Taking Stock at Month 19. 8-18-13

Big things have been happening with Boop since my last update:

Look on the floor!
Boop's favorite thing is to find my dental floss and pull*it*all*out.

• Boop is apparently bilingual. We’ve been working with her on her “Pays” (Please) and “Tays” (Thank you).  She says it spontaneously and in the right context. So, we’re getting through on that count. Well, she was watching Dora, and she heard the word Gracias, which she says as “Grath.” Well, she knows a greater proportion of Spanish words than most folks!
• I was informed a few weeks ago that Boop has a boyfriend. She’s doing better than me. Another daycare teacher was telling me this as I picked Boop up one afternoon. He said that they were watching Boop and a little boy in his class as they held hands for about 10 minutes. They couldn’t believe it. So, it sounds like I’m already in trouble! The things she comes up with.
• Winnie has been taking a supplement to prevent UTI’s, with mixed success. I believe she has another one; so I need to make another trip to the vet.
• I started Invisalign. I’m trying to remember if braces hurt this bad. Maybe I’m just becoming a wimp in my old age. I’ve been resisting Ibuprofen. Boop must be teething, too. She is nursing all night long.
• And on the topic of nursing, folks have told me that there is a time as a toddler (usually around 16 months) that they lose interest nursing and that’s a good time to wean. I definitely have not seen this in Boop, and I’m afraid that window has come and gone.

Mental Glitch. 8-22-13

Wow, am I having trouble. I can't figure out how old my daughter is. I just called the pediatrician telling them I'm late for Boop's 18 month appointment and shots. But is that right? Did I celebrate her 18 month birthday in the wrong month?
 
The person that answered the telephone at the pediatrician's office kept asking me over and over about scheduling her 18 month well-child visit, counting months, and I was beginning to doubt myself. She was 12 months in January. Add 6 months to each, and you get 18 months in July. That's right. And she just turned 19 months. I was going back through my blogs trying to convince myself that I wasn't a complete dimwit! Thankfully, I have at least convinced myself that I wasn't a complete dimwit where my daughter's birthday is concerned. 


I'm wondering where Miss Boop will be this time. I'm guessing around the 85th%ile. If she continues at this rate, your average New Zealand ball player will have to stand on someone's shoulders to keep up with her. She has all the feistiness to take them all on! I guess summer vacation is over.

Mommy's little helper. This is looking good to me. She's getting there!

Discipline to Discipline. 8-16-13

Mentally, I had been preparing myself for the potential for Boop to have serious genetic problems. So far, so good on that front. I guess I wasn't as prepared for the more mundane toddler issues. ADHD seems a bit more common in the males in my family; so when I found out Boop would be a girl, I thought maybe I would side-step some of those issues. 

Those few minutes before she dumps everything out of her bowl
and throws the bowl in the floor.

I worked with 2 year olds at a daycare, and it was probably one of the most difficult jobs I've ever had (and I've had a lot!!). I had hoped that I had learned something in those 20 years since my daycare teacher days, to help me manage my own child. And folks kept telling me, 'it's different when it's your own child.' But Boop is a handful. When my aunt assured me that she would teach Boop the word 'no,' I had a little mental chuckle and observed her having about as much luck as me. For Boop, the word 'NO' is a special challenge, usually makes her giggle, and makes her even more determined to do what she shouldn't. 


At daycare this morning, the teacher said that Boop can give some dirty looks. And the most likely culprit is me, I guess. I'm perpetually trying to keep Winnie from biting Boop's hand off as Boop pats/hits Winnie on the head or tries to get x out of Winnie's mouth. It's all a game to Boop. I have a hard time of enforcing any sort of discipline on her. I worry that I'm disciplining too much; I worry that I'm not disciplining enough. I don't want Boop to grow up with an entitlement mentality. On the other hand, I get pretty frustrated with her sometimes and get caught up in the moment, which leads me to worry that I'm being too harsh. And when I see that she is making mean faces, I wonder if she is getting that from me; although I think the last one I saw came from my friend. 


The only thing that she really seems to respond to is time out. It's just as much a time for me to collect my thoughts and get her out of a situation than it is to discipline her. I put her into one of her high chairs for about 2 minutes and tell her she's in time out. I hate to restrain her, but I know she won't be able to be able to sit still on her own and don't want her to get hurt. Ideas? Is this something I just survive until she gets a bit older?

Decision Tree. 8-13-13

Here's a little sketch of how Boop's mind is working these days. Somehow, she determines that it's a living thing, then she decides if it's Mommy or a dog. Everything that isn't a person is a 'go-dy' (doggy), especially cats or mice. She's gotten better about figuring out monkeys and birds. After that, she's a little lost. I should have written 'Money' for Winnie, as she can't quite say it properly just yet.

Do the Harlem Shuffle? 8-15-13

Not one of my fave from the Rolling Stones, but it does feature the word 'slide' in it. Perhaps not so obvious as the Electric Slide. Is it okay to admit I prefer the Rolling Stones's songs when someone else is singing them? Probably not. So I won't.

Here is one of Boop's favorite things. I found it on a yardsale group, and we went to the next town to get it. The guy broke it down for us to fit in my hatchback, and I had a helper to put it back together. 

Goba took this glamorous photo.

Mommy should have tamed her hair after nap. She had a bit of a "Bozo" look going here :)

Taking Stock at 18 Months. 7-10-13

Here is what is happening at 18 months old:

• Boop knows more songs, now. One of her favorite songs is “Happy, happy, happy, happy…” with lots of clapping. That’s better known to you and me as “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” There’s also the “Hay! Hay! Hay!” song, better known as “Turkey in the Straw.”
• She is throwing some nasty little tantrums. They generally occur in the afternoons when she’s tired. She wants me to hold her all*the*time. 30 lb toddler + psoriatic arthritis = back spasms and no work accomplished. I hate to say it, but sometimes it gets so bad I just have to put her somewhere, like her high chair, until I can catch my breath. I’d say we’ve got at least another year of this. Better get my ‘suit’ together.
• And that reminds me of some useful parenting advice I got from an episode of Friends. Yes, I realize how bad that sounds already. Anyway, so they had to come up with other words for the things they didn’t want their toddler repeating. Toddlers fixate on words that are said with strong emotion, like those said when you slam the door on your finger or break your favorite dish—in other words, the sorts of things I’m prone to do. There’s really one main potty word that I have trouble with; so now I have an ongoing mental mantra of “Old suit,” in case something catches me off guard.
• Speaking of words, Boop knows lots, and she attempts them, with mixed success. One shocker this past weekend was bathroom words. Bless her heart, I think she knows all about potty, but she freezes up and gets upset when she gets on the potty and can’t go. 
• Check out the funny expressions while eating Pop Rocks...

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'Roids. 7-15-13‏

Last week was kind of a mess. I had to take off half days on Monday and Tuesday for pink eye among other things. I was determined not to go back to Urgent Care. After all, I had just gone to Urgent Care the weekend before I left for the 4th of July holiday for poison ivy, and I broke the bank for a trip to the Urgent Care out-of-state over the holiday for a sinus and ear infection. I could barely talk the whole time I was visiting with family. Miserable. Then, after the trip, I woke up and could barely see. Couldn't see, couldn't talk, itchy: I wasn't good for much. 

The eye got better by Wednesday, but after coming off the steroids, my poison ivy got worse and worse. And worse. And then my eye started acting up again on Thursday. Friday found me back at Urgent Care. This time, they put me on a higher dose of steroids with a longer course--maybe 3 weeks. I'm starting to feel some better, thank goodness. I only got up once last night with crawling skin urging me to put on cream. 

Maybe I'm feeling a little too good. So good that yesterday, it seemed like a good idea to rearrange my bedroom by myself. This is a part of my longer term plan to have a bed to myself. I have 2 queen sized mattresses in my room and was trying to get them to fit across the shorter side of the wall, but they lacked about 2 inches. So, I moved the mattresses around again and again to slide one slightly under the bed frame. This while Boop and Winnie were 'helping' by hopping on the bed--'cause the mattresses weren't heavy and awkward enough without 40 additional lbs. flopping around on them. I did finally get them sorted, but I forgot to say, "Old Suit" once or twice. Attempting such ridiculous feats are why folks with arthritis should not take high doses of steroids. 

Proud Mama. 7-12-13

I don't want to be one of those mothers who is always bragging about their kid. I also don't want to ignore her good deeds. It's hard to find a healthy balance. However, I can't help but feel good about her after being so concerned about her penchant for mischief. She did a good thing yesterday.


I'm relieved that Boop hasn't really bitten anyone, yet. Hopefully, she won't be a biter, but time will tell. However, she's been bitten twice in daycare, so far. And one of those times was yesterday afternoon. Her daycare teacher gave me the good news and the bad news. The bad news is that Boop stepped on someone's toy and got bitten on the leg. 

And so here is the good news. The playground area for the toddlers has a few Little Tykes coupes. Boop loves them, and I wasn't surprised to learn that Boop had been playing in one. Her daycare teacher went on to say that the new little girl in class was having trouble getting into her car. They watched as my little Boop got out of her car, walked over to the new girl, opened the door of the new girl's car, helped the new girl get in, and shut the door of the new girl's car. Boop then went back to her car and continued to play. 

POP ROCKS!