I actually started typing this blog yesterday morning. Then my child decided sneak into my bathroom, strip naked, and attempt to take a bath (exhibit A of toddler shenanigans). Twice. By the time I sat back down, the baby started crying. By the time I sat down AGAIN, I was too annoyed to think clearly enough to write, so I gave up.
So I'm sitting here with a (decaf, unfortunately) chai tea latte while both my children are miraculously-ish asleep. And I'm trying again.
Life has been crazy lately. It's a different crazy from the "oh I have so much to do" life. It's the crazy that can only come of being a stay-at-home wife to a teacher and mother to a toddler and an infant.It's the crazy that makes you want to pull your hair out with frustration and anger, do celebration dances over small victories, and cry because you love your kids with your entire being and are afraid you're doing everything wrong.
But let me tell you about those toddler shenanigans.
We already had exhibit A: toddler stripping down naked. Repeatedly. Girl likes her bath time. I'm just gonna lump another story into exhibit A. One day, I put her in her room (y'all, I can't let her roam the apartment while feeding Amelia...too many temptations!), but failed to put the gate up. By the time I got Amelia down for a nap, this happened:
Yes, I edited the picture because yes, she is butt naked in the baby bath. She had snuck into the bathroom, dragged it into her room, stripped completely down. When I walked in, she informed me that she was washing.
Exhibit B has to deal with why I said "miraculously-ish." Apparently, my child woke up sometime between 3:45 and 4:45 this morning. And didn't go back to sleep. I know this because she wasn't out of her room at 3:45. But when Andrew's alarm went off at 4:45, we saw her go back into her room.
I asked her this morning if she came out of her room. "Yes." "Where did you go?" "Mommy and Daddy room." "What were Mommy and Daddy doing?" "Oh. Sleeping."
Yeah. Okay. That's not creepy at all, kiddo.
Exhibit C of toddler shenanigans has to do with the joy of potty training. You guys, my body is on a schedule. I get up, shower, eat breakfast, feed Amelia, drink coffee on the way to drop Andrew off at work, then generally need to really go to the bathroom by the time I get back home. Before I go, I always take Rin to go potty so we don't have any issues.
Well, twice in about as many weeks, she insisted that she didn't need to potty. Screamed, cried, the whole nine yards. Part of the way through my using the bathroom, she started crying because she needed to poop. The first time this happened, she was gated in her room, and ended up pooping in her diaper. The second time, I was a little proud because she got herself on the potty. But then she GOT UP AND WALKED AROUND before I could come wipe her. Sigh.
Since then, this hasn't happened. Hooray! Because we've been potty training....
There is nothing that compares to potty training. It feels like torture. I feel like a broken record of "Do you need to go potty? We should try to go potty." All. Day. Long.
Exhibit D: One day last week, I told Rin we should try to go potty. She went in the bathroom, went in the linen closet, and peed. WHAT?! (Did I mention that sometimes, I want to pull my hair out?)
However! We have now had two and a half days with no potty accidents.
We had a celebration for starting to get potty training on Saturday night. We treated Miss Thang to a movie night. Amelia went down for the night after supper, we brought out Rin's fuzzy blanket and all the pillows in the apartment, laid on the floor, ate popcorn, and watched The Lion King. I even made her a "movie night coupon" that she earns by continuously using the potty. Woot!
Now, one of the downsides to potty training is you have to actually pay attention to bowel movements. I had been concerned with how long she would go without wanting to poop (including holding it in for fear of it hurting), so I finally took her to the doctor. Her colon was completely full, so she's having to do a cleanse. It's really gross. So this family has also upped it's fibrous food intake....
Which means I made some delicious whole-wheat pumpkin muffins (made with honey instead of sugar) that we all liked!!! Anyways...
And finally, exhibit D: the toddler tries to be like Mommy. She tries to help me clean, she "cooks," she takes care of her "babies," and even tries to wear her baby doll like Mommy wears Amelia:
She is a mess! But. Last but not least. She got a hair cut.
Before: a mess that tangled easily and was always in her eyes
After: I can see her eyes again. And I can comb her hair without a bajillion snags in it:
Well, that's all for the toddler shenanigans portion.
Other than that, I've just been taking care of myself, the apartment, and the baby. I finally hung all the pictures in our apartment. And got on a semi-regular cleaning schedule.
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| Kicked her socks off in her sleep. She takes after me. |
I've gotten back onto doing yoga every day. Since I last spoke about my health journey, I fell off the exercise bandwagon. I finally found a regular time of day to squeeze in some yoga time, so yay! Also since then, Andrew and I have both cut down tremendously on our soda intake. Like, we drink less than one a day. And other than headaches, I believe our health has improved already!
I've also been Andrew's support the best I know how.
Being a teacher is crazy, y'all. I'm not going to say anymore than that. But you guys send him happy thoughts whenever you can!
Lastly in news, I turned 27! Woohoo! I totally did an unhealthy thing and ate WAY too much at my birthday dinner. And ate brownies. Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I hope you're all doing well!
