BOY! Did summer vacation start off with a bang or what? The first week into our summer vacation and the transmission goes out in my car. So we spent all of our spare time car shopping last week. Whew! I am exhausted, but I love my new car! There are very few smells that I would prefer over the smell of a new car. Anyway--I am already off topic.
Summer means more time to spend with my girl. Each day is filled with both laughter and plenty of tears. Hey--being two is hard. She is testing her limits and finding out, at least a lot of the time, that she cannot do whatever she wants to do. I would love to tell her that that fact will change as she gets older--but it doesn't. At least, not really.
We are dealing the the devil right now--getting rid of the pacifier. I know, I know, she shouldn't have been allowed to keep it this long, but hear me out. After she was about 9 months old--I had regulated the paci to just the crib and the car. Then she went through a string on illnesses, and it was the only thing that comforted her. So... I let my sick child have her paci all the time while she was sick. Go ahead and put me on trial. I am totally guilty of causing this problem myself. Now, she is hooked on the dang thing. Anytime she slips and falls, or gets mad at me or J--it's the PACI she wants. So yesterday, J and I had finally had enough. We said no. So ensued a 20 minute tantrum over the darn thing. We held firm and distracted her with an episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Once she was calm we explained that she can only have paci at nap and bedtime (also in the car because we are about to take a trip to Virginia, and I need my sanity). She accepted the terms willingly.
After nap she had another issue with giving the paci up. But, we successfully distracted her with going to the pool. WIN!!!
When it was time for her to go to bed--She went to bed SOOOOO much easier because she knew she was only going to get that paci once she was down in her crib and ready to go to sleep. This is another issue of ours that we are dealing with. More on this later. Then this morning she woke up, got dressed, and was ready for breakfast. Before going downstairs I said, "ok, put paci night-night." Without issue she walked it to her crib and but it in. No issue, no tantrum. Hopefully we are on the road to recovery for paci addiction. One thing at a time. Next transition, the big girl bed.
We are going to wait to introduce the big girl bed until after our vacation. I am afraid if I go ahead and transition her now, then she will not want to sleep in the Pack N Play on vacation. I am not ready to sleep in the bed with her. I still want my own bed on vacation. BUT I already have my eye on some pretty Peppa Pig bedding for her toddler bed. Any tips for the transition mommies out there? I would appreciate it!
After talking with a few of P's friend's parents--I realized that the current sleep issues we are having are normal. I have always had the child that went to bed pretty happily. She loved naps and would ask to go down for one. You could put her down and walk out without any problem. But in the last two weeks--it has become quite the process to get P to go to sleep period. It is a battle of the wills where she tries to bargain for another kiss or hug. What used to take 5 minutes was taking quadruple that. Once again, probably my fault. I knew that if I didn't give in to these requests, then it would become a 45 minute tantrum. In the end, I had to tighten it up a bit and let her whine and cry for a few minutes once I put her down. She will eventually fall asleep on her own. I know this is going to get more intense once she moves to a bed she can actually get out of.
Potty wise we are doing ok. She still never WANTS to go potty. She will almost always so no if you ask if she has to go, but as long as you take her every hour to hour and a half, then she stays accident free. Except for number 2. P struggles so mightily with constipation that number 2 is painful at times, and therefore she is afraid to go. We are working on it, but it still has a long way to go. Once again, I would welcome any tips.
Overall she is my little sour patch kid. Sour one moment and sweet the next. She loves to dance, sing, play soccer, swim, and terrorize her parents. I love her fiercely, and yet welcome my little breaks each day. As everyone keeps telling me-- I will even miss this in a few years.
Happy Thursday Y'all!
