BSM – Viewer’s Choice Monday, Mar 31 2008

We’ve had one heck of a weekend: a great day Saturday followed by a not-so-great Sunday. I want to tell you at least about Saturday, but for now I’m just doing a quickie BSM post.

Okay, so I have 4 photos to post. But since I’m too tired to decide which is my Best Shot, I’ll leave that decision up to you. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

An “awww” moment. Daddy and Nadia sleeping together. One good thing about her sleeping in our bed so much lately is a lot of sweet moments like this.

Nadia and the new big-as-her ball. She loves the thing. And yes, it’s pure coincidence that they match.

Did you notice the tree stump in the background? That’s the tree that used to hold her swing and then got struck by lightening last year and we lost half of it; the remaining half was cut down this week as it just wasn’t safe and storm season is starting. There was another one cut down in the front yard, and while I miss those big ol’ shade trees I have to admit all the open space is liberating. At least, that’s what I’m trying to convince myself.

So here she is watching the “monkey men” – her name for the guys cutting down the trees. It really was pretty impressive to watch them swing around from branch to branch like it was nothing, wielding the chain one handed and using ropes to direct where the branches fell. Yikes! She was actually watching them cut a tree out of a neighbor’s yard this time, but she watched in fascination the entire time they worked on our trees too. These guys heard her call them “monkey men” and laughed, then showed off for the little lady.

And finally, from a blossoming tree. Just because it’s pretty.

So, there they are…which is your favorite?

See more best shots at – where else? – Best Shot Mondays.

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Breakfast Sunday, Mar 30 2008

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Kid’s sat the darndest things Saturday, Mar 29 2008

Just a few of the things my girl has said lately to make me laugh. Dang but the kid is a riot! I wish I could remember more of her funny sayings.

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Me: Nadia, are you a big girl or a baby today?
Nadia: No.
M: Then are you a little girl?
N: No.
M: Then what are you?
N: I just ME, Mommy!

——

Walking through the store, Nadia says with great excitement, “Mama, LOOK!!!”

I look in the direction she’s pointing but see nothing remarkable.

“What is it?” I ask her, “What do you see?”

“That man! He’s wearing clothes!”

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“Hey Mommy! We are both mommies. You are my mommy and I am TedBear’s mommy. We match!”

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The one is from just a few minutes ago.

Nadia wanted to take her nap in my bed this afternoon, but when I went to check on her she was sitting up at the foot of the bed, trying the reach the magazines stacked on the floor (technically not breaking the “stay in the bed” rule!).

“Nadia,” I said in my best Stern Mommy voice “you have two choices: lay back down in Mommy’s bed right now, or we’ll go to the crib.”

“Ummmm” she appeared to think for a minute. “Actually, Mommy, I think another choice. I think, get up and play.”

(she’s now asleep, in my bed)

——

And here for your listening pleasure, is Nadia serenading the cat. Singing is a new favorite thing of hers, and I just love it! Watching a toddler sing “tinkle tinkle little star” complete with hand gestures is seriously cute! But most often she sings the alphabet – the ABBC’s as she calls them. She used to end with “now I LOVE my ABBC’s” and I must say I’m a little sad she’d graduated from that.

Since the video never seems to embed correctly for me, here is the link.

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There’s no fooling Mom Saturday, Mar 29 2008

She can deny it all she wants, but I’m just not buying it.

Her manic energy doesn’t fool me.

One look at that face, and I know that’s one seriously TIRED kid!

This picture is from a few mornings ago, immediately following her early morning artistic expression, but I just now really looked at it for the first time. And it cracks me up so much I just had to share it. So, there’s your laugh of the day. Well, it’s my laugh of the day, anyway.

And? Anyone else’s kid totally obsessed with “washing dishes?” I swear, she’d be happy to do nothing but that all day long. Too bad her attempts to “clean” end up with much messier surroundings than we started with. We struck a deal tonight; I told her she could only wash dishes for the umpteenth time today if she promised she’d still willingly wash dishes in another 10 years. She cheerfully said okay….and I’m gonna hold her to it. She owes me for all the water I’ve sopped up from her “washing” extravaganzas.

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Weird me Friday, Mar 28 2008

The good ol’ “7 weird things about me” meme – is there any blogger that hasn’t done it at least once? I have…twice, I think. But Shutterbug Mama tagged me, so here I am to do it again! Is it weird that I had trouble thinking of 7 “weird” things about myself. Not because I’m not weird…I’m just lame weird. But anyway, here we go.

1) I am a nail biter. It’s not a nervous habit for me, it’s just because I can’t stand any jagged or uneven edges…so I try to even it out a little. Of course that ends up making the other side uneven, and it just keeps going until I have virtually no nail left at all…I’ve tired carrying a nail file with me, but for some reason I still never used it. I’m better about it than I used to be.

2) I always eat around the edges of sandwiches first, saving the middle for last. The only exception to this is sub sandwiches.

3) I am an obsessive lotion user – I have to use it every single time I wash my hands, and at least a dozen other random times throughout the day. And while I couldn’t care less about brands for most stuff, the only lotion I’ll use is St. Ives.

4) I tend to tackle “easy” things first, so that they’re out of the way and I can focus on the more important things. The thing is, more little things are always cropping up, so I never get to the big stuff.

5) French fries dipped in honey mustard – SO GOOD! I ate sweet potato fries that way for lunch.

6) I’m not a learning by-the-books type of preson. I prefer to learn through trial and error, on my own. In other words…I actually choose to learn things the hard way.

7) I take my shoes off everywhere I go. I even slip them off and stand barefoot at church. My feet get hot, thus the reason I almost never wear closed-toe shoes.

Now, don’t you feel so much more complete, knowing those little facts about me? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

No tags tonight!

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A day at the park Friday, Mar 28 2008

Just posting a few pictures from a trip to the park last week, since I didn’t write anything else today. )

Waiting oh-so-patiently….let’s GO already!

Penny for your thoughts, little princess? Where did she get that pensive, far-off look? She’s too little for that!

The monkey at play.

Daddy doesn’t fit through that tunnel quite so well!

—-
And a couple of updates:

——-
We figured out why Nadia’s sleeping so much better in our bed. Yesterday when she woke up from her nap, I asked how she’d slept in Mommy’s bad. She smiled and said “good…not scary in Mommy’s room! Scary in my room!”

This surprised me since she’s never said anything about being scared in her room, and she hasn’t acted scared either. This is a kid with very few fears. But apparently to her little mind, her room is scary. First she said it’s because “the cars are coming” (which doesn’t make any sense to me!) but then she said it’s because it’s dark (which, it’s really not since her nightliht is pretty bright). Poor kid, I had no idea that’s why she’s been sleeping so poorly!

Well, honestly I’m not 100% convinced it’s genuine fear; it might just be an attempt for more Mommy & Daddy snuggles. But that’s okay, we’ll go along with it since we like having her there in the bed with us. Sleeping with her used to be a nightmare since she was all pointy elbows and flailing legs even in her sleep, if and when she finally fell asleep…but now, she’ll quietly lay down and drift off to sleep snuggled into the crook of your arm, and she stays pretty still through the night. Sweet.

So anyway, she started out in her crib last night and she did okay for an hour or so…but then, just as the sun set she began crying that she was scared. So we let her come in our bed and she slept peacefully through the night and into the fully-light morning, which is a great victory.

So, we seem to have solved the sleeping problems for now…just hopefully we won’t have a new set of problems in a few weeks/months when we can’t get her out of our bed!

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Update #2. Well, not really an update, more like a comment. I found it funny that my painting-before-dawn post received so many “mommy of the year” awards, since my allowing her to paint was totally not about being a fun, interactive mommy. It was more like, “I’m tired and really don’t want to chase you around the house, so maybe you’ll sit still for a few minutes if I let you paint.” So, it was really a lazy move. But it worked. And she had fun. So it was a success.

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And now – I bid ye good night, friends of Blogland!
(apparently, being tired makes me talk wierd)

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Terrible twos, terrific twos Thursday, Mar 27 2008

Two years old.

It started out rough for us. As much as I wanted to defy the “terrible twos” stereotype, we quickly learned firsthand where that phrase comes from. Everything was a battle. She challenged even the simplest things, and our days were filled with more frustration than fun. The tantrums and defiance, the stubbornness and ugliness – it was enough to make me want to tear my hair out…and then go sit in the corner and weep for the loss of my sweet girl.

But in the last few weeks, we have turned a corner. Nadia has been such a joy! Infancy was sweet…babyhood was wonderful…toddlerhood was fun…but this little girl-hood is the BEST! She is just ever so sweet and silly and smart and FUNNY! She keeps me laughing all the time, and she’s constantly surprising me with the clever things she comes up with. I have decided I want to keep her 2 1/3 forever – so let me know if you have the secret for how to do that???

As I reflect on the time since Nadia’s second birthday, I see how much she has matured in those few months. Her ability to understand and reason has increased dramatically. Her patience is much improved. She has the vocabulary now to tell me what she wants/needs. She is learning to accept disappointment without flipping out. She seems to have realized that things are more fun and she gets what she wants more often when she doesn’t buck the rule. She really wants to do well and seems genuinely upset by my disappointment.

But the growing up Nadia has done recently isn’t the only thing responsible for the easy times we’ve been enjoying these last few weeks. My own growth as a mother is just as responsible. I have learned better what does and does not work with this child of mine. I have learned to pick my battles before the battle begins (because by then, it’s too late -I have to stick with it!). I have learned to recognize the signs that she is reaching her limit. I have learned to give her options so she feels more in control. I have learned to include her in everything I do so she feels a part of it. I have learned that she responds to my mood, and if I can “fake it” even when I’m upset and frustrated things will go more smoothly. I am still working on learning to let it go when we have a bad morning/day, and start fresh!

Motherhood is such a roller coaster, with amazing highs followed by shattering lows. Since we’re currently coasting on a high, I know there must be a major dip coming up soon. But for now, I’m not gonna worry about it and just enjoy the good times while they last.

(and I’m desperately hoping that I’m not tempting fate by writing this! crossing my fingers that it doesn’t all come crashing down tomorrow!)

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Sweet Wednesday, Mar 26 2008

I admit, nap time is one of the sweetest parts of my day.

But today, it’s even sweeter:

That’s my girl right now, snuggled up in my bed with TedBear clutched in one arm and Baby – the new love of her life – clutched in the other. Ahhh, it’s sweet.

She has never before napped in my bed. She has asked to many times and I have agreed to it with one condition: she needs to stay in the bed. It never lasted – she always climbed off the bed after mere seconds and ended up back in the crib. But today when I tucked her and her buddies in, she was quiet and still….and when peeked in to check on her two minutes later, she was asleep.

After two weeks of early wake-ups, she slept until 8 this morning. The only thing different about last night was that, following a tearful 3 a.m. wake-up, I brought her into bed with us. And she slept late. And woke up in a great mood.

I foresee a lot more co-sleeping in our future.

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Wordless Wednesday – Juicin’ it UP! Wednesday, Mar 26 2008

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Tuesday morning Tuesday, Mar 25 2008

Who says 6:45 in the morning isn’t a good time to paint?

(ME, that’s who says!)

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