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.