Summer Camp

Day one. Extra long day because they went to the pool. All seems to have gone well, although I was informed that Q2 wasn't keen on the pool. She got in, 2-3 minutes, and got out. Stripped down, and didn't want to put a bathing suit back on.

She was told she had to, of course.

So, she went for her clothes, not her bathing suit, and got those wet (which is OK).

Now, the story from Q2 went like this:

Q2: I went underwater and I cried cried cried cried!
C3: Mumma, Q was a TURTLE!
Q2: And I cried cried cried!

So, I'm thinking there was more to the story than the day care let on. Although her hair wasn't wet ... maybe around the edges.

C3 said she had to stay in the baby pool, which is fine with me.

No issues from either child; I only hope tomorrow is as smooth.

Sleep rules part 2

Q2 has taken the sleep rules to heart. Or actually, she really really really is motivated by getting a red lollipop or a popsicle first thing in the morning.

Probably the latter.

Last night I put her to bed, we went over the rules:

1) Nurse Mumma
2) Lie down in bed
3) Be quiet - no crying
4) Close your eyes
5) Fall asleep

About 10-15 minutes before she ended up falling asleep last night I heard her start to wimper. After two wimpers, which sounded like the beginning of a full-fledged cry, she stopped suddenly and I heard this:

Q2: I not cry. Daddy, I not cry. I close my eyes.

And I know exactly what was going on hin her head ... I WANT AN ORANGE POPSICLE FOR BREAKFAST.

Well, she got one.

Prodigy ( & a graffiti artist )

Also know as little hellion who gets into everything. C3 didn't figure out doorknobs until she was about 3 years old. Q2 ... just figured it out this week.

And it is usually the little prodigy also known as a hellion who gets into everything who usually draws on all surfaces ... the floor, the table, the legs, the feet, the hands, the pants, the shirt, the lips, chin ... whatever she can get a magic marker on.

But today, it was C3 who colored her windowsill her favorite color, brown. Brown like her eyes. Brown like what the hell is that shit on your windowsill?? And windowpane?

Oh, crayon. Got it. Now I understand. How did she explain herself, you wonder?

C3: I was trying to do white on white but it didn't work.

Oh, of course ... so if the white on white doesn't work, go for the brown on white, that does make sense. It did work.

information age

Q2 & C3 now have their own e-mail addresses. I'm a little weirded out by this ... but of course they'll be typing circles around me sooner rather than later ...

Helpful

I don't know if it is the age or what, but Q2 is in a very helpful stage. If C3 is crying Q2 will run and get her her blankie and a stuffed animal, without being prompted. When she sees another child cry, she asks why, and when I suggest it she goes over and kisses them.

The other day at the doctor's office, Q2 saw a girl with a book she had already examined and found to be ... lacking.

Q2: (runs over to girl) Girl, this book broken!
Girl:
Q2: I get you another book.
Girl:
Q2: (runs to get book that is more than just a cover) Here, girl. (Takes broken book) I put this away.

I thought it was cute that she was concerned that the girl was reading a book with no pages.

I vowed when I was 12 that I wouldn't be nursing a child who could walk over and ask for it.

Q started out an incredible sleeper. I'd put her down when she was sleepy, and she'd fall asleep.

Then around 6 months she started getting a little more ... active. So I encouraged the nursing to sleep. Which worked very well. Very well indeed. She never really had taken to a pacifier, but she definitely took to the nuring to sleep. Loved it. She still loves it. Naps are a definite, and bedtime is a sometimes.

So ... over the past year we've slowly been trying to get her to sleep on her own again. With some success. She did learn to fall asleep on her own for naps and at bedtime. Mostly because we did a lot of pat-pat, talking, holding, reading, calming, sitting, and quietly leaving or telling her we had to check on ... C3 or something else.

Everytime we've tried Cry It Out it has blown up in our faces like this: tears, tears, tears, screaming, screaming, screaming screaming SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAMING!
And so we couldn't last.

But now that she is 2, Q2 is ready. I gave her the sleep rules (which we modified over the next couple of days):

Nurse Mumma
Get in bed & lie down
Be quiet - no crying
Close your eyes
Go to sleep
Get a red lollipop in the morning

Yes, indeed, that is a huge honking red lollipop at the end of that list. But whatever.

The first time I tried this was the night C3 went the emergency room with C39 for her concussion. It worked beautifully. Perfectly.

The next night ... not so well. And the night after, worse. Then, of course, we realized Q2 had a fever of over 101, so perhaps that was why it wasn't working.

Got that taken care of ... and gave her the rules again. And she started manipulating again. She's all for the rules before bed, but when it comes time to be in bed she wants pat pat. Then she has to pee. Then she wants to nurse some more. Then she wants to read. And then talk. And so forth.

[And ... she's been waking up at 4:30 am and NOT GOING BACK TO SLEEP.]

Finally, I said enough, and stuck her in bed and said goodnight and an hour and a half later she was asleep. When she woke at 4:30 am ... we ignored her until 5:45 (I figure wake time is 6:00 ... and she can't tell time yet, so 5:45 was OK).

The next night ... the same thing, except I put up with less (none?) of the requests except to pee and then I went out for a walk. C39 tells me she cried around 20 minutes. And woke up at 6:30 am.

Currently, she is not asleep. But, I put her in bed a bit ago, she cried (yelled at me actually) for about 2 minutes and now is just chatting.

So, I'm thrilled with the progression of things. Fingers are crossed that this actually was the right time to try CIO and sleep rules and she is ready to GO TO SLEEP ON HER OWN!

Next step: Naptime. And then getting rid of nursing altogether. I'd love that.

more yummy meals

Milk and orange juice.
I hyped it up as a "creamsicle".
I tried the soymilk and oj version. YUUUCCCHHHHHY.

Update

C3 vomited in the car on the way to Holy Cross. (glad it wasn't my car, but that is beside the point).

It turns out it is a combination of viral respitory infection (who knew??) and a mild concussion.

We have to wake her in the middle of the night. Which works well with the pee thing, since she'll probably sleep heavy but not want a diaper.

I'm glad we took her.

With all the bumps we thought we'd be taking Q2

C3 whacked her head around 4:30, began complaining that her head hurt, all she wanted to do was sit on the couch. Then cuddle on the couch with her dogs.

Head still hurt. Gave her Tylenol around 5, 5:15.

Head still hurt. Feeling warm, but chalked it up to the cuddling. Then she fall asleep on the couch for a brief moment until we woke her up.

Head still hurt. Not just on the top now, but also her forhead. No appetite at dinner at 5:45. We realized she was not just hot, she was hotter.

Head still hurt. But she was ready for bed, wanted to skip tub. 6:00 I took her temp: 101.5F, with no obvious reason.

Head still hurt. Looked up concussions and fever was a symptom ...

So, we called the doctor and by 6:15 she was on her way with C39 to Holy Cross Hospital. Well, I'm sure they are there now, it is 7:07, and I left Q2's room at 6:52.

I know the time I left her room because I put Q2 down for bed. Trying a new approach. We'll see how it goes. More on that later.

Where do babies come from

Well, not exactly. C3 has apparently been asking where she was BEFORE she was in my tummy. She apparently doesn't care much for that. But C39 mentioned that we lived in a different house before this one and C3 asked if she lived there too. When C39 said no, she asked if she was in my tummy. When he said no, she then asked where she was before she was in my tummy.

Good question.

I think C39's answer involved the "unformed spirit" and "I don't know" ...

Daddy I did - mommy come see

I am not always the ideal mother. Sometimes I forget to do things. Like ... put a diaper on C3 before bed. Sometimes I remember before I go to sleep to check her and diaper her, but usually it would end in a 2 am wake up, a wet bed, and a crying toddler. Oh, and two cranky parents. One who is more cranky because the other forgot to diaper C3.

And C3's diapers are typically SOAKED. Honkers. Weighing 5 pounds or more each morning. I suppose that's a stretch. But pretty loaded. I've been expecting to be buying diapers until she was 17.

Until 2 nights ago. When C3 came down in the morning she said she'd been dry all night. I asked to see her diaper. She refused, saying I'd forgotten to diaper her. Oh. So I checked her bed. Well, her puppy nest, but that is another story. Dry. Smelled sweet, fresh even. Not like a wet diaper at all.

Hooray! She apparently CAN hold it. She told me she didn't drink all night and she got up to go when she had to go (I don't remember that, but whatever!). I'm thrilled!

I do wonder if C3 was feeling the social pressure since her sister can stay dry during naps now ...

stuffie

Finally, I did it! Scottie Scott Scott the scottie dog is DONE.

And here is C3 & Q2 loving Scottie Scott Scott

Flirting with the band

My sister, M, visted this weekend, with her daughter, K4. We went to the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum .... fun. But the best thing was when we found the thermal imager.

Here is a photo of Q2, K4, and C3:

Isn't that a hoot? I think they look like aliens.


Here is a photo of C3 a the Summer Jam last Friday in Hyattsville, her favorite topic - a woof woof - imprinted on her cheek:

I like that photo of her ... it captures her really nicely. She isn't what you'd call an "intense" child, or a crazy child, but very very focused. She is sincerely into dogs. Dogs. Dogs. And more dogs. Oh, and the color teal. Today she said to me "I'm really into the color teal, today!"


And here is Q2, doing her thing ... flirting with the band.

Not to slight my other daughter

C3 reads more and more. Tonight she saw we'd bought a new video (Dogs that changed the world). Immediately she recognized the word "Dogs." C38 told her what T-H-A-T was when she spelled it out. Likewise with changed. She then read "the" and then ... "world"

That was a new one for me! I didn't know she knew that word!

I'm impressed.

Bump

I know we are old hats at this now.

When Q2 was Q1month she fell (er, was dropped) out of the sling. Right onto her head. So, we went to the emergency room.

When Q2 was Q1, she and I both fell (er, I got tangled getting out of bed while holding her) and we both hit our heads on the floor. We went to the emergency room. Mostly because I'd had a friend lose a baby a few months earlier from a fall off the bed and a bump on the head. So.

Learning to walk ... if she fell, she always fell straight on her forhead. Bam.

Late in Q2's second year, but before she was 2, she was in her crib and decided to try to climb out. Straight down on her head onto the nice springy wood floor. We were confident that she was OK, and no emergency room.

Yesterday, at the Air & Space Museum, she fell off a ledge (about 2 feet high) onto granite. But we are confident that her little head can take it and we told her to shake it off and we kept on going.

No, I nursed her and made sure she could follow a finger, see one or two fingers, and wasn't vomiting and her pupils were the same size. All was good. All is good.

Super Absorbant?

Maybe this was a fluke. But I've said it could happen. Q2 had a dry diaper this morning. Perhaps it is just that those diapers are superabsorbant and you can't tell if she's peed. But, in anycase, she held a good bit of it overnight.

I'm impressed. Let's see if she does it again!

Compassion

C3 fell pretty hard and whammed her upper arm. While she was crying in her daddy's arms, Q2 headed upstairs. I asked her where she was going. The answer? To get C3's blankie for her.

Gratitude isn't C3's strong suit, and she asked for Ripley, too.

But I thought it was an amazing show of compassion and understanding for a two-year-old.

Somebody has a crush.

C3 & Q2 were almost as excited as C38 were about the baseball game -- the BoSox v. the O's (at Camden Yard). I really like Camden Yard. It is small, we had great seats, we felt close, things were clean, and the fans were about 50% Red Sox Nation.

Q2 fell asleep on the way up, exactly as we'd wanted. But, traffic was light, we got there in record time, and I ended up sitting in the car with her until she woke up (with a little encouragement from me. I put her socks on and was working on shoes). By the time we got down to the park, and found C38 & C3, it was the bottom of the 2nd. Sox were ahead 1-0.

C3 was having a fine time at this point. She had an ice cream. Delish. Q2 took to the game right away. She left her baseball cap on, sat on C38's lap and stared intently at the game. Really really focusing on it.

C3 started getting antsy. So we gave her more snacks, then bought some Cotton Candy. I love that stuff. Oh, but C3 wasn't as keen on it. She liked squishing it with her hands. And Q2 ... she was so focused on the game she didn't realize what a good thing she had in her hands.

We made it through 5 innings. Just barely. Just barely. Just barely. C3 was crying about going home. Poor C38 ... but at least we left with a 7-3 lead (which the Sox increased to 9-4 as we drove home) and saw back to back home runs.

One the drive home C3 crashed and fell asleep. Q2 then started asking questions and stating facts about Manny. Here is a sampling:

Q2: Manny take his shoes off? (C38: After the game Manny will take his shoes off)
Q2: Manny a boy? (C38: Yes, Manny is a boy)
Q2: Manny have a penis? (C38: Yes, he has a penis but I'm not comfortable talking about it)
Q2: Manny push the ball. (C38: Yes, Manny hit the ball.
Q2: Manny have (big? long? lots?) hair? (C38: Yes, Manny has a head of long dreadlocks)
Q2: What Manny girl name? (C38: We can look up Manny's children's names later)
Q2: Manny wear his shoes? (C38: Manny is probably still wearing his shoes)
Q2: Manny a bunny! A turtle! Manny a turtle go SNAP.
Q2: Manny watch the game? (C38: Yes, Manny is probably watching the game from the dugout)

We talked Manny for 20 minutes straight. Mostly about his shoes and how he hit the ball.

So, we'll add baseball to the list of things that SOUND good to C3, but the reality of them is much less satisfying.