We heard that worst of toddler words today. “Why?” I don’t even remember the context, I just know I was asking M. to do something while cleaning C. up after her breakfast and M. looked at me with big, two-year-old eyes, and asked, very matter-of-factly, “Why?” It was so unexpected that I just ignored her rather than using any of the numerous defense strategies I’ve thought up. I’m sure I’ll get many, many chances to practice them in the near future.
I’ve not gotten around to doing a full kid update for awhile because they’re both doing so much that it is hard to remember everything. So a few quick updates, mostly on C.. This weekend, her two upper, front teeth pushed through her gums. Her lower two teeth look to be close behind. Beyond all the pain they go through, I really don’t like the teething process. When babies start getting teeth, they have that awkward period where they look like little demons with parts of teeth sticking out here and there. They’re much cuter when they’re all gums.
C. also graduated to pulling up on things over the last ten days. She had become a world-class crawler, able to get anywhere she wanted in the blink of an eye. Then, one day, I walked by her bedroom and there she was, standing up in her crib, holding onto the rail and waiting for someone to come and get her. They grow up so fast!
She’s a funny kid. We’ve been extremely fortunate that, much like her big sister was at the same stage, C. is mostly good-natured and happy. She loves to play, and now that she can chase her sister a bit, she’s having extra fun. Sleeping is mostly good. We reverted a bit last week when teething woke her up in the middle of the night, but for the most part, we’re working on four weeks of solid sleep through the night from her.
M., on the other hand, seems to wake up once or twice each night. I’ll go in to check on her.
“What’s wrong, M.?”
“I want my cubers.” Or, “My cubers, daddy!”
We’ve tried to teach her to pull her covers, er, cubers up on her own, but I guess she prefers to cry until we come and do it. Another reason I can’t wait for spring.
Potty training continues at a slow pace. We’re not pushing her, and some weeks she is interested in sitting on the potty, if only for long enough to get one of her reward stickers. She’s peed a few times, but nothing more solid or consistent from her. In fact, I bet she hasn’t been on the potty for a week. We’ll continue to slowly work on it until it gets warm, then S. claims to have some tricks that can get her on board quickly.
She’s also a funny kid, when not driving us crazy with her toddler moods. At least ten times a day she’ll say something that makes us laugh out loud. Yesterday, after she woke from a nap, I was changing her diaper, which was rather foul. Trying to make conversation to distract her, I asked, “Did you take a nap?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you feel better now?”
“No, I yucky.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond, so she continued the conversation without me.
“Daddy, I wanna see the yucky poopies. M. wake up and make yucky poopies. They yucky, daddy.” I was fully aware of how yucky her diaper was without her pointing it out 60 times.
She’s also repeating things we say to her. One of my favorite phrases when I’m disciplining her is “I told you…” Naturally, she uses it right back at me at other times.
“Daddy, I told you…”