Tyce's Shirt & Kisses

One more post for today should do it... ;)

In the previous 'cousin' post I wanted to make note of the shirt Leah is wearing. It does not belong to her! LOL When we went to Utah to visit Daisha & her son Tyce some how we managed to come home with Tyce's shirt in our laundry. So when I washed everything I discovered it. Leah's is OBSESSED with wearing this shirt. She walks around rubbing it and saying "Tyce's shirt" over & over again. It makes her very happy.

And then the kisses... Here is Leah & Tyce



PS - While I was writing this very post Drew is getting Leah dressed & finally in exasperation he comes to me & says "Why is she asking for TIES???" She wasn't. She was saying Tyce. She wanted the shirt again. I had to go get it out of the dryer for her!

Daisha - I swear I'm gonna send that back some day! LOL

Cousins

So this is Leah's cousin Elaina. Elaina is 8 months old than Leah. Apparently, cousins are the most fun thing EVER. And as they get older they have more & more fun together. This night they came over for dinner & some play time. Played with playdoh, the toys, ran all over the house, ate ice cream. It was great fun! (PS This is the same cousin she gets in trouble with. IE - the one I caught Leah playing in the toilet with!)

Playing with playdoh - and both randomly
announcing "I made it!!!" with great excitement!

SIL went to change the baby's diaper (Julia) and Elaina
said "me too!"so then Leah wanted hers changed too.
I stood on the couch to get a shot of them.

Then they had ice cream together...

Saying Cheeesseeee!

This one is really blurry but was just too funny not to share!
Of course, I think it's blurry because I was laughing so hard,
I was shaking!

Sleep Part 2

I perhaps didn't give the right impression about how that went. For the majority of it I was sitting on my side of the bed with my laptop absolutely ignoring her very existence. So while she's not in another room it's not like she getting all the attention in the world from me. LOL. Just a lot of "Lay back down, Leah". I can't just physically lay her back down because that's what she actually wants - me to physically engage her so that we can "play".

Anyway - I think I've figured out something! After talking to another friend whose son has dye allergies (much more severely than Leah's red dye issues). She asked me a few questions & one was about chocolate.

Well, Leah ate a ridiculous amount of hershey kisses yesterday. Daddy bought her a bag of them. She loves 'em.

Apparently, they way she acted last night was a classic reaction to a chocolate allergy.

Sigh. So no chocolate today, no red dye. And she went to sleep without a fight at all!

It was 9:45 but she napped from 1:30 - 3 so I was expecting that. Interrupted naps always do that.

Anyway - it isn't like this happens all the time. I was just going crazy after the last few days. Well, Daddy bought those hershey kisses last Friday! So this whole last week she's had them EVERY day! No wonder I was losing my mind!

Thanks for the advice though ladies!

Sleep Baby, Sleep.

Leah doesn't sleep much. At least not as much as other kids her age.

Sleep has never been a battle in our home. It's one of those things I don't choose to fight about. She's always just gone to sleep when she was tired. If she was acting horrid or anything I will tell her to lay down, etc but normally she doesn't. Once she's tired she just wants to snuggle & she goes to sleep.

But lately this is taking FOREVER. And it's getting worse not better.

Last night it took 2 hours & 40 minutes for her to fall asleep. So we got in our bed at 8 PM & she didn't finally go to sleep until 10:40.

And we did fight. I lost it after the 2 hour mark. I was sick of saying "lay down Leah" & the fact that she AT TWO has turned stalling into an ART FORM! You name it - she asked for it. "Potty more please mommy!" AHHHH I totally fell for that one. Since she's not potty trained & I don't want to tell her no about the potty. But I didn't last night after twice. She was even pulling her legs up & acting like she needed to poop. Then once she was on the potty she was all smiles and asking for wipes & toilet paper.

Finally I went & laid her in her own room, on her own bed & told her she had to stay there. I said either fall asleep there or get ready to go to sleep. She didn't cry or anything. After probably 10 minutes she must have decided I wasn't coming back because she started sobbing. So, then I went & got her. Put her in bed with me again & she went right to sleep.

Well, I don't want that to be how I get her to go to bed every night. I don't want it to be a battle!

Then she woke up twice in the next 2.5 hours having tantrums. The one at 1 AM.... I was sleeping by then of course & when she woke me up I think I was the maddest I have ever been at her.

It was not a night terror. She was fulling awake & having a massive tantrum. I told her to stop or she was going to her own bed. So she went to her own bed. When she stopped crying I went back in and she was just sitting. Reached for me saying "Mommy" and was back asleep within 2 minutes.

WHAT THE FREAK?

This morning she woke me at 7:30 and then SHE went back to sleep.

Give me a break, please. I need to sleep.

Seriously, I don't need that much sleep actually. 5/6 hours will do. But after last night a little extra would have been nice.

I normally don't mind her sleeping so little but I don't want to spend 2.5 hours putting her to bed either. I give up. She's never going to be an "asleep by _____" child. I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing until she wants to go to bed.

Maybe I shouldn't give her a nap during the day anymore?????

The thing is... naps are never a fight. She just gets tired, I say it's naptime, & she drifts off to sleep. No fight, nothin'. So why is night time such an ordeal?

I know she's tired. She gets bags under her eyes all the sudden when she's sleepy. But she's not sleepy ENOUGH.

Heaven help me.

Ideas, anyone???

Blog Roll

So when I found this particular template from pyzam.com (Thank you Leah! I love that site), I discovered after I applied it that it deleted my blogroll. Dang it!

I've spent some time recreating it but if you used to be there & you aren't anymore, leave me a comment so I can fix it.

Or if you want to be there & you never were you can tell me that too ;)

More Thanksgiving

I spent another day cooking yesterday. I think I'm satisfied the need to be cooking in the kitchen for awhile. I had great fun though. I did a turkey in the roaster (which I then sent to my dad's to be plugged in and let cook - as a funny tidbit - my stepsister & stepmother were completely freaked out & thought it was some cancerous turkey because it was spotted under the skin. Aye aye aye. I lifted the turkey skin & rubbed an herb/butter mixture all over the turkey underneath! I laughed pretty hard at them!), a chicken with the cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams (with apples, nuts, and tons of other stuff), jell-o with bananas (a kid request), fruit salad (heavy cream whipped with cinnamon & sugar - folded in fruit), a dual layer cheesecake/pumpkin pie, a dutch apple pie (frozen), and a chocolate pie. I'm forgetting things. Anyway...

it was a success! Everything went really well. I had fun with them. I don't fit there as much. I mean, they love me, we have fun when I'm there. But there's so much swearing & drinking going on at family things. Leah heard the F word more times in the first 10 minutes of my brother walking in than she has in her entire life. Actually, pretty sure she's never heard it. So annoying. There's just not reason for that. There's a lot of words in the English language. I'm not even totally opposed to a well placed F-word every now & then - by ADULTS among ADULTS. But give me a break. Anyway. That's my biggest complaint.

Which means all-in-all the evening went well! lol

Really, I laughed a lot, I ate too much food, & Leah had a blast with her cousins! And she slept like a rock!!

Thankful

Things I am most thankful for...

1. My daughter. Her chattering, her glowing eyes, her beautiful face, her kisses, her sense of humor, when she comes to me & says "snuggle", the sounds of her, her existence.

2. My husband. Today we have been married for 10 years. Some parts of our marriage have been a rough ride but I wouldn't trade it. I love this man. And he loves me so much. I forget sometimes. Or wonder why he loves me so much. Happy Anniversary to us! I love you, Drew.

3. Cooking. I love to cook. I spent all most the whole day in the kitchen today. Everyone keeps thanking me for doing so much. They have no idea how I love to be in the kitchen & make things that people will love. I have such issues! lol FOOD is LOVE! ;)

4. My friends. I have lots of friends. Some old, some newer, some live near me, some far, some I met online, some I've known since high school. They are all so wonderful & give me such a sense of support. I love how much I can learn from each one.

5. My family. Heaven love 'em. I really do. There's a lot of infighting & I get pretty irritated with them but I love 'em. Otherwise why would I care they are all fighting with each other? LOL

6. Self-cleaning ovens. That may sound silly but ming is cleaning itself right now & it makes me so happy.

7. My faith. I love my church. I love the sense of knowledge & peace it brings. I love my Savior & I'm so grateful.

8. ....

More later maybe. Drew has just come back in the room with a float made from an orange sherbet/vanilla ice cream mix & 7-Up. I must go enjoy that and be thankful for him some more.

I love him!

Templates

Excuse me & my ever changing look. I can't seem to decide on a template.

Apparently I need to take the time to make my own so I feel authentic ;)

I have issues.

Toddler Mommy Moments

Ya know what I was pondering on a few minutes ago?

"Why do all of Rabbit's relations all look so different than he does?"

You heard me. That's what I was thinking.

I've watched entirely too much Winnie the Poo today. Entirely too much.

Birthdays

In 54 minutes it will be Leah's 2nd birthday.

I am a bundle of conflicting emotions - none of which I have words for.

Why? If you have words please share them with me!

It's so exciting. She says new things everyday lately. It's so COOL. Today I asked her if she wanted oatmeal & hot chocolate for breakfast & she said "Hot chocolate only" I didn't know she understood the word ONLY.

Or a couple of days ago when she was just jumping on the bed & suddenly said "I wanna go to the store with Daddy." I about died!

Today we had to other new sentences, "I found it!" & "I see it!" when she was looking for something.

She amazes me everyday & this stage is so fun. And trying & difficult too! Especially since other favorites are "I do it" & "have it!" Although once a few days ago she said "Let me have it!" when we were in a store.

But there are things I miss too. Bottles. I held a baby yesterday & feed her the bottle. I loved the way she snuggled into me while she drank it. And my heart aches a little because Leah gave that up so early - it's be done by now anyway but I miss it all the same. I loved feeding her. She hasn't let me feed her since she was 11 months - whether with a fork or a bottle.

Luckily she's still a very snuggly kid! It's a good thing because her mommy loves it ;)

So conflicting. I don't wish for her babyhood back because I love this stage! But I miss the babyhood. Conflict, conflict.