My Sickie

I always had a hunch that my adventurous children would wind up in the emergency room sooner rather than later but when it happened, and not due to any daring behavior I still found it caught me off guard.

It happened just over a week ago now but each day that passes I'm thankful that I don't have to spend 5 1/2 hours in the ER. It's not a very exciting story. Basically Miss A woke me up to tell me she'd thrown up in her bed. Not the nicest way for either of us to wake up but, it happens. Peter called in to take the day off work and I planned to take Miss B to her sitter and go to work leaving Peter and Miss A to have a lounge on the couch watching movies day. That is not how things went down.

Miss A just kept getting sick, it wasn't long before her stomach was completely empty and yet, she still continued to vomit. I tried to get her to sip water but she barely took any. What happened next seemed to happen quickly. She seemed to suddenly become really lethargic and her vomit began to look bloody and was looking more so each time she was sick.

I was on the phone with Health Links by this time. They told me we should go to the ER so that is where we headed.

Peter held her in his arms in the back seat as we drove and Bella chirped at them about how they didn't have their seat belts on. When we arrived at the ER they weighed Miss A on the baby scale because she couldn't stand. Thinking it would be a while, I zipped Miss B over to her babysitters. When I got back to the hospital Miss A was in a bed, had her blood taken and they'd put in an IV. This was the part where I started to cry, I didn't want to upset her so I got myself under control pretty quickly.

Within 20 minutes she seemed completely better. They'd given her both an anti-nauseate and medication to reduce the acid in her stomach through IV. Then we waited. And waited. And waited some more. The pediatrician came to see her. He told us he suspected it was simply a virus that hit her very hard for some reason.

We waited for the test results to come back. They didn't show anything unusual and she kept some liquid down so we were cleared to go. They wanted to leave the IV attachment in overnight in case it started up again. This was a drag. They were confident that I could take it out the next day but instead I took her to a walk in doctor to have it removed. She would never have let me do it.

It took her a while to start eating more normally again. But she seems better now. I'm not convinced that it was a virus. I suspect her chronic constipation, actually but when I suggested it to our regular physician he seemed skeptical. So now we wait and see what happens. Hopefully no more ER trips in the near future.

Here she is with her IV under a bandage.

Disturbing Developments

So you know when you have a daughter or in my case daughters and you joke about how you are dreading the days when boys come into the picture only you're not joking because it really, truly does scare the living crap out of you? Yeah, well, I thought I had some time. You know because after all Miss A is only 5 years old after all.

That's right. On Sunday, my first born child turned FIVE YEARS OLD. I know she already started Kindergarten but the actually turning 5 thing just made it all more... real.

So since her party with friends isn't for another couple of weeks we decided to take her to one of those indoor play places (large play structure, bouncy castles) to celebrate. As per usual, she came over to me within 5 minutes announcing that she'd made a friend. An adorable blond boy came running up to her frantically then and they ran off together laughing.

It turned out that said blond boy was there with two of his friends. My guess is that they were all about 5 or 6 years old. I'm not exactly sure how it happened but somehow innocent play morphed into something weird and unhealthy.

Miss A would be playing somewhere and the boys would locate her and try to bait her into chasing them. At first this seemed like fun to her, but then she was confused. During a bathroom break she told me she thought the boys didn't like her because they kept running away. I told her they did like her which was why they kept trying to get her to chase them.

She tired of this quickly and basically had no interest in playing with them anymore. They continued to seek her out and try to get her to play their game. When she ignored them they tried to get her attention by saying "Hey Girl!" not like "Hey! Girl!" Like "Hey Girl!" a la Justin Timberlake. Next they said "Hey Sexy Lady!" at which point I said "Hey, hey, hey. None of that!" They wandered off for a while but I kept an eye on them and they were completely fixated on her and kept coming over to where she was.

Finally she told me "Mommy, they're bothering me." I told her that she needed to tell them so and she said that she wanted me to do it. I told her I would stay with her when she told them and she marched over to them saying "Listen, you guys are bothering me and I want you to stop please." I was amazed that she actually did it and happy that they seemed shocked to hear her say that to them. This seemed to put an end to their silly behavior and we left shortly thereafter.

The whole scenario left me feeling a little sick to my stomach. I was so totally unprepared for something like this to happen at her age. It made me wonder where in the world those boys ever learned to speak that way at their age, it made me fear for the young men they would grow into and it made me sad because really, I think they were decent kids, albeit, confused.

It makes me realize how important it is that I teach her to stand up for herself. Because I can't always be there. Especially now that she is at school. She needs to know that she can speak her mind. And if someone is bothering you, it's important that you ask them to stop. If they don't stop you MAKE them stop.

I always knew that this face was going to be a blessing and a curse. I just didn't expect to see the downside so soon.

Ambitious

I think it's safe to say this will be my last post before Christmas. Which I'm sure is a total shock to all of you since I've been posting so often these days...

And because I'm lazy mostly I'm just going to use pictures to catch you up on the goings on around here as well as to entertain you.

First of all, I'd like to introduce you to our Christmas tree. It's um... huge. I'm kind of the one in charge of picking the tree. My requirement is that it be almost tall enough to touch the ceiling, however, because we have a rather small living room the Christmas tree usually takes up a considerable amount of room. I was sort of in shock after we brought our tree in this year and it began to warm up and the branches began to fall into place. Enormous. It is beautiful though and worth the amount of space it takes up. A has defined it as perfect and B has amazingly left it alone mostly, only pointing, smiling and touching it occasionally. It's a good thing we have two entrances to the room because it fills almost half of one of them.




We taped 'The Polar Express' off of television and Miss A has been watching it once a day. It's pretty astounding to look at even though it's a few years old already. It's also rather frightening in several parts. I still haven't figured out why kids movies always seem to have to have scary stuff in them, it makes no sense to me. As far as I'm concerned if it was that stressful to get to the North Pole I'd rather not go, however it does seem like the kind of dream Miss A would have.

Which reminds me, the other morning she woke up early crying. I went in to see what was wrong. She told me she had a dream that Santa was here and had brought presents and Baby B had opened hers already. I asked her if that upset her. She told me no, that Santa had said B was guilty. I asked her if Santa was angry with B. "Him was." I have to admit that my heart was warmed by the fact that she is protective of her sister, even in her dreams. Even when she had a right to be angry with her. I have no idea where the 'guilty' part came from but it amused me.

Baby B still continues to struggle with sleep and I continue to struggle with having so little of it. I fantasize all the time about the summer when my sister has volunteered to keep them for a couple of nights. Two. whole. night. With uninterrupted sleep. Heaven. Here she is sleeping in each of her beds. Her crib and her playpen. I really don't care which one she sleeps in. I'd just like her to stay in one for the duration of the night.




I can do what you are doing is going strong around here. Which make me insane some days. It seems B is constantly screeching about something that her sister has that she doesn't. Miss A is extremely patient for the most part but occasionally goes in her room, shuts the door and plays by herself. B has recently learned to say her name in her own way and I don't think I'd be giving away to much by sharing it. She stands outside her door and yells "AUDRA!" It took me a while to figure out she was saying her name and not just yelling some random thing because it sounds a lot like other non-words she says. I do think she's on the verge of really talking because she seems to be coming out with several things lately like, shut and gum. (um!) (thanks to my mother, the gum lady.) Anyway, I often repeat a mantra to myself - enjoy, enjoy, enjoy, but when she's crying or screeching yet again it's sometimes difficult not to wish her older and less whiny.



Anyway, hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and enjoy the season rather than stress about it.

My Girls

Seriously I am disgusted with my lack of postage on the blog recently. I'm not sure what my problem is. Stuff is happening. Perhaps too much stuff yet nothing of much actual interest? Another reason that comes to mind is that Baby B has been taking the notion to switch off the power bar while I'm on the computer recently. Just one of the many charming things she's been doing of late. Which leads me nicely into the first subject of this post.

B. Seriously. This kid is MAKING ME NUTS! I know this is redundant because I mentioned it in my last of infrequent posts but it bears repeating because crap sakes she really, really is. I am trying so hard to enjoy her right now. You know, because that is what people tell you you should be doing because "they grow up so fast, before you know it they'll be grown up." Honestly, I know this. I have a living, breathing, vibrating with energy example of this in my 4 year old daughter. Evidence that they do indeed grow up and learn to entertain themselves in constructive, rather than destructive ways. Right now B is in this majorly mischievous phase. I feel like I have to sneak around my house sometimes so that she won't follow me and get into trouble. We keep both our bedroom and bathroom doors closed at all times now because she cannot be trusted. She seems to be magnetically attracted to everything that she isn't supposed to touch.

I realize I'm coming across like a first time mom here. Or a mother whose first child was a perfect angel (subjectively) who always did what she was told, sat quietly and played with her toys etc... which of course any of you who've been reading since A was a toddler, know that I didn't. But I can honestly say, as shocking as it might seem to any of you who remember A's shenanigans, that B is more active, more curious, more... exhausting. Peter and I have discussed this whilst shaking our heads wondering aloud how we created yet another child who is this wild.

I am so happy that A is in preschool because it allows her to have a break and be able to do things without her sister climbing on top of her to get to her toys or food or craft or whatever. Other times she just goes in her room and closes the door so she can have a little undisturbed playtime. I am amazed at how loving and patient she can be though and I try to take some inspiration from her in that department because it seems my patience is running dangerously low these days. When I lose it with B I can see that it upsets A which in turn upsets me both for losing it and for upsetting both kids... Ah, good times. As difficult as she is right now, she is also a sweetheart. She's fun loving, good natured, and hilarious. Oh yeah, and she still doesn't sleep worth a darn.





And then there is Miss A. I have been having many of the opposite kind of moments with her lately. Moments where I am astounded, and stupidly saddened, by how grown up she is. I watch her doing something amazing and remember that she was once this tiny helpless squawking baby in my arms. And then I'm struck by the fact that I am one of the people responsible for bringing her to the place she is today. This incredible little person that I helped to shape.

The other day we were heading to the optometrist for her yearly eye examination. I was asking her if she remembered what the eye doctor did during the exam. She had him confused with our regular doctor. Then she piped up about this dream she had about a bad doctor and how "he took off all my skin and drank my BLOOD!!" I, as I often am when she tells me about her dreams, was flabbergasted. I told her that sounded like a terrible dream. She agreed and told me that once she woke up and saw that she still had her skin and blood she was okay. I swear that I don't allow her to watch horror movies in her spare time. I have no idea where this stuff comes from. I fear that she has inherited the vivid dreams from me. I recall having nightmares often as a child but I always thought it might have had something to do with my tumultuous childhood. It seems I would have had them regardless just as A does.

She is loving preschool and gymnastics and the kids seem to flock to her in both places. I'm happy to say that she stands her ground and sticks up for herself when the need arises which was never something that I was good at (I'm still not very good at it) and I feel is an important skill to have. Her teachers have given me excellent feedback about her without me needing to ask which I take to be a good sign. She is still a very intense person but she seems to be getting a better handle on her emotions all the time under normal circumstances. If she is tired or hungry however, it's an entirely different story.



I am completely comfortable saying that we are done, our family is complete. I know in my soul that I do not have it in me to do it again. I have reached my limit. I am not cut out to be the mother of more than two. Sometimes I doubt my ability to be the mother of two but I think (hope) it's normal to feel that way sometimes.

Also, 29 DAYS UNTIL NEW MOON!!!!

More Watching And Waiting

My last post was regarding Baby B's eye issue. I've been meaning to write about the other appointment we had last week. We saw a podiatrist. Why? B's left foot (to match her left eye, coincidence??) turns in rather severely as she walks. I was a bit concerned because it hasn't been improving as she has been walking longer and sometimes her toe drags as well. It seemed like yet another thing I should have checked out. The podiatrist told me she's walking that way due to a bowed tibia. The good news is that she'll very likely grow out of it although she figured we'll probably need to put an orthotic in her shoe when she's around four. Fine with me, as long as we get it straightened out. Literally and figuratively.

Poor kid though. Seriously. I know this stuff can be character building but honestly it pains me to think about the razzing that she could suffer if we are still dealing with this by the time she goes to school. sigh.

On a less sympathetic note regarding the little one... SHE IS DRIVING ME CRAZY RIGHT NOW!!! Honestly. She climbs up in to her high chair repeatedly and then can't get out. She has started messing with the computer which looks cute in the picture but in reality... She is always trying to steal her sisters food, which, often she can't eat anyway because she only has THREE TEETH! (all of which you can see in the last photo!) She is becoming increasingly bored with mushy food so I'm finding I have to get continually more creative with what I am feeding her. And finally I still need to use the living room as her second bedroom halfway through the night otherwise she wakes her big sister too frequently resulting in a very grumpy Miss A and thus a very grumpy Mama. On the bright side, for the most part she's keeping her clothes on.

Party of Insanity and First Day of School

So. I'm not sure what got into me but for some reason planning Miss A's fourth Birthday Party turned me into some sort of crazy person. It all started with the booking of a wonderful lady who I hired to come to the party dressed as the Fairy Godmother. She brings with her tons of pretty dresses, shoes, gloves and jewelry. She paints their faces and does a magic show. All this for $60! Anyway, I kind of took that theme and ran with it. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

















King Edwardo and Princess Rainbow Cinderella



Helping perform the final magic trick by dancing around a pot where candy necklaces magically appeared for her friends!





And yesterday she started the first day of her last year of preschool! Ack! I can't believe it. I can't believe the difference in her in only one year. Frightening. It was strange going back even for me as the parent, with so many different kids in her class and therefore different parents to sort of get to know. I'm excited for her though. I think it's going to be an amazing year for her. Her teacher already told me today how smart she was. Which is, you know, always nice to hear.

Pre-Walking Crankys

Baby B took like, five steps in row last night. It's a record so far since she's mostly been taking one step then sitting down to crawl. I think this is a pretty good indication that real actual walking is right around the corner. And if I recall correctly Miss A was a BEAR around that time in her development. Such seems to be the case with B. Brother! My usually content baby has been whining and crying almost constantly and if I walk away from her she definitely freaks out. Not conducive to getting much done around here. In addition to her pre-walking I think I'm pre-menstrual because W-O-W, I have NO patience. (Although who knows in this world of breastfeeding and totally irregular periods. yay.) Yesterday morning I was literally ready to tear my hair out. Miss A was whining, the baby was whining and clinging to my leg. (I was trying to shake her off like a pesky insect.) PERSONAL SPACE CHILDREN!!!



B is still sleeping for crap. At least I'm getting 4-5 hours in a row but usually between the hours of 3-8 AM. Somehow that's not doing it for me. And the fact that I can't get a decent sleep also feels like an invasion of my personal space which makes me less patience during the day. I am getting by. Barely.

A funny Miss A story. Today she was playing the piano. After completing her made up tune she announced that it by Lucas Gooda, a little girl who has a piano and played that song. Hmmm... I have no idea where that came from, really. But I was highly entertained by it. I hope she continues to play compositions by her "imagination friends".

Bedtime Shinanigans

I really can't complain too much regarding Miss A's bedtime routine. I mean, she's not one of those kids who goes to bed at 7 or anything but still, she's pretty good about it. I guess I'm comparing her to my nieces and nephews who I remember used to get out of bed repeatedly asking for snacks, water, band aids, etc... Miss A rarely does that sort of thing. If she ever comes out of her room after we've said goodnight it's with the most sheepish look on her face because she knows she'll be in a lot of trouble and still isn't sure if getting out of bed was worth it.

Still, she's a kid and kids by nature seem to despise bedtime. So tonight she was kicking up a bit. Annoyed at my persistence about her getting in her bed, she tried her hand at hurling an insult my way. "You're a GENIUS!" she spat at me. I hid my smirk and asked her if she knew what a genius was. She nodded and said "It's bad." I told her a genius was a very smart person, now would she please get into bed. She did.

Later, she asked me to sing her an extra song before saying goodnight. Terry had a Little Lamb. She told me Terry was her imaginary friend, who had a lamb, and was a genius.

Aaauuugh

That zombie speak for "I'm freakin' tired." And since I am currently a zombie from lack of sleep pardon me if this post is unintelligible. I'm here. Barely. And I trying to put something out there.

The baby. The sweet, sweet smiling baby. She won't sleep. At least not for any human length of time. Mostly two hours at a time. The other night she was up every hour. If she ever sleeps for three hours it is NEVER during the night. No. Because my theory is correct. She is in fact, a secret weapon sent here from the future to keep people, me for starters, from accomplishing world altering tasks. Yeah. Um. Did I mention I'm tired? Anyway!

Along with the not sleeping there is also the crazy, growing up too fast business. The girl is just over seven months old, has mastered crawling and now look at this.



That's right. Standing. For crap sake. I mean, seriously. And with the standing comes the falling. And the crying. Oh, the crying. And then the forgetting and the doing it over and over. And she's also trying to climb up on top of the things she's standing at. And trying to grab other things and walk over to them. I remember when Miss A was doing this at nine months I thought it was crazy and dangerous because, wow, she's still a baby, but her sister... I should have guessed by the beating I took from her while she was in utero.

Because she is such a busy pants I finally had to get her out of the bassinet, (I was procrastinating because #1 she has been a terrible sleeper and I felt guilty about her disrupting Miss A so often in the night and #2 she's been sick FOREVER and I was waiting for her to get better.) this caused me a great deal of stress leading up to actually doing it but has actually been a much easier transition than I would have thought. Miss A seems oblivious to the numerous times I/we are in and out of her room as well as to B's wailing if I can't drag my sorry, half dead butt there quickly enough. It gives me the opportunity to cover up her cute little tushie when it's sticking out of the blankets and has given me a new reason to love/appreciate her, because she keeps right on sleeping. A is THRILLED to finally have her sharing the room, in fact she cried the first morning after Baby B slept 'with' her because B had gone to bed after she did and got up before she did and in the morning when A peeked in the crib she was convinced that she hadn't slept there at all.

Bathing in the big bathtub is also a new event, exciting to both girls. I snapped this cute photo to commemorate the first one.



Here is a picture of the child that sleeps. I rarely get photos like this anymore...



And here is the secret weapon during one of her brief sleeping sessions.



I'd like to ask the me from the picture what I'm so smiley about. Come on. You're flippin' exhausted lady!!

Experimenting With Language

Scenario

Miss A is in the bathroom doin' her business. She has difficulty keeping the volume of her voice below 110 decibels, especially while her sister is sleeping. I foolishly leave her in the bathroom to wash her hands and she proceeds to talk to herself in a ridiculously loud voice. I rush to the bathroom and politely remind her to keep it down. She whispers "You're stupid." To which I am visibly horrified and say "Excuse me?" to which she replies "You're great." We have a discussion about how telling someone they are stupid is not acceptable and she tells me "You're wonderful."

Yeah. Right. I got it.

Attempting Jedi Mind Control

I feel like I am losing my mind. What with the not getting more than two hours of sleep in a row (for days now), administering steroids, medication and an inhaler several times a day, listening to screaming while I get the bare minimum done, and being bossed around by a three year old who goes to her room several times a day declaring "I am MAD!!!" AND I'm actually just starting my work week today. Weee!!

I can however, count on Miss A to keep things interesting if nothing else. She has been trying Jedi mind control with me. This morning I'd put a Baby Einstein video on to try to CALM DOWN THE BABY! When I left the room for a few moments to, I don't know, GO TO THE BATHROOM WITHOUT BEING DISTURBED FOR ONCE, she came to tell me that she didn't break "anyfing". Ah ha. "What happened?" I asked. She had tried to rewind the movie and it crashed and went to the main menu. (blah, blah, our computer is our television, blah, blah.) Anyway, I fixed it. Later she was in her room playing and she called for my help. She had used one of her little chairs to climb into the crib but couldn't get out. "I'm not in here." she told me. "Um, dude, yes you are." "I'm not." she insisted.

Perhaps if she waved her hand in front of my face while saying it I would have bought it. I think I should be worried.

Yet ANOTHER Cautionary Tale (come ON!)

So, last week was pretty bad. It was bad for so many reasons. Basically, Miss A got a cold. No big deal. But she starting coughing at night. So I ended up pulling out some Tylenol Cold and Runny Nose for ages 2-11. I administered this for three nights at bedtime. And her behavior disintegrated with each passing day. Oh, the anger. The rage. She was irrational. She was up. She was down. She was INSANE. And I blame sleep deprivation for the fact that it took me three days before I discovered that it was the bleeping Tylenol that was doing it. And it wasn't even ME that discovered it. My mom (who's still living here) was the one who said "Could it be that cold medication you've been giving her?" one night after we were all suffering aftershock from the temper tantrum thrown at bedtime. Oh. I consulted the internet (I'm too lazy and tired to look for the links) and found that they are repackaging that stuff and not recommending it for children under six. Not only that I found reports of it causing some children to be "irritable and hyperactive". That would be the biggest, fattest understatement. I also found reports of night terrors. Which had also been occurring during that time. Did I ever feel like a big fat loser. Her behavior was making us all crazy and I was the one causing it. And my poor girl, when I would try to talk to her about how the way she was acting was NOT OKAY she proclaimed with heartbreaking sincerity "But I can't help it!!" She wasn't kidding.

I lay in bed that night thinking about all the times when her behavior had resembled that level of insanity and I believe that all those times were directly related to that cold medication or medication that we were prescribed for mild allergies. I always attributed this behavior to the sickness and her being rundown and overtired. Now I'm certain it was a sensitivity to the medications.

I just feel like such a schmuck. But I post this in hopes that some of you might avoid the same disaster. Or perhaps have experienced a similar thing and want to console me?

The Trickle Down Effect

I know it's painfully obvious to everyone who reads my blog that I have a serious obsession with Twilight. From the videos to the posts to the countdown widget. What I hadn't realized was the trickle down effect this would have on Miss A.

When the full trailer came out Peter was kind enough to transfer it to our DVR. Let's just say it was watched several times. With different people who happened to be over and were interested. Like, my sister, my niece, friends. It wasn't an overly scary trailer so I didn't mind if Miss A watched it. She pays attention to everything in great detail. So I shouldn't have been surprised when she started asking to see the 'Bella one'. And then asking many, many questions. "What's his name? Why is Edward climbing up the tree like this? (mimics him climbing fast with Bella on his back) Why is Edward kissing Bella?"

Last weekend our friends came over for supper. They gave me the awesome early Christmas gift of a Twilight poster. Miss A was pleased about it and informed me that it was Bella and Edward on the poster, then I believe she asked to see 'the Bella one'.

Today, while in the car she noticed the CD case of the soundtrack and she asked to listen to it. I told her we already were. She was delighted because she has been singing and humming along to it for weeks now. She asked to hold the case and after pointing out that Edward and Bella were on the cover she preceded to clutch it all the way home.

I think the real kicker was this past weekend when we went to Madagascar 2. This was her very first time in a movie theater. We went because Peter's work reserved the theater as a kids Christmas function. Her attention span waned a little at times during the movie and it scared her a few times but overall I think she enjoyed it. Santa was waiting for the kids as they came out. They were able to say hello and get a little present from him. Miss A thought that was kind of cool but as we continued to the exit she said "I want to see Bella!" (Which was a little confusing for those of you who know us.) Peter was the one who figured out she meant. She wanted to go and see the life size cardboard cut out of Bella and Edward at the front entrance of the theater. She happily pointed them out to us and the young girl at the ticket counter (seemingly a fan) cooed "AWWW! That's so cute!!" To which I replied "Is it cute? Or is it weird and kind of creepy that my three year old knows who they are?" Not to mention that after that she seemed to forget all about the fact that she'd just seen Santa. Sigh. I think I'm going to be in trouble when she gets to be a teenager.

Revealing Her Competitive Nature

Lately I've been trying to encourage Miss A to speed up. She has a tendency to dawdle. For real. I've been getting really tired of listening to myself saying "Come on, let's hurry up." "We've got to hurry, we'll be late." Or when I'm really exhausted and fed up giving the dreaded label "You are SO SLOW! Hurry up!!!" and then I feel guilty.

Recently I've tried to motivate her to be faster by making a game out of it. So I try the "See if you can beat Us" game. We have done this when getting into the car and it seems to work rather well. The other day I tried it when we were getting dressed. I challenged her to see if she could get her clothes on faster than I could dress Baby B. It took her a little while to get on board with this but once she did she was delighted with the idea of being 'the fastest'. Until she noticed that we had quite a head start. It was at this point that she fell to the floor in a heap and began to sulk.

I wondered how her excitement had turned to despair. And then I realized she quit because she thought she stood no chance of winning. Therefore she didn't even want to try.

I have to admit that was a big revelation to me about her character. I know that she is a perfectionist even now, at age three. But I wasn't really aware of just how competitive she was until then. And how uninterested she is in being anything other than #1.

I think I have some work cut out for me. Who am I kidding? I know I do.

Further Exploration

I wanted to include in this post how I took a course which was based on the book 'Raising Your Spirited Child'. But really it's a stand alone post.

Honestly, I could have likely gone without taking the course. I wasn't overly impressed with how it was presented but I was very grateful to find out about the book. I had several 'Ah Ha!' moments while reading it. (though I haven't read it cover to cover as yet) It sort of put into words what I have always known about Miss A. And it's the kind of book I'd like to give to those people I've come across who don't seem to believe me when I tell them about how she is. The people who seem to think that I should just be able to make her behave a certain way, that is if I was really a good parent. Which obviously, I'm not. Of course those people would never actually read the book, but maybe it would make me feel better just knowing that they might one day flip through it out of boredom and become enlightened.

Without going into it too much it basically describes the kind of kid Miss A is and then talks about the negative labels we tend to give them or their behavior. Guilty. So guilty. For example... she is so crazy! (or insane or nuts or wild, etc.) It reminds us parents to try to think of better words and not to use those potentially hurtful labels. Point taken. I am trying. But I constantly find these words slipping out. It also points out how their temperaments can help them to become very successful later in life. This is something I knew, something I have always said. I know she is going to have amazing qualities as she gets older but parenting a child with these personality traits now is... painfully difficult at times. Not to mention exhausting.

Reading this book felt like having a conversation with a friend. A friend who knows exactly what it's like to parent Miss A and who knows exactly what to say when I am feeling discouraged. It was one of those weird experiences when I actually felt like saying aloud, to the book, "Yes! Exactly! That's exactly how I feel. How did you know?" Really odd, but also really comforting.

I would recommend this book to any parent actually. Even those who might not consider their child to be 'spirited'. Some of it might sound hokey but the overall message is really great. Accept your kids for who they are. Don't wish that they were any easier, quieter, calmer or whatever. Help them to develop their unique and amazing personalities so that they can grow to be amazing adults one day. It sounds so simple but it's something I find I constantly forget and I find myself daydreaming that she could be just a little more like this or that instead and then wouldn't life be so much easier...

A Cautionary Tale about Stickers

Do your kids stick stickers on their skin? Miss A does. Although, not anymore if I can help it. The other day we had another appointment, an optometrist appointment for A. Here she is pointing at the nose of a finger puppet.



So because she was so well behaved she was given her pick of treats. (Again, just as at the dentist I'm sure the not so well behaved get treats as well) She chose a ring, a plane, a coloring book and a tinkerbell sticker. She was asked what she would do with the sticker, to which she replied "Stick it on my arm." And that is what she did. I didn't think anything of it because it's something she does all the time. But apparently this particular sticker had crazy glue for it's adhesive. When it was bedtime and we were going through our routine of removing elastics from hair and anything that may remain on the skin, (including paint, glue or stickers) we attempted to remove the tinkerbell sticker. It seemed cemented in place and simply pulling a tiny bit of the corner up inducing much screaming. So we left it be.

But last evening I noticed it was red around the edges and it seemed to be irritating her skin. I decided one way or the other, it had to go. So I explained to her that it needed to come off and we commenced soaking and soaping it. As seen here.








Can you tell by her expression how exhausting it was? There was still much screaming as it seemed like torture to remove it. Eventually I let her do it by herself while I supervised since if I tried to help the screaming only got louder. So she peeled tiny bit of sticker, by tiny bit off as she kept adding more and more soap to aid in the task. When all of the sticker seemed to be gone we rejoiced but unfortunately we celebrated too soon. Upon closer inspection I could see that although the paper was gone the GLUE remained. As seen here. When I tried to rub it off she screamed in pain.



Then I had a brainwave. Baby Oil. I probably should have used it from the start but I honestly had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. So once it was finally gone a slight redness remained but we were both relieved. I'm sure it was bothering her but she was afraid to take it off because she knew it was going to hurt.



Seriously, has anyone else every experienced this? I am seriously planning on calling the optometrist office to warn them that kids should not be putting those stickers on their skin. Does that sound crazy? Miss A is actually quite tough, if something hurts her that much I know it must be bad.

Anyway, I don't think she'll be wanting to put any stickers on her skin anytime soon and when the memory fades I will remind her why it's a terribly bad idea.

Dentist Appointment in Which She Used Up Her Good Behaviour For the Whole Day

So Miss A had her first ever dentist appointment the other day. You know those times that you sometimes have with your kids when they are so well behaved, so sweet, so perfect even, that your heart swells and you feel like you might just be doing a good job of this parenting thing after all? I had one of those times when we went to the dentist. She was so amazing that I'm fairly confident that the dental assistant we had would be talking about her to all her coworkers. "What a sweet heart!" "What a well behaved little girl!" etc.

Here is some photographic evidence.

This is when she is learning about how the chair goes up and down.



Here she is practicing opening wide for the dentist.



Getting her teeth checked and counted.



Showing off her treat for being so well behaved. (I'm sure every kid gets one regardless.)



And then we left. And everything fell apart. She would not listen to a single thing I said for the remainder of the day. It was actually ridiculous. She is usually challenging but this was so much worse. Like I had to chase her around to get her shoes on when we had to leave a place. She flopped on the ground like a limp doll when I tried to help her with her jacket. That sort of thing. The only thing I can think is that she used up all the good behavior she was capable of for the day during her dentist appointment.

I guess I should be grateful that there wasn't any bad behavior inflicted on anyone else. It just kind of amuses me that we must have left the staff at the office with such a good impression. If only they'd spent the rest of the day with us.

More Photos from The 3 Year Old

I am highly amused and often impressed by the photos Miss A has been taking with her camera. Maybe it's because as parents we are always desperately looking for some clue about what they might grow up to be. I always find myself wishing for artistic jobs. Dancer! Singer! Photographer!

Here are some of her recent photos.

I like the composition in these ones.







This one is a reusable grocery bag. I always find it interesting to see what she deems worthy of taking a picture of.



I love this one. The way Baby B's eyes stand out is neat.





She took her camera to preschool for show and tell and this was one of her photos.



And this is only two of the many, many, many pictures she took of the television. Peter asked me if we should be concerned about the number of photos of the TV because, perhaps that might indicate the importance of it to her. Being in denial I said "No, of course not."

Two of her current favorite shows.

George Shrinks



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