle she gets in her tummy) and now she also often asks if we can go "bike riding" - meaning us riding our bikes and her being towed in the trailer. Do you know what this tells me? This tells me that when it comes time to buy her her first car, we will be finding something that does not go past 45 miles per hour. Otherwise, our little speed demon could possibly get in a lot of trouble. :o)

Addendum

Reference the previous post and spanking...I mentioned to G last night that I spanked D. I could hear the cringe in his voice when he responded, "Why? I thought we agreed not to ever spank her." Umm, easier for him to say b/c he is so mild mannered. The thought of ever lifting his hand to even throw something across the room would never occur to him.
I responded with, "It was just a tap and sometimes I think it's necessary to force a point." and then proceeded to tell him how and why.
G: "Couldn't there been a different way to express yourself?"
And after much thought, I agreed and replied with the following - "I guess I could've said, 'D, we only use markers on paper.'" Then got a wet towel and asked her nicely to help mama wipe the marker off the floor.

Yes, that would've been a MUCH better and MUCH more effective form of communication. Sigh...I am still learning. Every day...