Moms & Tots

Dear Lila,

You started a new Moms & Tots class today and even though it takes place during your usual nap time, you managed to stay awake during the entire hour and a half class--and you loved it! You made an art project with shape stickers, played with Play-doh and especially enjoyed scooping up sand at the sand table (I eventually had to drag you away so you would try out the other activity centers). You had fun riding in the toy cars when we went outside to the playground and, of course, also liked snack time, during which you ate your own animal cookies and then helped yourself to your classmate's cookies, too!

We've taken other classes before, but those were located in dance studios and church basements. Your Moms & Tots class is in an actual school in an actual classroom with cubbies, toddler-sized tables and chairs and a big rug in the corner for circle time. And it was bittersweet to see you in a "real" classroom setting because it made me realize that you will be starting nursery school not too long from now and leaving me (*sniff*). I think you are going to do really well once you do start school. In class today, you were so good, sitting down and paying attention during circle time, putting away toys when it was time to clean up and even pushing your chair back under the table when you got up from coloring. My big girl!

Love,
Mom

Bottomless Pit

Dear Lila,

Oh man, you and your food. Last week, you were snacking on a plate of cheese cubes and animal crackers when it was time to leave the house and pick up your brother from school. I tried to take your plate away but you wouldn't let me take it. I told you that there was no time for you to finish your food because we had to go and you then quickly stuffed all eight cubes of cheese and two animal crackers into your mouth. Whoa. I asked you if you were going to be able to swallow all of that and you opened your mouth wide to show me the masticated food. Lovely!

At dinner yesterday, you ate your bowl of pad thai, plus your brother's bowl of pad thai (he didn't like it), plus several slices of apples and cantaloupe. And when I sat down to eat my dinner, you opened your mouth wide at me to ask for even more food. Seriously?

At dinner tonight, you had eight ounces of milk, a quarter of a pear, an ounce of cheddar cheese, two slices of turkey AND half of your brother's bowl of broccoli, steak and rice (he is obviously not the voracious eater you are). Everyone, meet Lila, she of the hollow leg!

Love,

Mom

Happy Homecoming

Dear Lila,

You may have noticed that Daddy and I weren't around for the past few days. Instead, GongGong, PoiPoi and Uncle Tony came to take care of you and GuhGaw while Daddy and I took a trip to Chicago. There were a lot of firsts. It was Daddy and my first time in Chicago; the first time we tried authentic Chicago deep-dish pizza (I still like New York pizza better but the deep-dish was good, too); the first time we went on a vacation with just the two of us since having kids and the very first time I left you. I have been with you every single day since (and before) you were born and this marked the first time I was ever away from you. And I'm not gonna lie: When I realized that fact while Daddy and I were eating breakfast at the airport on the morning we left, I totally started crying into my multigrain bagel.

Daddy and I did have a nice getaway. We saw all the sights, did some shopping and ate so much yummy food. And it was *great* being able to sleep in, go out without having to worry about nap schedules or packing the diaper bag and avoid having to listen to the Frozen soundtrack for the millionth time. But I am ultimately a mom and there was nothing like coming home to you guys tonight! The way Connor charged at me when I came through the door and hugged me so tightly and the way you kept smiling and also hugging me so tightly and not letting me put you down--best feeling in the world :)

Love,
Mom

New Vocab

Dear Lila,

You doubled your vocabulary today when you learned to say ball and nai nai (Chinese for milk).

Sometimes I worry that you aren't talking as much as your brother did when he was your age. But then GuhGaw starts talking my ear off and I think, hey, maybe that's okay. Hehe.

Love,
Mom

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