Some Words About Lila

Dear Lila,

Words that can be used to describe you:

Caring--When GuhGaw got hurt at a birthday party earlier this month and your friend Kaira fell down when we were at a park, you immediately went over to them and put your hand on them to comfort them.

Stoic--Your front tooth was chipped (oddly, it just grew in that way) so you had to get a filling. You cried while the dentist was fixing your tooth but immediately stopped as soon as he finished. Two days later, you had to have your blood drawn (to check your iron level) and you barely flinched when the phlebotomist stuck the needle in your arm. Brave girl!

Voracious eater--You ate a fortune cookie so fast that I didn't even have time to get the paper fortune out before you swallowed it!

Drama queen--Sometimes you lay face down on the floor and cry when you're unhappy.

Cutie pie--You're so sweet when you quietly say "peas" (please) when you ask for something and when you lay your head on my shoulders.

Love,
Mom

Keep Calm and Eat Cupcakes

Dear Lila,

We had more post-nap chaos today. When you woke up from your afternoon nap, your clothes and bed sheets were wet with pee so I took you right to the bathroom to give you a shower. A few minutes into the shower, you tapped your crotch and whimpered as if you were in pain. I thought you had hurt yourself somehow so I comforted you while I soaped you up. Then you squatted and when you stood back up, oh look! There was a giant pile of poop in the tub**. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, ew! I spent several seconds freaking out because I was by myself with you and didn't know what to do. I had to clean the tub, but I couldn't take you out of the tub since you were wet and covered in soap bubbles. And I couldn't take the rubber shower mat you had pooped on out of the tub because you might slip without it. Once I composed myself, I took a paper towel and scooped up the poop (yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck!), pulled you away when you tried to touch the poopy spot and finished cleaning you up. After I dressed you, I had the fun task of scrubbing and disinfecting the mat and the tub.

When your brother came home, I told him how you had pooped in the tub. That freaked him out, even though I told him that I had cleaned the tub and no evidence had been left behind, and he didn't want to stand on the shower mat (ironic, because in the past, he has had no problem rolling around on the dirty classroom floors at school or eating food he's dropped on the sidewalk). He kept trying to step off of the mat onto the sides of the slippery tub, which was obviously dangerous and made showering him harder than usual. I yelled at him to stop and he wouldn't listen. And for the rest of the day, he kept not listening whenever I asked him to do something. 

So yeah, it was that kind of day. Messy, frustrating and exhausting. I'm used to days like this by now, but they are draining nonetheless. The day ended on a high note, though. When Daddy came home from work tonight, he surprised me with a box of one of my favorite things in the world: chocolate marshmallow cupcakes from Sprinkles. His Spidey sense must have kicked in and told him what a crazy day I had!

Love,

Mom

** Ironically enough, I was just telling your nanny this morning that when you were a little baby, you often used to poop in the baby bathtub as soon as we put you in it for a bath. Did you hear me tell her about it and want to remind me of how fun that was? :P

Terrible Twos?

Dear Lila,

I have said over and over again that you are such a good baby, such an easy baby. From the beginning, you have slept when I've wanted you to sleep, eaten when I've wanted you to eat, played quietly by yourself when I've needed you to play quietly by yourself. You are so chill and have always gone with the flow for the most part. And then there was today.

Your nanny took you to the playground and when it was time to get out of the swing and go home, you cried and resisted. When you were playing with my keys and I had to take them from you to open the door, you cried and resisted and even threw yourself down on the ground in protest. When I gave you a shower, you cried and resisted and wriggled so much that I had to put an iron grip on your arm and pray that you wouldn't bang your head on the side of the tub. When I was dressing you after the shower, you cried and resisted and screamed so loud and for so long that you actually started to hurt my eardrums.

When I finally managed to get your diaper and clothes on despite your kicking and flailing, I picked you up and held you tightly in my arms and you started hyperventilating because you were crying so hard. I hugged and rocked you for 15 minutes and you eventually passed out in my arms, so exhausted from your meltdown, without even drinking your lunchtime bottle of milk first.

When you woke up after your nap, you were your usual laidback, easygoing self but oh. my. GOD. I have never seen you behave like that. You're 19 months old now--you're not gearing up for the terrible twos, are you? Nooooooooooo!!!

Love,
Mom

Cutie Pie

Dear Lila,

You know that I think you are adorable and apparently, many kids at the playground do, too. After we picked your brother up from camp today, we went to the playground behind his school. Several minutes after we arrived, Connor and two of his friends gathered around you. Connor sweetly said, "This is my sister. She's small, so you have to be careful, all right?" His friend Karen started stroking your pigtails and saying over and over again, "She's so cute" while his other friend Alyssa kept smiling at you and hugging you. Connor then started patting you on the top of your head and you just sat there with a look on your face that said, "I'm not sure, but should I be weirded out by this?"

And the same thing happened 10 minutes later with a set of three girls we don't even know. Connor and his friends had gone off to play and you were sitting on a step when three 6-year-old girls also gathered around you to admire how cute you are and to lovingly stroke your cheeks and hair. Well, there you go. Indisputable proof that you are irresistibly cute!

Love,
Mom

Post-Nap Surprise

Dear Lila,

Normally, when I hear you wake up from your afternoon nap, I go into your room, chat with you a little bit, change your diaper and then get your lunch ready. But here's how things went down today:

3:25pm: I hear you turn on your music box and start babbling.

3:26pm: I enter your room and see that you are standing up in your crib.

3:26pm: You walk over toward me and hand me your diaper.

3:27pm: I have the following internal monologue: Where did she get that diaper? There are no diapers near her bed. Wait, that's her diaper! The diaper she was wearing! Oh my god, she took off her own diaper! 

3:28pm: I realize that not only have you learned how to take off your own diaper but that you also peed ALL over your bed. Ugh.

In other news, you officially graduated from baths to showers today. After the super fun incident above, I plucked you out of your crib, put you in the big tub and gave you a shower. When we switched your brother over to showers when he was almost 2 1/2 years old, he screamed and cried and took a week to get used to them. But you were totally fine, as if it was your 100th shower, not your first. Big girl!

Love,
Mom

You Make Me Smile

Dear Lila,

You make me smile when . . .

-you see me cleaning the dining table and mimic me by wiping down your kiddie table with your picnic blanket.

-I see how much joy you get from playing in the sprinklers at the playground.

-you cover your mouth when you laugh really hard.

-you babble to me so earnestly that I really wish I knew what you were talking about because it sounds very interesting.

-your nanny brings you back home after you guys have gone for a walk and your face lights up when you see me at the door.

-I see how good you already are at completing puzzles.

-you sometimes walk so fast, you topple forward a little bit before you balance yourself out.

-you take my lotion bottle and pretend to put lotion on your baby dolls and stuffed animals.

-you look so focused and studious while reading books.

-we go grocery shopping and I can see how much you love picking out groceries and piling them into our basket.

-you lean in toward my face to let me know that you want to give me a kiss.

-you give me big, wet, loving kisses.

Love,

Mom

Sherpa Woman

Dear Lila,

I have started calling you my little sherpa because you do the following every day:

1) fill your doctor's bag with random toys and books and hang the bag on the handle of your doll stroller

2 ) fill your picnic basket with more random things and hang that on the other handle of your stroller

3) load up the seat of your stroller with your music box, toy cars and anything else that you feel you need

4) fill your bee backpack with yet more items, hold said backpack up to me and turn your back to me to indicate that you want me to put the backpack on your back

5) put on your sunglasses, wave goodbye to me and push your stroller and 50 pounds of goods away

Where exactly are you going with so much stuff? :-P

Love,

Mom